I stand still as my back faces the stranger that has suddenly appeared from nowhere. The sunny sky suddenly disappears by the overcast that’s claimed dominance. It would be the biggest fib I ever told if I said that my instincts didn’t keep on telling me to run but instead I ignore them and stand in place. I needed someone to help me. I needed to get the man in the cage out.

Fighting the courage to turn around to face the stranger, I slowly allow myself to turn my head. I’m not prepared for what i’m seeing, but I allow myself to slowly take in the man standing before me. His white and blue hair blows gently away from his handsome face as the wind dances between us. I notice the way his upper and muscular body wears nothing but a leather apron. He seems to have stains of something black covering his arms, and his hand? It holds a pair of safety goggles. 

“What are you doing here?” He repeats the question as he an eyebrow towards me. 

I open my mouth to try and get the words out but I struggle. There was something about this man that intimidated me, I couldn’t figure out if I could trust him or not. 

“Are you a mute? I’m asking you a question” He adds aggressively. 

I finally snap out of my trance, refocusing my eyes to meet his. 

“I need help” I manage to say.

“Help with what?” He asks.

I prepare myself to tell him the reason, realizing how crazy it will probably end up sounding out loud. 

“There’s a man in a cage, and I think he needs help” 

I watch as his facial features contort into surprise and then fear as he suddenly shrugs and looks around the opened area in search of something before returning a stern look my way. 

“Follow me” He says as he walks past me and towards the abandon house. 

I turn around to face him but can’t find it within myself to follow him. He was a stranger and I knew that I shouldn’t be following a strange man into a house, where he could do god knows what to me. He stops in his tracks the moment he realizes i’m not following him and lets out a loud and frustrated sigh before he walks towards me. 

I watch in horror as the man grabs a hold of my sleeve, firmly wrapping his hand around my wrist he drags me after him. I try to pull myself away from his grip but his hold is too strong.

“Let me go!” I cry out repeatedly. 

He stops walking only to look at me with a displeased face. 

“Shhh! Be quiet!” He whispers aggressively as he covers my mouth with his hand. 

I start kicking and screaming through muffled cries as he drags me into the dark and cold house. I panic the further we disappear into the abandoned house before the outside is no longer within view. 

He let’s go of me as I go flying towards a wall, bringing my hands up to stop myself from going head first into the wall, I take a look at my surroundings. Although the room is dark, the small fluorescent buzzing of a blue light in the distance illuminates the room, in several hues of blue. 

I let my eyes start to wander around the room. A large work space comes into view as a sketch of some sort of device lays unfinished. Several containers holding different types of flowers sit neatly on a shelf. While a welding machine sits in the middle of the room, surrounded by several dozen wooden crates.

Now looking at the room, it appears to be some sort of workshop, which I figured it explained as to why the man was wearing an apron. I let my eyes wander towards an unusual bulky shape that sits covered by a large tarp. Curious to find out what it is I take a step forward but don’t get very far when the man steps in front of me, blocking my way.

“Listen, I don’t know who you are, or how you got here but you need to be careful about which territory you step on” He warns.

Distracting me, I turn to face him. I didn’t like the idea of being in a house alone with a man I didn’t know. I still got a weird vibe off him and I still couldn’t tell if I could trust him or not. Remembering why I came here in the first place, my face softens up. 

“The man in the cage” I whisper loud enough so he can hear me. “He needs help, we need to get him out” 

He grabs a hold of my arm, firmly gripping his fingers on to me. 

“How do you know about the man in the cage?!” He demands. 

“I saw him in the forest, we need to help him!” I cry out as his grip hardens and it begins to hurt me. 

He notices my discomfort and quickly lets go of me. 

“Beware of your curiosity, sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong might end up getting you into trouble, or worse” He says, letting the words linger in the air. 

I try to understand what he’s trying to say but it ends up sounding like a threat to me. Afraid to find out what he meant by it, I push myself to ask. 

“What do you mean?” 

He laughs as he shakes his head.

“Foolish you are, this place isn’t what it seems. Keep wandering around and you might find out about things you wish you didn’t know” 

I try to make out what he’s saying to me but it all just sounds like riddles to me. What would I find out that I would regret ? I stand still, afraid to cause any sudden movements as I watch him retrieve towards the work space. 

He leans over the drawing as he stretches it out with his hands. Letting his eyes wander over his work, he sighs before he shoots another look my way. 

“It’s funny how you’re so scared” He begins as he sits on the stool. He crosses his arms as he studies me. I have yet to move from where he had left me a few moments ago. “I’m really not the one you should be afraid of. I’m actually your friend” 

I turn to face him, confused at the fact that after how he treated me and the things he had said, he considered himself my friend. Even though his sudden comment annoyed me, I stop myself from answering. I figured it was the wisest decision. 

“You’re not from around here are you?” He asks with sudden interest. 

But I still don’t reply. 

“What’s your name?” He asks as he leans forward to get a better look at me. 

I catch sight of him from my peripheral view. He seems intrigued by me all of a sudden. But realizing that if he really wanted to hurt me he would have done so by now, I let myself relax. 

“Kina” I answered. 

“I know we may not be in the friendliest terms right now, but I’m Wonho” He replies. His voice suddenly sounding more welcoming than threatening. 

“We’re not even remotely close to the word friends” I argue.

He laughs.

“You’re right. Anyway, don’t go back through the way you came from. It’s too dangerous. If you’re looking to head back into the city, there’s a trail just outside the house that will lead you to the main road” He offered. 

“Thanks” I manage to say as I let my foot take a step forward, but immediately stop when I recall the man from earlier. “What about the man?” I asked.

Wonho runs a hand through his messy hair as a loud exaggerated sigh echoes in the room. 

“Look, just forget you saw anything okay? It’s probably for the best” 

The best? I stand frozen in place not believing the words that were coming out his mouth. There was someone locked in a cage, and probably in danger and all he could say was to not worry about it? I hold my breath though, realizing he wouldn’t be someone to help me. If I could get back to the city, I could go reported it to the police. 

“What are you waiting? Are you planning to stay there all day or what?” He asks, cocking his head to the side. 

“Not like I would ever want to” I say, quickly shooting him a glance before making a way towards where we had come in earlier. 

“Wait” He calls out after me. 

I stop.

“Can you pass me that protractor before you go?” He says as he points to the protractor in the corner. 

I nod. Carefully making my way towards the corner of the room, I notice that it’s not as illuminated as other parts of the room. My feet struggle to leave the ground as the sensation of something sticky seems to attach itself to them. Confused, I glance down to the ground only to smears of red dragged around the floor. I gasp, as I feel my heart wanting to leap out of my throat. Was it ….blood? no it couldn’t be. 

Scared by the sight, I take a step back, bumping into something on the ground. Slowly turning around I find something bulky lying on the floor. No, this couldn’t be. My instincts were right from the start, this guy was a whacko. He was going to kill me. A loud scream hitches its way in my throat as I force my legs to run. 

Without a second thought, I’m dashing out of the abandoned house as I hear the footsteps and the calls of Wonho after me, begging me to stop.  

“Kina! Come back, it’s not what you think!” He calls after me but I know damn well what I had seen. 

With hot tears streaming down my face, I’m bolting through the brush once again as fresh cuts begin to sting my bruised skin. I had no idea where I was going but I knew that I needed to get out of here, this man was crazy and if he caught me he would probably kill me too. 

I was praying that I would eventually get to a road where I could find help but after a few minutes I realized that I was back in the forest. With no idea where to go, I find myself enclosed by large trees and too many paths to choose from. Panicked as the sound of Wonho calling after me gets closer, I quickly make the decision and take off running towards a small trail, hoping that it will take me to an exit. 

Five minutes go by to when I can no longer make the sound of Wonho after me.  With my heart basically wanting to throw itself out of my chest I take a second to catch my breath as I finally begin to see some light at the end of the trail. Out of caution, I quickly duck out of way to make sure that he isn’t following me. As minutes go by, he doesn’t come, which reassured me that I had lost him. 

I take small quiet steps towards the light, hoping that I can finally get to the police station to report everything. This man was a psycho and needed to be locked up. It had all become clear to me that the man in the cage was probably in there because of Wonho. Thats why he didn’t want to help me get him out. 

Half expecting to find a road, I’m stunned when I find something else instead. 

Sitting in front of me sit four green houses made of clear crystal, but its what’s inside them that catches my attention. Purple flowers, and hundreds or more of them sit being incubated in these crystal houses. What the hell was this place? I try to look for some sort of sign to see if I can figure out where I am but there’s no signs, or house to indicate that this is someones property. 

I carefully wander through the area, peeking into the crystal houses one by one in search of someone but I can’t find anyone. Just when I’m ready to continue on my way, I feel a sharp pain hit me in my neck, not realizing what is happening I run my hand over my neck to find something sitting there. I panic trying to get it out and when I do, I find a small dart in my hand.

Confused as to how it got there or what it is, I begin to study it until my vision begins to get hazy and I become light headed. I wobble around as I reach my hands in front of me, trying to find my bearings but it’s only getting worse as the seconds go by, and then my legs give out. I feel the way my body begins to feel heavy, like waves against a sandy shore, I am powerless. 

I try to reach the exit, knowing that I need to get out of here and so I kick to push myself to crawl out of here, but I don’t get very far when my vision turns white before I open my eyes one more time.

Hues of blues appear before me and so does a lone figure. I stare at it as it comes closer, worrying that it’s Wonho who has found me, I try to fight him but its no use when my body won’t move. I feel sleepy, like i’m not far from falling into a deep dream and then the figure stands before me. A tall and slender boy crouches down as his face comes into view. Blinking one more time to make sure i’m not imagining this, I find a pair of dark eyes looking back at me.