The chains around his wrists, ankles and neck were as tight as they could be without choking him. Although he was told to stay quiet or suffer dire consequences, the rattling of the chains could be heard for a long mile, the one bounded struggled hard against them, trying to unlock them.

 

Although that was damn impossible.

 

But that didn't mean he was going to stay here by his own will and get tortured.

 

Taking a deep breath, he opened his mouth and let out a loud scream as he tried with all of strength to pull the chains from the walls.

 

With his full strength – he'd be able to do it.

 

No doubt.

 

But his captors were only feeding him once a day, only giving him one tiny sip of water, literally giving him all he needed to just survive. It was to make sure he couldn't escape, but he didn't die.

 

Because they needed him.

 

For some reason they were keeping him alive and they didn't let it slip once. Torturing him until the point of death meant they were trying to break him, piece by piece until he willingly helped them with whatever they were thinking about doing. And the man knew it wasn't good.

 

Nothing was ever good if he was involved.

 

He brought danger to everyone.

 

Maybe being locked up was the best thing. Being too dangerous to be around people made him feel severely alone.

 

Everyone would die if he got angry, at least the chains kept him away.

 

No.

 

That's what they wanted him to think.

 

He had to get out of here, he had to find someone to get out of here.

 

…

 

Zitao watched his boss stare at him with amused eyes before he took a hold of Sehun's wrist and pulled him away from Jongin, moving to his ear and whispering quietly so his boss wouldn't be able to hear him.

 

“Go back to Lu Han.” he ordered, and with one last glance at the stranger, the wolf nodded and strutted back to the living room.

 

Now Tao and Jongin were alone.

 

“So... you're able to stop time.” Jongin said, smirking before he moved closer to his employee. Zitao took a deep breath before he thought this whole thing through. It was definitely not a good idea to tell him the truth – although he already knew what it was – so he'd have to come up with an excuse.

 

“What are you talking about?” Tao asked, deciding the best approach was to act like Kai was crazy, and not the other way around.

 

Besides, who believes that stuff the first time anyway?

 

Kai chuckled lowly before he moved forward again, decreasing the space between them.

 

“I heard you talking to that boy, very clearly.” The manager said, smirking before looking around Tao into the living room, noticing four others sitting on the couch, grinning when he noticed one of them was his kyungsoo. “And my Kyunggie has amazing strength huh?”

 

The younger sighed.

 

Moving forward, he pressed his palms against his boss's chest, pushing him towards the door he entered without permission. He hated having to treat the man he worked for this way, but, it had to be done.

 

“Sorry Kai, you have to leave.” he said, moving around him to open the door. “Please, no-”

 

When he turned to grab Kai and basically kick him out, he realised his boss had already trecked into the living room. Crap. Running quickly, he moved into the living to see Kai was standing directly in front of his older brother Kyungsoo, smirking at him and leaning down closely.

 

“Get away from me.” Kyungsoo warned, glaring hard as he wondered why the hell he was here in the first place.

 

Kai chuckled.

 

“Or what? Will you use your 'super-human strength' to throw me across the room?” he asked, smirking as he saw the complete and utter surprise that was etched onto the other's face.

 

Kyungsoo turned to Tao who looked especially guilty.

 

“Tao... what did you do?”

 

The youngest shrugged his shoulders.

 

“...He's crazy! Doesn't know what he's talking about!” he shouted, trying to make it look like his boss was absolutely mad. Kyungsoo glared at him, clearly showing that the information he had heard between Tao and Sehun to be completely true.

 

Lu Han and Lay shared a worried glance.

 

Kai moved backwards and stared at them all.

 

“So it's true right?” he asked, and everyone in the room stayed silent. Pointing at Kyungsoo he spoke. “You have super strength...” He then pointed at Lay. “Healing powers.” Tao. “Stopping time.” Then Lu Han. “Telekinesis.” And then to Sehun. “And you turn into a wolf. That's about the craziest one really.”

 

Silence again.

 

But Kyungsoo stood up straight after and lifted his fist just above the man's face with great warning.

 

“You better leave. Now.” His voice was rather frightening. Kai stared at him and gulped. It was worse that he actually believed about their powers, so Kyungsoo could do some serious damage.

 

“...Okay.” Kai said, putting up his hands in surrender.

 

As he moved out to the hallway, his wrist was suddenly gripped onto and he was pulled back by Kyungsoo once again, and he was pushed up against the wall, the other's arm against his throat.

 

“Do not say a word to anyone else about this.”

 

Kai could feel the others strength through his arm.

 

Feeling the other's hold lighten when he nodded, just before Kyungsoo left, Kai expertly grabbed onto the other's waist and spun their positions around, slamming the other off the wall instead.

 

There was a tense silence between them.

 

At least until Kai moved his face closer and he smirked.

 

“You know, you being all rough is really .”

 

Kyungsoo stuck out his tongue in disgust, and he tried to push the other away, but Kai knew that the didn't want him to move, because otherwise he really could push him away with his supernatural powers. So that meant something, and Jongin knew it.

 

Moving closer again, he tilted his head a little so their noses wouldn't bump into each other.

 

“I won't say anything.” he whispered, and he could feel Kyungsoo relax beneath his touch.

 

Just as he was about to move that little inch closer, he felt Kyungsoo push him away hard.

 

“Good. Now leave.” Kyungsoo said, pointing towards the door and Kai immediately took the hint, smirking and winking at the other first before he left like he was told, just in case he got into any more trouble.

 

Kyungsoo let out a loud sigh before he moved back into the living room.

 

Everyone was painfully quiet.

 

“How screwed are we?” Lu Han asked.

 

“He won't tell anyone.” Kyungsoo replied, sitting down beside him and taking up his previous seat.

 

Sehun sat there quietly, not that sure that he even belonged in this conversation.

 

Lay took a deep breath before he tried to study what was going to happen from now on.

 

“I think first, we should try and help Sehun.” Lay whispered, looking over at the wolf-boy who was sitting rather awkwardly. At least this would get all of their minds off of Zitao's boss who was stirring up problems.

 

But that could be left until tomorrow.

 

Sehun looked up at them all as he felt gazes on him.

 

“Yes?” he asked quietly, and Lay smiled at him.

 

“We can try and help you. I'm not saying we have a cure, but we could help you control it.”

 

Lay ignored the way Lu Han rolled his eyes.

 

“But first, why don't you let me talk to the brothers alone, hmm?” he asked, and Sehun glanced at each and everyone of them before he nodded, standing up from the couch and returning to where his cage was. Lay sighed in relief as he was gone before he immediately turned to Lu Han. “What is your problem?” he asked.

 

The eldest brother scoffed.

 

“Nothing.”

 

Kyungsoo and Zitao giggled a little at how immature their older brother was being, it was an unusual sight. Lay just rolled his eyes.

 

“Sehun didn't mean to attack you. He's just a little boy.” Lay explained, and Lu Han sighed when he realised that maybe the healer was right. Nodding, Lay sighed in relief. “Now lets go try and help him.”

 

The three brothers nodded in unison.

 

They were at least going to try their best.

 

…

 

The pain, it hardly stopped anymore. At first, it was only every week, they would enter his space with weapons of some sort, and they would torture him, asking him questions he didn't even know the answers to.

 

But that didn't matter.

 

Even if he didn't have the information, it just gave them another reason to hurt him.

 

But it had moved up lately.

 

Now, they were coming in every two days, new questions, new subjects, and he knew nothing about them, yet they continued to use their sharp weapons on his body, stabbing him heartlessly but making sure that there were no fatal wounds, because then he'd die.

 

The only thing the man could figure, was that he was an asset.

 

And they just hadn't gotten round to using him for whatever it was.

 

His body continued to fade every day, his powers continued to weaken every single hour, but he never told them that. To be honest, he wanted them to kill him.

 

He didn't want to help them.

 

He'd rather die.

 

And he was going to die, very soon.

 

“Someone... help...”

…

 

“Okay, thank you Suho.” Yixing ended the call and turned back to the other four boys who were waiting for him patiently. “Well, he certainly doesn't know of a cure, but he said we should be able to help you control your... wolf instincts, so to speak.”

 

Sehun looked up at him with at least some hope in his eyes.

 

The healer smiled at him.

 

“We just need to get some information, and we can go on from there, is that okay?” Lay asked, and as Sehun nodded, he brought him to the couch and sat him down. As he did, he looked up at the three brothers who were standing rather awkwardly in the hallway.

 

Sighing, Lay chuckled.

 

“Why don't you go to work Zitao?” Lay asked, looking at the clock that read eight am.

 

Zitao frowned and shook his head.

 

“Kai is there!” he shouted, but the healer shrugged his shoulders.

 

“It's either that, or you're jobless.”

 

The youngest frowned and his face paled. That was the sore truth. Sighing, he moved over to the cupboard and took out his jacket, shoving some shoes on and pouting as he left the house.

 

At least that was one of them gone.

 

Lay would like to talk to Sehun himself, so he had to try and get rid of the other three to make him comfortable.

 

“Kyungsoo, would you mind going shopping?” he asked, and the other looked at him weirdly. “Well, we need more food. We got one more mouth to feed now you know?” he explained, and the middle child frowned. “Come on!” he shouted, and Kyungsoo finally nodded and got ready before leaving the house.

 

Two gone, one to go.

 

Looking over at Lu Han, he thought about how to get this particular boy out of the house.

 

Especially considering he's never out of here.

 

Lu Han has to stop being so house dependant all the time.

 

“Lu Han?” Lay shouted, and the boy rushed in from the kitchen at the sound of his name.

 

“Yes?” he asked, and the healer smiled softly.

 

Lay should've thought this through. Just as he was about to make up a lie, he looked down to his phone that had just vibrated in his hand, making him acknowledge that he had just received a new text.

 

When he saw the name, he opened it quickly.

 

'From Joonmyun

 

• I know you're busy with the three brothers and from the
  last I heard, a wolf, but I need to discuss something with
  you. I'm heading over to town, can you meet me just
  outside of the airport? It's going to be a long ride. I think
  it's time I at least meet one of them. Thanks.

 

Lay smiled at the text.

 

What perfect timing his friend had.

 

“Lu Han! Remember Joonmyun?” he asked, and Lu Han stood still for a second ransacking his mind for this name.

 

Hmm.

 

Then it clicked.

 

“Ah! Your 'mysterious' friend, right?” he asked, his voice tone a little mocking but Lay decided to ignore it. Nodding, Lu Han smiled at Lay in confusion. “What about him?” he asked.

 

The healer looked at the text and back at the only brother left.

 

“Can you go to the airport to meet him?” he asked, and once he got a nod, he double read the text.

 

'…I meet at least one of them...'

 

That meant Joonmyun only wanted to meet one of them.

 

“And can you not bring him back here? Just have a chat.”

 

Lu Han stared at him, still confused.

 

“Have a chat about what exactly?” he wondered, but Lay shrugged.

 

“I don't know, use your imagination. Ask him questions you want answered. He's nice, it'll be fun!” he exclaimed, grinning to add to his comment and make the eldest brother actually want to go more.

 

There was silence and Lu Han finally smiled, shoving his hands into his jacket pockets.

 

“Okay, I’ll go. I'll be back soon, okay?” he said, and Lay waved his hand to say goodbye.

 

Once he was finally alone with the wolf, he sighed in relief.

 

“Thank God.” he whispered, and Sehun chuckled at him. “Okay, so first things first, when did you first change?”

 

Sehun furrowed his eyebrows as the memory came flooding back into his mind. The blood, the horror. The attack. And even worse, he had attacked Zitao, someone that who was giving hospitality. Lay looked at him carefully, but he wasn't going to push the other at all to answer him.

 

This had to be a calm and quiet conversation.

 

Sehun had to trust him.

 

“About... one month ago.” he explained, and Lay nodded, marking it in his head before he realised what had happened a month ago as well.

 

“...When you... changed... Was it the same night Zitao met you?” he asked, trying not to say the word 'attack' at all, just in case Sehun got mad at himself as he did all the other times.

 

Sehun nodded.

 

“Okay. Do you remember that night?” he asked.

 

Sehun froze a little and tensed up.

 

“It's okay, you don't have to answer. We'll move onto the next one.” With that he received a thankful nod. “Okay, so do you remember the time you were a wolf for a full month?”

 

The younger boy focused carefully.

 

Did he remember?

 

He remembered attacking Zitao, twice, but what happened after he was knocked unconscious?

 

His lips forming a tight line, he clenched his hands together into fists as he tried to remember that whole month that he was captured inside a cage – for his own good, yes, but he still felt sour about it – but he couldn’t remember it all. The last thing he remembered after the attack, was Lu Han letting him out after he had changed back into a human.

 

Then he pounced on him.

 

Out of pure instinct, but he felt the need to just... defend.

 

Lay looked at him carefully, not pushing him away, not pressuring him into telling him because that wouldn't get him anywhere.

 

The other was tensing up again, Yixing noticed.

 

Placing a soft touch on the wolf-boy's thigh, he smiled at him and shook his head calmly.

 

“It's okay, we'll continue later.”

 

Sehun just smiled at him, thankful that the other was so understanding.

…

Zitao shivered as he walked along the cold and unusually empty streets. It was actually supposed to be a very warm today, but the weather man had obviously gotten it wrong, because he was now absolutely freezing with nothing but a light jacket on.

 

Huddling up closer to his clothes, he looked around in confusion.

 

Where was everybody?

 

Looking at his watch, he saw that it was eight thirty, and it was about the time everyone else should be heading to work, yet not a single soul was roaming about, not any car either.

 

It was more than weird. It was damn right creepy.

 

Moving even quicker, he tried to get to his work quickly, and when the building came into view, he let out a relieved sigh. At least it was somewhere where he felt safe, even if it had Kai within.

 

He'd prefer that.

 

Moving into the building, he frowned.

 

It was completely empty.

 

Now this, this was just weird. Maybe time had stopped?

 

No, Zitao would see people, and he'd know. This wasn't his doing at all. Moving through the corridors, he noticed that everything was locked, like it was still at night when the last employee had left the building.

 

It was on shut-down, yet the front door was wide open for him?

 

Was everyone called to say they had the day off? And if so, why wasn't he called which would save him this humiliation?

 

Moving towards his own office – that he did share with a lot of other people (it was an open-office plan) – he frowned once again when he realised that not a speck of paper was on any of the desks.

 

Not his either.

 

And he was sure he had left some on the desk. If someone had stole them, he was going to be seriously mad at them. As he made his way towards the desk, he stopped instantly when he heard something rather peculiar.

 

It sounded like...

 

Like...

 

Chains rattling?

 

Zitao glanced around the office with curiosity, trying to follow the strange sounds.

 

He followed them until he reached a place he had never seen within the office building, and he looked at it with caution. The boy moved forward carefully, putting his hand on the old handle that looked like it had just jumped out of the seventeenth century.

 

Was a door like this always here?

 

Opening it, he moved in when he heard the chains once again, this time, much louder.

 

And Zitao made sure to listen ever-so-carefully just so he could follow it to the source, because he was more than curious to find out who made the noise, where he was, and why an old-fashioned door was in a futuristic magazine fashion company – nothing made sense.

 

Moving into another room, he froze when he saw something spectacular.

 

And horrible.

 

Let's just say he found the chains – and the human which they were holding to the wall.

 

Running over immediately, he gasped as he saw the stranger's face completely covered in blood, his hair dirty and horrible like it hadn't been washed in a while, and he looked like he had been tortured.

 

Horrible, for a very long time.

 

Moving one of his fingers to the other's chin, he tilted his head up slightly, coming face to face with the stranger who was in this horrible position.

 

“H-Hello?” Zitao stuttered, watching as the stranger didn't move.

 

Oh god, he hoped he wasn't dead.

 

“Are you alive?” he asked, nudging the other a little, waiting for some sort of reaction.

 

And then he got one.

 

Bright red eyes stared back at him, but he couldn't move back. Tao felt his body completely freeze under the frightening gaze. Maybe he should've just went home when the first weird thing happened.

 

No, he shouldn’t have followed the noise.

 

God knows what was going to happen now.

---

A/N: Hope you enjoy this episode! <3