Chapter four: The White Cathedral and the Dragon

The hatch closed with a bang. And immediately after that I heard a door open. There were several loud footsteps on the floor above us, they made the floor creak. And with every single step, Leeteuk cringed next to me.

I felt Tiffany’s nimble hands curl themselves around my bicep and I could feel her and Leeteuk looking up to the ceiling just like me.

There was talking, I couldn’t understand what they were saying exactly, it sounded too muffled to make out any words but it sounded threatening, especially when they talked louder and louder.

“He is not here!” We suddenly heard Kangin yell and there was a loud clang of metal clashing immediately after that.

Tiffany buried her head in my shoulder but it didn’t help blocking things out because she cringed just like Leeteuk and me.

A new pair of steps were barely hearable over the clashing but I knew that either Ryeowook, Kyuhyun or Sungmin was now downstairs too.

The fighting became louder but we could hardly make anything out until suddenly there was a loud crash followed by a loud command from Donghae: “GO! NOW!”

There were quick footsteps over the floor but I couldn’t make out how many of the people in the room were leaving. I couldn’t even make out how many people were in the room to begin with!

The noises above us died down a bit, at least half of the people that had been in the room were now gone. A voice began to speak and though I couldn’t make out the words, I could tell that it was Donghae. My heart ached, if he wasn’t gone then he would probably be caught-

I tried to stand up and free myself from Tiffany’s grip but she only grabbed my arm harder.

“Let me go, Tiffany! I need to help Donghae!” I whispered to her.

Another hand grabbed my arm and I knew that it was Leeteuk. “You won’t help Donghae if you go up now.” He whispered back to me.

“But- but…” I felt warm, salty tears trail down my cheeks. But I liked him, I couldn’t let him so easily be taken from me.

“Donghae will be in more pain if you’re caught too.” Tiffany whispered to me as she softly pulled me down next to her. She wrapped her arms around me while I softly cried against her shoulder, Leeteuk’s calming hand went up and down my back.

The next few minutes went by in a haze we heard struggles, noises, walking and more struggles and noises. Until suddenly there was the slamming of the door and death silence.

Only half an hour later, Leeteuk dared to open the hatch.

It was dark in the living room, we couldn’t see anything. Leeteuk softly climbed out and went off to look for a lamp. It took a while but he finally found a not broken oil-lamp and he lighted up the room.

I gasped, the living room was a mess. Every single piece of furniture in the living room was broken and laid shattered throughout the whole room. There was an occasional blood-stain and I desperately hoped that nobody on our side was hurt.

“Let’s go upstairs,” Leeteuk suggested and Tiffany and I nodded. I felt completely broken as we walked upstairs.

We walked into Kangin’s and Leeteuk’s bedroom. It looked like there had been a slight hurricane here too. “It seems that they searched here too…” Leeteuk calmly noted though his expression told a different story.

“Well, at least the bed seems alright. Let’s get some rest first, okay?” Tiffany proposed.

“Okay,” I barely managed to whisper.

We were about to move onto the bed when we heard a loud creak coming from the closet. Like deer caught in the head we turned but didn’t move.

We heard a weak voice say: “Tiffany? Hyukjae?”

I felt my heart spring up as the door of the closet opened and revealed a bleak looking Kyuhyun. My body moved before I was even aware of it and I hugged Kyuhyun.

His body didn’t relax as I wrapped my arms around him. Instead it began to shock and it took me a few seconds to realize that Kyuhyun was crying. It was hard took keep my own tears back now but with a chunk in my throat, I managed to make the tears silent.

I let Kyuhyun have his moment. Kyuhyun never cried, he never needed solace before. So now that he needed it more than I did.

I felt two other pairs of arms around us. Leeteuk and Tiffany hugged us too and we stayed like that for a few minutes until Leeteuk pulled away first. Tiffany pulled away after that and I stepped a bit back from Kyuhyun but didn’t let my arms leave his body.

And for the first time that I knew Kyuhyun, he seemed small to me. Though Kyuhyun was the youngest, he was the one who seemed the most mature and he was the tallest. But now that he was so bleak and so crumpled over by sadness, he seemed much like a child like me.

I helped Kyuhyun to the bed and he sat down with us next to him. Tiffany sat right from him, I sat on the left side and Leeteuk sat next to me.

“I-I’m so, so sorry!” Kyuhyun sniffled as he laid down his head on my shoulder.

“About what?” Tiffany asked while she rubbed his hand soothingly.

“I didn’t-,” He choked a hard sob, “I didn’t try to s-save Ryeowook!” He tried to stand up and walk away as if he was afraid that we would save Ryeowook.

Tiffany and I stopped him and kept him sitting next to us. “S-Sungmin made me and Ryeowook h-hide before he went downstairs to l-look at what is going on. He made a secret c-compartment in the c-closet for me and he hid R-Ryeowook in the compartment that was already there behind the b-b-bookcase. B-but they found Ryeowook and I, I just couldn’t. I j-just couldn’t move when I h-heard Ryeowook scream for help. I-I was just s-so scared that t-the same things would h-happen as before.”

“It’s not your fault, Kyuhyun. None of this is your fault.” Tiffany softly but constantly repeated for Kyuhyun until he calmed down a bit.

I hadn’t talked to Kyuhyun a lot ever since we were in the painting. I figured that Kyuhyun hadn’t been completely honest about what went down in the Sheriff’s prison. They must’ve done more to him than pulling his nails out. And I had been too busy with thinking about Donghae and with wrapping my head around what was going on that I didn’t see that my friend was in pain. I was ashamed of