“Where are we now?” whispered Sungjong from where he was crouched beside the other six males he had been trapped alongside, they were in a completely different portion of the building than they were before – they were on the same level but in another area of it. The floors were made of concrete and the walls were brick – the place looked far sturdier than the last portion of the building.

“I wish I knew,” responded Sungyeol, peering through the chain-link fence to the level below, where he could see what seemed to be patients writhing around on the ground, “Let’s get down there…”

Sungjong looked at his brother in complete and utter shock, stared at him as if he had grown a second head, “Is that really a smart idea, hyung? We don’t know if those guys are going to kill us or not.”

“It’s worth giving it a try, who knows,” muttered Sungyeol, “Maybe there is a way out down there – well, a way out of this area that is…”

“Hyung, it’s taking us farther away from the others,” whispered Chunji.

“They’re probably far away from us as well,” muttered L, peering around the level they were on, hearing whimpers of pain and struggle coming from around them as well, “Rather than meeting up with them again, I’m more worried about our present situation and where the power has gone one this level.”

“Someone probably shut it off,” whispered L.Joe, shrugging as he wrapped his arm around the jumpy Chunji.

“But who?” whispered Niel, “I don’t think that the doctor would, considering that it would make it harder for him to find us.”

“Maybe there are others like us,” stated CAP, “Others that are trying to escape…”

“But you read all the notes we collected back in the mansion, all of them said that the past specimens died,” whispered L.Joe.

“What if the doctor wanted you to think that,” whispered L, “I’m with Sungyeol, let’s go down there.”

“How about you two go down there and scope it out and we stay here and keep watch,” stated Chunji.

“I’m definitely staying here, as is my hyung,” stated Sungjong, latching onto Sungyeol’s arm, “You go down there yourself L.”

“I’m going with him,” stated Sungyeol, freeing himself of his brother’s grip, “After all, it was my idea.”

Sungjong whimpered but refused to move from where he sat crouching on the ground with the other males, latching onto Chunji who was holding L.Joe’s hand in a death grip. Sungjong then whispered, “If you get yourself killed I’ll feel no guilt because it was your stupid idea.”

“We’re not going to be killed,” muttered Sungyeol, looking towards L, “Want to go down there?”

L nodded, “We’ll wave you all down if it’s safe and clear.”

“Aye,” muttered Cap and Niel, knowing that the other three would not answer, well, L.Joe probably would have if he hadn’t had to worry about the fact Chunji was cutting off circulation to his fingers.

Sungyeol looked at L, who had happily took the elder’s hand in his own and lead the way, keeping his cold stoic expression in place on his face as he lead the way, despite the fear that was coursing through his body, through his veins, at every noise made by the inhabitants of the asylum.

“Be careful,” whispered L as they managed to get to the stairs and onto the well-lit floor with no issues, Sungyeol hummed, “We don’t know what’s down here.”

Sungyeol stepped away from the younger slightly to look at the sign outside one of the doors before whispering what he read in shock, “Specimen 80…”

“Lee Jinki…” whispered L in shock as he stared at the sign in fear before turning his attention towards his companion, “If we hadn’t made it out of that mansion, we would’ve been locked up in here as well – wouldn’t we?”

“We would be like them,” whispered Sungyeol, looking at the disfigured male that was chained to what seemed to be a hospital bed, “We would’ve been like these poor people who lost their minds – like those that had still been trapped in the mansion, the ones that tried to kill us…we would be those horrifying monsters roaming the halls of the mansion and the woods…”

“You’d be like me…”

Sungyeol shivered at the sound of the eerie tone of the disembodied voice of the shadow as it echoed through his mind, whispering what it believed was truths into the boy’s mind. Sungyeol felt the hair on his arms and the back of his neck stand up, he felt his muscles tense and he trembled slightly – having not been prepared for the shadow to speak up so suddenly.

“I’m not too bad now am I?”

Sungyeol tried hard to ignore him but he kept talking, kept invading his mind.

“Kill L…this is the opportune moment...do it now and you’ll get to be one of the few that live to see the sunlight again.”

Sungyeol shook his head, placing a hand over his eyes as he closed them tightly, trying to fight off the shadow’s procession over his thought process – trying hard to close off his mind to the master of this puppet show, the player of this chess game.

“Sungyeol?” whispered L in concern as Sungyeol pushed him away before stepping back, away from the younger.

“Get away from me L,” stated Sungyeol, his voice wavering as he fought to control it, as he fought to control his senses and his mind.

“Sungyeol,” muttered Myungsoo in concern as he hesitantly stepped closer, “What’s wrong?”

“Get away from me!” cried out Sungyeol, causing the other five males on the floor above to grow concerned and move closer to the area in which the duo stood – causing them to come down to the next level.

“Sungyeol!” cried Myungsoo in horror as Sungyeol continued to back away, moving straight towards an open cell, “What’s wrong?”

Sungjong and Chunji froze, much like Sungyeol had before the little episode began, however, it was Niel who spoke up, “It is the shadow…”

“What is he saying?” muttered L.

“We don’t know,” whispered Niel, “I can’t hear it; I can just sense it…him…surrounding Sungyeol.”

“Does that mean that Sungyeol is the one the doctor was talking about being connected to?” questioned L.Joe.

Niel shook his head, “It just means that the shadow is trying to get Sungyeol to do some of his dirty business….that he’s trying to get Sungyeol to officially begin the game…”

“You mean that one of us is the physical vessel connected to Sungyeol?” whispered CAP in worry.

Niel nodded, “My guess is that it is Myungsoo, judging from how this all began when they were alone together.”

“Which means that we can’t leave the two alone together,” whispered Sungjong.

Sungyeol let out a sudden heart wrenching, pain filled scream that echoed through the halls before collapsing onto his knees and burying his face in his hands, sobbing into them. The other six watched him in fear, unsure of whether or not to approach him – whether or not it was safe to. Even Niel refused to step closer like the rest of the members, sensing that the shadow was still lingering around or in Sungyeol for the time being.

“Sungyeol?” whispered Sungjong in concern, stepping closer to his brother despite the feeling in his gut telling him to keep away from the elder for a little while longer.

“Get away,” whispered Sungyeol, sobbing into his hands, fighting hard to get the words to leave his tongue, “Stay away…just a little while longer.”

Sungjong froze; he had never heard the elder male sound so broken before, “What did the shadow do to you in these short few seconds…”

“I showed him scenes of my creation that would break anybody…”

Sungjong shivered as the shadow touched his mind for the first time, only touching it for a second before disappearing completely. When Niel stepped closer to Sungyeol, the elder said nothing – he just kept still where he was kneeling, crying sorrowfully – hinting towards the males that the shadow had come and done all it intended to do.

“Sungyeol?” whispered Niel, gently, “What did the shadow want?”

Sungyeol just shook his head, refusing to speak as he tried hard to calm himself down.

“Sungyeol, we need to know,” stated CAP gently, talking as if he was approaching a cornered animal that would lash out any second, “We need to know who you are connected to.”

“It told me to kill Myungsoo, alright?” snarled Sungyeol in disgust, finally pulling his hands away from his face and turning to look at the six males that sat before him fear shining in his swollen, blood-shot eyes. His words had all six of them freezing in shock.

Niel somehow managed to quickly recover and wrapped his arms tightly around the elder male, hugging the male closer and running his finger’s soothingly through the elder’s hair. Niel tried hard to keep the fear out of his own voice as he spoke up, “It’ll be alright hyung…you’ll be alright.”

Sungyeol whimpered, “He’s going to come back.”

“Who?” whispered Niel.

“The shadow,” whispered Sungyeol.

“He’s no longer here hyung,” stated Sungjong, causing Sungyeol to look at him in shock.

“You heard him?”

Sungjong nodded, “Only for a second…”

Sungyeol whimpered and buried his face in Niel’s shoulder, his tears continuing to form rivulets down his cheeks.

“He is coming as well.”

“Who?” questioned Myungsoo, finally stepping closer, finally recovering from getting so shaken up earlier.

A voice echoed through the room that had them all trembling in slight fear, a voice that had panic rising up in their veins, “Where are you little lambs?”

Sungyeol felt goose bumps arise on his skin and his hair standing up on the back of his neck as the shadow’s presence returned for a short second.

“Had you ended Myungsoo’s life before, you could’ve walked away unharmed and alive…you could’ve been free, he would’ve let you go…but you are not because of your foolish emotions – because of the petty emotion known as love, which truly does not exist in this world...my world.”

Sungyeol whimpered and Niel quickly motioned for the others to enter one of the open cells. After seeing the others diving into some of them, he quickly dragged the once again silent Sungyeol along with him as he dove into a different cell, a bit farther away from the others, happily hiding himself and the older male under the bed while the others – in the other cells over hid in pairs under the bunks of the numerous open cells.

 Niel felt his breath catch in his throat as he hear the Doctor’s approaching footsteps, has he heard the male’s raspy voice as he laughed hysterically for no reason what so ever, “I know you are here little lambs, I can sense the shadow dancing around you – well, one of you and if there is one, then there are surely more to be nearby since sheep travel in herds…”

Sungyeol bit his lip to hold back a whimper as the man’s foot was outlined by the light outside, as his shadow was cast over the floor and walls.

“Ah…it’s strong…there are two of you, aren’t there?” stated the doctor, amusement dripping from his voice, “It’s my lucky day.”

Sungyeol trembled in Niel’s hold; burying his face in the younger’s shoulder. Sungyeol let out a scream though, as Niel lost his hold on the elder male and he was pulled out from under the bed by his foot. Niel closed his eyes as terror rose up within him as he pressed himself as close to the wall as he could.

“Lamb number one,” stated the man, a smirk playing on his lips as he stared at the terrified Sungyeol, who looked at him with wide, eyes that were filled with terror, “Where are the other lambs?”

Sungyeol kept silent.

“I’m not going to play around like I had in my mansion, where are they?” growled the doctor, tugging on Sungyeol’s leg and causing the younger to emit a scream of absolute and total pain, “Where are they?”

“Th-they aren’t here,” responded Sungyeol, stuttering out in fear, silently motioning for Niel to stay silent in his hiding spot.

In the other cells, the other members of the group flinched at pain filled screams that reverberated through the area they were in – through the various cells, CAP had to keep L from running out and protecting Sungyeol, he had to hold the younger male down.

“That is bull,” growled the doctor, “Where are they?”

Sungyeol kept his gaze locked onto something behind the doctor – too scared to actually look at the male and too afraid that if he did look away, he’d give up Niel’s position beside him in the cell.

“Where are they?” questioned the doctor for the umpteenth time, this time squeezing Sungyeol’s arm until he heard a bloodcurdling pop and a scream of pain once again make its way out of Sungyeol’s lips.

“T-they went back upstairs,” whispered Sungyeol, trying hard to keep his voice from wavering, lying straight to the doctors face as the shadow instructed him.

The doctor looked at Sungyeol doubtfully before pulling away and letting go of Sungyeol’s arm, glaring at the male that lay on the ground, the bone of his arm clearly displaced from the interrogation.

“I will go up there, but I’m trapping you in here,” growled the man, “If they aren’t there, you will be the first little lamb to be eaten by the big, bad wolf.”

The doctor then stepped out of the room, exiting with the thunderous slam of the thick metal door, trapping Sungyeol and Niel in the cell. The only noise that could be heard after that were the heavy footsteps of the doctor and the pain filled sobs of Sungyeol as Niel attempted to make a make-shift cast for the elder, placing two metal bars against the elder’s arm and wrapping it up with the small amount of bandages their group was carrying. Only once the footsteps disappeared did L.Joe, Chunji, Sungjong, CAP, and L come out of their hiding places and ran to the cell which held Sungyeol and Niel.

L attempted to pull the door open, however, it was in fact locked, “Damn it, Niel, is there a way out of the cell?”

Niel looked around and spotted a small opening under the bed, “There might be, but I’m not too sure, but either way, you five get going – we’ll find a way to catch up.”

“We’re not leaving you,” stated Sungjong.

“But you need to,” stated Niel, “If the two of us do end up…two people will be guaranteed their escape, their lives…so, you need to go – all of you.”

The others hummed in understanding and despite their hearts telling them not to go, the five left, Sungjong a bit more hesitant than the others, was pulled away by Myungsoo under Sungyeol’s hoarse orders.

Niel sighed as he heard the others running away, before turning to face his pained hyung, “Can you crawl?”

Sungyeol shrugged, whimpering out, “I’ll try.”

Niel nodded and army crawled back under the bed, ignoring the grimy tiles that caressed his arms, ignoring the stink of mildew and mold – ignoring the metallic scent of blood drifting in from the next cell over. He might have escaped the doctor for the time being, but whatever – whoever – was in the next cell could be just as deadly. It was probably more dangerous because the cell’s inhabitant probably did not have a shred of sanity left.

“Who would in this ‘grave’ situation?”

The duo trembled at the disembodied voice’s return, the hair on their arms and the back of their necks rose on end. The duo’s muscles tensed as they felt the shadow’s presence, as they heard the doctor’s aggravated screams and rapid footsteps heading back in their direction.

“Oops…If you two want to escape I suggest doing it now…that is unless you want to go through the pure torture he will put you through.”

As sudden as the shadow appeared, his presence vanished – leaving Niel and Sungyeol to fend for themselves. Niel quickly army crawled through the small hole conveniently placed in the wall under the bed, his heart beating rapidly as the nauseating scent of blood invaded his nose. He pulled Sungyeol into the cell as he heard the door to the other room fly open and the doctor screech in a mixture of anger and distress.

“You ing shadow! You will regret this! All these damn lambs will die because of your constant interference…do you hear me!? All your damn vessels will die!” 

I'm still alive and back with another update! ^^

I hope you all are enjoying this...I hope I still have readers despite these periodic and rare updates - which I am sorry for by the way. *bows* 

Anyhow, I was wondering if you guys could possibly write a simple "update soon" or something in the comments below to let me know I still have a few readers despite these ty and very periodic and random updates...