Chapter Text
Prologue
Taehyung
Blood crashes down the black stone steps mirroring the waves crashing on the rocky beach below. It sprays Taehyung’s face, coats his tattered clothes in red, presses in through the corners of his lips and makes his mouth taste like iron.
Every part of him wants to turn back, wants to plunge into the sea and cleanse himself.
But he keeps climbing the steps anyway, putting one wet foot in front of the other, legs aching, stomach coiling with nausea. He tries closing his eyes for a while, hoping for a slight reprieve, but losing his sight just makes the blood smell stronger. His eyelashes stick to each other when he opens them again.
After some time climbing, maybe ten minutes, maybe two hours, he reaches the top of the stairs. Up here, there’s just an old stone lighthouse and a boy in a clean white t-shirt standing next to it. He’s around Taehyung's age, is free of blood, and beautiful. The sky is black behind him.
And when he embraces Taehyung, the blood fades away and the sky turns white again.
Taehyung wakes up in a cold sweat, clutching Jimin to his chest and yelling for Seokjin.
******
Yoongi
Yoongi runs but the trees don’t want him to.
They claw at him with wooden fingers sharp enough to tear his sweater and make him bleed. It doesn’t occur to him that he shouldn't be bleeding, he just keeps pushing forward, has to push forward, because what if he can’t catch up to Hoseok in time? What if this is it, what if this is Hoseok’s final victim and the others kill him for it?
Yoongi cries out in fear, screams a feral scream cut short by the trees reaching for his throat. They snag on his Adam's apple, pulling it to the side with a crunch, until he finally yanks free again.
Hobi, Hobi, Hobi where is he?
Now Yoongi is panting, and it doesn’t occur to him that he shouldn’t be panting.
There’s light up ahead, some kind of clearing he stumbles into. The sky opens up, revealing an old stone lighthouse somewhere in the distance beyond the treeline. But Hoseok is closer than that, because Yoongi can smell him just up ahead. He braces himself for the scent of human blood, too.
But Hoseok is laughing. He’s sitting on a bed of moss on the other side of the clearing next to a human boy Yoongi has never seen before. The boy has large, curious brown eyes and a glowing smile. When the boy looks up at Yoongi, the trees let him go.
Then Yoongi snaps back to reality, reaching for Hoseok beside him. Yes, Hoseok says, they need to tell Namjoon now.
*******
Namjoon
Fluorescent light bounces off the rain-drenched concrete of the ferry’s deck and into Namjoon’s weary face. He leans back in the driver’s seat of the black SUV, predator’s eyes catching the movement of a rat scuttling across the deck in the darkness just beyond the reach of the lights.
The clock on the dashboard reads 11:13 p.m.
Yoongi yawns from the passenger’s seat, flashing his long, catlike fangs.
“You really shouldn’t show those when we’re around humans,” mutters Namjoon half-heartedly.
Yoongi shrugs.
“There aren’t many around. They’ll think it’s a trick of the light.”
He’s not wrong; the SUV is one of only three cars on the midnight ferry. All but one of the human passengers disappeared into the warmth of the cafe upstairs half an hour ago. The remaining man is fast asleep, his heartbeat thumping dully in Namjoon’s ears.
“Getting any more info on the boy?” he asks, turning to Yoongi in the dim light.
“Eh, not really, but I can tell we’re getting nearer to him.”
“That’s good at least.” Namjoon runs his fingertips thoughtfully over his lips. “I hope we have this right.”
“If his aura is strong enough to send dreams across the water, he’ll be easy to identify if we get close to him,” says Yoongi. “Haven’t seen anything like this in a long time.”
“We’ll need to be careful,” says Namjoon. “We may not be the only ones seeking him”
Yoongi nods in agreement.
Namjoon lets the conversation fade to comfortable silence, closing his eyes.
They sit like that, listening to the heartbeat of the man in the other car and swaying with the ferry as it rocks in the wind until the door to the backseat opens again.
“What’d I miss?” asks Hoseok, throwing himself onto the seat.
“You reek of shellfish, humans, and dairy,” says Yoongi, dark brown eyes flickering to the rearview mirror.
Hoseok shrugs.
“What? I tried some clam chowder.”
Namjoon wrinkles his nose.
“You did? Gross!”
“You’re such a diva. I didn’t swallow it. I just wanted to try it because the humans like it so much.”
Yoongi shakes his head.
“You’re not a human, Hobi.”
Hoseok crosses his arms in defiance.
“I’m just practicing my empathy!”
“By eating soup?”
“It’s not that bad. Humans really like it and there’s way more of them than there are of us! I bet I had it back when I was human… just don’t remember.”
Yoongi flinches, just enough for Namjoon to notice.
“You don’t have to try this hard Hobi,” says Yoongi in a softer tone.
“Joon said–” begins Hoseok.
“Enough,” interjects Namjoon. “We need to focus on our target. Hobi, you wanna meet him first?
“Eh, are you sure?” says Hoseok hesitantly. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”
Yoongi turns in his seat to look directly at his mate.
“You’re ready.”
“Alright,” says Hoseok with a sigh.
*******
Seokjin
In the late morning sunlight, hours after Namjoon, Yoongi, and Hoseok’s ferry arrives at Waycliff Island, a bright white yacht approaches from a distance of about fourteen miles out. Loud music thumps from the speakers on its lower deck, but there are no visible passengers as it cuts smoothly through the dark blue water.
On the upper deck, a silver steering wheel catches a ray of sunlight through the open windows, reflecting on Seokjin’s face where he lies sprawled on a soft white leather couch. He scowls at the phone in his hands, wincing when the pitchy clangs of a sword and pan-flute end abruptly and “Game Over” flashes on the screen.
He sighs, putting his phone down and glancing at the time. The dark green island in the distance is growing larger; they must only be an hour or so away now.
After double-checking the auto-pilot settings on the dash, he stretches before heading downstairs, twisting until his lower back pops a few times. While his body stopped aging at 27 years old, he still gets stiff after too much time without a proper run.
We’ll need to loosen up once we arrive. Find some woods.
Yawning, he descends the stairs, pads through the quiet lounge, and steps outside onto the lower deck in the warm, bright light. Out here, the bass of the music thumps in his chest, annoyingly out-of-sync with his heartbeat. But what’s more annoying is that no one seems to be listening anymore, because the two figures who turned it on are curled together on a stack of cushions, fast asleep.
Seokjin rolls his eyes and shuts off the music with a click.
“Tae? Jiminie?” he says loudly.
“Hrrrrmmmmm…” growls Jimin, covering his face with his arm.
“Time to get up,” says Seokjin, prodding Jimin and Taehyung with his foot.
Jimin growls again.
“I’ll cook breakfast.”
Another growl.
“Don’t make me do it…”
Silence.
“Fine.”
Seokjin quits speaking aloud, switching to mental communication, which his pack can’t ignore.
Seokjin: Time to get up.
Taehyung opens an annoyed green eye.
Taehyung: Why.
Seokjin sends a mental image of a steaming plate of bacon and eggs.
Taehyung responds with an image of his blanket and pillow.
Seokjin: You can go back to bed when we get to the island.
Taehyung switches tactics.
Taehyung: But we had bacon and eggs yesterday.
Seokjin: Okay then Jimin can have your share.
“I’m up!” says Jimin out loud, sitting up and trying to flatten his tousled hair.
“Good! Let’s eat,” says Seokjin, grinning as Jimin pries off Taehyung’s arms from around his torso. Jimin always caves first.
“C’mon Tae, let’s get up,” Jimin mumbles sleepily.
There’s a pause, then Taehyung finally sits up, eyes only half open.
With a yawn, he disentangles himself from the blankets and follows Jimin and Seokjin into the yacht’s shiny stainless-steel kitchen. Seokjin cooks while Jimin and Taehyung scroll on their phones.
“So,” begins Jimin, as Seokjin sets a steaming plate in front of him. “Did you find us a place to stay?”
“Yep,” says Seokjin. “My agent got us a cabin. It’s right on the edge of the state park, so we’ll be able to run in the woods.”
“Does it have any neighbors?”
“Nope, isolated.”
“Sounds great,” says Jimin. “I hope we get to stay a while this time.”
Seokjin shoots Jimin a meaningful look.
“You know what we agreed on.”
“Yeah yeah,” says Taehyung through a mouthful of scrambled eggs. “No promises that he’ll wanna join our pack.”
Jimin looks between Taehyung and Seokjin.
“And no promises Jin will let him join our pack even if he wants to.”
“Exactly,” says Seokjin. “He has to be the right fit for all of us. So, we find him, get to know him, then decide, okay?”
“Mhmmmm,” says Jimin. “You getting anymore, uh, vibes from him Tae?”
Taehyung doesn’t say anything.
“Tae?” asks Seokjin, carefully.
Taehyung tilts his head back, green eyes going oddly blank. He stays there, frozen for ten long heartbeats.
“Well he’s here,” he says, leveling his head. “But it’s weird, I can’t feel anything else.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” says Jimin. “Seems like you’d be getting more info as we get closer to the island. Maybe he’s trying to hide from aurabinders.”
Taehyung stares out the window.
“I dunno. Seems like he’d be aurabound by now if he knew of his potential.”
“You think he doesn’t even know about us?” asks Jimin.
“Probably not,” says Taehyung. “If he’s as powerful as we think he’ll be, everyone will want him.”
That statement - the part where Taehyung noted the boy’s potential power - sends a pang of anxiety through Seokjin’s stomach.
Can’t let them get hurt.
Neither Jimin or Taehyung notice Seokjin’s discomfort.
“With all that power he’ll wanna be a Wolf I bet,” says Jimin brightly. “Why would you want to be anything else?”
“Yeah,” agrees Taehyung, looking back from the window. “We can show him how to shift and run with us.”
Seokjin sets his fork down, leans forward a bit, and tries to meet Jimin and Taehyung’s eyes without any humor. It isn’t easy to kill the mood; he hates bringing the pack down. But some things need to be said now to prevent harm later.
“Hey, just because I agreed to this doesn't mean it’s gonna work out, okay? He might be dangerous, or he might've been claimed by another group already. I know you both wanna grow the pack and I do too, but we have to be careful, alright?”
“I think he’ll be right for us,” says Taehyung without missing a beat. “I have a feeling.”
“One of your feelings, or just like, a feeling?” asks Jimin.
“Well a regular one I guess, but still!”
Seokjin sighs.
******
Jungkook
The first time Jungkook meets a vampire, he doesn’t know it.
It’s a Saturday morning, and a thick, damp September mist has settled over the island overnight, making Jungkook’s rusty door handle moist to the touch as he fumbles with the lock on his way outside.
Everything feels damp this morning: the wooden railing on the stairs leading from the back of the cafe up to his apartment, the inside of the rainboots that live just outside his door, the pavement on the cracked sidewalk below.
But Jungkook doesn’t mind. Not at all.
Because the cool wet air soothes him, slowing his heartbeat as it steals his attention away from his lingering nightmares.
The mist seeps into the images that haunt him every night, blurring and dissolving them until he can finally think clearly again. Red speckled carpet fades back to white, the determined woman raising a book high above her head turns and walks away. He stares at a painting of a flock of sheep on a green field but the pain doesn’t come this time.
It’s over. It’s over.
Jungkook brushes his thumb against a silver ring on his left index finger, then massages his jaw, working out the tension leftover from his nightmares. He bends down to tuck his thick canvas work pants into his black rain boots, then glances up at the sky; the clouds are thin today despite the mist, but you should never trust that it won’t rain on Waycliff.
Better to be prepared.
Satisfied with his boots, Jungkook hastily descends the stairs to the sidewalk and into the back alleyway behind the building. He casts a forlorn glance at the old Harley stowed against the building; if only the rest of the island was awake this early, he could get away with riding it to work. But, he doesn’t want to risk disturbing anyone and losing his cheap rent.
Main Street, on the other side of the alley, is eerily quiet, as if the pavement itself is trying to rest before another day of pounding tourists’ feet. Jungkook jogs along the sidewalk, slips through the backyard of Salty’s Pizza, carefully steps through the dead grass in the dog park, and slows only when he reaches the docks.
Like Main Street, the marina is silent this early; the midnight ferry sits motionless on the main dock. A white yacht Jungkook has never seen before sways gently against its bumper buoys in one of the smaller slips.
Seals play in the aisles between slips, zooming in and out of sight as they nip each other’s tailfins. Jungkook is tempted to pause and watch them, but he continues onward towards the whale-watching boat swaying in the mist at the end of one of the docks. The old vessel has two decks; a lower deck that’s mostly enclosed by large windows, and an open-air upper deck with standing room only.
Jungkook jumps carefully from the dock onto the vessel, feet now uncomfortably hot in his rubber boots, and immediately pads over to the windows. He licks a finger and drags it through the thin white crust caked on the bottom.
So much salt again. Must have been windy last night.
“Mornin!” comes a scratchy voice. A grizzled, elderly man in a backward baseball cap appears from around the corner.
“Good morning,” says Jungkook with a smile. “Want me to get started on the windows?”
“Yeah, why dontcha do that. First tour’s at nine. Gah! Glad to have ya on board today.”
“I’ll get to work.”
Jungkook steps inside to look for his bucket and cleaning equipment. The captain watches him from outside the windows, mouth slightly open as if lost in thought.
“Should start chargin’ extra when yer here,” he mumbles as Jungkook closes the door again and begins to scrub the salt off the windows. “Always see more whales with ya, I swear. Call it the lucky charm charge. Rolls of the tongue, eh?”
Jungkook grins, going through the motion of this familiar conversation. How many times has the captain said this exact same thing? Still, he humors the man.
“Nah, it’s not me. It’s the weather, I keep lucking out and getting dry days.”
“Hrmmfff.”
The mist has almost fully dissipated by the time Jungkook drags out the gangplank and situates it between the dock and the boat. He’s standing at its edge, waiting to help the guests, when the first passenger arrives.
A slim man in a bucket hat is walking gracefully down the dock toward him. There’s something strange about the way the man moves, he almost seems to glide across the rough wooden planks. He’s clearly walking, he just… moves differently.
And, although his face is mostly in shadow, the man’s high, beautiful cheekbones and bright white teeth are evident even from a distance.
Must be a rich tourist or a celebrity, maybe? But why would he choose to go on a boat with the general public? Where’s his security?
Shaken, Jungkook nervously thumbs the silver ring on finger, spinning it subconsciously. He almost hesitates to offer his hand to the man when he reaches the edge of the gangplank.
“Hello!” says the man cheerfully. “This is the whale-watching tour, right?”
“Yep, uhhh…you’ve found the right place. Would you like some help?”
The man waves Jungkook’s hand away.
“No, no, I’ve got it. But thank you! Where do I sit?”
“Well, the upper deck has the best view, but the lower deck will be a lot warmer. You can sit anywhere you’d like.”
“Great! Thank you, Jungkook!”
Jungkook tenses, his face flushing red and all too aware that he has no nametag.
How does he know my name? Did I already tell him? No, I didn’t…
Hot. He’s beginning to feel so hot.
No, don’t get like that.
Without acknowledging Jungkook’s panic, the man continues.
“You can call me Hoseok!”
“Oh…okay!”
Hoseok steps onto the gangplank, turns, and says over his shoulder, “Can’t wait to try whale!” before disappearing out of Jungkook’s view.
Try whale… what?
Jungkook glances around, making sure no one can see him, before taking a knee and splashing a few handfuls of cold seawater onto his face. The salt drips into his mouth.
It’s okay. I’m okay. Not checking out again. I didn’t tell him my name and then forget it. My memory is right. He probably saw my name on the Yelp Reviews. And he’s weird. And beautiful. It’s okay. I’m okay.
He repeats this until the rest of the passengers arrive.
Throughout the tour, Jungkook keeps a wary eye on Hoseok. The man seems to always be at the edge of Jungkook’s vision but never looks back at him. Like the other passengers, Hoseok’s dark eyes widen in awe at the magnificent rock ledges on the three smaller islands bordering Waycliff’s natural harbor bay: Greytower, Greenstone, and Blackcliff.
The captain explains over the loudspeaker that none of the outer islands are inhabited or contain human-made structures except for the old stone lighthouse on Greytower. Originally, he says, they’d tried to put the lighthouse on Blackcliff because it’s tallest and most westward facing. But Blackcliff was too tall, its cliff too sheer to bring up building materials.
A group of naturalists explored it by landing a helicopter up there in the late 70s, and all they found were rocks and a few scraggly red madrona trees. It’s an eerie place, the captain says.
So Greytower was chosen for the lighthouse instead.
Jungkook watches Hoseok nod along as the captain continues to explain the geology of the outer islands, gawking when the monologue is interrupted by a breaching orca. It sprays a burst of saltwater into the air with a round of applause. Hoseok claps too, and later, he accepts the complimentary cup of hot chocolate Jungkook offers to each passenger.
He says “thank you” and sips it just like everyone else.
He seems normal?
But no one else talks to Hoseok on the boat that day. No other passengers ask him to scoot over or whether he has an extra pamphlet or if he can please take a picture of them and their family if he doesn’t mind. No one else seems to notice Hoseok at all.