Her head was throbbing. She was sure of that even before she was fully awake. Sooyoung’s eyes slowly fluttered open as she muffled a groan that was threatening to escape her lips. It took a moment or two when she realized that she was on her bed in the room she shared with Jessica, Yoona, Amber, and Seohyun next to the base. A quick scan of the room revealed that no one was around, except for Heechul, who had dozed off on Jessica’s bed of all places. That meant one thing.

The rest of the team left her behind, and the shaman had been appointed babysitter.

She had a vision. She remembered that now as a shudder ran up and down her spine. Fire. No escape. She remembered. She hadn’t a faintest clue how long it lasted but must’ve been bad enough for everyone to leave her behind to rest. Sooyoung looked down at her arms. No burns, no soot. Nothing. But it all felt too real.

“What now then?” Sooyoung whispered softly to herself. There must be something she could do to help, without having everyone gang up on her for joining the investigation. It wasn’t like she knew where they were anyway so catching up to them was out of the question. But she had to help. It had been a while since she had a vision and for it to come at the time it did had to mean something.

The spirits. She could talk to the spirits.

Careful, she eased her way out of the bed, mindful of the still sleeping Heechul. The man looked so exhausted. Hell, they were all exhausted. All the more reason to end this case. Quietly, she sneaked out of the room. All was silent; a quick peek at the base confirmed her suspicions that only she and Heechul were the ones around. Grabbing a flashlight from where Kris usually kept them, she continued her way, soundlessly exiting the hostel and coming to a stop just outside what was left of Endless Night. The team had always left the main door open due to the fact that there were only two copies of the keys – one with the owner, Lim Seungchul, and the other one with Changmin – so it was less of a hassle to just keep it open.

a sharp breath, she stepped into Endless Night, walking further into the abandoned and nearly burnt down club as she called for the spirits, failing to notice a man just lurking a few feet behind.

~`~`~`~`~`~

Yunho let out a frustrated growl as the team walked out of another house of a survivor empty handed. “This isn’t getting us anywhere.”

“I know.” Seohyun ran a hand down her face. “There must be something we’re missing.”

“Most probably.” Siwon admitted grimly. “It’s a matter of figuring out what it is. We can’t let whoever did this outsmart us.”

Kris listened to the conversation absently as they all made their way back to the van. He was beginning to feel restless himself. It was easy to recognize the signs, especially with the kind of work they had. But this restlessness was different but far from foreign. The Chinese native frowned heavily, suddenly pausing in his tracks, causing Kyuhyun to walk into his back.

Kyuhyun shot him a pointed look, rising on his tiptoes in an attempt to see past the taller man’s shoulder. “What’s the hold up?”

“Something’s wrong.”

His statement caused everyone to pause in their tracks in surprise. “What do you mean something’s wrong?” Siwon demanded.

Kris paid him no mind, pulling out his phone and pressing one of the speed dials, before he brought the said gadget to his ear. Three rings passed, but no answer came. “Answer the phone, Kim Heechul.”

“H-Hello?” A rather sleepy mumble finally replied after another ring.

“Where’s Sooyoung?” He asked without preamble.

“She’s here, slee–” Heechul trailed off. “.”

“Heechul, find her!”

“Calm down, kid. She might be in the bathroom.” Still, Heechul got up from the bed, nearly losing his balance in his haste and was out of the room soon enough with Kris still on the line. A quick check in the nearest bathroom had him spouting colorful words that had Siwon, Kyuhyun, Changmin, and Yunho nearly prying the phone away from Kris. Heechul had barely just stepped into the base when he noticed something off outside the window. “Wait, hang on.”

Frowning, he inched closer to the window and looked out; the sight he was met with had him running out of the base as fast as his legs could carry him, barely managing to shout back in reply at the demands for answers coming from his phone.

“ENDLESS NIGHT IS ON FIRE!”

~`~`~`~`~`~

She smelled it first before she saw or heard or felt anything. Gasoline. She was already deep within Endless Night in her attempt to get the spirits to talk to her. How could there be gasoline inside? Did someone from the team leave it for some reason or another? It seemed unlikely.

That was when she felt it. Heat.

Her eyes widened in alarm and the flashes of her vision that crossed her mind had her sprinting out of the VIP room, only to skid to a halt when she came face to face with the flames of fire that was beginning to rage. The smoke was beginning to smart her eyes, but even then she could see that the fire was quickly engulfing the main door and that it had been blocked from the inside.

“SOOYOUNG!”

“HEECHUL! I’M IN HERE!” Temporary relief flooded in her. If Heechul knew she was there, then it meant help was coming soon. “Chul, listen! Someone’s–”

“Hello, sweetheart.”

Sooyoung abruptly turned at the sight of the voice, finding herself facing someone she had only seen in the pictures among the files that she, Yoona, Amber, Yunho, and Siwon gathered.

 “WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THERE?” Heechul hollered from outside.

“Chul, someone’s in here.” Sooyoung barely got herself to answer; her eyes never leaving the man before her.

“What? Who?”

When she hesitated, the man smiled maniacally. “Go on. Tell your friend.”

“Kyung Dongsoo.”

“WHAT? HOW THE –” Heechul turned his head when two vans screeched to a stop behind him and the rest of the team piled out. “She’s inside! Kyung Dongsoo’s in there!”

“How the hell did that happen?!”

“Oh my god…”

“SOO!”

“SOOYOUNG!”

“STAY AWAY FROM HER!”

“Aww… isn’t that sweet?” Dongsoo smirked. “Too bad there’s nothing they can do except watch us die.”

“Us?” Sooyoung repeated, taking the time to quickly study the man before her. Jet black hair, pale skin, stubble beginning to form, rather loose grey shirt, dark jeans… he looked like any other average person she could cross paths with in the street. He could be anyone, but now it was loud and clear that he was a murderer hiding for the past decade. “You went here to die?”

“There’s no other way out.” Somehow, she understood that he wasn’t merely talking about being stuck inside Endless Night. “This is the only way.”

~`~`~`~`~`~

“What the hell are we going to do?” His eyes wide with fright and worry, Changmin looked around, noting that people had begun to gather on the streets. “Where the is the damn fire truck?”

Seohyun wrung her hands together nervously. “I’m sure it’ll be here soon.”

“Yoona and I will go back to the base. Maybe we can see what’s going on.” Amber grimaced. “That’s if the camera’s inside aren’t broken yet.”

Kris noded. “Do it. Hurry.”

“We can’t afford wait.” Siwon growled, glaring harshly at the growing flames as Amber and Yoona raced back to the hostel. “The fire’s spreading too fast. Throwing buckets of water at it won’t help. It’ll just make the fire stronger.”

“So we’re just going to stand here?” Kyuhyun hissed.

“What about the spirits?” Yunho shot Heechul, Jessica, and Seohyun a questioning look. “Can they help her?”

Jessica closed her eyes, only for them to snap open seconds later as a gasp escaped her lips. “The spirits are distressed. They know that it’s Kyung Dongsoo… and for them, it feels they’re all dying all over again.”

~`~`~`~`~`~

“Can you at least tell me why?”

“Why what, sweetheart?” Dongsoo snickered. “You’d have to be a lot more specific than there. There are many things I can answer to why.”

Sooyoung gritted her teeth, struggling to keep her composure. It was getting ho