The Hanes Enigma

Chapter One - Pseudo

Kai Finton

Ten Years Ago

The vampyre slams his hands on the table, for some reason not remotely phased that the flames he'd thrown in earlier had had no effect. They exchange muttered words that I can't make out and then the man lunges, Hobi dodging backwards out of his reach. They play a game of cat and mouse until the angel stumbles and the vampyre clamps down on his forearm. He whistles and two other men enter the room. Hoseok looks at them, panicked, and pulls at his wrist with all of his strength and body weight combined. The vampyre sneers at him and drags his fangs along the satin skin that I am so fond of trailing my fingertips over. He's pulling at them and crying and pleading with the vampyres, making promises that I know he can't keep. His wrists, his bicep and the inside of his elbow on the other arm. I fight against the paralysis but to no avail, stuck watching as each set of fangs digs into Hobi's skin, one by one.

The angel's eyes begin to flutter and I'm still fighting against his spell. The apparent leader of the group finally relinquishes his hold on my boyfriend's wrist and clears his throat pointedly. "That's enough, you two. We don't want to kill him." His lackeys reluctantly withdraw and sneer at Hoseok as they leave the way they came. "Payment accepted. You're still behind by quite some, though. And I hear interest rates are high." He sucks through his teeth and crouches down to where the angel has now fallen, clearly able to support his own weight no longer. "We'll be back in a month. Don't try your little tricks again or next time I might just forget to tell them to stop." He swipes his tongue up Hoseok's cheek making the angel grimace and recoil. The vampyre gets to his feet and brushes himself off. "You should get someone in to fix that." He nods to the window and chuckles before wiping his lips on the back of his sleeve and ducking under the low doorframe, leaving the room silent and still.

As soon as Hoseok releases us from his spell, Hoon stumbles back a little, regaining his balance as I slam my fist hard on the table.

The angel jumps in shock but continues to stare intently at the floorboards. "Kai, I-"

"Shut up." I spit through gritted teeth. His lips purse and he complies.

"Is there a med kit or something I should get?" Hoon awkwardly asks, attempting to clear the tension from the air but not succeeding in the slightest.

"Yes. I.. I can't remember where I-"

"On top of the fridge." I sigh, finally calming myself enough to realise being angry while Hoseok is so seriously hurt won't help matters at all.

Hoon nods and goes to the kitchen, giving us a little space which I greatly appreciate.

I kneel in front of the angel and delicately take his hands into my own. "I'm going to pretend I'm not angry with you and then once you're more stable we can have a mature discussion about this. Okay?"

He nods, still not making a sound but tears well at his eyes.

I pull him into my chest, holding him tightly as he cries.

"I-I'm sorry..."

I shush him and rock gently and kiss the side of his head. "Not now, precious. I said we'll talk about it later."

He nods, clinging onto my shirt which is now both blood and tearstained.

I blink, freezing for a moment.

The angel frowns and looks up at me, confused.

"I'm an idiot! What am I doing??" My eyes widen with shock and hatred of my slow-moving brain.

"Comforting me? At least I thought that's what was happening..." Hobi frowns and I smile, kissing the tip of his nose at his cuteness.

"Yes, but I shouldn't be. I should be healing you." I gently turn his arm and blink a few of my tears into his inner elbow before covering it with my hand and muttering the incantation Hoseok had finished teaching us this term.