“She knows,” Kai said once he appeared in Kris’ room. “Mama ing knows and she’s helping us.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Suho said in disbelief. He was at Kris’ right side, leaning on the desk. Kris was sitting on the chair with Tawny perched onto his shoulder, while D.O stood at his left and Xiumin sat on the edge of the desk next to D.O.

“I wish I was,” Kai said as he rested his hands onto his hips.

“H-how, how…” Kris wavered, unable to complete his question.

“She knew I was going to be there.” Kai chuckled sarcastically, “She even prepared drinks.”

“Mama did what?” Suho exasperated.

Xiumin rubbed his forehead, “Okay, now I’m confused.”

“She was expecting me and even ing told me where the control was. We had a chat and she told me she’s done with the company and we’ve got to get out.” Kai paused and combed his hair backwards. “Mama said they’re going to use us as weapons if we stay here.”

“,” D.O mumbled, while Suho looked stunned.

“How, how’s she… helping us?” Kris asked.

“With information,” he answered. “I know where the others are, how to get to the roof, how to use the control and some stuff about…” Kia hesitated and looked at D.O, “us.”  He said instead, believing it was best to keep D.O and Luhan’s secrets unknown. “She also will open some passages to get out faster.”

“And you believe her?” Xiumin asked.

“Mama was extremely convincing, but I don’t want to believe everything she told me. I just want us to get out,” he opined.

“We will get out,” D.O said with conviction.

Kai nodded and picked a card out of his pocket. “She gave me a card key, it’s supposed to open any door up to the roof,” lifted his hand to the give the card to Kris, but Tawny mistook his action as a signal and flew from Kris’ shoulder to perch onto his arm. “Ouch, careful,” Kai steadied the weight of the bird on his arm. He wasn’t fond of Tawny’s claws though.

Kris whistled and the bird quickly settled onto his broad shoulder. He accepted the card and examined it. “I think you should carry this around,” Kris gave it back to Kai. “Just don’t lose it.”

Kai scowled at him.

“Subtle, man,” Xiumin coughed.

“So, can we escape tonight?” Suho crossed his arms over his chest.

Kai nodded and took out the control from his pocket, “She disabled it.”

D.O frowned and reached forward to inspect the device. “We’ve got to make sure, though,” he looked back at Kai, extending his hand for the other to take.

Kai nodded and held onto D.O’s hand. Outside was dark, completely dark. No stars to shine and decorate the sky, no moon to reflect the sun’s light and illuminate their path. Kai knew he teleported to the shore of the lake, but he couldn’t even see the water. He couldn’t distinguish the outline of the shore or the height of the trees.

“I don’t see .”

“I’ll guide you,” D.O said and held onto his hand tighter.

With firm steps, D.O directed their way into the woods. Kai held onto his arm with his free hand, holding himself closer to the smaller boy. Kai thought it was strange and unreal for him to feel so secure and close to D.O. It surprised him to trust D.O so much, so soon. He barely knew the guy.

Well, that’s not entirely true, he thought. He learned so much about the other in over one day. He felt as if he knew him since a long time. And with the things Mama told him, he was able to piece some background up, but still feel curious about some more.

“D.O?”

“Watch out with your right foot. There’s a rock.”

“Oh,” Kai lifted his foot higher than normal and took a big step as D.O pulled him forward.

“Good,” D.O said content.

“You knew Mama’s daughter, didn’t you?”

D.O stopped moving and Kai accidentally bumped against his shoulder. He let his free hand drop to his side as he waited for D.O to answer.

“Did she tell you that?” he spoke softly, letting go of his hand but Kai held onto him, not wanting to get lost in the dark.

“No, I saw her picture,” Kai answered honestly. “And, well…”

“They look so similar, don’t they? Even the scar,” he commented. “It’s so freaky.”

You’ve got no idea, Kai thought as he remembered what Mama told him. “What was her name?”

“Luzi,” D.O answered and Kai felt him turn to look at him. “Her name was… was?”

Kai didn’t speak. He couldn’t dare be the bearer of bad news. Instead he pulled D.O towards him and hugged him as best as he could without seeing. He accommodated his arms around the shorter one’s shoulders as he pulled him against his chest. The height difference was rather endearing.

“Kai, this isn’t necessary,” D.O said in a calm and serious tone, “I won’t cry over her. It’s been so long, I-”

“Just let me do this,” he said and used the height difference to his advantage, comfortably resting his cheek on top of D.O’s head.

They remained quiet for about a minute. Kai stubbornly didn’t want to let go, because for some reason he felt comfortable being close to D.O. Maybe too comfortable. The closeness of their bodies made him feel accepted, wanted and cared for despite D.O’s reluctance to hug him back. Kai felt like he was hugging a pillow, a warm and solid pillow that fit perfectly between his arms. Right then he realized he liked holding D.O too much. He realized he liked D.O too much.

“Something I’ll never understand is why Lu Mei didn’t try to save her,” D.O said as he lightly pushed Kai away, breaking the embrace. His hand held onto Kai’s forearm.

“Lu Mei?”

“Mama. That’s her real name,” D.O answered and began leading them again.

Lu Mei, Luzi, Luhan… well they’re all the same, Kai thought.

“Okay, we’ve reached a clearing,” he announced.

“Did Luzi teach you how to sing?” Kai asked.

He sighed before answering. “No.”

“Then was it Ming Li?”

“How much did she tell you?” D.O said slightly annoyed.

“Enough I guess,” Kai shrugged. “So? Did she?”

“Kai, you have to stop asking questions,” D.O sounded tired.

“but-”

“Stop.”

“D.O-”

“Enough!” he pushed Kai away. “You have to understand that people need their own privacy. We don’t like sharing everything about ourselves,” D.O raised his voice. “So stop being so annoying, you stubborn prick.”

“Prick?” Kai huffed. “Why are you being so defensive?” he spoke towards the direction he heard D.O was.

“Because some truths are hard to deal with! Okay?” he exasperated. “Stop making me remember things I’d rather forget.” He exhaled heavily, “It hurts damn it, can’t you see?” D.O said dismally.

Kai felt it. He could feel the sorrow in D.O’s voice. But he wanted to argue back, he wanted to know more. “It’s rather dark to see,” he said knowing how much of a jerk he was being.

Kai heard the ground grumble under heavy footsteps. He felt D.O’s squared hand feel his side. For a second Kai feared D.O would punch him in the gut and send him falling backwards. But his fear eased when he felt his forearm being grazed by fingers; fingers that reached down passing his wrist and firmly held his hand. Kai felt D.O lift his hand and pull forwards until he felt skin, soft skin. Kai’s thumb grazed over D.O’s nose and fell onto the top of his lips. Kai was astounded at how soft and plush they felt, but his attention was caught by wetness he could feel on D.O’s cheek. Tears?

“D.O, I-” he tried to apologize.

“Let’s just get this over with,” D.O said letting go of his hand and turning around.

Kai thought about what D.O said; some truths were hard to deal with. And he realized he was being intrusive. Kai thought about the things that made him uneasy and wished to keep to himself, like his fear about what he couldn’t remember; what he could remember of the trial; the disappearance of his scars; the shadow boggers; knowing his memories didn’t belong to him.

The memories.

Kai thought about how he felt when Mama revealed the truth –his truth. Would the others feel the same as he did? Would the others feel that horrible emptiness inside, if he told them how they could figure out who the memories belonged to? Maybe the reason why no one asked or mentioned the title of the book was because no one really knew it. Maybe Mama was lying all along and those memories weren’t theirs. Either way, knowing the truth would change everything and hurt everyone.

I’d rather never find out the truth.

Kai felt the ground shake, at first a small rumble and then in gradually became stronger. So strong he fell down, onto his bottom. Kai grasped onto the dirt and grass in an effort to keep still. A loud and long crack resonated through the night, a sound so strong that reflected the force of the one causing it.

It stopped. The night was silent again with the exception of some birds flying through the sky. Kai got up to his knees and leaned forward to hear D.O’s laborious breathing.

“D.O?”

“I’m okay,” he nearly whispered. “I’m okay,” he said more enthusiastically.

Kai breathed out in relief. In this dark he wouldn’t be much help if the other fell into a seizure.

“She really disabled it, I can’t believe it,” D.O said taken aback.

“Yeah, hard to believe,” Kai commented as he crawled forward, trying to find the other. He felt D.O’s ankle with his hand and tried to stand up, but he bumped his head against something and it was quickly replaced by D.O’s hand shoving him away.

“What the ?” he said as he fell backwards.

“Did you just head me?” D.O exclaimed.

“Uhh…” he uttered unintelligently. “Maybe?”

“Seriously?” he nearly shrieked.

“In my defense, I can’t see anything,” Kai felt his face heat up as he stood. “What- what did I hit?”

“I’m not ing answering that!” D.O exasperated embarrassedly.

Kai gulped hard as he thought of the limited options he could of hit. What the hell did I do?

“Let’s just go,” he heard D.O stomp. Kai stepped forward and reached out with his hand. His palm hit against D.O’s chest. “Will you stop touching me?” he said annoyed.

Kai looked down embarrassed. “Hey, I have to hold you, you know,” he spoke softly.

He felt D.O’s hand grab his wrist and automatically Kai slipped his hand to hold onto D’O’s.

“Do you have to hold my hand?” D.O grumbled.

“You’ve never had a problem about it before,” Kai barked back.

“Let’s just go,” he huffed.

 

Back inside, Suho kept pestering him to tell him about what he spoke with Mama while everyone was getting ready for the escape. Kai spotted Sehun strapping a backpack onto his back.

“Suho, seriously this is not the time,” Kai replied slightly annoyed. “I promise I’ll tell you everything after this .”

“Alright, alright,” Suho backed off and went to Xiumin.

Kai made his way towards Sehun just as Luhan left to speak with Kris.

“Hey.”

Sehun looked and smiled brightly at him. “We’re finally getting out,” he said.

“For real this time,” Kai commented.

“Oh come on, you’ve got to at least admit it was a pretty cool idea,” Sehun exasperated making Kai chuckle.

“It’s was ing crazy, but pretty damn cool,” he smirked.

“Kai.”

“Yeah?”

“Keep an eye on Luhan for me,” Sehun said solemnly, his eyes focusing on the said person.

“I will,” Kai held onto Sehun’s shoulder, gaining the other’s attention, “You’re the first I’ll go to if anything bad happens.”

“I know,” Sehun smiled back. “And Kai.”

“Yeah?”

“Take care of yourself, please. Don’t go doing anything reckless,” Sehun said with a serious gaze, the one that made his face look stoic except for the eyes.

“Look who’s talking,” Kai said sardonically.

“Come on,” he complained.

“I can’t promise anything,” Kai said with a cocky smirk, using his hand to smoothen his hair backwards.

Sehun huffed out and shook his head before punching Kai’s shoulder.

“Ouch!”

“Don’t be an idiot Kai. I’m ing serious,” Sehun glared at him. “Don’t play the hero, You’re not the ing hero.”

Kai couldn’t stop from smiling. He tried to suppress it but ended up forming a smirk. Having Sehun worry about him made him feel all giddy inside. It was amusing to evoke emotions out of him.

“I know I’m not,” he smiled reassuringly.

A loud alarm went off and red lights illuminated the room. Kai looked around and recognized the situation. The boggers were in the building.

“I’ll keep Lay close,” he yelled over the noise before turning away.

“That’s not the ing solution,” he heard Sehun yell back. “Just don’t get hurt!”

Kai turned to look at him. “You too, take care!”

 

True to his word, Kai kept Lay with him as his partner for the escape.

They were at the first floor of sector C, near the staircase that led to the subterranean where Mama took them for their individual trials with the elixir shot. Red illuminated the corridors, but it was enough to see well. These lights weren’t as dark as the ones used for the indoor night trial. The annoying alarm had died off already. Over all the conditions weren’t bad. At least the trio hadn’t come across a bogger yet.

“Okay D.O,” he said letting go of the other’s hand. “We’re counting on you.”

“I know,” D.O replied serious. “I will get all of you out. I have to.”

“Have to?”

“Stop questioning everything I say,” he whined.

“Sorry,” Kai looked down. “Just… Take care okay?” He looked back at him, “Be careful.”

D.O frowned a little as he looked at him questioningly. “You,” he looked to the side. “You barely know me,” he spoke softly.

“You know that’s not true,” he said determinedly. D.O stared back with wide eyes. Kai smiled as he thought fondly at how big and white D.O’s eyes were.

“Stop smiling, you goof” D.O looked away.

“So eloquent,” Kai joked, smiling even wider as D.O looked embarrassed.

“Shut up.”

“You guys call that flirting?” Lay cut in.

Kai looked shocked at how blunt he was, though it shouldn’t be a surprise. Lay was like that.

“That’s not what this is,” D.O pointed frantically at them both. His voice rose two octaves higher.

“It’s not?” Kai feigned ignorance.

“No!” D.O said as his face flushed rosy red.

Kai laughed at D.O’s reaction, before composing himself again. He reached forward and held onto D.O’s hand, the other only stared confused. “I did say once,” he said as caressed D.O’s hand with his thumb, “that you interest me.”

D.O glared at him and pulled his hand away, “I told you not to say things like that.”

“Okay, he likes you and you’re not sure yet,” Lay butted in, pushing Kai to the side. “Just go,” he said and pointed towards the stairs. D.O nodded and left to his task.

Kai sighed as he watched the other descend the stairs. “I’m that obvious?”

“Yes, you’re a love struck puppy,” Lay said flatly and then tugged his shirt. “We have to hurry.”

 

Now in sector E, first floor, Kai expected to find Chanyeol and Sehun. Instead he appeared face to face with a bogger. Immediately he made himself intangible, projecting his ability to Lay, and avoided the attack. Moving to the left, Kai canceled the intangibility and kicked the bogger’s side. He felt himself being pulled forwards as Lay ran up and touched the bogger’s ragged back. It fell forward and disintegrated.

“ that was close,” Kai exasperated as he looked around for anymore.

“Let’s go,” Lay suggested.

Searching through sector E, they didn’t spot any guard or lab assistant. They figured it was because of the boggers running loose. They decided to not waste time fighting against any bogger or dogger they’d encounter. Instead they’d phase to escape or teleport away. Reaching the second floor they found Sehun fighting against a bogger. Chanyeol was further down the corridor, flaming some boggers to ashes.

“What’s going on?” Kai yelled at Sehun, the wind was strong and he could barely hear himself speak.

“They came out of nowhere,” he answered after dealing with the bogger.  The wind had died. “I don’t know how many are loose.”

“They’re everywhere,” Lay said.

“It doesn’t matter. As long as we get out before they release the shadow boggers, we’ll be fine,” Kai said. Sehun nodded in agreement.

“Did you find the electrical room?” Lay asked.

“No, I think it’s up a floor,” Sehun frowned, adjusting the backpack straps on his shoulders.

Using his free hand, Kai held onto him and teleported both Lay and Sehun to the fourth floor.

“Where are you heading first?” Kai asked as he let them go on the third floor.

“Left,” Sehun answered.

“Okay, stay close,” Kai bid before leaving for Chanyeol.

“Where’s Sehun?” Kai heard a deep voice say behind him.

“Third floor,” he said and grabbed onto Chanyeol’s forearm.

Back up a floor they ran through the empty corridors towards the right. Only one bogger delayed them, but Kai was quick to teleport pass it.

“, I don’t think it’s here,” Chanyeol said through huffs.

“Come one,” Kai held his arm and teleported back to the middle section on the floor.

They ran around, stopping to burn an annoying pack of doggers that wouldn’t stop following them. They found Sehun and Lay standing in front a glass door with red metal frames. On the door was printed with big bold letters SUBSIDIARY ELECTRICAL ROOM.

“Couldn’t be more obvious,” Chanyeol remarked.

Kai swiftly picked the key card out of his pocket and opened the door. The room was similar to an empty spacious closet and on the back wall there were two distribution boards and one fire alarm control panel.

Sehun opened the red colored metal door and inside was a black panel with many buttons and switches and a screen. He looked back at the rest with an annoyed look.

“How the are we supposed to disable this?”

Chanyeol walked forward and grabbed a small booklet on the top of the panel. “Instructions and guidelines manual: How to use,” he read out loud. “I guess it’s the only way.”

“You should hide in here until you disable it,” Lay suggested.

“I don’t think we have much of a choice with that,” Sehun grumbled.

“Don’t forget sector D,” Kai said before leaving with Lay.

 

“Good, you’re here,” he heard Kris say.

Kai turned and saw them waiting in front of a door exactly the same as the one he had just opened. The trio looked sweaty and tired, especially Xiumin. They were at the third floor of sector A.

“Wow, great guess,” Lay said as he noticed the door.

“Thanks,” Kai said as he walked towards the rest. “I guessed it would be distributed towards the opposite side of the one in sector E. Like a mirror,” he explained.

“Hmm, smart,” Lay commented. “Looks like you fought some boggers,” he said to the others.

“Many,” Kris said displeased, pulling on the straps of his backpack.

“Xiumin’s hurt,” Luhan said as he beckoned Lay towards him.

“It’s just a scratch,” Xiumin shrugged.

“Don’t be so stubborn,” Luhan reprimanded.

“Let me see,” Lay sad calmly.

“Chanyeol and Sehun encountered some in sector E, us too,” Kai informed. “There weren’t any near the subterranean entrance though,” he noted that it was odd.

“Are they alright?” Kris asked.

“Yes they’re fine,” Kai answered as he opened the door to the subsidiary room with the key card. He walked inside and picked out the manual booklet. He passed it to Kris who frowned upon receiving it. Giving it a quick read, Kris passed it down to Luhan who gave him an annoyed look before researching through the pages.

“Have you seen any guards or any faculty members?” Kris asked.

Kai shook his head in lieu of a reply.

“I wonder how many are they?” Lay said, finishing with healing Xiumin’s laceration.

“How many boggers?” Kris asked.

“No, he’s thinking about how many people work here,” Luhan said as he flipped a page. “Where are they all hiding?”

“I thought they resided in the higher floors,” Xiumin commented.

“We’ll have to check that then,” Kris said.

Kai grabbed onto Lay’s hand, “We’re off then.”

 

He teleported them to the second floor of sector B. He immediately noticed the floor was wet.

“They’re probably up a floor,” he thought aloud. “Hold on.”

Teleporting up one floor they spotted Suho with Tao messing up with the electrical system of the door to the subsidiary room. Kai dragged Lay through a warp and appeared next to the other pair.

“I’ll get that,” he said as he fished the key card from his pocket and opened the door.

“Thanks,” Suho said and advanced into the closet of a room. He opened the fire alarm control unit and looked displeased at the amount of buttons.

“There’s a manual on the top,” Lay informed.

Suho picked the booklet and sighed.

“I’m not reading that,” Tao sassed and crossed his arms together.

Suho frowned and began to read the manual silently.

“How’d it go with the boggers?” Kai asked.

“Suho pretty much dealt with all of them,” Tao shrugged. “He’s like on Xiumin’s level now.”

Kai remembered how effortlessly it looked for Suho to completely dehydrate the boggers to death. He wouldn’t be surprised if he turned out like the next Xiumin.

“Hey…” Tao’s voice died as his eyes rolled towards the back of head as his body swayed to the side. Suho quickly reacted to catch his fall, but it wasn’t necessary for he abruptly stood back up with wide eyes. He looked confused as he scanned his surroundings.

“Are you alright?” Suho asked concerned.

“,” he said snapping out of his trance. “Kai, go check on D.O. Now,” he ordered.

“Why? What happened?” Kai asked.

“Something delays him too much. We won’t get out in time,” he paused and looked at each of them, “Or alive,” he grimaced.

 

Without wasting more time, Kai grabbed Lay’s forearm and teleported back to sector C, this time directly at the bottom of the staircase, landing to the subterranean. The main passage led to two directions, left or right. Kai remembered that they took the right for the individual trials with the shadow boggers.

“Let’s go left,” he suggested while pulling Lay to walk with him.

“Do you think the boggers are kept there? At the other side?” Lay asked as he followed behind him.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t want to go figuring out.”

Down the corridor led to a lobby where there was a staircase to the right side and an entrance at the front and another to the left. One side of the double door of the front entrance was unhinged and broken towards the side. Cautiously they walked closer towards the loud noises of glass shattering and heavy objects falling that came from the other side of the entrance.

Lay slithered his hand into his and the fear he felt disappeared. He felt strong and courageous; fearless. They ran into the entrance and entered a vast laboratory nearly completely wrecked. Kai could tell that the liquid on the floor with the shattered glass came from the cylinder tanks ordered neatly in rows. Many tubes and wires were dismantled from tanks, as well as monitors thrown to the sides instead of placed adjacently onto them. Nearly all were broken but three rows towards the end of the room. And there he was, breaking whatever the tanks used to bear with his own hands. D.O was unrecognizable as he went berserk against the tanks. Jumping at them, punching and kicking, pulling things off of the tanks, pulling things out of the tanks. He was enraged and destroyed everything in his path. Kai felt his heart sink to the pit of his stomach as he thought of Mama’s sour words.

He’s like a fight dog that needs to be chained.

Kai felt sick as he thought he should agree with such statement. Maybe D.O was worse than Luhan and couldn’t control himself at all. Maybe he’s too dangerous to keep without the induced seizures. Kai fisted his hands, digging his nails into his palms as he bit his lower lip and shook his head.

No, no he’s not like that. He can’t be.

“Kai,” he heard Lay’s voice waver.

He had been stuck in daze watching as D.O broke everything in his path in such beasty manner that he hadn’t noticed Lay leaving his side. He now was hunched over something or someone.

Someone.

Wide eyes in shock, Kai got closer to the body Lay was kneeling next to. Each breath became more effortful, each heartbeat pounded harder against his chest. Without looking at the person’s face Kai knew who it was similar too; too ing similar, especially with the same tan lines crossing down his body. The same lines Suho has on his skin.

“It’s…” Kai gulped forcefully as he felt a pressure against the back of his throat. He couldn’t dare say the name. “It’s him, isn’t it?” he struggled to ask as he fought against the tears forming in his eyes and the wavering of his voice.

Lay slowly nodded his head. He turned to face him with red eyes and spoke. “He’s,” he struggled to say. “I-it’s dead.” With wide eyes and mouth agape, Lay inhaled a shaky breath as he looked around the battered up lab. “They are all dead,” he said softly.

Taking in his words, Kai wiped the tears away and tried to calm down to scan the room with better focus. Now he noticed all the bodies lying on the wet floor with shattered glass. They all lay lifeless, sprawled onto the floor bending in impossible directions or simply limp dead on the ground.

He looked up to see the back of the room and understood what D.O was really doing. He was destroying whatever machine those tanks were and broke the glass to pull the bodies out.

The question was, if the tanks kept the bodies safe and alive, then wasn’t D.O killing them all? Killing these imitations?

Kai pulled his hair with anger as he furiously shook his head.

“Stop,” he said aloud. He looked back at D.O, “Stop!”

Appearing behind him, he grabbed the smaller boy’s shoulder and pulled him backwards, “I said stop, damn it!” He yelled at D.O, who had fallen onto a version of himself; a D.O clone. “You’re killing them.”

“Yes!” D.O screamed back. “I am! I’m ing killing them because they aren’t supposed to exist,” he stepped forcefully onto the dead clone D.O’s arm as he stood up, and Kai heard as the bone broke. It was an unnerving and sickening sound. “There can’t be more than one of us, it’s not right,” he yelled with labored breath. Kai noticed he was crying. “They’ll replace us. Those bastards will ing replace us. Can’t you see?” He harshly wiped the tears on his cheeks with the back of his hand as he breathed in a shaky breath. “We’re nothing but objects to them,” he whimpered, “they’ll replace us when we are broken.”

“But they’re humans too,” Kai cried softly.

“No they’re not,” D.O sniffled as he looked passed Kai.

He pointed behind Kai and the latter turned to see another D.O, and submerged in the liquid inside the tank. Cables connected to his skin at the vital parts of his body and many were connected to the head. He looked peaceful, sleeping in a fetal position.

“That’s not me,” he said deeply and then pointed at himself, “I am me. Only I am myself. That isn’t human. It can’t be.”

Kai bit his lip as he held in his emotions. He’s felt too much too soon and watching D.O breakdown wasn’t helping him. No, in fact it was taking him overboard and he didn’t know what the hell to do. He just stood there, staring as D.O tried to compose himself.

D.O grabbed a fist full of his own shirt and spoke as clear as possible through his tears. “I feel. I am real and no ing clone will ever take my place. This is my life and I’m not replaceable.” He breathed in shakily, “None of us are replaceable.”

And Kai swore he hated himself in that moment. He hated not doing anything to comfort D.O, not saying anything to soothe his anguish, not moving forward to hold him close. He was too caught up in his head, understanding D.O’s point of view. He felt stupid for not realizing sooner that the existence of their clones was worse than having boggers with their abilities. The existence of a clone meant he was no longer an individual. He was less of Kai the more clones there were of his image.

And Kai swore he envied Lay in that moment. He hated how the other had the strength he lacked and walked up to D.O to hold him close. He hated the way Lay cupped D.O’s face with his hands and spoke comfortingly to him, soothing his anxieties away. He knew that Lay was manipulating D.O’s feeling to make the hurt and the anguish disappear. He envied Lay taking care of D.O, because he wanted to be the one to care of D.O. Only him; only he should be the one to hold the other and take the pain away. Only he should be the one who gets D.O’s trust and attention. He hated Lay for being what he wanted to be but was to stricken to move, to act out his desires.

Kai followed the pair as they made their way out of the destroyed laboratory. The three boys went to the staircase that was at the lobby and walked down to the lower floor. There was a small space in lieu of a lobby and a big thick concrete wall with a metal door. Nothing else.

“What do you think that is?” Lay asked but got no reply.

Kai numbly walked towards the thick metal door and phased through. Inside was a vast bunker, with beds and supplies for all the people inside.

So this is where they’re hiding, Kai thought and went back to the other side.

“It’s some kind of bunker and the staff is hiding inside,” he replied. “It looks like it occupies the whole floor.”

“Kai,” D.O said softly looking up at him. “Take me back up.”

“We don’t have time,” Lay argued.

“What do you want to do?” he asked.

“Break a hole on the floor and let the boggers in there,” D.O pointed at the bunker.

“We have to assist the others, Kai,” Lay remembered.

“Those bastards don’t deserve to get away that easy, not after all they’ve done to us,” D.O said with conviction.

With all the anger and hatred he felt from the hell of a life he had lived because of the people working for this ed up company, Kai’s main focus shifted from the escape to revenge.

“We’ll do both,” Kai said and held onto Lay’s arm.

 

He teleported to the subsidiary room of sector E but the place was empty, so he teleported to the third floor of sector F.

“You’ve got around twenty minutes to find the control room,” he handed Lay the key card.

“Are you sure about this?” Lay questioned without sounding like he disagreed with Kai and D.O’s plot. He sounded more worried about his state of mind.

“Yes,” Kai said firmly without hesitation. “Twenty minutes. Try towards the same spot where we found the first one.”

“Alright,” Lay nodded and put the card in his pocket.

“I’ll come back for you,” Kai bid and teleported back to the subterranean.

 

Wordlessly he extended his hand and D.O immediately complied. He teleported them to the lobby and lead them through the entrance towards the left. Inside was very similar to the laboratory that D.O destroyed, but here the glass tanks incubated different boggers. Some were so different that Kai was sure they were new experiments.

To their left were two doors, Kai took them to the first one and inside was a spacious prison with cells that contained boggers and doggers. Half the room was empty, which meant half the incarcerated monsters were running loose in the facility.

“Look, that might work,” D.O said as he pointed towards a control panel against the wall next to them.

Kai nodded and went to see how to operate it. Kai nearly laughed at the stupidity of the lab assistants when he found the big red button, hidden behind a Plexiglas cage, that said Do Not Press.

“Found it,” Kai said.

“I’ll fall once I break the floor,” D.O warned him.

“I’ll catch you,” Kai ensured and phased his hand through the Plexiglas, materializing only two fingers inside. “Do it quick,” he said and pressed the button.

With the sound of the alarm and the shrieks of the boggers, Kai held against the edge of the panel as the floor moved with D.O’s pounding. With two stomps he managed to crack a hole through the floor. Kai quickly teleported over D.O, grabbing a tight hold onto his extended hand. Rapidly he teleported towards the floor at a smaller height, causing their fall to feel small and harmless. Kai made their bodies intangible as the staff inside began to scream desperately as the boggers entered through the hole. Gun shots erupted through the clamor, but surely it wasn’t enough.

They didn’t stay for the slaughter, for there was no time to stand and watch. Kai teleported them out to the lobby and canceled the intangibility. No ruckus or outcry could be heard from the other side of the bunker.

D.O separated from Kai and walked up three quarters of the staircase. He jumped up and used his strength to shatter the staircase.

Kai helped him up. “You really aren’t letting them escape,” Kai stated. “When they open the door, all hope will be shattered,” he said somberly as they walked to stand in front of the adjacent wall.

“Is it wrong that I feel right about it?” D.O asked as he placed his hand against the cold surface of the wall.

Kai placed his hand onto D.O shoulder, causing the other to look up at him. “It doesn’t matter what’s right or wrong anymore,” he said sincerely. “It’s always been about survival and the better adapted strives.” Kai smirked wickedly, “They brought this upon themselves.”

“Because they made us stronger,” D.O smiled cunningly. He suddenly screamed, alarming Kai to his wits, and then began punching the wall with all his strength. With each hit the wall cracked and it didn’t take long for a hole big enough for D.O to fit in form.

The sound of metal against metal, hinges turning, caught their attention towards the bunker.

“Hurry,” Kai said before disappearing.

 

Back at the third floor of sector F, Kai pictured himself standing in a hall approximately at the same spot that the subsidiary room was located at in sector E. He miscalculated by a few meters. Lay was sitting with his back against the wall, the door to the panels was wide opened.

Kai nearly stumbled backwards as the floor began to shake. It was a strong movement at first, moving every single object in the halls, even the walls felt as if they were shaking. But then it softened enough for it to be nearly imperceptible.

“That was D.O right?” Lay asked alarmed, still sitting on the floor.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Where’s Chanyeol and Sehun?”

“Not here yet,” Lay said standing up. “You were right, it wasn’t hard to find.”

“Why is it so empty around here?”

“I already dealt with the boggers,” Lay shrugged. “How’d it go with the revenge?”

“Pretty neat,” but then he frowned as he thought of the blood bath it should be. “Actually that’s not the most accurate word.” Lay lifted his brows and nodded in agreement. “You don’t seem mad about it.”

“I couldn’t care less about them,” Lay said unemotionally. “Let’s go.”

 

Hand in hand, they teleported to where the subsidiary room was in sector B. Suho and Tao weren’t there. Now in sector D they found them fighting against boggers at the mid back of the third floor. Assisting them, they managed to kill the boggers in minutes despite the movement of the building.

“It’s a ing earthquake,” Tao muttered as he pressed onto the cut on his arm. Lay was healing his leg.

Kai opened the door and Suho quickly disabled the fire system.

“I’ll check on the others. Go to the fifth floor and find the other member. The passages should be opened for us to go to the higher floors,” Kai informed.

“How do you know that?” Suho asked, picking up his backpack.

“Because Mama opened them.”

 

Kai left without Lay this time, seeing that Tao needed him more. Kris, Xiumin and Luhan weren’t at sector A anymore, so Kai made his way to the third floor of sector C. Quickly he found them at the door of the subsidiary panel room. Luhan quickly disabled the fire system.

“D.O sure is strong,” Xiumin commented as he leaned against a wall for support as the building began to shake again.

“I’m getting sick of this,” Luhan said as he held onto Kris.

The quake subsided, but Kai felt as if the floor kept moving. Similar to motion sickness, he believed the ground oscillated in long smooth shakes.

“Now we’ve got to find the way to the roof,” Kris said.

Just as long as you don’t cross Mama, Kai thought as he looked at Luhan. The telepathic looked at him confused. You heard me. Don’t meet her. He warned and teleported back for Lay.

 

The fifth floor was empty with no sign of boggers or doggers or any havoc at all. Kai teleported as he ran to move faster through the halls, until he found the group. They stood in front a big door with X1.1 printed on it.

“About time,” Tao said as Kai walked up to open the door with the key card.

“Give me a ing break,” Kai said breathlessly. All the running around was getting really tiring.

Inside revealed a room colored yellow; a room just like the one he used to live in when he was in the first part of the trials. When he was always alone and would only come out for tests.

A boy about Suho’s height stood in the middle of the room. His almond shaped eyes looked wide at them, squared jaw slightly agape. He had fair skin and short black hair that grew longer at the top of his head. He had a skinny frame, with squared shoulders and slim hips.

“What’s going on? Who are you?” he asked with a quivering high tuned voice.

“It’s okay, we’ve came to get you out,” Suho said.

“There’s an earthquake, we have to get out of here,” Lay said as an excuse.

The boy nodded quickly and shuffled his way out of the room.

“What’s your name?” Suho asked.

“I’m Chen.”

“No, you’re Jongdae,” Tao said surprising everyone.

“What?” the new guy, Suho and Kai said at the same time. Lay emitted a funny huh sound.

“You’re name is Jongdae,” Tao repeated.

“No,” he said looking around with furrowed brows. “My name is Chen. I’m pretty sure I know my own name.”

“No, your name is Jongdae,” Tao stubbornly said, “I already explained this before.”

“What? I’ve never seen you before,” Chen or Jongdae said with his voice getting higher and slightly squeaky.

“You took it so nicely the first time. Why are you being so stubborn now?” Tao exasperated. Then he rubbed his chin in a pensive way. “Well it’s not like you can remember. I did reverse time anyway.”

“Reverse time? That’s impossible,” Jongdae said.

“You’re the impossible one,” Tao sassed. “Just accept the fact that your real name is Jongdae, damn it.”

“Ugh…” Jongdae grabbed fists full of his hair as he made out intelligible noises. “Fine!” he exclaimed in defeat. “Fine, you can call me Jongdae or whatever.”

“Let’s just get the out of here,” Suho sighed.

“Kai you have to stop Luhan,” Tao abruptly said.

“,” Kai cursed as he knew exactly what Luhan was up to.

“You’ve got less than five minutes.”

“Couldn’t you have warned me sooner?” Kai exasperated before teleporting away.

 

Kai teleported to the seventh floor of sector C, right in front of Mama’s office. The big glass doors with the golden outline of the symbolic tree were wide opened. Kai stepped inside and stood next to Xiumin and Kris. He noticed the grand piano, the liquor cabinet, the sofas and the coffee table were all gone. She wasn’t lying about leaving.

Kai rested his hands on his knees, going back and forth between the groups was tiresome. Xiumin didn’t look any better as he leaned onto Kris.

I’m too late, he thought as Luhan was already arguing with Mama. Now all that was left was to keep an eye on Luhan in case he lost his wits.

“I used my Luzi’s DNA on you,” Mama explained as she sat on the black leathered chair behind her desk. “You are physically and physiologically a man, but have phenotypic characteristics like her.”

“I’m a girl?” Luhan exasperated balling his hands into fists.

“No, you’re a boy who has shared genes with a girl,” she explained calmly.

“I’m a girl?”

“No, that’s inadequate interpretation,” her voice turned stern with impatience as she rubbed her forehead. “You are an artificial twin. Like fraternal twins, but monozygotic; identical, but of the opposite . Does it make sense?”

“I’m a boy who looks like his,” he paused, “supposed sister?”

“Yes.”  She joined her hands together on top of the desk. “Luhan, you’re my daughter’s twin. In her genes are my genes.”

Luhan frantically shook his head. ‘No, no don’t say it.’ Kai heard him speak in his mind; he was projecting his telepathy to everyone in the room.

“You have my genes,” Mama stated solemnly.

‘No.’

“You are my son,” she intonated.

‘No.’

“She was your sister.”

“No!” he yelled and grabbed his head.

“You are my son,” she elongated each word to give depth.

“No!”

The building shook forcefully again, this time Kai did fall forward and landed onto his knees. Xiumin and Kris fell also, but Luhan remained on his feet. Mama covered her head with her arms as books started to fall out of the shelves. The glass doors made a startling noise, as if they were about to shatter. Kris and Xiumin crawled closer into the room and away from the door.

The building shook for less than a minute, but to Kai it felt like much more. The quake stopped. The walls stopped shaking and the door stopped moving. No more books fell from the shelves. They were able to stand up again and Kai felt his legs wobbly, making him believe the earth was still moving.

Mama lowered her arms and combed her hair. “I even cut your lip so you could look just like her,” Mama said with wickedly proud voice, as if the quake had never happened.

“No, no, no,” Luhan shook his head and took a step backwards. “I-I cut my lip when I fell off a tree.”

“You’ve never climbed a tree, honey,” she said condescendingly.

“What?”

“Those memories aren’t yours.”

“Are they hers?”

“No. I just used her DNA, I didn’t need her memories,” she stated as if it were obvious. “I made you with her genes.”

“You made me. You made me?” Luhan’s voice rose into a higher pitch. “I wasn’t born naturally?” he said agitated.

Mama clenched her jaw and remained silent for a second. “No.”

“What am I?” Luhan grabbed onto his hair as he yelled out in frustration. “What the am I?”

Mama looked angered as she balled her hands. “You’re a clone.”

“I’m a dead girl’s clone?” he said furiously. “Why didn’t you just ing save her instead of making me?” he yelled outraged.

“She was useless,” Mama replied with a cold tone.

“What?”

“She was useless. Pathetic,” she shrugged.

Luhan was breathing harshly as he stared at her, ‘You’re a monster.’

“No honey, you are,” she said sweetly. “You’re barely even human.”

‘You ing !’

 

“Luhan no!” Kai yelled, but it was too late. He felt as his body was harshly gripped and forced upwards. He side looked towards Xiumin and Kris, they were caught in the telekinetic grip as well. And Mama, she was kicking her legs trying to break free.

He struggled but managed to make himself intangible and fell down, through the floor to the room under them. Kai quickly got back to his feet. He needed Sehun. He’s the only one who could stop Luhan from creating a disaster.

He teleported to the electrical subsidiary room at sector F, hoping to find Sehun there with Chanyeol. Luckily he guessed right.

“Sehun!” Kai caught his attention. “Luhan,” was all he needed to say for Sehun’s face to morph from stoic, to fear, to realization and then back to stoic in record time.

He nodded and ran to Kai. They hugged, not just because Kai needed to hold him to teleport them both, but because they needed the physical comfort. A tangible encouragement that they were in this together and they’d do everything possible to save each other. This wasn’t a good bye, because they will fight to delay the end.

They were at the entrance of the office. He ordered Sehun to create his air armor before they entered. He was grabbed by the force and pulled forwards so quick he didn’t understand what happened until he was knocked against the bookcase. His back and head hurt a lot, as he felt his breath was knocked out of him. He was stuck, he couldn’t make himself intangible. The telekinetic force was so strong that he couldn’t control his body. Like light falling into a black hole’s gravity pull, he thought in defeat. He could only watch as Sehun struggled against the force to reach Luhan.

The air armor grew thicker as he made his way towards Luhan. Kai noticed that Luhan’s eyes weren’t normal as he glared at Mama and choked her in the air. Each step seemed like a useless struggle, but Sehun fought back with all his might. He reached Luhan and stood before him, grabbing forcefully the other’s shoulders.

“Luhan stop! Snap out of it!” he desperately yelled as he roughly shook Luhan’s shoulders. “You’re going to kill them! You’re going to kill Kris and Xiumin and Kai! Luhan it’s us! Please stop!”

Come on Sehun. Please, please, please. Kai pleaded in his mind as he looked at the others. They were terrified. They knew what was going to happen. Xiumin was crying, he completely broke into tears. Kris was crying too, but he was yelling desperately at Luhan to stop.

Damn it, it was a mess. An awful mess. A disaster he couldn’t stop.  

I’m no ing hero, he bitterly thought.

Kai tried to make himself intangible but his body didn’t respond. It was terrifying to have absolutely no control over his body; no control over his fate. His heart pumped so harsh against his chest, that with each beat he felt an ache. He wished Lay was there to take the pain away. He wished D.O could open up the wall and help him escape. He wished he could at least see D.O one more time.

He looked back at Sehun.

“Sehun! Hurry! Do something! Anything!” he yelled.

And Sehun did something. The anything that Kai hadn’t ever thought of. Not in his wildest imagination did it ever occur to him to do something like that.

Sehun leaned forward and kissed Luhan. He captured his lips forcefully and desperately.

The force broke, causing him to fall from against the bookshelves onto the floor near Mama. Never in his life has he felt more grateful to fall onto the ground. He breathed out in relief and composed himself, calming the rapid beating of his heart. He sat up, feeling unsteady, and observed to see if she was still breathing. Unfortunately, she was.

Kai looked up to see Sehun trying to support Luhan’s fainted body, one hand over Luhan’s nose and mouth. Kris was helping Xiumin stand.

“The did you do?” he asked appearing next to them. He pulled Luhan’s left arm over his shoulder like Sehun did with the opposite.

“I the air out,” Sehun said dead serious.

“Wow, how freaking romantic,” Kai said sardonically.

“Shut up,” Sehun grumbled annoyed. “Let’s just get out of here.”

 

 

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A/N: Anyone noticed that mama only called Luhan honey while calling the rest dear? Subtle hints.

Thanks to candyqueen54, kitamea, Thekpopobsessor123, Turanu, space_unicorn, Sam_Ships, FallOutGull, HappyBacteria and ferrsurebomb for subscribing. I don’t know how the hell there’s over 60 subscribers already.

Also I’d like to thank you guys for commenting so much. I really enjoy when you leave long comments and state your opinion about anything in the chapters. I really like it when you plot out ideas too. I never get annoyed or insulted with anything you guys say, on the contrary I like to know your opinions about things that I might’ve not even thought out. So when I reply to your comments, I’m not really defending my point of view but rather explaining the reasoning behind why I wrote things the way they are. Just a little info about my replies if they ever seemed harsh. I might just be exaggerating and over thinking stuff.

Anyway, have great Sunday and I hope you guys have a nice week.

Annyeong!

-Blackie.