SPOILERS FOR Count to THREE chapter …sixteen…
I want to write and post SO BADLY. But every time I go to do it life keeps getting in the way. So, I decided….kind of abruptly tonight that I will post the first part of chapter …sixteen… tonight on Tumblr and possibly post parts of it later on here as well. Once the chapter is complete the full thing will be edited and posted onto AO3. Things can change once it’s edited and fully fleshed out, so what’s posted below might not happen later. Enjoy if you decide to read it!!
“You know, it didn’t have to be this painful.”
Harsh, shallow breaths blanket the sharp corners of the brightly lit bathroom. The four walls had once, for a fraction of time, been the omega’s safety. Now, his trap. Soon his grave.
The omega's head teeters awkwardly. He is free from any form of control he previously had over his own body. His neck could no longer support the weight it had once carried without thought. Still, the blonde strains to lift his vision enough over the edge of the porcelain tub to see the unknown man mumbling by the sink. Jimin's neck fails once more as it yields to gravity, his head falling with a dull thump.
Jimin silences the sobs that choke out of his throat by biting down on his split lower lip. A cry manages to break free. The sound he makes is loud and sharp as he braces his arms behind his crumpled body and, with the palms of his hands, he heaves himself off the floor of the tub. The effort leaves him panting and lightheaded, but he manages to lift his aching torso.
“I want you to die knowing this was all your doing. You made it this way,” the intruder walks away from the sink and stands over Jimin, eclipsing the light from his watery vision. "This is no one else's fault but your own," the omega stares into his own widening eyes as his reflection bounces off the mirrored mask above him. He wants to scream, wants to shrink away until he disappears into nothing.
The masked man calmly crouches and slowly places his gloved hands on the edge of the tub, one at a time. His movements are methodical. “I was only going to shoot you in the head,” the man pokes roughly at Jimin’s temple repeatedly with a finger…one…two…three, each jab lands like lead.
“…and then catch your twitching body on fire. But no, you had to fight back, had to drag this thing out for attention.” The faceless man turns his head to look down the expanse of Jimin's body, the weight of the stare like a vise.
“Omegas like you are truly disgusting. You only have yourself to blame. You did this to yourself. This is your fault.”
Gloved fingers clench around Jimin's chin, taking the weight of his head off his neck and guiding his gaze to the bottom of the tub. The omega's jaw locks open as a bloodcurdling scream shatters his already abused vocal cords, leaving his throat white hot.
His left leg is freshly severed, right above his knee, matching the grotesque jagged scar tissue of his right thigh. The bathtub is smeared with thick clotting blood, pooling around his hips and turning the porcelain crimson.
Tear-ruined brown eyes flick up and lock on a matching set. Jimin was no longer looking into his reflection on the mask but at the man himself. The man's face was a mirrored image of Jimin’s. The man looks just like him.
They are the same person.
Another scream threatens to break what remains of his body and soul.
“Jimin! Jimin please! Hyung, please wake up!”
"N-No! No…I'm not…get off me!" Jimin jerks awake in a panic, struggling to push away whoever has their hands on him.
The omega feels his nails digging crescents into his palms at the force with which he clenches his fist. He lashes out, hands colliding against a strong chest. Instead of pulling away, the person beside him slowly wraps a warm hand around the smaller fist still resting against the other's chest, holding it there. Calming pheromones rapidly fill the space between them.
“Do I need to call for an ambulance?” A hushed voice he vaguely recognizes as Namjoon sounds from somewhere off in the distance. He sounds tired.
The omega takes a deep breath, coughing as air fills his tortured lungs. His face now pressed against the chest he had just been hitting. The scent of the alpha next to him slowly brings reality back into focus as he blinks his burning eyes to the same rhythm his heart beats. Why would Namjoon need an ambulance?
Jimin’s hand flies down to his left thigh. Fear is consuming him as crimson bathtubs fill his memory. He pushes past his knee, feeling for torn, massacred flesh, and sobs in relief when he can move his hand past his knee and wiggle his still attached toes.
“No, I don’t think so. I think he had another nightmare.” That voice rumbles through the omega; it feels like thunder on his skin. Feels like being warm, dry, and sheltered during a storm. This is his safety.
That voice was Jungkook’s. Jimin turns his damp face towards the source and collapses his weight fully against the other man. “Hyung, do you need an ambulance?” Jimin shakes his head against Jungkook's neck, his arms wrapping around the younger man's torso impossibly tight as he opens his raw, bitten lips to shamelessly douse himself in the alpha's scent.
“I need to talk to him…” Namjoon starts, but is cut off by a low growl from Jungkook. The older alpha scratches the back of his head. “Kook, it’s been three days, we…”
“He will talk to you when he is ready.” Jungkook’s voice is venom-laced as he stares the older alpha down. Both alphas have had this exact conversation multiple times since Jimin was released from the hospital, and it has ended the same way each time.
“The safe house is nearly ready. Once he’s moved, getting interviews set up will be difficult as to not draw attention to his location…”
“He needs more time, hyung!” Jungkook pulls Jimin closer till the omega is basically in his lap. The alpha’s hand cups the back of the omega’s head, and he begins to comb his fingers through the sweat-damp blonde locks.
“Alpha…” Jimin’s voice is strained and rough from the days of screaming in his sleep and crying while awake.
“I’m here, Jimin, I’m…” Jungkook's eyes move away from Namjoon as the older alpha turns his head to give the two some privacy, his stance awkward in the bedroom doorway.
"Listen," Namjoon's voice is pleading, "word is Special Agent Hungnam and the special victims unit have another warrant pending legal review for Jimin's arrest. They believe this time they have enough evidence to…"
"They don't have shit," Jungkook cuts Namjoon off again, his tone harsh but whispered to not startle the omega currently going limp in his arms. "The other two warrants they put in were both dismissed because they don't and will not have anything against him."
"Kook…" Namjoon sighs and looks down at his socked feet, keeping his gaze away from the two on the bed. "I have full faith that Taehyung will find something before their team can get anything on Jimin, but we need to speak…" The alpha finally turns to look at the two and startles when he makes eye contact with the omega tucked underneath Jungkook's chin. The smaller man is studying their leader wordlessly, brown eyes wide and damp, a tint of blue around the iris as his omega tries to take over in his alpha's embrace.
"Jimin, we need you to talk to us. We need your side of what happened, and I'm sorry, but time is not on our side here." Namjoon's words are desperate.
Jungkook sucks in a breath, steeling his resolve to defend Jimin, protect him from having to relive any ounce of pain, but stops as the omega uncurls from his hold. “He is right," Jimin's voice sounds unfamiliar even to himself, weak and small.
“You can when you’re ready, you don’t have to push yourself.” Jungkook’s voice has softened to the point Jimin wouldn’t have been able to hear him if the alpha’s mouth wasn’t resting on the crown of his head.
“I’ll be ready in a moment. I just need a minute.” Jimin takes a deep breath, grounding himself to leave the safe, warm embrace of the alpha in his makeshift nest. He doesn’t quite remember exhaling as his body goes limp the next moment, and he drifts away once more into a fitful sleep.
Read Count to THREE here.
