"Rise and shine, princess. You've disturbed the birds enough with your snoring, don't you think? Let's give them some peace as well, eh?" A mocking deep voice teased her ears first thing in the morning. Was it even morning?
A tired groan left the heap of pastel pink sheets, the girl hiding somewhere in between the many layers of fabric and comfortable warmth. She wriggled around, searching for an opening to stick her head out to peer into the real world. When she did, she let out another soft groan as she noticed that her room was still dark. Taehyung was casually leaning against the wall, eyes amused as he watched her try to stay awake.
"The sun is not even up, how do you expect me to move then?" Eunha mumbled in irritation. When they had decided to stay the night here, she thought she would actually be able to rest for a bit, but according to the little clock on the night stand next to her bed, she hadn't even been asleep for four hours. How was she supposed to meet the angel of her dreams if she couldn't even enter dreamland first without being disturbed?
"Because you are our sun. When you smile, the world lights up and brings good to our darkened hearts..." Eunha lifted her head from her pillow to glare at the demon. He was being way to sarcastic in the early morning. Besides, why was he teasing her so much? Had Jimin's personality rubbed off on him or something?
Taehyung took in a sharp breath as he observed the girl, "Not with that hair though. Or that drool down your chin. On second thought, maybe it is better if you stay inside to sleep. You would scare off any kind of luck coming our way looking like that."
She rolled her eyes before unconsciously wiping her chin. She considered slapping him, but in order to do that she had to climb out of her cozy bed and abandon sleep.
Yeah, not happening.
The man raised an eyebrow as he watched the girl retreat into her little cave of fluffy blankets like an old turtle retreating in its shell after concluding the world was filled with idiots.
She was just going to ignore his insults like he was no one important? How rude.
"Why is it taking you so long? Is she awake yet?" Namjoon appeared into the room, eyebrow raised in question. After taking one glance at the offended looking demon and the curled up ball of bed sheets, a soft sigh left his full lips.
"Not an easy riser, is she?"
Without waiting for a reply, the vampire walked towards the bed, swiftly picking up the bundle of fabric and human, before leaving the room.
Eunha lifted her head, peering around in confusion as she suddenly defied gravity. What was happening?
Her eyes landed on the attractive face of the man carrying her, arms securely wrapped around her as he held her in her cocoon of blankets. A charming smile spread on his face, both dimples and pointy teeth on full display.
"Morning, baby."
She resisted the urge to reach out her finger and touch the little indentations of his cheeks, fiercely staring at them in process. She had just met this man yesterday, besides, he was a vampire seeking her blood. Maybe not the smartest idea to bring her hand so close to his mouth.
"Evening."
In any other situation the girl would have been panicking over the fact that Namjoon was carrying her to God knows where. As the sleep was still evident in her body, however, the girl did nothing but let out a soft yawn. She blinked slowly as the daze she was in made her stare at nothing in particular.
A low chuckle escaped the man's lips at her response, before slowly putting her down on the sofa next to a half-sleeping Jimin. His eyelids were closed almost all the way, head falling forwards before abruptly jerking upwards as he fought to stay awake.
"The two of you will have to get ready quickly, I want to reach the town at dawn."
Namjoon voice sounded from another room as he came back with two glasses of water in his hands.
He handed the elf one of the glasses, the latter being a bit more awake now as he rubbed his eyes. They had awoken him first after all. Still, it took him a lot of energy to mumble his question.
"How long will it take for us to get there?"
"With your speed, about two hours. We will go there straight away and then take a break after buying you food." The vampire held the rim of the other glass to Eunha's lips, making her hold the thing so that she could sip on the cold water.
She quickly gulped down the refreshing liquid, almost instantly feeling more awake. "Why don't we move on your speed then?"
Namjoon shook his head unsurely, "Tae and I could carry you there, but running at that speed for a long time tires me quickly. I'm pretty good at resisting my natural urges. When I'm exhausted however, not so much. I would want blood, a lot of it. It will only bring you and possibly Jimin in danger."
Eunha absentmindedly nodded her head, she understood.
"Wait, what do you mean possibly Jimin. Why do you not feel the urge to feed on me? Not that I want to, but I'm starting to feel offended. Am I not good enough? Is it because I am a boy?" Jimin started threateningly, eyes widening and eyebrows raising as he silently dared the vampire to try and offend him even more. He would kick his butt.
"You're an elf. You've got supernatural power soaring through your body. It taints the blood. I could still live off of you, but I don't like my food sour. That compared to the sweet substance keeping the human body from dying, however, it stands no chance." Namjoon casually shrugged as he explained the situation, his dark eyes glancing over Eunha's form as he mentioned 'sweet substance'.
"So I am lemon in a world of sugar?" Jimin looked really shocked as he mumbled this. It was almost as if he found himself in the middle of an identity-crisis.
Eunha frowned her eyebrows as she looked at the elf in confusion. Lemon in a world of sugar? What even was he talking about?
Namjoon looked clueless as well, and he was supposed to be the smart one.
"Sure...Now I'm done with patiently answering your questions. Go get dressed, your clothes are in your room already, I put them there as soon as they were dry."
"You creeped into the room while we were sleeping?" The girl asked, involuntarily shuddering at the thought. In her mind she imagined a horror scene. Clueless teenager snoring away carelessly when slowly the door creaked open. At first there's nothing, but then a tall shadow steps into the dark room. Eyes observing the vulnerable teen, lips pulled in a sinister smirk. A taunting chuckle breaks the silence of the night, waking up the sleeping figure. Then, the shadow attacks.
"Yes."
"Why? You shouldn't just walk in when people are sleeping! It's a violation of privacy! It's like an unspoken rule that everyone knows about! Especially as a predatory creature and most-likely a pervert that you are! You don't do that, you creepy! What-"
Eunha started rambling as panic prevented her to think rationally. This man had been in her room when she was sleeping. Maybe he had even stared at her! He was a vampire after all!
"It's my house. I can go wherever I want, even if you are sleeping there." Namjoon interrupted the girl calmly. He had met a lot of anxious, bright minded, dramatic people in his life. She was probably thinking of all the worst-case scenarios that could have happened, he could tell by the blush on her cheeks and big eyes that darted all around the room.
"But-"
"No buts. Now go get dressed so that we can leave. I thought you wanted to save your mum?"
He raised his eyebrow in silent threat. It was working, he was intimidating without even trying much. The stern look in his eyes forced a sigh out of her lips as she felt like a kid getting scolded for her behaviour.
The worst part was, he had been right. She was the one who needed the soul-keepers' help. She had simply bribed him to help her with her own blood.
The girl pursed her lips as she had an inner conflict with her pride. Should she just walk to her room to get dressed? But he had told her to do that. She couldn't give in that quickly, right?
She glanced at the man in front of her once more. The calm look on his face as he studied her reaction made her even more nervous. Though there was this almost hidden glistening in his eyes. She couldn't tell if it was amusement, determination, or maybe anger.
Whatever it was, it made her get up from the comfy place on the sofa, gather the blankets-something that didn't go very smoothly as there were a lot, in the end she decided to just drape them around her body like a cloak- and pass the vampire without another word.
The pink fabric dragged behind her as she slowly walked towards the pink guest room.
Eunha could hear footsteps following her. As she glanced over her shoulder, she saw it was Jimin. He must have felt obliged to get dressed as well.
When they reached her room, he showed her one of his famous smirks, eyes observing how her body was drowning in the soft materials. A snort sounded from the elf, making the girl glare at him. He reached out his hand however, softly patting her head almost reassuringly, before swiftly turning around and walking towards his own room.
What?
Confusion.
Why had he suddenly patted her head? Did she look like a dog to him?
She shook her head quietly and quickly fled inside her room. He was a strange person.
--
After getting dressed, the four had proceeded on their way. It was exactly like Namjoon predicted, after two hours of climbing over hills, the hungry pair cried out in joy as they saw the welcome sign to the little town.
It creaked as the old, rotting wood seemed to move by itself.
Jimin and Eunha ignored the little detail, fist-bumping the air at the thought of food.
Even Taehyung and Namjoon let out a relieved sigh. As both the elf and human had been starving, they moved slowly. Every couple of second there had been either a whiny or snarky comment. Everything irritating and saddening the duo as all they wanted was to eat something.
The demon had been quite surprised to see them like that actually, well, to see the girl like that. He was used to Jimin's whining and annoying behaviour, but Eunha. He couldn't remember hearing her whine about anything before, but the hunger pushed her limits. She was like an unstoppable lawn mower as she shredded every bit of positivity and voiced all her irritations and hardships to the sky.
At moments like that Taehyung was happy to not have to experience the same kind of hunger. It looked like absolute torture.
Eunha put her hand on her stomach and rubbed it reassuringly. She would soon be able to eat and then the gnawing feeling in her tummy would stop.
She let her eyes wander around the scene. It was indeed a very small town. Little brick houses standing close to each other as the difference in height and colour separated them. A small gravel path curled into the little village, swerving in between some houses before ending in a small round-about. In the middle of this circle stood a statue, the stone turning green most-likely from previous showers.
The statue was of a short man, booted foot propped on a little chair as he held out his hand to point at something in the distance. A long beard dripped down his face with lack of volume and a torn hat sat atop of his curly locks.
Eunha was not one to normally judge others or their works, but this statue wasn't the best. Still she pushed the thought aside, reasoning that as it was standing there proudly it must hold some kind of historical meaning.
Overall the town gave off an eerie vibe. This could also be because of the few sunbeams that shone into the opening, creating large shadows around the houses.
Chills shot through the girl's body however, as a pained groan filled the silence of the morning. It was both full of exhaustion and emptiness, how the owner of the voice managed to do that, she did not know.
She quickly searched the path for movement. When her eyes locked on the figure creating those noises, they widened.
A woman in her late thirties slowly made her way towards a building. Her long brown hair was matte and full of knots, face blank as if she wasn't even present. As she creeped forwards, one leg slightly dragging behind the other, soft groans and sighs left her agape mouth.
Eunha almost expected her to mutter the word 'brain' longingly, as the zombie like figure finally reached her destination. She pushed open the door with trouble, the sound of a little bell ringing contrasting with the inhuman noises emerging from the woman's throat.
The girl raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Maybe she just wasn't a morning person. That was possible. Even she didn't function well in the morning. She had been a whining mess the previous hours herself in fact.
The like-a-dying-whale-sounding lady could be hungry. Hungry and not a morning person. She was sure of it.
Namjoon cleared his throat, grabbing the attention of the other three. His hand vaguely pointed in the direction of the woman.
"Well, here we are lady and gents. The town of the possessed."
Wait. What?