Trepidation

Chapter 38: Vessels and The Final Battle

"You're not dead!" Yoongi exclaimed.

"Neither are you!" I mocked. Well, I was definitely feeling dead, but I was truly happy to see the rest of Bangtan unharmed and alive.

Hoseok hoisted me to my feet, shooting me a gentle smile.

"Woah Jihye you have a whole Harem," Chaeyoung commented.

I glared. "I do not, I'm only dating Jimin!"

"You're what?" I watched Namjoon frown.

I sighed. "Can we talk about this later? I'm pretty sure Wonwoo and his groupies are going to show up any minute now."

They nodded and I looked up only to feel sick once again. Rows upon rows of weird clear cylindrical glass tubes lined the wall. Each filled with a strange blue liquid and a freshly deceased body.

I was really grossed out though when I spotted a naked Jinyoung from math class floating around in the tube.

Wonwoo had some messed up collection of dead humans and ability users. I assumed the blue liquid was used to preserve the bodies.

I ignored the urge to hurl moving closer to inspect the cases holding the bodies captive. My face paled significantly when I noticed the small heart monitors towards the bottom of the tomb.

There were lines. These people were all still alive.

I turned away from the many tubes, noticing a small chair hooked up to many different kinds of wires that were connected to what appears to be a tomb.

"Seok Joong?"

I peered over my shoulders to see Seokjin staring at one of the vessels his eyes filled with tears. The two of them had a striking resemblance.

Was that his brother he had spoken so fondly about?

"Jin," I muttered.

"Well, you found all of my toys have you?"

I become frozen at the sight of Wonwoo in the doorway, not even a scratch on his perfectly tailored clothes.

"I'm really disappointed in you Jihye, I thought you felt the bond between us. I guess I'll just have to move our trip back home to today," he sighed.

Other council members started filing in behind him and surged forward to attack us as Wonwoo headed over to the strange chair.

I sprung into action following after Taehyung who clipped open some small vials attached to his waist.

The liquid spiralled into clear tendrils hurtling towards the alert council members.

I sent a wave of heat following after it, the sudden change in temperature left the victims convulsing in shock.

I made a dash towards Wonwoo who was currently hooking himself up to the machine hanging over the chair.

I skidded across the ice he had laid out on the floor, trying to keep my balance while maintaining speed. I set my feet on fire.

The flames literally burned through my shoes, but the extra grip was worth it as I hurtled towards the irritated male.

A woman with a silver badge appeared in front of me shooting a ball of what seemed to be molten rock my way.

I very narrowly dodged, already running out of stamina when another one was hurled my way.

This one managed to graze my shirt and I sent Jungkook a grateful glance when he electrocuted her.

"Your such a pest," Wonwoo groaned, not even looking as he propelled a sea of jagged shards towards me.

I winced as the shards pierced my body, a sharp and sudden pain blinding my senses.

I stumbled forward, my will not enough to keep my legs moving as an ice chunk became logged in the spot just above my knee.

"Jihye!" I heard Chaeyoung shout and I watched with half-lidded eyes she sent a sphere of green light my way.

To my dismay, it was intercepted by a man who shot me a devious grin as the open wound on his side healed.

"Quite disappointing actually," Wonwoo frowned. "I'm almost glad you didn't join me. Your skills pale in comparison to mine."

I shot him a nasty glare, forcing myself to stand up on shaky legs. The pain was nearly unbearable. With every step towards him, I felt blood and freezing water rushing down my leg. Then suddenly it stopped- in fact, at that moment, I felt entirely numb. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wonwoo begin to smirk.

I didn't realize I was screaming until I felt my throat begin to throb. It felt as if my leg was being enveloped in flames- a strange and unwelcome feeling. Looking down, I finally realized the source of this nearly indescribable pain-the reason for the halt in blood flow.

He was freezing it. Wonwoo was turning my veins to ice.

That was- until Jimin suddenly appeared next to Wonwoo. For a moment, everything was still, almost in slow motion, I watched my boyfriend's expression change. His eyes seemed to drain of colour and he grinned darkly. Wonwoo stilled had his hands and eyes trained on me, focusing on the sadistic task of turning my insides into ice.

Then suddenly time sped back up and Jimin's hands were around my brother's neck. Wonwoo's hands fell instantly and then rose again in a weak attempt to pry off the hands crushing his windpipe. His panicked eyes searched for the attacker, but came up short.

As Wonwoo choked and gasped I began to feel blood dripping down my leg again- his freezing grip was gone- but it was as if a dam had opened. I crashed onto the floor, caught only by the weak hold of my wrists, which eventually gave out as well. Blood pooled slowly around me, almost mocking the speed of the action around me as people fought with fists and elbows and flames and electricity.

This can't be the end.

Though my vision was blurred a murky crimson shade, I made out my brother's figure, on the ground a few feet in front of me on the cave ground. Jimin stood above him with his eyes still shining darkly. He was mine, but in that moment I didn't recognize him. He was Jimin, but the word seemed lost too deep beneath his pupils.

The world was going dark and there was nothing I- or anybody- could do about it. In my last moment of consciousness I met my brother's fluttering, closing eyes- for the first time, they looked afraid, panicked, and alone; he looked like what he was, a boy- and formed a single incoherent thought:

Sorry

..before my brother and I both tumbled into unconsciousness.