~Chapter 9~

Time began to slowly lose its meaning as he sat in his holding cell, vision hampered by the dark. He swore he could feel his sanity slipping away from him, bit by bit as he was forced to stay in that tiny place with no light or sound. He knew he should have gone insane by now, as a magician’s body was used to excessive exercise, but for some reason he hadn’t. He could once again feel the power building up inside him, slowly burning at the edges of his consciousness. He could its hungry need to escape the confines of his body and begin to manipulate the world around him, but when he called to it, nothing happened. It seemed to slip from his hold like water, one moment there, the next scattered somewhere out of his reach.

The only thing that kept him sane in his lonely cell was the thought of seeing Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun’s regular visits soon had become the bright part of Sungmin’s day. It was the one thing he could truly look forward to in the blurred days. Someone to talk to, someone to laugh with, it was strange to find someone like that within the confines of his father’s layer. He couldn’t tell if the other generally liked his presence, or was just trying to be nice, but whatever it was, he was thankful. If it weren’t for that small bit of conversation, those smiles, and that cheerful voice, he would have been reduced to a hateful, whimpering mess on the floor long ago. The knock on the door had begun to symbolize hope, and then the soothing low tones of his voice had begun to symbolize relief and happiness. In the short time that Sungmin had known him, Kyuhyun had become his anchor to this world, the only thing that kept his consciousness from being devoured by the flowing anger inside him. And he was thankful for that.

A single knock sounded, breaking through his wall of silence, and a single patch of light on the ground and the creak of the cell door opening followed. Sungmin immediately closed his eyes as the pain of seeing light for the first time in a while blinded him for a bit.

“Hey Min.”

Sungmin smiled at the use of his nickname. “Hey, Kyu.” He opened his eyes, to see the smiling brunette standing in front of him holding a plate of food in his delicate hands. A ravenous hunger overtook him, and he reached for it silently. He heard a chuckle of amusement, and then the tray was in his hands. He reached for the food, devouring it silently. Within minutes, everything on that plate was gone, and he felt satisfied. The burning energy subsided a bit.

He turned to Kyuhyun with a small smile gracing his lips as he whispered "Thank you." His own words sounded loud to him after so long of silence. His first words in how long? He couldn't even tell anymore.

Kyuhyun just smiled back, his brown eyes twinkling brightly. "Did you enjoy?"

Sungmin nodded, and a sudden wave of something ran along his spine. His nerves began to tingle eeriely, and he suddenly felt scared, almost like something bad was going to happen. But what? He shook his head violently, as if he could shake the strange emotions from his brain. Was he really going mad? Could this be a side effect of him not using his power?

"Are you alright?" Kyuhyun's husky voice was laced with concern and Sungmin shook his head again.

"It's nothing, don't worry about me. I'm just a bit on edge from not using my powers." He hoped that was all it was.

...

Kyuhyun had stayed with him for a while after he had finished, just talking about anything. He had told Sungmin about his past, about the parents who had neglected him. Sungmin, in turn, had replied with short stories about silly things that Donghae had done while growing up. He liked Kyuhyun, but not enough to trust him yet.

The eerie feeling from before ran over him again, but this time he recognized it. Deja vu. But why was he feeling that? Kyuhyun... was there something about him that seemed familiar in some way? He remembered looking into the other's warm brown eyes... his eyes

He could see the face of a chubby-cheeked boy, around the age of five, watching him with a bright smile, still untouched by the harshness of life. The boy's features were slightly blurred, almost as if Sungmin was looking at him through teary eyes. The only thing he could truly make out were those brown almond-shaped eyes...

A stabbing pain shattered the vision and Sungmin clutched his head in silently agony. What was that? A memory? Sungmin couldn't tell, but something about the boy seemed familiar. He felt almost as if he had seen him before… but where?

The pain in his head subsided slightly, and he suddenly became exhausted as if he had just performed twenty of his shows in a row. He lay down on the cold ground of his cell and immediately fell into a fitful sleep.

…

“Hey Min, are you alright?” a voice not yet touched by puberty asked.

“I’m fine. But… where are we?” 5-year-old Sungmin looked around him, curiously eyeing his new surroundings. They were on the edge of a cliff, with a small river running next to them and rolling off the cliff with a rumble as it fell into the forest below.

“This looks like paradise.” The voice spoke next to him and Sungmin nodded in response.

“It is.”

…

The raven-haired man woke with a start as the door to his cell was roughly thrown open. The sudden light blinded him, and he felt him being roughly grabbed from behind and thrown out of the cell.

“Your father wants to see you.”

Sungmin grit his teeth in pain and fear as he felt himself being dragged roughly through the long halls. He wanted desperately to fight back, but something kept him from moving. He felt almost as if he had lost all control of his body. This power… it was almost like his father’s. The ability to keep one’s limbs frozen between the folds of time… he whimpered as the memories of those times resurfaced.  This power wasn’t his father’s. It wasn’t. Rather than trying to struggle but not being able to move, this power made him feel as if his mind was detached from his body. It wasn’t the same, but still close enough to bring back unwanted memories.

He felt the person dragging him come to a stop, and heard that dreaded voice begin to speak.

“Good. You may leave.”

There was a pause, and then he heard footsteps growing further and further away from them. He was left alone with his father.

“Nice to see you, Sungmin.”

He wouldn’t open his eyes, he wouldn’t. He couldn’t let himself see those dark eyes that had haunted his nightmares for so long. If he did… they would destroy him. He felt himself being lifted roughly off the ground and set down in a chair.

“Open your eyes or I’ll force them open.”

Reluctantly, Sungmin did as he was told, and gasped. “N-no. It can’t be.” All around him was a place he had long ago tried to forget. Those bookcases, the red curtain, the wooden desk; this was his father’s old office.

“I see you recognize this room. I was so worried you had forgotten it.”

Sungmin narrowed his foxlike eyes into a hateful glare as he turned to his father. “What are you playing at.”

“Why, nothing of course. I’m merely trying to persuade you.” Sungmin’s eyes caught hold of the silver glint from his father’s hand and he inadvertently let out a small whimper of fear. His tough façade was no more as the familiar immobilization took over and his past seemed to repeat itself as the silver tip of the knife dug into his skin.

…

Sungmin’s whimpers of pain seemed to echo though out the halls, ringing loudly in Kyuhyun’s ears. His heart clenched is another, and another rang out. Why… why was this happening? What did Sungmin do to deserve this? The other had always been so kind, so caring, and so friendly. He had only wanted to protect his brother, what was so wrong with that? Why did they have to go so far? Kyuhyun leaned his head in his hands as he tried to block out the terrible sounds. He couldn’t listen, he just couldn’t. He couldn’t bear to hear the terrible cries that echoed in the halls and tugged at his heartstrings. Another after another, and the pity and regret he was feeling slowly started to mutate into something else- fury. He was angry at Lee Chunhwa, angry at Lee Hyukjae, but mostly angry at himself.  He had let this happen by loaning his powers to assist in his capture. Because of him, Sungmin had been captured and held against his will for no real reason. He knew he still didn’t completely understand the position he had been placed in, but he knew that something was off about this place.

And he was going to get Sungmin out of this dark and evil place, and back to his family.

He just hoped he wasn’t too late.

A.N: Sorry it’s kinda short… I just wanted to give a little update to show I’m still alive. I’m so sorry for not updating for so long :( I tried to write whenever I could, I promise I did, but even when I could actually find time, I couldn’t make the words flow correctly (this is my 5^th version of this chapter -.-). Even this feels ugh. Once again I’m so sorry for not updating for a while, and I’ll try to update more often, although I can’t promise anything. Oh and if you’re waiting for an update on Dark Secrets, don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned it. I’m just having the same problems writing the next chapter that I was with this one.

Like I said, I’m not sure when I’ll update this story next, but I promise I will update it, and I won’t give up on any of my stories.

ALSO PLEASE NOTE I HAVEN'T REREAD OVER ANYTHING SO.... sorry if it :/ I wish I could give you all something better, but life has been really busy and I wanted to update... so sorry.

Comment and/or upvote if you wish~ (I would appreciate some feedback?)