Hello my wonderful readers, 

This update is a few days late since I didn't get much time for writing. In this chapter, somebody makes an appearance again, a few of your questions are answered and perhaps a few more come up. 

Thank you to all my new subscribers and commenters. I would be most grateful to all of you readers if you could leave a comment:)

For now, hope you enjoy the chapter!

*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+

Sooyoung smiled at the boy, “Noona will give the ball back to you if you can answer a riddle.”

The boy looked puzzled, “Riggle?”

Both Sooyoung and Taeyeon burst out laughing, “No, no, it’s called a riddle.”

The boy nodded, “Ok, tell me the riggle.”

Sooyoung spoke, “What runs but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?”

The boy scratched his head.

Both girls stared at him with bated breath.

“The teacher told us in class last week” he thought aloud, “the answer is… um…”

His eyebrow knit together as he tried to remember.

“Um… ahhhhh… urr….oh yes! I remember now,” he grinned, “The answer is a river”

Sooyoung and Taeyeon looked at each other with confusion clouding their faces, “A river?”

Then realisation seeped in, “Oh! A river, That was so obvious” they shouted loudly, forcing the boy to clap his hands over his ears.

Sooyoung smiled at the boy, returned his ball and gave him a pat on the head, “Thank you so much, you’ve helped us greatly.”

Taeyeon thumped Sooyoung’s back, “That was very clever Sooyoung”, she praised, “And now it’s almost 9:30! Let’s go to the

hospital.”

Sooyoung winced in pain from the thumping, she looked up to scold Taeyeon but she was already a tiny figure in the distance.

“Hey midget!”, she called, “How did you get so far with such short legs? And why didn’t you wait for me?”

She received no reply.

Letting out a groan of frustration, she rushed after her friend.

*

Sunny sat in the back of the cab, fidgeting with the seatbelt and looking at her watch at least every 10 seconds. She looked up, and let out a sigh.

“Sir, is there any detour we can take to the hospital?” she questioned.

The driver shook his head, “I’m sorry Miss, this is the only way. The traffic might clear up soon though.”

Sunny knew he was just trying to make her feel better, in reality, there was no chance of it happening. She gazed out the window to the sea of metal both in front and behind, stretching past what her eyes could see.

I hope I can get to the hospital on time to warn the two of them.

*

There was a rattling of the cage. Tiffany stiffened but didn’t open her eyes, pretending to be asleep. She heard two dull thuds and then another rattling.

She breathed, in and out, in and out for what seemed like an eternity before opening her eyes to see what all the noise had been about. Tiffany instantly regretted her decision.

The person is still there?

A man looked down at her, a freakishly frightening smile spreading over his taut face.

Tiffany instinctively inched further away.

“Did you think I was gone?” asked the man in a low voice, “I knew you were already awake, it was so obvious that you were pretending to sleep.”

Tiffany gulped, heart pounding in her chest like a drum as countless questions swam into her head.

What should I do? How did he know I was pretending to sleep? Who is this man? What does he want with us?

She opened to speak but no words came out, only a squeak. Tiffany covered , mortified.

What happened to my voice?

The man chuckled, “Ahhhhh, the pretty bluebird has lost her voice. What a pity!”

Tiffany glared at him angrily while massaging .

He returned her gaze nonchalantly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two silver tubs, like those used to place dog food in and peered closer. She saw something she had been craving for, ever since she had gotten into the cage.

Water!

Reaching out, she gripped the bowl in both hands, trying to ignore the uncleanliness of it and lifted it up to to drink.

“Has it ever occurred to you that the water may be poisoned?” questioned the man.

Tiffany almost dropped the tub in shock. Water sloshed out and spread over the floor of the cage. Her eyes reflected horror.

The man threw his head back and laughed, “Don’t worry princess, I didn’t poison the water, well not this time.”

Tiffany put down the water uncertainly.

The man narrowed his eyes as he looked at Jessica, “So what happened to her? From what I’ve seen, she hasn’t woken up once since we’ve captured her.”

Tiffany turned her back to the man and looked despairingly out the bars of the cage. She noticed that the cage had been lowered to the edge of the pool of water. What the man said is right. I am a bluebird, a delicate thing trapped in this hideous, confining cage. I’m here for…

“Donghae!” the man shouted.

Another man quickly hurried towards the cage, giving a deep bow.

“Yes Sir?” he asked uncertainly.

“Did you hit the girl in any way?” he interrogated.

Dongahe scratched his head, “Uhhhh, not the one awake but I think one of my men struck the other girl on the head.”

The man’s face darkened and he scowled, “Well that’s no good then, what are we supposed to do with a half dead girl? Manage your men better next time, yes?”

Donghae nodded, “I will Sir, I won’t fail you next time”

The man sniffed, “Go and take her away to a doctor and make sure she’s awake by tonight or else…”

A wicked smile spread over Donghae’s face, “No problem Sir”

Taking a set of keys, he opened the cage and began to drag Jessica out.

Tiffany glared and slapped at his hands, but he easily pushed her away.

If only I wasn’t so weak. That disgusting man! How could he hold her so close to her chest? ert! What’s he going to do to her? What if he her?

She ran to the door of the cage while he was fumbling for the keys to lock it. Tiffany wasn’t going to let him get away. She gripped him by the wrist, fingernails sinking deep into his skin. Donghae yelped in pain and tried to yank his hand away but Tiffany was determined to not let go.

I won’t let him hurt you Jessica.

Donghae cursed as Tiffany latched onto his arm with her other hand.

Why do girls have to have such long and sharp fingernails?

He fumbled in his pocket with his other hand, finally his fingers closed around what he had been looking for. A grim smile on his face, he flicked open the Swiss army knife.

Tiffany was struggling to hold on as Donghae jerked about, trying to free himself from her grasp. Suddenly she felt something cold and sharp press against her neck. She shut her eyes, trying to will away the sickening feeling building up inside of her.

“Yah! You idiot!” screamed the other man, footsteps thundering closer, “What do you think you’re doing? I want her alive, not dead!”

He grabbed the knife from an astonished Donghae and leaned closer, teeth bared like a wolf, “Do you understand? I want both of them alive and untouched.” Then, he quickly slashed Donghae’s cheek with the knife.

Tiffany was horrified, she quickly wrapped her arms protectively against Jessica’s motionless and cold body.

Donghae’s face was livid as he palmed the keys and stalked off.

The man snickered, “I can hear you sniffing Donghae. Why don’t you go home and cry to your mother. Little baby!”

Tiffany quietly inched away from the man.

I wonder who he is. He’s really strange, could you describe him as sadistic? But then he stopped Donghae from cutting my neck. He wanted us alive though, I wonder why.

He turned to look at her.

Tiffany shifted uncomfortably, there was something unsettling about his gaze, the way his eyes were blank and his face was devoid of any emotion.

“I will send the doctor. He won’t harm you two.” he stated before walking away.

Tiffany unconsciously turned her eyes to his shoes.

She recognised the brand.

Berluti.

He seems to be quite well off. I wonder what his job is and why he wants to keep us here.

Unexpectedly he turned and walked back to the cage.

“I was joking early when I said the water was poisoned. Both the food and water are safe.” he affirmed before once more walking away.

I seriously think that man has split personalities.

She looked back at her best friend and at the two bowls of food and water.

Better get started.

*

Sooyoung leaned against the hospital door, panting hard.

I can’t believe that midget just beat me.

She glared at Taeyeon who simply stuck her tongue out and grinned cheekily, “Race you up the stairs!”

Sooyoung half-heartedly jogged to the stairs and groaned as she saw the seemingly endless flight of stairs upwards.

“What floor did the nurse say they were on?” she questioned, breaths coming out in short gasps.

“Uhmmmm… I think it was floor 5” Taeyeon answered.

“5?” sighed Sooyoung, “Couldn’t we take the elevator instead?”

Taeyeon shook her head, “No, you’re so lazy. Sica’s personality must be rubbing off on you.”

Sooyoung quickly defended herself, “It is not! I just had a really difficult gym session yesterday and my muscles hurt so much. And nobody is allowed to call Sica that name except for me!”

Taeyeon chuckled, “Ok, ok, I got it. We’ve arrived.”

The two of them skipped down the hallway, earning more than a few disapproving looks along the way.

After pausing for a few moments to catch their breath, they opened the door.

Seohyun and Hyoyeon immediately brightened when they saw Sooyoung and Taeyeon standing in the doorway.

“Hello unnies, thank you for coming to visit us. It’s been a bit lonely without the other members.” she smiled, not seeing the disappointed look Hyoyeon gave her.

Sooyoung grinned and arranged a bouquet of flowers on the cupboard.

“No problem, maknae. If you’re ever feeling lonely, just give us a call and we’ll be right here to visit.” answered Sooyoung.

Taeyeon saw Hyoyeon’s expression tighten and stepped on Sooyoung’s foot, sending her a message through her eyes.

Sooyoung closed .

Taeyeon came over to Seohyun’s bed, “Actually Seohyun, we came to ask you a question.”

If Seohyun was disappointed, it didn’t show, “Oh! You can ask me” nodded Seohyun.

“When is the ninth hour?” she asked.

Seohyun thought for a little while, “I remember that it was an ancient Jewish method of counting time.”

“Ancient Jewish?” said Taeyeon in disbelief.

Seohyun nodded, “I read it in a book about time. I don’t remember what the ninth hour is though, perhaps you could go to the library and look it up.”

Taeyeon broke into a smile and hugged Seohyun before turning to grab Sooyoung by the hand, “Thank you so much Seohyun, we’ll go now. We’ll come and visit again later.”

She dragged Sooyoung out.

Seohyun looked at their retreating figures, “Do they know what book they’re looking for?”

*

Yuri drowsily woke up and reached for her phone.

It was a private number.

I wonder who it is.

“Hello?” she said.

“Yuri,” greeted a familiar voice, “I need you to come over and get the team organised. There’s been a few mechanical problems.”

Yuri sighed, “Do I have to go…”

He interrupted, “Now? Of course Yuri, I am the one in charge of creating plans, you are the one in charge of making sure everything goes according to plan. I’m sure you should know that by now."

Yuri ran a hand through her hair, “Ok, I’ll be there as soon as I can”

The man smiled, “Good.”

Yuri looked at the angel sleeping beside her.

What a hateful job I have. Even though I’m second in charge, I have to do practically everything while he just walks around, giving instructions.

She brushed a soft kiss against Yoona’s cheek and placed a message on the chair before she put on her sunglasses and left.