“Call Changmin or Kyuhyun. Now.”

“What’s wrong?” Yunho demanded, half-mindful of the fact that only Amber did as they were told; Yoona having yet to snap out of her shock. “What happened inside?”

Kris’s steps were slow and cautious and the blonde healer stopped at the doorway. “The kitchen’s a mess. I’m guessing he–”

Whatever it was that he had yet to say never made it past his lips as, in a blink of an eye, a sharp serrated knife flew past him and embedded itself on the wall, missing his face by mere centimeters.

“Kris!” Yoona screamed; Amber nearly dropping her phone mid-call to Changmin.

“What happened?” Changmin yelled from the other end of the line. “Amber? Hello?”

“Sangjun’s apeting!” She snapped. “Hurry up and just come back here!”

“Are you al–” Yunho was cut off midsentence when a seemingly invisible force lifted Kris off his feet and flung him at the wall, his back and head colliding harshly with the wood. “Kris!”

Kris grunted as pain erupted from the back of his head, his vision wavering and his ribs aching. But before he could even recover from the sudden attack, he felt something tight coiling around his neck, trying to squeeze the breath out of him, and he wheezed, his hands instinctively coming up to pry whatever it was off of him but there was nothing he could claw at. His chest heaved as he fought to get air into his system but it seemed like the grip on his neck was tightening even more.

“Sangjun, stop! Please!” Yoona yelled at the empty space in an attempt to help. “Don’t hurt him! Whatever it is, we can talk about it! We can fix it!”

The blonde wheezed again, fighting to keep his eyes open even as black spots began to pepper his vision. He opened his mouth wider in an attempt to force a chant out to help himself, his voice failing him when he noticed something beginning to materialize before him. It wasn’t anything solid – far from it, really – but it was clear enough to recognize what he was seeing. A pair of eyes that was so dark that they almost seemed black rested on very pale, taut skin and even in his near unconsciousness, Kris recognized the emotions that swirled in its depths.

Betrayal.

Hurt.

Rage.

But it was gone almost as quickly as it appeared, taking with it the death grip around his neck and Kris felt himself crash to the ground, coughing and sputtering as he attempted to catch his breath. Amber and Yoona darted forward to check on him; the blonde man waving them off gently and assuring them that he was fine and certainly had worse. It was when Yunho stepped past him that he realized that two people had arrived in the midst of all chaos. He knew without having to ask that Jessica and Seohyun had done something to make Sangjun disappear, pretty much saving him from near death.

“How bad are you hurt?” Jessica asked as soon as he back on his feet, albeit he was only able to do so with the help of Yunho and Amber.

“Nothing I can’t handle or heal.” He replied. “How’d you two get back here so quickly?”

“We were already on our way back when Kyuhyun called.” Seohyun explained, her beautiful face marred with a frown. “I’m pretty sure everyone’s already on their way back. Heechul’s close to where Sooyoung, Jonghyun and Minho are so he’s heading back with them. What happened?”

“I’m going out on a limb and… I’m sure Sangjun heard us talking. About him being possibly murdered by Hyungwon.” A grim look settled in his expression. “He’s angry.”

“And anger is a very strong fuel for…” Jessica trailed off when the lights flickered shut. “Energy.”

“We need to get out of here.” Urgency colored Amber’s tone like chilling ice. “We don’t know what he’ll do next.”

No one bothered to give a verbal reply as they moved and rather ran as one group, fumbling and near blind as they were because of the darkness, to where the front door was. Seohyun’s rushed comment about Sangjun feeling more and more volatile got them to move even faster, only to come face to face with a pair of doors that wouldn’t swing open no matter how hard they pushed and pulled.

“We’re stuck!” Amber shook the doorknob in a futile attempt to twist it open, moving aside when Yunho and Kris began to ram their shoulders against the wood.