The Hanes Enigma

Chapter Two - Unlikely Pairing

Kim Seokjin

Ten Years Ago

My hands cling to each other so tightly, I can see every vein in my fingers.

I know what today is. It's the first Wednesday of the month. Wednesday, being the day of the trickster Mercury, is the most effective time to do any dark magick. And so, on the first Wednesday of every month, I kill someone. I don't know who they are, my father sources them.

"Seokjin!" My father calls for me. I gulp the dread down my throat and let my feet take me down the familiar hallway and to the room we do all sacrifices in. From the tension in the air, I can already tell something is different.

I look down at the boy tied to the pentagram and clench my jaw. He's older than me, as is the norm, but not by that much. Maybe in his early twenties? My stomach drops at the sight of chest: small tattoo underneath his left collarbone. He's not human. He's a Kalama.

"No."

"Seokjin, you're sixteen. You're not a baby anymore. You can move on from animals now." My father rolls his eyes.

"That.. That's not... I can't." My teeth are gritted so hard I genuinely think one of them might break.

A loud crack of hand to skin reverberates around the room. I look down, knowing I deserved it. You don't answer back to my father.

"Get it done. Five minutes." His eyebrows raise warningly and I nod.

My father leaves the room and I stare at the boy for a moment. His eyes are a glowing umber and pleading to me. My hands shake as I walk over to pick up my usual knife.

As I turn, I see the boy somehow managed to burn the cloth that gagged him. "Please. I don't want to die and you don't want to kill me! Just let me go and pretend you did it."

"Th-That's not how it works.. He takes the bodies afterwards..." I mumble, not meeting his eyes.

"What if I overpowered you? I'll make a run for it and you say you couldn't stand up to me." He offers hopefully.

"The moment he sees you running he'll shoot you and then punish me for not being strong enough..." I grit my teeth. "I'm sorry. It's not personal, it's just bad luck."

His eyes widen, panicked as I step closer to him. He grunts in pain as the blade slips through his skin, blood dripping down his arms like lace. My tears mix with the metallic smelling liquid on the floor and his eyes implore me.

"What's your name?" He's panicked and yet his voice is steady, almost calm. They're never calm. They're always trying to thrash around and it makes killing them so much harder. "Something Jin, right?"

"Seokjin.."

"How old are you, Seokjin?" He smiles gently and I frown, confused.

"Just turned sixteen..." My voice is meek and I wonder how hard my father would beat me if he could hear our current conversation.

"Good. That's good." He smiles again.

I frown more. "Why?.."

"Because I've had a brainwave. You don't like it here, right? You dream about leaving." His face is warm and kind and it makes me want to burst into tears and just sob into my hands.

Instead, I simply nod, confirming his suspicions.

"How about we both leave?"

I shake my head immediately. "I-I can't. He'd find me."

"You know what I am, right?"

I nod again.

"I can keep you safe, Seokjin."

"J-Just Jin..."

His smile grows and he nods. "Jin, I'm asking you to trust me. I can help you. We can help each other."

I gape at him. He's serious. "How would we even get out?"

"You're gonna cut me loose, and then we wait for your father to come back in. I'll keep him busy while you run to the door. Once you have it open, you call me and I can fly us into the forest a few hundred yards away. I won't be able to carry both of us much further than that, but then we'll have enough of a head-start to run. I'll take you back home and we can give you sanctuary until we find a witch family willing to take you in."

The offer is so tempting. I imagine a new family, a mother, maybe a dog. It seems just out of reach. Maybe if I stretched a little further.

I don't think any more. I don't let myself hesitate. I use the sacrificial knife to cut the ropes that tie the Kalama down. He quickly jumps to his feet and snatches the knife from my hands.

Fuck. He's not going to kill me, is he? That can't have all been a lie. Tears swell at my eyes and I start shaking from dread. I'm such a fucking wimp.

"Jin, it's okay. Stay brave for me." He squeezes my shoulder comfortingly before putting his back to the wall.

Right on time, I hear my father's footsteps as he approaches the room. The door creaks open and my father's eyes meet mine. He looks down at the pentagram on the floor and glares back at me.

"Seokjin. What the fuck did you-" The Kalama lunges from behind the door, the knife grazing my father's forearm.

"Jin, the door!" The Kalama growls out and I sprint down the hallway, past my bedroom and down the stairs. In my peripheral vision, I see my brother's door open, curious as to the cause of the commotion. I ignore him and rattle the handle of the back door. Locked, as always. I groan and kick, punch, elbow at the door. Nothing makes any difference.

"Use your magick." My brother's voice.

I grin and shut my eyes tightly, mustering up all the magickal energy I have. I think of the Kalama and that makes me picture fire. The door is wooden, fire will do nicely. I push my arms forward, hitting the door, and a wall of flame attacks the wood. I watch as it practically melts in front of me.

"K-Kalama!" I shout, not knowing his name.

I see a flash of orange and red. The air is forced from my lungs and I feel a strong arm around my stomach. Air rushes over my skin forming goosebumps and then suddenly my head meets a pillow of wet mud. I groan and hold the thrumming area.

We made it into the forest. Trees reach for the night sky and stars laugh cruelly down at them. I look around, searching for the Kalama. A few metres away, I see him on his hands and knees.

"Kalama, are you okay?" I run over, hand still attached to the growing bump on my head.

"Run."

In horror, I see him slump to the ground. Blood covers every inch of his skin and I know that wasn't from the cut I gave him. My father must have been stronger than this boy realised. I gulp, dreading the thought of the mage's reaction to me attempting to leave. I loop the Kalama's arm over my shoulders and wobble slightly, trying to get a balance. With shaky legs, I begin to walk deeper into the forest. I may not know where to find this boy's family, but I can at least try to hide us until he can tell me. Otherwise, we're both doomed.