Treasures of The Damned

36. The Clouds Are Glowing

Briar froze when she heard Hongjoong's voice before she shook her head. "No. No you're lying. It's not my fault. The semi driver that hit the car- they're the reason-..." she trailed off for a moment and Hongjoong purred.

"The semi driver wasn't at fault. Song Mingi blew a red light. No one truly knew why. But I know. I was there when they reviewed the security cameras to see what happened."

"Like I'm going to believe a word you fucking say." She snapped back, staring at HongJoong with hatred burning in her eyes.

"Perhaps you don't. But that doesn't matter to me much. I'm still going to tell you the truth either way."

"Fine. Say your lies."

"Mingi blew a red light. It was hard to see why he did it, but from the cameras, it seems like he was arguing with who was in the front seat next to him, your dad."

"Okay? And what does that have to do with me?" Briar asked in a sarcastic tone. "I don't give two shits about your lies."

"Ah but you will, dear Birdy." Hongjoong responded quietly before humming and smirking softly. "I asked Mingi about it, not long after we all came back to life in these animatronic bodies.

"He told me that him and Logan were arguing about you. Logan wanted to send you to school, give you a chance at an education. Mingi didn't. He figured you could do an online school program, or he could homeschool you."

With each word, Briar's sarcastic loon fell into more of a horrified one. She knew that arguement. They'd had it many times in front of her. She never really understood it, until she was older of course.

"Stop. You're lying. Stop lying to me." She whispered softly, shaking her head as she stunned and fell into one of the chairs facing the stage, which she now started to stare blankly at.

"I'm not lying to you, Birdy. I'm telling you the truth. You're the reason your parents died. You're the reason their last words to each other was arguing. You didn't grow up with parents because of your own fucking fault."

In a flash, Briar had stood and landed a solid kick to Hongjoong's chest, sending him tumbling back into stage chairs.

"Ah. There she is. A scared little girl who resorts to fighting when she's backed into a corner." Hongjoong purred softly, tilting his head as he stood up slowly and watched her just as another cry came from where Yunho and her parents had ran towards.

Briar tilted her head before turning to look at the door they'd gone through, and she paused for a moment, looking worried before she glanced up at Hongjoong just as he tried to swipe at her. She quickly put her leg up to try and kick at him and defend herself, but his claws raked along her calf and she cried out in pain as he reopened the earlier claw marks Seonghwa had helped heal.

Blood instantly started to run down her leg, and instantly black dots started to fill her vision as new marks, as well as reopened one's started to bleed heavy. She watched through lidded eyes as Hongjoong took a step towards her and grabbed the collar of her shirt, pulling her so they would be face to face and he smirked.

"I finally caught the little Birdy. Should I keep her as a pet? Or should I kill the pesky beast?"

"How about...you let her go...?" She muttered back softly and huffed, tilting her head back, faintly hearing her neck pop from the new position.

"Nah. That's too easy. I think I'll kill her. Such an annoying Birdy, it's the exact thing the people around the world would want."

Just as Hongjoong raised his clawed hand to come down, Briar put her arm up to cover her neck and face, crying out in pain once more when the claws easily sliced through her shirt and skin.

When Hongjoong pulled the claws out, another small, weaker cry escaped Briar's lips as she got even weaker with the blood pouring from all her wounds.

Hongjoong just laughed softly as he watched Briar struggle and try to sit up to get away from him, but she couldn't get that far the weaker that she got. The pool of blood underneath her already made her look dead, and she slowly raised her heat to look up at Hongjoong and glare at him.

"You can't get rid of me this easily. I'm not going to die quickly."

"You are if you don't have any more blood for your heart to pump, however." He responded easily, watching her as he took a step closer.

It was getting harder and harder for briar to keep her eyes open to wait for Hong joong's attack, and just as they closed she heard him move forward, causing her to tense.

She didn't feel any sort of attack, however, and she slowly forced herself to look up. There, was her papa.

Hongjoong smirked softly when Mingi stopped his claws from giving the final blow, and he took a step back, tilting his head. "Wow. You really got here quick. You still care about her, even though she cost you and Logan your lives."

"Shut up, Hongjoong. She's not the reason that we died. You know that. It was my own stupid reason that I wasn't paying attention to the road ahead of me. I killed myself and my husband. I injured my daughter. But none of this was her fault."

Papa has a deep voice...it's very soothing... She thought to herself slowly, closing her eyes as she tried to fight and hear what him and Mingi were saying.

"Papa..." she whispered after a few moments, glancing up at Mingi and Hongjoong, trying to stay awake.

Mingi soared a glance back at her and made a worried look as he reached one hand out.

"No. Songbird. I need you to stay awake. Please. Fight to stay awake. Fight to see me. Fight to see Logan."

Briar slowly nodded her head, but it felt more like she just moved her head and it fell forward. Voices were fading in and out around her and she took a small little breath. Each breath felt like someone punched her.

She couldn't fight anymore. She felt tired. So so tired. She wanted to rest. And, as she heard Mingi throw Hongjoong away from them and gentle hands on her shoulders, she let herself rest, for what felt like the first time in forever.