Chapter Text
Jimin sat in the sleek modern lobby as he waited for his interview begin. He watched men and women wearing expensive suits walk by, the sight making him start to feel self-conscious as he worried about if he was even good enough for the position he was interviewing for.
Namjoon extended his hand to shake Jimin's. "Welcome to the Kim Corporation."
Jimin dashed back to the office and begged the security guard to let him in. After succeeding, he quickly ran up the stairs to his desk, believing waiting for the elevator would take too long. When he finally arrived on the correct floor, he noticed a faint light coming from under the door to Namjoon's office. He breathed out in relief as he realized his boss was still there.
He walked over and carefully pushed the door open. "Namjoon-" He cut himself off with a gasp as he noticed Morgan was splayed out on the CEO's desk, Namjoon leaning over her.
Jimin swallowed thickly. "Y-you…you're…"
"A vampire." Namjoon finished for him, knocking the breath out of Jimin for a second.
Jimin waited patiently at his desk until Yoongi stormed off the elevator. "H-Hi! I-I, uh, I c-can-"
"Not now, mortal." Jimin was too stunned to even scoff in offense as Yoongi rushed past him into Namjoon's office and slammed the door behind him.
"Who are you?" Jimin asked with a shaky voice, arms crossing over his chest protectively.
The vampire snorted. "Hell of a way to say thanks."
"Sorry, I mean…" Jimin nibbled on his bottom lip nervously before finishing his thought. "Thank you for getting me out of there, but who are you and where am I?"
"Name's Jungkook Jeon." The vampire introduced himself before gesturing around the room. "This is my safehouse."
He trudged upstairs and let himself in, pausing as he noticed the lights were completely on, but no Taehyung in sight. The only sign of his roommate being the paused video game still displayed on their TV. "Tae?!" He called out, setting his things down. "I’m glad you're still up! I just had the craziest night…" He trailed off as he bent down to pull of his shoes, noticing Taehyung's controller tossed carelessly on the floor. The Taehyung he knew would never treat his precious controller like that. "Tae?" He called out once more. He stepped forward, peering around the room until he saw something glinting in the light. He took a few more steps and promptly screamed as he noticed the glint was from a pool of blood, Taehyung lying in the middle of the floor with two puncture wounds in his neck.
A sob escaped Jimin as he let go of Namjoon's jacket, instead taking Taehyung's hand in his. After a few seconds of imagining a completely dreadful life without his best friend, Jimin came to a decision. "Then turn him." He sniffled as looked at Namjoon once more. "You can do that, right? Make him a vampire?"
The vampire closed his eyes and took another deep breath as if to gather himself. As he opened his eyes, they flashed red, and his fangs descended. "I will for you." He bit the inside of his wrist, tearing a gash in his own flesh before pressing the wound to Taehyung's lips, forcing his blood to drip into his mouth.
"It's just…" Taehyung sighed quietly. "Now that I'm getting used to being a vampire…there's so much to take in…every feeling, every taste, every sensation is new and amazing." He looked at Jimin with a type of innocence in his eyes. "I know we should sleep, but there's so much I want to see and do…" He bit his lip slightly. "So much I want to feel."
"No." Namjoon shook his head. "The serum is still in my system. The light doesn't hurt. In fact, it…" He raised one hand up in the beam with an amazed expression. It looked as if his skin was absorbing the light itself. "I feel…" His eyes glowed, resembling the light of the sun rather than the red Jimin had grown used to seeing in them on occasion. "Powerful." With that word, his voice was different, deeper, like the rumbling of mountains. His entire body took on a similar glow to his eyes. Jack looked on in horror as Namjoon turned to tower over him. "You're pathetic, Torres. A sad little rat scraping by. You think you can fight me? Me?" He extended a hand, and Jack froze in place as if he were being pulled by invisible strings. "I can see the blood running through your veins. I can control it…guide it…or make it boil…" Jack let out a scream and dropped to his knees as his body started to burn from within. Namjoon rested his hand on Jack's forehead. "Farewell, old friend." Jack let out one last scream just before his skull exploded into a dozen pieces. His body fell, turning into ash before it hit the ground.
"I am not one of you!" Augustin hissed. "You are the spawn of Vincentius! Abominations just like him!"
"Hey!" Jungkook exclaimed in offense. "I'm not the spawn of that freak."
"Oh, you are." Augustin insisted. "When Jiwon died, there were only two vampires. Vincentius and I. And I never turned anyone. Every last one of your blight is his spawn."
Jungkook glared at him. "Even if that's true-"
Augustin cut him off. "Enough. You came into my home. My domain. You desecrate this place. You stand before me, monsters cloaked in human skin." Jungkook unsheathed his sword, but Namjoon put his arm out to stop him.
"It's his power." Jungkook said. "I can feel it even from here. It's like this dark terrible shadow all around him."
"Like there's no humanity left." Namjoon added on.
Even Jimin could feel it. A menacing aura that filled the entire room. It made him shiver. "You're going down, Vincentius." He said. "This is all going to end. Tonight."
But Vincentius didn't seem very affected by Jimin's words. He didn’t even look in Jimin's direction. "Oh, Jimin. Ever the optimist, aren't you?" He finally moved, stretching himself out on his throne. "What a delicious feeling, to finally be free. To have so much life and death clinging to my fingertips. I have missed this…the taste of blood sweetened with fear…the screams of my prey…It is as it once was back when Jiwon was our goddess, and we waged war on mortals. Before the Order. Before fear. Before being hunted and slaughtered. Now…Now, I myself am a god, and my dream--our dream--can finally be realized. Once more, friends…one last time…I offer you my hand in friendship. Join me and we shall tear down the edifices of mankind and erect a new order, a better order. Join me and we shall live free." He reached out to them but none of them moved.
Jimin grimly picked up the stake, gripping it tightly. Steeling himself, he crept toward Vincentius from behind then broke into a run. He raised the stake high, ready to finally plunge it into Vincentius' body when the vampire turned to face him. Time seemed to stop. "Nice try." When Jimin looked down, he saw Jungkook's sword buried up to the hilt in his chest.
Someone screamed Jimin's name as pain lanced through his entire body. His vision throbbed red. Blood bubbled between his lips. He couldn't breathe. But his focus narrowed to Vincentius' burning eyes, the weight of the stake in his hand. "I don't…try." He choked out. "I…win." With the last of his strength, he heaved his arm up and stabbed down, straight into Vincentius' chest. The stake pierced through his flesh and into his heart.
Namjoon ran toward Jimin, cradling him in his arms as he gurgled blood. "Jimin, please, no…" His hand hovered uselessly over the sword protruding from Jimin's chest.
Jimin struggled to breathe, the pain in his chest overwhelming, agonizing. Still, he smiled up at Namjoon. "We…won…Namjoon."
"Yeah…" Namjoon nodded, his eyes glistening. "You saved us. You saved all of us." He pressed his forehead to Jimin's as tears streaked down his cheeks. "But you can't die. I can't lose you. I can't."
Jimin raised a weak, bloodied hand. Namjoon took it and pressed it to his cheek, kissing Jimin's palm while the tears continued to flow. "I don't…want to leave you…" Jimin shuddered as everything began to fade. The edges of his vision started to blacken. "Namjoon, I…I'm cold…really…cold…"
Namjoon's hand stroked Jimin's cheek tenderly, holding him close. "Listen to me, Jimin. You are the best thing that's happened to me in 200 years. You're the most wonderful, amazing person. And I lo-" His voice began to fade as Jimin sank further and further into the dark until it carried him away completely.
Darkness floated around Jimin. Silent, heavy, suffocating.
Then he woke with a start, heart struggling in his chest. His pulse felt strangely distant, yet he could hear the rush of blood in his veins like an ocean storm. When he tried to move, he was met by narrow, wooden walls. He realized with horror that he was in a coffin. "Oh my god, this can't be happening." As he mumbled to himself, his canines poked into his lower lip, longer and sharper than they should have been. His breath came faster as panic took over.
And the hunger. It held him in a vise like grip and dried out his throat as longing burned deep in his stomach. He wanted blood. The word came to him like a flare in the darkness.
Vampire.
Stronger than the panic, stronger than the hunger, was the desire to get the fuck out of there. Jimin twisted his hips and pounded his foot into the bottom of the coffin until the wood split apart. He pounded on the coffin lid and felt it break beneath his hands, opening cracks that sent flurries of dirt raining down upon him. Finally, with one powerful push, he shoved the coffin lid off. He held his breath as dirt rained down over his head, realizing as he started to claw his way upwards that the urge to inhale never came.
Jimin felt a cool breeze on his fingertips, and moments later, his head broke through. He was momentarily stunned by the sight of the night sky above him streaked with stars and smoke. The stars were so bright, and the smoke burned in his nose. His stomach turned and his head throbbed.
Slowly, Jimin crawled out of the coffin and landed on loose soil. He was in a graveyard, and he was alone. His memories were hazy, but he remembered Vincentius' smile, the pain of Jungkook's sword sliding into him. He remembered the pain, the cold, the fear. And he remembered Namjoon cradling him close, tears streaming down his face. He should have been dead. Why was he not dead?
As Jimin got to his feet, dizziness made him sway. The scent of the soil and stone around him was overwhelming. And woven into those scents was the smell of blood, delicious and taunting. The hunger burned in Jimin's gut. Holding his stomach, he gasped and stumbled forward, following the faint smell of blood.
Jimin eventually made it out of the graveyard and into the city, but everything was in ruins. Fires burned up boroughs and shadows stalked the alleyways. Hisses and screams and the scuffing of feet echoed all around him. Vampires battled in the streets amidst the sounds of clanging steel and barking guns. Ferals descended upon a wounded vampire with gnashing teeth. Jimin pressed his hands over his ears, but it did nothing to drown out the tidal wave of sound. "Please stop."
He came across an intersection. To the right he heard wailing and to the left he smelled smoke. He stumbled to the right, breathing shallowly. Everything was dark as the humidity pressed against his skin. The wailing grew louder until Jimin came across a vampire nearly torn in half, lying in the street. "Please help me!"
"I…I'm sorry." Jimin said quietly as the scent of the vampire's blood and viscera nearly knocked him out. He leaned against the wall and panted, his throat tight with hunger. The vampire tried to hold in their intestines without success. Jimin watched as their eyes eventually rolled back and their jaw hung slack. He had to find the others before he ended up like that.
Jimin stumbled onward, keeping to the shadows, his shoulders scraping against the sides of destroyed buildings. Finally, he managed to escape the worst of the chaos as he headed for Central Park. Blood still hung in the air, luring Jimin on. The hunger cramped inside him, and he nearly doubled over from the pain.
And then he smelled it. Human blood. Fresh. Delicious.
Jimin watched as a bleeding woman limped into the park to find a place to hide. The woman's safety was far from his mind as he smelled her blood, thick and fragrant in the air. His stomach clenched as a deep, rumbling want grew stronger within him. He tried to fight but he started forward without even realizing it. His mouth hung open as he drooled, completely famished. He licked his lips even as his mind screamed at him to stop, to realize what he was doing. An inhuman growl escaped him as he sped up, the park blurring around him as he closed in on the woman.
The woman turned back and saw Jimin. Her scream rattled through his skull. "No! Please stay away!" Blood was dripping down her leg, splattering the grass. It smelled better than any food Jimin had ever smelled, more alluring than any wine.
Jimin needed it. More badly than he'd ever needed anything. He needed it. He grinned in anticipation as he lurched forward to grab the woman.
Then a hand grabbed his wrist. Jimin whirled around and bared his fangs with a growl, eyes wild, hunger tearing him apart. He tried to fight. "Jimin, what are you doing? Stop!"
It was all too much. Jimin immediately began to weaken, the peak of his hunger devolving into exhaustion. "H-hungry…so…hungry…"
"You're alive!" But Jimin couldn't answer. Darkness closed in as he lost consciousness.
Jimin gradually came to, his head spinning. "Wha…" Before he could make out where he was, four familiar faces leaned over him.
"Jimin!"
"Are you alright?"
"What the fuck happened?
"I told you we shouldn't have left him there-"
Their voices overwhelmed Jimin, crowding his mind. He clutched his head with a wince. "Let's give him a little space." Yoongi said.
They all reluctantly took a step back as Jimin sat up slowly, realizing he was at Kim HQ. "I…I feel so awful…I was…" His mind was fuzzy with visions of Central Park, of a woman screaming. He felt like he was going to be sick.
The hunger that consumed him had faded a bit. And he couldn't help but notice an empty goblet resting on the desk, the rim lined with blood. When he looked up, the others were watching him carefully. He turned to Taehyung, whose face was wet with tears. "Tae-"
Taehyung sobbed and lunged forward to hug him. Jimin hugged him back, finding it difficult to lift his arms. "I thought we'd lost you." He whispered.
"Taehyung, please, tell me what's going on." Jimin pleaded. "I'm so confused."
The others exchanged a look that was hard to read. Jimin struggled to swallow. "What's the last thing you remember before waking in the graveyard?" Namjoon asked.
"I…" Jimin furrowed his eyebrows in concentration. "We were in the museum. With Vincentius. I staked him." He looked at everyone in concern. "Don't tell me we didn't win."
"No, you staked him alright." Jungkook said.
Yoongi nodded. "You were brave. Resourceful. Incredible."
"You treed his ass!" Taehyung exclaimed.
"But he stabbed you in return." Namjoon said. "The wound was…" He hesitated for a second, words trapped in his throat.
"It was fatal." Yoongi finished for him. "He killed you, Jimin."
A hush fell over the others as Jimin tried to wrap his head around what Yoongi was saying. "I…I died."
"We did everything we could." Taehyung said quietly. "But the wound was too deep. You were too far gone."
Another silence fell before Namjoon stepped forward. "I had to turn you. It was the only way."
Jimin stared at him, trying to make sense of his words. "You…turned me. I'm…I'm a vampire…" Saying the words out loud filled Jimin with an aching fear. He'd been around vampires for so long but had never expected to become one of them. The world around him was no longer the same. He wasn't the same."
"I couldn't bear to lose you." Namjoon said. "I refused. I panicked. I’m not proud to admit it but I just…I couldn't lose you, Jimin."
Nodding, Jimin closed his eyes. "I understand."
"But the turning didn't take." Namjoon said. "I don't know why. We waited all day, but you were still gone. You stayed dead. So we brought you to the graveyard. We buried you. We mourned you. I…I mourned you. That's why I was there today…to…to visit you. I-"
Jimin tried to even out his breathing as Namjoon's words took root. "How long was I gone for?"
"Four days." Yoongi said.
"We thought you were dead." Jungkook said. "You were dead."
"And then I found you in Central Park." Namjoon said. "As a vampire."
Jimin still couldn't figure out how he felt. The hunger was still gnawing at his gut. He thought of that poor woman int eh park and shuddered, tears pricking his eyes. "I'm…a vampire. I'm a vampire." He said it a few more times, quietly and to himself, as he began to accept the grim truth.
The heaviness in the air lifted slightly as Taehyung wrapped Jimin in his arms, trembling as he cried with him. "God, Jimin, I can't believe you're back. We lost you. We really thought we lost you. And now you're back."
Jimin clung to Taehyung tightly, relief finally swelling within him. The other three looked on with faint smiles. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Jimin, there's nothing to be sorry for." Yoongi said. "We failed to protect you."
But it was all too much to convey in simple words. Jimin sobbed into Taehyung's shoulder as he rocked him back and forth. He felt the others' hands at his back, on his shoulders, stroking his hair away from his grimy face. He was safe.
Namjoon cupped Jimin's cheek and Jimin leaned into the contact. The others took note and wisely left the room, giving them some time alone. Namjoon took Jimin's face in his hands and rested their foreheads together. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this, Jimin. I never wanted this for you. I…" His voice broke and Jimin could see the struggle in his eyes. The fear. "You were gone, and I just snapped. I had to bring you back. I didn't even stop to think about the consequences. Of how life would change for you once you became a vampire. Jimin, can you ever forgive me?"
"I forgive you." Jimin said quietly. "Of course I forgive you. I would have done the same for you."
"But this is huge, Jimin." Namjoon said. "The transition from human to vampire is far from easy.
Jimin put his hands on Namjoon's broad shoulders, letting him be his anchor. "Then it's a good thing I have you to help me, isn't it?"
Namjoon laughed gently, amazedly. He stroked a thumb over Jimin's cheek as if reminding himself he was real. "The world is a mess. The city's burning. But right now, I'm just so happy to have you back."
It was the mildest touch, but the sensation was overwhelming like Namjoon was somehow caressing Jimin's entire body at once. Jimin gasped, closing his eyes. "I can't believe I was dead for four days. Why do you think it took so long?"
"I wondered the same thing." Namjoon said. "My theory is that because you're the Bloodkeeper, your body didn't know how to transition right away. The very first vampire Bloodkeeper…that'll be something for the history books."
Jimin took a deep breath, collecting himself as the others reentered the room. "Wait, so if Vincentius was defeated, then why is New York still all apocalypse-y?"
"Vincentius may have been stopped but his minions still live, inflicting chaos." Yoongi said.
Namjoon nodded. "He really did a number on the city. The US government evacuated as many civilians as they could. But between the ones trapped behind, the vampire war, and the Ferals…"
"It's anarchy." Jungkook said.
"Where are the rest of your Clans?" Jimin asked.
"Working on damage control all over the city." Yoongi said. "Taehyun's been leading the efforts."
Jimin raised his eyebrows. "Good for him." He looked around at everyone. "So is Manhattan just cut off from the rest of the world?"
"Basically." Namjoon nodded. "There are a few senior government officials who know about our shadow kingdom. They've been in touch to try to work out what's next."
"Which reminds me, we have a meeting soon to coordinate the next step." Yoongi said.
Jimin perked up a bit. "Can I come?"
Yoongi nodded. "Of course. But first…"
"First?" Jimin asked. Then he noticed everyone staring at him and looked down.
"Your outfit." Taehyung said. "It's all…grave-y."
"I don't have anything with me." Jimin said. Then a thought hit him. "Does our apartment even still exist?"
"Surprisingly yes." Taehyung smiled. "But for your debut as a vampire, yours truly has you covered." He tugged Jimin into the bathroom where an all-black outfit was already waiting for him.
Once Jimin was cleaned up and in fresh clothes, he returned to the office where Namjoon smiled at him. "Have I ever told you you make a stunning vampire?"
"No." Jimin said. "But I expect to hear it every day from now on."