“Are you guys sure you want to go this way?” inquired Taeil as the group headed in the direction the doctor went, feeling the pull of multiple different vessels coming from that direction.

Sungyeol nodded while Niel hummed, the determined look on the duos face told Zico and Taeil that there was no changing the boys’ minds. While Sungyeol stated silent – abnormally silent, Niel kept running his mouth as he happily talked to the other males in the group.

“We need to go this way.”

“Why?” inquired Zico out of curiosity.

“There are others this way…” whispered Niel.

“Other what?” inquired Zico, raising an eyebrow at Niel’s odd words.

“Other mental vessels, for some reason I can feel each and every single link we have. I-I can feel my link with the other mental vessels – all of them. Plus, I can feel the link with the physical vessel connected to me,” whispered Niel.

Sungyeol nodded, blinking slowly as if trying to correct his vision. The boy was trying hard to hide it, but he felt as though the room was spinning around them, as if he had been spinning and just suddenly stopped. His body felt weak, his mind hazy. He stumbled forward – noticing in the corner of his eye that Niel seemed to be having the same issue.

“T-they are all still here…” whispered Sungyeol.

“Who?” questioned Taeil, “Are you both feeling alright?”

Sungyeol opened his mouth to speak, but closed it suddenly as he let out a pained yelp – his hands flying up to his head, where he gripped tightly onto his hair as he pressed the palm of his hand onto his head, messaging the sore area. Though he had hoped that the message would relieve his pain, it did nothing of the sort, rather it made it hurt worse.

“Sungyeol?” questioned Taeil in concern, approaching Sungyeol as he watched the other male’s knees buckle underneath of him and the boy fall heavily onto the ground, still holding his head in pain. Taeil, out of concern, dropped to his knees with the other male and as he was reaching out to touch Sungyeol, Niel slapped the man’s hand away.

“Don’t touch him,” gasped out Niel, falling to his knees as well as he stared at the three different Taeil’s he saw, staring at each other the three unsure of which one was the real one.

“Niel, what’s wrong?” inquired Zico, approaching the duo, “What is going on?”

“I-I don’t know,” responded Niel, gasping out as if he had been underwater for a lengthy period of time, “I have no idea as to what is going on – what brought these headaches on…I-I don’t know.”

Taeil opened his mouth to speak but was stopped as an unconscious and limp Sungyeol collapsed onto him, landing right in the shorter man’s arms while Niel collapsed into Zico’s awaiting arms. Upon seeing the two both suddenly fall unconscious; Taeil cast a glance towards Zico to see that the male was just as confused as he was.

“W-What should we do?” whispered Taeil, looking around the hallway worriedly, “The doctor could come by here at any time – yeah he left, but he could always come back.”

Zico nodded and bit his lip as he looked around for a place they could hide away in until the duo woke back up. Zico set Niel’s head gently on the ground, being sure not to be too rough on the boy as he moved out from underneath his dead weight. Once free from the boys, he moved towards the doors nearby before finally locating a empty, unlocked room to hide in.

“With our current circumstances, this will have to do,” whispered Zico, earning a nod from Taeil.

 Taeil moved out from underneath of Sungyeol and stood up before forcing the other male’s body up – wrapping the man’s limp arm around his shoulder as he did so. He then wrapped an arm around the other boy’s waist and dragging the injured, unconscious male into the room – where he gently set him down again before moving out of the room to help Zico drag Niel in. Though neither of the unconscious males were heavy, it was rather difficult to carry them when they were both dead weight – or felt like it.

As Zico shut the heavy metal door and turned the multiple locks, Taeil looked at him with curious eyes, “Now what?”

“We wait for them to wake up,” muttered Zico, situating himself by the door. As he sat down, he came to realize just how exhausted his body was and slowly felt himself drifting off to sleep, despite his mind’s better judgment.  

Taeil tiredly eyed Zico’s sleeping form through dropping eyelids and sighed, “What if the doctor comes back? Then we’ll both be oblivious, huh?”

With those words spoken to deaf ears, Taeil also succumbed to the sudden exhaustion he was feeling.

Myungsoo twitched as he was brought out of the sweet and comforting depths of slumber, the exhausted male laid silently on the cold floor of whatever room he was in. Though he knew something had woke him up, he kept his eyes closed – clinging tightly onto the last thread of sleep within his mind, not wanting to wake up and face the cruel, cold reality of being in the asylum. However, as a whimper of pain resounded through the room, the male was forced to open his eyes and search for the source of such a heart wrenching noise. He glanced to his right to see that CAP was still asleep in the corner, his head tossed back and resting against both the row of filing cabinets and a wall, he then looked at the still sleeping L.Joe to see the male laying beside the trembling Chunji – his arm wrapped around the barely older male’s waist, holding him close and keeping him warm. Though it looked as though they were cold, Myungsoo could tell that that was not the case, he saw the pain written on Chunji’s face.

As a third whimper reverberated through the room, his attention was pulled away from Chunji – he had come to realize that though he was in pain, he was not the one whimpering. His attention fell on the man his partner through the house had put him in charge of – the amazing boy who had managed to make it through most of the mansion by himself before joining up with any of the other teams. Though the boy was mentally strong, he was not sure it that strength was physical as well.

As a fourth whimper echoed through the room, Myungsoo moved to Sungjong’s side, worry etched onto his features as he gently shook Sungjong – only to get a pain filled yelp in response. Upon hearing the wounded sound slip from the younger’s mouth, Myungsoo pulled his hand away hastily and peered at the male in worry and fear.

“Sungjong…” whispered Myungsoo in concern, not daring to touch the clearly pained male again, “Sungjong, wake up.”

The boy groaned and forced his heavy eyelids open, just barely peeking at Myungsoo as he felt his strength rapidly leaving him – as though someone had just come and drained it all away.

“What’s wrong?”

Sungjong opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes began to close again – a heavy, strangled sounding breath slipped from between the boy’s lips just before his head lulled to the side. As soon as he saw the boy’s head land against the pavement, Myungsoo felt the panic rise up within him, pushing all the exhaustion he had felt away.

“Sungjong!” muttered Myungsoo, clear worry and distress in his voice as he looked at the pained, unconscious male before him, “Sungjong!”

With each call of the younger’s name, his voice grew louder and louder – eventually waking L.Joe and CAP, who both looked at Myungsoo in concern as Myungsoo explained to them what had happened with Sungjong earlier while they were asleep. L.Joe, out of curiosity, tried to wake Chunji up to no success.

“What the hell is going on here?” pondered CAP as he peered at both unconscious males in the little group, “W-why is it just them?”

The other two in the room shrugged from where they sat beside the two unconscious bodies. Myungsoo then spoke up, his voice steady despite the terror he felt – despite the guilt he felt, he felt as though he had failed Sungyeol.

“I-I don’t know what is going on, but, they were in so much pain and it only got worse if they had physical contact with someone,” whispered Myungsoo, “I-I don’t know why, but I feel as though this has something to do with the shadow – t-this has to be the shadows doing. T-this has to do something with his next move in the game between him and the doctor…”

The other two stared at Myungsoo, hesitating for a second as they thought over the event that Myungsoo described before finally agreeing to it – before finally agreeing that the doctor had to have something to do with it. After all, there was no one else who was strong enough – capable enough to do such a thing.

“W-What should we do?” inquired L.Joe, peering at the two older males, whom just stared at each other before looking at the younger.

“There is only one thing we can do,” muttered CAP.

“And that is?” inquired L.Joe eagerly, hoping that there was some way to help the two pained males – though they looked more peaceful than anything as they laid there.

“Sit here and wait,” muttered Myungsoo, he saw the disappointment on the younger male’s face, so he continued on, “If this is the shadow’s doing, there is nothing we can do for them…there is nothing in our power that we can do.”

As he lay in Changjo’s arms, Woohyun’s eyes subconsciously wondered to Sunggyu while Ricky’s slowly drifted towards the youngest player in this game – or rather, piece? The duo laid weakly in the arms of the other’s partners, neither strong enough to stand.

“Are you guys alright?” inquired Sunggyu in worry, peering at Woohyun – silently wishing he could be the one holding the obviously weak male at this moment in time.

Woohyun shook his head before groaning and bringing his hand up to touch it, whimpering as his fingers barely made contact with the abnormally sensitive skin of his scalp – hissing as his fingertips just barely danced over the skin on the crown of his head. Though they just barely touched it, if felt as though he if had a knife and was stabbing himself in the head. His pain drew Sunggyu’s attention onto him; and in turn drew Changjo’s attention away from the weak Ricky – who did not seem to feel pain.

“What’s wrong?” inquired Changjo in worry as he realized that Woohyun was staring at him intently, his eyebrows furrowed and his mouth open as if he was going to speak.

Woohyun stared just past Changjo’s head in fear, trying hard to figure out which of the Changjo’s he saw was the real one as his vision blurred with the sudden pain in his head. Woohyun spoke, but his voice was so weak, his words so slurred that neither of the physical vessels were able to decipher it. Before they could inquire any farther, they watched in concern as Woohyun fell limp and unresponsive in Changjo’s arms, his head lulling to the side from where it had been supported by Changjo’s arms. Sunggyu, out of concern, gently set Ricky down and moved to his partner’s side, replacing Changjo. Changjo moved towards the barely conscious Ricky, who had his head turned and his eyes locked onto Woohyun’s limp form.

“What is going on Ricky?” inquired Changjo, peeing at his partner in concern – watching sadly as Ricky struggled to turn his head and look at him. He watched closely as the older male opened his mouth to speak, only to release a pain filled howl and shy away from Changjo’s hold on him – as he struggled to get out of the younger’s arms.

Startled by the sudden cry and actions of Ricky, Changjo let go of Ricky and let the male fall to the ground. The youngest flinched and scrambled away from Ricky as he heard the boy let out a heart wrenching and bone chilling cry of pain. Changjo scrambled far from the male, watching on with guilty eyes as he watch a couple of tears slip from his partner’s eyes.

“I-I’m sorry Ricky,” whispered Changjo, trembling as he felt as though he had caused all of the older male’s pain – that he specifically was the reason that the older male was in pain. He felt as though he had done something wrong, that he had physically hurt the older. “I’m sorry.”

Ricky, upon hearing the younger male’s words, turned his head and weakly smiled despite the obvious pain he was in, despite the tears that glistened in his doe-like eyes. He stared at Changjo lovingly, his body physically showing the words that his mouth was unable to say; the look he sent the other said it all. His look said that it was alright, that he was alright – that Changjo had not done anything wrong, that the younger was not the source of the pain, but rather someone else was. As Ricky’s eyes slowly shut and his head lulled to the side, his body falling limp, Changjo felt the panic rising with in him and scrambled to Ricky, shaking the male gently, only to get no response – not even a groan of pain. Changjo, out of fear, gently rested his ear against the older male’s chest to hear that the teen’s heart was only faintly beating.

“W-What is going on?” whispered Changjo, feeling tears of fear pooling in his eyes. He had not felt this deep of fear before, he had never felt it in his time in the mansion or the asylum – he had not been this scared when he faced the monsters that resided within the mansion, the beast, or even the doctor. He had never felt the deep fear of losing a treasured loved one before; he had never felt fear so deeply that it made it feel like someone had his heart in their hands and were tightly squeezing it.

“I wish I knew Changjo,” whispered Sunggyu, keeping his composure despite the fear and worry he felt deep within his heart. He knew that the youngest was terrified, he was terrified as well, but he also knew in order to make it through this sudden situation they both had to keep their heads and think rationally, “I don’t know what is going on either, however, what I do know is that we both need to get out of here – that we need to get them into a safer place, alright?”

Changjo nodded.

“In order for us to do that, I need you to calm down, okay?”

Changjo nodded again, trying hard to be strong though he knew he – like many of the others – was on his breaking point.

“Let’s go find a room to stay in, okay?” whispered Sunggyu, “One where we can barricade ourselves in until they wake up, okay?”

Changjo nodded and picked up Ricky bridal style while Sunggyu somehow managed to get Woohyun on his back. With the two unconscious males secure, the duo headed out in search for a hiding place.

They had only made it a few steps before Dongwoo had them stopping again, however, this time the male did not freeze, rather, he shoved Hoya away as he let out a pained groan. Once he was free from Hoya’s hold, he collapsed onto his knees with a loud and cringe-worthy thump. However, the thump was not the thing that had concerned the duo, rather, it was the pain filled scream that tore from the male’s throat and reverberated through the empty halls – breaking the silence so suddenly it had both Ukwon and Hoya jumping in surprise. Before they both could ask the male if he was alright, they heard Dongwoo screaming in pain again, however, this time it was louder and directed to someone neither could see.

“Get out of my head!”

Ukwon heard the distant thumps of the doctor rushing their way and turned towards Hoya, “We need to get into a room and barricaded, now!”

Hoya nodded in understanding and rushed to Dongwoo’s side, this time grabbing a hold of the older male tightly, muttering an apology as another scream of pain tore from Dongwoo’s throat and filled the halls.

“I’m sorry but, I don’t want you dying here, not so soon,” whispered Hoya as he forced himself to lift up the slowly weakening Dongwoo bridal style – thought it was a difficult task since Dongwoo had reacted violently to his hold.

After nearly dropping Dongwoo once, Hoya tightened his hold and ignored the electricity that suddenly seemed to shock him. Ignoring the pain sudden pain that seemed to spread like fire underneath of his skin and the exhaustion, he pushed himself forward and after Ukwon – who was nervously turning and tugging on all of the handles of the doors they passed, constantly mumbling about how they needed one to open up and about how one of them had to be unlocked or untouched.

Hoya felt his heart drop as he felt the struggling male in his arms suddenly fall limp – suddenly fall unconscious, his eyes closed tight and his chest barely moving. Though he wanted to speak up about it, he knew that it was better just to keep quiet about it and let the other male focus on finding a place for them to hide.

As they turned a corner and heard the thump, thump, thump of the doctor’s footsteps slowly growing louder in volume, Ukwon was just seconds away from giving in – to surrendering to the doctor. However, just as he was about to give up, a figure familiar came flying around one of the corners of the maze-like halls. The raven haired male’s worn shoes slid on the floor and caused him to slide into the wall, which resulted in a pain filled yelp – one that sounded much like Dongwoo’s own. It held so much pain that Ukwon knew that it was from something more than just sliding into the wall.

“M-Minhyuk,” called Ukwon in shock.

The raven haired male looked up, forcing his trembling legs forward to meet the blonde haired male. Without a second thought, the newcomer moved to Ukwon and enveloped him in a tight hug despite the pain he felt radiating from the places that made contact with the younger. Ukwon, aware of the pain the elder was in, resisted the urge to hug back.

“As much as I’ve missed you, now is not the time for this,” whispered Ukwon, gently pushing the elder away from his body – already missing the warmth as he did so.

“I-I know, we need to hide,” whispered the raven haired male weakly, his eyes already showing the same haziness Dongwoo had before he had become limp within Hoya’s arms, “and I know just the place.”

The man known as Minhyuk led them a couple of doors down the hallway before stopping at one and pushing the door right open. Ukwon ushered Hoya inside with Dongwoo before entering himself, followed closely by Minhyuk. As Hoya gently set Dongwoo down on the floor, Ukwon got to work with moving the empty metal desk towards the door – upon seeing the other male struggling, the steadily weakening Minhyuk grabbed a hold of the desk and helped the other male move it towards the door. They reinforced it with the multiple filing cabinets in the room and a couple of empty bookshelves.

Just as they finished moving the final article of furniture, they heard the growl of the doctor echoing through the halls outside and the sound of his footsteps nearing the room. Hoya held his breath from where he sat beside the unconscious Dongwoo, silently praying that the doctor continued on, that he would not locate them and find Dongwoo – the shadow’s physical vessel – in the state he was currently in.

As they heard the doctor’s footsteps pass their door, they also heard the man calling out with a knowing tone, “Where are you my little lambs – I know you’re here, the shadow’s presence lingers heavily over you…it is far heavier around you than it is the rest…I know you are there – my little lamb.”

Minhyuk, upon hearing the doctor’s taunting, bit back the pain he was feeling – trying hard to with hold the pain filled scream that threatened to slip from behind his tightly closed lips as a sudden pain surged through his body – it felt as though a fire was spreading through his veins. As he stood beside the barricade, pressing himself harshly against the cold wall to cool his burning body, he stared at his beloved Ukwon and his multiples, unsure of which was the right one. He felt tears threatening to fall as he withheld the scream and as he let himself slowly succumb to the darkness he had been fighting off for so long. He finally succumbed to unconsciousness. He had fought hard with the shadow, he had fought to reunite with Ukwon again and now that he was with the male, he  had decided to give in.

Ukwon bit his lip as he saw the elder male stumble backwards into the wall and tightly close his eyes as he bit harshly into his lip, obviously trying to restrain a scream that came out as a rather low and quiet moan of pain. The moan had come out far to quietly to be heard by the doctor, so Ukwon was not too worried about it – however, it did put him on edge, had him hoping that the older male would not let out any louder moans of pain. However, just as he wished such a thing, he saw the older swaying – upon realizing that the man was going to fall, he rushed to his side and caught the unconscious male before he had the opportunity to hit the ground and in turn alert the doctor of their location.

Hoya looked at Ukwon in worry as the other returned his gaze, they both strained their ears to listen for the doctor, only for them to realize as the doctor spoke again that he had not moved at all – that he had been standing outside the door that lead to their room this whole time. However, they were not the only ones who had heard the doctor speak.

“I know you are around here my little lambs for the shadow’s presence only continues to grow stronger and stronger amongst you...”

And so, the real excitement begins and with it the truth of the Shadow's real identity will be revealed as well as his story. What exactly happened to the Shadow? How did he come to be? However, most of all:  What was the decision Dong Woo made to the offer posed by the shadow in part one? 

The following chapters will have those answers and many more. 

Anyhow, I tried to make all the groups have nearly the same amount of words to their part. The first and second parts to this chapter hold 816 words, part three holds 955 words, and the fourth part (due to Dongwoo being the shadow's physical vessel and the reunion of Ubomb) holds 1,182 words. The chapter itself holding a grand total of  3,802 words - which is the longest I've written in a good while.

I really hope you all enjoyed the chapter and I hope to be back soon with the next. ^^