Once upon a time,

     A lonely king lives in an isolated palace, with his loyal servants and loyal slaves.

His servants are too loyal, too obsessively loyal towards the king.

      They would do anything for the king. Whether it'll be torture, assassinations, burning themselves to death, to prove the king their worth.

      They'll do it with disturbing smiles that haunts the king in his sleep.

      They affect his friendship with his beloved friends.

He doesn't want to be alone again.

He want to stay with his friends.

Although his friends didn't want him.

But he needed them.

His friends pushed him away.

***

Namjoon

      No one was there but our black shadows beneath the darkness of the hallway.

      The screams sounded like Jungkook and Gahyeon, but something is off about it.

      I handed No Name a long blade that I found when I was separated with Yoohyeon. She was searching for a weapon when the black mist appeared out of nowhere.

      Yoohyeon ran away with no weapon to protect herself.

      We walked down the hallway slowly, not making any sound to avoid drawing attention to the black mists.

      We turn left then right, our eyes scanning the area thoroughly. I gripped the long rustic bar pointed to the floor, moving them up and down out of anxiety.

      I ran my hand along the walls as I passed, until a cold sensation causes me to pull it away out of instinct. A gooey consistency sticks to my palm, feeling disgusted and my stomach twisted into knots.

      "Ugh", I sighed as I wiped the substance on my pants. No Name scanned the wall and scrunched her nose in disgust.

      Surely, my hands would smell really bad.

"It could be near", Hoseok whispered.

      The voices were faint whispers in my ears before they stopped abruptly. I gave a hand signal, stopping them on their tracks.

      "Did you hear that?" I asked them in a whisper. They looked confused at first. They steadied themselves until they heard it.

      A loud breathing with a sound of thick bubbles popping. A whining moan and a silent snore.

      It was the black mist right behind the wall we leaned in.

      Its legs stuck out from the wall, wiggling with its black gel. It whines like a child and moved its limbs in the air aimlessly. It started to excrete black mists, dusts float in the atmosphere.

      The black mist suddenly stopped breathing.

      All three of us hold our breaths, leaning against the wall. I was in the middle between Hoseok and No Name.

      Suddenly, it started to scream loudly, shrieking that it hurts my eardrums.

"HYUUUUUUNNNGGGG!!!"

"UUUUUNNNNNIIIEEEE!!!"

      I knew it. It wasn't Jungkook and Gahyeon.

It was the monster that imitate them.

But how did it get their voices?

      No Name courageously leaned in to take a peek before she gasped and stumbled until she bumped to me. No Name cupped a hand against her mouth, her eyes widened in utter shock.

      Hoseok came to the rescue and tried to calm her down. I tried to hush her by putting a finger against my lips. "Hey...calm down. What is it?" asked Hoseok.

      No Name gulped and breathed normally. "Someone was there—"

"Someone?" I asked.

"But they were inside of that 'thing'."

      My heart dropped. "How many are 'they'?" I asked. "Two. One boy and one girl", she answered shakily.

      "Okay, alright", Hoseok muttered and squeezed her shoulders.

      I cursed under my breath. "It got them. It must've been recently. She saw their bodies", I said.

      Hoseok nodded. "We can't afford to delay. We need to save them before they got digested and become one of them."

      I nod in agreement. "Hey, No Name? You're gonna be okay. Stay right behind us and attack when necessary. If you can, aim for the head or the core", I explained.

      No Name nodded and raised her blade. I told them my plan silently and they nodded in understanding as I keep explaining.

      "Okay, let's go!" I screamed and we charged an all-out attack.

      I swing the bar diagonally across the gel's torso, creating a deep slash. Hoseok followed the attack by chopping off one of its limbs in a swift. The mushy limb dropped on the floor with a slimy thud, the gel-like mist splattered everywhere.

      After a few slashes and splattering limbs, I saw the bodies in the beginning of decaying.

We don't have much time.

      We did our best avoiding the gel from making in contact with us. It was slow, but the organism that big can cause a painful death and the bodies are about to experience that.

      No Name dashed out of her spot and slashed her blade across the lower part of the gel, black blood gushing out of the cut line.

      The mist roared painfully. "Now!" I shouted at No Name and cupped my hands down. She dashed and jumped on my hands. I used my energy to lift her up for a boost as she jumped high, her blade raised high above her head. She let out a cry and strongly swing her blade across the gel's head and off its neck.

      Black blood spurted on us, staining our faces and clothes. The creature's head dropped on the floor with a splat. No Name was on top of its neck, watching the head with an unreadable expression.

      I jerked my head with a signal. She nodded and dive into the body of the gel.

      Gladly, her skin isn't burnt like Yoohyeon.

      She pulled out Jungkook first and both Hoseok and I grabbed him. We sighed in relief as we found out that he's still breathing. We lied him on the floor and grab hold of Gahyeon next.

***

      Jungkook groaned as Hoseok wrapped his slightly rashed arm around his shoulder. Namjoon carried Gahyeon in piggyback while I carried their heavy weapons.

      "I'm soooorrrrryyyy.... Yooouurrr Maajestyyy", a voice slurred. I turned around and watched in horror as the sad head still speaks.

      "Fooorrrggiivveee meee... Your Majeeesttyy—" The head exploded into million pieces, halting the sad whine of the creature. I breathed shakily, the remains of the gel sticks to my face and my dress.

"We need to go, now", Namjoon said sternly, a hint of disgust sketched on his face.

      The last thing I saw before we walked away is a half brain throbbing as if it still alive.

Chapter 8 updated!

I'm so sorry for the late update 🙏 I was in writer's block and got stuck into writing this chapter as I did.

I will start drafting and planning it to make the story more interesting and get the suspense it deserves 😰

Thank you for reading and leave a vote! 😙

Chapter 9 coming soon (and hopefully it'll be a fast update this time).