Baekhyun had finally ceased to move with celerity and ease, and the shining light that had once made his skin seem so unbelievably alive had been dampened; his exhaustion was like a bucket of water and it had been tipped over the flames, leaving us all in uncomfortable darkness. The light inside him was struggling, too. His breaths were uneven and it was evident just how much strength he needed to muster each time he inhaled. He was a fish out of water and his grasp on reality was rapidly slipping through his fingers.

I was at a complete and utter loss for words. I didn’t know what I could possibly say to make the others feel enlightened, nor did I have any clue on what action to take next. I had no plan, nowhere to go and nobody to turn to. My own energy was swiftly seeping out and my brain had become a total mess, no more than words and images with no connection flying around uselessly. For a moment I wished that the horrifying monstrosity had eaten me so that I could escape the constant stress and fear trying to swallow my sanity like a tasty, hearty meal.

Without Baekhyun, the rest of us had no way of advancing further or attempting to retrace our steps to find the place in which we had entered such a hellhole. He was the only person able to illuminate our path, to guide us onwards and towards our final destination. The absence of his presence meant that there was only one option; we would have to wander aimlessly until our hands grazed something promising, like blindfolded children on a treasure hunt. Only, the treasure I sought most was freedom and the promise of survival. I had finally lost my desire to discover the unknown, to become famous for this expedition and to prove that the world was full of fantastic miracles. It didn’t matter any more, and I struggled to believe that any untouched place was worth sacrificing the life of the men who had put their trust wholly in me.

Unfortunately, Kris’ mind was in an entirely different place. Though he had shown many countless signs of terror and cautiousness throughout our journey, he had reached a point in which nothing perturbed him as much as the thought as giving in on the possibility of finding something pure, something new and spectacular. With no more than a single glance in Baekhyun’s direction, he turned and began to pace away surrounded by an aura of pomposity. After a mere three steps, I could hardly make out his massive figure against the background of daunting darkness. I reached out to him desperately, hand left suspended in the air, fingers twitching.

‘Junmyeon, what do we do? Baekhyun is too weak to go any further, but without him we’re going to be walking down a dark path. We can’t leave him, yet we can’t stay here either,’ Minseok explained hurriedly, his tone panicked.

My legs buckled and I fell to my knees, unaware of the pain. I had no answer to give him, because all I could hear was my half of my conscience screaming in confusion and the other half yelling at me, demanding that I get to my feet and run after Kris. I wanted terribly to lend my knowledge and advice, I yearned madly for the days when Kris had always been there to hold me in his sturdy embrace. I was bewildered and frightened, and I wished that the others would quit staring at me with such hopeful expressions. The way their eyes were still swimming with faith and positivity made my chest ache. At no point had they lost their allegiance to me, though I had lost my way long ago.

‘I’ll carry Baekhyun,’ Chanyeol stated suddenly, yanking the slighter male onto his back with a sharp grunt, ‘and Junmyeon, you should lead the way. I know it’s hard to see, but there’s no one I trust more than you to find us a way out of here.’

‘Why do you trust me so much? I can’t even trust myself, and I sure as hell can’t trust the person who got me into this mess. I’m just as lost as the rest as you, but you keep looking to me for guidance that I can’t give.’

Though incredibly feeble, Jongin torpidly crawled over to place his palm over my trembling hand. ‘Forget about Kris. This isn’t about him anymore, it’s about you and the rest of us,’ he said firmly, eyes stinging with tears desperate to flow across his dirtied cheeks, ‘through this entire experience, you have not once let us down. We don’t expect you to make us promises or to tell us it’s certain we’ll get out of here, we just want you to keep trying. There’s no person here that’s better suited to being a leader than you, so if you give up, what are we supposed to do? We’re just sheep. All we know is a life of following, and if we don’t have you to follow, we’ll be killed by the foxes. Don’t give in yet. Don’t let us down.’

‘But I’m so scared,’ I spluttered, nails digging harshly into my thighs to disguise the way my body quivered.

‘We’re all scared, so let’s be scared together. It’s better to be a pack of cowards than to be a coward all alone, right?’

I was about to weakly agree when the ground began to rumble. As though we were sitting in the middle of quaking earth, we each began to lose our footing. With no power left to wildly grab onto something, I flung to the side and rolled into a protruding rock, its sharpness slicing my exposed side. I moaned in agony, but had no time to focus on the warm wetness now soaking the front of my shirt. Instead, I pushed my attention to the oncoming cluster of tumbling stones and jagged crystals. We had all been so distracted by other terrors that we had failed to notice our positioning; we sat at the bottom of a slope, unprotected and in perfect range to be struck by falling debris.

‘Everyone get to your feet! Fight against your wobbly legs and run!’ I shouted, pushing myself up.

As I forced my legs to propel forward, the others imitated my actions and started to sprint behind me, frantically battling against the rocks rolling past and the concerning cracks in the ground beneath their feet. Like athletes entered into an Olympic track event, we ran and ran, ignoring the constriction of our chests and trying to pretend that our legs were not suffering the sensation of a thousand stabbing knives at once. We did not stop until we knew we were safe, when the ground had ceased to move because it had ceased to exist at all. There was a dead end, a cliff with no bottom. It had stopped Kris in his tracks, too.

There was no guilt etched into his features as he spun to face us all, but there was an evident tint of maliciousness floating around his darkened irises. His appearance was dishevelled, but not in the innocent way of a child who had been playing amongst mounds of mud. He was more like a criminal, his lips upturned into the most horrid scowl and his stance almost threatening, fingers curled into considerably tight fists. As I edged closer to him, his face did not soften and his hands did not drop to his sides. It was almost as though his body had been possessed, and after enduring so many atrociously terrifying events, I listed this as a completely realistic possibility.

‘Kris, it’s me. It’s Junmyeon, your friend.’

Kris’ body shuddered abruptly and his feet slid further away, nearing the drop. Worried that his mind was not functioning well and that any movement may result in nasty injuries, I matched his steps and quickly attempted to lessen the proximity between us. Though, to ensure he did not feel endangered, I kept my arms outstretched and did nothing suddenly so as to avoid startling him. The others followed my lead and maintained a safe distance, except for Chanyeol who cradled Baekhyun, doing his utmost best to nurse him back to health with the little optimism he had left.

‘There was never anything down here,’ Kris snapped, fingers spontaneously tugging at his hair, ‘it was all just one big lie and we were all stupid enough to believe it! It’s his fault, that little shining wench!’

Kris pointed furiously at Baekhyun, whose eyes flickered open weakly. ‘We never received a text to tell us treasure was certainly awaiting down the gaping hole in the middle of the forest! It was him who lead us down here. It’s all his fault. Every last thing is his fault!’

‘This is nobody’s fault, Kris. You’re just scared and I know it’s so much easier to blame someone than to accept this predicament as it is, but you need to calm down.’

‘Don’t give me that bull! You were ready to give up seconds ago. You’re a big fraud, Kim Junmyeon. You’re no more than an office worker. You don’t belong here! You belong behind daddy’s desk filing paperwork for the rest of your miserable life!’

‘Step away from him, Jun,’ Baekhyun mutters as he limps towards me, a hand coming to rest atop my shoulder, ‘the darkness has consumed him.’

Kris began to screech obscenities and other indistinguishable sentences, but Baekhyun continued to creep closer and finally, with no more space to rid of, he was absorbed into a blinding beam of light. I shouted and turned away, shielding my eyes from the strength of the glistening rays bouncing off the cavern walls.

When I eventually convinced myself to open my eyes once again, both Baekhyun and Kris had vanished. In their place was a gaping hole and an alarmed crowd of rescue workers peering down at those of us who remained standing.