Spawn ✦ Nomin

04

Jeno's eyes weakly open, finding Jaemin hovering over him with deep concern laced into his expression.

"Jeno! Are you okay? What the fuck just happened?" he asks.

"I...I don't know. That's never happened before," Jeno mumbles, "How long have I been out?"

"I think about ten minutes," Jaemin answers, "Maybe longer."

Jeno nods and looks around the room. He scrambles to his feet, stumbling a bit as he does so, and Jaemin holds out for him wearily.

"Be careful," Jaemin hisses, earning a chuckle from Jeno.

"Don't be so concerned about me. You should be more worried about yourself," he advises.

"Maybe if you didn't summon a demon and get possessed by it, then maybe I wouldn't have to worry at all," Jaemin lectures in a mocking tone.

"You're really something else, aren't you?" Jeno chuckles lightly before turning away and striding over to his podium. He flips open a book which sits on it and flicks through a few of the pages. Jaemin swears he hears Jeno mumble something along the lines of 'yep, this is the one' before shutting it and picking it up.

The book itself was thicker than any novel Jaemin had seen in his life, and the dimensions of it appeared to be much larger as well. The cover was a pitch black shade with spots worn out from extensive use. The pages are yellowed and Jaemin could just tell it must smell extremely musty.

"This way," Jeno instructs with a nod of his head towards the door. Jaemin compliantly follows, and upon exiting the room, Jeno shuts the door hastily behind him.

Jeno leads the way down the hall once more, stopping at a door on the other side. He swiftly opens it and motions for Jaemin to enter. Jaemin hesitantly steps inside and is met with the sight of a bedroom.

A queen sized bed sits against the middle of the wall across the way and has deep blue sheets on them. A desk with a large computer setup is placed just beside the bed with what looks like a gaming chair in front of it.

So he plays video games?

Moving on from the impressive setup, Jaemin takes note of the various red candles placed all around the room. All of them are lit, just like all the others in the house.

"Are you not concerned about those being a fire hazard?" Jaemin inquires.

"Not really," Jeno states before setting the tome down in an open space on his desk, "I need to go find Jisung and Xiao. Make yourself comfortable. I'll be just a moment." At that, Jeno strides past Jaemin and out of his room.

Jaemin stands idly in place in the middle of the room, uncertain what exactly to do with himself. He glances towards the bed and contemplates sitting on it, but he determines he shouldn't get that comfortable. His eyes then flit towards the gaming chair, deciding it's the most ideal place to take a seat. He wanders towards the chair and pulls it out, plopping down into it as soon as he has enough space to maneuver himself into it.

Jaemin lets out a small sigh and places his hands awkwardly in his lap. His eyes wander to the tome beside him, and he attempts to read the cover.

"Is that...Latin?" Jaemin whispers to himself as he furrows his eyebrows at the book.

He tries to pry his eyes away from it, but he's unable to do so. Curiosity begins festering in his mind, and he can't help but wonder what content the book holds. He shakes his head, telling himself looking inside is surely a terrible idea.

But that isn't enough to stop him.

His hand delicately rests on the old book as he determines that maybe a small peek wouldn't hurt anyone. He gently lifts the cover and turns the pages with caution.

Unsurprisingly, the book is written in the same language as the cover. The only thing Jaemin can understand in the slightest are the occasional pictures. He takes a large chunk of pages and turns them to a random page, finding the drawing of what appears to be a young woman. She looks beautiful and seemingly radiates light from her entire body. Another picture of the same woman appears on the next page, but this time she has a set of wings on her back and is wearing a long dress. Jaemin turns the page and finds a picture of an indistinct black shadow engulfing the woman, smothering her.

Jaemin feels his breathing heighten and his pulse accelerate. He wasn't sure why, but the drawing strikes a sort of fear deep down in his core.

A loud slam of a door startles Jaemin, and he shuts the book hastily. He spins around in the chair to find the door is now shut.

"Fuck," he whimpers.

Suddenly, Jaemin feels a warm drop of something land on his cheek. He touches the odd liquid and examines the pads of his fingers. Crimson?

Blood.

Jaemin lifts his eyes to peer up at the ceiling. A large pentagram is drawn in deep red. Blood drips from the pentagram for a few moments as Jaemin stares at it. But the dripping turns to a light stream, then, a gush of blood showers over Jaemin.

Jaemin shrieks in terror. The room is covered in blood, as is he. He stands from the chair and bolts it towards the bedroom door. He twists and turns the knob, but it keeps slipping from his grasp. He begins to wail and pound his fists hard at the door.

To his surprise, it opens.

And Jeno stands with a raised eyebrow on the other side.

"What's all the screaming about?" he asks.

"There-there's-there's blood. Blood everywhere," Jaemin stammers.

"No there's not," Jeno replies as his expression hardens.

"Y-yes there is! Look at-"

Jaemin's voice drops off at the realization the bedroom is completely dry. Not a trace of blood could be seen. He glances down and finds the same is true for himself.

"I-I-" Jaemin stutters in pure shock.

"Come on," Jeno murmurs, "You must be having delusions from the heat. Or maybe you're just extremely tired. Go wait for me in the living room. I'll be down in just a minute."