=CHAPTER01=

+SANCTUARY+

What is sanctuary?

A sanctuary is a place to hide and safety is present.

This camp isn’t like any other camp, if you die, you die. No one has escaped the gates of this horrific hell place. There’s no place to hide, no place that is safe. Every day is survival day. If you get through it then you can proceed to the next step, but if you get left behind, your chances to live is at risk.

*PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!*

“LINE UP LADIES!” The sound of the whistle coming from a commander made all the girls run and obey. Everyone stood nervous and their hearts beating fast as if being chased by something. “ATTENTION!” said the woman in command. "YOUR MORNING TRAINING HAS ENDED AND THIS WILL BE YOUR LAST. IT’S BEEN 9 YEARS SINCE YOU ALL FIRST CAME TO THIS CAMP…FOR THOSE WHO DIDN’T SURVIVE, IT’S QUITE A LOSS. BUT I CONGRATULATE ALL OF YOU FOR GETTING THIS FAR… LATER ON I WILL BE ANNOUNCING A HUGE SURPRISE FOR ALL THIRTY OF YOU GIRLS. AND EXTRAVAGANT SURPRISE!”

“Whew! Oh my gosh! Do you think we’re almost to the finish line?” Tiffany whispered to Taeyeon who stood in front of her.

“I believe we are…” Taeyeon said in a low tone.

“FOR NOW... YOU MAY PREPARE FOR YOUR AFTERNOON LESSONS. DISMISS!”

“I can’t believe we made it this far… We are finally going to taste the life outside.” Sooyoung said to the others.

“But we have to keep on moving… we must survive…” Seohyun said as she dust off the sand that was sticking In her elbow. “I have a strong feeling this is not the end just yet…”

“I still fear…” Yuri said hugging herself.

“We’ll get through this…” Yoona encouraged everyone.

“We’ll stay together and after this, we will have a normal life outside.” Jessica said excitingly.

“Promise we’ll stay together?” Hyoyeon asked.

“And be together.” Sunny said with assurance.

“Promised!” Everyone echoed as they made a big group hug.

The woman in command walked away but before she did, she whispered something to a man who was standing in guard around the corners of the beach ground. Jessica who had very good observation noticed.

“GUYS!! RUN! NOW!!!!” Jessica shouted to her friends. Hand in hand together they ran off, away from the the beach ground. They ran with all their strength and with all their might and hid themselves among the trees in the forest ground.

“Down everyone! Down!” Taeyeon instructed. The huddled together and crouched low as they covered their ears and shut their eyes.

In 1…2…3…

*boom! Crack!* they heard the other ladies screaming. *bang! Boom! Crack!*

Seohyun started to cry and whimper, but Tiffany suddenly covered Seohyun’s mouth and hugged her really tight. “Shhh! Shhh…We’ll be okay… We’ll be okay…We’ve been through this….We’re almost there.”

The scream of the girls suddenly died out and there was a minute or so of silence…

*DING DONG…HAPPY HOUR TIME!* Announced the operator happily. It sounded like a voice of a flight purser who announces important details to passengers while on plane.

The girls sighed. “Finally… its happy hour time… guns are down in three…two…” Sunny said. *DING!*

"How many do you think??" Sooyoung asked, she hugged herself. Everyone felt scared.

No one dared answer her question and all of them just kept quiet.

“Hmm, never mind that... We have two hours to do what we need to do without getting harm.” Taeyeon said.

“I believe taking a bath is our best choice since we ran the whole morning and I feel like I stink…” Tiffany suggested.

Everyone agreed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

*eeeeek!* *Pssssshhhh*

Steam covered the cubicle and the whole ladies bathroom as the girls opened the showers. The cubicle inside the bathroom was limited that’s why since they were children they took a bath by two’s or three’s.

Yoona, whose feeling traumatized again started to cry silently. Every day of their lives someone dies in front of their eyes. But in order to survive it takes more than courage and being strong, but sometimes it’s tiring to do so…

“Ya…Are you crying?” Yuri asked Yoona who was facing the shower. Both of them were already soaking wet.

Yoona didn’t say a thing. Yuri started to create suds out of the luxurious soap that was given to them. “Here…” She started to scrub Yoona’s arms with a foam. “This will trap moisture in your skin and make it healthy, it will also protect us from UV rays.” Yoona didn’t say a word.

“Ya…” Yuri said as she hugs Yoona.

“What if tomorrow I die…” Yoona suddenly blurted.

Yuri slightly hit her in the arm. “Ya! I’ve been trying hard to survive just for you…Just for us… Don’t tell me you’re about to give up…”

“What if only one needs to survive?” She asked.

That question was what everyone fears in camp. What if out of the original fifty six only one must survive.

“I’ll die with you…” Yuri said. “We’ll be peaceful…Together…” Yuri tucked Yoona’s wet soaking hair behind her ear.

“But… I don’t want to die…” Yoona said as she cries.

Yuri couldn’t say anything and just hugged Yoona as tight as she could.  “Love and good will always prevail…” Yuri said. That statement was what her mother and father used to tell her when she was young, when she was still in their loving arms. “And by that… We love you, I love you…more than anything.”

Just as Yuri was about to plant a kiss on Yuri’s forehead, Yoona suddenly moved an inch and with that moment, Yuri accidentally kissed her in the lips. Both of them shocked and startled, it was the first ever kiss they’ve felt in their life. Feeling quite naïve and innocent, both of them felt a different sensation they couldn’t explain.

Yuri blinked and both of them were staring at each other- shocked. Suddenly Taeyeon, Jessica, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Sooyoung, Seohyun, and Sunny entered their small cubicle.

“We heard what you two were talking about…” Taeyeon said.

“We promised to be together.” Hyoyeon said in a low toned voice. “And by that, if one dies, everyone will.”

"It's going to be take it or leave it. We're a package." Sooyoung added. "But seriously guys, today is the last...We're finally going to have the life we dreamed of..."

Everyone started to laugh and suddenly tears rolled down to their cheeks. Despite of the small cubicle, they were able to squeeze themselves in one.

“If this place is worst like living hell, I slightly disagree…Because meeting you and having you guys in my life is the best thing that happened to me…” Jessica said. “And you guys are my sanctuary, the reason why I’m still living.”

“Sanctuary…” Taeyeon whispered. “It’s what we’ve created together.”

The girls hugged each other.

Despite of the living hell life they had for 9 years, they’ve created sanctuary together, and they were the reason why they live and survive every day of their lives.

Though it was charming to see them love each other and care like sisters,

Two of them tried to forget what just happened to them,

But little did they know, they were thinking the same…

The kiss… and the feeling they could not explain.

TBC

=PUZZLED=