A groan slipped from between a pale set of lips, as the owner of the lips slowly rose to consciousness.

“Guys, Sungyeol’s finally waking up,” whispered a voice Sungyeol was all too familiar with.

The male groaned yet again as pain suddenly coursed through his veins, his head was throbbing harshly, his heart beat sounded like a passing freight train as it hammered harshly in his ears – his stomach twisted as a dizzy spell passed over him as he attempted to sit up.

An arm automatically wrapped around his waist and supported his weighed down body.

“Sungyeol?” whispered another familiar voice.

Sungyeol’s eyes slowly fluttered open, only for him to close them tightly again and reopen them slowly – to allow them to adapt to the light that had suddenly invaded his eyes.

“How are you feeling?” questioned Sung Gyu, “You hit your head pretty hard when you feel?”

“I feel like I was hit by a freight train,” whispered Sungyeol, squinting as he looked around, not used to it being so bright.

“You quite frankly look like you were…” stated the voice that had Sungyeol smiling in relief.

“I thought I lost you Sungjong…”

Sungjong smiled, “You didn’t hyung. I’m still here.”

“He’s in a far better condition than you,” stated Myungsoo, caressing Sungyeol’s plump cheek, a gentle smile gracing his lips as he did so.

“I can tell,” whispered Sungyeol.

“It’s good to see you awake,” whispered Hoya, “You had Sungjong and I – all of us worried that you weren’t coming back.”

Sungyeol smiled, apologizing for scaring them all.

“What happened to me?” whispered Sungyeol, “Where did the darkness go?”

“You fell unconscious when you fell, according to Sungjong, the ‘shadow’ that Niel keeps referring to as Master surrounded you – leaving him be. He said that it surrounded you for a while until eventually just disappearing – leaving no traces that it was even there other than your unconscious body,” stated Chunji, “Sungjong carried you to the opening where Myungsoo met him to help us get you out of the tunnel since it had suddenly started to collapse.”

Sungyeol nodded in understanding, looking towards where the hole had previously been to see that it looked like there was a landslide, he looked towards the others and then stated, “Shouldn’t we be going now? We need to get out of here and back home still, right?”

The others nodded and Ricky chimed in stating, “We were waiting for you to wake up…”

Sungyeol smiled warmly, cringing as he attempted to stand up. Myungsoo chuckled and – despite his own injuries – he picked up the lengthier male bridal style, “If you all are ready, we can head out and get out of this hell hole, away from it, once and for all.”

The others smiled and nodded, standing up as well, moving towards the door to the servant quarters only to freeze as their eye caught to the familiar hand writing on the white paper nailed to the door which read:

Dear Specimens 101-113,

You have lived through my house – you lead to the shadows destroying it. You lead to the beginning of my demise since I hadn’t collected enough souls – bodies for my master and his beast.

You might have lived through your nightmare in my mansion, but there is no possible way you will last very long outside of the protective walls of my once grand and dazzling home – that has now fallen. You have no protection from the monsters that once resided in my house, locked away – on top of that there are other…creatures that had gotten out previously and are now roaming the woods – their homes.

As soon as you step foot out of the servant chambers – the cabin that you all are currently standing in – the hunt will begin since you’ve stepped into their territory, you’ve stepped out into the range of the monster that not even I have control of. You’ve stepped right into the shadow’s hands…we are just his pawns in this little chess game.

Master – from my understanding – has infected, entered one of your minds, which one it is, I’m not sure, but I do know they are mentally healthy. Anyway, to that person, to that vessel – let’s see who will outlast the other huh? I’ll play fair; I’ll be in my natural form too.

Plus, we’re running away from the same beast.

Remember these words boys – I will not die alone.

Sincerely,

Esper

“Are you guys positive you want to go out there?” whispered Dongwoo, feeling the fear creeping up on him again.

“We have to if we want to get home,” whispered Chunji, his fingers intertwined with L.Joe, their palms pressing together, “If we ever want to see our friends or family again...”

“He’s right,” stated Hoya, placing his hand on the elder male’s shoulder, squeezing it gently.

Dongwoo sighed but nodded in understanding, relaxing a bit under Hoya’s gentle and comforting touch.

“However, are we ready to leave just yet?” whispered Woohyun, gazing at their clothes, “We’re all in the clothes we were abducted in, so we’ll probably be warm enough, right?”

The others nodded. Chunji then stated, “We all took as many supplies from this place as we could, there weren’t many, but we have a couple of cloaks if they are needed as well as some blankets – and something we all have wanted and seemed to have neglected – our need for food. We have enough food to last us for at least three days; surely we’ll be out of here by that time.”

Sunggyu nodded his head, humming in response to the younger male.

“Before we do leave this place, Cap, Niel, Ricky, Myungsoo, Sungyeol, Sungjong – do any of you need your bandage changed?” questioned Sunggyu, taking precaution, not knowing what to expect in the lands outside the mansion, outside the servant quarters.

“We’re all clear,” stated Sungjong.

“Don’t worry, I’m getting my ability to walk back,” stated Ricky, looking towards Sung Gyu, smiling widely, “It doesn’t hurt as bad now.”

Sunggyu hummed before casting his gaze to where Sungyeol was laying barely conscious in Myungsoo’s arms, “Sungyeol-sshi, are you ready to travel? You don’t look well…we don’t want to rush you with all that you’ve been through.”

“D-don’t worry about me, let’s focus on getting out of here…away from here…” whispered Sungyeol, tiredly resting his head against Myungsoo’s shoulder, staring at the elder through half opened eyes.

Sunggyu hummed in understanding and moved towards the door again – his fingers clasped around the chilled metal of the door knob. Taking one deep breath and with one final glance towards the other twelve, the eldest of the thirteen threw the door open.

To that person, to the vessel – let’s see who outlasts the other…

Well, that's the end of this segment of the story, I hope you all enjoyed and sorry it took me so long to finish it. However, this story is not over just yet - we still have the second part which is hyperlinked HERE (seriously click  the word here)... I hope to see you all there. 

Thank you to all of those whom have read this story, subscribed, and to both the readers that commented and those that did not - I love you all the same. 

Again, I hope you all enjoyed this segment of the story and will continue on to the second part. ^^

Sorry if this chapter disappointed anyone. ^^