The factory stands on a huge clearing in the middle of the forest. From afar and in the darkness, it looks like a regular industrial site, but as they step closer, Taehyung sees the moss climbing up the walls and smokestacks, the windows that are smashed in and the spray paint on the bricks.
"This is fucking terrifying," Jeongguk states as they stand next to each other and look at the enormous building in front of them, illuminated by their flashlights. Jimin heads straight for the door.
"We have to be careful," Taehyung says quietly, then he follows Jimin. "Wait for us!"
The door is open just enough for them to enter. Inside, it feels even cooler than outside. The steel beams creak with every wind gust that hits the building; water drops from somewhere and collects in a big puddle near one of the windows. Taehyung and Jeongguk shine the flashlights around to inspect the place.
"What kind of factory was this?" Taehyung asks when he spots a huge, empty container with a sign that says muriatic acid.
"A textile factory," Jimin tells him, "It was closed decades ago, in the sixties or seventies. The location was simply not beneficial — fuck!" A loud metallic noise sounds. Taehyung immediately shines his light at Jimin. He stumbled over a pipe that must've fallen from the ceiling.
"Jesus, you scared me to death," Jeongguk breathes, pressing his hand against his chest.
Taehyung smiles softly, then he turns around.
His heart stops beating.
He shines directly at two blindingly white eyes and bared, bloody teeth that growl at him, just mere meters away from him. He gasps and drops his flashlight, then stumbles back and falls to the cold ground.
The creature just stands there and doesn't move, just stares at Taehyung with its disgusting, haunting grimace. He can barely make it out in the darkness, but it's enough to make the panic rise in his chest and suffocate him.
"Taehyung!"
Jeongguk is next to him within a second. Taehyung just stares ahead with wide eyes. He can feel the cold sweat running down his neck.
"Taehyung?"
Finally, he manages to move his head and look at Jeongguk, recognizes the worry in his eyes.
He cannot see it, he has to tell himself, again and again. Taehyung scrambles for his flashlight and then shines it right back at the creature — only that it's gone.
He gasps for air like a stranded fish.
"Taehyung," Jeongguk tries one last time, almost timidly so. Taehyung looks at him, then back at the now empty spot.
"We should hurry," he breathes, "Come on, we have to find Yoongi."
It's a miracle that his legs can still carry him. He stumbles to the stairs and ignores the weird look Jimin gives him.
The second floor looks even bleaker than the hall downstairs. The rooms are mostly empty except for the rubble, the empty liquor bottles and two old mattresses and pillows in one of them. Taehyung shines his flashlight around one of the rooms. The walls are covered in spray paint here as well. Faintly, he wonders if some of the tags and paintings are courtesy of the five friends that used to hang out here all the time.
Suddenly, his thoughts are interrupted when he hears Jimin shout from one of the other rooms.
Alarmed, he immediately turns around and runs over to him; so does Jeongguk.
They find Jimin in the back, in a room without a door and a huge chunk of the outer walls missing. The sky outside is slowly turning to a lighter shade of blue and hints of grey; the night is coming to an end, and the early morning hours are approaching fast.
Jimin is crying. Someone is standing on the ledge. It doesn't take Taehyung a second look to realize that it's Yoongi. He is holding onto the wall and staring at Jimin.
"Go away," he cries, "Please, don't... don't intervene. Taehyung, you promised me you'd take Jimin away from here."
"What are you saying?" Jimin shouts and takes a few steps up to Yoongi, "Please, Yoongi, please don't do anything stupid now, just let me help you, okay? Take... take my hand and let's talk about this, we can fix this, I swear—"
"Shut up!" Yoongi yells, hot tears streaming down his face, "Shut up, I don't want to hear it, stay back!"
Jimin stops with a loud sob that makes his entire body tremble.
"Don't you dare to come closer, I swear to God," Yoongi says, "I have to do this, I told you! They said I have to—"
"Yoongi, what are you talking about?!" Jimin shouts. Taehyung feels a nauseating uneasiness twist his stomach. In the back of his mind, he hears a quiet ticking, like a bomb that is about to go off.
"They don't exist, stop saying that they're making you do stuff when they're not even real! Please... listen to me, you are more than your illness, you are worth so much more—"
Taehyung starts walking without realizing it. Yoongi frowns, then his face softens more and more and disappointment and hurt settles in.
His glassy eyes focus on something behind them, and Taehyung doesn't have to check to know what he is seeing.
"Jimin," Yoongi says quietly, "Jimin, you have to get away from here, now. Please, I'm begging you, it's not safe—"
"Stop pushing me away!" Jimin begs, then, when he wants to step even closer to Yoongi, Taehyung starts running and wraps his arms around him. He drags Jimin to the ground with him, holding him as tightly as possible when he starts to struggle against his grip.
"You're not helping, Jimin!" he growls and sits up with the elder pressed against him. Jimin cries and tries to push him away, but he is exhausted and struggles to free himself.
Taehyung looks at Yoongi with pleading eyes.
"You know it doesn't have to end like this," he says. Yoongi shakes his head.
"Of course it does. I have to do this for him."
Taehyung knows who he is talking about.
"You don't!" he says loudly, "Seokjin's death was not your fault!"
"You don't know that!" Yoongi shouts back and lets go of the wall. For a moment, everything is still, and Taehyung expects the worst — but Yoongi doesn't fall, instead just presses his hands against his ears.
Like this, he looks like a wild, frightened animal, with his eyes frantically darting across the room, the pained expression on his face and his chest heaving quickly.
"You didn't kill Seokjin," Taehyung says loudly, "It was an accident."
"The accident was my fault."
"You weren't driving the car! It wasn't your fault!" Taehyung closes his eyes for a moment, breathes through deeply. "And even if it were — your death wouldn't make a difference."
Yoongi clenches his jaw. He stares at Taehyung like he wants so desperately to believe him, yet he shakes his head.
"It's revenge," he whispers, "They want to revenge him, that's why they're here, and I have to put an end to this, otherwise we're all going to suffer forever—"
"Yoongi they don't want to revenge him!" Taehyung interrupts him. He slowly eases his grip around Jimin who lies still in his arms, staring at Yoongi with wide, anxious eyes.
Yoongi grimaces.
"I knew you didn't believe me—"
"I do believe you!"
Taehyung's voice echoes through the entire building. He swears he can hear Jeongguk inhale sharply. He lets go of Jimin and slowly gets up.
"I believe you, I told you I do," he says again and steps forward, "I started believing you when I saw the deep scratches on your arms although you bite your fingernails."
Yoongi gives him an unassertive look. Taehyung continues.
"And no matter which medication you took, they never worked even one bit. No doctor could help you despite your clear diagnosis."
There are only a few meters between them anymore. If Taehyung reached out and leaned forward, he could grab Yoongi's arm, but the fear that the elder will fall at any moment still decides his every move.
"But all of that doesn't even matter," he eventually says and breathes through. His eyes are locked with Yoongi's. His throat runs dry; he licks his lips, clenches his hands.
"I believe you because I see them, too, Yoongi."
The following silence is excruciating. Yoongi's eyes widen the slightest bit. One heartbeat passes, two, three — he looks past Taehyung and they widen even more. When Taehyung turns around, slowly so, his breath catches in his throat at the sight in front of them.
A creature bigger than any of the ones he has seen before stands there, in the middle of the room. The skin tightens like rotten leather, a thick, black liquid dripping from its bared teeth. Bloodlust flickers in its white eyes as they drop down to Jimin who is still hunched up on the ground.
"No—" Yoongi breathes, and it's all Taehyung needs to break out of his paralysis. He grabs him by the arm and they bear down on Jimin. Yoongi manages to pull him out of the way before the monster's claws can dig into his fragile body.
"Come on!" Taehyung yells as he grabs Jeongguk's hand and they make a bolt for the door and run downstairs. He can hear a bloodcurdling screech behind them and the disgusting noise of long nails against stone, but he doesn't stop to look back, only sprints, Jeongguk's hand in his own, they have to make it out of here, they have to keep moving, keep everyone save —
Down in the hall, they come to an abrupt halt, but only shortly so. More screeches echo through the building from everywhere. Taehyung throws Yoongi a panicked look.
"Where do we go now?"
Yoongi looks around, then his eyes fall on a closed door in the back.
"There," he says and then runs towards it, pulling Jimin along with him. The door is locked, but Jeongguk tells them to stay away.
"I know how to do this," he mutters, then puts his foot near the lock and kicks the door as hard as possible. It flies open, just like it did back at Yoongi's apartment.
Jeongguk grimaces from the pain, so Taehyung helps him into he room which turns out to be an old office. The ground is covered in rubble and old papers; a desk, two chairs and a broken cabinet are standing in the room, covered in dust and spiderwebs. The screeching comes closer.
Once they're all inside, Taehyung closes the door and helps Jeongguk move the desk in front of it.
"Okay," he breathes, "That should do for the moment." He turns to Jeongguk. "Are you okay?"
Jeongguk nods, lips pressed together. He eyes Taehyung warily.
"What is going on?" he asks, and his voice sounds so low and threatening that it sends shivers down Taehyung's spine. His eyes meet Yoongi's who is holding a frantic Jimin close against his chest.
"They're... they're angry," Yoongi says, "The... things. Because you stopped me."
Jeongguk just lets out a frustrated groan and tangles his fingers in his hair. "What does that mean?" he exclaims, "Can someone please be fucking clear with me, because I'm not getting a single damn thing you're saying!"
Yoongi's jaw clenches. He looks grim when he speaks up again.
"Ever since the accident in which Seokjin died, I have been seeing these... creatures. They want me dead. I have to die because I killed Seokjin. Only then will they leave. And if I don't, then... they will hurt the ones I love." He looks up at Jimin who tears up and raises his hands to his cheeks.
"Baby, but that's nonsense," he tries for the nth time, "Seokjin didn't die because of you. You have to learn to stop beating yourself up about it."
Taehyung can hear the screeching and screaming all around them, above them, hears the dull thuds of limps hitting the ground running.
"We don't have forever, guys," he says, "We have to come up with a plan..."
"I know it's hard to live with the grief," Jimin continues, "We all feel it, every day—"
"But that is the problem," Yoongi interrupts him, "You wouldn't feel it if it weren't for me!"
Jimin quickly shakes his head. "No — hyung, that is not true. Your death wouldn't change anything! It wouldn't bring Seokjin back, there is nothing to be revenged, please, you have to believe me!"
"And you see them, too?" Jeongguk suddenly speaks up. Taehyung winces. The thuds get louder, again, like a ticking time bomb. Thud, thud, thud.
"How long?" Jeongguk asks oddly calm when Taehyung doesn't reply. He swallows dryly.
"A few weeks," he rasps, "I just... until now they never did anything. I only... saw one at a time, I thought perhaps they weren't real, I—"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Jeongguk asks and his voice breaks from the pain it bears. Taehyung frowns. His stomach sinks with something that feels so much like guilt and despair, it makes him want to cry.
"You... you wouldn't have believed me," he whispers, and it's from the realization that shines in Jeongguk's dark eyes that he knows he is right.
Thud, thud, thud, tick, tick, tick.
"Yoongi, you're so important to so many people, and we can... we can help you heal, okay? You just have to let us, it'll take time, but—" Jimin says, but Yoongi shakes his head.
"You don't get it," he mutters, and slowly, Taehyung is losing his patience.
"We have to get out of here, now!" he urges and looks around the room for another way to escape.
"No, I don't, Yoongi," Jimin says, "Because I'm not in your position. I don't know what it's like to live with the guilt every single day."
Taehyung halts. Wait.
"— but I'm here to understand. I want to help you, I don't want to lose you—"
Guilt. Taehyung's eyes flicker between Yoongi and Jimin, then to Jeongguk.
"Jesus Christ," Jeongguk suddenly growls which is followed by a screech from outside that he can't hear. It's close, way too close to the door.
"Can't you just fucking accept that your friend's death is not your fault? This is getting ridiculous, fuck!"
Yoongi glares at him, and driven by the anger about Jeongguk's insensitivity, he lets go of Jimin and turns towards him. Taehyung's heart beats up to his throat, painfully so.
"What did you just fucking say?" Yoongi hisses, "You have no idea what you're talking about, so shut the fuck up, okay?"
"Well, apparently you're getting all of us in danger with your weird pipe dreams, so maybe now is the time to get over it!"
"Jeongguk!"
"Keep your goddamn mouth shut about things you don't understand!" Yoongi yells and pushes Jeongguk back, so harshly that he hits the desk behind him, "How the fuck do you expect me to forgive myself when everyone around me still blames me for the accident?"
"No one's blaming you!" Jeongguk shouts back equally as mad and loud. Taehyung hears the screeching right in front of the door, then.
"You don't know the half of it!" Yoongi counters, tone as sharp as a knife, "Fucking... Namjoon and Hoseok — they blame me for all of it! I can't fucking take it anymore — Hoseok told me he hates me for it, he thinks I'm responsible, and I know he is right!"
"Yoongi," Jimin tries, grabs his hand and pulls him away, but Yoongi just rips his hand out of his grip. Something heavy throws against the door, but Yoongi is too riled up to notice it; only Taehyung stares at the door, wide eyed, paralyzed from fear.
"I was the one with him in the car, I was the one who didn't fucking stop him when he wanted to drive, I let him drive the car, I let him fucking die. So don't tell me to just get over it!"
Guilt, Taehyung thinks again, Guilt, forgiveness, guilt, Hoseok, Hoseok, Hoseok—
"I got it," he whispers, "I think I know what's going on."
He feels all eyes on him, then, but doesn't get to speak as another thud lands against the door and this time moves the desk far enough away to push Jeongguk to the ground. He yelps.
"What the fuck?" he shouts, exasperated.
Taehyung can see one of the creatures long arms reach into the room, thin and veiny, dagger-like fingernails.
"Quick," he says, then turns to Jimin, "You have to call Hoseok and Namjoon and tell them to come here."
Jimin just frowns in confusion. "What—"
"I think I know what's going on," he says again and breathes slowly to calm himself down. Their time is running out, but he has to stay collected now. The monster is desperately pushing against the heavy door, trying to get into the room and hurt them, possibly even worse.
Tick, tick, tick—
"It's the guilt," he says, "Yoongi hyung feels guilty for Seokjin's death which is why he can see them."
Jeongguk shakes his head in disbelief, but Taehyung can see that Yoongi is already understanding. He keeps going.
"I don't know if this will work — who knows, really — but I think that because Yoongi refuses to forgive himself, he sees them. And he can't forgive himself for as long as Hoseok and Namjoon still blame him for the accident. So, maybe, and it... it sounds crazy, but if we get them here and they talk... we have to try it. I think if we can make one step in the right direction, we might be able to defeat them." He pauses, frowning at himself. "Whatever that means."
Jeongguk furrows his brows. "Taehyung, what the fuck—"
But Taehyung shuts him up. "We have to go, now!"
The creature pushes the door open now. They all back away. Jeongguk spots a chair and uses it to break one of the windows in, then he quickly takes off his jacket and puts it over the frame so the shards won't cut anyone. He climbs out, then yells, "Come on!" and helps the others through.
Jimin has his phone in his hand, pressed against his ear. He lets out something like a cry when no one picks up, then he tries it again.
"Fuck, they're not — oh my God, Namjoon hyung?"
Taehyung feels the relief wash over him, but only shortly; the monster's bald head sticks through the window and it lets out a deafening screech. Yoongi's eyes widen; he grabs Jimin's arm, and they all run.
"Hyung — we need your help, please, this is... this is urgent... I have no time to explain, you, Hoseok, you have to come... the... the factory, please, I'm begging you — ah!"
Jimin lets out a pained cry. Then, everything happens so fast.
He makes one wrong step, twists his ankle, and falls. Yoongi, who is closest to him, comes to an abrupt halt.
"No!"
He rushes back and tries to help Jimin up, but the monster is there already and lifts its claw.
For an awfully long moment, Taehyung hears and feels nothing, just sees the sharp nails and Yoongi and Jimin right beneath.
Then, the hand strikes Yoongi, and he lets out an anguished cry out as he stumbles back, away from Jimin, and holds the side of his face. The monster grabs Jimin by the waist and lifts him up as if he weighed nothing.
The whole world stands still for a moment. Jimin stares at Yoongi, the mortal agony clear in his wide eyes, lips parted to a silent scream. Something like realization washes over his face.
Then, the moment is over, and the creature runs back to the building with Jimin in its arms.
"No!" Yoongi screams, so loudly his vocal cords must be close to ripping, and he runs after them, but there is no use; the monster is too fast, and then it's gone and so is Jimin. Yoongi runs for another few meters, then drops to his knees and curls in on himself as he lets out a bloodcurdling scream.
Taehyung and Jeongguk are with him in a second, but no matter what they do or say, he seems numb to it. There are three huge bloody gashes on the left side of his face and the blood is dripping on the grass and running into his eyes, but Yoongi doesn't even seem to notice the pain. He wipes the blood away, then sits up, his shoulders hunched, his eyes empty.
Taehyung's eyes flicker across his face.
"Yoongi?" he whispers, but the man doesn't respond. He feels his entire body tremble as the cold wind engulfs them. The sky has turned into a dark grey.
"Yoongi, listen, please," he weakly shakes his shoulder, "Yoongi, can you hear me?"
The man finally looks at him, blinking, eyes dark and empty.
"He's gone," he whispers, "They took him, he — he's gone."
Taehyung is quick to shake his head. His bottom lip trembles.
"No, Yoongi, he's not gone, okay? We're going to get him back, we'll save him, I promise—"
"He's gone!" Yoongi shouts and pushes Taehyung away, "I told you to take him home and keep him safe, I told you—"
For a moment, his face contorts with anger, and Taehyung even expects him to punch him. But then, as quickly as it came, all fight leaves Yoongi at once and he hunches over and cries.
And Taehyung cries, too.
But Yoongi doesn't stay on the ground for long. He gasps and sobs and pushes himself up, almost loses balance again and staggers. For a moment, looks around as if he lost his orientation.
"We have to go find him," he says, "We have to — they'll kill him."
Taehyung opens his mouth, but much to his surprise it is Jeongguk who speaks up.
"They won't."
Taehyung stares at him. He looks uncomfortable yet he keeps talking.
"If... what you said is true then they won't kill him. They want you instead. They know you will come to get him."
Yoongi's eye twitches. His nostrils flare.
"And what do you expect me to do?" he spits, "Just sit around and wait for them to finish torturing him?"
"I didn't say that," Jeongguk says quietly, but Yoongi doesn't want to hear it.
"It's what you meant!" he shouts, then he turns to Taehyung. "Are you coming?"
Taehyung gets up, too, then turns to Jeongguk.
"Come on," he says and wipes the drying tears from his cheeks, "We have to get him."
Jeongguk throws a conflicted look at Yoongi, then at Taehyung. Slowly, he stands up but doesn't make a move to follow them.
"You go, I'll stay here," he says, and when he sees the protest building on Taehyung's face, he is quick to continue. "I can't see them anyway. I wouldn't be able to defend myself. Besides, in case Namjoon and Hoseok come, someone should be here to meet them."
Yoongi huffs. "Okay, whatever — we can't lose any more time, though. Let's go, Taehyung!" He turns away and starts walking back to the factory, but Taehyung can't move.
He stands there, staring at Jeongguk, as an overwhelming sense of stress and concern overcomes him.
"What if they attack you anyway?" he asks. He can't risk Jeongguk getting hurt. Rather would he die first.
"Maybe they won't, we don't know," Jeongguk argues, "Besides, I'd be in danger either way. I'll be fine, okay? Don't worry."
"I always will, you know that."
Jeongguk cracks a gentle smile. "I know."
Taehyung steps close and kisses him deeply. He tries to revel in the feeling of Jeongguk's lips for as long as possible, draws the necessary strength he needs from them. He wishes the moment would last forever.
But eventually, they have break apart. He presses his forehead against Jeongguk's.
"I love you," he pants. Jeongguk touches his cheek.
"I love you, too. Now go, okay? Be careful."
Taehyung nods and takes a step back. "I will," he says, then he follows Yoongi. His heart feels heavier than ever as he walks away from Jeongguk and follows Yoongi back into the factory.
His entire body pulsates.
He tastes blood.
This could be the end.