It was strange, waking up to see the others crowding around me again, the concern etched into their features so prominent that I felt guilty for it, guilty for putting them through so much. It was strange, rising to a seated position and seeing Yixing and Jongin whose befuddled expressions mirrored my own, their eyes wavering and uneasy. It was strange, pushing myself to my feet and noticing Luhan in a corner, physically unharmed, and yet rocking like a mental patient. It was all too strange. Nothing was making sense, nothing was coming together to form something logical, something we could understand. It was simply as though we had been into a nightmare which we could not battle and most certainly could not escape.

I could hear voices, predominantly that of Kris telling me to sit down and relax, but my body moved on its own accord. My feet scuffed against the ground, dragging me unconsciously towards where Luhan sat, eyes bulging out of his skull. The moment my shoes touched his, my knees buckled and I crumbled beside him, tilting in closer. I looked at him intently, searching for answers. All I received were ghastly breaths, Luhan’s struggle to inhale the air around him, his throat seemingly congested and body overwhelmed by fright. He didn’t raise his eyes to meet my gaze and only continued to rock back and forth, shoulders repeatedly hitting the uneven cave wall behind him. I poked at him tenderly with quivering fingers, but he still didn’t respond. Nor did he respond to any of the others, only moving when he was hauled onto Sehun’s back and forced to advance further into the haunting depths.

Luhan did not return to us after that. He remained like a walking shell, no soul existing within him, no intelligent mind of his own. He never blinked or reacted to sounds, arms merely dangling lifelessly by his sides as the other members collectively assisted in carrying him together. Sometimes, his mouth twitched and we all leaned closer expectedly, but all that ever came out were croaky gasps and low moans. We all pretended that he was just in shock, but deep down, we knew it was something far worse.

Two days passed without an incident, without hearing Luhan’s confident voice. We had crawled into a lopsided cavern with a slight skylight, an opening ahead that gave us a perfectly clear view of boundless sparkling stars. There were faint animal calls sounding from outside, and every so often, a shadow blocked the space, a large mammal pouncing past. Sometimes there were flickering yellow eyes peering down at us, but nothing dangerous was tiny enough to squeeze through the hole.

I was spread-eagled on my back, gazing up at the peaceful scene before me, my breaths even and fogging out in front of my face. My skin was chilled and both dry cheeks were deeply reddened, but I felt at ease, the stars a symbol of hope in my mind.

Kris plonked down beside me, nudging me onto my side so he could press his chest against my back. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Fine, I guess.’

‘You don’t look fine’, he responded, tangling his arms around my slender waist, ‘you’ve lost a lot of weight, Jun. Your face is so taut and I can literally feel your ribs poking out through your skin. Tell me what’s going on.’

‘If I knew what was going on, I would tell you.’

I sat up as Yixing planted himself beside me, Jongin not far behind. The two shuffled closer to me and plastered their bodies against mine, fingers gently grasping my dirty shirt, faces nuzzling into my skin. Their eyes were circled by dark grey shades, their lips cracked and bleeding and like me, they were only vague representations of their past appearance, bones jutting out unhealthily. Just by staring into the pits of their haunted eyes, I could tell that they had been struggling too.

Though we hadn’t been dragged into another realm during the two days, we were struck by random, eerie flashbacks. I was walking casually, my hand entwined with Kris’, when pain seared through my head and each time I blinked my eyes, I was welcomed by flickering images of contorted faces and mouths agape to emit screams. I had tried to act nonchalant about it, but the feeling was so terrible, so excruciating that I broke away from Kris and decided to avoid him so that he could not detect anything being out of place.

Now though, with Yixing and Jongin clinging to me desperately and with Luhan sprawled out as though his body was made of jelly, it was impossible to pretend that everything was okay. And as my sight began to blur once more, I could no longer hold myself together. I broke into tears and darkness ate me, and I felt as though I was falling endlessly, being into an infinite black hole.

I blinked rapidly after a few minutes of silence, and eventually, my eyes focussed properly. I was on my side, sharp rocks digging into porcelain skin. With a groan, I forced myself into an upright position and after rubbing my aching temples, I gazed around.

Yixing was leaning against a protruding rock, arms shaking considerably as he attempted to push himself to his blistered feet. He winced when he finally succeeded, and swayed unsteadily for a couple of seconds, before stumbling over to Jongin. The younger male was flat on his back, chest rising and falling evenly, eyes wide open as he stared at the now complete cave ceiling, no soothing skylight in sight. Yixing fell to his knees beside him and yanked him up so that they could rely on one another’s strength.

Groaning, I moved to join them. My legs felt feeble and my arms were trembling, but I managed to get up, managed to wriggle sluggishly towards where they sat, huddled together. The thing that stopped me was the resounding whimper.

I cocked my head, only mere paces away from my companions, and saw another figure in the room with us. Jongdae’s face was drenched in salty tears and his eyes darted about frantically, frightened and confused. His hands were terribly pale, fingertips fading into a light blue as he tightly gripped onto his own body, nails scraping against sensitive skin. The normally neat hair atop his head was dishevelled, sticking out in all directions as though he had just been electrocuted. The oddest thing was that his feet were bare, shoes spontaneously nowhere to be seen.

I shifted and crawled to his side, pulling him into me, hands comforting him with tender . He sniffled and edged closer, tense body relaxing significantly in my embrace.

‘Did you use your power?’ I asked quietly, tilting to look him in the eye.

He swiped a tear away and nodded. ‘I still can’t control it properly. It just happened out of nowhere.’

It was as though the use of our powers alerted a metaphysical monstrosity to our presence, as though they illuminated us like a beacon amongst a dark, storming ocean. I wanted to find an answer, needed to know why Baekhyun was not here with us, but I was stopped mid-thought. The shadowed creature was very hastily sliding in our direction.