a/n: Ready, Set, ACTION!

Chapter 28

Author’s POV

“This is boring.” Yoona twirled the pen in her hand mindlessly. It was project group work day so everyone was either scattered around the library in the next building or huddled together in different parts of the lecture hall. Seohyun, Victoria, Sulli, and Luna were among those that chose the library while Krystal, Amber, and Yoona stayed back to use the lecture hall. Sulli was actually the one who insisted on going to library to work. Amber found it rather unusual but brushed it off thinking the younger girl was just excited to do some research for the project.

“Well, maybe if you help us, you wouldn’t be so bored,” Amber said as she stealthy stole another peek at Hyuna across the room. She just couldn’t shake the feeling from yesterday’s encounter. The brunette was obviously hinting at something and that was enough to make Amber more restless than usual. She tried to be as discreet as possible with surveying Hyuna and their surroundings every few minutes but her actions unfortunately didn’t go unnoticed by Krystal.

“Guys, don’t forget the first progress report is due by Tuesday of next week. It is part of your project grade so points will be deducted if your group does not turn one in.” The professor reminded everyone after the question was brought up by one of the students.

“Hear that? Now help us.” Amber shot Yoona a stern glare and the older girl reluctantly straightened up in her seat.

“Fin—” Yoona was about to verbally agree when the classroom lights suddenly turned off. Since there were no windows in this room, it was now pitch black inside.

Everyone was surprised and mutters and chatter started to buzz through the air.

Amber immediately reached beside her and grabbed Krystal’s arm. “Don’t go off anywhere without me,” she whispered.

Krystal was initially confused by the odd request but didn’t get a chance to question it when the fire alarm went off unexpectedly.

The chatter in the room grew and even though no one was sure whether this was a test or a real fire, panic was slowly starting to set in.

The professor, who was just as clueless as the students, had just stood up to direct the students towards the nearest exit when the fire sprinklers above were activated and started spraying water.

Now people were really panicking. Not only was it pitch black in the building, there was possible fire spreading somewhere inside.

“Everyone, please head towards the exit at the back of the room!” The professor shouted over the blaring alarm as best as he could. “We will go through those double doors, down the hallway and stairs, and out the back of the building! Please stay calm, don’t push!”

But by now, fear had already set in and people were really starting to panic. No one wants to be trapped inside an old building in the dark where there could possibly be a fire, especially those on the fourth floor of the building – them included.

“Come on, let’s go!” Amber pulled Krystal up and kept her close as she tried to navigate out of the rows of seats and up the stairs. She really wished Krystal hadn’t chose to sit in the middle of the row today and that her eyes would adjust to the dark quicker. Yoona, who was right on Krystal’s tail, was trying hard not to slip on scattered book bags and paper on the ground.

“Yoona, call Vic!” Amber shouted above the alarm and used her free hand to wipe the water droplets off her face. She then pulled out her own phone to dial Hyoyeon’s number.

“Hyo!” Amber hissed into the phone as soon as the line connected. “What is going on?!”

“I don’t know! It seems someone blew the fusebox and set off the alarm and sprinklers! This isn’t a normal blackout or fire drill, Amber!”

Amber clenched her jaws and pulled Krystal even closer towards her as they pushed their way out into the overly crowded narrow hallway.

“Amber, you and Yoona need to get Krystal out of the building ASAP! You’re looking at possibly more than 400 students all trying to get out of the building at the same time! My men—”

“Ah!” Krystal yelped as she was roughly pushed aside by a male student disregarding people and shoving his way towards the end of the hallway.

“I gotcha!” Amber pulled the phone away from her ear by reflex to catch the girl before she fell to the ground. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the dark and she was trying to check if Krystal was okay when the surge of people behind her shoved her a little too hard. Amber managed to catch herself before she fell but dropped her cell phone in the process. “Damn—” She cursed, barely making out the black device being kicked away on the ground.

“The heck is wrong with you people?! Stop pushing!!” Yoona shouted angrily as she tried to keep people on the other side of Krystal from pushing into them.

Everyone in the building were practically drenched from head to toe by now and the screaming and shouting seemed to only get louder and louder along with the alarm. Even the professors scattered here and there among students could not calm them.

“Amber!” Krystal called out anxiously, confused and scared at what was happening.

Amber released her grip around Krystal’s wrist and wrapped her arm around the younger girl instead, hoping it would calm her a little. “Don’t worry. Just stay close to me, okay?”

Krystal nodded and tightly gripped the ends of Amber’s shirt as the older girl carefully guided her through the crowd.

“Yoona, did you call Vic?” Amber tried to blink away the water droplets stinging her eyes as she looked past Krystal’s head.

“Yeah, she’s outside waiting for u—”

Just then, people up front started shouting incoherent words and the next thing they knew, they were being pushed in the opposite direction.

“Oh shi—” Yoona nearly fell when she couldn’t turn in time.

The place was beyond chaotic at this point with all the students inside the building trying to leave.

“Hey! What’s going on?!” Amber turned to the student next to her, hoping to find out what was happening.

“They can’t open the door!”

“What?” Amber wasn’t sure if she heard right.

“The back door to the building on the first floor is locked! They can’t open it!”

Amber turned to look at Yoona who had heard as well.

Too bad there wasn’t an emergency exit in this particular building.

Amber was still debating on an alternative route if worse comes to worst when something blue in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She looked up and squinted her eyes to try to make out the object. A frown immediately appeared on her face when she saw that it was a rather uniquely designed umbrella. One she remembers seeing at the beginning of class whose owner is none other than Hyuna.

She was about to relay the information to Yoona when she noticed a similar looking umbrella further down the hallway. It was exactly the same as the one not far to the right of her.

Amber didn’t like the feeling she was getting and quickly looked around the hallway for more. After observing the entire hallway as best as she could in the dark, she turned back to face the front with her jaws clenched tightly. 

Just on this floor alone, there are seven of those umbrellas scattered around them – three in front and four behind. There’s not one doubt in Amber’s mind that Hyuna is involved in this and that yesterday was a warning.

“Yoona, we’re moving out!” Amber shouted at the older girl before shifting her focus to Krystal. “Krys, I’m going to get us out of here right now so I need you to stay low and stay with me, okay? Can you do that for me?”

Krystal merely nodded, too confused and scared to think or question anything at the moment.

“Okay, let’s go.” Amber pulled Krystal’s hand off her shirt and held it tightly. After giving Yoona a final nod, she turned and started to forcefully push some of the panicking students out of the way in order to clear a path for them.

As Amber was shoving people aside, she noticed the closest blue umbrella slightly to the right in front of them start moving against the surge of people. It was heading right for her.

“Sh*t.” Amber muttered under her breath and pulled Krystal towards the left side.

They had just managed to make it to the double doors of the stairwell when a high-pitched shriek and curse echoed loudly above the alarm.

Amber turned to look and saw a large man lying on the ground unconscious not far from them. There was a closed blue umbrella in his hand. The students around him were trying to get as far away as possible and that’s when Amber noticed Yoona wasn’t behind Krystal.

“Amber!”

Amber heard her name and whirled her head in the direction it was shouted from in time to catch a glimpse of Yoona.

“Amber! Tas—Ugh!” Yoona couldn’t get the warning out before she fell to the ground and was immediately covered by the surge of students.

Amber saw the girl go down and her heart skipped a beat.

She wanted to go back and help Yoona but that would put Krystal at an even greater risk so she gritted her teeth and pushed onward.

Right as they were making their way down the first flight of stairs, Amber saw a swift shadow moving from the corner of her eye. She turned just in time to avoid the blue flash of what seemed to be a small electric spark lunging at her.

Krystal yelped from the slight pull but couldn’t see what was going on since Amber’s body blocked her view. She only felt Amber’s grip on her hand tighten for a few seconds and heard a loud thud and several screams below.

She didn’t have a chance to ask Amber what was going on when the older girl pulled her to continue down the stairs.

“Move!” She heard Amber shouting at some students who were standing on the stairs frozen from shock at what just happened.

Krystal squinted her eyes when they went by and managed to make out a black lump on the ground.

“Oh my god, is that a person?!” She gasped in horror.

“Don’t stop!” Amber yelled as she tugged at the girl’s arm harshly.

Krystal stumbled a few steps and quickly wrapped her other arm around Amber’s. She was shocked by what she just saw. The person lying there wasn’t moving.

Amber almost breathed out in relief when she saw the exit just ahead and the light from outside pouring in from the open door when something blue came at her from her left side.

She turned her body in time to avoid the attack and pivoted to kick the attacker’s ankle with her foot to make him lose his balance.

“Come on, let’s go!” Amber shouted and practically shoved Krystal out the door ahead of her when something caught her foot.

By then, the crowd had swept them apart and Amber tried to break her fall with her hand. She immediately felt a painful sting shooting through her right wrist when she landed sloppily on the hard surface. Ignoring the pain, Amber turned around just in time to kick the stomach of the person who was trying to pounce and tase her – the crack of the blue flash from the device barely missing her face.

“A freakin’ taser?! Are you serious?!” Amber moved to get up when the guy stumbled backwards a little from her kick.

The man launched at her again but Amber swiftly and expertly avoided his attack, sending him flying to the ground after being tased by his own device.

Amber knew there were more of them around so she kept her senses on full alert for any sudden attacks as she started searching for Krystal.

Her heart was racing so fast inside her chest as she rushed past person after person, hoping to spot the younger girl safely waiting for her.

Unfortunately, she ended up spotting someone she wasn’t particularly happy to see.

Amber slowed to a stop as she watched Hyuna walking towards the far side of the building from a distance. She was smiling and swinging her blue umbrella in her hand. But her focus wasn’t on Amber. It was on someone else instead. Someone who Amber had a hunch could be but hoped it wasn’t.

“No...” Amber shook her head when she saw Krystal in the distance – directly at the end of Hyuna’s line of sight.

Her foot started moving and before she knew it, she was sprinting as fast as she could towards Krystal.

Amber was about halfway there when something shot out from the right side of her. She couldn’t dodge it in time and felt a sudden sharp sting on her neck. Her whole body began cramping and it felt like a million tiny needles were pricking her. It swept her body up like a torrent, overtaking her calves and her entire body. She felt all the strength in her muscles dissipate and fell to the ground with a thud – unable to move.

Her mind screamed for her to get up and she tried, but the excruciating pain coursing through her body prevented her from doing so. Amber watched helplessly as Hyuna walked up to Krystal with a smirk.

The last thing she saw before blacking out was a pair of sneakers stepping in front of her view.

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End of Chapter 28.

The updates will slow down from here. There are two paths I could take following this chapter and I'm still debating.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. It was really fun to write :)