Night time. A time when everyone comes out to play whether it be to party, grab a few drinks or do something illegal. The busy streets of downtown was candy to the eyes of criminals, a shield they could easily disappear into.

Bright lights flashed about, advertisements about everything graced the screens of billboards trying to get those naive enough to buy their product. Strangers and friends alike walked up down the sidewalks as cars drove past, occasionally crossing the street to get a little bit closer to their destination. And if you looked closely near the corners of brick buildings and the entrance ways of alleys women in y attire lured you into buying them for a night and deeper in the dark were miscellaneous thugs trading things off discreetly. You can also notice individuals pick pocketing, stealing or leading their victims to their demise but that was only if you had an eye for the wretched and dangerous. 

At the same time on the outskirts of town in a big mansion slept peacefully a boy who's day had been very busy. The silence of the night drew on as his body rose in steady breaths. 

Outside his big white bedroom door a group of men dressed in all black outfits silently and sneakily crept towards it. One of them slowly opens the door letting in the soft light of the hallway seep in. The lump of the boys body outlined on the bed and they all rush in just as the boy stirs from the unexpected light. 

The men gather around the bed.

"mom, dad? Is that you?" the boy says in a groggy tone, rubbing his eyes. 

The sleepy state he was in made it hard to focus and all he could see were black blobs around him but the boy was scared nonetheless, he felt a shiver run up his spine as his eyes adjusted and settled on the intimidating males. His big brown eyes widen and his mouth opens to scream but one of the men swiftly pulled out a white cloth and clamped it over his mouth, muffling his sounds. 

The man drags him out of bed as the boy struggles as his vision becomes blurry and his head light. Just when he was losing consciousness another man comes over encasing his head in something as the boy falls into darkness.

The all black dressed men drag the boy's body out of the van they had driven to their destination. Two men hold him up as they pass through the big doors of an abandoned warehouse, which was dark with only the moonlight shining through a single window high on the wall. 

"boss we brought him" one of the men said.

The two that were holding the boy pushed him down onto his knees in front of a chair where a male sat obscured in darkness. They remove the bag from the boys head and the scared, trembling kid looked on at the male, a relentless unease overcoming him. 

The boy felt hurt all over from the way they had beat him up to keep him quiet in the van from all his screaming and crying when he had come to. 

"m-my dad will get you, he'll sue you for kidnapping m-me. H-he won't show any mercy" the boy tried to threaten.

The men in black laughed but the male in front of him stayed quiet which made everything much more eerie.

"kill him" the male suddenly said and the boy's heart dropped. 

"what!? Stop! No, you can't!" the boy yelled just as one of the men behind him rests their hand under his chin and pulled his head back. 

The boys eyes were tearing up as he felt something cold hit the base of his throat, he has never been so scared in his life. 

"please stop, I can be of help to you, I have plenty of money!" the boy shouted, bawling as he did so; even the front of his pants were soiled. 

"yes you can be of help" he hears the deep emotionless voice of the male still sitting, watching. 

The boy smiles in relief "yes, yes I-"

"dead" the male interrupted and the boys face crumples in horror. "kill him" he says again. 

And this time the boy could only kneel there scared and shaking as the man with the butcher knife swung his hand back, the boy closed his eyes, heart thumping why? he thought just as the man lodges the knife deep into his throat, blood instantly spraying out onto the floor.

The man let's go of the boy and he drops into a heap, his blood pooling around him. They all look toward their boss, the moonlight had shifted and they could only see one lifeless eye looking back at them.

"this city will know what real fear is" 

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

"multiple sources have witnessed dead bodies around the city, two were found downtown in a casino club and across the street in an alley. Another was found on the other side of the city right in front of his home. The suspects didn't bother to hide them, almost like they wanted us to see them. What could this possibly mean? And what is the police doing about it? All these questions will be addressed after these messages".

Sehun clicks off the TV and brews himself some coffee. The news was always trying to blow things out of proportion like there hasn't been murder cases around here before then blame the police on how lacking they were in catching these criminals. 

"another bout of murders?" a voice behind him speaks. 

Sehun didn't bother turning around, he knew who it was, his partner Jeonho. Sehun sighs and nods putting in a fixed amount of sugars in his coffee.

"do you think it's them again?" Jeonho says coming over. 

"even if it's them we don't have any evidence to pin them with" Sehun sips his warm beverage. "it's irritating" 

"yeah, Chief is on everyone to finally bring them into custody" Jeonho states. 

Sehun has only been assigned to this department for two years, on his time spent here he knew how the police have been trying to capture these eight misfit criminals but have come up short each time. He's heard the stories from the other officers stating that they were a ruthless bunch but no one could really put faces to them and that despite not being in any covert relationship end up murdering at the same time, to Sehun it seemed way to frequent to be a coincidence yet that was all it was. The department tried investigating into it for months but came up with nothing that lead them to the notion they organize their killings together. 

Sehun has grown to hate the bunch as it put an accumulative stress on the officers for every minute they still roamed the streets. The department has been on hold from finding them for a year now upon having more pressing things than to go on a wild goose chase overly blind. 

Sehun turned to his partner "find out anything about the dead bodies?" he wasn't in doubt that it was probably their work.

"well there were only three this time. One with a knife lodged into their throat, another with one clean bullet wound through the head and the last one with severe damage to the face." 

Sehun contorted his face in to disgust "they never fail to be merciless".

Jeonho hums thoughtfully before turning to him "oh yeah, chief wanted to see you" 

A groan escaped the tall males lips but he nods, resting down his coffee knowing it was best not to keep the chief waiting. 

Once in front of the heads office he knocks. "come in" he faintly hears and Sehun slips inside. The Chiefs office was very basic, a desk, filing cabinets. There were even certificates on the wall behind him, a sofa off to the side with a wooden coffee table in front and two pairs of chairs by his desk. 

Sehun stood firm by the door "sir, you called?"

The Chief was a man in his 30s, very strict and had a high temper many of the older officers liked to test for fun. He had black hair and a nice structured face with hard black eyes. 

"yes I did. Have a seat" he gestured to one of the chairs. 

Sehun did as he was told, contrary to the others he did not like to test his Chiefs temper. He's already had to deal with it more than once before and it wasn't a pretty sight. He looked to the left and saw the small TV the Chief had on his desk playing the news and Sehun cursed inwardly. 

"Detective Oh" he says

"yes sir?"

The Chief leans forward on his elbows looking him firmly in the eye. "what is our job as policemen?"

Sehun closed his eyes briefly knowing where this was going. "it is our job to capture criminals and bring them to face justice" he recited from memory. 

"right, right" the Chief nods slowly. "and why do we do that?"

"so the streets of our city can be harmless and protected so the citizens can walk free of danger"

The older male then slammed his hand on the table, disturbing every thing on it "so why! Are those hooligans still causing havoc and murder, leaving them for all the people to see!?" 

He pointed at the TV. They were showing the taped off areas of where they found the victims bodies, Sehun grimaced.

"what if it's not them, it could be other criminals" Sehun tries to calm him. 

"oh? Who else kills like that Detective Oh? Huh? We've caught a lot of criminals but none of them leave their victims at the crime scene, They all try to discard of the bodies but not these guys" the Chief sits back in his chair rubbing his temples. 

"this makes us look bad Detective Oh" he starts. 

I already know that, the news capitalizes on it every chance they get. 

"people are looking to us to rid the streets of people like this and how do we look when this happens each time? We look like we don't care, like we are doing nothing to stop this from happening and soon everyone will question our authority" 

It was quiet between the two for a while before the Chief spoke up again. 

"Detective Oh, I'm assigning this case to you and until you capture those eight men once and for all you will not be doing anymore field work" 

Sehun shot up from his seat, appalled "what!? But why!?" 

"lower your voice at your senior, Detective" the Chief glared at him and Sehun sat back down his disbelief not wavering. 

"these men are well known in the criminal work, they give other bad guys motive to wreck more havoc and that in itself can turn into chaos. So until you can get them into custody you won't be joining the other officers in any other upscale cases"

"but Chief, it's been years and they've always slipped out from under us. How am I supposed to find them?"

The older male looked at Sehun, some of his age showing from years in the field seeing and dealing with things unimaginable to an everyday person. 

"you are a Detective Mr. Oh, your specialty is finding hidden people. You have the resources now get to work. The quicker these guys are off the streets the better".

Sehun sat as his desk staring but not seeing his computer screen. Where do start? I have no leads, Sehun thought to himself.

A hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder and Sehun jumped "looks like you got chewed out" Jeonho said behind him.

Sehun relaxed and blamed his anxiousness on the fact that his career was basically on the line.

"don't worry I got in trouble too, so I guess we are desk gnomes until we bring these guys to the police station" Sehun's partner says taking a seat at the desk next to him. 

Sehun sighed and leaned over on his elbows "this . We don't even know the first thing about these guys or where to look"

There was silence as Jeonho thought this over "we could bring out the files we have on them, they might just be picked pieces from here and there but it's a start".

Sehun looked over to his partners eyebrows raised "we have files on them?" he sits up straighter.

Jeonho nods "as far as I know. When the department took on the task they went around asking anyone if they knew anything, they only came up with a few stuff though".

Sehun felt a little bit of hope stir inside him, there has to be something useful in those files, right? Even though it's just a small lead. 

"okay, let's go" he says. 

They both get up from their desks and take the elevator down to the basement file room. A big dusty space full of shelves stacked with boxes on boxes of criminal portfolios. Taeyeon was there as usual stacking new files and throwing old ones out, sorting everything back into order that was otherwise not.

"oh hey Sehun. What brings you here" she says looking up from her cart full of boxes. 

Taeyeon was a pretty girl. Her hair was died blonde and cut into a bob that suit her really well, her eyes were big and brown, she wasn't someone you would expect to work in criminal justice although she was just a behind the scenes worker but she was very smart. 

"you guys are on a first name basis?" Sehun hears his partner whisper to him playfully and he rolls his eyes. 

"Taeyeon, we're looking for the file on those eight criminals the department has been chasing after?" Sehun asks her. 

"ah." resting down a bundle of files "Chief finally wants them behind bars once and for all, huh?" she smiles. 

"you have no idea, he even made Jeonho and I desk bunnies until then" Sehun follows behind her, his partner following. 

"oh, that " she states going down one of the many aisles. 

She stops at a box labelled OT8 and Sehun scoffs at the name, he was familiar with the abbreviation his niece used it all the time for her obsession with idol groups. Taeyeon pulls out the dusty cardboard and coughs when some gets into her nose, fanning the air around her she turns around and holds the box out to Sehun. 

"here, this is all we have on them, since it's been a long time since you guys even bothered I would see why you would want to refresh your memory" 

Sehun hums in response and takes the box. "come on Jeonho, let's go study" 

"oh goodie" his partner says sarcastically. 

"have fun, I hope you get them this time" Taeyeon waves as they leave. 

Sehun sets the box down heavily onto his desk and stretches before sitting down. "okay, what do we got" he rifles through the box seeing the individual files each criminal had. He took them out and gave some to Jeonho. They were quite thin which was not too surprising,

Opening one they start reading. 

"dealer, no other name written, no basic info. Murders are never messy, so no blood matches" Sehun read.

"Phoenix. No other name written, no basic info. A hired killer" Jeonho related from his own file. 

"wow, I knew it was little info but not this little" Sehun said looking at the others. 

A conman, another with no labelled identity and nothing else written other than 'boss'. Boss? Boss of what? Sehun sighs.

Going on there was one that seduced others, no written name or basic info, one reported for extensive fraud and as they come across the last one Sehun looks closer,

"this guy, the surgeon?" he questions. 

Lay or Yixing whichever one you chose, he answered to both was a well known surgeon in the medical field regarded highly for performing miracles but some have come with statements saying he also kills his patients but without hard evidence he's been scott free. 

"why don't any of them have names" Jeonho groaned. 

"this one does" he waves the surgeons file, we could start with him. If he's in this box he has to be one of them, right?" Sehun questions looking at the males picture, the only one out of the rest to have. 

"it's a start, let's go" Jeonho gets up and Sehun follows grabbing his jacket from behind his chair. 

They drive down the street, Sehun looking out the window at the passing pedestrians. They could be anybody, he thought. He looks up just as they ride past the big building of 'Kim Enterprises', the biggest company in the world. The CEO was always on the news, a very dapper male with a youthful but wise look to him although Sehun always felt a cold aura around the man but it could just be that he was a strict owner that had a lot of things to deal with.

They pass the building and Sehun watches it disappear through the rearview mirror. 

They get to the central hospital in minutes, at the front desk they show the receptionist their badges and request to speak to surgeon Yixing.

"sorry but he's in an operation right now" the woman said, she looked to be in her 40s. 

Sehun clicked his tongue, he felt an urge like they needed to hurry and he couldn't afford this set back.

"any idea when he'll finish?" Jeonho asks.

The woman shakes her head "I can call a nurse to tell him you're here but otherwise you'd need to sit and wait" she says gesturing to the rows of chairs behind them. 

Sehun sighs and nods going over to the seats but before the both of them can sit a voice piped up from behind.

"you wanted to see me?" they said. 

Sehun turned around and instantly recoiled, the male that stood in front of him was covered in blood, some on his face, hands and scrubs. 

"Dr. Zhang" the receptionist states surprised "I didn't expect you out so soon" 

The male laughed lightly and suddenly the eerie aura of his attire evaporated and Sehun somehow relaxed. "neither did I" he said looking at Sehun with very interested and curious eyes. 

Jeonho swallowed and addressed the doctor "yeah. we're here, Dr. Zhang on account of a case. We are looking for eight male criminals that have been slipping from our departments grasp since forever and we believe you to be one of them" 

Sehun looked to his partner surprised at his forwardness, he held up his police badge and Sehun followed suit. 

Yixing tilted his head to the side slowly pulling off his bloody gloves "oh?" he smiled but it seemed different from before and he kept his unwavering gaze on Sehun who now felt anything but relaxed. "well, follow me".

His eyes didn't leave him until he turned out of his sights viewpoint, if Sehun was being honest, it was very creepy. 

Back at the police office an officer brings in a package that was discarded by the rear doors with the buildings address and no return.

The others gather round as he rests it on the table, huffing at how heavy it was. "did one of you order something again?" he asked.

The others shake their heads and they all look around curiously "it's addressed to here, shouldn't we open it?" another asked. 

"it has no return address, what if it's an explosive?" 

They all went quiet until one of the older officers spoke up "go get the Chief and call on the bomb unit. If it really is an explosive it might go off at anytime".

Everyone jumps into action and soon the office was a bustling space. The Chief comes up to see the box and the bomb unit rushes up in special suits with their special kits from downstairs, they tell everyone to stand back as they do their thing and search the suspicious box. 

They carefully get it open checking inside, but instead of rushing to defuse the bomb one of the units men turns around and throws up. Everyone quickly rushes over and they all recoil in shock some following suit and heaving up their lunch.

The Chief looked on in horror, he's seen a lot of things in his life but never this. Inside the box was a body skinned and cut to pieces. Upon closer look the chief saw a white card resting on top and reluctantly he reaches for it, some blood grazing his fingers and he shakes it off. Looking at the white paper there were only four words written,

Let the game begin.