Word Count: 9843

 

Q: Why the hell did you write this much and then just leave it?

A: I thought of something better.

Q: Why though? Whyyyy did you write this?

A: For a competition...

Q: Will you never complete it?

A: Probably not...

Brief Synopsis: A twisted horror story revolving around Sehun and Luhan. And others.

 

Foreword:

---

There is such a thing called the state of insanity.

The one who titles such profanity is a of bad luck.

A terrible luck, where you spent a buck to label a soul,

an ending that is quite foul occurs, where one crease and a cry

can be considered a disability, a fly causes a fright- let’s call this anxiety,

a slight tear from the eyeball, a drop of depression.

An air of repression is made.

The question remains, laid down in front,

A grunt is given, a label filled of disdain.

Can you refrain from the term, the label, the word,

That is absurd? This is insanity.

 

---

 

 

Suho opened his eyes to find he was still in the same classroom. He sighed. His dreams had betrayed him yet again. Effortlessly, his eyes flickered towards the time. It was only five minutes past four. He had dreamed for only five minutes. He rolled his eyes and placed his head back on the table.

Annoyed that his friend had escaped a harsh punishment for sleeping from their strict teacher, Sehun slapped Suho’s head so hard, Suho jumped up with fright and accidently punched Sehun in the face. Sehun fell back onto the floor, his nose aching.

The teacher ran over and whacked Suho on the head, much to Sehun’s amusement.

“Oh Sehun- office! Now! And you, SUHO,” the grey faced woman roared at the two giggling students who were satisfied with their actions, “GET OUT OF MY CLASS ROOM.” She bawled at them as they were not even paying attention.

Whilst she shrieked at Suho, his smiled faded to a straight line. Sehun knew at that moment… something was wrong.

His eyes turned black and his body went limp, collapsing down to the floor like a broken doll. He fell backwards onto the floor, his body in violent spasms. His arm twisted out of his socket, flopping horribly as though it was a starving animal with a mind of its own. An eyeball popped out and a spaghetti-like substance twirled out, growing immensely like weed. White froth escaped from Suho’s lips, leaking down his face like a poisonous gas, discolouring the air around into a pale green. The skin on his face began to melt and underneath, the red muscular structure of his face appeared, drowned in a lake of blood, oozing out uncontrollably. His clothes seemed to dissolve in a seemingly acidic substance, leaving Suho on the floor. Sehun felt bile rise in his throat. He stepped back as Suho’s body began dissolving into the ground, giving an effervescence of a horrid, stinking smell that filled Sehun’s nostrils.

Sehun blinked.

“Fine, I’ll leave.” Suho sighed; unaware that Sehun had turned a deathly whitish pale, his wide, sore eyes staring straight at him. The teacher, too, was completely unfazed as she watched the student walk out nonchalantly.

Sehun was completely dazed and astonished. He felt his body tremble as he looked down on the floor. Nothing. There was nothing. Not any sign of anything. He thought to himself, I-I imagined it whilst his stomach threatened to reveal its contents to the entire class.

“Sehun! OUT!” The teacher shrieked at him, unaware of his petrified expression.

Sehun wiped his nose slowly whilst the other students were dozing off in their seats- they were used to the duo being kicked out comically. Yet it absolutely frightened Sehun that they were all completely oblivious to what he had seen.

 “S-sorry…” Sehun replied, his voice dry and raspy. He was sweating rapidly.

Sehun stuffed his books and pens into his bag before dashing out of the classroom with true fear.

Outside, he could see the dark sky. It was, after all, 4PM: a winter afternoon.

The hallway was deserted and Sehun was completely distraught with alarm. His whole existence felt warped. No one had seen Suho’s body move so insanely or his body disintegrate so vividly in front of him. Not even Suho himself. He felt as though he was in the middle of a nightmare.

Knowing he couldn’t go back into his classroom, Sehun had no choice but to walk forward. His whole body wanted to turn the opposite way and enter the classroom yet his mind urged him ahead. His teacher would only grow more insane.

For a long, drawn-out moment, Sehun stood still, his heart hammering in his chest, unable to move.

The moment passed.

It seemed his body took control and in the next instant he spun around running with a furious urgency to get back into the classroom. His nose ached but he was far too afraid to continue walking alone. He reached the door handle and went to grab it before it itself inside, swirling the wall into its pull.

Sehun stepped back, aghast, watching with his eyes wide as the whole wall and classroom was consumed by what seemed to be a black hole. He couldn’t move. He was frozen in space.

Whilst engulfing the entire classroom- the blood, bones and brick of everything inside, it seemed as though the black hole had spotted him. It began rushing straight towards Sehun, aimed at the floor. Sehun felt a terrible, cold sweat form a layer over his body.

With no time to scream, his body automatically clicked into flight mode. He immediately bolted away from the corridor, scampering with terror down the same hallway he avoided, his heart barely keeping up with the adrenaline that was rushing through him, as though a deep fire had been lit, burning intensely and unbearably within him.

As he was charging down the hall way, he noticed Suho sitting on the stairs ahead through the double doors- alone, on his phone casually, completely unaware of the scene behind him. The veins in Sehun’s neck practically exploded.

“RUN! SUHO, RUN!” Sehun howled hysterically, flying past Suho with such precision, he managed to force Suho to fall down the steps. Suho landed violently at the bottom of the stair case. Sehun skidded to a halt, ready to lift his friend but watched as Suho’s eyes darted behind whatever Sehun was running from.

“WHAT THE F--”

Suho’s vision was met with a dark, absorbing ball of blackness sweeping towards him.

Sehun couldn’t help but pause in pure fright, wondering why the actual hell Suho hadn’t continued to run for his life. It was as though he had been turned to stone, his expression constant. However, his body continued to shudder violently. Sehun didn’t know what to do.

As the black hole approached Suho, he held out his hand in that instant as if to block his face.

It didn’t work.

The black hole was absorbed inside of him.

Straight after, he collapsed onto the floor with an explicitly violent, horrific force.

His skull was shattered to miniature pieces.

Sehun felt his hand suddenly become extremely wet. He blinked and realised his hand was pressed down into Suho’s skull. He could not move an inch. He was frozen in place and felt his throat turn as dry as air and his eyes felt as though they were on fire.

The school bell rung. His head began violently shaking side to side, unable to comprehend the sight in front of him. He did not want to believe this. He could not believe what he had seen.

The corridors above and below were immediately filled with lively students. He heard shoes stepping down the steps. His mouth remained dry. Startled disbelieving tears trickled down his face.

It seemed it was not a dream.

Above and below him, there was a huge silence. It was followed by an ear-splitting shriek. Sehun’s shriek.

 

***

 

He woke up one morning in the same room, with the same feeling, as though he hadn’t slept. He immediately sat up and stared at his barred window with a long sigh. He continued to stare before the same familiar feeling overwhelmed him.

He began to tremble, like any other day, as his body began crawling.

He panicked and with a shriek, he pulled up his sleeve to see ants crawling all over his skin. He trailed backwards, slamming his head hard against the wall, landing with a dizzying thud on his bed. Consequently, he lifted his hand up behind his head in pure agony whilst his vision faded to black briefly before he shook his head back to normal and looked at his bloodied hand.

It only brought back the memories. The memories that came back every morning. The memories that would continue to haunt him forever.

He began roaring uncontrollably, wailing inconsolably about the incident. He had witnessed his friend become the victim of a supernatural murder and was blamed for it. The monster that had killed his friend made Sehun seem like the murderer.

He was no murderer. He refused to accept he was a murderer. He refused to believe it. No.

He screeched till two nurses, a doctor and security guards ran in, pinning him down, injecting a sedative straight into his artery. He struggled from their grip, his cries getting more horrific, trailing down the corridor outside where other inmates could hear.

He was slowly drawn back into unconsciousness, as usual.

 

“Sehun? Oh Sehun?” A distant voice called.

Sehun’s hand twitched before his eyes began opening.

“Sehun, ah! He’s waking up. Sehun, can you hear me?” The same calm voice called out.

Sehun eventually was awoken to a doctor looking down at him. He was locked in a straitjacket in a very small, confined area padded with soft material from the walls to the ceiling. His leg was chained to the bed he was placed on. He could not move.

“W-what…” Sehun began panicking, struggling to move, managing only to move side to side weakly. He could feel that his head was bandaged. This had never happened before, not in the three months he had been there.

“You have been temporarily restrained for your wellbeing. Do you know why?” The doctor asked, holding a check book in his one hand, a pen in the other.

“Y-you think I-I’m crazy!” Sehun hollered at the doctor. The doctor shook his head softly.

“No, Sehun. I am going to explain very carefully. You are suffering from severe paranoid schizophrenia. It is not your fault. It seems to be inherited from your family. Paranoid schizophrenia means you see things that are no---”

The doctor’s face was suddenly warped into a venomous snake that aimed itself straight at Sehun’s face, its deadly fangs dropping saliva onto Sehun’s face. Sehun’s voice-box felt as though it was blocked. He could not scream as the doctor continued to move forward, his scaly body tightening around him.

He closed his eyes involuntarily and opened them to find his lips had been concealed and the snake had returned to its human form.

“Sehun, it seems your condition is extremely severe. In order to help you, you will be attending electroconvulsive therapy three times a week for the next four weeks. I have consent from your parents to do so.” The doctor was sat next to him, writing down everything he was saying. He bent down and allowed Sehun to speak by removing the device from his lips.

“Y-you’re going to shock me?” He gasped, almost hysterically, laughing at the maniac doctor. “Y-you’re a m-monster!  A MONSTER! A-AND… H-H-HOW CAN YOU NOT BELIEVE ME? T-THE M-M-MONSTERS A-ARE TAKING OVER T-THE--- TH-THEY KILLED S--- SUHO! THEY KILLED SUHO! YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME” Sehun’s voice only grew louder and louder, more frantic and powerful before the doctor forcibly replaced the device around Sehun’s lips.

“Sehun, you are very ill now. I’m afraid what you think is true is actually false. You are imagining all these horrible visions. It is a part of your mental illness.” The doctor stood up. “Your first session will be tonight.”

He walked out, leaving Sehun to drown in his own thoughts.

 

***

 

Luhan, Sehun’s closest friend, had been to Sehun’s murder trial. Sehun was unable to attend as he was locked in a high security mental hospital. He was not allowed to see visitors of any kind- not his friends or family.

Luhan felt heart broken. Never in his wildest dreams would he have ever thought Sehun would kill a friend.

He would never forget the sentence for Sehun- life imprisonment (a life sentence) in a high security mental hospital where he would under no circumstances ever be let out again. Luhan began crying uncontrollably as his thoughts continued going around the traumatic experience.

He was in the middle of a music class and had completely broken down. Before he knew it, he had been taken out with a trusted classmate.

It was 4PM. The skies were, again, dark- pitch black. The corridor seemed completely empty. Luhan and Lay stood outside the classroom. Lay found it to be a routine to help Luhan to calm down, however the corridor’s lights were switched off. This was unusual.

“I still can’t believe it…” Luhan wept, carelessly wiping his tears and snot onto his sleeve. He didn’t care about hygiene, nor the peculiar fact that the lights were off. He preferred to cry in darkness naturally, to hide his puffy face.

“No one can.” Lay nodded. “I never thought Sehun could do anything like that… t-to Suho…” Lay felt weary and upset to talk about his deceased best friend. He had to speak often, otherwise like Luhan, he would have been an emotional wreck.

“Sehun was not a murderer.” Luhan wept, continuously wiping his tears. “He wouldn’t…” Luhan sobbed.

“There’s something odd about this, isn’t there, huh? L-like…” Lay paused to think for a moment.

It was then there was a loud groan deep within the heart of the corridor. Luhan and Lay froze in their steps. Their conversation had turned stale.  Luhan’s nose unblocked and a terrible feeling of unease overcame him. He turned to Lay.

“W-we should go back in.” Luhan cried out, heading straight towards the classroom door, his heart in his mouth. He turned his back on Lay.

That very second, Lay bellowed in pure agony. In the next second, his alarmed roar turned into an echo and the lights in the corridor switched back on, shining down forcibly over Luhan.

Luhan stood alone in the empty, lit corridor. At his feet was Lay’s dismembered body, puddled in thick, red blood, sitting on top of his shoes. Lay’s head was at Luhan’s feet, his eyes staring blankly in fear. His hand was open, his shoes lay separate from his feet. One of his legs was half ripped open; his ivory-white bone stuck out, stained red by the muscles that looked like lasagne.

“L-La---” Luhan threw up violently, his body retching in spasms. He screamed as a knife appeared in his hand, red as ruby, as though it had been dolloped in blood. It was glued to his hand and refused to drop off.

The sick trailed off Luhan’s chin, dripping down his uniform. He accidently kicked Lay’s head in his spasms.

“LAAAAY!” Luhan screeched. His loud, high-pitched scream pierced through his own ears and the stench of sick, blood and death was pure Hell. He simultaneously tried to shake off the knife despairingly, his soul torn apart at his friend’s brutal murder in front of him.

He howled as the classroom door opened. As if by deadly chance, the knife flung from Luhan’s hand, spinning unforeseeably through the air, darting into Luhan’s favourite teacher. The teacher stared for a moment, the knife embedded into the middle of his forehead. He looked at Luhan in complete and utter incredulity, whilst Luhan’s heart stopped beating.

The teacher’s corpse swatted down to the floor, landing in Lay’s remains, leaving Luhan in hysterics, bawling out in perplexity, disturbed beyond relief at what he had witnessed.

 

***

 

Sehun was rolled down a blindingly white corridor in his straitjacket, his mouth still tightly bound. He wanted to close his eyes but the threat of remembering kept his eyes straining open, watering and aching unbearably. The nurses who rolled him on the bed were equipped with stun guns, ready to attack Sehun at any moment if they needed to. He felt dehumanised.

He was through the doors and found himself in what seemed to be an operating theatre. He was picked up by the nurses and placed down onto an operating table. A bright, white light shone above him. He found himself staring back at it, damaging his eyes that felt as though they were burning.

His vision was darted when he felt a needle prick the area behind his knee. He felt a strange sensation and watched as the nurses took off his straitjacket. He thought for a moment how idiotic the devilish women were as he attempted to get up. He could not. His legs lost feeling and these horrible sensations drifted up north on his body, slowly taking over him.

 

When he woke up later, he was in his normal, familiar room but felt no different to before. He wanted to clamour at the top of his voice before he noticed something odd. The ceiling was closer to his head. Sehun tilted his head and reached his arm upwards with curiosity and touching the spotty ceiling. He moved his fingertips over the gentle texture with awe, feeling a sense of calamity.

He then looked down and noticed how far away the tiled floor looked. He raised his eyebrow and slowly moved his head down to notice he was on the top bunk of a bunk bed. Beneath him, a body lay unconscious inside a bed.

Sehun jumped down and landed on his knees, bruising them. Wincing in pain, he pulled himself up and reached over to the person’s duvet. Breathing deeply, Sehun counted down from three in his head before lifting the duvet off.

“NO! NO! NO!” A voice howled in Sehun’s face. Sehun was met with a desperate pair of hands trying to grab the duvet back. The person sounded insane and terrified Sehun. Sehun dropped the duvet onto the floor and stepped backwards, startled by the boy’s somehow familiar voice.

Sehun’s mind drifted for a match, and in the next second, a name popped up.

“L-Luhan…?” Sehun called softly. He was absolutely petrified for the answer.

The boy sat up with the duvet over his head. He violently pulled it off. Luhan stared at Sehun in horror.

“NO! YOU MURDERER! YOU DID IT! Y-YOU EVIL DEVIL! DEMON!” Luhan shouted, aiming punches towards Sehun’s face. One landed beautifully, sending Sehun flying backwards. Sehun landed in a heap and felt tears well up.

“Luhan…” He repeated, both relieved and horrified to finally see a familiar face. Luhan paused, staring at his friend in bewilderment.

“D-DON’T TALK TO ME!” Luhan spat out. “DEVIL! YOU EVIL, CRUEL DEMON!” Luhan began shrieking loudly again. Sehun immediately ran forward and pinned Luhan to the bed, forcing his hands down on Luhan’s mouth to stop him from gaining the attraction of the hospital’s staff.

“Shut up you idiot. They’ll drug you…!” Sehun whispered urgently. Luhan stopped protesting under Sehun’s grip and pushed Sehun away.

“How the did you do it, huh?” Luhan asked in an angry yet quietened tone. “Y-YO--” he almost began before Sehun pinned him down.

“I said shut up, Luhan!” Sehun almost began pleading with his old friend. Luhan bit Sehun’s hand and Sehun ended up swearing loudly in pain.

In that moment, Luhan watched as two nurses, a doctor and two bodyguards walked in and pinned Sehun against the wall. Sehun sighed and stared at his friend whose disbelieving eyes watched the doctor insert a substance into Sehun’s arm before letting him flop to the floor. They gave Luhan a warning look before locking the door again.

Luhan went down to Sehun, horrified.

“W-what t-t-the…” Luhan was outraged at the doctor’s acts.

“I-I’ll b-be… awake…” Sehun barely whispered, his eyes slowly shutting. “…In the… m-m-morning…” He forced out before losing consciousness.

Luhan ended up placing Sehun in his bed. He didn’t know what to do. He ended up going onto the top bunk. He sat on the top bunk, wondering how on Earth he would ever explain what he had seen. He did not kill his friend yet he was in a mental home- a mental prison, and he didn’t know if he would ever be let out.

 

The next morning, Luhan and Sehun woke up at the same time due to the smell of gourmet food on their tiny table. Sehun rubbed his eyes and sat up just as the memories imbedded themselves into his mind. He began sobbing hysterically underneath Luhan. Luhan, who forced himself to repress the dark, disturbing memories, bent down and placed a hand on Sehun’s shoulder, dangling almost like a monkey.

“Sehun.” He called out.

Luhan didn’t sleep easily that night. He forcefully composed and calmed his mind, thinking logically even though it pained him to repress his emotions. He remembered the final conversation, refusing his mind to replay the horrific moment. He swore that Sehun did not commit any terrible acts. He remembered how strongly he remembered to not believe it.

Sehun pushed Luhan away but had evidently calmed down. He was wiping away his tears, staring at Luhan in awe. Luhan bit his lip as he remembered Sehun had not seen anyone in months. Sehun was completely broken.

“Sehun, I’m sorry for what I said.” Luhan immediately said, attempting to force Sehun to forget whatever it was he was reminiscing. He gulped as his own mind threatened to tip over the edge of sanity. It was hard to remember to forget something.

“L-Luhan…” Sehun held his hand out and cautiously, Luhan took it. Sehun forced him onto the bed and embraced Luhan tightly, sobbing anew gratefully. “I-I missed you…” He wept, wetting Luhan’s shoulder. Luhan held Sehun back equally, feeling distraught at the situation he was in. It was terrible.

“I missed you too.” Luhan barely smiled in the moment. He knew that anymore talk of the times they had been apart would threaten his emotions and force the dark memories to the forefront of his mind. He looked towards the food. “Come on, l-let’s eat.” Luhan forcibly eye-smiled. Sehun nodded and the two moved towards the table, sitting opposite each other.

The pair devoured the food greedily before leaning back. Sehun leaned against the bed whilst Luhan leaned against the wall opposite the bed. The two did not make eye contact for a short time before Sehun looked at Luhan.

“Why… Why are you here?” Sehun asked.

Luhan bit his lip harder, almost making it bleed as the memories bled into his mind, destroying the efforts he had made to block the memories. Tears began trailing down his cheek and his whole body began trembling against the wall. Sehun was appalled at what his friend was suffering.

“Lay…” Luhan began with a croaky, trying to compose himself as more tears trailed down his face at the idea of a world without Lay. “H-he was… ” He could not finish the sentence as the image of Lay’s body flashed in his mind. Luhan barely suppressed a scream.

Sehun, seeing Luhan’s anguish, dashed forward and held his friend softly. Luhan looked at his friend and Sehun nodded, understanding the situation with tearful eyes.

“Our music teacher…” Luhan continued to weep. Sehun looked down at the floor, his heart heavy, his emotions purely depressed. He nodded once more and held Luhan’s hand.

“You don’t need to say anymore…” Sehun answered Luhan’s silence. The two silently wept until the door was opened.

“Oh Sehun and Lu Han, recreational therapy awaits you. Please head to the music studio.” A nurse gently asked before walking away, leaving the door wide open.

Luhan stood up abruptly. Sehun grabbed his back.

“Don’t think of escaping.” Sehun warned as though he was replying to Luhan’s mind. Luhan was about to protest before Sehun shook his head. “It’s no use. They’ll just force us to stay in here. Or sedate us…”

 

***

 

Luhan was met with a terribly ugly music room where a battered, tuneless piano stood. Broken violins were scattered around the room. There was one guitar that was intact. When Luhan moved towards it, he noticed it was stained with blood. He backed away, forcing bile back down his throat.

The room filled quickly with three other people.

Luhan had researched about his hospital upon finding out Sehun would be staying there permanently. There were many truly messed up people living there. Three of them were students and it seemed they were there.

There was Byun Baekhyun, the black haired boy who sat alone, laughing hysterically by himself, freaking Luhan out. He had read that Baekhyun had murdered his best friend, thinking he was an alien before trying to calve off his own skin in the belief he was contaminated. He was luckily caught by police officers. He himself, according to articles Luhan had read, told everyone that he didn’t kill anyone- that something else did- that something else framed him. He was clinically insane, at the age of eighteen.

 There was Kim Minseok, a chubby, harmless looking guy who sat by the piano motionlessly. Luhan had read that he was a true flower boy; a boy who began modelling. However behind the scenes of one particular fashion show, he began becoming delirious, telling everyone a monster had followed him. Reports say everyone laughed at him. Angered, he had gone home and killed his parents in a rage that neighbours say sounded like a devil. When apprehended by police, he told them the monster did it. He was eighteen.

There was also a female- Jessica Jung- who sat crossed legged in the middle of the room, humming a tune to herself. She was nineteen. At the age of fourteen, she began becoming highly erratic, harming people in their sleep by carving her name into them. She was taken into therapy for a year and it went well- so they thought. What Luhan read terrified him. She went insane one day after an argument with her boyfriend and stabbed him dead before having with his corpse and then calve her name on every inch of his body. She left him in his own home and burned it down before standing outside. She stabbed herself in an attempt to commit suicide. She survived and ended up, at the age of sixteen, in the high security mental hospital, unable to leave.

Luhan held onto Sehun’s arm, petrified.

“W-what do you do here?” Luhan asked Sehun, shaking, gripping onto Sehun harder.

Sehun pushed Luhan to the side and sighed, leaning against the wall. Luhan was completely startled, not sure what to do. He thought to himself maybe I should talk to these people…

He walked to Minseok and looked down at the piano.

“H-hello, I’m Luhan…” He began. Minseok’s eyes darted to Luhan and he grunted. “I-I’m… I came here…” He began trying to introduce himself before someone held his shoulder. He spun around to see Sehun.

“Minseok can’t speak.” Sehun suddenly explained, freaking Luhan out. Luhan stepped back whilst Xiumin nodded.

“Why? W-what happened?” Luhan gulped staring wildly at Minseok whose calm, composed face terrified him even more.

“He bit his own tongue off.” Jessica, behind them, answered. Sehun and Luhan both jumped simultaneously. The four people were silent whilst alone, by himself, Baekhyun continued laughing hysterically, crouching down forward, holding his stomach as though he was in pain. “I’m Jessica.” She introduced herself with a bow.

Sehun was frozen solid. Luhan was completely baffled.

“I’m L-L--” she cut him off.

“Luhan. I know. I heard. They told me.” She said in a dark voice, pointing up towards the ceiling. Luhan slowly tilted his head back and looked up only to see… nothing. Just a dirty, pealing ceiling and a dull light bulb that barely lit the black room. “I know why you’re here.” She stared at him seriously. “We’ve been cursed by the Devil himself.” She muttered.

Luhan could feel that Sehun was slowly dragging Luhan away.

“We didn’t do anything. It was Him- the Devil- he did it all, to all of us...” Jessica began mumbling quietly. Her eyes shifted strangely towards the ceiling as though she was in shock. That next millisecond, her body seemed to slightly rise into the air, suspended. Her eyes were tightly closed and out her lips came drool. Her neck moved into an unnatural angle and cracked as though it had broken.

“W-what the …” Sehun breathed, edging backwards fearfully. He grabbed onto Luhan’s hand and began trying to walk backward before breaking out into a run. The door of the facility was closed. There were no cameras, no staff. Nothing. Her body suddenly began coming back down and it crumpled to the floor.

Minseok followed Luhan and he slowly snuck in his hand, grasping onto Luhan. Luhan turned to the older boy and noticed his eyes were full of tears and his face had become ashen. Baekhyun, the guy who was laughing began getting louder and louder, as though he was shrieking.

Jessica’s body got itself up. Her eyes were still closed and her limbs were all limp as though she was a puppet. Sehun’s heart began galloping inside of him. His hands were extremely sweaty.

“H-has… This…” Luhan began breathlessly, eyeing Jessica’s freaky body. Sehun very slowly inched his head side to side as though he was trying to keep the air still.

Almost as if the tension in the room increased dramatically, the light bulb above Jessica’s head burst, plunging the room into complete darkness. The three boys whose hands were joined together forced themselves not to make a sound whilst Baekhyun’s laughter only became more and more erratic before stopping abruptly.

Sehun began trying to move away extremely slowly. Luhan did not know what on Earth was about to happen. He, too, began tiptoeing away from their current position before Minseok’s hand was ripped from his. Luhan yelled out, causing Sehun to drag him away from whatever had happened.

The two went deadly silent there and then, and heard Minseok’s moans of pain before it suddenly stopped. The two were breathing heavily, blinded completely, their ears ringing with fear, trying to listen for any sounds.

Luhan and Sehun’s hands gripped each other harder until something slammed down on their grasp, pulling the two apart.

The two absolutely screeched each other’s names as loud as Hell, before Sehun felt a clawed hand grab and clutch his neck, tightening their grip; strangling him. He was voiceless and his airway was completely blocked. His heart began hammering forcefully in his chest and his neck was in agonising pain. He was struggling above the air as his neck was raised.

“SEHUN!” Luhan’s terrified voice shrieked. Sehun began kicking with all his strength, trying to kick something to make a sound. Nothing happened. His body was aimlessly dangling in the air as though he was being hanged.

All of a sudden, the grip around Sehun’s neck faltered as Sehun heard something crash down onto something. He heard a thud followed by the sound of some kind of wooden furniture crumble onto the floor.

The light suddenly pieced itself back together and the light shone blindingly bright. Sehun squinted his eyes to see Jessica unconscious in front of him, bleeding from her head whilst Luhan stood behind wheezing. He fell to the floor and found it hard to breathe. Sehun held his throat and edged forward to Luhan. But he felt breathless. His eyesight itself turned black.

 

***

 

Sehun woke up staring up at a bright light. His arms and legs were tied down onto an operating bed. He could smell the distinct chlorine smell. There was a mask over his mouth and nose. He watched as a nurse headed towards him with an injection-a general anaesthetic before a doctor stopped her. The doctor edged towards Sehun before slapping his face, causing Sehun to have a stinging pain in his cheek.

“You monster.” The doctor breathed down at Sehun. Sehun was about to protest before the doctor snatched the injection from the nurse and stuck it into Sehun’s neck. Sehun’s fingers and toes twitched and he screamed out in agony at the throbbing feeling. He felt the numbness overcome him.

“D-doctor! That could kill him!” He barely heard a nurse shriek.

“So what? It wouldn’t matter! Let him die!” The doctor yelled back at the nurse.

Sehun fell into a deep unconsciousness, feeling hopelessly depressed.

 

***

 

Luhan was crying uncontrollably, his memories fleeing from the back of his mind straight to the front, tormenting him relentlessly till his body was sticky with sweat, and his lungs were aching from sobbing so hard. He was completely alone in a separate bedroom. He was not allowed to interact with another human for four weeks.

When the lights in the godforsaken room were switched back on, the door opened. In front of him, Sehun had collapsed and his neck was red as though someone had strangled him. Jessica lay bleeding in front of him, her face planted against the floor. Baekhyun’s body lay mangled horrifically in a dark corner and Minseok’s face had been slashed with a knife.

In Sehun’s hand had been a knife. Luhan was the only one who was untouched.

He was forced out by a heavily built security officer. He had been kicking and screaming because the head doctor who seemed to control everyone blamed Sehun for the whole disaster.

“IT WAS HER! HER!” Luhan had shrieked. They sedated him for the first time. It had felt like dying to him, slowly losing the ability to control your limbs, losing consciousness and strength, trying to fight for your friend.

He was sent to isolation for four week. Four whole weeks. He would not be seen by a doctor or even a nurse. A gas would enter to awaken and force him to sleep. There was a small toilet in one corner and an open shower in the other. A bed lay beneath a tiny window that stood too high to look out of. The room was white. In the middle of the room, under the yellow light, stood a dinner tray.

He was leaning against the bed, screaming and distraught by what he had seen. He cried himself to sleep that night.

 

***

 

Sehun woke up in a straitjacket, staring at the white ceiling that stood far ahead of him. His eyes watered upon waking as the memories went through his mind. He was considered as a vicious, untameable evil and was treated inhumanely by the staff at the hospital. He was now separated from Luhan and the only thing his mind could focus on was Suho’s death.

He began sobbing uncontrollably, his tears landing down into his mouth, blurring his eyes, reaching down into his ears as though a sea had formed. His tears did not end. They continued to flow as his mind thought back on the life he once had, the life with his friends, Suho, Luhan, Jongin- playing together as friends, making silly practical jokes.

He wept harder as he remembered the fateful, fearful afternoon when his life changed. He couldn’t cope, knowing Suho was dead and the whole world blamed him.

He wasn’t even allowed to plead innocent- he was deemed too mentally unstable. The only reason anyone went to court was to give him a complete sentence. A lifetime in the high security mental home.

He sobbed so much, his heart ached. The girl, Jessica, had gone insane, as though she was possessed and no one outside witnessed.

They thought he was a murderer. They thought he tried to kill the others. He couldn’t breathe.

“YOU S!” He belched out at the top of his lungs. “YOU HAVE LOCKED ME HERE FOR NO REASON! IT ISN’T SAFE HERE! WE COULD ALL DIE!” He screeched louder and louder. No one listened to him. The only reply was an echo.

“IT WASN’T ME!” He screamed. “I DIDN’T KILL MY FRIEND! IT WAS EVIL! I WAS NOT ME! I AM NOT SCHIZOPHRENIC!” He continue to roar till his voice began cracking under strain.

That moment, a reddish cloud began growing over Sehun’s head. Sehun gasped and stared at it, trying to rock himself off the bed to avoid the evil thing.

“H-HELP! H-HELP ME! SOMEONE HELP ME! IT’S HERE! IT’S HERE, SOMEONE!” He began frantically screaming, his tone far more alarmed and disturbed. He rocked himself off the bed and landed on the ground. He somehow jumped to his feet and began attempting to break down the door with his arms still embedded inside the straitjacket.

It was no use. He paused and spun around his head reluctantly to see a hand reach out of the red cloud, aiming straight towards him.

With a howl of pure horror, Sehun managed to avoid the clawed fingers. His neck burned as though the thing’s presence was harming him already. Sehun tried the door faster this time, hitting his head against it, trying without success to break out, to get out of the room, away from danger.

“PLEASE, SOMEBODY!” Sehun pleaded at the top of his voice to no avail. The hand caught him and lifted him up into the air. It accidently loosened the straitjacket from him.

Sehun fell to the floor and immediately began using his hands to break out of the room.

The air behind him suddenly went deadly silent. He paused again, sweating immensely and spun his head slowly to see a large, blood-red-eyed snake stare at him. He stared back, his eyes and body unable to move. His heart began banging erratically inside of him and he began losing any sense of his body. The snake slithered towards him and entered him through the eyes.

The last thing Sehun saw was a red eyeball that burned like the flames of Hell.

 

***

 

Four weeks had passed.

Luhan was sent back into his room as a new person. He did not express any emotion and had lost a terrible amount of weight. His clothes were too loose and he had not shaved. He looked like a complete mess. His eyes were dulled and his lips were dry. He walked like a dead man, following a nurse to his old room. He barely even remembered what anyone had looked like.

Four weeks in an isolated room changed him. He could not remember what it felt like to talk with anyone.

On the way towards his old room through the maze of the hospital, his ears perked up when a doctor and nurse walked past him.

“I’ve heard the patient’s electroconvulsive therapy failed.” The nurse stated. The doctor paused in his step as Luhan walked past. He met with the doctor’s eyes and felt a sudden sense of pure hatred.

“I-It failed?” The doctor turned back to the nurse. Luhan only heard a little as he continued walking with a nurse behind him. “It has honestly never failed before…” The doctor said.

Luhan finally reached the room.

The door was opened by the nurse. He walked in to see Sehun lying on the floor, staring at the white, blank ceiling. He, too, looked extremely frail and ill. His face was sunken into his cheeks as his arms were too thin; his skeleton stuck out horribly.

Luhan had only lost a little weight. Sehun looked like an alien. It was not normal for a boy to have lost such a burdening amount of his body fat. Luhan was not stupid. Even though he didn’t feel entirely surprised, he knew there was something wrong- something very, very wrong.

Luhan stepped towards Sehun.

The truly odd scene Luhan noticed was that the nurse was still at the door, as though she was anticipating a reaction of some sort. Luhan turned to snarl at the evil woman before he turned to his friend.

“S-Sehun…?” Luhan barely called out, his voice extremely dry as though it had been gathering dust. Sehun did not react to his name. Luhan edged over and bent down. Sehun’s eyes had not moved. He was still glaring at the ceiling without a single change in his facial expression.

It was too peculiar. Luhan was too absorbed in Sehun to notice even he had not changed his own facial expression. The nurse was quite disturbed.

“Luhan,” the nurse caught Luhan’s attention. “Sehun has not communicated with anybody for four weeks.” She informed him. “He has been attending electroconvulsive therapy and it has not worked well to change his brain chemistry—“

“Why are you telling me? Am I not insane?” Luhan emotionlessly asked. His eyes frightened the nurse. He looked so indifferent about his speechless friend.

“Y-you are possibly the only person who could h-help him.” The nurse shakily replied. Her cheeks were turning bright red in pure embarrassment. Luhan felt the need to punch her but resisted, knowing that the only reward he would be given was a harsh punishment.

“You want to help him?” He half-scoffed at the woman. She only burned brighter.

“W-we’re here to help, sir.” She replied, unconsciously edging backwards, still grasping the door. Her whole body was clearly trembling. She was failing at keeping herself calm.

“Help? You took him away when I told you not to.” He replied back extremely calmly, unnerving the woman even more. “You do not help. You simply punish us. Are we not human?” He rhetorically questioned, his eyes still wildly focused on the suddenly frail woman. She was absolutely terrified.

“We try our best…” She answered. Under Luhan’s tall state, Sehun began laughing on the floor, his eyes wide, still staring up at the ceiling. Luhan had no reaction. He was still extremely composed.

“Your best? How would the world see your silly idea of best?” Luhan stepped forward. Sehun, at this point, stopped laughing. He lifted himself up. Sat down, he also kept his vision on the one nurse.

“P-Please, calm down, sir—” She began pleading.

“I’m a sir, now, am I?” Luhan tilted his head, his face still completely straight. “I don’t think you’ve noticed, but I am very calm, surprisingly so.” He replied back to her. The woman pressed an emergency button on her walkie talkie.

“Scared, are you?” Sehun perked up, standing beside Luhan. He crossed his arms and smirked at the woman, satisfied. Luhan still didn’t react at all, even though as he stood, Sehun’s body shape was terribly worse. His ribs stuck out painfully and his arms and legs resembled twigs. He seemed to have almost no fat on his body at all. His tall figure did not help, either.

“Please calm down.” She repeated, feeling considerably braver knowing security- and a doctor with a sedative- would come along. “Sehun-” she ignored Luhan, “Why are you not eating? Why have you not spoken to the doctors?” She asked pressingly, stepping further back into the room.

“You sicken me.” Sehun replied darkly. He stepped far forward and towered over the poor nurse. He then shoved her onto the floor as security appeared.

Sehun looked up and saw the doctor who had stuffed the general anaesthetic into his mouth and suddenly, with a deranged twisted neck, he grinned unevenly at the doctor.

 

 

 

When Luhan woke up, he was not accompanied by any doctors, nor nurses- no one expected. He woke up facing Jessica. Behind her, Baekhyun continued giggling quietly whilst Minseok massaged his head lightly.

“You’re finally awake.” Jessica sighed in relief. Luhan blinked and pushed Minseok’s hand away. Luhan couldn’t help but notice the fleshy scar on Jessica’s face and the bruises on Minseok’s and Baekhyun’s faces. He sat up and looked around. It was the recreational room.

“W-what the …” He cursed in bewilderment. “What the heck has happened?” He asked, not really wanting to know the answer.

“The Devil has Sehun.” Jessica answered calmly. Baekhyun nodded, his laughter getting louder as if he wanted to speak. Minseok bowed his head down sadly.

“The Devil, really…” Luhan almost scoffed. “This- all of this- all of this is because of the Devil?” He laughed at Jessica in disbelief. “You really are insane, aren’t you, huh?” He laughed at her.

“Luhan. Let me tell you Baekhyun’s story. You must know something, right?” She asked him suddenly, reaching her hand across his face almost seductively before moving her hand away with a cold smirk.

“Tried to calve his skin off?” Luhan answered almost uncaringly. What he had experienced was far worse.

“NO.” Jessica shouted at him angrily. “He did not. It was the Devil. Baekhyun watched as the Devil destroyed his friend. The Devil realised the witness and turned against Baekhyun. He was forced to calve his own skin off.” She told him seriously. She did not blink nor waver whilst she spoke. “The police came in time. He survived. But when he tried to explain everything, he was cursed to laugh till he dies.” Jessica finished. Luhan couldn’t help but want to spit on Jessica.

“You expect me to believe this ing bull , do you?” He asked suddenly, although a part of him did truly accept the reasoning. “Do you know how mental that sounds? He belongs here! He’s- no- you’re all maniacs!” He yelled at them, scampering backwards to get away from them

“I’ve heard your story.” Jessica muttered. Her eyes turned deeply black within a blink before turning back.

“M-my story? I didn’t do anything!” He protested. Jessica shook her head and reached forward whilst Baekhyun’s laughter grew in pitch, reaching higher, irritating levels. Minseok hadn’t moved- as though he was a doll. Luhan wanted nothing more than to go home.

“You cut up your school friend and then killed your teacher.” Jessica dully glared at him. Luhan was aghast.

“I-It wasn’t me…! I don’t know what happened--”

“It was the Devil.” Jessica clarified, her vicious eyes blaring into Luhan’s mind.

“B-but…” Luhan was at a loss of words. His mind shut out the memory forcibly, making him feel pretty insane. “Why would the Dev--”

“He does not differ with age, status- nothing. I researched into the Devil.” She turned away from Luhan, staring down to the floor. She cleared her voice. “I became obsessed with the Devil. In return, he became obsessed with me…” She paused. Luhan was completely speechless.

She was the crazy lunatic who had calved her name into people. She had stabbed her boyfriend to death, had with his dead body and burned down her own house before attempting suicide.

“He began calving my name into people’s bodies- my parents, my sister’s, my friends… Until he became bored of me. He came back a year later- when I had fallen in love with a boy. I-I…” She gulped and again, cleared her voice. “I was… possessed by him. He took over me. I didn’t see my boyfriend die. Everything went black and I was afraid. When I gained some consciousness, I was on top of him…” Her voice cracked. “But everything went black again… I finally gained my vision and saw our home burning down. I-I didn’t know how to escape. I saw a knife in front of me and tried to kill myself… But, b-by God’s doing… I was saved…” She wept very silently.

Baekhyun’s horrible laughter filled the room mockingly, as though he found the whole ordeal hilarious.

Luhan did not know what he could possibly say. But his mind entered the memory he did not want to be a part of.

Everything went black. He had possibly killed Lay- through the Devil’s hands? Luhan shuddered. His mind was fighting all sorts of logic to destroy that idea. He didn’t want to believe it. Yet a knife had formed in his hand- a knife that left his hand the moment his teacher came out the door.

Like it was bad luck. As though the Devil himself had…

Luhan found himself sobbing hysterically. He crouched down to the floor and wept, feeling extremely sick.

“Why?” He cried out, looking at the three people. Jessica had wiped away the last of her tears. Minseok still had not moved. Baekhyun’s laughter was horribly quiet.

“No one knows.” Jessica answered. Minseok looked up at Luhan and shook his head tearfully.

“A-and now he has Sehun?” Luhan asked, standing back up suddenly. The three other people nodded. Baekhyun’s horrible laughter was irritating Luhan beyond relief. He walked to Baekhyun and held his shoulder. “Can’t you talk--” He began.

“I- ahahah- I—aahahahhahahahaha, oh hehehe hahahahahahahahahAHAHAHAHA” was the reply. Baekhyun’s eyes were full of tears as his laughter reached the highest decibel level Luhan had ever heard come from a human.

“L-Luhan – y-you shouldn’t have done that!” Jessica yelled as Baekhyun fell down to the floor in fits of laughter, unable to breathe. “He could die!” She bent down to Baekhyun who was rocking on the floor uncontrollably. He lost control of his bladder, he lost control of his drool as he howled. He was maniacally hissing with balls of laughter, each high pitched convulsion louder than the next. He was struggling to breathe. Each babble, burst, gaggle and giggle became the last few sounds Baekhyun would make.

 “B-Baek…” Jessica wiped his head as he tearfully exploded with guffaws.

Luhan could not believe his eyes. He watched Baekhyun take his final breath with a startling laugh. No one else in the room smiled as Baekhyun’s unending laughter finally ended.

Time stood still.

The silence was extremely eerie.

Baekhyun’s smile and open eyes stayed frozen.

Luhan turned away from the sight, his heart beating horribly as stinging tears reformed in his eyes. He had killed yet another person. He was a monster.

“I---” Luhan tried to speak, but no words entered his mind. He sat down on the floor in despair. He had no idea what to do.

Someone tapped him. He spun around and was embraced by Minseok in a tight hug. Behind Minseok, Jessica half smiled at him gently.

“Well…” She softly began, easing herself towards Luhan. Luhan felt extremely fragile and startled, seeing Baekhyun’s creepy, dead face and Minseok and Jessica’s terrifyingly calm reactions. “At least he’s finally at peace.” She finally stated.

“I killed him.” Luhan pushed himself back, feeling highly unstable. Jessica shook her head.

“No, Luhan.” She told him. “You saved him.”

“You… you’re freaks…” Luhan’s nerves began jumbling in his mind. Anxiety filled his body and he felt extremely queasy, seeing the two frighteningly calm people talk to him as though he was a hero.

“Call us freaks later. We need to save Sehun.” Jessica commanded. She stood tall and began walking towards the locked door. Minseok followed. “Whilst you were unconscious, Sehun was outside these doors. The Devil has murdered all the other inmates and all the staff. I think there is a high alert.” She explained.

Luhan raised his eyebrow, disbelieving what he had just heard. He felt sick and startled.

“H-how the can you be so calm?” He screamed at her. Jessica shrugged.

“Well, either you can go insane with the fear, or you can join us.” She answered him. Minseok nodded at her, putting his arm around her shoulder. He peaked over the top, out the window, and put his thumb up to Jessica.

“So what, y-you’re going to go out there, huh? YOU’RE CRAZY! Y-You’ll die!” He began babbling uncontrollably.

“Luhan, if we both can survive like this, you can too. There’s no point thinking we’re crazy.”

He looked at the dead body and then stared, dumbfounded, at the two people who were still smiling at him.

At that moment, on the other side of the door, someone began punching hard into the wood frantically.

“LUHAN!?” Sehun hollered on the outside. “Luhan, if you can hear me, get out of there! They’re possessed!” Sehun’s heart-breaking voice cried out as though someone was dying. Luhan felt the whole world turn on him as Jessica and Minseok both twisted around to smirk at him.

Luhan began crumbling backwards. He stumbled and fell backwards at the two’s faces turned blood thirsty. Luhan’s heart didn’t even feel as though it was beating. Luhan didn’t know if he could survive. He shuffled backwards and began praying to God in his mind, hoping for some sort of miracle.

“Luhan! Please, open the door! Please, if you can hear me, PLEASE, DON’T HURT LUHAN, I BEG OF YOU!” Sehun’s voice roared pleadingly, getting increasingly louder.

Luhan couldn’t even cry and couldn’t find the voice to yell out when Baekhyun’s dead hand clawed around his neck.

He was slowly strangled.

 

 

Outside, Sehun realised it was too futile. The sheer silence that seeped through the whole hospital gave his answer. Tears drained from his eyes as he spun around. He knew it was only time before the two devils would chase after him and hunt him down.

I need to get out of here  Sehun thought, running down the hallway at full speed. He had only seen a small section of the hotel. He did not know where the entrance was.

Down each and every corridor was blood splatter with organs of humans scattered all over the floor ruthlessly, as though a hand had reached in every single body and had torn out every single heart. The stench was poisonous. It wafted straight up Sehun’s nose, making him belch as he continued running. His liver inside burned.

The doctors who had mistreated him were dead- so were the nurses. He was slightly relieved to know the dirty humans would not be able to hurt another person.

Yet, as he ran, the tears continued falling and he simultaneously wiped them, thinking of Luhan, Lay and Suho. He looked down at his fist and remembered when he found his own hand embedded, strewn inside Suho’s skull, as though he was mixing kimchi inside of him.

His mind drifted back to the past.

 

Suho had been waiting for a long time for Sehun to leave detention. He had booked tickets for a football match in Seoul and it seemed that because of Sehun, they had missed the match.

He was sat on a bench, texting on his phone when Sehun approached him nonchalantly rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. Suho looked up grumpily, clearly not impressed at all.

“Hey Suho…” Sehun began with a cheesy grin, not knowing what to say to his friend. Suho rolled his eyes. “Yeah, sorry I was so late.” He held out his hand as a sign of peace. Suho rolled his eyes and stood up. He pushed Sehun aside and began walking out the school gates.

Sehun walked beside him, hands behind his head with the same awkward grin on his face. His eye-smile irritated Suho horribly. Sehun knew he was in deep crap.

“Suho, I-I’ll refund you the money, okay?” Sehun had asked, trying to please his closest friend. Suho simply continued to walk ahead with his chin held up high. Sehun didn’t get annoyed. He knew he deserved the cold shoulder.

He didn’t know what to do. As the two continued on their path, Sehun noticed they were heading towards a street that only led to a park.

“Hey, Suho, are we going to the park?” Sehun asked, confused. Suho didn’t answer. He just kept walking forward, faster with each long stride.

Sehun gave up on speaking and followed his friend without any words. He loved his friend like a real brother. Suho always had treated Sehun really well and even stood up for him when he was bullied viciously in middle school. He always fed Sehun well when his parents kicked him out the house for a weekend and always tolerated his bad behaviour.

Sehun was no good kid. He was a troublemaker and had always been one. No one trusted him apart from Suho and some other friends- Luhan, Lay and Jongin. High school had been good to Sehun because he made so many friends. He finally felt as though he had people he could love and have faith in.

Suho, out of all his friends, was the one he trusted the absolute most. He loved Luhan, Lay and Jongin, but no one took a place in his heart as Suho did.

He distinctly remembered thanking all his friends in his mind. Suho had missed his match because he wanted to walk Sehun home, like a big brother.

The two walked into the park. It was extremely quiet and dull and fairly warm considering it was summer. He tugged on Suho’s top. Suho pulled himself free, paused, and then continued forward. In the near distance, Sehun remembered seeing a light orb behind some trees.

When the two finally got there, Suho ran ahead. Sehun panicked and dashed straight after him to walk straight into—all his friends.

Luhan stood with his arms open, holding a lit cake. Behind him, Jongin and Lay held presents brightly. Sehun blinked joyfully. Behind them, Yifan was sat next to a stereo. He pressed the play button and a ‘Happy Birthday’ instrumental placed. Kyungsoo, who stood next to Yifan held a microphone. He began singing passionately, walking towards Sehun with a cheesy grin.

“O-oh my goodness! Thank you!” Sehun began crying as Suho ushered him forward lovingly.

“Happy Seventeenth Birthday Sehun.” Suho smiled, rubbing Sehun’s back. Sehun moved towards the candles on the cake and blew them out.

He had honestly forgotten it was his birthday.

 

He had friend to go to. He could go to Jongin, to Yifan, to Kyungsoo. Adrenaline pumped through his veins and pushed him forwards with furious pace. He could find allies. He could escape this insanity, get support from friends, appeal to the courts, and live his life. He raced on.

 

 

Luhan stood up aggressively and wiped the blood from his face. He looked at the dead bodies of Baekhyun, Jessica and Minseok and smirked before walking forward slowly and carelessly. His each step echoed throughout the room.

Luhan was speechless on the floor, watching Jessica and Minseok approach him. He felt ready for death. Sehun was just outside the door screaming for him, but he had no escape.

Then he heard footsteps run away. He listened, and watched Jessica and Minseok smirk with satisfaction.

“Humans.” Jessica snarled at Luhan, bending down whilst Baekhyun’s corpse continued to hold him against the wall. “All humans are cowards.” Jessica almost sang smugly. Her eyes loomed into Luhan’s mind.

“No. No! Sehun is not a coward.” Luhan retorted finally, finding a part of his voice. Jessica and Minseok both raised their eyebrows simultaneously with evil, irritating smirks.

“He left you to die.” Jessica pointed out. Minseok nodded