“Merry Christmas!”

The group of friends cheered all together as they drank wine inside the dining room. It was Christmas Eve and they all decided to spend it in one of their friend’s condo unit which happened to be Irene’s. The dining table was filled with different kinds of food which were prepared by some of the girls. Some of the food and beverages there were bought by the guys. The atmosphere was light and everyone was having fun. It was the first time that they all spent their Christmas together, which they decided to make it as memorable as possible.

The condominium was a new one. It was finished around ten months ago. And so far, there are only a few people occupying the units. The building was located a bit far from the center of the city. The building was surrounded by just a few restaurants and a convenience store across it. When the group first saw the 20-story building, they found it intimidating. It didn’t give a welcoming vibe, but rather an unwelcoming one.

When they entered the building, they were surprised to see that the lobby didn’t seem welcoming either. There were very minimal Christmas decorations. The security guards didn’t look pleasant as well. Everything was confusing to look at, but they decided to shrug it off. It was Christmas, anyway.

The group consists of nine people. One of them is Luhan. He is the oldest guy among them. He is a very talented guy. He is great at playing musical instruments especially the piano and the guitar. He is also a good composer. He is a good dancer too. Luhan is like the happy virus of the group; he never fails to make his friends smile when he makes jokes—intentionally or unintentionally.

Yoona is the complete opposite of Luhan. Compared to her older brother, Yoona isn’t close to being a happy virus. She is a short-tempered person. She couldn’t manage her anger well. But even with a short temper, she was still a sweet person to her brother and her friends.

Jessica is the oldest among the girls. She is entitled as the “ice princess” by her friends due to her cold personality. Even by just looking at her facial expressions, she rarely shows the extremely happy side of her. Her blank expression made her seem like she is a cold person. But the truth is, she isn’t. She is a warm-hearted girl especially to her sister, Krystal. Jessica is a business woman as well. She runs a fashion line that was slowly becoming one of the known fashion lines in the industry.

Tiffany is considered to be Jessica’s closest friend among the group. They’ve been friends since they were little kids. Tiffany is a very outgoing girl. She likes to socialize with a lot of people, which was quite the opposite of Jessica. If Luhan was the male happy virus, then Tiffany is the counterpart of him. She has a very vibrant personality that never fails to make people like her.

Kris is the second oldest guy in the group. He is the tallest among them as well. He is a very good basketball player, and his friends were always there to support him in his games. His facial features make him look very intimidating, but just like the others, he is a fun person to be with. He may seem cool and reserved, but in front of his friends, he is very dorky.

Irene was actually the last person to join the group of friends. While the others have been together for almost five years already, she was just new to the group two years ago. Even if she is the last to join, she managed to get along well with them. She isn’t the type to easily open up to others, though. But still, even with that, they accepted her well.

Lay was also one of the last who joined the group, but he was still earlier than Irene to join. He is a very mysterious person. He rarely shows any emotion. When he speaks, his voice is really soft, as if he is whispering already. It was either he is just really shy or just a mysterious guy, they do not know. It was quite a blur on how he became friends with the others. People might always judge him for being cold, but he is actually a person who cares a lot. He may not always show it but when he does, one would feel he is really sincere.

Sehun is the youngest in the group of boys. He is a very fun person to be with as well. He may seem to be an intimidating guy, but he is actually a friendly person. When one is in an awkward situation, he is always there to save the person from further humiliation. He is also known to be the gentleman of the group. But when one messes with him, he is very scary to deal with.

Krystal is the younger sister of Jessica. They share a lot of things in common. She can give off the cold vibe as well sometimes. If Krystal was to be asked to choose her most favorite person in the group, she would never hesitate to answer her sister’s name. She loves her sister so much, for they’ve been together ever since through thick and thin.

As the group celebrated in the dining room, a loud screeching was heard. “Hey, I think I forgot to buy something. I’ll go down and be back in a few minutes.” Jessica announced as she stood up from her chair.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Yoona offered while making a move to stand up as well.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll go by myself. It would only take a minimum of ten minutes.” Jessica said as she walked out of the room.

Several minutes passed, and the group was just having fun, not until Yoona started worrying about Jessica.

“What’s taking her so long? It’s been more than twenty minutes since she left.” Yoona said, glancing at the clock hanging on the wall. One of their friends, Sehun, just shrugged.

“Maybe it took her a while to find what she wanted to buy.”

“Or maybe the line was too long.” Kris added as the tall guy stood up and went to the kitchen to get Yoona some water.

“It’s Christmas Eve! Why would there be several people out if they could just spend their Christmas at home!” Yoona exclaimed and went out of the room, shutting the door behind her.

“It’s Christmas Eve and she can’t even hold her temper down.” Yoona’s brother, Luhan, mumbled to himself.

The rest of the people inside the unit momentarily forgot the pair who went out. Others wanted to eat and some were just chatting. Luhan started to worry about his sister and it didn’t help that their parents were calling him. He was contemplating on ignoring the call or answering it, and in the end he chose the latter.

“Hey, mom.”

“Where’s your sister? I’ve been trying to call her but she’s not answering.”

“She went down to buy something.”

“She went down the condominium at this time? Go follow your sister. She must be scared all alone in the dark.”

Luhan almost retorted. Yoona isn’t one to be scared being alone in the dark. Nonetheless, he politely replied to his mom. “Okay mom, I’ll call you when I find her.” He hung up and stood up from his seat.

“Guys, I need to find Yoona. My mom’s worrying about her already.” Luhan announced and dashed out of the door.

“Hey! I’ll go with you!” Irene called out and ran after him.

 

 

 

The people inside the room started to worry too since it’s been almost an hour since the three left. Krystal, Jessica’s sister, started to contact her but she wasn’t answering. Tiffany found out that Jessica left her phone in the room. Lay tried to go and follow the three but he was stopped by Kris and Sehun, telling him that something bad might happen if he followed them too. All they could do was to feel the worst torture of all, and it was waiting while knowing that you can’t do anything.

“Why do I suddenly feel like something wrong’s going to happen?” Tiffany said as she brought her knees closer to her chest and shuddered.

The others agreed and stayed silent until someone opened the door. It was Jessica.

“Oh my god, I thought something bad happened to you!” Krystal exclaimed as she ran to her sister and hugged her tightly.

“What could possibly happen to me?” Jessica rolled her eyes. “By the way, where are the others?”

“You haven’t seen them a while ago?” Sehun asked in confusion.

“No, I haven’t. Did they follow me?” Jessica inquired, her eyes scanning the place. It seems like everyone inside looked extremely worried already.

“Obviously,” Tiffany answered and Jessica suddenly recalled hearing a boy shouting as she was on her way back to the unit, but she stopped herself from thinking negatively.

“Let’s just wait for them then.”

The atmosphere suddenly got heavy around them. No one was talking. They were all waiting without knowing anything. They were all clueless as to what’s happening to the three. The snow outside was falling heavily and the wind brought chills to the people walking outside. It was the same for the people inside because the heater was unfortunately not working. They were all huddled closely together. Some were about to sleep from waiting when the door opened, revealing a panting and red-eyed Irene, who was crying non-stop.

“Irene, what happened to you?” Kris asked and the group stood up to go closer to Irene.

“Yoona…Luhan…they’re…” Irene choked on her words, fear building up inside her. She wasn’t able to continue her words though, because the electricity went out.

The group was extremely shocked with the situation. They stayed on their spots while waiting for the electricity to come back, a little bit in panic. They were so scared that some of the girls were crying already. Some of the boys were shivering from the cold and it didn’t help that the situation was chilling their nerves out. Everyone was silent but later on heard a girl’s scream. It was Tiffany’s voice, they were all sure of it. They all started to panic since they can’t see a thing and they don’t know what’s happening with the girl. The electricity was back and everyone froze on their spots while looking at Tiffany, wide-eyed.

“…dead.” Irene continued what she was saying a while ago and covered her face. She started crying even more.

Everyone looked so shocked except for one person, Jessica. Jessica simply felt numb while seeing her best friend on the floor, dead. Once she lifted her eyes up and looked at her friends, they were all throwing her accusing looks. She suddenly felt small and all she wanted to do was run away and cry her eyes out.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Jessica started to shake. She felt hurt from seeing those accusing eyes from the ones she trusted the most.

“You killed her!” Sehun stated without much hesitation. Everyone started to think irrationally.

“I did not!” Jessica felt tears coming out from her eyes, but she ignored it.

“You did.” Irene accusingly said. “I heard Luhan and Yoona screaming a while ago. They were screaming for help and when I went closer to them, I saw you there.”

“You’re lying!” Krystal stood up and defended her sister.

“We all know that Jessica has some minor mental problems. Hey Jess, have you been taking your medications? Maybe not,” Kris gritted his teeth in anger.

“It wasn’t a mental problem! She was depressed! Mom’s death took its toll on her!” Krystal shouted.

“Maybe she killed her too.” Lay said after staying quiet for some time.

“Stop accusing her, we’re all in trouble and we don’t know what’s going to happen to us. But what I know is that we need to get out of here.” Krystal said as she dragged her sister out of the unit.

The atmosphere inside the room felt too heavy. No one dared to say a word. Irene laid her eyes on Tiffany one last time before heading towards her bedroom. The door slammed shut and only three guys were left.

Sehun, who immediately realized the messed up situation they were all put into, decided to go after the siblings. He realized that it was wrong to start accusing one another without any concrete evidence.

“Look, I’m going to look for Krystal. Who knows, maybe there’s more trouble to come. I don’t think it’s safe out there.” He said to the two guys beside him before dashing out of the unit.

Lay stared at Tiffany’s dead body before heaving a sigh. He walked out of the living room and came back after a minute with a blanket in his hands. He spread the blanket out and gently placed it over Tiffany.

“It’s strange how you’re taking things calmly.” Kris whispered, throwing an accusing look at the guy beside him.

Lay heard it and glared. “What, you’re going to accuse me of being the killer as well?”

 

 

 

Outside the unit, the siblings walked down the hall together, not saying a word. Krystal was walking faster than Jessica, her footsteps quick. Even with her back facing Jessica, the latter could sense that the younger was in a bad mood.

When they reached the elevator, Krystal furiously pushed the button as she waited for the doors to open. Just as the door opened, her older sister held her back from entering. “Don’t. We should take the stairs instead. It’s too risky to take the elevator as of the moment. The power might go out again.”

The younger girl exhaled and threw her sister a look. “You could’ve told me earlier then.”

“Krystal,” Jessica grabbed her sister’s wrist, making the girl stop from walking ahead. “Are you mad at me, too?”

She watched as Krystal continued to face her back on her. The younger girl’s shoulders were rising up and down, and Jessica immediately knew she was trying to control her anger.

When Krystal turned around, she stared at her with cold, deadly eyes. “Jessica, can you tell me what the hell is going on?” She calmly asked, in contrast to how her eyes looked at her sister.

“What-”

“I am so confused, Jessica!” She burst out. “When you left, Yoona and Luhan went after you. But when you came back, Irene found them dead! And when the power went out, Tiffany was killed and you were sitting beside her! Can you tell me what is going on with you?!”

Jessica was taken aback. She was actually confused with the whole situation as well. Back in Irene’s unit, all her friends were accusing her of killing Tiffany. And now that her very own sister seemed to be suspecting her, she felt helpless.

Tears welled up the older girl’s eyes as she stared at her sister. She felt completely betrayed by everyone. “You’re accusing me as well, Krystal...”

Krystal refused to meet her sister’s eyes. She knew it was wrong to accuse her sister like that all of a sudden. But she was panicking. This was the first time she witnessed someone dead in front of her very own eyes. And it happened to be her friend too.

She was about to turn around and head for the stairs when loud footsteps reached her ears.

“Jessica! Krystal!” Sehun’s voice echoed throughout the hallway.

“We’re here!” Krystal managed to shout. She made her way towards the direction where Sehun’s voice came from. She walked past Jessica and heard footsteps approaching. Just when Sehun came into sight, the lights blinked, and then the power went out again.

“Sehun?! Sehun! Where are you?” Krystal exclaimed, panic starting to build up inside her. She hated being in the dark. She was scared that if the lights went on again, she would have to witness another terrifying scene.

Sehun was scared of the current situation too, but he knew that the girls were more scared than he was. The group protected the siblings with all their might. Jessica and Krystal only had them because of the terrible accident that killed their parents. The two siblings trusted them with all their hearts; they were the only family they have. Sehun felt like the two were depending on him during this time, even if he was the youngest among them. He tried to find ways to get near to them and save them, if that was possible. He suddenly realized that he brought his phone with him. He opened his phone and switched the flashlight on.

"Krystal! Jessica! Where are you?!" Sehun kept on looking sideways to find the siblings.

"We're here!" Krystal shouted from the other end of the corridor, alone.

"Where's Jess?" Sehun shouted back and Krystal looked behind her. She was confused with the sudden disappearance of her sister.

"She was just right behind me a while ago. I wonder where she went." The girl replied, her voice starting to shake. She was extremely scared already. She doesn’t know what could happen next. And without her sister beside her, she felt like disappearing into thin air. No one was there to protect her besides Sehun who was unfortunately, on the other side of the hall.

Sehun was about to say something but he saw a person's figure right behind Krystal.

"Krystal! Stay away from that spot! Krys-" Sehun couldn't finish his sentence because his phone's battery just died on him.

Darkness swallowed them again. They felt blind; they can't see anything around them. It was literally just black. Sehun felt something unusual. He knew something terrible was going to happen right at that moment.

And he was right.

The power returned and Krystal was also right with what she feared moments ago. She just witnessed another terrifying scene.

Sehun was dead on the floor, blood starting to pool around him.

 

 

 

Back in the unit, Kris and Lay were left inside the living room. Irene’s bedroom door was still closed. They wanted to knock and at least comfort her, but too many things were going on in their mind that they decided not to do it just yet.

"I need to pee." Lay stated and went to the bathroom.

"Really now? There's so much to worry about and he's peeing." Kris rolled his eyes but didn't do anything to stop the other from going to the bathroom.

The eerie silence was deafening to Kris' ears. He at least wanted someone to talk to. He wasn't even sure how Irene could sleep despite everything that was happening. Kris wanted to sleep too so he lied down on the sofa but his eyes widened as the view in front of him was Tiffany's dead body. He stood up and was about to knock on Irene's door when he heard a girl's scream. He dashed out of the room and went towards the voice's direction.

Kris regretted following that voice as soon as he saw his friend lying dead in front of him. Krystal was crying and Jessica was nowhere to be seen. Kris kneeled down before Sehun's body and was left speechless. He looked at Krystal and tried to look for answers but Krystal was just crying and he knew that it won't help if he asked her what happened.

"Sehun...what just happened to you? You're so stupid, haven't I to-"

"Oh my god!" Jessica suddenly appeared and covered . Her eyes were wide open while looking at her friend lying on the floor.

"Where did you go? Why did you disappear? What happe-"

The power went out again. Krystal quickly went closer to her sister and hugged her. It was so cold. It was snowing outside, the power went out, and they don’t have anything warm near them. They were so scared of what might happen. They don't want any from their friends to be seen dead again. They prayed that they won't see their friend lying dead on the floor beside Sehun.

They heard some groans and footsteps in front of them. Jessica immediately became alert and hugged her sister tighter. They waited for the worse to come but the wait was quickly over. The electricity went back, and their prayers were answered. They didn't see Kris lying dead beside Sehun, but Kris was nowhere to be found and a trail of blood was left on the floor.

Jessica’s knees wobbled as she stared at the trail of blood with dread. Her hold on Krystal started to loosen. She started sweating and her eyes started to become unsteady. Once she took a glance at Sehun’s dead body, with his eyes staring at her, her legs started to give up on her. She fell down the floor, pulling Krystal along with her.

She met Krystal’s panic-stricken face and she hugged her once again. She heard her younger sister whimper a little and started to caress her back. After a while, Krystal pulled away from the hug.

“Jessica, we have to leave.”

 

 

 

“Hey, Kris! You won't believe it! Nature called me and the electricity went out and—what the hell?!” Lay was surprisingly blabbering nonsense as soon as he went out of the bathroom.

He stopped walking once he found out that there was no one in the living room, except for Tiffany who was lying dead on the floor. He slowly went in front of Irene's bedroom and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked once again, but there was still no answer. He tried to turn the doorknob and hoped that it isn't locked and luck was on his side, it opened.

“Irene, where are you?” Lay looked around the room and tried to find Irene, but she was nowhere to be found. He felt oddly cold and found out that the air conditioner was open. He wondered why that appliance was open when it was snowing outside.

He made quiet footsteps inside the room, his eyes looking around the area. The bed was neatly done; the study table was clean as well. Everything inside the room looked normal, until Lay’s eyes landed on Irene’s walk-in closet.

With shaky hands, he reached out for its door. When it opened, he was immediately paralyzed in his place. He saw Kris’ dead body awkwardly lying on the ground. He had a cable wire wrapped around his neck.

A corpse's smell can be covered with cold places, that's why the air conditioner was open.

He was about to go out but he was surprised to see Irene standing by the doorway, her eyes were looking at him accusingly.

“Who gave you the permission to go inside my room?”

She obviously suspected Lay for killing their friends. The guy quickly caught up with the situation and told Irene about what really happened until he found Kris inside her closet.

“We need to find Jessica and Krystal. We're in great danger. We should get out of here.” Lay said as he tugged on Irene's hand and dragged her outside of the room.

The two of them walked until they reached the end of the corridor which led them to the balcony. The balcony of the 15^th floor was wide and open. The view outside was very calming, but the situation the group of friends were all into was a complete disaster.

Lay stepped into the balcony and went near the low iron railings while looking down. Irene followed him but she stopped right behind Lay. The boy faced Irene with a worried look on his face.

“What if they went down already? What if they're in trouble? I think we should go down.”

From Irene's peripheral view, she saw two figures from the right side of the building. It was the all-glass part of the building which was the staircase. She looked at the side and looked directly into their eyes with a smirk on her face. She returned her attention to Lay who was looking at her face with confusion. She continued to smirk and approached him slowly. All of a sudden, she grabbed Lay’s collar, leaving him surprised. With wide eyes, he watched as Irene slowly pushed him against the railings of the balcony. The railings were low, and if Irene was still strong enough, she can push him off the railings.

“Why don't you go down first and see for yourself?” Irene menacingly said. Lay knew what was about to happen next. He wanted to remove Irene’s hands from his collar, but the girl proceeded to wrap her hands around his neck. Lay looked at the girl with wide, pleading eyes. Irene just smirked at him before pushing him off the balcony with all her might. Once Lay fell off, she looked at the two figures by the side of the building again.

“Oops, I think they aren't in the ground floor yet.” Irene laughed as she went inside the building, but not before giving the siblings a smile.

 

 

 

Jessica and Krystal were alarmed. They never expected that Irene could do something like that. She wasn't that kind of a person, though she's quite mysterious in some ways, she was still their friend. Irene was one of their kindest friends, but here she is, killing each one of them. They don't even know what they did to Irene to make her murder them one by one. They treated Irene like their own sister, their own family, but she betrayed them. It was so unfair.

The two were silent for some time; they can't exactly find the right words to say. They simply stared at each other with frightened eyes. The two flinched as they heard the door open from the floor above them. Irene was standing there and looked at them with an innocent face. The two were frozen on their spots and they can't even move; they were too scared.

“Oh, the lovely sisters are here!” Irene clasped her hands together as she slowly made her way down the stairs, closer to the two girls.

Jessica suddenly realized what's happening and moved from her spot and dragged her sister down the stairs and ran. Irene simply laughed at them and continued to walk slowly. “So you want to play a game, huh?” The two simply ignored her.

“What about hide and seek? I love that game! You guys can hide and I'll come to find you! What do you say?” Irene walked a little faster than her pace before. The siblings just kept on running. “Silence means yes. I'll count from ten and after that, I hope you found a great hiding spot, you'll never know the consequences if I find you. Oh, I'm so excited! This is going to be fun!”

“Ten.”

Jessica felt her heartbeat increase rapidly.

“Nine.”

Krystal fell while running down which caused them to fall down the flights of stairs.

“Eight.”

Jessica helped Krystal up as they continued to run.

“Seven.”

The lights went out.

“Six.”

The power returned.

“Five. Four. Three. Two.”

Time passed like a blur.

“One.”

The sisters arrived at the tenth floor. It was empty.

“Ready or not, here I come!” Irene ran down the flight of stairs while shouting, “Let the games begin!”

When the siblings arrived on the 10^th floor, Jessica opened the door and quietly walked towards the hallway. The girl looked left and right as she pulled Krystal along with her. They passed by and saw that there were occupants in the floor already. Krystal wanted to ask for help from them, but when she was about to knock on the door, Jessica pulled her back.

“Krystal, don’t.”

“Why?”

Jessica heaved a sigh before shaking her head. “We can’t trust anyone as of the moment. We may never know how fast Irene is. Who knows, she might be here in a matter of seconds. She might find us anytime. We wouldn’t want that, right?”

With a shake of Krystal’s head, they resumed walking. They turned right and were about to head straight to the hallway when they saw the door that led to the staircase open. Jessica let out a gasp and immediately pulled Krystal back. Jessica took a peek behind the wall and saw Irene calmly walking out.

The girl just stopped in front of the door, unmoving, as if trying to know where the siblings could possibly be. Droplets of sweat formed on Jessica’s forehead as she waited for Irene to make the next move. Finally making a decision, the girl turned right, facing her back towards the pair.

Jessica let out a sigh of relief and quickly pulled Krystal with her towards the hallway. They decided not to turn right anymore. As they walked quietly along the hallway, they ended up in a dead end. The dead end happened to have a janitor’s closet and an open vacant room a few meters away that was pitch black inside.

Krystal gulped in fear as she watched her sister think deeply of the next step they’re going to take. She was very scared of what is in store for them, but she didn’t want to show it to Jessica for she wanted to be strong for her.

“Krystal, look. We have to hide in different places. We can’t be together or else the both of us will be dead right away. You hide inside the janitor’s closet while I hide in the vacant room. We’ll have to hide here until it’s safe. If Irene comes here, I’ll distract her.” Jessica explained, her eyes running around the area to make sure she isn’t heard and Irene hasn’t arrived yet.

The younger wanted to complain but she ended up quietly nodding her head. Jessica let go of Krystal’s hands and gave her a small smile. “Stay quiet in there, okay? Don’t make a sound.”

“You too, Jessica. Keep safe.”

As the two went separate ways, they waited for the worse to come. During the time they were hiding, the power went out again. Krystal almost screamed in fear but she was able to hold herself back. She hated darkness. She always ends up imagining scary things whenever it’s dark. Krystal almost cried when she imagined Irene discovering her hiding spot. She can imagine how horrifying Irene’s face would look like when she stares at her.

Jessica trembled in her place as the whole building turned pitch black again. Her eyes picked up noises around and surprisingly, it was very quiet. For a moment she thought it was only her who was inside the building with Irene who was probably searching for her already.

The siblings’ heightened fear disappeared when the lights went on again after two minutes. But right when the lights went back, they both heard light footsteps on the hallway.

Irene hummed a song as she slowly dragged her feet towards the dead end where Jessica and Krystal were hiding. The girl stopped in front of a door at the very end, which is the janitor’s closet.

Smiling to herself, Irene was about to twist the doorknob open when she suddenly heard a thud from a different place. She turned around and her eyes landed on another door a few meters away that was closed. The girl stopped and thought for a while. She was suspecting that the siblings were hiding something from her. Such small commotion wouldn’t happen if they really wanted to escape from her.

Deciding to ignore the noise she heard, Irene sinisterly smiled to herself as she opened the door, revealing Krystal who was helplessly trying to hide herself inside the closet.

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here! Guess who forgot to lock the door!” Irene exclaimed, a laugh escaping her lips afterwards. After laughing, her face became serious and her eyes menacingly glared at the teary-eyed and trembling girl in front of her.

Irene grabbed Krystal by the hair and wrapped an arm around her neck, almost choking her. “I forgot to tell you the punishment of the game, Krystal.”

The said girl fearfully looked Irene as she waited for her to speak. “Whoever gets caught will receive a very wonderful punishment...”

Irene leaned closer to Krystal and whispered into her ear. “...death.”

Krystal let out a small scream as Irene guffawed. The latter pulled the younger girl along with her out of the closet. Irene walked as fast as she could as she brought Krystal with her. They walked past the door where Jessica was hiding. Jessica heard and was terrified with everything Irene had said.

Irene pulled Krystal as they walked towards the elevator. Irene furiously pushed the button as she impatiently waited for the door to open. When the door opened, Krystal let out a scream as she saw the sight in front of her.

Luhan’s dead body was lying limp on the corner of the elevator.

“Oh, look! It’s your friend!” Irene enthusiastically said, flashing a smile towards the younger girl beside her. The latter could only glare at her with bloodshot eyes.

When the doors closed, Krystal observed Irene push the button in the elevator. As she saw the older press the button with the number 20, she immediately had a feeling of what was going to be her fate. Krystal silently cried as the elevator went up. The girl beside her just chortled, seeing how pathetic the younger looked like.

As soon as they arrived at the 20^th floor, Irene pushed Krystal and commanded her to walk up the stairs leading to the rooftop. The latter hesitated at first, but when Irene threatened her that she’ll kill her in the most brutal way ever if she decides to run away, she proceeded to climb up.

When Krystal reached the rooftop, she quickly shivered. The rooftop was full of snow and it was very windy as well. The rooftop gave a wonderful view of the city. Krystal cried even more when she realized how different the environment looked like compared to the horrifying situation they were in now.

Krystal let out a gasp when Irene strongly pushed her towards the end of the rooftop. The girl felt helpless as she waited for her death to come. She kept on crying and her tears never stopped flowing. She looked down and saw the empty road in front of the building.

Irene observed the girl being quiet by the edge of the building as she prepared the thick ropes in her hands. Once she was done creating loops and tying the other end of the rope on a small pole in the middle of the rooftop, she approached Krystal.

“Here’s your reward for being caught during the game!” Irene said as she placed the rope around the younger girl’s neck who kept on crying.

Irene, who started to get ticked off with Krystal’s unstoppable tears, suddenly tightened the loop around her neck. She pushed the girl to stand onto the very edge of the building which earned a gasp and another set of tears from Krystal.

Irene placed a hand on Krystal’s back. The other hand was still on the rope near the girl’s neck. Leaning close to the younger girl, she whispered, “Any last words, my dear Krystal?”

Krystal glared and replied through gritted teeth. “I hope you rot in hell.”

Irene smiled at her and with one strong push, another victim died.

Back on the 20^th floor, the doors of the second elevator opened, revealing Jessica who had a petrified look on her face as her eyes scanned the room. She walked around for a while, unsure of what to do. When she stopped in front of a huge window, her eyes did a double take.

Horrified, Jessica stared at the window. She noticed how the hanging pair of pink sneakers looked very familiar to her. And when it dawned on her, Jessica let out a scream.

She clutched her head as she turned her eyes away from Krystal. Tears immediately fell down her eyes. Her knees trembled which made her fall down the floor. Her shoulders shook as she desperately tried to gasp for air. Her whole body shook with fear, panic, and dread. Seeing her sister dead right in front of her eyes seemed to be like her own death as well.

After a few minutes of mourning over her sister’s death, Jessica regained composure and stood up. She wanted to seek vengeance for the death of Krystal as well as her six other friends whom she loved dearly. As she walked through the hallway, she stopped in her tracks and felt something in the pocket of her jeans. Jessica fished the sharp glimmering object out and stared at it.

Exhaling, she held the pocket knife tightly in her hand and continued walking towards the elevator on the other side of the floor. She knew it was risky to take the elevator in such situations, but she still did it. When the doors opened, she quickly went inside and pushed the button heading to the first floor.

The wait going down the first floor left Jessica anxious. What if Irene was waiting for her down there? Other questions flooded her mind until she reached the destined floor. When she set foot on the first floor, the lobby was surprisingly empty. The security guards were nowhere to be found, and the staff on the counter wasn’t there either.

Jessica had actually thought that maybe Irene drugged the staff or killed them. As of the moment, without any staff and Irene around, the girl could actually use this chance to escape but no, she didn’t.

The girl went for the telephone on the counter and started dialing 911. The phone rang for a while before an answer came.

“Hello, this is 911-”

The next few words were left unheard for Jessica felt a pair of cold hands on hers. Irene disconnected the phone and glared at the girl in front of her.

“What do you think you’re doing, huh? You’re trying to report me to the police?!” Irene exclaimed with pure hatred on her voice. She had her hands wrapped around Jessica’s neck and she was so close to choking her to death.

“Why are you doing this, Irene?!” Jessica screamed, her voice cracking for she was having a hard time breathing already.

Irene gave her a hard look and continued to wrap her hands around Jessica’s neck. “For two years, I’ve been nothing but a useless person to the group! All of you are successful in your own field. Luhan, Yoona, and Sehun are pursuing music. Lay is studying at one of the most prestigious universities. Tiffany is in the process of achieving her goal to be a designer. Krystal is going to be an actress. And you,” she tightened her grip around Jessica’s neck again. “You’re slowly becoming a successful businesswoman.”

Jessica gave her a confused look as she struggled to speak. “Irene, I don’t understand-”

“All of you are so immersed in your own careers that you’ve forgotten one friend who has lost her path towards happiness and to guide her back to it! I’ve lost so many people in my life already, Jessica. When I found you guys, I thought you would be the one who’ll bring peace in me. But I guess I was wrong.”

Irene glared at her. Her grip on Jessica loosened already. The latter had her pocket knife ready, but Irene was one step ahead of her. She stabbed Jessica with her own knife near the stomach. Jessica let out a sharp gasp as the pain shot through her whole body. She knelt down in pain, her one hand clutching her wound.

Irene kneeled in front of her as well. “I guess I was wrong, Jessica. You all brought out the living monster in me.”

By then, several thoughts were running inside Jessica’s mind. She tried to think of possible ways on how to get out of the hellhole she entered. Her eyes rapidly scanned the lobby for anything to hit Irene with to at least render her unconscious. Her thoughts were interrupted though when Irene spoke again.

“Oh, and did I forget to tell you that I have mental issues?” Irene chortled. Jessica looked at her with wide eyes. “Remember when you guys saw me taking pills? Those aren’t for my heart complications. They’re actually for my mental problems!” She laughed again.

Jessica took Irene’s laughter as a chance to get a weapon or anything to make the girl weak. Jessica glanced at the flower vase sitting on top of the counter near them then back to Irene who was still laughing, before grabbing the vase and breaking it into pieces with Irene’s head.

The girl groaned as she clutched onto her head that started bleeding. Just when Jessica stood up, she heard the police sirens outside. Almost smiling in relief, she ran for the front door, a hand clutching her wound. Just when she was near the door though, Irene managed to catch up with her.

“Where do you think you’re going, huh?” Irene shouted in anger, her eyes unsettled and unfocused.

“Game’s over, Irene. It’s time to go out of this hellhole and go home.” Jessica muttered before taking the courage to hit the girl with her fist. Irene went unconscious.

Jessica stared at the girl for quite some time before turning her back on her. She opened the front door and limped towards the police cars approaching. When one of the police cars stopped in front of her, she took one last glance at the building. It was the building where several lives were killed. It was where she experienced several struggles just to stay alive. It was where her Christmas turned out to be a bloody one.

After a few talks with the police officers, Jessica was finally requested to be sent to the hospital for treatment. Getting inside one of the police cars, she let out a sigh of relief. The police said something to her, but she wasn’t able to understand it anymore. When the car started to leave the area, Jessica turned around to check the building again. She felt like she was being watched. And she was right.

From one of the huge glass windows on the main floor, Irene was staring at her. When the girl realized that Jessica saw her, she showed her a sinister smile.

 

“The game isn’t over yet, Jessica.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

thank you for reading! comments are very much appreciated!