When the garage door opened with an agonizing creak, Jae braced herself for the worst. Her soul almost left her body as she saw multiple feet revealed on the other side. They were bare, and dirty. As soon as she saw that, she didn't know what to think.
Her eyes darted to Hobi, who looked just as bewildered as her. The hybrids they had just freed, relaxed from their defensive postures as the door opened agonizingly slow. Relief filled the air as they were greeted by other hybrids, which Jae could only assume were affiliated with Yeona. This must have been the "help" that she had been referring to.
"We don't have much time." Said a burly hybrid in the front, motioning towards the other hybrids to come forward. His ears indicated he was a bear. Surprisingly, some of the hybrids looked at Hobi, as if asking for reassurance. Hobi looked back and forth, and tried to reassure them.
"They're with a friend of ours. They're going to take you somewhere safe." Hobi said carefully, and the bear hybrid nodded sincerely. Now that the garage door was fully open, Jae could hear more noises that were coming from outside. She heard the soft rumble of a fire, and she heard familiar voices that made her heart sink.
She heard Jin's voice, yelling Namjoon's name. She also heard Tae's soft, almost muffled cries that instantly broke her heart. "You're Jae?" As if in a trance, Jae didn't notice another hybrid from Yeona's group had walked up to her. "Where is Miss Yeona?" the female hybrid asked. She stuttered back, "I-I don't know...we were separated."
It was then that she heard the familiar sound of Namjoon growling, and it was nothing short of malicious. She had feared something had happened to make him like that. She felt confident enough that the hybrids they had rescued were now in safe, capable hands.
She rushed over to the bear hybrid. "I can't thank you enough for this." Hobi suddenly appeared beside her, almost protectively. The bear looked skeptical of Jae, as he said, "It's not like I'm doing it for you. I'm doing it for them." He said, nodding to the hybrids who were slowly but surely leaving with the assistance of others.
Jae saw that Hobi narrowed his eyes at the comment, but Jae understood. "We couldn't have done this without you all. So thank you. Truly" She bowed deeply, and the bear raised his eyebrows in shock.
She turned to Hobi, "Did you hear-" She didn't even finish her question and Hobi nodded. She knew by the gleam in his concerned eyes that they had heard the same noises. They had to find the others and fast.
"I'll repay you all for this. That's a promise." Those were the last words she spoke before grabbing Hobi's hand, and rushing off in the opposite direction, towards the awful sounds that were growing louder and louder in her ears. She had to figure out where she and Hobi were exactly, as they ran up what seemed like a grassy hill.
The underground bunker had actually ended up away from the mansion, and because of this, the fire that had started inside of it could be seen growing larger and larger. That wasn't what caught most of her attention.
Her heart dropped all the way to her feet, and she felt like time was going in slow motion. Everything seemed to turn into a blur, as she saw dark figures lying on the grass, barely being illuminated by the glow of the fire that was consuming the mansion. Motionless. She couldn't tell who the figures belonged to from this distance.. Hobi was just as frozen beside her.
"Namjoon..." she heard Hobi croak out.
The sound of his wolf, and another type of snarl made her snap her head toward the noise. She gasped and put her hands to her mouth as she saw Namjoon fighting an all too familiar looking fox. They thrashed at each other like wild animals, biting and yelping in response to each other's attacks.
Jasper was putting up a fight, and even though Namjoon was significantly bigger, the fox was faster, making it difficult to dodge all of his advances.
Then, she noticed Yeona, who was also lying in the grass not too far away from them. Jae smelled blood, lots of it. She didn't know who it belonged to. The smell was everywhere, and so overpowering she fought the urge to throw up. She heard a little noise next to her, and she saw Hobi, as a red panda, dash past her.
"Hobi!" she cried out, following him without a second thought, worried about him getting swept up in the fight. At the sound of her voice, both Jasper and Namjoon stopped.
As Jae turned her head, she saw Jasper start to run straight towards her. Namjoon, however, didn't let him get far, as he bit the foxes side, and Jasper yelped in pain. It was so loud, it sounded like a human scream. They tumbled over each other and Namjoon, for the first time, looked nothing but bloodthirsty.
They were still a reasonable distance away, but Namjoon, after locking eyes with Jae turned his back, guarding her, as well as the other pack members behind him. Taking the opportunity he gave her, she found Hobi again and followed him towards- Oh my god.
She saw Tae, and she started running faster. She also could make out Jimin, and the sight of him unconscious in Tae's lap scared her even more. There was so much blood. She felt her tears roll down her face as she dropped to her knees and instantly hugged Tae. Their sobs blended with each other, and he hugged her so tight that it hurt but she didn't care.
"Thank god...thank god you both are okay. Oh my god...I was so scared I'd lost you..." he said in her hair, kissing her head between every few words. She didn't want to let go, but she had to see Jimin too. "Jimin...is he..." she could barely get the words out.
Hobi whimpered as he licked Jimin's face, and was nudging it, trying to wake him up. "It's bad...I don't know if...he'll..." Tae started crying again, holding Jimin close. She could really see the extent of his head injury. She was no doctor, but considering the amount of blood, it was severe.
Jae touched his other cheek lightly. He still felt warm, and he looked as angelic as ever. It broke her heart to see both him and Tae in pain. "I don't know if...if the others are..." Tae sniffled, and Jae with a heavy heart rose to her feet. She didn't want to leave them but she couldn't neglect the others either. "Stay here, I'm going to check."
Tae looked like he didn't want her to leave either. Even so, he nodded, and she could feel his eyes on her back as she quickly turned and went to the first figure she saw. As she ran closer, she could tell it was Jin.
Relief flooded through her as she saw he was awake, and moving. "Jae.." he called out as he saw her, and tried reaching for her. He grimaced in pain, and her eyes searched his body. "Jin...oh..." she saw what was ailing him. There was a shard or...something...in his leg. Right between his inner thigh and his knee. It wasn't too big, but it was big enough to be painful.
"I'm so happy you're not...is Hobi-"
"We're both alright. Don't worry." she said, scanning him for any more severe injuries. He spoke again before she could, "Before you ask, Yoongi and Jungkook are okay. At least-" he grunted in pain, trying to adjust while Jae helped him sit up. "-At least as far as I could tell, they were breathing. I was on my way to check on Tae and Jimin, but I couldn't move anymore." His face was laced with sweat. "Shouldn't we take this out?" Jae asked, gesturing to his injured leg. He hesitated, and that was enough of an answer for her.
"Sorry. This is probably going to hurt." she winced. She grabbed the shard and with one swift tug, it came out and Jin cried out in pain. The blood started to pour out from it, so much so, even she knew it must have been an artery.
Jin started laughing weakly, "Ahh...of course it would be lodged there...hahaha... oh man..." he looked like he was about to pass out. "Jin...Jinnie, no, don't pass out on me...fuck..." Jae, out of options, tore her shirt to make a bandage. Luckily it was easy, and she wrapped it around and tightened it as tight as she could.
The makeshift bandage soaked up the blood immediately. It almost wasn't enough as the whole thing turned a deep, dark red in seconds. Jin had already become unconscious, but she hoped to god she had stopped the bleeding enough for now. She glanced over at the other unconscious figures across the field.
She could clearly make out Jungkook and Yoongi from here. She saw their chests rise and fall, giving her the comfort that they were, in fact, alive at the very least.
She heard the gut-wrenching sound of Namjoon's howl in pain as she saw Jasper bite Namjoon's wounded shoulder, and swiped his sharp claws between his chest and neck.
Namjoon stumbled to the ground, and Jasper wasted no time heading straight for Jae once more, teeth baring viciously. She was still looking over at Jin, and all she could think about was keeping Jasper away from him. So she did what any sane person would do. She ran towards the wild animal.
She saw Namjoon struggling to get up, and she saw the glint of the gun that was near where Yeona was. If she could just get that gun. If she could outrun him and avoid his first lunge at her, she'd be golden. However, she didn't have to avoid him in the first place.
A gunshot echoed through the air, and Jasper howled in pain and collapsed, making whining noises in agony. She had dropped to the ground as well, not knowing at first where it had come from.
She heard Jasper's voice, "What the fuck....augghh...you fucking dick...you SHOT me!"
She turned, and she saw her father, seemingly showing up out of nowhere looking disheveled and breathing heavily, still aiming the gun at Jasper. He began to walk slowly towards him. "Is that any way to talk to your superior?" Jae was close enough to see that he had shot Jasper close to the heart. He was starting to cough up blood.
"Why...WHY?? I did everything you said..! I DID EVERYTHING YOU WANTED!!" Jasper was looking up at her father now.
"So?" Was all her father said before he shot him again. And again. And again. And again. He sighed, and Jae was shaking, violently. "God damn it, I have blood on my fucking shoes." He mumbled in disgust.
Her eyes darted back and forth between Namjoon and her father. The most precious people to her were nearby, and her psychopathic father had a gun. She felt like she was in a living hell. How did it come to this?
"You're a fucking monster..." she said to her father, voice shaking in the process. Her father had been wiping his shoes with a handkerchief as she said this and it made him pause. "I just saved your life, and that's the thanks I get? Shouldn't you be a little bit more grateful?"
Huh?
"Grateful. You...want me...to be grateful?" Jae stood up and spoke almost in a whisper at first. "What should I be grateful for, exactly? Grateful that you have been controlling every single aspect of my life for as long as I can remember? Grateful that you have, single handedly, made me feel so worthless because of how you treat me like your personal property instead of a human being? Grateful..." she clenched her fists and walked closer to him.
"Grateful, that you have tried to take away the people I love the most in this god forsaken world, grateful that you've tried to take away the only ones that are keeping me on this earth? Should I be grateful for that, perhaps?"
"Jaelyn darling, you're getting too old for these dramatics." He smirked. He. smirked.
She inched even closer to him. The fire that was still burning down their home seemed to burn even brighter.
"What about killing my only childhood friend? Or even better, attempting to kill my mother?" Any hint of amusement that had been on her father's face had vanished. "Oh yeah, I know all about that." Jae said, her hand inching slowly toward her back pocket. "I know that you were the one who put her in that coma. I've known about it for a long while now. So, I ask you, should I be grateful, father?"
He aimed his gun at her, something she wasn't really expecting. "She was corrupting your mind, what else was I supposed to do? It was the same with that bunny. Had I let you be with that thing any longer, who knows how savage you would have turned out." He started laughing maniacally and chills ran up and down her body. "And then, as it happens, my efforts would all be in vain. I know you're MATED with these repulsive creatures." he spat, and she froze, her confidence wavering.
He knew. "The fox was stupid, and talked way too much. I know everything. I know there are marks on your neck that I can't see."
She didn't realize how close they had become to each other, and he lunged for her neck, and tackled her to the ground. "Let's see if I can't replace those marks with new ones." She tried to scream, but nothing came out as his fingers squeezed tighter and tighter.
"As for your mother, you'll be happy to know that I put her out of her misery with that bomb." His eyes were wild and his unhinged, smiling face was so close to hers it was sickening. She clawed at his hands, but her father didn't budge, even when she drew blood on both his face and hands.
She couldn't breathe, and her vision was starting to fade as she began to see black dots. She felt what she had stowed away in her back pocket poking her. Reach...reach for it...her fingers couldn't quite wrap around it...she was going to die at this rate. She heard her father yell and his fingers loosened enough for her to have more air.
She saw a flash of red fur, and saw her father clutching his ear, which was almost completely detached from his head. Blood from
His wound was dripping on her face. She reached into her pocket and plunged the shard that had previously been in Jin's leg into the side of his neck.
His eyes went wide as he immediately went to try and take it out, making horrible gagging noises. She wriggled out of his grasp, and heard multiple footsteps running towards their direction. She saw the familiar faces of the hybrids who they had just saved, rushing forward with purpose. She grabbed Hobi, who had been standing near her feet in front of her with bloody jaws and backed up.
The hybrids, in their animal forms, swarmed over her father in a flash, and began to rip open his flesh with their teeth and claws. She almost looked away as he started screaming and gurgling in agony, but she was done turning away. She needed to see this, no matter how gruesome it was.
She needed confirmation that her father was indeed dead. And there was no question he was after the hybrids were done. They had gotten their revenge. That's what the bear hybrid had informed her later on. They had asked for it. Begged for it.
"Since you set them free in the first place, I took a gamble that you wouldn't mind. I heard he was a relative of yours." He had said, and she laughed. The bear had thought her behavior strange, but she didn't really pay him any mind. If only he knew.
**********************************************
We're almost finished guys.🥲🥲Probably one more chapter after this...what a crazy journey it's been writing this, I started in 2020....that's CRAZY. Thank you so much for everyone who's made it this far, whether you started all the way back in 2020 or you started reading this yesterday, thank you so much<3 All your comments, votes and of course your patience really means the world to me. Till next time.:) <3