The night sky was dusted in navy with the stars a golden bliss. As if the world was bringing him up anew, Hongbin awoke with a shuddering gasp.

 

The echo of the birds in the silence of the night were like a constant reminder of his past, present and future, all being blocked by his conscious like a lid. It was far past midnight, he could tell, but the woods encasing him in crisp white bark. This wasn’t the forest by his apartment, and he would remember falling asleep outside. His head was pounding like thunder, and getting up was even harder, his legs failing to try and ground him. The moon was bright in the vast darkness, taunting Hongbin with every minute. With nothing else to do, Hongbin began to walk.

 

The air was getting thicker with every step as he went forward, the putrid stench of musk lingering to his skin. One single light in the distance greeted him, so he followed it, hoping this would give him closure. The leaves and foliage gave way to a cottage that looked like it lived beyond time itself, vines wrapping it like chains. There were no windows but for the lone glass on the front door, the light flowing from it like blood. Hongbin pressed his hand to the gold doorknob, praying he wasn’t about to step into someone's house, and that someone wasn’t friendly. The metal creaked quietly, as if to acknowledge his presence. That was good at least.

 

The smell dripped out like honey, positively gooping like Hongbin could swim through it. There was a large table illuminated by golden lamp light. Jars with glowing liquid and smoke cluttered the wooden table, mimicking some kids weird science experiment. A thin layer of dust peppered the glass, and rope hung on the walls. The rest of the space was bare, except for a lone figure in the middle of the floor. The man was facing the back wall, sweat dotting his tan skin, and his wrists tied in fraying rope on his back.

 

“!” Hongbin cursed as he fell forward. His hands hovered above the figure, unsure if touching him was even the safest option right now. If this was some creepy hostage situation gone wrong, he didn't want to get involved. Today, though, kept proving to be completely out of the ordinary on too many levels. Instead of trying Thai food this summer, this was as adventurous as Hongbin was going to get. Gently turning the body to face him, Hongbin could get a better look at the man's face. He looked around his age, maybe a few years older, with manly features, yet they looked as soft as a feather. Cat like eyes were sunken in and blotched red from crying, his hair looking like it hadn't been washed in weeks. Hongbin pushed at the man's shoulder, but when that gained no reaction, he eyed the rest of the room. It was bare except for a bed at the left corner of the room. The cottage was probably owned by one person, long gone now by the looks of the place now. The lamp on the table next to the bed was flickering happily. Picking the body up with great difficulty, Hongbin placed him on the bed, tucking him carefully under the covers while untying his wrists. Deciding this was the best place to spend the night, Hongbin sat in front of the bed, leaning his back on the mattress. His phone, he remembered was still in his back pocket, so he fished that out, hoping to at least see if he could contact anyone. There was WiFi surprisingly, but the name was ominous to say the least.

 

                                                                                   WELCOME TO HADES

 

Who knows how long it had been since Hongbin dozed off, but with a great deal of Deja Vu, he was woken up sharply by the sound of shattering glass. Taking a minute to shake the sleep off his mind, he looked to find shards of a drinking glass littered by his feet. Few pieces had remnants of blood on them, and the person who threw said glass was sitting up in the bed he was lain in, panting heavily with wide eyes. They were glassed over yet focused, and the warm light graced his face in a way Hongbin could only describe as ethereal.

 

“Who are you?”, every word from his umber lips were raw as ice and when Hongbin didn’t answer right away, his voice grew louder, “I SAID TELL ME!”

 

Hongbin got up to place his hands on the boys shoulders, steadying him, though the breath only grew more harsh. “Hey, hey relax. I found you like this, I honestly think I saved you from a world of . I was lost in the woods, and this was the only cottage for miles.” Hongbin paused and then sat on the bed with him when the man visibly relaxed. “What’s your name?”

 

The man placed his head in his hands as he leaned forward, sighing heavily. “It’s.. it’s fuzzy, but I think it’s Hakyeon.”

 

“Hakyeon..” Hongbin worded the name in his mouth before leaning his elbows on his thighs and looking back at him. “ Do you know where we might be?”

 

Hakyeon looked back at him, visibly tired. This had been a long day for Hongbin but who knows how long Hakyeon had been here. They were both clearly lost. The white collared shirt on Hakyeon’s body had tan stains on it, and his wrists were rubbed red from the rope. He was clearly held here against his will, but no one had been here for weeks, possibly even months. A force was keeping him here, but how? Would Hongbin get trapped too? They had to figure out how to find civilization and more importantly, help. The sky was still dark when Hongbin got up to look out the window, but the moon had turned a bright hue of red.

 

As if he read his mind, Hakyeon joined him at the still. “It’s always like this. The sun hasn’t come up in months.” A lone wolf howled in the distance, as if telling them of the danger ahead, but they couldn't stay here any longer, it was time. “Where do we go from here?”

 

Hongbin walked to the door and grabbed the handle, looking back at Hakyeon with fervor. There was only one way to go from here.

 

“We go out.”

 

--------------------------------------------

 

“Where did you get that tatoo on your hand?”

 

The pair had been walking for what felt like hours, the forest going on for miles. The leaves and vines on the floor were becoming less thick and more stone began to appear. They must be going in the right direction.

 

“This?” Hakyeon held his right hand up to eye level, admiring the handy work. It was a haphazardly designed eye, the eyelashes upside down. The blue iris glowed in the moonlight, looking like it was living itself.

 

“I’ve had it for as long as I can remember. The books in the cottage say this is an “evil eye”, from ancient mythos. It can see everything and cast away any harm that comes for the host. When you’ve been in that room for as long as I have, you get a lot of reading done.”

 

Mythos, Hongbin had heard about them. He was a model student, but in classes like history, he kind of floated through. The most common being greek mythology, these tales based around greek gods and what happened in their daily lives. The stories were wild and filled with lies, deceit and jealousy more often than not. Athena, Zeus, Hera, Zelos, Hercules, the gods and their tales of ruin were endless.

 

“You’ve been pretty quiet, are you feeling okay?”, Hakyeon cut in. Hongbin didn’t realize he had been so quiet. When he looked to his right side, Hakyeon was looking forward with a serene look on his face. It was interesting to see such a 180 from how he was in the cabin. It was almost frightening.

 

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t notice.”

 

“Too much on your mind? I don’t mind listening.”

 

Hongbin couldn’t help but laugh, “You're really persistent, you know that?”

 

This time Hakyeon couldn’t help but laugh as well, the sound bright and boisterous. “I've been told. I’m quite serious though, I don’t mind listening.”

 

His fingertips absently played with the branches as they walked through the winding forest. “There’s someone waiting for me out there.. I don't know how long i’ve been here, but he has to be worried. Wonshik isn’t exactly good at handling stress.”

 

“This Wonshik sounds like a lucky guy if he’s with a nice person like yourself.”

 

A cough flew from Hongbin’s mouth before he could catch it and his cheeks brushed with an echo of embarrassment. He and Wonshik weren’t exactly together but they weren’t exactly not together either. Hakyeon apparently found his jab hilarious. It almost made their lost in the woods journey feel like they planned it all along.

 

“What, did I hit a nerve?”

 

“No..”, Hongbin took a breathe before continuing, hoping his face looked normal by now, “What about you Hakyeon? You’ve talked a lot but not about yourself.”

 

Hakyeon’s face took on a deep, somber color now, his gaze back on the woods ahead. For someone who loved to talk, revealing himself was a harder lock to open. The tired lines under his eyes were dark purple in the night light, the elegant tone of his skin now pale.

 

“My memory has been hazy since I woke up here.. But I feel like I-”

 

Hakyeon’s foot caught on a tree root in the dirt, sending him tumbling forward. The wet mud and grime had dug into his fingernails and into some very unhappy cuts. They pulsed in pain, but when a hand came to help him up, Hakyeon lost his breath completely. The color in the woodland had drained into a sickly purple and the leaves froze mid descent. A cold chill flowed up Hakyeon’s back, and a thumb came to hold his cheek and lift it up eye level. It was a man, his face preened and cat like, an eyepatch covering his right eye. Hair black and deep in ebony, the man was serene yet calculating. Like the light had been from the world, his clothes were unidentifiable, the face being the only focus in sight. The iris of the man was glowing, red like blood, and gaze like sin. It sent Hakyeon’s heart pounding, ready to burst right from his chest. His legs, like the leaves, felt like they were frozen or made from lead. It was a trap no one could escape from. The prey had caught his bird.

 

The thumb caressed Hakyeon’s chin, but he wouldn’t speak a word. His own lips were as cold as ice, barely moving, even with each begging thought from Hakyeon’s own mind. “Do I.. know you?”

 

The man's face was sad, blank with lost hope, though it couldn’t be conveyed in words. Hakyeon found his hands reaching up, closing in on the stranger but a loud voice cut off his fantasy.

 

“Hakyeon! Can you hear me? Are you okay?”

 

Hongbin was in front of him in the blink of an eye, and the leaves fell from the sky like nothing had happened.

 

“Y-yeah.. I’m fine, let’s keep going.” The tattoo on Hakyeon’s hand was practically burning. Hakyeon quickly got up from his feet, walking ahead, hoping to shake off his hallucination, but they didn’t get far.

Towering above them was a castle made of dark grey stone, reaching higher than the heavens. It looked fit for a queen, but no queen lay here, Hongbin could tell. The grass around the stone was void of any life, the trees and branches burnt to a charred black. The front door taunted them, the door left open. Remnants of old blood spattered the walls as the pair walked inside. It appeared to be abandoned, but this place, wherever they were, couldn’t be trusted yet. Hongbin hadn’t seen one other living person. Golden paintings were illuminated by candle light, though the dust that layered them gave Hongbin the chills. His anxiety for cleaning was having anxiety of it’s own. The loud flapping of bat wings drummed above them, and Hakyeon curled in fear at every sound.

 

Hongbin couldn't help but smile shyly in adoration, and then stopped at the last painting at the end of the hall. The size of it took up the entire wall, and a man’s portrait sat poised in the middle. His face was masculine, eyes deep set and his hair a frosty silver. Every point on his face came to Hongbin in a realization this man was all too familiar. Before he could speak, the whole room shook, pebbles of rock cracking off the wall. The candles on  both walls blew out one by one going towards them, and Hakyeon backed up sharply into the back wall. The black shadows bubbled like boiling tar and then grew a group of hands. The sickly looking figures lunged forward and wrapped around Hakyeon, and he screamed, trying to unlock himself.

 

 

“Hakyeon- damn it! Grab my hand!” Hongbin gritted his teeth as he reached for Hakyeon, their hands struggling to connect. In the end, Hakyeon was dragged in completely, the shadow dissolving and the wall looking like it hadn’t turned into some horrifying monster a few seconds ago.

 

Hongbin slammed his fists on the wall, cursing himself. “This is a dream.. This is some sick joke.”

 

“Oh, it’s no joke.”

 

A voice came from behind him, and when Hongbin met their eyes, a boy not much younger than himself stood. His pose was nonchalant, uncaring to what just occurred, and his eyes were looking Hongbin up like they had just ran into each other by chance. His hair was a dark shade of blue, nose prominently pudgy. His clothes were something a hotel bag handler would wear, yet the fabric was velvet. A gold broach held his bow tie together, and he knelt to be eye level with Hongbin.

 

This had to be a dream. Cold sweat tingled on Hongbin’s temple. “Excuse me?”

 

A cold hand grabbed the back of his neck, bringing him nose to nose with the man, Hongbin could feel his warm breath on his own lips.

 

“We’re going on a trip.”

 

Hongbin didn’t even have time to react before he was pushed into the wall, drowning in the shadows.