"Um.....Jonghyun....."

   Mio was very hesitant about asking him, but she had to know.

   "Hm?" He looked surprised.

   "Where does those stairs lead to? The ones to the basement?"

   He stiffened. "A bad place." He muttered.

   Onew appeared and tapped his head. "You're confusing Mio." He smiled at her, but looked worried at the same time. "Please don't go down there, Mio. Other people live there."

   "But Taemin told me only dark angels can enter this house without permission."

   "They are dark angels."

   Mio  was shocked. "THERE'S OTHER DARK ANGELS THAN YOU GUYS?"

   "Yes." Onew made it sound as though it was totally obvious.

   "Don't go near them, Mio." Key said nervously as he also entered the kitchen. "They aren't like us. They're.....different. Even the thought of them touching my beloved Mio...." His voice darkened with fury. The others nodded their heads in agreement angrily.

   They were now absolutely open about their love to Mio. They told her every day, as much as possible. It was annoying sometimes, but Mio was keeping her word. She would try.

   Mio was insanely curious. She peered through the thick silver bars that blocked off the stairs to the basement in curiosity. The hallway was deserted, like it always was. The others were either in the human world feeding, outside wrestling with dragons or something, or upstairs preparing her lunch.

   Once, she thought she saw something shine in the darkness of the stairway, but it was gone, and it may have been her imagination. But it looked too much like an eye.

   Today, though, it was different.

   She could have sworn someone was staring back at her through the  darkness.

   She cleared . "Hello?"

   Silence. She tried again.

   "Hello? Are there any dark angels down there? Um, my name is Ashiya Mio. I'm a human."

   She felt a woosh of air, and gasped in shock.

   Someone with the inhumanly beautiful face of a dark angel was suddenly right up against the bars, staring back at her.

   She stumbled backwards, but didn't run away.

   "Ashiya. Mio." The dark angel whispered. He his lips. "You look tasty."

   Mio shivered. He seemed too much like a vampire than a dark angel.

   "Um, what's your name?"

   "Jaejoong." He whispered.

   "Is your home nice down there?"

   "No." He sighed heavily, looking so sad Mio almost cried. "It's dark down there. Dark and cold. Me and my four brothers barely see the light anymore. We've forgotten what the human world looks like. We don't even remember what a human feels like....."

   Mio shyly stuck her hand through the bars. Jaejoong smiled beautifully at her and gently took her hand. "I see. So soft......and warm......" He bent his head slowly to her hand and kissed it.

   Mio blushed. Jaejoong looked up at her, his lips still touching her hand, and murmered, "So beautiful. Are all humans as beautiful as you, Ashiya Mio?"

   Mio shrugged her shoulders. "Um....I don't know. The other dark angels--Jonghyun, Onew, Taemin, Key, and Minho--they keep me in their house on this borderline island. So I don't know about the human world either."

   Jaejoong looked disgusted. "So selfish, as usual!"

   "What do you mean 'as usual', Jaejoong?"

   He shook his head sadly. The look in his eyes was heartbreaking. "The truth is, they wanted to be the only dark angels in the world. So when we arrived on this island, they captured us and locked us in this basement. They're cruel and heartless."

   Mio was shocked.  No! The boys that loved her so much, the sweet, kind, gentle boys? But then again, when she tried to leave, they acted so cold and dangerous and.....deadly. Maybe it was true.

   "Could you free us?" Jaejoong begged. "My brothers and I, we cry and scream and pray, but we'll never get out. We can't even feed. We've been forced to eat human food or the occasional monster that seeps through the basement windows."

   "Well...." Mio said doubtfully. However, the despairing look in Jaejoong's eyes made her agree. She couldn't stand such a sad look on anyone's face.

   "The keys are right there." Jaejoong pointed at a single silver key hanging on the opposite wall. "They keep it there, out of our reach, to torment us. Please, I'm begging you, set us free."

   Mio grabbed the key without hesitation and turned the lock.

   Suddenly, the door banged open and Jaejoong clapped a hand over and pulled her into the darkness. He laughed, smirking. The sad look had disappeared from his eyes.

   "So stupid." He muttered at the struggling Mio in his arms. "Now my brothers and I can finally feed." His eyes twinkled evilly. "And don't worry. Once we're done playing with you, we'll come back up here and kill the other dark angels you're so fond of."

   He picked up the key and hung it on the wall again, and closed the door to the gate behind him. Mio tried to scream, but she couldn't utter a word.

   He dragged her deeper down the stairs, into the darkness.

   The door was closed, and everything looked normal. Except it wasn't locked.