Stomping down the carpeted hallway, I finally spotted a man appearing to be standing guard outside a suite. His crisp suit and styled hair told me I had found the room I was looking for. 

He didn't notice me at first, not until I was standing in front of him, looking at the numbers on the suite door. 502. I looked up at the tall guy. Was he security?

"Is my uncle in there?" I asked, not even bothering with manners. I'd had a long night and it was just getting longer. The guy didn't respond though. "Hello? My uncle, Rin, is he in there?" I waved my hand in front of his blank face. "I need to speak with him."

"Get lost, kid," his deep voice rattled through the empty hallway.

I reeled back in surprise, gaping up at him. Did he just call me kid? He couldn't be more than 5 years older than me. 

"Look, I've had a long night. I don't have time to deal with secrecy and attitude. My aunt is in the hospital from an allergic reaction and I need to speak with my uncle because she's in critical condition and—"

The tall male looked me pointedly in the eye. "I said, get lost," he articulated, almost angrily. "You can see your uncle when he's finished with."

My eyebrows furrowed. "What?" Sighing and shaking my head, I forgot that question. "Just let me inside."

"No one's allowed to interrupt Boss' meetings." He immediately went back to staring at the wall. 

"Look," I stepped in front of his line of view, "I don't give a what your 'Boss' wants or does. I need to speak with my uncle. I'm pissed, I'm worried, I'm covered in whiskey, and your Boss can get over it."

As if I had only just walked up and gotten his attention, the man looked at me. He silently studied me for a moment, head to toe, in a very discomforting fashion. Then he sighed. Lifting his wrist to his mouth, he spoke into it.

"There's a girl out here demanding to see her uncle."

He raised his eyebrows challengingly at me once he finished and then there was a commotion of voices before the door behind the guard opened. Another crisply dressed man stood there, looking at the taller one questioningly.

"She wants inside," he answered the silence, gesturing at me. 

The new guard rolled his eyes and beckoned me in. I almost stuck my tongue out at the tall guy.

"I only need to tell him that my aunt is in the hos—"

"Sorin!" My uncle's terrified shriek cut my words short. A gasp struck through me and I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight before me. 

There, amongst the fancy upholstry and expensive liquor, my uncle was strapped to a chair, ropes around his wrists and ankles. They had been pulled so tight, there was blood oozing around them, staining the thread. Not only that but more blood dripped from puncture wounds in his hands, metal nails sticking out of his flesh. 

I felt my stomach lurch and myself surge close to vomitting on the spot. My uncle stared at me, terrified. I almost thought he was scared of me but then I took notice of the other men in the room, most specifically the one standing in front of my uncle with a bloody hammer in his hand. 

He spun lazily on his heel, swinging the hammer, and glared at the man who'd brought me in. His familiar face struck me with dread. It was the man with the Mary necklace and malice laced in his eyes.

"What did I say about interrupting my meetings?" he asked menancingly.

The guard shoved me forward, causing me to trip and land heavily on my knees. "Chanyeol said she was insisting to see her uncle," he said, almost sounding bored. He joined another guard by the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the skyline. Who were these people? Why were they all just standing around while my uncle was literally being tortured?

"Sorin, you need to leave!" my uncle shouted, a cry of pain following immediately after.

The man twisted one of the nails in Rin's left hand. "Be quiet," he snapped, jerking the nail out and tossing it aside. It chimed loudly as it skittered under an armchair. He turned back to me. "So you're Rin's niece?" He advanced towards me, hammer still clutched in his blood-smeared hand, and I pushed myself backwards and to my feet. I definitely should've listened to the guard outside and gotten lost. Whatever was going on in here, it was something I had tried to avoid for years. "Hold on. Is this the girl Jongdae was inquiring me about for a waitress job a few months ago?" He clearly recognized me, that much was proven by the smug smirk on his face.

My uncle didn't answer. I tried to relay him a questioning and terrified look but he was in too much pain, sweat pouring into his eyes and blinding him, to notice. "She's just a kid, Sehun. Let her go," he begged. "She'll never speak of anything she's seen. You're angry with me, don't take it out on her."

"Uncle Rin—" I tried to ask what was going on but the man, Sehun, talked over me as if I hadn't even made a peep.

"See, I would," he clicked his tongue like he was weighing options, "but she was told not to interrupt my very important meeting and she did it anyway. I don't like people meddling in my business. But hey!" He raised his arms and glanced between us, nearly smiling. "Now I see you have a weakness that I somehow missed. How's that, Rin? I know about your wife, your kidney transplant two years ago, your capped molar, so on and so forth. So tell me, how did you hide her so well?" Tauntingly playful, Sehun waved the hammer around.

"Let her go," Rin demanded through gritted teeth. I stood cemented in my spot, unsure if I should run or try to help my uncle. I feared neither one of us could be helped. 

Sehun smacked his lips. "Come here, sweetheart." He held his hand out to me, beckoning me forward with two fingers. I took one step back. 

"Go, Sorin!" my uncle spat hastily. Before I could do anything, Sehun was done with two long strides and dragging me into the room by my upperarm. 

"She wouldn't get very far even if she was stupid enough to run, so let's just stop with that already." Sehun pulled me closer, one hand reaching up to cup my chin, the rings he wore cold against my now clammy skin. "I wasn't going to threaten family. Your wife's a bimbo and I doubt you'd really miss her and everyone else is dead so I was going to resort to torture to get what I want but clearly—" he my cheek tauntingly, "—I've new toys to play with. So, what do you say, Rin? Do you think you can find that mysteriously lost two mil?"

My uncle trembled in his chair. I barely understood what was being said or done. What two million was Sehun even talking about? What had my uncle done? I'd never heard of him being in possession of that ungodly amount of money.

"I don't have it." 

Why did that sound like a nail in my coffin? 

S