Sitting in a car for hours on end, in the middle of a snow storm, was not Nayeon's idea of fun, yet, that's exactly where she was; it had not been her idea to leave the Christmas party early and her frustration was apparent. Unfortunately, she was not alone in the frigid box as it trudged along the mountain road; along for the ride was her long time on and off boyfriend, Jungkook. Nayeon and Jungkook were current embroiled in an argument about her dislike of his conduct at said Christmas party; Jungkook, in the passenger seat, faced the window in an attempt to ignore her.
"How could do that at my office party?" She asked, trying not to shout
"What do you want from me? You know I don't deal with elevators well"
"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Definitely upset about you not wanting to get into the elevator and not about you losing your fucking mind about leaving the oven on. You're so fucking oblivious sometimes"
"It's a realistic fear, isn't it?"
"There's a difference between wondering if you had left it on, and screaming that the house was going to burn down"
"It could happen, so I don't see what's wrong with worrying"
"Worry all the fuck you want, it still doesn't give you the right to make a fool of me in front of my co-workers. Do you know embarrassing it is trying to talk your boyfriend out of calling the power company to shut off our gas stove?"
The car was silent for some minutes, neither party wishing to be the first to speak; Nayeon was too focused on not spinning out and hitting a snow drift to be concerned about the lack of conversation. Eventually, Jungkook broke the silence.
"Look, I'm really sorry for overreacting and embarrassing you in front of your boss. Can we-"
"Don't talk please. I'm concentrating on not killing us right now" Nayeon barked, she softened her tone and said "Apology accepted. Don't worry I still love you"
"I love-"
His words are silenced by the roar of a truck's horn as it raced towards them, showing no signs of slowing down; Nayeon slammed on the brakes on instinct. This action sent the car into a drift, removing all control from Nayeon, and sent the rear end of the car right into the front of the speeding truck. There was a moment of deafening silence before the night air was filled with the squealing, churning sound of metal on metal; the grill of the truck rammed into the trunk of the car with such force that it sent the car into a spin in the opposite direction, throwing the occupants of the car around like rag dolls. The car slid uncontrollably for what seemed like an eternity, but was closer to a few seconds, before impacting the guardrail at high speed; the guardrail creaked and screamed under the force of the car's inertia. Thankfully, the guardrail held and prevented the car from plunging over the edge; the truck, however, was not as lucky. For a split second it seemed as if the truck driver had regained control of his vehicle, but that hope was dashed quickly as the tail lights and trailer of the truck flew down the side of the mountain, rolling ten times over before disappearing in the blackness below.
Nayeon's eyes snapped open and she tried to look around; she clutched her head in agony as what seemed like thousands of needles dug into her brain. When the pain subsided enough to function, Nayeon freed herself from her tangled belt, it had saved her life but almost broke her breastbone clean in two; Nayeon checked herself for any life threatening injuries and luckily found herself relatively unscathed. She breathed a sigh of relief before realising her passenger had been silent since the crash. Searching in the dark for her boyfriend, Nayeon grabbed aimlessly until she felt the material of his jacket in her hand.
"Jungkook?"
A groan of pain escaped his lips followed by a sharp intake of air; it took a minute for Jungkook to come to his senses. He reached out for Nayeon's hand and held it tightly in his own shaking hands.
"What happened?" He asked through pained breaths
"I think we crashed. Are you hurt?"
"No, I don't think so. You?"
"Surprisingly no, I'm fine except for my headache. Definitely going to have whiplash, both of us"
"Nayeon?"
"Yeah?"
"I love you too"
Nayeon let out a laugh at his words, she couldn't believe that was what he had to say after surviving an almost certainly fatal crash. Nayeon leaned over and planted a sloppy, wet kiss on his cheek before helping him release his seatbelt, which had become jammed in the crash. With both parties freed from their seats, Nayeon tried to open her door but found it smashed in, she gave a hearty shove but was no closer to opening the door than two seconds previous; Jungkook's door had suffered less damage and as such, he was able to force it open and tumble out onto the icy road. A loud creak issued from behind him, accompanied by a scream, as the guardrail began to give way under the unevenly distributed weight; Nayeon began to shout for Jungkook's help while trying to remain as calm as possible given the current predicament. Jungkook managed to find his footing and hurried over to assist Nayeon in escaping the death trap. He tugged at the door, forcefully at first but stopped when the car started sliding towards the abyss; the front wheels of the car hung over the edge of the road, threatening to plunge the car to it and its occupant's doom.
"Nayeon, listen to me. You need to move as slowly as possible to the backseat" said Jungkook "You HAVE to move slowly, any movement could-"
Nayeon cut him off with an exasperated "Okay!"
Slowly, carefully, Nayeon slid her knees underneath herself, placed a hand on the passenger seat and gingerly lifted herself out of her seat. The car lurched forward, placing more of the car over the edge; the weight of the engine caused the front to dip lower. Nayeon remained as still as possible, hoping the car would settle enough for her to continue; the car gave two more loud creaks before returning to its balancing act. Outside, Jungkook watched on with bated breath, as Nayeon carefully maneuvered her way past the front seat, in between the seats and finally, gently placed her foot on the backseat; he grabbed the door handle but found himself unable to open it; his pulling on the door sent the car sliding once more. Jungkook watched on in horror as Nayeon, eyes wide with terror, screamed for him to save her. He did the only thing he could think of, Jungkook threw his shoulder into the window, shattering it; he grabbed the window frame, ignoring the shards of glass that dug into his palms and ripped his fingers to shreds in an attempt to slow the car's descent. Nayeon scrambled towards the open window, falling over as the car lurched over the edge. Jungkook dug his heels into the snow, trying to find purchase in the slush; the car dragged him into the mangled guardrail and this allowed him to push back against the weight of the car.
Adrenaline can push the human body past what's considered physically possible and in that moment, Jungkook found out what that felt like.
He gritted his teeth, and using his momentary burst of strength, held the car in place; he paid no attention to the popping sound coming from his right shoulder and yelled for Nayeon to climb out the window. Two things happened simultaneously: the car wrenched itself free from Jungkook's grip and in the moment before it plummeted out of sight, Nayeon fell out of the open window and landed safely in the snow.
The couple lay on the ground, both breathing heavily; the rush of adrenaline was fading and the icy chill of the falling snow began to take hold of their bodies. Nayeon managed to pull herself to her feet and bent down to offer Jungkook a hand up; he reached up with his right arm, or at least tried to before an excruciating pain originating from his shoulder, caused him to cry out. Nayeon dropped to her knees and gently touched Jungkook's shoulder, there was a bump facing outwards; Nayeon knew exactly what was wrong.
"Your shoulder, it's dislocated"
"Is it bad?"
"I can try and set it again but it's going to hurt, like, a lot" she explained
"Okay. Do what you have to" he said, and gave Nayeon a pained smile "I trust you"
"So, what's going to happen is, I'm going to count to three and then do it, okay?"
"Ok-"
Nayeon pulled Jungkook's right arm down and twisted his wrist; in one motion, and with a loud pop, his shoulder was once again relocated.
"What the fuck, Nayeon?" He moaned, massaging his arm
"Sorry, but if you knew it was coming, you would've tensed and it wouldn't have worked"
With Jungkook's limbs in all the right locations, Nayeon's thoughts returned to their current situation: they were stuck outside in a snow storm that worsened by the minute, without a way to call for help and no idea where they were. Nayeon inched closer to the edge and peered into the abyss, wondering how far down it truly went; they had not heard the car hit the bottom. She jumped when Jungkook grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the edge.
"What is wrong with you?" He scolded
"I was just- sorry"
Jungkook hugged her close and kissed the top her head.
"I just want you to be safe, that's all"
They were silent in their embrace for a while, sharing each other's warmth until Nayeon started shivering, feeling the cold biting into her sweat dampened skin.
"We gotta move before we freeze to death out here" said Nayeon, patting a treambling hand on Jungkook's chest
"Yeah but where?"
"Anywhere but here is better, right?"
Jungkook gave a nod and started walking in the direction they were originally heading, pulling Nayeon along by her hand. The two followed the road for what felt like hours in the blinding snow, hoping to find some sign of life, a house or trailer or cabin, anything to suggest they weren't the only two people on Earth or they had died in the car crash and now we're trapped in a never ending, ice cold purgatory. As her legs grew tired, Nayeon started to fall behind Jungkook, stumbling over her numb feet, the only thing stopping her from falling face first into the snow was the grip that Jungkook had on her; every frozen step, every burning breath, drilled the feeling of impending doom into Nayeon's psyche.
A pair of headlights in the distance caught their attention, it was some ways away but the light that cut through the blanket of snow was undeniable; Jungkook left Nayeon standing alone in the cold with the promise of his return, and ran off towards the light.
Nayeon hugged her, now soaked, jacket tightly against herself, trying in vain to fight off the shivers running up and down her spine, unsure of whether the shivers were from the cold or the feeling that something sinister waited for them in the woods nearby; at this thought, Nayeon hurried after Jungkook, fearing that her feelings of being watched were more tangible than she would like.
A heavy, rumbling sound greeted Nayeon's ears as she drew closer to the light, she shielded her eyes from the bright yellow headlights and called out for Jungkook.
"Nayeon?"
"Who else would it be?"
"I don't know?" He yelled back through the howling snowstorm
Nayeon followed his voice and found Jungkook speaking to an older gentleman, who looked every bit like a hillbilly from every horror movie ever, complete with faded, mesh backed trucker cap and torn overalls, how he wasn't freezing was beyond Nayeon; the man looked surprised to see Nayeon approaching, but gave her a friendly wave and continued his exchange with Jungkook.
"I hear you buddy, I don't trust them darn things neither" he drawled
"Microwaves" agreed Jungkook with a shrug
"He's found a kindred spirit in the form of a backwater bumpkin" thought Nayeon, rolling her eyes hard enough to offset the Earth's axis
"This is the girl I was talking about, she's freezing to death out here. Can you give us a ride?" Asked Jungkook, motioning for Nayeon to join him.
"I'd love to help you brother, but old Bess is out of commission, old girl is trapped in a damn snow drift. I doubt I'll be leaving till mornin" he explained, smacking the top his truck
"I know this is too much, but do you maybe have a blanket or something my girlfriend can use to cover herself?"
"Matter of fact, I believe I do, bud-"
The man's words were silenced by the sound of a gunshot as it echoed above the howling wind. Nayeon dove into the snow and covered her head, quaking with fear; Jungkook had done the same but, had rolled under the truck and was reaching out to Nayeon to pull her under with him. Inch by inch, Nayeon shuffled across the icy ground to where Jungkook was hiding; a voice near her caused her to stop entirely and remain still.
"Whooowie, take a look at that one. Ain't I good at this?" Said the voice, it had a deep, dark, butter smooth tone
"Yes yes, you've got quite the sights about you, Tae" replied the other voice, this one feminine "Only you don't got the brains to match"
"Whatcha mean?"
"There were two voices and only one body, dummy!"
"They couldn't have gone far" said the man, as he chambered another round "I'll find them, and when I do- oh ho- they gonna get it good"
On the ground, Nayeon had managed to crawl her way underneath the truck, next to Jungkook, when the man with the rifle ran off in search of his missing prey. The female wandered around, passing right by the hidden couple, her boots and jeans stained with years of dried blood that no amount of trudging through the snow would ever remove, before she set about searching their victim's pockets; she withdrew a wallet, pulled out the ID card, laughed, and pocketed it, she removed what little cash he had on him and tossed the wallet into the woods, followed by his various cards, each thrown in different directions. The woman, done with her thieving, grabbed the man's arm and began dragging him away from the truck. The man let out a shout and started to fight back against his attacker. He managed to stand and pull himself free from her grip; his overalls marked with a deep, red stain where he had presumably been struck by the bullet.
"You crazy bitch!" he shouted as he backed away
The woman said nothing as she advanced on the man, pulling a large hunting knife from her belt and brandished it menacingly. She leapt on the man before he had a chance to react, knocking him down and pinning him to the ground with surprising strength and agility; she plunged the knife into his chest. Once, twice, three times before slamming the knife into his left eye and twisting it. The sound of the knife scraping against his skull turned Nayeon's stomach and she had to stifle a dry heave for fear of alerting the mad woman with a knife.
"Taehyung, Taehyung, get your dumb ass back here right now!" she screamed into the night
The man named Taehyung appeared after a few moments, a look of confusion and frustration on his face.
"Can't you see I'm busy, woman?" he yelled
"You dumb fuck, he wasn't dead!"
"He looks plenty dead to me"
"Because I had to kill him" she yelled, showing off the knife dripping with blood and viscera
"What's the problem then?"
"Maybe I don't get him and he runs away and tells someone. Then what do we do, huh?"
"Well, he ain't getting away now, is he?"
"No thanks to you!" she barked as she grabbed the dead man's legs and started dragging him away "Get over here and help me move this tub of lard to the truck!"
Taehyung grumbled about being treated like child but obeyed her demand for help; he set the rifle down against the side of a tree and skulked over to his friend. The two dragged the body to the edge of the woods and into, up until this point, unseen pick up and hoisted him into the back, where he landed with a soggy crunch. Jungkook motioned for Nayeon to remain still, he was going to go for the gun. Nayeon pleaded quietly for him to stay by her and wait for the strangers to leave; his response was a kiss on the forehead before he skirted out from underneath the truck. Jungkook ran as quickly and quietly as he could, darting out into the open air, in an attempt to grab some high calibre leverage; he stopped running when Taehyung's voice boomed from the direction of their pickup and moving towards Jungkook.
"I know I left it here, right by that tree"
Nayeon closed her eyes and buried her face in her freezing hands, afraid to see what the maniac had in store for Jungkook if they caught him. Taehyung appeared in her view and walked over to where he had left his gun, his steps becoming more rapid when her realised his rifle was not there; at just the right moment, Jungkook jumped out from behind the tree and pointed the gun at Taehyung's head.
"On the ground, now!" commanded Jungkook, hands trembling with fear and anger
"Threatening a man with his own gun is so low, bro-"
"Shut the fuck up and get on the ground" shouted Jungkook, interrupting Taehyung "Take the shells out of your pocket and throw them away"
Taehyung didn't move.
"Do you want me to lay down or throw the bullets away?"
"Get on the ground!" He shouted, circling his hostage, putting his back to the truck.
"Alright, alright, calm down" said Taehyung as he lowered himself to his knees
"Shut the fuck up"
"Let's talk about this buddy" he said, his voice was calm and steady
"I said, shu-"
"Shut up, I know. Just, as an aside, my sister isn't going to let you get away with shooting me"
"Is that what you do for fun, huh? Murder innocent people in some fucked sibling bonding experience?"
"How do you know he was innocent? Could've been a child molester or a drug dealer"
"Quiet!"
Taehyung's gaze bore into Jungkook, who lowered the barrel of the gun for a moment. In the next breath, Taehyung was on his feet again and closing the distance between the two; Jungkook raised the rifle and pulled the trigger, sending the shot wide. Jungkook fumbled with the bolt action, desperately trying, and failing, to chamber another shell. Taehyung gripped the rifle in his hands and yanked it away from Jungkook, who threw a punch in retaliation; Taehyung barely reacted to the blow and whacked Jungkook on the side of his face with the butt of the rifle, sending Jungkook to the ground.
"Hey Jeong, told you I'd get him!" Shouted Taehyung
"Why the fuck are you shouti-" said Jeongyeon, who had been sneaking her way into the situation "Oh my, isn't he cute?"
"What should we do with him?"
Jeongyeon thought for a moment before answering with:
"Chuck him in the truck. Think we just found our sister a husband"
Nayeon panicked, there was no way she could fight them off but also no way she was going to let them take Jungkook away from her; she slid out from underneath the truck and hid behind it, watching, legs trembling with fear. The two locals hoisted Jungkook onto his feet and dragged him to their truck, his eyes fluttered open and he started fighting back, squirming and writhing like a ball of vipers.
"Fuck you, let me go, let me go!" He shouted, flailing around in their grip.
In his struggle for freedom, Jungkook's eyes met Nayeon's as she hid behind the vehicle.
"Nayeon, run! Run! Go! Leave me! Go!" Shouted Jungkook, tears wetting his cheeks, tears of both desperation and fear
Taehyung spun around, dropping Jungkook on his head with a dull thud; Jeongyeon tripped over his body and tumbled to the snow, cursing at Taehyung. Nayeon turned tail and booked it like Reading Rainbow, as far away from the sprinting madman as she could manage, her wet, frozen clothing weighing her down in the snow, every step was made on legs of lead; she tried to block out the sounds of Taehyung's footfalls in the snow, focusing on her own laboured breathing and thumping heart.
Fingers wrapped around Nayeon's arm and pulled her to the cold ground, their owner towering over her.
"We thought there were only two but would you look at that, must be our lucky day" huffed Taehyung, his breathing heavy and strained "Goddamn you for making me run after you"
Nayeon closed here eyes and tried to pretend this was all a dream, a fucked up, twisted dream; she failed to convince herself of this when, Taehyung threw her over his shoulder and began to carry her back to the pickup. Nayeon would've fought back if she could but her body was so tired from the stress of nearly dying and, most recently, being chased by a murderbilly; Nayeon tried in vain to free herself, but Taehyung was far too strong. From her perch, Nayeon could only see the ground, she couldn't even lift her head she was so tired; suddenly she saw stars, the world was right side up for a second before once again being flipped. Nayeon landed in the back of the pickup with a wet thud, hitting her head against the wooden bed.
"Don't worry about being lonely in the back here, you've got company" laughed Taehyung, as he climbed inside the cabin.
The engine roared to life and the pickup was off on its way through the woods, along a path that they, the freaks in the woods, must have carved. Nayeon sat up slowly, the world spinning around her, and looked around to see what she had landed on; she felt light headed at the sight before her and had to force herself to stay conscious. The soft, wet thing that Nayeon had landed on, was a person, or rather what had been a person. Next to the red, black, lump of flesh, lay the truck driver who had been so willing to help them out of a sticky situation and ended up in the stickiest of them all.
The pickup slowed to a stop outside of a large wooden house, it's walls made of the very same trees that surrounded it. A hand wrapped around Nayeon's mouth and nose, even though she fought back, her last conscious sight was that of Jungkook being dragged through the front door and Taehyung shutting the door with his foot, then came darkness.
Sounds of cutlery being placed on a wooden table, the unmistakable sound of a knife being sharpened, the smell of food cooking on a wood burning stove and the taste of blood in her mouth, woke Nayeon; she raised her head and looked around the room, a dining room. Directly opposite her, sat Jungkook, still unconscious and strapped in his chair by thick leather bands; she found herself bound by the wrists and ankles in a similar way.
"Well now, look who's awake" said a voice Nayeon didn't recognise as either Taehyung or Jeongyeon "My, you are a beauty ain't you?"
Nayeon searched for the owner of the voice and found, to her surprise, a young woman, no older than 19, standing next to her, about to place a plate in front of her.
"Chaeyoung, where is the damn beer?" Shouted another voice unknown to Nayeon
"In the fucking den, just like you said" shouted the woman, Chaeyoung, in response
She finished placing the plate in front of Nayeon, then placed a soup bowl in the plate and a red, cloth napkin to the side; through the heart stopping panic, Nayeon found it strange that these murderous creatures would have the time or take pride in such things. Chaeyoung looked at Nayeon as she placed more napkins next to the other plates, Nayeon counted 6 including her own.
"Don't worry dear, dinner will be served soon, you must be mighty hungry" said Chaeyoung, as she finished setting the table by lighting a centerpiece candle "Hopefully your friend wakes up in time, wouldn't want him to miss a single bite of the meal Sana spent all day slaving over"
After making doubly sure that everything was in its place on the table, Chaeyoung disappeared into what, Nayeon assumed, was the kitchen, leaving Nayeon alone with the unconscious Jungkook. She struggled against the leather straps around her wrists, only hurting herself in the process, before trying to wake her boyfriend.
"Jungkook, wake up. Can you hear me?" She whispered, for fear of their captors hearing her.
He didn't respond, his head hung over his lap, a long, thin, string of bloody saliva dripped from his mouth. In a foggy, sluggish haze, Jungkook raised his eyes to meet her; his pupils were dilated, either from a painkiller cocktail or immense pain. Nayeon hoped it was the first option.
"I'll get us out of here. I promise. Just need to get loose" said Nayeon, still struggling against her restraints.
Jungkook slowly shook his head in response.
"What the fuck do you mean no?"
Nayeon was about to add to that question but was interrupted by the arrival of another of the house's inhabitants; an average man with chestnut hair, entered the dining room carrying a large crock pot, which he set down in the centre of the table. Nayeon couldn't deny how delicious the pot's contents smelled while simultaneously being positive she wanted no part of whatever evil bubbled in its cast iron belly.
"Well howdy there miss" he said, giving a spirited wave and a friendly nod "So glad you could stay for dinner"
"What the fuck do you want from us?"
"Hey!" He shouted "No swearing at this table!"
He pulled his arm back and got ready to unleash a rocket powered backhand aimed right at Nayeon's face, only to be stopped by Chaeyoung; she placed another covered bowl on the table and slapped the man.
"How dare you try and lay a hand on our guest?" She yelled "Treat them with respect, Suga"
"She swore at the table!"
"I don't care. She is a guest!" She screamed back "Don't make me tell Papa!"
At the mention of 'Papa', Suga seemed to crumple into himself, shuffling into a chair at the table, silent as the grave; he fixed his eyes on his silverware and stared wide eyed; Chaeyoung, her ace in the hole used, settled into her own seat and smiled at Nayeon.
"I apologize for my brother's behaviour. He's an idiot at the best of times"
"Please let us go, why are you doing this to us?" Pleaded Nayeon
"Like I said to my brother, you're a guest. You have to stay for a meal" explained Chaeyoung, patting Nayeon on the arm before throwing a look Jungkook's way "How did you and loverboy here meet?"
Nayeon closed her eyes, a tear rolling down her cheek.
"Don't cry, please. You'll spoil your meal" said Chaeyoung, wiping the tear away
There came the scraping of chair legs against a wooden floor, knives and forks being wielded and dinner being served. Nayeon opened her eyes and helplessly glanced around at her fellow dinner guests. Sat next to Nayeon was Chaeyoung, next to her sat Jeongyeon and next to her was another unknown woman, who Nayeon assumed was Sana; across from them was Taehyung, Suga and an older man. Jungkook had returned to his semi-conscious state.
"Chaeyoung, please prepare a plate for our lady friend here" ordered the older man "Taehyung, you do the same for her partner"
Chaeyoung did as she was told and ladled a heaping pile of stew into Nayeon's bowl, the smell was undeniably enticing; she eyed the contents of the bowl, the usual concoction of vegetables and meat, various meats of various textures and colours. The others seated at the table began to tuck into their meal as if it was the last meal they would ever eat; the men ate like horses, refilling their bowls before they were even empty; the women were more refined in their eating habits but not by much.
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The older man stopped eating, letting his spoon drop to the table with a clatter, and stared at Nayeon.
"Why ain't you eating? Sana's food ain't good enough for you?" He barked, bits of food flying from his mouth
"Even if I wanted to eat this shit, I couldn't. You tied me up!" Shouted Nayeon
"WATCH YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH AT THIS TABLE!" he boomed, slamming his fist violently on the table
"Oh fuck you and your fucking table, fuck your stupid family and fuck you!" Nayeon spat, actually spitting at the man
"Alright" he said, slamming his hands on the table and standing.
The man walked over to Jungkook and stood behind his chair. He ran a finger under Jungkook's chin, pulling his head upright and making him face Nayeon. Those seated at the table watched on in silence as the man grabbed a spoon and dug it into the bowl, fishing out a particularly meaty chunk; he shot Nayeon a look and wrenched Jungkook's mouth open to reveal bloodied gums and missing teeth. Nayeon let out an anguished cry at the state of her boyfriend. The man shoved the spoon into Jungkook's mouth and slid the food down his throat causing him to choke.
"Just as ungrateful as your woman ain't you?" The man growled "No one disrespects my little girl's cooking"
The man pulled Jungkook's head back and stabbed the spoon into his gums, a spurt of blood splashed onto the table and dripped onto Jungkook's lap; he was conscious and aware but refused to acknowledge the pain.
"Please stop. Stop hurting him, please. Why are you doing this?" pleaded Nayeon through her tears
"Papa, maybe you should stop. He ain't done nothing to you" said Sana, refusing to look her 'Papa' in the eye.
"He didn't like the food you made. I'm teaching him not to disrespect others in their own damn homes" Papa roared back, wiggling the spoon into his victim's gums once more.
"You sick, inbred, hillbilly fuck. Leave him the fuck alone. What's wrong with you fucking people?" Shouted Nayeon, struggling against her restraints for the umpteenth time.
"What did I say about swearing at this table?"
In a fit of rage, and perhaps just because he wanted to, Papa drove the spoon deep into Jungkook's thigh and kicked the chair over, sending it crashing to the floor.
"Jeongyeon, give me your knife" he requested, holding out an expectant hand.
Jeongyeon pushed her chair out and unclipped the knife from her belt and handed it over to her Papa, who glared at Nayeon with sadistic glee. He flipped the blade between his fingers and paced the length of the table, an unblinking stare focused on Nayeon.
"Suga, my boy"
"Yes, sir?"
"When you was doing your work on this here pretty boy, what did ya think of his voice?"
"Voice of an angel, Pa"
"Is that right?"
"Between the screaming that is" laughed Suga, jabbing Taehyung with his elbow
"Chaeyoung"
"Yes Papa?"
"What do those medical textbooks say about singing without a tongue?"
"Don't think you can, Papa"
Papa ended his pacing next to Jungkook and crouched near him; from her unwanted throne, Nayeon could see the devil himself whispering something into Jungkook's ear, a smile played across his face. Papa looked at Nayeon from over his shoulder before jamming his hand into Jungkook's mouth and grabbing hold of his tongue; with a flourish of the knife and downard chop, he cut Jungkook's tongue clean off.
"You're so clever Chaeyoung, must get it from your old man" laughed Papa, howling like a lunatic.
Prize clutched in his fingers, Papa marched over to Nayeon and grabbed her face; still laughing, he pressed Jungkook's tongue against her lips, causing her to squirm in a futile attempt to escape.
"What's the matter, don't like kissing your boyfriend, huh?" mocked Papa, tossing the tongue into the still bubbling pot "Sana, fetch more meat for the stew. I'm starving after that"
"Yes, Papa" she said as she scurried out the room.
Seeing the tongue bobbing up and down in the pot paired with Sana's return to the table, carrying a pot of dark, red, yellowed fat marbled meat, caused Nayeon's stomach to turn: they were eating human.
"What the fuck is wrong with you sick fucks?" shouted Nayeon, unable to do more than scream her frustration out
Papa smashed his fork down and pointed at Suga "You. Get her out of here, I will not have her disgrace this table with her foul mouth. Take her to the pen"
"Isn't the pen a bit much, Pa?" Asked Suga
"Don't question me boy!" Shouted Papa, hurling his plate to the floor, splattering food everywhere "Sana, get me another bowl and clean up this goddamn mess!"
Suga pushed his plate away, walked over to Nayeon and began undoing her bonds. Nayeon fought and screamed as loud as she could, trying to wriggle out of Suga's surprisingly strong grip; for a moment, his grip released and Nayeon bolted, only to be tripped by Jeongyeon, who let out a hearty laugh, the kind that comes from the stomach. Seeing stars, Nayeon started to crawl away, but Suga grabbed her by the legs and dragged her, on her stomach, across the broken, cracked wooden floor and out into the cold of the night.
"You must've really pissed Pa off something royal if you're getting the pen" mused Suga, whistling while he dragged Nayeon across the frozen ground "Last time he did that was...well, you'll see"
Suga, having reached his destination, dropped Nayeon's legs and picked her up under the arms, he hoisted her over a wooden fence covered in barbed wire and rusted nails, and dropped Nayeon, on her head, into a muddy pit; he dusted his hands on his jeans and rang a small iron cowbell.
"Hey handsome, Papa sent you a new friend. Make sure you put on a good face, oh and don't break this one like the other guy, okay?" He said, before walking away he added "Some advice, don't say anything about his face, it won't end well"
Nayeon scrambled to her feet, grabbing the fence for support and slicing her hand open on the freezing cold, rusted barbed wire; she ignored the pain as her attention was focused on the hulking shadow moving towards her. The shadow lumbered forward, taking big, clumsy steps, looking as if it would fall over if it took a step wrong; a floodlight burst into life, bathing the pen in bright, yellow light. Now illuminated, Nayeon could make out the shadows features: even at this distance, he towered over Nayeon, his broad shoulders supported long, wiry arms, that ended in big, meaty fists. He was dressed in a single denim coverall with the name "JIN" emblazoned across the front, the name was nearly invisible under layer after layer of dried, black blood.
His stature, bloodstained clothing and aura of deranged madness, paled in comparison to his dread inducing visage; two black eyes stared out from beneath a mask, a mask stitched together out of skin that didn't belong to this monster. The face that stared at Nayeon, the face making her skin crawl, her pulse race, her stomach turn, was that of a young man, stretched into a distorted shadow of its former owner by the twisted, mangled individual whose face it adorned.
"Please, don't hurt me. Please" Nayeon begged
JIN maintained his silent advance, leathery mask glistening in the floodlight.
Trapped in the pen, Nayeon searched for a weapon, something to defend herself with; in her immediate vicinity lay scattered animal corpses in varied stages of decomposition, most looked like they had been squeezed to death by someone with immense, bone crushing strength. None were of any use to her. With each stride bringing the towering monster closer, Nayeon had to act quickly, survival mode kicked in and she chose flight over fight. Slipping in the mud, Nayeon skirted the edge of the pen, avoiding the razor wire as best she could, even so she managed to tear her sweater to shreds, exposing her back and right arm to the frigid air. The snow surrounding the pen made it impossible to slide under the fence, Nayeon's boots sank into the mud, making every movement cost so much more precious energy. Paralyzed with fear, Nayeon considered curling up into a ball and letting the face stealing monstrosity end her suffering, but then she thought of Jungkook, her mom, her friends, everyone that she loved, she owed it to them to live. Her will tempered by her desire, Nayeon searched frantically for a weapon, a rock or sharp stick would do.
JIN lumbered towards her, his clumsy steps hampered by the mud.
Desperately searching through the snow for any means of defending herself, Nayeon recoiled in horror as her mad digging unearthed a bloodied, frost bitten and, most notably, faceless corpse; it didn't take long for the connection to be made. Like a predator playing with its food, JIN closed the gap and pushed Nayeon; his minimal effort still sent her tumbling backwards into the wooden fence with enough force to break a slat in half.
"Oh fuck, I'm going to die" she thought, trying to shake the ringing in her ears "I'm going to be murdered by this...thing"
She fought the pain and forced herself to stand. As if by some divine intervention, she found a weapon: there, in the spot she had been laying, was a piece of the broken board, a series of rusty nails protruding from one end; Nayeon was determined to fight back, even though it would be a losing battle. Dying in the middle of a hillbilly pig pen arena was not on her bucket list, at least not yet.
"Come on ugly. If you're going to kill me, you're going to earn it, you fuck"
At the utterance of the word 'ugly', JIN flew into a breathless, savage, primal rage, thrashing his limbs as if he were a child throwing a tantrum. When his outburst waned, there was an almost sane look to him, his stance slackened, his eyes showed some form of humanity behind them; this state lasted for a heartbeat before the murderous glint returned to his eye. Nayeon glanced at the wood clenched tightly in her grip, this was all she had to defend herself with, a rotted plank and rusted metal. The plank held at the ready, Nayeon faced her fate head on. JIN charged her, arms flailing, his insane vocalisations growing ever more violent, more animalistic; he threw an arm out, trying to wrap his ham sized hands around her throat. It was do or die for Nayeon. With a battle cry of "fuck you", Nayeon swung her makeshift bat at JIN's face with as much force as she could muster. When she felt the nails bite into the meat of his face, Nayeon pulled the board backwards, ripping, whatever the nails had found purchase in, right out.
A screech of pain pierced the cold night air, the giant stopped dead in his tracks, clutching his eye through the mask; a thick, dark stream of red ran from his stolen cheek and down his arm. Nayeon was equal parts proud and shocked, somehow she had hit the right target with the odds stacked against her. Believing she might have a chance, Nayeon raised the board, winding up for another well placed strike.
"Did that hurt?" She teased "Good!"
Nayeon unleashed her next strike, this time clipping the side of his head, cutting his mask open; the worn wood splintered under the force, leaving Nayeon with nothing more than a jagged stake. JIN grabbed at his face, trying desperately to hold himself together. With one hand on his slashed cheek, JIN lunged with his other hand, narrowly missing Nayeon, who took the opening and darted behind him; JIN whipped around and let out a laugh that sounded like worn windshield wipers during a downpour. There was a new look in his one good eye and it scared Nayeon more than anything else that evening: JIN was enjoying it.
This was all a game to him.
Still laughing, JIN grabbed Nayeon and, despite her beating him in the face with her fists and bit of wood, tossed her aside as if she weighed nothing at all; she hit the ground hard, for, what felt like, the hundredth time that night and lay where she landed, breathing heavily. All semblance of hope for survival had faded quickly, Nayeon was as ready as ever to die, she was ready to give up; Nayeon watched JIN walking around his world through dizzy eyes, he seemed bored, like his discarding of Nayeon was more than symbolic, he had finished playing with her.
JIN lumbered over to his bed, consisting of a dirty mattress and tattered blankets, and flopped down on it, letting out an over exaggerated yawn before closing his eyes and seemingly falling asleep; loud, rumbling snoring confirmed he was actually unconscious.
Bitter cold bit into her bones, the wounds on her back burnt as she lay in a puddle of slushy mud. Nayeon drew a shuddering breath, clutching her ribs in pain. Using what little strength she had left, Nayeon pushed herself to her feet and made for the fence, hoping to find a way over the razor wire; being ever cautious, Nayeon searched for a break or an opening in the fence. Nayeon swore softly and collapsed onto her aching knees; breathing had suddenly become very difficult. She clutched her chest and forced herself to take a deep, painful breath; as her body betrayed her, Nayeon's eyes found a shining glimmer of hope: a hole.
Nayeon crawled towards the hole and reached a hand through, a tight fit but not impossible; she pulled her hand back and inched closer. A loud snore from the sleeping giant sent a chill down Nayeon's spine. A cursory check over her shoulder confirmed that JIN was in fact, still asleep. Nayeon took a breath and slowly began to edge her way underneath the fence; each inch of her body ached, the frigid air hadn't numbed her body enough to dull the pain, as she stuck an arm through the hole and felt around for something to use as leverage. Carefully, Nayeon squeezed her head through the hole and paused to take a breath before emptying her lungs, to make herself as small as possible; she had forced her top half through the hole, barely avoiding the jagged edges surrounding her.
Suddenly the pen was plunged into darkness as the floodlights shut off with a loud click, causing Nayeon to tense; a stray shard of metal bit into her side, she let out a hiss of pain and tried to find a way to unhook herself from this new death trap without alerting the leather faced lunatic to the fact that she would be completely at his mercy in her current predicament.
Nayeon gritted her teeth and grabbed a hold of the metal in her side, she breathed in as much as the hole would allow and slowly shimmed the shard out of her side while she freed herself; a trickle of warm, wet blood ran down her side and cooled in the night air.
"Oh fuck" whispered Nayeon, a statement that summed up her experience in the mountains perfectly
"You've got to find Jungkook and get the fuck out of here" she told herself
Battered, bruised and bleeding but, for the most part, alive; Nayeon lay in the snow and mud and did something she thought she might never do again: breathe.
Just breathe.
Nayeon's reprieve didn't last long, it couldn't. Shaking, Nayeon pushed herself to her feet and, with a hand over her side, made her way back to the house of hillbilly horrors, a fiery determination burned in her eyes, she was going to rescue the love of her life even if it killed her.
The house loomed ahead of the wounded, shivering woman, its ramshackle roof lifting in places, window shutters hanging loosely to one side or missing altogether, even if she had not experienced the gruesome horrors contained within, Nayeon would have been wary of the building, its very air was that of unhappiness and neglect, if she was looking for the home of a deranged, sadistic serial killer, then she would definitely start there. Nayeon cursed herself for walking towards danger, she felt every fibre in her body pull away from the house, her survival instinct begged her to turn tail and bolt to safety, but she knew help would be too little too late.
The backdoor swung open, Nayeon dove behind a pile of metal scrap and held a hand over her mouth to muffle her ragged breaths.
"Don't know why it's my goddamn fucking job to check on them" complained the shadowed figure, in a voice Nayeon recognised as Suga, as he descended the wooden steps "Always, go check on the pigs, boy. Go find your brother, boy. Never a goddamn 'please' in fucking sight"
His steps were heavy and his gait lazy, clearly Suga didn't want to be out in the cold at the command of his father yet here he was, trudging through the snow towards the pen; a long, thin rod hung loosely from his grip. Nayeon's curiosity was quickly satisfied when the rod emitted a bright blue spark at the press of a button: a cattle prod. Suga's path lead him right past Nayeon's hiding place, a single mistake would give away her location. Nayeon waited as Suga walked past the scrap pile, unaware of her presence; he paused for a moment, distracted by a pained scream from the direction of the pen.
As quietly as she could, Nayeon grabbed a rusted pipe and crept up behind Suga; a chill ran through her veins as a careless step sent a loud crunch into the night air. Suga spun around to face Nayeon, the corners of his mouth curling into a malicious grin.
"Where's your honour, huh?" He asked, taking a step toward her "Sneaking up on a man while his back is turned. Now that, is unforgivable"
Nayeon raised the pipe clenched tightly in her hands
"Don't come any closer. I'm fucking warning you"
"Big talk for a little girl who's way out of her depth" he mocked, pulling the trigger on the cattle prod causing blue sparks to jump between the prongs "Know what this is?"
Nayeon remained silent, watching Suga's every move.
"This right here is a...motivator for cows or uncooperative people such as yourself" continued Suga, taking another step "So, if I touch these little electrodes to your soft skin, right there" he said pointing to Nayeon's neck "Or anywhere else really- but you get the point"
"One more step, fucker. One more fucking step" warned Nayeon
"What're you going to do, little girl?"
His sentence barely free of his lips, Suga lunged forward, eyes wild with a sick madness; Nayeon closed her eyes and swung the pipe. The sickening crunch of metal against bone was followed by grunt of pain and a splash of crimson in the snow.
"You..fucking..bitch!" growled Suga through gritted teeth, clutching a shaking hand to his bleeding skull "You fucking...bitch"
Suga fell to his knees, repeating the same phrase, as if the thought of being caught by surprise hurt more than the huge gash in the side of his skull; he looked up at Nayeon.
"I'm going...to...ki-"
With another swing, Nayeon silenced his threat. The swing after that turned his words into incomprehensible babbling. The final swing caved his skull in, splattering Nayeon with bits of bone and brain.
Nayeon took a step back and dropped to her knees, the pipe falling from her grasp into the quickly reddening snow.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, her face buried in her hands, Nayeon sobbed uncontrollably.
It wasn't that fact that she had killed someone that upset her. What scared Nayeon, what shook her down to her very foundation, was how easy it was.
"It was you or him. Get over it" she told herself, but that did little to stop the tears. She was, in her mind, no better than them. A murderer.
Suddenly, in her moral turmoil, the events of the past few hours came flooding back to Nayeon. She replayed that sickening moment seeing her boyfriends tongue being cut from his mouth, how 'Papa' taunted her, how an innocent man just trying to help them, was gunned down like an animal. Between nearly plummeting to their deaths and being hunted by hillbillies, Nayeon had had enough.
"Then a murderer I'll be" she said, clasping the pipe in her hand once more; she set her sights on the house before her and walked towards their den of evil, each determined step forging her will into iron.
The bitter cold was no longer a bother to Nayeon, each burning breath, each drop of blood, every aching muscle, was a testament to her rage, every single member of that fucked up family would learn true fear, she would be death incarnate for them, she would be the reaper at their bedside that guides them into an afterlife of suffering.
Then she screamed.
Hidden underneath the snow, was a bear trap, and inside that bear trap was Nayeon's leg.
The backdoor swung open, its creaking hinges echoed through the night, and out stepped a very smug Jeongyeon; she bent over double and cackled like a mad woman.
"Oh my God, ain't this the darndest thing?" She said, between laughs "I'll leave you there until my brother gets back from the pen-"
"That's not gonna happen" laughed Nayeon "Not unless he can walk off being dead"
"What did you say?"
"I said that your fuck of a brother is dead!"
"What-" shouted Jeongyeon, frantically searching the area.
"Yoongi!" she screamed when she spotted the puddle of red marring the pure white snow "You fucking bitch, how could you do that to him?"
Jeongyeon jumped down from the steps and ran past Nayeon, to her very dead brother; she cradled what was left of his head in her arms and let out a horrible, animalistic howl of anguish; Nayeon couldn't help but smile. She hoped that Jeongyeon felt a tenth of what she felt.
Then she heard laughter.
She looked over her shoulder to see Jeongyeon drop Suga's body, which landed with a slushy thud in the snow, and walked over to the trapped Nayeon. She sat on her haunches in front of Nayeon and chuckled.
"You really got me, you know that, or wait, did I get you? Cause let me honest with ya. If you, of all people, could bash his brains in like that, then his dumb ass didn't deserve to live"
"He's your brother"
"Do I look like I care?" Shouted Jeongyeon, before she slapped Nayeon "What do you think Papa's gonna do when he finds out you killed his son?"
"What's he going to do, huh? Tell me, I'm dying to know"
"Still got an attitude. See that's the problem with you city people, always have to be the loudest. Always have to have the last word, can't ever just be happy with the way life is treating you. Shit, I pity you"
"Do you ever shut the fuck up?"
"The mouth on you disgusts me"
"Disgust this!" Shouted Nayeon as she swung her hidden pipe at Jeongyeon.
Nayeon's triumph was brief, her excitement at getting the better of someone lasted about as long as it took for Jeongyeon to catch the pipe and rip it from Nayeon's hands; Jeongyeon threw the pipe into the distance, where it landed with a soft thunk after hitting a tree.
"You gotta be quicker than that to catch me, girl" said Jeongyeon with a laugh
"Please just let me go, I won't tell anyone, I won't go to the police, I'll forget about this completely. I won't even come back for Jungkook-"
"I'm guessing that's your boyfriend?"
"Yeah but-"
"Oh he's dead, honey"
"No. Please no" sobbed Nayeon, who finally felt the weight of everything hit her "He can't be dead, please, no"
"Not so nice having the table rotated on ya, is it? Well, he's dead. Or at least should be by now"
"Fuck you"
"Again with that shit?"
"Fuck you, you hill-"
"Hillbilly fucks. You a fucking broken record or something?"
"You're sick. You people are sick"
"Oh no, my feelings. What ever shall I do?" mocked Jeongyeon "Should I cry about it like you do?"
"Go fuck yourself" said Nayeon, as she spat in her tormentor's face
Jeongyeon's smile disappeared, replaced with indignant rage. She grabbed Nayeon by the face and pushed her over; her sights now set on the bear trap.
"Didn't your whore of mother teach you respect?" said Jeongyeon
"I've got no respect for- Ahh fuck!"
With her prey defenceless before her, Jeongyeon pressed the bear trap tighter against Nayeon's trapped ankle, twisting the teeth in opposite directions.
"I best have my fun with you now, cause Papa's just gonna gut you for killing his kid" she said, enjoying every second of Nayeon's pain "Shame these little bumps and bruises are gonna get infected-"
She pressed the bear trap together with all her might, forcing the teeth deeper into Nayeon's ankle.
"-And we sure wouldn't want that, would we?"
"Fucking-"
"What?" barked Jeongyeon, releasing her hold on the trap
Jeongyeon loomed over her, emotionless.
"Fucking. What?" she said slowly
"Stop-"
"WHAT? I can't hear you"
"Just stop. Please"
"You best stop sniveling. Ain't nothing that pisses me off more than someone who can't stop crying"
Nayeon's tears turned her world hazy, she could barely make out the blurry shape of her tormentor in the low light.
She was so tired. So hoarse from shouting. Her body hurt in every conceivable way.
A scream from the direction of the Pen snapped her out of her stupor.
"What in the name of God is going on?" shouted Jeongyeon, spitting into the snow "What has that goddamn ingrate down now?"
Jeongyeon put her hands on her hips and sighed "Ain't no helping it I guess"
She looked down at Nayeon "Don't you be moving now, ya hear?"
Nayeon cried out when Jeongyeon gave the trap a hard kick before she stalked off towards the Pen, laughing to herself.
When she was sure Jeongyeon was no longer in the immediate vicinity, Nayeon forced herself to sit upright; the effort left her gasping. She gingerly examined the bear trap. A simple spring loaded mechanism. Easy enough to pry open.
After her search of the ground nearby turned up nothing she could use as leverage, Nayeon gripped the jaws of trap and pushed as hard as she could.
Slowly, bit by bit, the metal jaws began to retract, the teeth slid from her flesh painfully. The spring groaned as she ratcheded the jaws back, click by excruciating click.
She would be free in just a few more seconds.
Her blood soaked fingers slipped on the greasy, grimy metal and, when her grip faltered, the jaws snapped shut for the second time that night.
Nayeon bit down on her hand and muffled her scream, before going right back to prying her leg free. Determined to escape, she used all the strength she had left to pull the jaws apart and slip her leg free.
One more victory against these deranged fucks.
Fighting pain, cold and the creeping weakness of blood loss, Nayeon limped towards the house, her plan unaltered.
The house grew closer, the backdoor was within reach. She grabbed hold of the handle and the door swung open, sending a cascade of warm air washing over her.
Carefully, Nayeon let the door close behind her, and slipped inside.
Now crouched in, what would equate to a mud room, the full reeking stench of the house hit Nayeon. Hand over her mouth, she barely managed to hold back the wave of vomit that threatened to burst past her lips. Swallowing her revulsion, Nayeon crept along the wall until she came to a hallway. The smell wafting from one of the open doors suggested it was kitchen, a place Nayeon would definitely avoid at all costs.
With more caution than necessary, Nayeon peeked around the corner, making sure she was alone. Right then, an unseen door burst open with a collosal bang. Nayeon quickly pressed herself against the wall and held her breath as someone stomped past her hiding spot.
"Goddamn these fucking kids!"
It was "Papa" and he seemed extremely upset.
"Ask 'em to do one goddamn fucking thing and they fuck it up!"
He slammed his fist into the wall and cursed.
"Goddamn you, piece of shit house!"
"Sana!"
"Yes, sir?" came the meek answer
"Find that useless sister of yours"
"Which one?"
"Which-"
Papa stomped back towards the kitchen and grabbed Sana by the hair. He pulled her out into the hallway and tightened his grip on her beautiful locks.
"Which goddamn sister do you think I mean? Are you that fucking dense?"
"I-I-I-" stammered Sana, cowering in abject terror
"Stop your fucking sniveling before I give you a fucking reason to cry"
"I'm sorry"
"You're goddamn right you're sorry"
With terrifying force, Papa threw Sana to the floor and spat on her.
"Go. Find. Jeongyeon" he spat "I spelled it out for you. Fucking idiot"
"Sorry, sir. Yes, sir"
Sana scrambled to her feet and ran towards the front door, head ducked in fear of being beaten again.
Safely hidden, Nayeon watched and waited. Waited for her chance to slip past. Her patience was rewarded when Papa, rage still evidently boiling, decided to charge out the front door after Sana.
The stink of death grew stronger when she entered the kitchen; if there was any place to arm herself, this had to be it. Still crouched, Nayeon crept towards what she hoped was the "massive fucking knife drawer" but stopped dead when she realised she wasn't alone in the kitchen.
Seated at the counter was Taehyung.
Nayeon prayed that he hadn't heard her enter the kitchen as she crept closer and closer to the drawer. A sudden jerk from Taehyung sent a multitude of empty beer cans clattering to the floor. After a moment of coherency, he slumped forward onto the counter, his head bouncing off the wood. Still, he slept.
Inching ever closer to the nearest drawer, which she hoped contained a plethora of knives, Nayeon reached out and slowly slid the drawer open. She reached and, while her attention was on the sleeping Taehyung, poked around until her fingertips brushed against a blade. Nayeon wrapped her fingers around the knife and lifted it from the drawer. Her fingers, still numb from the cold, fumbled and the knife fell to the floor.
Acting quickly, Nayeon managed to catch the knife, blade first, before it hit the ground. She breathed a sigh of relief and was about to pick herself up when she noticed something. Tucked into Taehyung's boot, much like his sister had, was a knife. A massive hunting knife.
Hoping she wouldn't regret her decision, Nayeon crept over to the sleeping man. She inched just within reach of the knife, and more importantly, just within the door should she need to run. One hand firmly clasped around the first knife, she cautiously reached for Taehyung's knife.
Her breath caught in her throat when Taehyung moved in his drunken sleep and bumped into her outstretched fingers. Thankfully, he stayed incapacitated.
Finally, her fingertips came into contact with the handle of the knife. Quickly, she slid the knife free from his boot and clutched it tightly against her body.
This was it. A real chance to fight back.
Something flipped in Nayeon's brain, like a switch being mashed on by someone afraid of the dark and desperate for the salvation of light. She gazed down at the knife in her hand and then back up at the sleeping, exposed, vulnerable form of her tormentor. Compared to her realisation with Suga, this was illuminating in a different sense.
Body acting on instinct, Nayeon stood behind Taehyung, eyes unblinking. Like a shark with blood in the water.
Wordlessly, she drove the knife into the base of his skull.
The metal bit into his flesh, it's dirty, muck covered blade hooking and dragging muscle and blood vessels as it made its way between his skull and vertebrae. There was just a moment of resistance before she heard, and felt, a snap.
Whether it was his attempt to fight back or just his body dying, Nayeon didn't care. His legs splayed out in his final throes, boots kicking against Nayeon's shins, until he finally lay still. Unmoving. Dead.
With a hard jerk to the right, the knife ripped through the side of his neck with a wet squelch. Nerves, vessels and bone, her work laid bare.
The sound of the backdoor being slammed open followed by the thump of heavy footsteps approaching sent a chill down her spine. This was not the time. "Papa" would have to wait.
Nayeon climbed onto the counter and shimmied across the wood. She ducked through the nearby serving window and dropped onto the filthy carpet of the living room. She pressed herself against the low wall and peeked out into the hall. Seeing that the coast was clear, Nayeon doubled back and headed for the dining room, positive one of them would be there; she couldn't help but feel proud when a scream of utter anguish ripped through the house.
"My boy! My sweet boy!"
"I hope it kills you" she whispered
"You fucking bitch! I will find you and I will rip your fucking guts out. God as my fucking witness!"
Her predatory instincts were right. Hurried steps came from the dining room, right into her path.
One of the girls.
"Papa? What's going-"
The darkness in the living room hid her well, and the moment her prey entered the room, Nayeon was on her.
She grabbed the girl by her ankle and brought her down hard. She climbed on top of her and pinned her to the ground, pressing the girl's face into the carpet, muffling her.
Nayeon leaned down, knife pressed against the girl's neck.
"Where is he?" Nayeon whispered, eyes trained on the entrance in front of her
Muffled moaning was her only answer. She replied with a hard punch to the back her captive's head.
"Scream and you die" she whispered
Again, her answer was muffled but understood.
Nayeon eased off the girl's back, allowing her to lift her head.
"He's upstairs. Sana's room" she whimpered "Second last room on the right"
"Please, don't do this. I was kind to you-"
"Chae, right?"
"Yes-"
"Fuck you"
Before Chaeyoung had a chance to scream, Nayeon shoved her head against the floor and plunged the knife, dripping with her brother's viscera, into the side of her head, ending the girl's life.
In the kitchen, Papa's sobbing had ceased. Mourning replaced now with an unholy fury.
"Chaeyoung!" he bellowed, voice twisted by rage "Where the fuck are those goddamned fucking kids?"
Papa stormed past the living room and bounded up the stairs, each step seeming to shake the house down to its rotten foundations. Nayeon followed his footfalls with her eyes, heart beating faster as Papa's journey brought him closer and closer to the second last room on the right. If Jungkook was in that room, he would undoubtedly face Papa's wrath.
Nayeon righted herself and was about to go after him, when the backdoor banged open. Nayeon hid behind a dilapidated sofa and watched as Jeongyeon trudged into the hallway, a heartbroken Sana held in her arms; this too brought a smile to Nayeon's face. If they were suffering, then all the pain was worth it.
Right about the time Nayeon was contemplating her options of attack, a shadow loomed over the two women. Jeongyeon cast a dismissive look over her shoulder and pushed Sana up the stairs. Jeongyeon made to follow but stopped when, what could only be JIN, gave a pained squeal and stomped loudly.
"What's your problem, you dumb mother-" started Jeongyeon before falling silent
"Sis?" said Sana, retreating down the steps to join her sister "Oh god"
"I knew I shoulda fucking broken her goddamn neck outside" growled Jeongyeon "When I get my hands on her-"
"You'll do what?" boomed Papa from the top of the stairs
"That girl-" started Sana
"You let her go?" asked Papa, lowering his voice
"I- I- she was caught in a trap outside. I had to see what she did to Suga-"
"Yoongi?" said Papa, descending the stairs
"Yes sir. H-He's dead-"
"He's what!"
JIN cried out and pushed his way past his sisters and put himself between Papa and them; he whimpered and whined but stood his ground.
"What do you think you're gonna do? Ain't enough steam in your engine to turn the gears, you God forsaken waste of skin!" yelled Papa
Despite him being a head shorter than JIN, Papa withered his freakish son with little more than his voice. Fear, it seemed, was as powerful a leash as ever. Papa spoke at his children, hatred and fury boiling just beneath his low voice.
"That little cunt is somewhere in this house. You three best find her before I do, or I swear by the holy Lord above, I, Kim Namjoon, will unleash a fury on you that would make Samson blush. God will have to forgive you, because I won't"
The three children listened, heads bowed, quaking with fear. Papa pushed past the trio and headed for the door to outside, pausing to speak over his shoulder.
"Oh, and when you find that prissy little bitch of a sister of yours, tell her I don't wanna see hide nor hair of her ever again. If I catch her in my sight, I'll gut her"
"Why?" said Jeongyeon defiantly "What's she done?"
Papa turned on his heel and, before anyone could stop him, grabbed Jeongyeon by the throat and started squeezing; Sana hid behind JIN, who had reached out to stop his father but thought better of it.
"Why? Because she didn't want to kill that city girl, liked her perfume, thought she was pretty. Now where does that leave us, huh? TWO OF OUR FAMILY MEMBERS ARE DEAD BECAUSE OF THAT GIRL. And the blame rests equally on Chaeyoung's head"
He released his grip on Jeongyeon, who fell to her knees gasping; her neck was already bruising from her father's brute strength.
"Now. I'm gonna go and search the perimeter, make sure she didn't run off" said Papa, his voice calm again "Find that girl"
From the darkness, Nayeon observed them, that family of freaks; beneath her, Chaeyoung's body had started going cold. Still, she lay there, the signs of death didn't bother her anymore.
When Papa vacated the house, his three children split up. Sana went upstairs, to her room no doubt, Jeongyeon brushed past JIN and headed past the kitchen. JIN stood silently as his sisters departed, glancing between the two, as if he was trying to figure out who to follow, before experiencing an epiphany and lumbering into the living room.
Nayeon slid off of Chaeyoung's body and slipped behind the couch, staying crouched below JIN's eye line; she knew the mask limited his vision.
The oaf stomped his way through the living room, breathing quickly and heavily, vocalising madly. He stopped when his foot bumped against something on the floor. He lowered his head until he was almost bent in half. The monster came face to face with his deceased sister, a state of being even he could comprehend.
A low howl escaped JIN's lips as he prodded Chaeyoung's body with his clumsy fingers, trying in vain to wake her. Nayeon might have felt pity at one point, but she was passed that.
Nayeon popped up behind him and jammed the knife into his back before ripping it out, sending a splash of blood across the floor and her face, ducking behind the couch after. JIN spun around, desperately trying to paw at the wound, eyes darting madly around the doorway. Again, Nayeon mantled the couch and drove the knife into his side, pulling it along his back. She pulled the knife out and ducked low, swinging at his exposed Achilles tendon; the knife bit into his pants but no deeper.
The monster spun around again, swinging a fist wildly, the punch sailing cleanly over Nayeon's head. Now that the beast was enraged, Nayeon scurried into the dining room, hoping he would follow.
Her fight with JIN had caused Sana to come running down the stairs, into the living room and right into her dead sister; the shriek she gave off only served to strengthen Nayeon.
Now that she was face to mask with JIN again, Nayeon was anything but scared. She had killed three of them already, JIN would be no different.
"Come on, Ugly" said Nayeon, flashing the bloodied blade
JIN's bloodshot eye focused on Nayeon, pupil narrowed. He charged Nayeon, who ducked under the dining table and scrambled to the other side; JIN turned around and giggled. Ever confident in her plan, Nayeon laughed back.
By this time, Sana had entered the dining room, looking a complete mess of bloodshot eyes, red cheeks and snot. She caught sight of Nayeon and screamed.
"You! I'm gonna kill you!"
Before Nayeon, or JIN, could react, Sana clawed her way over the table and leapt onto Nayeon, knocking her to the ground. She began manically clawing at Nayeon's face and arms, her nails breaking and cracking as they drew blood; JIN stood still, laughing and laughing.
Nayeon managed to get one good punch in that stunned Sana for a moment, but before she could shove Sana aside, the maniac sank her teeth into Nayeon's arm. Taken completely by surprise, Nayeon shook of the shock and pain, and hit Sana with the butt of the knife until she let go.
Nayeon's reprieve was short lived as Sana quickly grabbed hold of her wrist and tried to slam the knife free from her grip. Nayeon fought back as hard as she could, trying her damnedest to stab Sana. She made a mistake and Sana, rabid at this point, bit Nayeon in the shoulder, catching enough of her neck to do damage.
"Fuck!"
Nayeon screamed, trying to buck Sana off of her, but her strength was waning.
Everything up until this point was catching up. The cold, her injuries, the blood loss. It was all becoming too much for her.
Her struggling weakened until she couldn't fight back.
In her blurry vision, she saw Sana, sat atop her. Blood dripped from the feral creature's lips.
Sana wrenched the knife free from Nayeon's failing grip and tossed it aside. She spat blood in Nayeon's face. Her own blood.
"That's what you get for hurting my family" said Sana "This is what happens when people love each other. We protect each other"
Nayeon tried to speak, to hit her with a comeback, but she could do no more than gurgle a "fuck you"
"You took my sister from me"
Sana pressed her fingers into the gaping wound in Nayeon's neck; the pain barely registered with Nayeon. She was checking out. The curtain was lowering.
"I hope it was worth it"
It wasn't. Not the Christmas party. Not the argument. Not revenge.
Everything was going dark now, the edges of her vision were closing in. It was getting hard to hear.
"It don't matter anyway"
She was right. It didn't.
"That boy of yours is mine now"
"I'm sorry" thought Nayeon "I should have tried harder"
In this game of life and death, with the odds stacked against her, try as she might to turn the tables in her favour,
Nayeon had lost.