After what seemed liked hours of travel, the males had arrived at a creepy looking castle like building surrounded by brick walls and iron gates – the building as old and many of its windows were broken, there were fissures dressing many of the walls, one portion of the building had already collapsed. The most noticeable feature of the building was that it seemed to melt into the side of the mountain, leading into the large mountains that seemed to stand between the males and the freedom they strived for – they thirsted for.

Sunggyu stopped before the tall iron gates, paying no mind to the darkening skies above as he turned to face the other males, “We’re at a dead end.”

“So it seems that we are,” muttered Woohyun.

“What are we going to do?” whispered Chunji, jumping at the distant rustle of the trees.

“There is only one thing we can do…go in there,” responded L.Joe, looking at the elder male.

Dongwoo then spoke up, peering at Hoya who stood beside him, “What if it’s a trap?”

“It’s not,” stated Niel and Sungyeol in unison, earning themselves both shocked glances from the other eleven.

“How do you two know?” questioned Changjo, peering at the duo with much suspicion, not knowing if they should trust the two who had been acting extremely out of character.

“It’s a long story,” stated Sungyeol.

“Too long for the time we have before the shadows of the forest catch up to us,” stated Niel, “However, the one thing we can say is…that mansion was not where it started…this is the place where it began…this is the place where the shadow was born. It is also the only entrance and exit to this island.”

The other eleven stared at him in shock and Sungyeol continued from where Niel left off, “This is where most of the monsters that roam the land come from, this was where the beast and the doctor were first corrupted – first used by the shadow.”

“How do you know this?” questioned Sunggyu, peering at the two in concern – not knowing if they should trust the younger males.

“The shadow told us,” stated Niel, “As crazy as this sounds, when I was insane, I had many, many hallucinations about this place, many nightmares about the birth of the shadow and the horrors that still reside in these walls as well as the horrors that rest out here.”

Sungyeol glanced around them, back towards the forest – his eyebrows creasing with worry, “Once we step into this place, we’re stuck until we get out. Once we enter this place, the game between the shadow, the beast, and the doctor – which includes the thirteen of us – will commence. The game of Outlast will start. Once we step inside we’ll be safe from the demons that lie outside, but we’ll be trapped with those within. I – like you all – would rather stay out here, roam the lands outside and not have to go through this hell again, but it’s the only way to escape hell-on-earth.”

“How do we know you two aren’t lying to us?” questioned Dongwoo, looking at Sungyeol in curiosity.

“I’m not insane,” stated Sungyeol, peering at Dongwoo, “I never was, but I – like many others here – have been, as odd as it sound, grazed by the shadow, he gave me the gift of in sight – like he has to some of you all but you just don’t know it yet.”

“Sungyeol,” stated Myungsoo, grabbing ahold of the elder male’s shoulder, “You aren’t making any sense.”

“I know,” whispered the elder, “I can’t form the right words, the right sentences in my head – there is something there preventing me from doing so, but understand Myungsoo, I am not lying to you. The thing that Niel and I were hiding was this…the fact the shadow touched our minds in one way or another.”

“Then are either of you his vessels?” questioned Sungjong.

Sungyeol and Niel shook their heads, “Neither of us are his vessel, he simply just grazed our minds, gave of us the gift of foresight. The vessel is still hidden amongst us.”

The elven then glanced at each other before turning to look at Niel and Sungyeol again, the fear on their faces showing that they hadn’t been lying.

“Did you hear that?” whispered Hoya, his heart nearly beating out of his chest as his heart rate picked up at the sound of nearing footsteps.

“They’ve arrive,” whispered Sungyeol in complete terror, visibly paling.

“We’ve wasted too much time, we must get inside,” whispered Niel, “Now!”

The others nodded, deciding to go with the two’s words, deciding to trust the duo, although neither seemed to be completely in the right state of mind. Sunggyu pushed the large iron gates open and the thirteen rushed inside, heading to the second gate, only to stop and turn to look over their shoulders at the sound of metal smacking against metal and the eerie screech of a closing gate.  

Their hearts stopped at what they had just witnessed, the heavily iron gates had closed themselves, locking the thirteen in. Without a second thought, knowing that they could only move forward now, the thirteen moved through the second gate, arriving at the courtyard of the large building only to read a sign that had them all freezing in shock. The sign had read:

Mount Darkus Asylum

“You have got to be kidding me,” whispered Cap, causing the other twelve to jump – having not expecting the male to speak up.

However, they all jumped again as a voice reverberated through all their minds, the voice was unfamiliar and the raspy tone to it sent chills down their spines – they all looked at each other in horror as they guessed who the voice belonged to, the master – the shadow.

“So…the trick worked…wonderful…Welcome to the location of our…final game – Outlast. The beast and the puppet are already awaiting you within the building, within your final trial. I will let you know, the scientist – that good for nothing man who brought this all upon us – both you and I included – shall act as one of my vessels…there are others, but they are hidden amongst you all.”

The words had the thirteen tensing up, casting cautious gazes towards each other – casting frightened gazes.

“Hahaha, I see the trust has easily been severed with simple words…I wonder what the reaction will be once it is completely severed by actions. I shall patiently await the outcome. To every person here, there is an opposite, one person you are tied to and in order for you to survive the hell I’ve created you must outlive your opponent. You all are either my mind or my body…but I will not dare to say which is which, although two are probably already obvious. The rules of the game are, you all must not kill – for you all, from the previous game, are obviously not fighters. You all can run, you can hide, or you can die. With each set of two, one shall be my body and the other my mind; you all will be a part of the shadows – my vessels. As previously stated I can’t wait to see which one outlasts the other – who will lose and become my food, my meal, my energy. Ah, you all must be very confused and filled with questions…don’t worry, your answers will come with time, but for now, let the game of Outlast begin.”

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know that it is long over due and I apologize, but hey, it's just in time for Halloween. Hopefully, I'll be able to get another chatper up again soon. 

I know this chapter was probably bit confusing, but I want it to be. For those of you confused, I can clear a bit of it up, not all of it, since I have to be sure to leave some stuff for the following chapters. Anyway, the thirteen escaped Esper's mansion and through the woods, being lured to the Asylum, the place where it all began - the truth will come in later chapters. You learn in this chapter that Esper actually created the shadow and the beast, but in the long run is a servant - a slave - to it. Also, you learn that there aren't just two vessels - there are fourteen, meaning that there are seven pairs, however, those pairs have yet to be revealed. That's pretty much all that is in this chapter (and I apologize for that).

You all must be thinking, why are they back in a buliding? Aren't they supposed to be outdoors?

Originally, I planned for this story to take place outdoors, but after much thought, it'll be back indoors because I tend to manage scares better that way. If that makes any sense...

Last but not least...

IMPORTANT!: I want you all to be involved a bit, so, if you have questions - which I know you surely do, after this chapter - please leave them in the comments below and I'll be sure to answer them in coming chapters. ^^