***

What was he thinking?! Using his martial arts to defend himself from robbers or dangerous people was one thing, but this was a monster! Twice his size and probably more than twice his strength! Tao wouldn't stand a chance, and having this in mind, he felt no shame nor regret at all when he turned tail and ran as fast as his feet could carry him.

Without really looking which way to go, Tao purely turned corners in hopes that he wouldn't stumble upon a dead end, quickening his pace when he heard heavy footsteps and scraping talons chasing after him.

He didn't even know how the creature found him, but he didn't rightly care. At the moment, Tao prayed and wished with all his heart that the monster wouldn't catch him. He shrieked when he saw how the monster stampeded towards him, talons outstretched, making a terribly scraping sound over the walls, making Tao's blood rush further in pure panic and raw fear.

His adrenaline pumped, even when he turned around to look at the monster again and found that the beast had suddenly disappeared. At this point, even the sound of his own breathing was driving him insane. Where had the monster disappeared to?

Tao picked up an old, heavy bone for good measure, feeling less vulnerable now that he was armed. But, where did it go?

He looked around, unable to understand how the monster could vanish like that. He swore that it had him wishing for a new pair of underwear just mere moments ago. Had it given up its pursuit? Should Tao really bother himself thinking about that?

Shaking himself to action, he decided to count his lucky stars and continued to run for it. Little did poor Tao know that he was still being followed by the terrifying monster, which had perched itself upon the walls, up against the ceiling, perfectly being able to oversee the maze and its prey.

Tao continued running for a few good minutes until he neared a dead end and stopped. There was no trace of the monster, but there seemed to be no trace of an exit either. Was this the place where he would die, then? Was this where he would disappoint his brothers and his Jae-noona? Could he ever forgive himself if he decided to quit here and now?

Catching his breath, Tao leaned on his knees a moment and fervently shook his head. Then, he grunted out of frustration and slammed his fist against the wall behind him. Monster or not, lost or not, he wasn't going to get anywhere if he stayed here. So, picking up the heavy bone, Tao steadied himself to get back out there, but his luck changed for the worse when the monster dropped from the sky in front of him, blocking his way.

Screaming, Tao stumbled back and immediately started yelling and swinging his weapon at the monster. "Stay back!" he yelled, "I'll hurt you if you come near! You can't keep me from finding Jae-noona!" he screamed loudly and fiercely struck the monster's face with the bone, making the creature screech in pain. As it was hurt, Tao quickly slipped past the monster, making his escape when the beast roared and snatched his ankle. Tao exclaimed and tripped, the monster quickly looming over him, its opened face gawking at him, its razor sharp, filthy talons raised for the attack.

Tears pricked his eyes and Tao soon closed them, bracing himself as best as he could for the pain and terror and agony...

He opened his eyes to a bright, warm light. Hot, even. Tao was confused. Was he in hell? The light felt so hot he thought the heat was scorching his skin.

He gasped when he opened his eyes and saw the monster engulfed in fiery hot flames. The creature shrieked and thrashed about, but the flames were merciless and unrelenting. Tao watched the spectacle with his mouth agape, only blinking when the monster had finally ceased its horrid shrieking and fell unmoving to the floor.

Tao swiftly moved back out of fear that the behemoth could still attack him and because he wasn't in the mood to become a panda barbecue himself. Watching the monster burn, Tao grabbed another bone and carefully prodded the beast, just to make sure it was well and truly dead.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

"AH!" Tao jumped and jolted, dropping the bone and blindly started to swing his legs at the direciton of the stranger.

"AH!" the newcomer startled at Tao's reaction, screaming along with him before gripping his chest and bending over in a poor attempt to calm himself down.

"Ah, Taozi! Why do you have to scare me like that? Awo, my liver fell!" Chanyeol complained, exhaling.

"Oh? Oh! Chanyeol-hyung?" Tao questioned in genuine surprise, sizing up the tall, big eared teen before getting weakly to his feet and embracing him.

"Chanyeol-hyung!" he cried out, "You saved my life, hyung, thank you!" he hugged, thankful that his brother had a proper sense of timing.

"I'm happy to see you, too, Taozi! Wah, I was lost and wandering around when I suddenly heard someone screaming. That's when I followed the sound and came here," he quickly explained. "I knew there was a monster around somewhere, but I avoided it as best as I could. Guess we don't have to worry about it anymore."

"But what if there's more than one here, hyung?" Tao asked in a frightened whisper.

Chanyeol shrugged. "More reason for us to try and find a way out fast," he replied and then narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you doing here, Taozi? All alone too! Did something happen?"

"It's a longs tory, hyung, but we need to find a way out first. I'm afraid everyone is in danger!"

"That's obvious," Chanyeol nodded, gazing at the monster he had just burned into a crisp. "This is not a normal haunted house, Taozi. We have to find the others quickly."

Tao nodded immediately, straightening himself. "Let's go, hyung. There has to be an exit here somewhere."

Chanyeol nodded in assent, before flashing a bright grin at his younger brother. "I'm glad you're here, Taozi. For a moment, I was worried I'd never get out of here and that everyone forgot about me. I'm proud you went inside the house...Though, you probably regret it now, eh?" he managed to tease, though Tao was thankful for it.

"I couldn't leave any of you in this place, now could I? Come on, hyung, let's find the others," Tao said as they quickly left the monster behind to find a way out.

With Chanyeol by his side, Tao felt infinitely better wandering around the creepy maze, though he was disheartened and worried that they only seemed to be moving deeper into the labyrinth, getting lost by the second.

"I marked the walls at places where I already been," Chanyeol said, "but it feels like the maze moves walls as well," he sighed, stopping a moment to look around. "How did you get here, anyway?" he then asked, and Tao shivered.

"I met Lu-ge and Lay-ge in the foyer of the house. We went inside the basement which turned out to be a haunted torture chamber..." he shuddered and pulled his hyung along with him, not wanting to stand idle for too long. "There was a scary ghost there that chased after us. I stepped through a door to get away, but Lu-ge and Lay-ge were left behind."

"Oh... Well, don't worry about them, Taozi. Lu-hyung and Lay-hyung can take care of themselves. To be honest, it's us that I'm a little worried about. Do you think that we can get out of here?" Chanyeol was usually far more of an optimist than Tao, a trait that the lanky teen appreciated him for. But in a situation like this one, Tao forced himself to think more positively, otherwise, what was the point of them even trying to find an exit?

"There has to be a way out. Even the torture chamber had a door all the way in the back, so why couldn't this maze have one?"

"Maybe it was to prevent that thing from getting out?" Chanyeol suggested.

"But it could climb the walls and the ceiling!" Tao added. "If I wanted to escape I'm sure it could, hyung."

"You're right, ah..." Chanyeol stopped and tiredly leaned against a wall, smoothing over his hair. "What if we grow old here, Taozi?"

"Yah, hyung, stop that!" Tao said, taking a moment to rest as well.

"I'm just saying. We've been wandering around for a good while now and I haven't seen any exits so far," he shrugged.

"Maybe the exit is in front of our noses, but we just haven't seen it yet..." Tao pondered, alarmed when he saw Chanyeol mysteriously starting to sink into the wall. "Chanyeol-hyung!" he called out, Chanyeol jumping away in the right time before he fell through.

"Whoa! What the–?" he stumbled back as the two brothers gazed into the new passageway Chanyeol had accidentally stumbled upon.

"Oh. Found it!" Chanyeol grinned as Tao shook his head and grabbed his arm.

"You go first, hyung," he whispered.

"Me? But..."

"Please, you're older!" he mumbled, using his best aegyo gaze which had Chanyeol wincing and giving in.

"Fine! But stay close to me and don't leave me, got it?" he warned, holding up his finger from which a spark of fire arose, and using it as a lantern, they finally left the maze behind them.

>>> CONTINUE HERE <<<