The Dark Blood

6

The hallways were all his. Nobody was around to tell him to walk faster or slower or to just complain in general.

After realising that he was out of everyones reach and he could actually run inside, Jimins eyes lighted up.

He had been in Aldermere ever since he had turned five so the rules of the place had been carved deeply inside of his brain. He took a few faster steps and looked around, just to make sure none of the Angels were around to catch him. Then he ran.

It felt wrong in an amazing way. His feet hitting the hard floor with every step he took and the windows passing by him faster than ever before felt euphoric. For the first time he felt free, or like he was in charge instead of others constantly telling him how to behave.

The long halls went by fast and after he reached the stairs, Jimin had to grab the thick hand raills and slow down.  He walked up the stairs and got to the third floor. Once again he smiled to himself and started running. He decided to run past Taehyungs room, just to run a little bit longer but quickly reached the wall.

Jimin reminded himself of the task he had been given, walked back to the room 89 and knocked on the door, slightly out of breath.

"Taehyung!" he yelled through the thick wooden door.

He couldn't hear anything inside and knocked again.

"Hey! I kind of need to find you right now," he shouted.

After this didn't work, Jimin opened the door a little, just to see if anyone was inside. The doors couldn't be locked without a key, which only the adults had to lock them in at nights.

Jimin saw Taehyung sitting of his bed, looking out of the window. He was hugging his legs and sounded like he was still crying.

"Taehyung..." Jimin whispered in a soft tone.

Teahyungs body moved like someone had electrocuted him and he stood up, wiping his eyes.

"Are you okay?" Jimin asked and walked closer to him.

He had turned away from him and pretended to be doing something, "Yeah."

Jimin put his hand on Taehyungs shoulder and slowly patted him. Usually the first full day here was one of the worst ones and he understood what he must had been going through. The younger boys shoulders started to twitch as he begin crying again. Jimin panicked a little but hugged him tightly, just like he hoped someone would hug him when he was sad.

"What's wrong?" He whispered but got no reply.

He hushed him a little and leaded Taehyung to sit on his bed. His eyes were red and rivers of tears were falling down his cheecks. Jimin put his arms around him again and swiped hair off his face.

Taehyung tried to speak but his crying kept interrupting him.

"I-I don't kknow anything anymore," he cried between breaths, "I've been l-lied to all my life."

And he cried again. Seeing this broke Jimins heart and he was running out of ideas to comfort him.

"We'll figure it out, I promise," Jimin tried to assure him.

Talking of things he was running out of, time was one of them. He felt bad dragging him in a room full of people while crying, especially since the treatment could upset him even more, but he was given a time limit and he didn't know what would happen in he broke it.

"Taehyung, look at me," He said, now sounding confident

Jimin cupped his cheeks and raised his head to look at him.

"I've got you, okay? Whatever you need, I'll help you" he told him while staring straight into his eyes.

Taehyung nodded and wiped his face with a piece of paper he had gotten from the restroom.

"I'm so sorry, we need to go now, but I'll be with you the whole time," he promised him and held his hand, gently pulling him out of his room.

He had no clue what time it was and it made him anxious. Jimin looked at Taehyung who was focusing on taking deep breaths and patted his back. He would keep his promise and take care of him, he decited.

All of the sudden Jimin pulled Taehyung in the restroom they had first met in.

"Wash your face with cold water, it helps," he advised him.

And they were ready to go. He knocked on the door and prayed that Mrs. Aldmin would have mercy on them. The last things Taehyung needed right now was to be locked in a basement for breaking rules. Jimin once again took a look of him. His eyes were slowly losing the red colour and he was now breathing normally.

The door was opened and Mrs. Aldmin looked at Jimin with a neutral expression. She then turned her head to Taehyung, who was standing behind him.

"I'm sorry if we're late," Jimin apologized and looked at his feet.

Mrs. Aldmin looked at both of them and stepped away from the door and whispered so only they could hear it, "You aren't that much late, it's okay this time."

Jimin looked at her with a surprised expression on his face and she almost smiled.

"Now, on your seats, please! We're behind schedule."

***

Hoseoks face was getting paler and paler each minute that passed. Namjoon looked at him, worried of how he would act. For as long as he had known him, Hoseok had been scared of blood and it didn't seem to get easier no matter how many times they had been gone through this.

The nurses were taking a small amount of blood from the new ones for tests. They were waiting on their turns, just sitting on their places and looking at the process. They were often going trough this, since the source of the evil was in their blood, causing it not to be the normal red colour. But this time it was just for the new ones.

One by one they sat in a chair and their hands were tied down, causing them to be unable to interrupt the nurses running a small knife through their skin. The blood was put in a tiny glass bottle and notes were taken based of it. A few questions were asked such as if they knew their parents and if they had committed any crimes. It only took one parent who had messed up for it to affect their genes.

Namjoon watched as almost pitch black liquid poured from one of the kids. Often if someone had it darker than usual, they were brought in really young, caused by how big of a affect it had on them. The darker the blood, the bigger the problems.

Looking at the child, Namjoon felt lucky. His bad blood only came from his dad. His dad had not been a good person, just like the other kids' parents here, he had worked as a doctor and would often experiment with his patients to the point where it would kill them. He often thought how that was any different of how the nurses here worked, but couldn't find an answer. Maybe if you did it in the name of the gods, it wasn't the same. Namjoon shook his head, it was nonsense.

Because of how they questioned the new ones in front of the others, they pretty much knew what everyones parents had done. Namjoon looked at Hoseok, who looked like he was about to pass out any second now. His mom had been violent against herself and her children, which caused her blood to go bad. He didn't know exaclty what she had done to them, but assumed that his fear of blood came from her.

Jimin and Jin were the worst ones of their group. They were both brought in Aldermere really young, and because of that, they had little to no memories of the life outside the gates or their families. Namjoon had been ten, so he remembered what it was like to live at home, but rarely thought about it, because of how sad it made him feel.

The session had finished and the last child was released from the chair. They all walked out of the room into the crowded halls. Now it was time to eat, and after that, free time.