Bloodline | Maknae Line (21+)

21:

Chapter 21:

Sitting in the car with Jimin, on the way to the hospital, you were a bundle of nerves. You fidgeted with your fingers, tugging on your hangnails, snapping your knuckles and biting your lip. Selena had said nothing about what had happened. An accident, she'd said. That could mean anything. Was Katie unconscious? Did she need surgery? Was she dying? You choked back a sob and you felt Jimin's eyes on you.

"One of your friends?" He asked, breaking the panicked silence. You flinched, almost forgetting that he was there.

"Um, yeah... I don't know what happened. She just said that she's in the hospital, I—" You stopped and looked up, a thought occurring to you. "Jimin, how did you react so fast?"

"What?" Jimin blinked, caught off-guard by your question.

"You were ready before I even had a chance to get down the stairs." You explained, watching as wariness entered Jimin's gaze. "How were you already prepared when I got there?"

He sighed, his grip tightening on the wheel. "I was already on my way out and I heard your phone ringing, so I eavesdropped a little bit."

"On your way out? Where?" You tilted your head.

Jimin smirked wryly. "I was hoping to go to the hospital, actually. We're running low on blood bags."

You blinked in surprise and faced the windshield again. In your haste to leave as quickly as you could, you hadn't really cared that it was Jimin. But now that your initial shock had faded, you felt more than just scared for Katie. You were scared of him too.

It was a strange feeling. You hadn't been scared of him before. Before, he seemed to be the least volatile, if a bit manipulative. You knew he wore a mask around you, that much was easy. But he'd never scared you. Not like he was now. Not like he had yesterday, when he'd caged you in and spoke in that deathly calm voice that made you want to sprint in the opposite direction. Jungkook and Taehyung had both warned you about him.

He just puts on an act for you so you trust him.

You don't know what he's capable of.

You glanced at him out of the corner of your eye. He was focused on the road, his eyes narrowed and jaw tight. You wondered if he was telling the truth about the whole bagged blood excuse. You supposed it didn't matter. What mattered was getting to the hospital. What mattered was Katie. You gritted your teeth when thoughts of Katie entered your mind again. You were driving yourself crazy, thinking the worst. Selena had sounded so panicked, so rattled that you could only assume the worst. You would never forgive yourself if something happened to her. Never.

If you hadn't cut them off, if you hadn't moved out, could you have done something? Could you have protected her somehow? Perhaps you could have finally gotten her away from that toxic boyfriend, Caden. You hadn't thought about Caden for so long, but what if he'd been the cause? What if you left and then she dies because you were busy shacking up with a trio of ill-tempered vampires who all hated you in their own way?

"What about the others?" You blurted, needing to distract yourself from the horrible thoughts in your head. Jimin glanced at you and looked back at the road, remaining quiet for a few moments.

"Taehyung went out late. He was..." Jimin trailed off and looked away, you saw a wary look in his eyes, as if he were deciding whether or not to keep talking. You sighed.

"I know he was with someone. You don't have to cover for him." You deadpanned. Jimin coughed.

"Okay, well then... yeah, he had someone over. He doesn't like it when they spend the night so he went out to return them..." He trailed off again when you gave him a look.