Her mind tells her to slip back into her state of unconscious where there was nothing but darkness. Although that in itself was not pleasant, it was better than the pain her body was feeling. She vaguely remembers being moved here. However, she doesn’t know how far they’ve gone. She doesn’t even know where here was.

                There was a slight hiss as another cigarette created a circle on the top of her left shoulder. The pain is but a thought of distraction compared to how hard she was fighting to stay conscious.

                There is nothing to tell her how long she has been here. She looked up and saw the same two men standing at the door as they had been the last time she checked. Behind her, she hears the click of the lighter as the third man lights another cigarette to scar her skin. Her head droops and through the slit of her closing eyes, she focuses on the black, red and brown circles that dot her legs.

                The man behind her lifts his hand with boredom and plants another hole on her body. It had been a while since the girl in front of his had reacted to any pain. Robert had only instructed him to keep going until she would speak but he could tell that it wasn’t going to be any time soon. At least not if they were to only burn her skin. He sighs and throws the third box on the floor, reaching over to a table behind him when the girl suddenly doubles over and gasps. It took him by surprise as he hadn’t even touched her.

                Daeun’s hands instinctively tried to reach forward to clutch her lower abdominal area. She had guessed it would be coming, with the feeling of her s being so tender from the last few days. But it had come at the worst possible time. She moaned as her uterus painfully contracts. Her period had recently been extremely abnormal so she had not prepared anything. There was one thing that stayed consistent each time it did come, however, and it was the fact that her cramps became more and more severe as time passed. In addition…

He didn’t know what to do. Robert had hired him only a few days before, promising him of an abundance of cash if he would follow everything he was instructed to do. Torture and kidnapping were not things he had ever done but he had not thought much about it when he carried them out. He shot a glance his two friends who were guarding the door. One of them had their eyes wide open and with slow movements, his hand came up to point at the girl.

                …her blood flow had become much heavier. She breathed through her teeth as another cramp seized her body. There was warm liquid that pooled between her legs and she could feel it trickle down the side of her leg.

                “What the ?” she heard the voice of the man who had been behind her, whisper now in front of her.

                There was the shuffling of feet as one of them left the room. A familiar ache on her lower back appeared as she was bent over in her chair. Sweat started to bead her forehead and the upper part of her lips. She had heard that menstrual cramps were particularly bad during heightened levels of stress.

                “What’s going on here?” this time it was the voice of Robert who asked the question.

                Whispers reached her ears but she couldn’t understand a single word that had been said. She felt her head being lifted up and Robert’s face peered down at her.

                “I have my period,” she whispered. It was all she could say before she clenched her eyes tight and hissed an exhale. She had also heard that if you were to exercise, menstrual cramps would not be as bad. Perhaps that had been a lie.

                Robert dropped her lifeless body back to its previous state. He stared at disgust as dots of red appeared on the ground before him. The pain she was in was not one that he had inflicted and it annoyed him. He had not been able to get any answer out of her but the first sentence she had said was that she had her goddamn period. He barked an order to one of the idiots he had picked up off the streets.

                Bringing his head back down towards her, he said slowly, “I’m going to bring you to a bathroom. Clean yourself up and stop the blood however you can. I don’t need you bleeding out in front of me so I’m having someone get your sanitary pads.”

                There was no response from her. Jerking his head to the other guy standing behind her, he told him to stay by her side as the three walked to the “bathroom”

                Her legs were weak and her ankles sore from the cuffs that had tied her down. She could barely walk and so the man had to half carry her to the corner of the building. There was nothing in here that told her of what it could be. The walls were made of concrete and everything was dusty or broken. She guessed it may have been an empty warehouse but then in the distance, she heard the blare of a ship’s horn. They shove her outside as they cross a small walkway to another building. Her eyes dart up and she catches the word “Pier” above her head.

                This new building was not anything different from the previous one she had left. If anything, it was dirtier and older. Half broken benches were scattered along the hallway and plastic wrap hung from the ceiling like spider webs. There was something strange about the set up, however. The mess she saw was a little too coordinated and each piece of furniture seemed to be placed with a purpose.

                Finally, they stopped before a doorframe that had the metal plate hung above it. She was shoved in as her guard stood waiting outside and Robert continued to pace.

                The washrooms in here were much cleaner than what she expected. Unfortunately, after a quick search through the stalls, she saw that none of them were functional. Somebody had recently placed a new roll of toilet paper above one of the urinals and so she shuffled towards it.

                With a glance at the open door, she saw that her guard still had his back faced towards her and Robert was nowhere in sight. She grabbed the roll of paper and made her way to the corner of the bathroom where she could not be seen. Her eyes scanned the room for any indications that could tell her where she was.

                Pure luck was what it was. It was a habit she had always found unappealing but that morning, she had forgotten a bag and so she had tucked her cell phone into her bra. It had fit securely in the cup as her swollen chest filled the rest of the space. None of them had found it even when they ped the back of her dress to continue burning the skin there. With her back still towards the door, she her phone and found that she had one bar of reception. Time was not on her side and she needed to decide what she wanted to do with her possibly last remaining life line.

                Her heart was pounding as her fingers fumbled to find the camera. Perhaps she could take a picture of where she was and send it to one of the members. There was a knock at the doorframe that nearly caused her to drop the phone.

                “Are you done?” the man outside growled.

                She still had her back towards him and she quickly grabbed the toilet paper. “Give me a second,” she called back out, “Please don’t look.”

                Waiting until she could hear him turn away, she ran into a stall. Her breaths were quickening as her search was turning up absolutely nothing. There were only brown walls and movie posters that were peeling off. She stepped up closer to a ripped poster and her heart stopped when she saw the logo stamped in the corner. So it wasn’t a simple warehouse she was in after all.

                She heard footsteps from outside. Her heart quickened and in the spur of the moment, she ran into a stall. Now that she was here, she was unable to take a picture of the logo she had seen outside. Her mind spun of other possibilities in how to tell someone where she thought she was.

                A sudden agonizing cramp shook her body. She gasped and the sound escaped like leaking gas from . She squeezed her eyes shut and threw her head back. When the pain passed, she reopened her eyes and saw that the ceiling had been plastered with posters like the walls. It was there she saw the words. It was a long shot but they had used the word multiple times. She hoped that he would be able to decipher it. Her hands shook, whether it in fear or pain, as she typed in the word pier before pressing the record button.

                “Help me,” she whispered to the video that she had started to record. “I don’t know where I am but – ”

                The stall door was suddenly kicked open, causing the phone to be knocked out of her hand. Robert stood at the doorway, enraged when he confirmed his suspicions. He had thought that it took her too long. She lunged towards the phone, fingers reaching towards it target.

                With a swift downward movement, he brought his food down and crushed her hand as well as her phone.

                She screamed as she felt something crack – whether it be her hand or the phone beneath. Squeezing her eyes shut, she prayed that she had managed to click the send button.

                He dragged her back onto her feet. In one hand he held the sanitary pads he had promised her. He was too angry to give her what she needed now so he threw it into the toilet behind her.

                “You shouldn’t have done that. Now you’ll have to be severely punished,” he snarled into her ear.

                Her body shook as Robert and her guard hauled her body back outside.

                Namjoon knew the demands of her job so when he returned home, he did not find it strange not to see her shoes at the door step. He was still bummed that they were absent as this was a rare moment when he had finally got home earlier than she had.

                All the members were already seated around the dining table when he walked in. Seokjin was bringing in the large pot of Korean soup and noodles from the kitchen when he took his seat at the end of the table.

                “You’re home early today,” Seokjin commented when he saw Namjoon.

                “Schedule doesn’t start until later this evening so they told me I could come home for a break,” Namjoon said, “Daeun still not home yet?”

                Jimin shrugged. “I haven’t seen her all day actually.”

                “She’s spending the day with Robert,” Hoseok muttered from his spot.

                Namjoon cocked an eyebrow. Daeun had not told him anything about that even when she woke up this morning. But then, he had been pretty tired so he had slept through anything she had been saying.

                “You mean the son of the guy Hong Jung Yee has been trying to get business with?” Yoongi said.

                “Yeah. He wanted to treat her to brunch before he left for his flight in the evening or something,” Hoseok said. He tapped his finger impatiently on the kitchen table as they waited for Seokjin to take his spot at the head of the table. When he finally lifted his spoon, the rest of the members dug into their meals as well.

                “Hmm, his flight in the evening? Isn’t it already the evening?” Namjoon asked between bites.

                Hoseok shrugged. He had a particularly draining day at the studio as he had been put in charge of the children’s hip hop dance class.

                “Maybe they’re out for dinner too? From what Daeun has been saying, he seems like a generous guy!” Jungkook said.

                “Daeun can take care of herself. She’ll call us if anything!” Taehyung grinned.

                Namjoon smiled at his enthusiasm. The younger man was always able lighten any atmosphere. His phone buzzed from within his pocket and he put down his spoon to retrieve it.

                “Speak of the devil herself,” he chuckled, showing the message he had received from her.

                The members continued to eat their dinner, speaking of their day. Hoseok was the only one who kept eyeing Namjoon. Daeun was never really one to text another person so he felt annoyed that the two kept a text conversation going. He froze when he saw the furrow of Namjoon’s eyebrows as he read the message.

                “What is she saying?” he asked Namjoon.

                Namjoon could not stop staring at the screen. His words were slow as he responded, “Pier”

                Hoseok scrunched his own forehead in response.

                He finally stopped looking at the unsettling scene on his phone and pushed the device to the middle of the table. The other members put aside their food as they gathered to look at the message. Namjoon’s fingers were shaking when he pushed the play button.

                Daeun’s face filled the screen. Her hair was disheveled and her face seemed to be twisted in pain. As the video shook, it revealed the dotted circles of red that covered both her shoulders. The background seemed to be of a brown wall and based off the echoes of her voice, she seemed to be in a confined space.

                “Help me,” she whispered, her lips cracking in the process, “I don’t know where I am but – ”

                Her words were suddenly cut off and the phone was dropped, spinning on the ground as the video shot the ceiling. They listened as somebody walked into the scene with her. The video was stationary and it blurred as it tried to focus back out after being magnified on her face.

                Something that seemed to be her finger wrapped around the camera and positioned it such that it took in a poster that had been slapped onto the ceiling. Between her fingers, a large black object came crashing down and the video ended with her scream.

                All the members had lost their appetite.

                “That…” the words were caught on Jungkook’s throat, “Was that Daeun?”

                Nobody wanted to validate his question.

                “You said she was out for brunch with Robert?” Namjoon finally said. His question was directed at nobody in particular but Hoseok answered it.

                “That’s what she told me last night.”

                “Why would she send that to you?” Taehyung whispered. Jungkook was close to tears once again.

                “There must be something in the video,” Jimin said. He frowned and it caused the crease on his forehead to increase ever more.

                “Do you mind if I play it again?” Yoongi softly said from his spot.

                Seokjin stood up at the front of the table. “You said that Robert Viktor was the last one to see her, right? I’m going to call Hong Jung Yee and see if he knows anything about this,” he told them all.

                Namjoon nodded, followed by a push of the phone towards Yoongi to answer his question. He could not bear to look to at the video again. Once was enough for it to send chills down his spine. The sounds from the video made him imagine what Daeun could be going through currently and nothing in those images were nice.

                “There,” Yoongi suddenly said, “Do you see that? Those are words.”

                The rest of the members crowded even closer around the small phone.

                “I can’t make it out. It seems like a poster of some kind,” Taehyung said.

                “Give me a minute. I’m going to blow the image up on my laptop,” Yoongi pushed himself away from the table. He returned shortly with his personalized computer and his fingers flew across the keyboard, initializing whatever program he had decided to use.

                “Namjoon, do you mind sending the video to me? I need to be able to access it on here,” Yoongi instructed.

                Namjoon lifelessly pressed the buttons to do so. His mind was void of any thoughts besides the memory of her scream at the end.

                Yoongi continued to type and scroll through the video. He hit the spacebar once he arrived at the scene he had been talking about before. With deft hands, he blew up the image.

                “Do you see this? It’s a movie poster of some sort. It says ‘I Represent’?” Yoongi pointed at the screen. Indeed, the letters could be made out and on the poster, four figures stood in the backlight of the sunset.

                “I don’t recognize it,” Jungkook whispered. He was the usual movie buff of the team. “But the poster’s extremely old. The editing style is ancient.”

                “She also wrote the word ‘pier’, right? Perhaps it’s the name of the pier. Um… Represent Pier?” Taehyung threw out.

                Jimin had still been scrutinizing the video while the rest of them talked about what pier she could be representing. Suddenly, something dawned in his head. “Guys,” he waved them to catch their attention, “There’s something strange with the video. Yoongi, play this part again.”

                Yoongi rewound the video and played at where Jimin had indicated. The video shook as the phone fell to the ground. The camera whirred as it adjusted its focus. Her fingers came into view and clenched the phone, moving it slightly before a foot stomped down on it. Yoongi paused the video before they could hear her scream.

                Jimin took the laptop from Yoongi and dragged the bar on the timeline to the last image they could see before the black. “These are Daeun’s fingers. That means she was able to grab the phone. She could have picked it up and shown us the face of her captor or she could have dialed Namjoon’s number. However, she moves the video and focuses on this last part of the poster.”

                The two youngest peered closer to the screen. “I don’t understand,” one of them said.

                Jimin points with his fingers. “Look. She purposely moves the video so that the poster doesn’t say ‘I Represent’ anymore. There’s only one word that appears between her fingers and it’s “present”. That must be the word she wants us to focus on.”

                “That doesn’t make any sense. What is she presenting to us then? She doesn’t tell us who’s her capture and there’s barely any information on where she currently is besides some type pier.”

                “I’m not sure. But that word means something. Namjoon, she specifically sent the video to you. Does this word mean anything?”

                Namjoon shook his head. He replayed all the memories they had together, from the time they met in Seoul to that morning when he had slept in. “I can’t say. It’s too vague. We’ve never gone to the piers for a date. And we’ve never watched a movie either.”

                “We watched a movie yesterday!” Taehyung shouted, “It wasn’t very interesting though. It was about pirates or something.”

                “That’s too redundant. I don’t think she’ll need to obviously type in pier and then go through all of that to tell us she’s by the water again.”

                Their conversation is interrupted when Seokjin returns to the table.

                “Any news from Hong Jung Yee?” Hoseok asked before Namjoon could. He had been extremely quiet through it all.

                “No,” Seokjin shook his head, “I got bounced to his voice mail even when I used his private number. Do you think he flew with Robert back to see his father? I think I remember Daeun mentioning that before.”

                “If they’ve both flown out, I don’t know who would want to hurt her,” Namjoon said softly. Daeun had a strong attitude and there were times when she spoke before thinking, but she was still a nice girl. She never caused any trouble if she deemed it unnecessary. He couldn’t think of anybody who would hurt her.

                “Do you think it’s the Red Dragons?” Jungkook asked.

                “Who are the Red Dragons?” Namjoon questioned.

                “They are a gang we encountered in Seoul after a job. They tried to kidnap Daeun after we busted their operation, but they ultimately failed,” Seokjin informed him. He thought about the suggestion but sighed. “They’re pissed at us, but I don’t think they’ll go to the extreme of coming all the way here to New York to get revenge.”

                “Daeun looked like she was hurt. And all those red circles on her skin… it’s like she’s been burnt,” Taehyung bit his nails.

                Seokjin’s phone buzzed from his hand. “It’s Hong Jung Yee,” he reported. He swiped to answer the call.

                “Mr. Hong, it’s me, Kim Seokjin,” he said. There was a pause as Hong Jung Yee answered. “I wanted to know whether or not you flew out with Robert Viktor today.” Pause. “His father is in an emergency? So you’re saying he flew back without you?” Pause again. “Did he board his flight? Does it check through? … Please, Mr. Hong. It’s imperative that we know.”

                The members all hold their breath, waiting on Seokjin’s next words.

                “It checks out. A man named Robert Viktor boarded the plane at exactly 6:47pm this evening and the flight left fifteen minutes after that,” he repeated all the words Hong Jung Yee told him.

                Namjoon jolted up from his sitting position. He started pacing around the room, letting his nerves control the rest of his body.

                “Daeun’s missing. She sent us a… disturbing video. The last person she was seen with was Robert Viktor and we only want to know where she can be right now,” Seokjin explained over the phone. There were a couple of nods and grunts in response to whatever Hong Jung Yee said and then the call ended.

                “What did he say?” Jimin stressed. Beside him, Yoongi’s hands were still working on the video, scanning every single part such as not to miss anything.

                Seokjin set down his phone and said one sentence, shocking the entire group. 

Oh man. This chapter is real rough. I'll probably be back to edit this LOL 

But you know what else is tough? Writing the scene where BTS doesn't know anything but like.. I DO. Ugh. Struggles are real.

It's also been a while since I've one this, but welcome to new readers and hello to those who have stuck with me since the beginning! I'm hoping that you're enjoying this story! Comments and upvotes are always appreciated! :)