Chapter Text
Taehyung scrunches his nose, scuffing the toe of his shoe into the dried blood on the floor. How does the saying go? Once is chance. Twice is a coincidence. Third time's a pattern.
The third murder.
This time the parents aren’t near each other. The mother is in the bed staring up at the ceiling, her head separated at the neck. The father is closer to the bedroom door entrance, probably the first one to approach whoever it was. His head is severed too.
There’s hardly any blood.
Just a drop here and there, like the murder couldn’t bother to clean it up.
The victims were drained dry. The children missing.
“What do you think?” Detective Park Seojoon asks him. Taehyung glances up at the taller man who is looking everywhere but at the victims. He’s human. Taehyung could see the thought of the unknown unnerved him, with the way Seojoon’s fingers are restless and he keeps fiddling with something in his pocket.
“Definitely a demon. You did right by calling me here.”
Seojoon nods, his expression pinching. “The chief is breathing down my neck. I don’t know what to do, Taehyung. We haven’t found any of the other kids. How many does that make now?”
“Ten kids,” Taehyung supplies, leaning over the bed. The sheets are twisted around the mother’s legs like she went to get up but was killed before she could escape. Probably fell back on the bed.
Kim Taehyung. Expert on Daemonology. Sometimes he guest lectures at a local university. Most of the time he goes on expeditions around the world to help different communities. Sometimes he gets hired to help on cases, like right now.
Taehyung purses his lips, his wavy black hair falling into his eyes. He sighs and leans back up, pacing around the room.
He’s only a half-demon. Not powerful enough to do much really, but he has the same senses of the demons without all the powers that come with it. Not all demons are bad. But even his friends, like Park Seojoon, have trouble looking him in the eye sometimes. His amber eyes are an unnatural pale yellow or honey. They seem to glow in the dark.
He’s heard what some people call him behind his back. Tiger Eyes.
A predator.
Taehyung sniffs along the line of the severed neck, the spine cut off after the cervical vertebrae. Clean. Probably one swift cut.
The demon most definitely has fangs. For the cut...talons? Or did he use a weapon like a scythe?
Taehyung straightens and looks back at Seojoon. Seojoon isn’t looking at him, writing down something in his notepad.
“We need to see if any children have gone missing in the foster care system. It’s impossible to check if children have gone missing on the street, but I bet tons have.”
Seojoon nods. “I’ll have my officers start canvassing the streets and ask around.”
Taehyung walks over to Seojoon. “I doubt they’d want to talk to officers. Maybe have them dress in civilian clothes and promise the kids food or something.”
Seojoon writes something down in his notepad, probably whatever Taehyung said. Taehyung ignores it, barely chancing a glance at the father as he steps over him and exits the house. He already examined the children’s bedrooms earlier. In fact, he checked out the whole house.
When he gets outside, his black loafers hitting the pavement, Seojoon shouts after him. “Wait, Taehyung!”
Taehyung stops, waiting for Seojoon to catch up with him. Other officers are nearby, the yard and house sanctioned off with tape and the few people around the neighborhood being nosy and peering in.
The sun burns onto his back, high above them. It’s probably a little after 2:00 PM. Not many clouds are out.
“Why are we canvassing all the children?”
Taehyung shrugs off his jacket, folding it over his arm and loosens the collar of his shirt. Seojoon eyes the movement, waiting for him to speak.
“This demon’s main goal is to get the children. To do what, I’m not too sure. My best bet is to eat them.”
Seojoon’s face pales.
“The parents are in the way, plus he probably doesn’t mind the extra blood to drink.”
“When--when you say eat, do you mean?”
“Yes, crunch into them and tear them apart. Cannibalism rings a bell?”
Seojoon looks like he’s about to be sick. “And...they can’t be…”
“Alive? Probably.”
Seojoon gags, sharply turning around to calm himself. “How can you be so nonchalant?”
Taehyung’s eyes burn and Seojoon immediately drops his gaze. “In this line of work, how else am I supposed to survive if I get attached to everything?”
Seojoon still looks a little sick, a thin sheen of sweat making his forehead shiny.
“Park! Detective Park!” A car door slams shut and a man comes tumbling out. The officers let him through and the tall man barrels over to the two of them.
“Hyungsik? What is it? Why are you here?”
Taehyung glances up at the man who struggles to catch his breath like he ran here when in fact Taehyung just watched him run out of the mediocre car he owns.
“We got a call.”
“Another one?!” Seojoon yelps.
Hyungsik abruptly shakes his head. “The woman says something’s going on at her house. One patch of her garden is dead and her dog has gone insane.”
Seojoon pauses, as if bewildered and then his cheeks flush in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? Why did--”
“Are you here for me?” Taehyung interrupts. Hyungsik’s gaze snaps to him before flitting away. Taehyung’s used to it.
“I think...I think it could be tied.”
Taehyung hums, shifting his jacket to his other arm. “How so?”
Seojoon and Hyungsik look at him in surprise. “What?” Taehyung asks, “Did you think I wouldn’t listen? It never hurts to hear another perspective.”
Hyungsik quickly recovers. “It’s a hour away from here.”
Taehyung nods for him to continue.
“She mentioned some other stuff and it’s honestly--it’s above my head. Something about red clay figures?”
Taehyung perks up. “Red clay figures?”
Hyungsik nods. “Little figures playing with her dog? Some large breed. She said it’s insane. The dog doesn’t eat anymore and keeps digging into a random patch of ground.”
Puppets maybe? Taehyung frowns. With the children missing there isn’t much he has to go off on. Maybe it’s the dirty kids themselves. But that doesn’t make much sense either.
“Taehyung, are you going to go?”
Taehyung sighs heavily, shoving his hands in his pockets. His work never ends. “I don’t see why not.”
Hyungsik grins, grasping Taehyung’s shoulders. Taehyung narrows his eyes but Hyungsik doesn’t notice. “Thank you so much. I’ll drive you there.”
“No, it’s okay, I’ll go by myself. Unless you want to be eaten?”
Hyungsik freezes, his hands quickly dropping from Taehyung’s shoulders. “What?” He squeaks.
Taehyung shakes off the remnant of his touch, feeling a little unsettled. “If you don’t want to be possessed stay here.”
“Got it. I’ll text you the address.” He gave up rather easily.
Taehyung finally walks away from the two, all but collapsing into the driver’s seat. He slams the door shut behind him and tosses the coat into the passenger seat.
He groans, running his hand through his hair raggedly.
“Fuck.”
Why can’t he figure it out? It’s not even that hard. It should be easy. Normally there aren’t many cases of violent demons, surprisingly. Not anything more than violent humans at least. He only gets the special cases, but sometimes they’re just tricksters.
The violent demons stay in hell. Rarely do they escape.
The king does a good job of keeping them there for the most part. Although he’s the demon king, he is reasonable... to an extent. That’s why he was elected.
After catching his breath, he sharply turns the engine on and the radio blasts on, some rock song pounding the speakers.
Taehyung drives as fast as he can, but he doesn’t have the luxury of sirens and traffic was definitely not on his side today.
Eventually the road turns into a dirt path and he rolls up to a house. He drives slowly, peering through his windshield. The dirt kicks up and creates little clouds that hazes his vision a little.
He goes to pull into a parking spot when out of nowhere a blur races out in front of his bumper. He slams on the brake, barely catching himself before his forehead hits the steering wheel. Luckily, he hadn’t been going fast in the first place.
He frowns, his knuckles white and waits for the dust to settle.
A child stares back at him, wide eyes and open mouth.
A child? Hyungsik didn’t mention a kid.
Taehyung frowns, leaving his jacket in the car and opening the door. He lumbers out the car, walking around the front.
“Are you okay, kid?”
The kid blinks, stepping back. “You’re a demon.”
“Half.”
“Are you here to eat me?”
“Contrary to popular belief little human kids do not taste good to me.”
The kid gulps. “So that means, technically--you have eaten a kid like me before.”
Taehyung smirks. “You’re smart. Big words.”
The kid stares, his cheeks getting blotchy like he’s going to cry or scream, but he doesn’t. Taehyung waits for either one to happen. He’s experienced both.
“Then what are you here for?”
So, sass is what he’s going to get. Brave kid.
“Where’s your eomeoni?”
“Dead.”
Taehyung wants to roll his eyes. “Someone called this morning. A lady.”
“Oh, halmeoni.”
“Great, show me the way then.”
The kid jumps into action, scurrying away rather quickly. He goes between an opening in a wired fence and down a dirt path too small for a car. It’s lined with thick bushes. Is this a type of farm?
Taehyung follows the kid until he opens the front door to peak inside.
“Halmeoni! Some demon is here to see you!”
“Daesung! What did I teach you about manners!” A woman’s voice squawks from inside. Taehyung narrows his eyes, his nose scrunching as he catches an odd scent. He steps away from the kid and the entrance. He almost makes it down the stairs until a voice stops him.
“Are you from the police?”
Taehyung glances over his shoulder and the woman doesn’t react to his eyes.
Peculiar.
“Yes.” Taehyung flashes his ID that shows he’s a specialized expert on demons. “Can you show me what’s over there?” Taehyung points to the direction around the side of the house. She finishes drying her hands on a rag, probably in the middle of doing dishes.
“My garden is over there. Go ahead, I’ll meet you in a minute. Thank you for coming.”
The kid eyes Taehyung, a small smirk set to his lips that makes Taehyung raise an eyebrow. “Shoo, little boy unless my appetite really does change.”
The kid’s face turns red and he seems more angered than anything before he storms into the house, the door slamming shut behind him. Taehyung holds back a snicker, walking down the steps and making his way around the house.
The scent gets heavier the closer he gets and the easier he can determine what it is. At first it smelled like oranges or apples left out in the sun for too long, but now it’s hot and rotten.
He turns the corner and sees the large garden that lines the house.
He pushes up the sleeves of his shirt and barely makes it to the garden before the woman is back. “Thank you for coming so quickly. I heard about all the weird things happening in the news lately.”
Taehyung nods, making his way closer to the garden. He almost reaches the patch of tomatoes before the woman speaks again.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, half-demon.”
He pauses, his muscles tightening in case he needs to spring.
“What do--”
Just as he speaks a sharp growl breaks through the air. Taehyung snaps his head forward and sees a large dog crawl out from the garden.
Taehyung doesn’t move as it circles around from the back. A patch he couldn’t see yet.
“That’s my dog there.”
“I can see that.”
“Always a comeback like Daesung,” she snaps before calming down. “I haven’t seen that part of the garden in a while at least not since the plants died. The dog started acting weird a little later.”
Once the dog realizes Taehyung isn’t making an effort to move forward it sits on its haunches. It stares the two of them down, his top lip partially curled back so it can strike when needed.
“It’s guarding something,” Taehyung murmurs, but the lady catches him.
“My daughter is...she’s actually...this is awkward.”
Taehyung doesn’t look behind him, keeping his eye on the dog. “What is?”
“I buried my daughter there a month ago.”
“...In your garden?”
“I guess.”
Taehyung will never understand humans.
“So is your dog actually insane or attached to your daughter?”
He hears some movement behind him. The dog jumps to its feet and snaps its canines in warning. The woman stops.
“The old coon pretty much stayed outside all the time. He was pretty much indifferent to her. Used to be fine with me since I fed it.”
An increase in nitrogen will kill the plants, so it makes sense that as the body decayed the plants died. Not much more plant growth will occur for roughly a year. After three years, plant life can be lush where a carcass was.
“How did she die?” Taehyung finally asks.
It’s silent for a long moment, the dog’s growls lowering to a constant vibration in its chest.
“Beheaded.”
Taehyung snaps his head back to the woman. Her dark eyes stare unseeingly at him. “Did you report this?”
“I was too scared to. Thought the demon would come back. Then I saw the news so I called it in.”
“What about your grandson? Or abeoji?”
“His abeoji was never around. As for Daesung, he seems fine. Doesn’t he?”
Is this one of the first kills? Why wouldn’t the demon also kill the grandmother? Why didn’t it take Daesung? Something isn’t right. Something isn’t adding up, but what could it be?
“I think you should go back inside.”
The woman steps back even though she asks, “why?”
“You aren’t going to like anything I do from now on. Don’t let Daesung out.”
There’s a beat and Taehyung hears her steps go before it fades into the house. He follows after her, walking backwards to keep an eye on the dog.
Once he sees his car, he quickly walks over and opens the trunk. He rummages through the boxes and pulls out a shovel and a tranquilizer gun.
He loads the gun up and then slams the trunk shut, making sure to lock it. As he passes the front of the house, a white curtain moves. He glances over and sees nothing. Probably Daesung being nosy or a house cat. If they had one.
Taehyung drops the shovel before the garden comes into view. He hoists the gun up and steps around the corner of the house. Just as the dog leaps out, he pulls the trigger.
The needle soars through the air with a sharp whistle and thuds right in the chest near it’s shoulder. It stumbles at the hit and in confusion, tries to shake it off, bucking its legs.
Taehyung waits patiently and about five minutes later the animal slouches onto the ground, unconscious. He goes back to grab the shovel and walks towards the garden.
He moves around the animal, the rotten smell so putrid it’s almost like acid. It singes his nose hairs and he groans at the large patch of dirt in front of him. There were already some holes in there like the dog had been digging.
He rips a chunk out of the bottom of his shirt and ties it around the lower half of his face like a mask. He has a strong sense of smell, but it helps a smidge.
Honestly he’d take anything.
He hunches over in the dirt and starts to dig. His hands begin to cramp up at squeezing so hard and his mind wanders at the mindless motion of digging. He tries to be efficient and fast before the dog wakes up.
With his elevated strength it’s pretty quickly that the soil gives way and hits something solid.
He frowns, lightly pushing the head of the shovel. It gives a little.
There’s no way there’s still flesh…
If anything the body should be in the more liquid form of decomposition.
Did the woman lie? Why does he almost feel the give of muscle?
He pokes again and then decides to scrape away the last of the dirt. Just as he can see a hint of red--
“What are you doing?”
He jumps, his head snapping up to see Daesung staring at him. He purses his lips. How did he not hear him?
“What are you doing outside? Go inside, it's not safe.”
Daesung slowly grins.
Taehyung’s ears ring. Something feels off.
“Why? Are you going to eat me?”
“Do you want me to? You keep asking that damn question. Go inside.”
Daesung doesn’t listen. He looks eight. Or is he twelve? Taehyung can’t guess kids' ages well. Daesung has on some denim overalls cut short around the knees.
“No.”
“Are you a brat? Go inside. Where’s your halmeoni?”
“Sleeping.”
Taehyung pauses. Something really doesn’t feel right. Call it a sixth sense, but his demon senses are tingling. A siren going off in his head.
Just as he opens his mouth to speak, the shovel shifts and with it, he stumbles. The shovel falls down in the hole and he looks down to see a woman.
A woman. Daesung’s eomeoni.
Who doesn’t look like she’s been dead for a month.
Her head sits on top of her shoulders and her eyes are black. Did someone stitch her head back together?
Why does she still look...as normal as dead could be? If anything she looks fresh, but she smells like she’s been decaying for a while now.
At the thought, he hears soft laughter.
His head swivels and finds Daesung much closer.
“Interesting isn’t it.”
Taehyung narrows his eyes. “Who are you?”
Daesung glances at him. “You already know me.”
“Do I?”
Daesung nods. “I dug this up a little bit aback. Found her like this.”
Taehyung shifts. “And it didn’t bother you? Are you okay?”
Daesung shrugs, if anything he seems a little fascinated. “A demon did this right?”
Ah, Daesung is obsessed with demons. His fascination probably overtook whatever grief he had. Maybe he’s also a little sick in the head. Or in denial, who knows. Taehyung isn’t here to deal with this. He’s here to deal with that.
At the thought of it, he looks back down.
And it’s sitting up.
“The fuck? Daesung did you do this?”
“How?”
Taehyung wouldn’t pass it off. Something about the kid is weird. The hairs on the back of his neck start to stand up and skin gets a little prickly. He itches the back of his hand and the woman, no, the corpse, suddenly shoots up.
Taehyung leaps back in time to avoid getting hit. He grabs Daesung at the same time, the young boy yelping and falling backwards.
The corpse slowly crawls out of the hole, it’s eyes unseeing.
“Daesung you need--”
“It’s okay, she’s just going for a walk.”
Taehyung pauses. The fuck?
Is that the only thing he can think? What the hell is going on here? What is he missing? Why isn’t Daesung scared?
Taehyung nudges Daesung farther back as the corpse gets to level ground. He tenses his muscles, ready to fight, but the corpse turns around and walks into the backyard, heading towards the trees.
It’s skin looks red. Red from the clay. Red clay figurines are what the grandmother called it. Definitely not small though…
Dead children?
“It’ll be back soon.” Daesung grins like it's the coolest thing ever. “This is a demon thing right? Can I follow you?”
This kid needs serious help.
“No. Go inside.”
Taehyung pushes off the ground and starts to stalk after the corpse. It moves slowly and rigidly. It stumbles a few times over nothing, but it keeps walking.
“The last time I helped.”
Taehyung stops. “Last time?” He echoes.
Daesung bounds up next to him. When Taehyung glances down at the kid, Daesung’s eyes glint against the setting sun. His eyes look red. But are they? Or is that the trick of the light?
Is he possessed?
“The other demon. I helped him,” Daesung continues, eager to join in on whatever Taehyung asks him to do.
“What did you do?”
Daesung pauses, his cheeks turning red again. “There was a kid down the street. Hyejin. He asked me to get her.”
“Get her?”
The gears in Taehyung’s head start turning. Did the demon lure the children in with other willing children? But how? Is he still doing that now? Or what if it was a trial run? How did the demon find a child so willing?
“Yeah I just called her over to the garden. Then they disappeared.”
Are the other parents going to act like his mother? Taehyung’s head starts to pound. He needs to get to the station and fast. Actually he needs to get to the morgue and burn the bodies before they can be used as puppets.
“Daesung, I won’t ask this again, but go inside.”
The young kid pouts. “What will I get if I do?”
“I’ll introduce you to more demons,” Taehyung lies.
Daesung’s eyes light up like Taehyung promised him a Christmas present. “This is so cool! You promised, hyung!” He finally runs off and Taehyung runs after the corpse, grabbing the pocket knife from his pants.
Stolen from another demon, he clicks a button and holds it away from his body. It snaps and two metal rods shoot out of either end. A double-ended spear.
He’ll rip the corpse apart and burn it in the woods.
Later that night, after he had burned all the victims before they could turn into the walking dead, he stares at the digital clock by his head. It’s roughly 3:00 AM.
He groans and shifts to stare at the ceiling. Seojoon and Hyungsik had been mystified and a little horrified to hear what happened at the farm.
Maybe this job is a little over his head.
Why are the parents turning into puppets around a month after their death or so? What is the benefit? What is the point? Why is the demon taking the kids? Why is Daesung special? What exactly is going on at the farm?
He really doesn’t want to ask for help, but he just might have to. This demon is too powerful for him, too organized.
In all his research, there’s only one group of high-level demons nearby and qualified enough for him. They own a mixed restaurant where demons and humans can both eat.
Big Hit Restaurant.
A pun and of course, it became a big hit in the news when it had its grand opening a year ago. Run by the Bangtan cluster.
He’ll have to visit it tomorrow, but first, he’ll sleep.