celestial strings | h.js

two.

Your knees ached to the point you could barely stand and walk. After one too many falls, you resorted to dragging yourself over to him. His weak arms lay by his side, he seemed lifeless, but you did not want to be sure yet. Ignoring the cracks in your lungs, jagged breaths forcing themselves out of your parted lips to keep you alive enough, you pathetically wiggled your way over to the boy you loved.

Footsteps inched closer to where you struggled, and just before your fingertips touched that of Jisung's, the councilman grabbed you by your hair with ease and pulled yours upward. You struggled against his grasp while his free hand went around the front of your throat loosely, unlikely being unsure of his next move but rather wanting to give his peace of mind before executing his plan.

"That was smart, I must admit," he said slowly, eying you without remorse. "But you've made a mistake of bleeding all over the floor, [Name]. It isn't hard to track you with my clones when the smell of your blood is so strong."

You lost the capability to look below yourself. His grip on your hair yanked your neck backward so you could only stare at his terrible face. But he was right. He was telling the truth. You made a mistake on that part, yet simultaneously, you could not have predicted what he could do with your level of understanding when it came to magic. There were millions of tracking spells with millions of loopholes. Preventing one does not mean you can avoid the other.

"I hate you," you declared tearfully. "I did nothing to you."

"Bad things happen to everyone. Tragedy is not karma. It does not descend only upon the worst. It is indiscriminate," he mused.

"You only did bad things to my family," you spat.

"I never said I was the incarnation of tragedy, only one of its executioners," he said, looking at you with boredom. "I gave you a chance to leave peacefully, but you've chosen the alternative. I hope you understand that you were the one who brought this upon yourself and your friends."

He dropped you carelessly, and you fell to the ground with a harsh thud. You groaned at the pain that spiked up your arm, having landed your weight directly on it. There was not a resting moment as you quickly realized the councilman was making his way to where Jisung was. You strung out throaty and strangled screams then, the rush of fear giving you the push you needed to stand up only for you to fall a couple of steps later.

The councilman crouched near Jisung and acknowledged him when they met eyes. Jisung could barely tell what was going on; his body felt shattered. He was thrown against something, perhaps a lamp pole, and he swore his head scratched something sharp. He could not be sure. He just knew he was losing consciousness, and he could not dare to move with stinging pain. But he knew the face of that man. He recognized the face of the man who ruined everything, and he was spiteful.

Mustering as much strength as he could, Jisung spat, "Go to Hell."

The councilman was prepared to grab Jisung by his collar when he stopped. The pause of movement indicated an examination of the fallen boy, and he wondered if someone as old as he wanted a weak and wilfully annoying teenager to be as affective as he wanted to be. Go to Hell? What magnificent words. He would be thinking about them when he heads to bed tonight.

"We all shall," the councilman said. Not a moment later, he stood back up to approach you. He noticed your tear-stained cheeks and ignored them, picking you up like a rag doll and turning you to face him.

"I realize you will never succumb to the council willingly so long as he, or any of your friends, exist on this Earth. If they are why you stay, then I shall eliminate those reasons, which I planned to start with that one over there," the councilman said. "But it seems he has landed on something sharp. Death would be upon him very soon."