***

Anyone who ever thought that dolls were fun and cute to play with, had a whole other thing coming at them if they saw the creepy dolls that were lurking at them now. They slowly moved to get to them, a tiny army of porcelain and wood, tinkling and giggling, staring holes in their faces.

Tao backed away towards the door, looking at Chanyeol.

“I don’t think they’re friendly, hyung,” he whispered as more dolls climbed out of the cabinets, appeared from crooks and crannies in the walls and decaying floorboards.

“My thoughts exactly, Taozi,” Chanyeol agreed, preparing himself. “When I give the signal, you try and get out of here, okay?”

Nodding, Tao took a deep breath and continued backing away.

Play with us! The dolls started chanting amongst their ghostly giggling. Play with us!

“Hyung…” Tao whimpered.

“I got it!” Chanyeol nodded, his flame growing bigger. “We’ll play,” he stated before he blasted a sea of flames towards the dolls, their sudden screeching hurting their ears. Tao quickly turned towards the door, kicking at it before it swung open, multiple dolls still emerging and flinging themselves at Chanyeol.

The fire spread with ease, Chanyeol shooting his flames at the angry, attacking dolls, but every time he shot some down, more appeared in place.

“Hyung! Let’s go!” Tao screamed from the hallway.

Chanyeol nodded, turning to head for the door when groups of dolls gripped his ankles and he fell. They dragged them back, away from the door.

“Chanyeol-hyung!” Tao screamed, moving to get back to get him when Chanyeol shouted at him.

“No! Tao, go! They can’t hurt me!” he yelled.

“But, the fire!”

“My flames can’t hurt me,” Chanyeol grinned, blasting more dolls away as best as he could. “Keep going, find Jae-noona, find the others!”

“Hyung…”

“I’ll be all right! Go, Tao!” he exclaimed as waves of flames spread throughout the room and the door shut on its own in Tao’s face. The lanky teen fell on his knees, still feeling the heat radiating from the other room. The fire didn’t spread, though, almost as if the house kept the fire contained in that one room.

“Chanyeol-hyung…” he breathed woefully. “Don’t worry. I won’t disappoint you!” Tao spoke determinedly, getting back on his feet.

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness again, he wondered which way to go, until the soft sound of music drew his attention. At the end of the dark hallway, shone a light. A normal light, not a spooky one.

Tao quickly followed the sound of the music, guided by the warm light and arrived at a most incredible, spine-tingling scene.

The ballroom was as grand and magnificent unlike Tao had ever seen. With the mirrored walls and marbled floors, it didn’t seem to fit inside of the haunted house at all. The ceiling was draped with red velvet curtains and crystal chandeliers, the light shimmering against the gold in the crown moulding. Tao would have loved being in this place, were it not for the other visitors that were holding a party here.

The music, led by a violin, played a merry waltz and the ghostly partygoers danced happily to its melody. Laughter roared through the room, the clinking of wine glasses ringing around him. Tao was shaking, wondering how his muscles could possible handle all of the trembling.

As no one had noticed him yet, he had half a mind to retreat and find a different route to follow, had he not suddenly caught a glimpse of a very familiar face.
He frowned and squinted at the apparition that appeared to be more solid than the other ghostly dancers. He gasped audibly, his eyes widening.

“Noona? Jae-noona!” he called out, the young woman looking tormented of having to dance with ghostly suitors. She wore a delicate, deep red frock that sparkled when she moved. Her eyes were hooded as if she was under some spell, but despite of this, she still looked beautiful.

“Noona! I’m coming!” Tao shouted across the room, making his way across the dance floor to get to her. The ghostly dancers seemed unfazed by his appearance, continuing with their dance. He felt frozen by the time he got to Jae, taking her away from a masked man she was dancing with and pulling her aside to a more private part of the ballroom.

“Jae-noona! Jae-noona, I found you! Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did those ghosts hurt you?” he didn’t bother to stop the stream of words that left his mouth, overjoyed of having his noona in front of him, looking relatively safe and unharmed.

He smiled at her, but her hooded eyes gave out no emotion. Tao blinked and gently shook her.

“Noona? What’s wrong, are you okay? It’s me, Taozi,” he tried, gently cupping her ice cold cheek, trying to make eye contact with her.

After a moment of silence, Jae finally blinked her eyes, watching him. “T…Tao?” she asked her voice soft and barely audible over the music in the ballroom.

“Yes, noona, it’s me, Taozi! Everyone is really worried about you, we have to get out of here…” Tao paused and stared at her. Jae stared at him, but she wasn’t really looking at him.

“T…Tao…zi…” she repeated, her voice a mere whisper.

“Yes, noona, it’s me… What did they do to you?” he asked in concern, brushing a few locks from her face to gaze at her. “You’re so cold…”

“Dance…” she said, looking at the dancers, Tao shivering when the music played off-key.

“No, noona, we have to leave. I don’t know what they did to you but as soon as we find everyone else we’ll have Lay-ge heal you back up, okay?”

“Dance…Yes, heal…leave…” she said, Tao shaking his head, wondering why his Jae-noona was behaving this way.

“Take my hand, Tao…” she suddenly said, her eyes still dulled when she looked up at him. “Let us escape together. Let’s leave. Just us,” she said, stretching out her hand, waiting for him to take it.

There was a strange smile on her face, one that never quite reached her eyes. Had she been captured by these ghosts for too long? Did she dance too long that she lost a bit of her mind? Why was she behaving like this?

“Noona, we’ll escape, but we have to make sure the others are save too. I’ll get you out first, okay, and then I’ll find a way to find the others,” Tao explained. Jae-noona must be terrified out of her mind, that had to be the reason why she was behaving this way, right?

“Come with me,” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t ever leave me alone…Tao…”

“I won’t leave you, noona…” he said, but Tao frowned. “Let’s just go, noona. Let’s get out of here.”

“Where will we go?” she then asked which had him startled.

“Out of this place, of course! Yah, what’s gotten into you? What did they do to you?” he asked again, but her eyes gave nothing away.

“No… he won’t allow… Tao, take my hand. Take me away,” she said, confusing him. She still held her hand outstretched, but he felt hesitant now. Who was his noona talking about?

Tao swallowed as he noticed the music becoming more erratic, the ghostly dancers speeding up their dance and the room becoming slightly darker. He stared back at Jae and suddenly wondered whether it was her at all.

“Please, Tao. Take my hand…take me away!” she pleaded, as he took a step back to appraise her, gnawing on his lip.

>>> WHY ARE YOU HESITATING? YOU FOUND JAE! TAKE HER HAND! <<<
>>> THERE’S SOMETHING OFF HERE, SMACK THAT HAND AWAY! <<<