Chapter Twenty - Two - Craindre

Taeyong barely has a chance to react as he feels a cold hand covering his mouth. The look of hurt and betrayal instantly fill his gaze as Doyoung blows him against the wall.

Yuta sends a wave crashing down on the curtains.

Jaemin steps out to play his part, holding the collar firmly, he clips it around the dark haired male's neck.

The warlock attempts to remove the device and whimpers as it sends a bolt of electricity through his veins.

"Resisting will only hurt you" Jaehyun speaks calmly as he slowly moves over to the older. Yuta, Doyoung and Jaemin all move to be huddled around the power restricted warlock.

"H-How could you?" Taeyong's voice wobbles as he raises his eyes to meet with Jaehyun's.

"There's a chance you will survive. We must hold onto hope" The blond haired warlock diverts his gaze to the floor.

Taeyong scoffs as he rolls his eyes, "You're going to strip my powers. You're going to kill me. And here I thought you loved me."

This gets to Jaehyun.

"I love you more then anything Taeyong!" He yells. "I'm at breaking point. I don't know what else to do. I want to help you. I want to save you and this seems to be the only possible way."

"Just like the only way to deal with a traitorous mortal was to send him to hell."

Jaehyun raises his gaze to meet Taeyong's once more as he he hears the older say this. How did he know of what had happened to Taeil?

"I didn't send him to hell" The blond haired male retorts.

Doyoung tenses where he stands. He clears his throat as he tries to hold back his anger which he still holds towards Jaehyun.

"The Abyss may as well be titled hell. They both seem to be one and the same" A familiar voice states as footsteps enter the room.

All eyes turn to see who the sudden intruder is. No one can believe what they are seeing as the image of the blue haired male fills their heads.

"I barely got through it and I'm a warlock. I can't imagine what it would be like for a mortal" Jungwoo speaks with a tone of dread.

Doyoung lets out a small cry as he sees the blue haired male before him. His eyes immediately begin to water, tears threatening to spill over the edge.

"He isn't real" Jaehyun mutters, more to convince himself. Taeyong's little magic tricks won't fool him.

He won't allow it.

"Aren't I?" Jungwoo folds his arms across his chest as he meets the blond haired male's gaze. "I mean, in your eyes I never was."

"What are you saying?" Jaehyun questions, sounding slightly hurt by this. "You were my friend."

"Were, the correct tense." The blue haired male speaks bitterly.

Doyoung doesn't wait a moment longer as he runs over to the male they had presumed dead. He wraps his arms around him, the blue haired male immediately holding him tightly.

"Is this real?" Doyoung questions softly.

"I guess Jaehyun's curse was much stronger then what he thought" Is Jungwoo's response.

"But I saw your body...Your head, you were dead" The raven haired male's voice wavers.

"And my body is still there" The blue haired male pulls away from the older, gently moving his hand to caress his cheek.

"It seems that when my body can't heal, I just shift into a new one."

Yuta's brows furrow together as he hears this. Something about the wording of this phrase reminds him of Sicheng.

Something isn't right.

"My dearest Yuta" Jungwoo suddenly states, turning his head so he can meet Yuta's gaze.

Doyoung doesn't step out of the younger's embrace as he looks at him in pure confusion.

"Doyoung get away from him! That's Taeyong!" Yuta screams.

Before he has a chance, Jungwoo chuckles darkly, his skin peeling away graphically until it reveals Taeyong standing in his place, eyes dark as the night.

Doyoung emits a silent scream as the older holds his hand out towards him, palm facing outwards.

The raven haired male clutches at his throat as he feels the air being sucked from his lungs.

Yuta panics, without thinking he sends a wave in Taeyong's direction. The older chuckles once more as he uses his spare hand to flick his wrist.

The wave is sent straight back towards the dark haired warlock, knocking him off his feet.

Jaemin begins to chant a spell of the dead. A spell which will temporarily disable Taeyong's ability to breathe. Only for long enough for Doyoung to get away.

But the dark haired male seems to have other plans as he cranes his neck to stare into the younger's eyes. Blood immediately pours from beneath the brown orbs as Jaemin collapses.

"Let him go" Jaehyun speaks firmly.

Taeyong just laughs, shaking his head as he tightens the power which continues to take the life from Doyoung.

"What would be the fun in that?" His many voices echo.

"Who did we place that collar on?" Jaehyun whispers. He believes me may already know the answer.

"Why don't you take a look for yourself, dearie?" Taeyong speaks with a twisted grin plastered on his face.

Jaehyun takes a shaky breath as he turns to face where he believed his boyfriend to be standing. He lets out a gasp of horror as he sees Jungwoo's body seated against the wall.

His head has toppled to the side as the collar sits comfortably around his neck.

"I knew you would believe that your dearest Jungwoo had come back to life. That was indeed his curse. I was going to try Sicheng, but doing that once really tired out the idea of it." Taeyong explains.

"I knew they would manage to turn you against me. I knew you would come back."

Yuta takes this opportunity, the warlock is distracted. Yuta clicks his fingers. Taeyong's head snaps to look in his direction and he goes to use his power but is stopped as time itself seems to come to a screeching halt.

Everyone remains frozen in their positions except for the warlock who snapped his fingers. He gets off the floor and rushes over to his brother.

Yuta mutters a few words beneath his breath before drawing an invisible line in between Taeyong and him with his hand.

Time moves again.

Taeyong is sent crashing through the back wall by a gust of wind as Doyoung is released from his grip.

Yuta instantly runs to his brother, grabbing his shoulders.
"Are you okay?"

Doyoung struggles to catch up on his breath as he looks at the older in shock.

"I thought you could only stop time for mortals. Us warlocks were immune to it."

"My powers have grown over the past few weeks, little brother" Yuta smiles tightly, deeming the younger is okay.

Everyone within the room raises their arms to cover their heads as all the glass in the room suddenly shatters.

Taeyong turns his undivided attention to Jaehyun.

"Looks like we get time to play."

"We have to help him" Doyoung goes to make way towards the blond haired warlock but is stopped by his brother.

"We can't." Yuta speaks softly.

"What do you mean we can't?!" Doyoung yells, frantically.

"I cast a spell. One which keeps Taeyong away from us. Yet in return, we are kept away from him. We can't harm him and he can't harm us."

"You're insane" Doyoung pushes the older away from him. "Jae will die."

"Isn't that what you've been wanting to happen?!" Yuta exclaims. Amazed by his brother's reaction to what he has done.

"Not like this, I wanted to get away from him yes. But I didn't want him to die like this." The raven haired male frowns bitterly.

Jaehyun doesn't say anything as his boyfriend approaches him. The younger cracks his knuckles as he awaits for the dark haired male to get closer.

"Happy now Jae? We finally have time together."

As he goes to use his power, Jaehyun pulls back his arm, planting a punch on Taeyong's jaw.

Taeyong is highly unimpressed as he slowly moves his head to be facing the younger once more.

"Oh god" Is all Jaehyun can mutter.

Taeyong head snaps to the side violently, if he were a mortal his neck would've surely been broken.

The dark eyed male throws his arms out towards the blond haired male. Jaehyun is silenced as he is sent flying across the room.

He manages to land on his feet. Pulling together his strength, he unleashes as much of his power as possible.

The lights all explode as the electricity is sucked from them all and sent into Taeyong's body. A fire lights up around the older, surround him in a circle of flames.

Jaehyun feels a great amount of pain for all the power he is using but he doesn't stop. If he continues like this for too long, he will die.

Taeyong can't seem to move as he is held immobilised and in pain. His eyes fade from black and the real Taeyong appears.

"JAE PLEASE" Taeyong cries, his voice crystal clear in Jaehyun's ears.

He isn't real. Don't stop.

Jaehyun assures himself. He can't let him go. He will kill them all if he does.

Jaemin coughs up a few blood clots as he slowly pulls himself onto his feet. He notices that Jaehyun is rapidly draining himself.

The younger opens his palm, causing his hat to appear on the palm of his hand. He gently kisses the brim of the white material before throwing it in Taeyong's direction.

The hat gently lands on top of the dark haired male's head. Taeyong is instantly falls to the ground, unconscious.

Jaehyun falls to his knees as he can finally stop using his power.

Doyoung runs over to the blond haired warlock, eyes filled with concern. "You're hurt."

Jaehyun shrugs him off. "We need to strip Taeyong of his power before he wakes up."

Jaemin nods weakly as he walks over to the pair. Yuta remains where he is several paces away.

"Why didn't you tell us you could do a magical hat trick?!" Doyoung exclaims.

"Because it hasn't worked for the past 2000 years!" Jaemin snaps back at him, this silences him.

The blond haired warlock ignores the pair as he walks over to Taeyong. He kneels beside the older's head, leaning down to kiss his lips one last time.

"Yuta get your ass over here" Doyoung calls bitterly. "And break your stupid spell."

Yuta sighs in annoyance as he slowly makes his way over to them, muttering the words to reverse the effects of his spell.

Once this has been completed, Jaehyun initiates the service.

The four each take turns to recite a set of words which are spoken in a tongue which is known to no other mortal nor warlock.

Taeyong's body begins to convulse on the ground as though he were having a seizure, his eyes snap open to reveal his innocent brown orbs.

This claws at Jaehyun's heart.

The younger begins to cry as he speaks his next verse. The same pattern continues for a few minutes until Taeyong's eyes roll into the back of his head.

His body becomes limp.

Jaehyun checks his pulse with a hand that trembles violently.

"He's dead."

Doyoung frowns as he gently placed a hand on the younger's shoulder, a comforting gesture.

"We did the right thing."

Yuta even moves to be seated beside the younger. The dark haired male gently wraps an arm around his shoulders.

Jaehyun leans into his side as he begins to cry, as he begins to fall apart. He feels a hand grabbing his own as his eyes are closed.

It takes him a few moments to realise that it isn't Yuta, Doyoung or Jaemin who hold his hand.

His eyes instantly open as he moves to be seated up straight to look at his "dead" boyfriend.

"Taeyong?! Taeyong!" He yells over and over as he raises the older's hand which holds his own tightly, to his lips.

Silence is all he gets in response. No one says anything as they all believe Jaehyun is still grieving.

"Jae" Taeyong weakly calls his name. "My Jae." His voice echoes.

Jaehyun's heart sinks as he comes to realise what has happened.

"You thought you could save him? I should be thanking you I guess, for ridding of that pathetic fool's conscience."

"W-What?" Doyoung stumbles with his words.

"We stripped his soul. The spell backfired" Yuta speaks, his voice filled with fear.

"Taeyong?" Jaehyun dares to call his name.

"He's long gone." The many voices chuckle.

His eyes open to reveal they are once more concealed in darkness.

"Call me Craindre."

•THE END•

A/N - and that my friends is the end of cure!! i hope you enjoyed this story as much as i have enjoyed writing it.

for those who ain't french (lol i ain't either) craindre translates to "to be afraid of", it's a verb, an re one to be precise but what am i saying y'all ain't french so y'all won't understand. (if you do happen to be french then bonjour)

this was a hella angsty story YIKES

anywho i'm working on a new jaeyong story titled "100" and i hope it will be released soon.

i say this at the end of all of my stories but thank you all so much for the support. every single read, vote and comment mean the world to me.

i love you all so much!!

i hope to see you all in my works to come!

thanks for reading!!