III: Jungkook
I woke up in an unfamiliar room with a splitting headache. Everything seemed hazy, and I had to blink my eyes several times to get rid of the glinting black spots. When my vision recovered, I saw that I was in a large, beautifully decorated bedroom. The king-sized bed I was sleeping in was covered with heavy velvet blankets, and the floor was laid with soft rugs of many different patterns and colors. Lamps flickered on the walls, glowing with a soft orange hue. An oak wood door stood on the left wall, golden handle gleaming in the light. The wide window adjacent to the bed had long satin drapes, still drawn to prevent any sunlight from coming in. I wasn't sure there even was sunlight outside, as Jimin had made it pretty clear that we were going to the vampire world. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to hope that everything was going to be alright.
I shivered, realizing that my old jacket and boots were gone. Instead, they had been replaced with flowing white robes, each garment intricately embroidered with stitches resembling the moon, stars, and other celestial objects. It was disturbing to think that someone had undressed me in my drugged state, so I tried my best not to think about that.
Suddenly, I heard muffled voices coming from outside the door, and strained to hear. One was definitely Jimin; I would recognize the mellow voice of the kidnapper anywhere. The other was deeper and had a sharper tone, which I couldn't quite put my finger on. I knew I had heard that voice somewhere, and it was killing my brain not to remember it. So in the end, I just settled for propping myself up against the pillows and listening to their conversation.
"They were watching him Jimin!" the unknown man was saying. "Our enemies knew who he was! If I had just left him like that, he probably would have been dead by morning." With a start, I realized they were talking about me.
"That may be true Baekhyun, but it's too early. The poor boy's only 18. We can't just drag him into this before he turns of age. Besides," Jimin's voice dropped so low that I had to strain to hear. "What do you think Taehyung's going to say about this?"
The man, Baekhyun, sighed quietly. "I'm sure that he wouldn't like the idea of his soulmate being torn to shreds, so I hope I did the right thing..." but even he didn't sound so confident anymore.
"Well, no matter," Jimin said decidedly. "What's done is done, and now we just have to find a way to cope with all of this. And who knows? Maybe Jungkook is old enough to play his role."
The more I listened to their talk, the more confused and scared I got. What was my role in this whole war? By the anxious way the two men were talking about it, I assumed it was something important. But surely this could have nothing to do with me! I was a simple human teenager with absolutely no connection to this vampire world. Hell, I didn't even believe in vampires before this happened.
Now, I didn't know what to think.
With a start, I realized that the footsteps were nearing my door, and I dove under the velvet covers to make it seem like I hadn't been eavesdropping. Hearing the oak door creak open, I shut my eyes and pretended to be asleep. But to no avail.
"Jungkook, we know you're awake," Jimin called, "Don't try and hide. We can hear your erratic heartbeat even from here."
How in the world could Jimin hear my heartbeat?
Oh right, probably those super sonic vampire senses.
Seeing no point in trying to hide when they already knew I was awake, I threw the covers off to find two males standing at the foot of my bed, watching me. One was Jimin, who had changed into a black tunic fastened with an emerald colored sash, silver eyes twinkling like stars. The other was a taller man with jet black hair and piercing amber eyes.
Wait...
Amber eyes?
"You!" I choked out, staring at the man with wide eyes. "You're Fuzzy Wuzzy, aren't you? The tabby cat with amber eyes!" The man winced slightly, clearly not appreciating the reminder. "Yes Jungkook, to answer your question, I am Fuzzy Wuzzy. Though I insist you call me Baekhyun, which is my real name. I mean no harm."
"Mean no harm?!" I was fuming. "You spied on me for my whole life, and then you tell me that you meant no harm? Don't tell me that you were simply checking out my good looks, because I won't believe it." I paused. "Actually, I might believe you. But with all these weird things going on, I seriously doubt it."
Jimin chuckled, showing his needle sharp fangs. "Baekhyun wasn't spying on you Jungkook. We have no need to do such vulgar things. He was simply sent as a protector to watch over you until we were sure that you were the one."
"Protector from what?" I asked, a bit scared. "Last time I checked, no one was trying to murder me. And nothing unusual happened in the whole 18 years of my existence."
"Which you should be glad about," Baekhyun agreed, amber eyes flashing dangerously. "You have no idea how many vampires I had to threaten and even kill to keep you safe. And trust me, keeping you safe was not an easy job. Even your soulmate was --" Jimin coughed, cutting off Baekhyun effectively. Baekhyun glared at Jimin for a moment, before looking away.
I shuddered. If what Baekhyun said was true, I had come close to being killed numerous times. Even worse, people had died because of me. Well, not people, vampires, but living beings nonetheless. I shook my head, trying to clear the disturbing thoughts out of my head once again.
"Okay, but neither of you have answered the most important question right now." I decided to change the subject. The current one didn't seem to be heading in a good direction at the moment.
"Which is?" Jimin asked.
"Why am I here? More specifically what is this place, and what was so urgent that you had to kidnap me and bring me here in the middle of the night?"
Jimin and Fuzz- no, Baekhyun exchanged a glance, worry evident in both of their eyes. Finally, Jimin turned to me and smiled sadly. "That is not for us to explain, Jungkook. I promise that you will get the answers to your questions, but all in good time." Seeing the dejected look on my face, he sighed. "Very well. I guess we can at least tell you where you are. I also do owe you an apology for stealing you away in the middle of the night," he looked at me sheepishly with those shining silver eyes, "I know it wasn't the best course of action, but it had to be done for your own safety."
I nodded, accepting his apology. Jimin was a hard person to stay mad at; I had only known him for less than a day, and he already seemed like a trustworthy friend. Maybe my only friend in this whole vampire world. "And this place is?" I gently reminded him.
"Oh yes. This is Armad Castle, also known as the headquarters for the Sirius Clan; the biggest and most powerful clan in this whole vampire world." He smiled proudly. "It's located deep inside a forest, far away from any civilization, so there's no chance that our enemies will discover it."
My heart sank at his words. Truthfully, I had been hoping that I could escape when the time was right, but now that didn't seem like an option anymore. I didn't like the idea of trekking through forest for days on end.
Suddenly, the atmosphere in the room changed; not dramatically, but changed nonetheless. The air became somewhat colder, and tension seemed to spark throughout the room. I shivered, wrapping the velvet covers around myself to keep out the cold. Jimin and Baekhyun evidently felt it too, as they again exchanged a worry-filled glance. I didn't know what had triggered this change, but the two vampires apparently knew.
"Uh, guys? What just happened?"
Jimin tried his best to look innocent. "What do you mean? Nothing has changed, Jungkook."
I rolled my eyes, tired of all this secrecy. "Not in this room maybe, but the atmosphere's changed. It's colder, and more sinister than before. And judging from your expressions, both of you know what triggered it. So spill the beans."
Baekhyun sighed, turning to Jimin. "Are all humans this inquisitive?" Jimin shrugged, tugging on the cuffs of his tunic. "Nope. Jungkookie here is one of a kind." He smiled at me, and I frowned. I knew that they were only trying to distract me from the matter at hand. And I also didn't like nicknames.
Even Baekhyun seemed to get that I wasn't going to give up until I had answers. "Fine. Though I have to say, I was expecting you to be a bit more scared that you are right now." He looked at me expectantly, as if he was disappointed that I wasn't screaming in terror. I just stared at him.
"Baekhyun, don't scare the poor kid," Jimin chided. "He'll have plenty of time to be terrified later on."
Yeah, and that doesn't worry me at all, I wanted to scream, but I held my tongue. Right now, it seemed that the less I knew about my future, the better.
"He's back."
"What?" I was so lost in my thoughts, that I hadn't heard Jimin speak. "Sorry, what did you say?"
Jimin's mouth twitched, as if he was holding back a laugh, but his eyes were serious. "He's back," he repeated. "The King is back, and he'll want to see you immediately. Let's go."
"Don't I get any say in this?" I asked sadly, as I was once again dragged out of my safe place and into the unknown.