{16}

The dawning of a brand new day swept servants up onto their feet, shuffling along the hallways, busying themselves with their respective chores. 

Soah gently hurled the blanket off her and swung her left leg over the edge of the bed. 

She slipped her hands under the cast that bound her right leg and moved it till it was touching the ground. She held onto the bed side table for support as she hoisted herself up onto her feet, an action which sent sharp pain through her wrapped up leg. 

She glanced at the door, mentally assessing the possibility of her falling over before reaching it. She sighed, it felt like she had to conquer Mount Everest in just a thin tshirt and jeans. Just as she was about to collapse back onto the bed in despair, the door to her room swung open. 

Youngjae entered the room with hurried footsteps, his hair disheveled and tousled. His appearance heightening the unease Soah was already feeling. From the moment Soah woke up, there was a dull thump in her chest. She felt as if something sharp was imbedded in her chest, cutting at her heart with a rhythmic pattern. 

"He's gone." Youngjae was out of breath, which meant that he had probably already went through every single room in Daehyun's apartment before delivering the news to Soah. 

Soah simply glanced at Youngjae wordlessly, a part of her seemed to know exactly what had taken place while she was fast asleep, a reality that her conscious self refused to accept. 

Soah swallowed, as though the action would take away the tremor in her voice. "Where did he go?" 

Youngjae's brown eyes bore into hers, fear was burning fiercely in his eyes and Soah didn't need a mirror to know that she wore the same expression as the look in Youngjae's eyes. 

"He went to the police and turned himself in." Youngjae's voice came out as a mere whisper. Soah's eyelids fluttered shut, a deep crease forming between her brows. Her grip on the bedside table tightened, her knuckles turning white. 

Soah willed herself not to think of all the terrible things that the police would do to Daehyun and focused on standing upright but she couldn't help it as her knees buckled under her. 

She collapsed back onto the bed, her hands falling to her sides limply. 

"Can you-" Soah paused, in a small breath. "Just give me a minute please?" 

Youngjae's lips thinned and he gave Soah a small nod before leaving her room silently. 

Soah sat frozen on the edge of the bed, the gears in her head working furiously.

"Soah, are you-" 

Soah lifted her head up and saw Leah standing by the door, taking in the expression on her face, whatever she was planning to say never made it out of her throat. 

She rushed over to Soah's side, pulling her into her arms. Tears begun welling up in Soah's eyes, she had told herself to stay strong but Leah had successfully tore down every single bit of the pretense that she was planning on putting up. 

A moment later Leah released Soah from her embrace and Soah realized that Caleb was standing just a few steps away from them. He had his hands tucked into his pockets, the expression on his face was grim, his usual air of sassiness around him was gone. 

"We are going to get him out of there, Soah." 

••• 

The next few days went by in a blur for Soah. 5 days have passed since Daehyun had turned himself in. 

They, which consisted of Youngjae, Soah, Leah and Caleb, had been cooped up in Youngjae's study room ever since the morning that they discovered that Daehyun was gone. All he left behind was a note with "I'll clear my name" scrawled on it. 

Case files were littered across the tables in the room, papers that contained detailed personal particulars of every single servant and personnel that worked within close perimeters of Daehyun were clipped up on the board in the room. 

In the middle of the board, Sam's photo was secured with a large red magnet and below it, scribbled in red marker, were the words: HEAD OF UPRISING. 

"Wait." Soah's voice broke the silence in the room. Youngjae was busy flipping through a case file he held in his hands, probably for the thousandth time, in search for a new lead. Leah was on the couch, with her head on Caleb's shoulder, the both of them were getting some shut eye. 

Youngjae glanced up at her, waiting for her to speak. Caleb stirred slightly, jolting Leah awake. 

"We may have it all wrong." Soah muttered while staring at the floor, her eyes unfocused. 

"Remember that I saw The Devil's watchdog the other day?" Soah averted her eyes from the floor to meet Leah's. Leah nodded, all traces of sleep disappearing. 

"What if Sam isn't the one who's planning the uprising? What if The Devil has something to do with this?" 

Silence was restored once again as three of them processed Soah's words. 

"Souls," The word tumbled out of Youngjae's lips, "The Devil need souls to conjure up an army of death and the more powerful the souls are, the more powerful his army will be." 

"That's why whoever was in charge of the killing didn't simply stop at the various political leaders. They murdered their family too because they yield a substantial amount of power due to their wealth." Leah slowly put the pieces together. 

"That's it, we have proven Daehyun's innocence." Agitation and relief were present in Caleb's voice. 

Youngjae shook his head slowly. He looked even more tired and defeated before they figured out The Devil's plan. 

"The OtherWorlders, especially the police force, don't believe in the existence of the UnderWorld, which consists of the Devil and his demon minions." 

Caleb snorted, "What? You can't be serious, right? Then how do they explain the war that took place in 1900s when The Devil wrecked our world by successfully bringing in demons through a portal?" 

"They closed off that by stating that it was just grotesque mutations done by an OtherWorld who lost his/her mind." 

Caleb sneered, "Clearly they have lost their ing minds." 

"Caleb." Leah had her hand wrapped around Caleb's upper arm, urging him to calm down. Caleb simply shrugged her hand off, not in a rough manner, just with enough force to shrug her hand off. 

"I'm going out to have some air." Caleb muttered before striding out of the room. Leah sighed unconsciously, her eyes following him as he walked out of the room. 

The silence that fell in the room felt even heavier, it felt like a thick blanket, covering them and burying them beneath it. 

None of them spoke, for all of them had the same thought in their mind, "What's the point of figuring out the real plan when nothing could be done to save Daehyun?" 

••• 

Rain was falling softly outside the windows and the sound of firewood cackling in the fireplace as it burned were the only sounds that could be heard. 

Soah sat in front of the biggest window in the room, in her wheelchair. 

"It's me that he wants." Soah spoke softly. 

Leah stared at her incredulously, as if she had grown a third eye. "Never over my dead body am I going to hand you over to The Devil."

Youngjae pressed his fingers on his temples, his eyelids were shut. 

"I'm going to get Daehyun back from the police." 

Arching one of his brows, Caleb glanced over at Youngjae. "And how do you plan on doing that? The last time I checked, Daehyun was being held at the most heavily guarded and secured prison at the other end of the city, which, allow me to remind you, holds a substantial amount of very dangerous OtherWorlders." 

Youngjae allowed the smallest smile to grace his lips. "Don't estimate the combined powers of five Elders. Getting Daehyun out of the prison is an easy feat." 

Soah watched as the four Elders tightened the black leather armor that clung onto them snugly. Zelo, was given the order by Yongguk to stay back at Daehyun's residence to wait for their return. He was the least experienced among them and it requires agility and stealth to break Daehyun out of his prison cell using the shortest time possible. 

Youngjae glanced up after he was done slipping a blade into each of his boots. He took in the hard set of Soah's jaws and her slightly furrowed brows, a sigh escaping from him subconsciously. 

"We will get Daehyun out of there safely, Soah. I promise." 

Soah merely nodded at Youngjae, he didn't need to read her mind to know that she was trying not to think about all the things that the police had and will do to Daehyun as they speak. 

"Be safe." 

With that, the four Elders strided out of the room, clad in fighting armor. Jongup was the only one among them who had a sword strapped to his back. The rest of them mainly had daggers and blades of different sizes concealed beneath their armor. 

Caleb trailed behind them, his usual vibrant outfit was replaced with one that was similar with the four others. He glanced back at Soah, his expression was unreadable. 

"You stay safe too, alright?" He shifted his eyes between Soah and Leah, his gaze lingering a few moments longer on Leah. 

Caleb tore his eyes away from Leah, assuring himself that Zelo would be here with them. At least there will be someone to protect them should anything go wrong. 

The world outside of Daehyun's residence was still in chaos. The fire that engulfed various households have died down and wisps of silver grey smoke curled and danced their way through the thick, hazy air. 

All the street lightings were out, the streets were deserted and it the city looked as though it had been abandoned for a thousand years. 

"The city is falling apart." Soah mumbled to herself, her spoken words sending chills down her spine.