save y(our) soul

A crowd of people. Stuffiness, though it’s fresh outside. Fear, uncertainty, hopelessness. Not far from the scene of the accident, a man is being pumped and revived who discovered a corpse just walking through the park. Investigators, detectives, medical examiners and doctors are scrambling around, finding bodies for the second week in a row. So far, there are about six that have been gutted by an unknown assailant in various locations throughout the vast area of the park. And they are all found and killed in the same scenario, namely, at about 1 a.m., they kill the person, cut open the stomach with a sharp instrument, revealing a view of all the insides, take the heart and drag the victim to a more prominent place where any passerby would be able to spot the body. For two weeks all the sites and the people who work there are on their ears. A huge number of workers are put to work in the hope of putting an end to this horror, but nothing is working. And there are already six brutal murders on their hands and there’s no telling how many more there will be. Taehyung looks in disgust at the unfolding picture right under his nose. He feels like the breakfast he ate so deliciously and thoroughly is going to come out if he doesn’t leave now. He walks over to one of the policemen, who is passionately writing something down, unable to hear almost anything that is going on around him. “Anything?” Kim asks, peering into the notebook of the man, who is slightly startled by Taehyun’s abrupt appearance. “Oh, FBI, good to see you here. Unfortunately, nothing new yet,” he slams the notebook shut and turns fully around to face the angel. “Trying to find anything, but no luck.” Taehyung was about to say something, to learn something for himself, but he stopped talking abruptly, because he saw real FBI agents walking in the distance, accompanied by security guards. And they were heading right here, so he quickly said goodbye to the man and ran in the opposite direction of them. If they catch him, ask for his ID and run a background check, he’s in trouble. The policeman glances at him, shrugs, and opens his notebook to continue writing. Yesterday he was able to get in touch with his uncle only thanks to the fact that he almost on his knees begged Linda to let him call his homeland. This girl clearly cares about being begged, pleaded with, almost kissed on the feet. She’s too nasty at times. But it didn’t matter at all when, over the phone, he heard the soft voice of a family native, someone he had definitely needed all along. His uncle is too dear to him, Taehyung is too attached to him. He’s not ashamed to admit that he’s a second father to him. He’d be fully capable of calling him “Dad,” but angel knows it would embarrass him. It was a long conversation, where his uncle asked him about his well-being, his life on Earth, and how many tasks he had already completed. Taehyung answered all the questions, of course, satisfying his uncle’s interest and worries, picking up the insanely strong excitement in his voice, which made him nervous. Uncle always gave angel the best of everything, even though he had children of his own. He put everything into him to the best of his ability. And Kim is grateful for his upbringing, for welcoming him into the family, for the best memories, for being a pillar of support at all times. And for the love he received more than anyone else, for which he was sometimes disliked by his uncle’s children. Thanks to him, Taehyung didn’t need anything. And he swore to himself that he would make sure he never needed anything either. Angel falls face down on the bed and is silent. He’s done a lot of work trying to learn something new about the murders, but he hasn’t found anything other than what he already knew. This bastard is very good at hiding. There’s no trace, no evidence. Taehyung will definitely solve this case, because he can’t see people turning around every three minutes for fear that there is literally death following them. But apparently he’ll solve it a little later, or at the same time as what’s coming to his phone now. He reluctantly pulls his face away from the pillow and reads it: Name: Lee Joe Age: 21 years old Current feelings: fear, terror, pain Location: Abandoned high-rise building Taehyung jumps up from his seat startled by what he’s read and runs out of the room, forgetting to lock it, leaving the door slightly ajar. But that’s not so important now compared to his man who is in danger. Every minute, every second counts. And if he doesn’t make it in time, it’s scary to think what kind of condition that person might be in. Running out of the hotel and catching the misunderstood look of the guy at the front desk, he nervously paces around, waiting for a cab, but it still can’t come, taking up Taehyung’s precious time. He can’t wait much longer, so he decides to take extreme measures. He will not be patted on the head for this, and he will not be called a smartass, but now he does not care at all. If the penetration into a man’s head was not noticeable to those who monitor his manifestation and use of abilities on Earth, then moving from one place to another in a millisecond will raise certain questions. But Kim will think about that later, because right now, after running back in and standing in the hotel restroom, he’s concentrating on moving into this high-rise where the victim is now. One second. Taehyung is in place. He sways slightly due to the dizziness that such a short journey has caused. His eyes swim a bit, preventing him from focusing clearly, but despite that, he walks forward with the goal of finding some means of moving through the floors. He would be able to move from place to place anew, but he wouldn’t get away with dizziness, and would quite possibly pass out once he reached his destination. And in his unconscious state he wouldn’t be able to do anything, and that’s dangerous for the victim himself in the first place. Kim finds the staircase, which is a climb eighteen stories up, where among them is the man he needs. Angel runs up nine floors, peering through every door for people, trying to do it as fast as possible. Weakness, which is showing itself more and more every second due to fear, pushes up and weakens his legs. Taehyung stumbles, falling to his knees, skinning them only slightly because of the pants that were able to protect against a more serious wound. While he was getting up, he heard a pleading loud “help!” and if it didn’t sound muffled and quiet, it means he’s almost there. Kim gets up like nothing happened and runs two more floors up, bursting into a huge room and noticing a girl who is tied tightly to a chair with no way to get out. Her hands are cuffed together for more immobilization, rubbing and tearing her wrists until they bleed. She cries quietly, licking tears from her broken lips, which mingle with the blood, giving it a peculiar taste of iron. “Whoa, whoa, I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll help,” Taehyung runs over to the frightened girl and squats down in front of her. “Please,” she whispers as Kim begins his attempts to untie her. He almost manages to free her, leaving her wearing only the handcuffs, which are the only problem. But as soon as the angel bends down to free her legs, the girl starts screaming furiously loudly right under his ear and twitching hysterically. Taehyung is about to turn around and look at the cause of such yelling, but he doesn’t even have time to move before he’s thrown a couple of meters away, forcing him to sweep the floor with him. He hits his back on the radiator under the window and squirming in pain, Kim tries to get up, but he doesn’t do it particularly well, so from the failed attempt he falls again, wiping out his elbows. He covers his ears as he hears the cutting, tearing, animalistic scream of a girl who is tearfully begging him to stop doing this. She twitches, tries to fight back, pleads and literally kisses the man’s feet, but it doesn’t help. Angel finally gets up to help her, to get her away from him as soon as possible, but all her humiliation and suffering seems to stop when, in front of Taehyung’s eyes, the madman slashes her stomach open, staining the space around her with blood. Kim looks at the corpse of the girl and feels himself getting sick to his stomach at what is now in front of him. He couldn’t save her… Angel looks up at the man, trying to make out the piece of shit, and he turns to him, smiling his thirty-two and meeting his gaze. Taehyung takes a closer look and grabs his head from what he sees, not believing what’s happening and not accepting reality because his eyes were completely black. Which means that this man is possessed by a demon from Hell. Both the man’s body and the man himself, who killed the innocent girl, are completely under the demon’s control, as well as his consciousness, which is turned off for the duration of the demon’s presence in the man. Angel abruptly runs aside as the demon, having taken the girl’s heart, starts running towards the window and jumps out from the top of the 11-story building, shattering the glass with his body. The shards still reach Taehyung, scratching the skin of his face and body. “Fucking bitch,” Kim curses as he looks out the window and sees a man lying on the ground, and then turns around and looks at the girl who is looking at him with empty and lifeless eyes. Before he could even take a step, the skin on his back felt like a hot blade had burned through it. Taehyung falls to the floor, picking up all the shards with his palms. They begin to bleed profusely due to the sheer amount of glass, but the pain is a mere tickle compared to the sensation of a red-hot blade burning and slicing the skin on his back. Kim struggles from side to side, bloody hands trying to touch the injured area on his back, but only burns himself, causing more pain. He cries and roars, trying to minimize the torture he’s being subjected to. It is only after five fucking minutes that felt like an eternity that his suffering stops. Taehyung falls with his whole body to the ground, paying no attention to the pieces of glass that dig painfully into his skin. Angel lies on the floor, trying to catch his breath, to get his breathing back to normal, but as soon as he remembers the previous brutal five minutes, he starts breathing hysterically again. His head starts to spin from breathing in and out too fast. Taehyung tries to concentrate to move to another place, to give himself a chance to recover, but he doesn’t succeed the first or third time. After 15 minutes of trying, all he saw in front of him was Linda running toward him, and then darkness. “Hey! Taehyung, wake up,” the girl brakes him by the shoulder, trying to bring him back to consciousness, but to no avail. He doesn’t respond to any of the manipulation, so she rolls up her sleeves and lifts him into her arms, surprised that he weighs too little because she’s lifted things much heavier than him. She sets him down in the chair, covering him with something warm, and goes to get the first aid kit. After taking everything she needs, Linda comes back to him and stands right in front of him. “And I need this? ,” the girl opens his body parts one by one to treat the wounds he earned before moving here, and reads out phrases that act on Taehyung and heal his small wounds in the same second. When all the body parts have been treated and most of the wounds have disappeared, she leaves Taehyung to rest, having changed her mind about bringing him to his senses. He’ll wake up on his own. Kim wakes up three hours later, slowly opens her eyes, feeling that her strength has been restored, but not completely. He gets up slowly, afraid that he will feel dizzy and collapse back into unconsciousness. But when the angel is already confidently standing on his feet, trying to walk around the room, he goes to the mirror to look at his back, because what he experienced three hours earlier was not for nothing. Taehyung bare his back, removing his clothes completely and sees the black star, which is arranged in order next to the white ones. Kim puts her clothes back on and sits back in her chair, feeling dejected and with no desire to proceed further. He simply did not have time, could not help the innocent girl who looked at Taehyung with such hope, begging and begging him to release her and help her leave. Angel did nothing but make empty promises to her, and that’s the result. She’s probably still lying there with her insides out, which is why she’s cooling off here. And the price for this girl’s life in the form of a black star is nothing at all. The angel is tormented by thoughts that not only bring him pain, they devour him, and from the guilt he feels in front of a girl who did not die a natural death. “Are you okay?” Linda asked, walking into the room as if she hadn’t been watching him the whole time. “Words can’t describe how lousy I feel.” “Look, it’s not your fault.” “And whose is it? Whose the hell is this fault? If I could help her, she would just be sitting at home right now, going to a psychologist, continuing to make plans and goals for the future. She could go on a date, take a walk with friends, feel all the emotions of love, achieve a goal. And do you know what’s happening now? She lies dead, her insides leak out, and even at such a young age she will be cremated or buried,” Taehyung flares up like a match, hysterically utters all this, not noticing that he is literally screaming, tearing his voice. “Okay. Did you kill the demon?” “No, it jumped out the window.” “Cool, good job,” Linda met Taehyung’s gaze, catching the notes of his anger and irritation. “Is there anything you can do to help?” “I can, but what’s in it for me?” “Save your fucking bullshit for later, okay? People’s lives are at stake right now and if you can help, help, if not, get out.” Linda looks at him and walks away, leaving him alone. Kim smirks and feels the anger coming over him, he tries not to waste his energy and nerves on her because she doesn’t deserve it, but he’s not very good at it. He turns around and heads for the exit and as his hand touches the handle he hears Linda calling him. “Fool, where are you going? Did I bring this for me?” she shows some things and stacks them on the table. Taehyung runs up to her with a happy, easy smile and hugs her, pulling the skinny girl close to her. “Don’t do that again,” the girl disentangles herself from the hug, causing the angel to laugh. She spreads the map out on the table, putting little things on the ends so it won’t curl back up, and examines it. Kim, meanwhile, is watching seriously as she tries to concentrate and start helping him. The girl takes a small needle and pierces her finger, waits for large drops of blood to drip onto the four ends of the card, and sets it on fire. Taehyung wanted to be outraged, but she slows him down with her hand, not giving him a chance to interfere with the process. “burn! burn! ostende mihi ubi sit daemon luscus niger! ostende mihi ubi habitat infernus! ostende ei viam veram! da mihi occasionem obviam. fac circulum et ostende mihi. et tunc evanescet.” Linda began to say something in Latin, and at the same moment the map burst into flames, coloring the room with a yellow-orange light. With each word she spoke, the map was consumed more and more by the fire, scaring and delighting Taehyung at the same time. At the end of her speech, the map left only a circle, and the fire was gone. “Right here,” she pokes her finger at the remains of the map. “That’s the hotel. It’s not far from here.” “Yeah, that’s where I live. It’s so wonderful to live in this world,” Taehyung sighed, and then he pulled himself together, thanked Linda with another hug, though she wasn’t happy about it, and ran off. Angel is glad that he will not spend much time on the way to the hotel. If there was an opportunity to move again, then, of course, he would use it, but all his strength went to the last times, so this time he gets on his own. Taehyung is doing well despite the fact that there is one death behind his back, which he himself allowed. But still, his morale leaves much to be desired. He knows that he will suffer from nightmares, headaches, and guilt, but this is the past, and it cannot be changed. He has many ups and downs ahead of him. He should not stop at one stone that appeared in his path. He runs into the hotel, but, thank God, there was no one at the reception, otherwise his appearance would have raised a couple of questions. Taehyung overcomes the corridors and runs into his room, the door of which was open because of himself. He looks around, but does not notice anyone or anything and decides not to waste time: the angel opens his bag, takes out a flask of holy water, a dagger capable of killing angels and demons, a pistol with silver bullets treated with holy water. “Kim Taehyung, well, well. Couldn’t you save the girl whose tummy I chopped up?” the demon looks at the angel who has risen from his knees with his dark, inanimate eyes that inspire horror and fear. “Well, it’s okay. Her death was not painful.” “You voluntarily walked into my trap, are you really that brave?” Taehyung looks right at him and is sick of his pleased expression. Asshole. “You’re so cocky, kid. But you’re nothing. Nothingness.” The angel doesn’t respond to the provocation, only smirks back at him wryly. Kim takes a couple of steps back, moving away from him, only pretending to be afraid: shaking, trembling, turning his head, but the demon really thought the angel was afraid of him. So he strode forward smugly, but when he reached the middle of the room he stopped abruptly. Taehen smiled victoriously and clapped his hands together as he watched the demon try to move an inch, but he couldn’t. "Do you seriously think I’m going to live in a room without some minimal protection and preparation?" angel steps closer to the demon, lifts the rug and shows him a piece of the pentagram he’s drawn. “Bastard,” the demon’s mouth was almost full of saliva, about to spit at Taehyung, but the man showered him with holy water, hitting him in the face and causing him to scream from the burns the liquid left him with. Angel comes almost close to him and lifts his chin with his hand, to which he resists and pushes Kim to the side, not allowing him to approach him. Taehyung tries again, clamping his chin harder than last time. Demon tries to kick him with his foot, but Taehen steps back in time and kicks him, causing him to collapse to his knees. He takes him by the chin a third time, catches his gaze and says “angelard”, and then asks him to follow him and fulfill all his requests. Taehyung peels off a bit of the paint that the circle was drawn with, rendering it useless. He’ll finish it later. The one like an obedient dog weaves behind him, quietly following his steps. Angel is well aware that his ability is not a good thing, even his uncle said it should be used as rarely as possible. And Taehyung has and does obey him, of course, but he admits that he likes it when all he has to do is look into his eyes and say one word and the man becomes a willless puppet. But he still wonders why his uncle forbade him to talk about his abilities to the government or to his friends, acquaintances, relatives. Taehyung hands the money to the taxi driver along with a tip, thanking him for taking him to an abandoned high-rise building, because the previous two refused him. He is about to get out of the car when his waist is wrapped around and pressed against him, purring something. Kim tries to remove the tight grip on his stomach, but he can’t do anything. “Master,” the demon says softly, rubbing his cheek against the angel’s back. Taehyung looks at the cab driver through the front mirror and says, dying of embarrassment: “It’s not what you think. No, no!” the cab driver only tries to contain his laughter, covering his face with his palms and asking to get out of the car. Taehyung gets out of the car in a flip with the demon, who still continues to hug him a little too lovingly. As the cab pulls away, he orders him to stop doing that and he pulls away like nothing happened and waits for someone to say something to him. Angel walks into the abandoned building, going up to the 11th floor and stops in front of the door, looking straight ahead thoughtfully. He doesn’t know if the girl is still lying there or if she was found after all, and he doesn’t feel like checking at all, but he has to. Kim rests his hand on top of the doorknob and, not fully pressing it, changes his mind. “Go check,” Taehen orders the quietly standing man, pointing to the door. As if nothing had happened, he opens the door and goes inside, hiding behind it. He rubs his face with his palms, wanting to burst into tears. Kim waits for him for maybe two minutes, as he leaves and closes the door behind him. The demon reports that the girl is still lying there, accompanied by flies, and Taehyung seems to feel sick from the colorful description afterwards. They go a couple of floors higher and enter another room, where it is empty and there is nothing to remind them of this girl. But as soon as the angel realizes that below lies the fruit of his irresponsibility and inaction, he feels a terrible remorse. Kim cuts his arm just above the veins, allowing the blood to escape and stain most of his arm maroon. He wets his fingers in it and draws another pentagram. The same one he drew at the hotel. It will weaken the demon and prevent it from manifesting itself and its powers, which will help the angel rid himself of the ugliness that stands beside him. “Stand over here,” Taehyung says to the man as he finishes drawing and beckons him over. The man steps inside, looking into the angel’s eyes with no problem or resistance. The angel walks over to him, puts his palm to his forehead, and whispers something, bringing the demon essence back. “Bastard,” he tried again, but it didn’t work, making Taehyung grin. “Give me a chance and I’ll tear your ass up and then kill you. And I’ll kill you brutally and with gusto.” “As long as you’re here, you’re the only one who’s nothing.” The demon showered him with curses, shouting and bringing his throat to an approximate hoarse state. But Taehyung doesn’t even react, paying his attention to the goal he is pursuing. He pours holy water on him, listens to his screams and enjoys it. His or is a delight to the ears. Kim checks if his dagger is in place, which will easily kill this trash, causing him to experience the most terrible pain. “Let me tell you a story.” “Shove it up your ass, you fucking angel.” “Maybe I should just mock you or kill you right away,” Taehyung thought for a few seconds, then began the Latin ritual to exorcise the demon: “Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica, in nomine et virtute Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, eradicare et effugare a Dei Ecclesia, ab animabus ad imaginem Dei conditis ac pretioso divini Agni sanguine redemptis.” The demon falls to his knees and then to the floor, screaming and crying from the tearing pain this ritual brings him. His mouth fills with blood, which quickly gushes out of the cavity, staining the floor with it. Kim only enjoys seeing the bastard’s agony. He rolls from side to side, arching his back until his spine crunches and screaming so hard that Angel had to cover his ears for a moment. The demon tries to get up, but nothing comes out and he lands face first in the concrete. “It’s time, unclean thing,” Taehyung pulls out his dagger and walks over to the demon, who is lying there breathing very heavily, choking on his own blood. Kim rejoices in his own success, where he defeated the demon. This scum deserves a more painful death. He stands for a few seconds, enjoying the view, and then swings the knife, aiming for his throat, but is stopped by a voice. “Slow down, angel,” one of the three men said, catching Taehyung’s attention as they came closer and closer to him. “Demons,” Taehyung states the fact, looking at them from top to bottom, then turning his attention to the speaker. “Do you want the same fate?” “You’re not strong enough,” says the second demon standing behind, to whom Kim turns his gaze. “You want to check it out?” “Knock it off, Taehyung. We’re here to get him the punishment he deserves.” “How do you know my name, demon?” Kim asks, pointing his knife at the man in front. “I think I deserve to know your name.” “Will that do anything for you, angel?” The demon looks at Taehyung, who keeps his gaze on him and smirks, amazed at his audacity. “Call me Jungkook. These two are Jihwan and Lihwi.” “Yes, you’re right, Jungkook. It didn’t give me anything,” the angel steps over the weak man, approaching the trinity. “Why should I believe you? In fact, it’s your colleague that you’re probably going to save. But, I hasten to disappoint, I will not let this bitch go alive.” “Jeon, he’s not ours, is he?” Lihwi said, trying to get a good look at the victim in his own pool of blood. “He must be Alastair’s apprentice.” “And how did he get out of Hell?” “Lee, I don’t know everything. If he could get out of there, there must be a hidden passage somewhere.” “Are you showing me your acting game now, trying to prove that you’re not like him and are fighting for justice?” — Taehyung sneered, moving even closer to the three demons. “Bitch, what a long tongue you have,” Jihwan gets annoyed, about to go for Kim, but he’s stopped by Jungkook’s hand whispering something in his ear, and he steps back, clenching his jaws. “You do realize that if you kill the demon, the innocent person it’s possessed by will also come under fire,” Jeon says, looking at the man who is trying to get up, but his strength is failing him due to the recent torture. Taehyung stops talking and turns to the demon, who is spitting blood and barely standing still. He steps away from Jungkook and his friends, getting closer to the window, and ponders. Jung assures him that he will get what he deserves, answer for killing all the people. Let him answer, but not when the angel is alive and well, not when he’s able to fight for justice. So Taehyung swings and throws the dagger at the demon, driving the sharp object right into his throat, watching as he chokes and chokes on his own blood, trying to pull the tightly seated knife out. “Ten out of ten,” Kim cheered, looking at the dumbfounded demons as the demon shook and swayed from side to side before the light from its eyes and mouth lit up the room, blinding those present. The man’s already lifeless body finally falls to the floor, attracting everyone’s attention. Taehyung walks up to the corpse in complete silence and takes his dagger out of its throat, and then, twisting his face, wipes its blood on his clothes. He walks up to Jungkook, stands face to face, and says: “You think I’d do that if that innocent man was still alive? That bastard killed him when he jumped off an 11-story building in front of me. Nothing to him, but that man died instantly. So I only have the demon’s death on my hands in this situation,” he walked past Jungkook, catching him with his shoulder. “You do realize that if Alastair finds out about this, he won’t let you live in peace, right? “Tell him hello and that I’m making tea, Jungkook,” and Taehyung, emphasizing his name and leaving the demons alone with the corpse, left to give the dead girl a proper funeral by contacting her family. “What a bitch,” Jihwan says to Jungkook and Lihwi, heading toward the demon whose body and blood they’ll need to clean up. Jungkook smirks, crossing his arms, noting that his temper is fire, but he doesn’t care about that kid as much as he does about the demon whose remains will have to be cleaned up and Alastair won’t get word that his apprentice has been wiped from the world.