8^th February 2017, 11.00PM

It was exactly eleven at night. The sky was dark and vast with some stars blinking in the dark. There was no moon that night and everything was eerily quiet. Seoul Amusement Park was still open that night but the guard did not let just anyone in. The lights inside of it were still on. People who passed by it kept on giving curious glances but nobody bothered enough to check if there was anything wrong.

But that was a good thing.

If they had decided to check, they would most probably get killed or maybe, unconscious if she was feeling merciful.

Inside Seoul Amusement Park, though, there were nine people who were fidgeting restlessly. Some were pacing back and forth and to and fro, some were just standing there while trying to calm their thoughts and the rest of them were just trying to distract themselves with modern technology such as smart phones.

“So all of us cursed Yuri, huh?” Sooyoung asked, breaking the silence that she could no longer take. It was a rhetorical question and she did not mind if none of them answered her. Nobody would admit their horrible deed out loud.

“Actually, I don’t remember cursing her,” Krystal piped up. But her sentence fell on deaf ears. Everybody knew Krystal was one of the twelve people who had cursed Yuri. If she wasn’t, why would she be here?

“Nor do I,” Sulli said quietly.

“What did Kwon Yuri hold over all of you?” Sooyoung asked curiously. Everyone immediately shifted their gaze away from one another, not wanting to answer her question.

“I was poor,” Taemin said after a moment of silence. “I was on a scholarship in Seoul Boarding School and the people who helped me were her parents. She said that if I did not do as she told me to do, she would tell her parents to cancel my scholarship.”

“Do you think what we did ten years ago is horrible?” Baekhyun asked in a small voice, wanting to know the others’ opinions.

“No,” Taeyeon responded firmly. Everyone turned to look at her. “She deserved it for being such a .”

“Some of the things she told us to do were horrible things too,” Yoona added in, trying to assure everyone that what they did was not horrible.

“But it was her last year in the school. We should’ve been more patient,” Sooyoung whispered hoarsely.

“Let bygones be bygones,” Kai snapped at them. “Regretting what we did ten years ago won’t help our situation now.”

“Is that how you’ve been living your life, Kai-sshi?” Luhan asked softly. “Have you been trying to forget about what you’ve done and not thinking about it so that your guilt won’t eat you alive?”

Nobody said anything after that and even though they would not admit it, they were glad none of them did. They were uncomfortable with the topic. Besides, they were still awkward with one another. Sure, they had tried to socialize but then, it was only for one night. They did not expect that their bond ran deeper.

The nine of them kept on waiting. Waiting for what, they had no absolute idea. All they knew was they were told to come here but nothing happened.

It could not be a huge prank, right? Nobody knew about Mirror except for them and Mirror itself.

Minutes passed by before Luhan’s phone rang loudly, breaking the silence sharply like a knife causing everyone to jump in surprise. Luhan immediately took out his phone and answered it. For a moment, everybody stared at him, expecting something.

Luhan let out a sigh and immediately switched the phone on loud speaker. Everyone gathered around him and leaned in closer to listen to what the person was saying.

“Hello, graduates of Seoul Boarding School,” a feminine voice greeted them almost cheerfully. “I’m sure you recognize my voice, right? No? Oh, well. It’s me. Seo Joohyun or you may just call me Seohyun.”

“Are you Mirror?” Sooyoung blurted out before she could stop herself but none of them shot her a glare because they were just as curious as she was.

The girl on the other line just laughed in amusement. “No, Sooyoung-sshi, I’m not Mirror,” she responded. “But I know who Mirror is and she definitely wants to destroy your lives. All of your lives, including Kris’s.”

“You’re on her side,” Kai said bitterly. It was meant to be a question but it ended up being a statement instead.

Again, Seohyun’s laughter filled the amusement park. “No, I’m not on her side,” she replied after her laughter had ceased. “I’m only on my own side. Only if the odds are in my favor then I will help someone. Do you remember the warning I gave you the last time you were here? Well, I wanted to help you but I don’t think any of you took the warning seriously. But maybe, now you’ll take it more seriously, yeah?”

“What do we have to do to get Kris back?” Sooyoung asked, getting back to their main objective to why they were here.

“Oh, right,” Seohyun said. “Did you bring the invitation letter to the amusement park when Mirror first invited you here?”

“Yes,” Sooyoung answered shortly.

“Good. Now, there is something that Mirror wants from you,” Seohyun explained. “There is a hidden message in the invitation. Figure it out yourself what the hidden message is and I’ll let Kris go.”

“How are we supposed to tell you that we’ve figured out the hidden message?” Baekhyun asked as Sooyoung fumbled with her handbag, searching for the invitation letter.

“Just call Kris’s phone number,” the hostess answered. “You don’t have to worry about Kris being alive. Mirror wants him to stay alive so that she can torture him like she will torture all of you. All of you were smart students. I’m sure you can figure out the hidden message.” With that, the young woman hung up on them.

Yoona sank to the ground and sat on it. Seeing her actions, the others followed suit and Sooyoung put the invitation letter on the floor for all of them to see. They read the letter again and again but none of them found a clue to what the hidden message was.

Dear Graduate of Seoul Boarding School,

Girls and boys, congratulations for being one of the lucky ten! The love that you have for your school has finally paid off. You’re invited to Seoul Amusement Park on 4^th February 2013, 8.30 PM.

Hear this no payment is needed as the entrance fee is free!

Criminals, doctors, teachers or whatsoever, we don’t care. We will still invite you here and pay the fees for you. You will not decline this offer, will you? Please say ‘I do want to come’!

You will like it, I promise.

Meet you there!

From,

Anonymous

“I think I’ve found something,” Taemin suddenly said. Everyone looked at him curiously. “Well, usually, people would have said boys and girls instead of girls and boys. Do you think this is an important clue?”

Taeyeon’s eyes lit up for a moment. She took out the notebook that she always carried around with her and turned to a fresh page. “Maybe it’s the first word of each sentence?” she asked. She immediately scribbled on her notebook before making a face. “Well, this isn’t it…” Luhan reached out to see what she wrote on her notebook.

Girls the you’re hear criminals we you please you meet.

“That doesn’t make sense,” Baekhyun said. “But the ‘girls and boys’ part is seriously suspicious. And why does the letter include the word ‘criminals’? I’ve always found that weird.”

“Yeah,” Krystal agreed with her best friend. “The ‘please say I do want to come’ part is strange too.”

Suddenly, Kai snatched the invitation before taking Taeyeon’s notebook and pen. He wrote something on top of it before shaking his head. “Ah, it’s not every seventh word,” he muttered to himself before putting the letter back on the ground and returned Taeyeon her pen and notebook.

Girls of you paid park this entrance or still fees this do it anonymous.

“That’s nonsense,” Yoona commented, holding back her laughter as it would be inappropriate to laugh at the moment.

Kai just shrugged nonchalantly, not feeling the slightest bit offended by her remark. “I was just trying my best,” he replied. His lips were tugging to form a smile but he tried to stop himself. Unable to control it, a grin formed on his lips.

Soon enough, the amusement park was filled with laughter from the nine graduates of Seoul Boarding School.

8^th February 2013, 11.30PM

Everything was black.

He could not see a single thing. He rubbed his sore head with both of his hands that were tied up for a moment. The last thing Kris remembered was having lunch with Seohyun. After that he had sent Seohyun back to her apartment and being the gentleman as he was, he decided to her to the front door. Out of nowhere, somebody had hit his head with a hard object and he could not see anything anymore.

He remembered waking up here and then as he was being moved from place to place but every time he woke up, somebody would inject something in his vein so that he would fall asleep again and this happened around four to five times.

Kris was lying down on a cold hard floor. Other than his hands, his legs were tied up too, judging by the lack of movements he could do. Using his strength, he immediately sat up on the floor.

He could not see anything. He did not know whether he had gone blind or the place was just dark. Suddenly, he felt claustrophobic. His lungs constricted and he could not breathe. He tried to breathe through his mouth as calmly as possible but miserably failed.

I will not panic, he willed himself silently.

To say he was scared was an understatement. He was utterly petrified. “Hello?” he called out, his voice shaking slightly. His voice sounded hoarse and raw as if it had been a long time since he last used it. What time is it? Where am I? What day is it today? How long have I been here?

Questions and questions ran through his mind and he felt himself getting panicked once again.

Kris took in a deep breath to calm himself down. Panicking would not help his situation at the moment. He needed to stay calm so that he would be able to think of a way to escape from here – wherever here was.

He did not know how long he sat there just to calm himself. He tried singing lullabies in his head, counting sheep and even rapping his favorite rap song to himself. Luckily for him, he managed to stop himself from getting a panic attack.

Suddenly, he could hear footsteps approaching wherever he was at the moment. It was hard to tell whether he was inside a room or not since he still could not make out anything in the dark. It was total blackness. His hands were cold and clammy and his heart was pounding so loudly that he could have sworn the whole world would be able to hear him. His breathing was unsteady and loud.

“You’re awake,” a feminine voice said pleasantly. He was not able to identify the owner’s voice, though. Nor could he tell where the person was standing at currently.

“Who are you?” he asked. “Where are you? What do you want? Where am I? How long have I been here? What time is it?” he bombarded her with questions.

The woman cackled in amusement and her laughter sent chills down his spine. He had never heard a laughter as evil as hers. He had never heard a laugh as terrifying as hers. He was sure that if there was an evil-laughing competition, she would win it without a doubt.

“I’m your old friend, Kris-ah,” she murmured smoothly. “Don’t you remember me – your old friend, your greatest fear and most importantly, your foe?”

“No, I don’t,” he replied, making his voice as cold as possible. He did not have any idea of what she was talking about. Well, he did have an idea but it could not be, right?

No way.

No freaking way.

“I’m Mirror,” the woman said and that sentence alone was able to send chills down his spine. That sentence alone was able to raise goose bumps on his arms. That sentence alone was able to make him shudder in fear.

“W-what do y-you want from m-me?” he stuttered out in panic. He had failed. He had failed to stay calm. He had failed to try to stay rational.

Again, that evil laugh escaped her lips. What made him feel more terrified was the fact that he could not see where she was. He could not even see her face.

“It’s time to pay the price for what you did ten years ago, Kris-ah,” Mirror taunted. “The time has come for all of you to suffer. The time has come for all of you to regret what you’ve done ten years ago.”

Kris was trembling now. The fear that he felt was nothing like the fear he had always felt when he was watching horror movies. The fear was real and it was gnawing at his heart. His heart was pounding way above the average rate. He almost whimpered but he held himself back in order not to give Mirror the pleasure of seeing him scared.

Kris did not know what was happening but the pain that he felt suddenly on his chest forced a scream out of his throat.

The scream was not just any scream.

It was a scream mixed with fear and pain.

It was as though his heart was burning. It was as though his heart was being ripped apart. He could hardly breathe.

It was a pain so great that nobody had ever felt before.

Or maybe, just maybe, somebody had felt that kind of pain before.

9^th February 2017, 12.15AM

The amusement park was filled with nothing but mere silence. The nine people had talked for a little while, trying to lighten up the atmosphere but soon, nobody bothered anymore. They were tired and some of them were even yawning.

Krystal, Baekhyun, Kai and Sooyoung had given up trying to search for the hidden message as their eyes could no longer stay open. Luhan and Sulli were trying their best to stay awake. Yoona was just staring at the invitation in front of them lifelessly. Only Taemin and Taeyeon still had their eyes wide open, searching for the hidden message diligently. This was most probably due to their jobs which required them to sleep late at times.

“This is useless,” Sulli groaned as she stretched her stiff neck, producing a loud sound as it cracked. She stretched her arms and legs and slapped her own face just to stay awake.

“You should just go to sleep, Sulli-sshi,” Taemin chastised gently. “Luhan-sshi, the same goes for you, too. The two of you look like you’re barely awake anymore.” Then, looking at Yoona, he added, “Yoona-sshi, you, too, should go to sleep. You don’t look like you’re alive.”

“Are the two of you able to do this by yourselves?” Sulli asked, voicing out her concern.

“Yes,” Taeyeon answered, her eyes never leaving the invitation letter as she studied it closely. “We can handle this just fine so the three of you should just get some sleep. We’ll wake you up if something happens.”

“If you say so,” Luhan muttered his voice barely audible. He yawned for the nth time before lying down in his spot and closed his eyes.

Seeing his actions, Sulli and Yoona followed suit. Soon enough, they flew to their respective dreamlands.

Snores could be heard but neither Taemin nor Taeyeon mentioned anything about it. The two of them examined the letter closely, trying hard to figure out the hidden message.

Neither of them knew how much time had passed by as they sat there concentrating on the piece of paper. The piece of paper was slightly crinkled due to the fact that it had been passed around from people to people for the past one hour. They sat in silence as each of them was lost in their own thoughts.

Suddenly, Taeyeon’s eyes lit up and she immediately grabbed her pen. She underlined some words on the letter.

Dear Graduate of Seoul Boarding School,

Girls and boys, congratulations for being one of the lucky ten! The love that you have for your school has finally paid off. You’re invited to Seoul Amusement Park on 4^th February 2013, 8.30 PM.

Hear this no payment is needed as the entrance fee is free!

Criminals, doctors, teachers or whatsoever, we don’t care. We will still invite you here and pay the fees for you. You will not decline this offer, will you? Please say ‘I do want to come’!

You will like it, I promise.

Meet you there!

From,

Anonymous

The young policewoman let out a small gasp as she quickly wrote down what she had underlined on her notebook.

Girls love to hear, criminals will not do.

Something that girls loved to hear but criminals would not do. That was what Mirror wanted from them. It was a riddle and they had to solve it but at the moment, the answer to the riddle did not matter. Seohyun said that if they wanted Kris to be returned back to them, they had to find out what the hidden message in this invitation letter was. She never said anything about solving it.

Taemin’s jaw dropped open as soon as he saw the hidden message that Taeyeon had deciphered. “How did you figure that out?” he asked in awe.

The young woman shrugged nonchalantly as she immediately grabbed Luhan’s phone. She dialed Kris’s number and waited for someone to answer it.

As soon as the dialing tone ended, indicating that someone had answered the phone, Taeyeon blurted out, “Girls love to hear, criminals will not do. That’s the answer, right?”

She held her breath as silence greeted her from the other line. She waited nervously to see if she had it correct.

Then, a chuckle came. “That’s right, Taeyeon-sshi. Congratulations for figuring out the hidden message single-handedly. Took you long enough to figure it out, Officer Taeyeon. You must have deciphered lots of hidden messages during the time you’re working at Seoul Police Station, huh?”

“What’s next?” the young woman asked, ignoring Seohyun’s ramblings. “Where’s Kris?”

“Wake the others up and Kris will be returned to you soon.”

And that was the last thing Seohyun said before she hung up.

Author's Note:

Well, just wondering, did any of you figure out the hidden message before I revealed it? And yeah, what do you think is the pattern? The pattern is kind of obvious, though. Anyway, just wondering, is anybody interested in joining my contest? It is specially for darkfics since I'm currently deprived of them.

Darkfics Writing Contest

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