It took every last bit of me to run to Daehwi, before collapsing into his arms. A sound echoed through the warehouse, “Three minutes before the exit closes”, Jisung chortled, “Three minutes before Davina dies”. I couldn’t understand why he kept counting down to Davina’s death; surely she was already dead. “You’ve got to… go”, I urged, “You need… to get out of here”. There was no way I was going to make the journey back, let alone pick myself up out of this room. “Tris… I’m so sorry”, a weakened Guanlin exclaimed, “I sensed a fallen angel around Daehwi but I just assumed it was Daniel. They poisoned me, I couldn’t do anything”. It was obvious Guanlin’s IPU had not worn off. “It’s.. it’s okay”, my speaking was becoming slurred. 

I released myself from Daehwi’s grip and slowly fell to the floor, “Help Guan”. Daehwi tried to reach for me again but I pushed away his attempts, “No Dae... help him up”. He conceded and placed Guanlin’s arm over his shoulders. “The two of you… need to… go”, I said. “No. We are not leaving without you”, Daehwi insisted. He tried to lift me up again, but was too weak to support two people; causing us all to collapse to the ground. “Go Dae… Pl- please”, my body began to tremble from the poison. My eyes shifted from Daehwi to Guan, “Da- dan”, I could feel myself fading away. I had exhausted all of my energy, but it didn’t matter because I had found the boys. He was going to be okay as long as they made it out those doors before Jisung closed them.

“I know” Guanlin said before I could even complete Daniel’s name, “Let’s go Dae”. “No, we need to help my sister”, Daehwi cried out. “I… lo-”, before I finished, my eyes shut. I could feel Daehwi tugging at me trying to wake me up, but it was too late. “No I’m not leaving without my sister”, he cried out, “She’s are all I have. She’s all I have. Tris wake up. Please”. Hearing Daehwi’s cries broke my heart, but the IPU was stronger than I wanted to be, for my little brother. “We have to go Dae”, Guanlin said, “It’s the only way to save her… trust me”. The last thing I heard was Daehwi’s sobs before their footsteps faded.

I had reached that same paralytic state like the first time I was poisoned; in which I could hear what was happening around me but could not respond to any of it. I forced myself to remain awake until I head an announcement from Jisung. After a few minutes had passed, his voice rang through the halls again, “Only one will die tonight”. With my relief, came guilt and panic. Even though Jisung's words meant Davina would be killed; it also meant that Daehwi and Guanlin had escaped in time. With the overwhelming emotions that now conflicted me, I stopped trying to fight the IPU until it fully consumed me…

~~~~~~~

When I had awoken, I had no sense of how long I had been unconscious for. I was starting to get some motion in my limbs again, but the torturous pain still ran through my body. The room was dark, which meant it was still night time. But… why hadn’t they moved us to a new lair yet? They must know that once Daehwi and Guanlin escaped and got back to the angels; they would send help. Unless… they didn’t escape. The panic was almost as paralyzing as the IPU. But I picked myself up; I didn’t have time to roll around in agony right now. I needed to make sure that they actually did make it out in time. Also I needed to find Seongwoo, Taehyun and Davina.

I headed back towards the direction of the exit door. Seongwoo was not where I had left him; outside room 27. I wondered whether he had woken up or had been moved. But if he had woken up, he would have come searching these rooms for me. Why did everything always point to the worst scenario? The exit door was closed by the time I arrived and Jisung were nowhere in sight either. Before I could react to this situation in anyway, a pair of hands grabbed me from behind. “Looks like it’s the two of us”, Jisung gushed, “Just like old times”. I tried to get out of his grip, but I was still too weak from my walk back here. I knew that if I could just stall for time, I would be able to gather more energy. Somehow, and I didn’t know how to e