Five pairs of steps resounded through the otherwise silent halls, keeping the beat to the melody of their labored breaths. They all were moving forward quickly, trying hard to put as much distance between themselves and the monster. Muscles strained and ached, constantly tensing and relaxing with each step they took forward, their lungs burnt as they begged for more oxygen – their exhausted bodies using too much as they forced themselves to continue on through the maze of hall ways, not knowing which way to go.

As they e last corner, coming to an open door the five stopped in their tracks. The five were unsure of whether or not they should continue on and enter the room, or stay out in the halls, the distant roar of the monster encouraged them to go into the room – to seek security just this once rather than force their already exhausted bodies through the asylum.

Upon entering the room that had row upon row of filing cabinets, the boys made sure to close the door and barricade it – just in case the monster did attempt to follow them – with a desk and a few of the closest filing cabinets. As Cap, Myungsoo, and L.Joe worked together to block the door, Chunji and Niel sat tiredly in a corner formed by one of the walls and the end of a row of filing cabinets. While Sungjong sat with his head back and resting against the filing cabinets while taking deep breaths of air into his lungs, Chunji sat staring at the prior displacement of the filing cabinets before they were moved in front of the door. The male’s attention was divided between the cabinet’s placement by the door and the other uniformed lines of cabinets.

“G-Guys, do you think that someone broke in here before?” inquired Chunji, finally coming to the conclusion that the filing cabinets had been moved before the five had entered the room.

The trio, who had finished the barricade, turned their attention towards Chunji – all of them wearing the same confused expression.

“What do you mean?” inquired L.Joe, hesitantly stepping towards Chunji, terrified that his approach would send the other male into yet another trance and put him once again under the control of the shadow.

“Those cabinets were previously moved,” muttered Chunji tiredly, blinking wearily at Byunghun as the latter advanced towards him as if he was approaching a wounded animal, “They looked as though they had previously been where they are now but someone or something moved them…”

Minsoo and Myungsoo looked at each other before looking at the observant and exhausted male whose heavy eyelids were threatening to close, whose body was threatening him with sleep.

“So, what should we do?” muttered Byunghun, finally coming to kneel before Chunji, who smiled at him weakly through his exhaustion – despite the fear they had towards each other, their fingers naturally intertwined. They both knew that if something did happen Myungsoo and Minsoo would be there to help.

“We clear this room,” whispered Chanhee, squeezing L.Joe’s hand for comfort.

“By clear this room, you mean make sure it is clear, right?” inquired Myungsoo.

Chanhee nodded, “That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Alright, let’s get to it then,” whispered Myungsoo.

“I-I’m so exhausted though,” whispered Sungjong, fighting hard to keep his eyes open.

Minsoo sighed, “I know you both are exhausted, but we need to make sure this place is safe first before we let you sleep. I promise you that once we are sure it is clear, we will leave you to sleep while the rest of us take a look around to see if we can find anything in here that’ll help us find a way out of this hell hole.”

Sungjong sighed, but nodded in understanding, smiling stiffly at his group mates.

“Now, up and at ‘em,” muttered L.Joe, pulling Chunji to his feet, happily wrapping an arm around the barely older male’s waist as the male stumbled forward, “The faster we get this check done, the sooner you both will be able to sleep.”

The two smiled and nodded, Minsoo helped Sungjong to his feet and peered at Myungsoo, “Let’s go, you lead the way.”

Myungsoo nodded and five moved forward on overexerted legs, moving through the rows of cabinets slowly and cautiously in the dimly lit room. Despite the silence in the room other than their footsteps, the five could not help but to feel as though they were not alone. However, that feeling vanished as they reached the back of the room, not one person seen – dead or alive.

“So, it safe?” mumbled Sungjong from where he was leaning almost all his weight onto CAP, who hummed.

“It’s clear,” responded CAP, helping the barely conscious Sungjong settled down in the farthest corner from the door, Sungjong – content with the rather uncomfortable position – almost instantly fell asleep, his head lulling and falling back to rest against the corner.

“I’ll start looking around,” muttered Myungsoo, “This place looks like the archives or something, these cabinets probably holds some information on the doctors and if we’re lucky – the patients.”

L.Joe looked at the older male, “How can you be so positive that they hold anything at all?”

“We’re on the floor of the lobby now,” responded L, moving towards one of the filing cabinets, “As we moved farther and farther away from Sungyeol and Niel, the areas around us changed. We had started out in an area rich with cells and cell blocks to hold the patients, well I should say, rooms. However, the farther we got, the more office began to sprout up. Judging from the amount of offices we just passed, I’d say we’re in a patient/doctor record room – which means all their files are in here.”

The others hummed, listening to L’s logic with interest.

“It also means that we’re nearing the lobby area we were set to meet the others in,” muttered Myungsoo, “Which brings up the possibility of us running into the others.”

The others hummed excitedly at the last portion of Myungsoo’s explanation, despite the excited tone he used he felt none at all. L, rather than feeling excited, felt depressed and guilt over the fact that Sungyeol was not with them. He felt guilt over leaving the older male behind, but despite the guilt, he knew that Sungyeol was in good hands and that it was probably for the best that they were separated. Despite knowing that it was probably for the best, it did not mean that it hurt any less.

Seeing that no one was going to respond, Myungsoo spun on his heel, “I’m going to go start looking through the cabinets and see if I can find anything about Dr. Esper.”

The others hummed in acknowledgement and as Myungsoo walked away, L.Joe helped the completely exhausted Chunji sit down beside Niel before taking off his old, cut up coat and handing it to Chunji to use as a pillow.

“Get comfortable, I feel as though we may be here for a while,” muttered L.Joe.

“Where are you going?” inquired Chunji.

“I’m going to go help Myungsoo,” muttered the other, smiling at Chunji, “There are too many cabinets for him to look through alone.”

The barely older male nodded in agreement and did not protest, knowing that it would probably be best if the two stayed away from each other for a little longer. Chunji sighed and curled up on the floor, rolling the jacket up and placing it under his head, completely nose blind to the stench of sweat that radiated off of the jacket as he closed his eyes and let his chaotic mind finally silence itself as he fell into a relatively deep slumber.

An unknown length of time had passed, there were no windows to see out of to judge the time nor where there any working clocks. By the time Myungsoo had called L.Joe over to him to aid him in carrying a few old, rugged folders back to the rest of their party Sungjong and Chunji had been sleeping as if they were dead – neither moving or making any noises – and CAP was slowly slipping off into slumber in his own little corner as he watched the two sleep peacefully. Minsoo had stayed awake and to watch the duo as they slept for any signs of the shadow communicating with them, for any sign of them possibly trying to go after L.Joe or L again. However, the longer the two slept, the more inactive they became. When they had started out, they both were showing signs of having nightmares but gradually they had become more prone.

Just as Minsoo’s eyes closed, the physical and mental exhaustion finally consuming him, he was startled awake by a thud as Myungsoo and Byunghun settled down beside him, both holding five thick files each.

“What is that?” inquired CAP, his voice deeper than normal as he came out of slumber.

“The files on Dr. Esper,” stated Myungsoo, “From the things I read, this room was only open to the head of the asylum – the man who took care of legal things regarding the asylum and the person who chose which of the doctors to hire. This room was only accessible to him and his most trusted employees – to no surprise; Dr. Esper apparently was not on that list.”

CAP hummed in interest, sitting up and leaning to look at the old files.

“These folders all consist of tabs and reports they kept of Esper,” muttered L.Joe, “they consist of all the reports on Esper’s patients.”

CAP hummed in interest, “So, where does the files end?”

“The reports come to an end with the report of one of the doctors going missing shortly after said doctor’s son – whom was a patient under Dr. Esper – went missing,” stated L.Joe, “There is another entry, but it is just a list of names of other missing patients, which the other doctors presume are related to Dr. Esper and the disappearance of one of the trusted doctors, as well as that doctor’s son.”

“Do we know when they all went missing? The conditions they had all been in? Anything that could connect them all, other than they all disappeared?” inquired CAP in wonder, “If Dr. Esper did play a part in the disappearances of the boys on that list, there is a possibility that the Shadow may be one of the boys.”

“That is true,” muttered Myungsoo, “I never thought of that…”

“But how did he live so long?” pondered L.Joe, his eyes looking over the paper that had turned yellow from old age, “How has Dr. Esper lived so long?”

CAP shrugged, “That is a question that the other doctors that worked within this hell hole probably didn’t even know.”

L nodded in agreement, “The doctors, upon realizing that the patients had started to go missing, had made copies of the boy’s profiles and copies of the last patient report on them prior to their disappearance into these folders. However, it is not going to be easy to narrow them down, there are just so many of them…”

CAP’s eyes widened upon hearing the news, hesitantly questioning the others, “How many?”

“Hundreds,” muttered L.Joe, “possibly thousands.”

“The disappearances started to become more rapid once Dr. Esper had been put under suspicion,” muttered Myungsoo.

“So, who was the first person they had noticed go missing out of the bunch?” inquired CAP out of curiosity.

“Cha Hakyeon,” mutted Myungsoo, “he was the first patient to ever go missing in the asylum – he vanished five years before the suspicion on Dr. Esper arose. He had been a patient under Dr. Esper for two years before the doctor wrote his disappearance off as suicide.”

“He said that the boy killed himself?” muttered L.Joe in shock, this was new information to him as well.

Myungsoo nodded, “However, the doctors had found it a little suspicious because they had inquired the morgue workers who had been on duty that day and there was no body, no history of anyone going to remove the dead body from the room – no autopsy was performed.”

“Why wasn’t he caught then?” inquired CAP.

“They presumed that morgue workers were slacking since it had become a weekly thing under Dr. Esper’s watch,” retorted L.

L.Joe shook his head, “Why did they not fire him? Why did they keep him around?”

“There were other patients that were improving, not all of his patients were vanishing,” stated L, “Actually, most of his patients were actually being discharged from the facility, their mental states somehow better than what it had been prior being committed.”

“Which means that he was picking and choosing those within his patient pool to keep for whatever reason,” muttered L.Joe, earning a nod from L.

“The first disappearance that had actually aroused suspicion within the asylum was the disappearance of a seventeen year old patient by the name of Kim Il Jae, who had been committed by his own father – Dr. Kim In Seok.” stated Myungsoo, “Il Jae was under the care of Dr. Shim, but Dr. Esper was reported – by other doctors and nurses – to visit the boy often. After one of Dr. Esper’s visits, Il Jae had frantically freaked out, confessing things to Dr. Shim that made absolutely no sense. The only thing that had been written in that report was: Patient 1113, Kim Il Jae, had a meltdown. This meltdown was uncalled for since his condition had been improving – he had not had one for six months, but it just suddenly came on. No one had detected any symptoms, any signs of the breakdown approaching. The only sensible thing spoke during his breakdown as “He is coming for me. He is going to hurt me like the rest of them.” Other than that, there were no other words spoken, just quiet, panicked grumbles. I gave him a sedative and saw to it that he would not be in such a condition upon waking up.”

“Let me guess, the next morning, or whenever they thought he was going to wake up they went in to check on him and he wasn’t there,” stated CAP, earning a nod of confirmation from L.

L.Joe shivered and placed the folder he had previously been holding down on the ground before him, peering at it blankly for a few seconds as he remained silent.

“What’s wrong L.Joe?” inquired CAP.

“I don’t know,” whispered L.Joe, “But that report just stands out.”

“How so?” inquired L, raising an eyebrow.

“It is the only out of the ones that I’ve read so far in which the patient reports that “he is coming for him” the other reports just say that the night before disappearances the patients were acting extremely oddly, they all acted tense and uneasy. However, all of them were just played off casually, since those were common symptoms amongst those living within the asylum.” Muttered L.Joe, “I can’t help but feel as though that there is something off about the Il Jae guy’s case, the cases before him had been different and disappearances after him had been different as well – his is the only one that is completely unique.”

“So, what are you trying to say?” inquired L.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is that I believe that Il Jae is the one that ended up becoming the shadow,” muttered L.Joe, “I know it sounds crazy, but there were five reports that appear to be hastily thrown into the back of the third folder – it was if the person who put them there was in a rush to hide them away, reading the contents of it, it would be no surprise.”

L and CAP looked at L.Joe in wonder, both of them curious as to what the younger had found out that had slipped past them – well, Myungsoo at least considering that it was all new to CAP.

“So, what did those reports say?”

“One patient vanished, but suddenly reappeared two days later, the boy was paranoid, claiming the same things Il Jae had,” muttered L.Joe, “The interesting part is that the boy claimed that Il Jae had helped him escape Dr. Esper’s clutches. The boy apparently told them gruesome stories of what was happening to the other patients – from what it sounds like, the patients they had experimented on and they looked like those…things we constantly saw wondering around the mansion – the things we’ve seen locked up in the cells. The first report – the report made after the boy’s return – had stated that the boy had been cast to the side, the doctors not fully believing him. Rather, they had come to figure that the boy’s mental state was dropping and thus, they upped his dosage on the medication they had him on. They made him very lethargic, unable to actually move around on his own.  Despite the dosage and the doctors believing that he would stop speaking of this Il Jae – believing said male was dead – the boy only began to talk even more, however, rather than talking to the doctors he began to talk to Il Jae himself…he began to hold conversations in an empty room. The doctors – by the third report, which talks about how the conversations became more frequent, deemed him a lost cause.”

The older duo stared at the younger male in shock; Myungsoo berated himself for skipping over such valuable information – information that hinted to the reason as to why the Shadow was so determined to kill any person connected to the doctor.  

“The fourth report was of them taking the boy off the medicine, deciding there was no reason for them to keep him on medicine that does not work,” stated L.Joe, “It also states that the boy had been moved into a solitary confinement cell for “his safety” and also that they were still looking into Il Jae’s disappearance weeks earlier as well as the disappearance of other kids – none of the disappearances coming from Dr. Esper’s pool anymore. The higher level doctors, those that were well trusted, began to investigate the claim the boy had made – had begun to look into Dr. Esper, trying to locate where the man was constantly hiding out when he should have been making his rounds on duty.”

“The fifth consists of..?” mutted Myungsoo, messaging his temples at the sudden influx of information.

“It consists of them learning the truth,” muttered L.Joe, “It consists of the higher level doctors discovering Dr. Esper’s hideaway – of them coming to realize that the boy was not lying, that Il Jae had in fact been taken away by Dr. Esper and somehow, the hardly living boy – Il Jae, had managed to help him escape before succumbing to his fate. It consists of them evacuating the asylum – however, it was never completed.”

“Where were these located?” inquired CAP out of curiosity.

“In one of the filing cabinets by the door,” responded L, “I almost didn’t check there…”

CAP hummed, “It seems as though Chunji was right about someone trying to hide away in here before us.”

L raised an eyebrow both kept his expression void of emotion or curiosity, L.Joe on the other hand looked at him in wonder.

“The doctor who had written those reporters, the higher up doctor, who had written them for the head of the asylum probably, knew of Dr.  Esper’s plans – had probably discovered them himself…judging from the fact he had moved the filing cabinets, Dr. Esper knew that he knew what was going on and was probably coming after him.”

“Which explains why they were moved,” muttered L, “but why were they away from the door when we got in here? Why did they choose those two cabinets out of all of the ones in this room?”

“My guess is that he was disrupted by someone,” mutted CAP, “One of the other heads had probably wanted into the room, but he had probably thought it was Dr. Esper – since we all know the man likes to keep everyone around him on their toes, so he probably stuffed it into one of the cabinets, not really paying attention to the folder or the drawer he had put it in.”

L and L.Joe nodded in agreement, seeing how the situation was possible.

“After that, he probably left the room with whom ever had come to get him,” stated CAP, “After that, who knows what happened…maybe they evacuated as planned...it’s too hard to tell. There are so many possibilities as to what had happened after that – heck, even before it, so without documents to point us in the direction, who knows what the fate of that doctor was.”

L nodded in agreement, “It really is hard to predict anything that happened after the reports, there are just too many possibilities.”

L.Joe nodded and CAP hummed.

“At least we’ve come to know a little bit more about what going on here,” muttered L.Joe, “Though, it might not be as helpful as we all probably hoped it would be. It clears a few things up for us – like why the shadow is so determined to exterminate the doctor and how a lot of the creatures came to be.”

The two nodded and L stated, “However, it does not answer the questions of why we were brought in, and what happened after all hell seemed to break loose – after the last of the reports, after it was discovered that the doctor was doing experiments on the people he was supposed to be taking care of…”

L.Joe hummed and Cap nodded before stating, “At least it’s a start to us solving the mystery of this place.”

The duo nodded in agreement.             

When Sungjong and Chunji woke up, the trio filled them in on the information they learnt and hid the folder away, placing it back into the cabinet from which they had got it. The five talked amongst themselves for a while before falling silent upon hearing the doctor calling out for someone before the sound of his heavy steps echoed through the hall. They remained silent until the room had fallen back into silence.

“Should we stay or should we go?” inquired Myungsoo, peering at his still exhausted group mates.

“Let’s rest a bit more,” muttered CAP, “I don’t think I’m ready to go out there quite yet…”

L hummed in agreement, situating himself back on the floor in his previous position, “I-I agree that we all rest up, get a little bit more energy since we’re surely going to need it considering we still have a long ways to go to get out of here.”

The others nodded. 

Have any questions? Leave them in the comments below. ^^