Spawn ✦ Nomin

74

With a harsh jerk of his hand, Jeno slices open Jaemin's throat. Blood starts to pour out from the deep wound, and Jaemin starts gasping and choking violently.

Jeno suddenly drops the knife, letting it fall to the wooden floor with a clatter.

"Jaemin!" he screams.

He flicks his hand and all of the vines which bind Jaemin slither back into the floorboards like snakes. Jeno jumps over to sit beside Jaemin and starts pressing his hands against his throat as if it'd do something to stop the bleeding.

But the damage had already been done.

"I'm so sorry. Jaemin. Jaemin, baby. Please! Please don't go. Don't leave me. I didn't mean it. I didn't-I..."

Jaemin's blinks begin to elongate. Jeno moves his hands to Jaemin's shoulders and attempts to shake him harshly, but it's no use.

"Jaemin, please! I love you!" Jeno weeps as tears begin flooding down his face.

Jaemin weakly raises his hand up to touch Jeno's face, but it remains there for barely a second before it drops. Jaemin's lips part as if he wanted to speak, but nothing comes out except a small, faint exhale of air.

"No! No! Please!" Jeno screeches at the top of his lungs.

He pulls Jaemin into his arms and holds him close to his chest. He sobs violently into his shoulder while the boy's body lies limp in his arms. His own body trembles as he gasps for air.

"You've done well, my son," Jeno's father states.

Jeno snaps his head towards him, snarling at the man who forced him to murder his true love. But the snarl morphs into a look of shock.

His father stands beside two ghostly figures in completely white suits. One with circular specs and prominent cheekbones, the other with a solemn stare which pierces straight through Jeno.

"Mark...Jaemin..." he utters under his breath.

"It's time to raise Hell," his father states with extreme amusement. He pats both boys on the back and they extend their arms out, palms facing down towards the floor. They shut their eyes and their hands begin to glow a bright white. The floorboards begin to shake as an orangish-yellow light seeps through the cracks.

The floor below Jaemin's body begins to deteriorate and break away where the pentagram is. Jeno hastily yanks Jaemin's body away from the space and scrambles back with him in his arms, watching as a fiery void appears in the middle of the room. A sudden rush of black spirits and creatures come flooding out, all of them screaming in different pitches and volumes which make it extremely intense to listen to.

The boys then stop, their hands now dimming and the spirits ceasing their escape from Hell. Jeno's father snaps his fingers and Jeno is pulled over to them by some type of extreme force.

"Now for your final mission as a half human," his father states, "You must shed your last bit of humanity. Destroy the boy's soul."

He pushes Jaemin's soul forward towards Jeno so that the two stand face to face. He stares into his opaque eyes for several long seconds, feeling his heart being torn to shreds as he gazed at the face of the boy he tried so hard to protect at all costs.

"I'm so sorry...I failed you..." he whispers ever so quietly to Jaemin.

"He's of no use to either of us, anymore. Do it!" Jeno's father bellows, "Do it now!"

Suddenly, Jeno feels a very warm hand rest lightly on his shoulder. He watches as his father's face suddenly morphs into a vaguely shocked expression before returning to that of a sneer.

"Taeyong...I've been expecting you," Jeno's father states.

"Well, it wouldn't be a war without the head angel confronting the overlord of Hell, now would it?" Taeyong says lightheartedly despite the situation.

"As expected. I can't wait to destroy your worthless soul...once my son has taken up his true form as a devil," his father responds.

Jeno looks between Jaemin and his father with a sort of anxiousness which makes him feel unsure of what to do.

"Jeno...you don't have to do this," Taeyong murmurs softly to him.

"What choice do I have?" Jeno asks weakly.

"You have the choice to take over your own destiny," Taeyong replies.

"I-I thought I couldn't ch-change fate," Jeno responds.

"You can't. Now join me, my son," his father hisses venomously, "Think of all the wonderful, horrific things we can do together."

"Jeno, you have an innate sense of love and kindness in your heart. That type of trait isn't usually dominant in humans who are on the path to becoming a demon. That's not something you can pin on your human half," Taeyong explains, "Have you never once wondered what your mother was intended to become once she died?"

"Sh-she went to purgatory," Jeno stammers.

"No, your father sent her to purgatory," Taeyong retorts, "Had your mother not been sent there and destroyed-"

"Don't you dare lie to my son about his mother!" Jeno's father booms with such a rage that it causes Jeno to cower in fear.

"Are you really trying to accuse an angel of lying?" Taeyong laughs dryly.

"Taeyong, please...what was my mother intended to be?" Jeno questions.

He turns to face the man whom shines much brighter than he had when he met him in Heaven. It nearly blinded him upon looking, but he quickly adjusts and waits expectantly for an answer.

"Your mother was an angel."