¡trigger warning: minor descriptions of blood!

***

you chose: ICE

was this the right choice?

***

seungmin was stiff with anxiety the moment he sat down on the couch across from his blue haired cousin, hyunjin by his side. the taller looked calm, calmer than seungmin had ever seen him actually, and he inwardly cursed himself for feeling so feverish and jittery lately.

he felt like a mess, and he probably looked like one right now as well.

dahyun listened attentively as hyunjin told him about the encounters that he'd had with the strange people on the app heart you especially the one named 'leef15' and the other guy seungmin'd recently chatted with as well. she didn't utter a word as hyunjin then proceeded to reveal to her what he and seungmin had found out about leef15, as well as the blog that said the user had disappeared about four years ago.

she only decided to say something when hyunjin got to the part about what had happened to seungmin's cousin.

"are you absolutely sure that was jisung?" dahyun asked, her question directed more towards seungmin, but the male didn't have it in him to answer her.

as he'd done ever since he and seungmim visited the woman's house, hyunjin replied for the younger. "...yeah. seungmin said it was him. he... he saw jisung before he'd...transformed."

"and how did you guys manage to stop him?" dahyun asked, looking more and more worried as the seconds ticked by.

"as soon as i heard screaming i ran into my dad's storage and picked up a rifle. i'd been able to shoot jisung multiple times only because we live near the forest and my dad used to shoot at the wild animals which occassionally crossed over to our side. he taught me how to use a rifle when i was little."

dahyun ran a hand through her locks. "did you kill him?"

"no... he managed to head back into the forest, but i was certain those shots would've killed him," hyunjin replied. then, he slowly added, "why did you ask?"

"he's probably not dead."

hyunjin's eyes grew wide. "what do you mean?"

"remember the text i sent you guys? about me wanting to tell you guys about what i found? there's only one piece of evidence that i need for me to confirm everything else," dahyun said, before opening up the sketchbook that had been lying on the table. she then grabbed a pencil and gently handed it to seungmin.

"...can you draw what you saw that night? i feel like you might be able to sketch in more details since you were the one who saw jisung first..." she added in a soft whisper.

seungmin inhaled a shaky breath, unclenching his clammy fists, and hyunjin shot an alarmed look dahyun's way.

"i'll draw this for him, dahyun. please. seungmin's really tired, and not to mention he's still recovering from -- "

"hyunjin," seungmin firmly interrupted. he took the pencil out of dahyun's hand, and slowly shook his head. if there was one thing he hated, it would be beong pitied. he despised it. "i'm fine. i'll...i'll draw the picture. your drawings are shit anyways."

despite the attempt at a joke, no one smiled.

seungmin lowly huffed, and then began sketching what he'd seen with as much detail as he possibly could.

he remembered the head shape, the elongated limbs, sharp claws and large, souless eyes. he didn't forget to add the pronounced bones and the almost rotting skin, and he managed to colour in the body this off shade of green with a pencil crayon. looking at his finished design, seungmin felt sick to his stomach once more.

"that's... that's good, seungmin," dahyun spoke first, observing the sketch. her dark eyebrows knitted. "i think i may know what jisung became, but it'll be quite upsetting for you two to hear."

"what do you mean?" seungmin asked, voice coarse.

dahyun placed the sketchbook on her lap, and then leaned closer to the two males. "if i put this voice recording you guys sent me, plus this drawing together, then we would be looking at a...wendigo."

hyunjin gasped. "a what?"

"wendigos are supernatural creatures which typically live in forests and consume human flesh," dahyun briefly explained, much to the shock of the two boys watching her. "they usually hibernate for several periods at a time, before going out in search for more humans to consume, as they are...cannibals. also, they can never really become full, as the more they eat the hungrier they get."

"so the recording we sent..." hyunjin whispered.

"was of a wendigo," dahyun concluded. "or, a group of wendigos, technically."

"wait, are you sure?" hyunjin asked. "this doesn't seem real."

"it may not seem to be that way, but the picture seungmin drew closely resembles a wendigo. and this makes sense, since wendigos are usually humans who'd been turned after eating another human. and the strange thing is, wendigos are usually hard to beat, but you two had survived jisung's attack." dahyun thought deeply for a couple more seconds, looking far less distraught and frightened then hyunjin and seungmin looked at that very moment. "i think you guys were lucky that night, because jisung hadn't fully turned yet."

"i still can't believe this," hyunjin spoke, narrowing his eyes. "wendigos? so the people we've been chatting with all this time are supernatural cannibals? but, the guy i'd been talking to had a profile picture and everything."

"he can be a catfish," dahyun responded. "or, he's been extremely skilled at mingling with human beings, which helps him in getting more victims for him to use."

"b-but," seungmin stuttered, "how exactly can we kill them?"

"since they're extremely hard to kill, most people are advised to merely avoid heading into the woods at night, and to stay away from mountains altogether. wendigos are insanely quick hunters at night and can also mimic other human voices to trick their victims," dahyun answered. she looked apologetic. "i...i think we should just sit this one out..."

"no. we can't simply do that," seungmin answered, much to the surprise of everyone else seated. "we can't just ignore them after everything they've done. jisung went missing because of them, -- after using heart you -- and now...now he's become a monster just like the rest of them. i can't freaking forget that..."

"seungmin..." hyunjin started, but seungmin only glared at him.

"i'm not hearing anything unless it includes finding a way to kill those fucking wendigos."

"seungmin, listen to me. we only know that they could possibly be living in the forest near hyunjin, as that was where jisung had retreated into, but these are wendigos we're talking about here. they're extremely difficult to kill. the best thing we can do is to avoid them altogether. we can attempt bringing this case to the authorities, but i doubt they'd listen once we tell them about you two encountering a wendigo. it's hard for people to believe in them until they see them themselves. and that usually results in a quick death," dahyun informed the younger boy.

seungmin's head pounded with a headache, and with each passing second it got more and more intense. his jaw clenched, but he was too pissed and too disheartened to say anything else.

"but still... how can someone get rid of a wendigo if they happen to come across one?" hyunjin decided to ask the blue haired female. he was very worried at how quiet seungmin had become yet again, and he hated seeing the younger look so down.

"...well, since wendigos are evil creatures, they usually instill some sort of fear into the people they come in contact with." she paused, her eyes landing on seungmin, and the male cringed. "to kill them usually involves two ways: fire or silver. the wendigo can either be burnt to death, or be struck in the heart with silver bullets or a silver blade, and only then will it turn into ice and disintegrate. but, once again, wendigos are incredibly hard to kill and most victims usually never survive their attacks."

"so...about those missing guys back in september," hyunjin spoke up, "do you think they were as a result of those wendigos as well?"

dahyun bit her lip. "possibly."

"if those wendigos have been using that dating app as a means of getting more victims, then the best thing to do is to get that site shut down, or to deactivate your accounts right away," she added. "that seems to be the only logical thing you guys can do at this moment. i'm sorry."

***

as the week progressed, so did seungmin's worsening mood. he was tired, he was angry, and he was livid.

he never really did anything that week but stay home, as his parents were concerned for him and his health, even if he told them multiple times that he was okay. but, being the overprotective parents that they were, they never let him step foot into school until he was -- on their terms -- completely healed.

that friday night happened to be a particularly bad one. after texting hyunjin that evening to inform the older that yes, he was okay, he'd proceeded to lie down on his bed to catch some sleep, only to wake up a couple hours later in a pool of sweat.

his heart wildly raced as he took in huge gulps of air, and his limbs felt heavier than they should've been. with shaking, clammy hands, he pushed off the blanket protecting his body, all of a sudden finding it too warm and too heavy on him.

seungmin forced himself to sit up even though his waist hurt at the action, blindly shoving his feet into his pair of house slippers. once he stood up, he almost fell at the dizziness that suddenly overwhelmed him, but then he thankfully regained his balance, determined to go get himself a glass of water to cool himself down.

heading down the stairs wasn't a hassle despite the darkness of the hall, but his headache had gotten progessively worse.

his heart skipped irregularly once he slipped into the kitchen, and he abruptly gripped at the left side of his chest at the pain that ricocheted within his ribcage.

his arms flailed at the pain, his left hand hitting something sharp along the way. it severed through the surface of his palm, and the student watched in fright as blood leaked out of the opening.

drops of dark red splattered on the floor, and the male haphazardly looked for the switch, before finally turning it on.

seungmin's raging heartbeat thundered against his eardrums as he slowly wiped his thumb over the opening as if he was in a reverie he just couldn't snap himself out of.

as his twitching thumb made contact with his mouth, the metallic taste of blood swirling within his tastebuds, he suddenly came back to the present. it was as if his senses had been rekindled, burning brighter then ever.

it was absolute torture, but in the best kind of way.

seungmin's knees gave way, and then he fell to the floor, blacking out only a few seconds later.

did you make the right choice?

answer: most likely not.

***

a/n: obviously some stuff in this chapter aren't true, as i'm planning on putting my own spin on the wendigo tale.

thoughts?