Warning: mentions of ion, blood, and killing

WayV had another appointment for the day. It was 11AM and the appointment was scheduled at 1PM. Some of the members had already left to scan the area while Ten stayed behind to proof the base from the deviant, which only consisted of locking the outside of the infirmary before he left.

He walked in to see Xiaojun running diagnostics on Ella Lee. The holographics of her heart rate and diagnostics were shown above her head in various colors that always amazed Ten of how advanced their society was. Yet, here was this woman who preferred to drive cars than to ride in them.

“You’re here?” Xiaojun asked.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Of course I’m here because I need to know when she’s going to be conscious again,” he rolled his eyes.

Tired of the sass coming from the leader, Xiaojun crossed his arms, “Well, if you must know, it should be another couple hours before she’s awake. But you also just let a deviant on our base, Ten. We don’t even know what she’s capable of other than what we already know. Can we even be safe from her? The members were all freaking out last night about it,”

Ten had felt like Xiaojun took him for an idiot. “And that is exactly why I’m leaving Chenle and Renjun to watch her. Lele has access to all the tech in here, and if she tries to pull anything funny then we have Renjun to take care of that problem. Where’s my coffee?”

Xiaojun’s eyes bulged incredulously, shouting at him in Cantonese and grabbed the back of his shirt to take him out with Ten laughing, his chest having never felt so light before and stopped Xiaojun from completely dragging him out. Xiaojun was furious at Ten for having the audacity to ask for a small commodity when they had a total stranger right in the beating heart of what kept WayV’s territories surviving.

“Okay, okay. I get it. Go and get dressed, we are going to need everyone today on the field. Then we have to head back and get changed to attend a meeting for the renovation of WayV,”

Xiaojun just gave him a look. He hated how much Ten could act like such an then suddenly return to being the good leader he was. He pointed at Ten accusingly, “You. Infirmaries are not for teatime by the lake. If I catch you in here with any food besides for the deviant I’ll make sure to put fruit in your room!” then left, still glaring at him as he closed the door.

Ten only raised a brow to appear tough, but slightly shuddered at the thought of fruit being placed in his private residency. He pulled his mask to cover part of his face and walked over to where Ella Lee was and sat down on the cot next to hers. With his hands folded and him leaning forward, he studied her once more.

What the hell am I going to do with her?

She’s of no use. Ten was regretting her ever being on base, but at the same time, there was someone who wanted her dead. WayV had bigger problems on their hands. Suddenly, Ella Lee stirred, groaned and grabbed at her head for more pressure with the fish skin still on her arm. Ten’s eyes narrowed and froze in his position and watched her movements.

Miss Lee was no longer in her torn clothes but was in a white t-shirt and sweatpants courtesy of Renjun from stealing it off another body—he tended to do that every time he was assigned and always brought home his victim’s belongings in a duffel bag and placed them in a separate closet as a reward to himself.

Ella Lee looked at her wrist to find her watch gone and herself to be in “new” clothes. Confusion spread across her face as she took a look around at the surroundings before her. The infirmary was one of the very few rooms on base that was not colored a dark shade. Instead, it was white with golden wooden accents. There were cots across from hers and each had a window covered by a transparent white curtain that danced its feet on the floors before it. She sat up abruptly, understanding she was not in the comfort of her garage and was in an entirely different location and turned to see Ten staring directly at her.

Her brows furrowed, and her eyes took on a hardness that he often saw in the members when it was a difficult assignment. She looked at him in confusion. She had definitely seen that face before—his eyes were the same cat-like ones she saw several days ago by the night market. But it couldn’t be him. That guy’s hair was streaked with blonde and the one before her had jet black hair. Maybe they were twin brothers? Doppelgangers even?

“Who the hell are you?” she spat, crossing her arms in defense and tried to appear as tough as she could be.

So maybe Ella Lee wasn’t the princess Ten thought she was. His chest felt heavy, and it constricted in a way that made it hard to breathe. His chest no longer raced—according to his goggles—and it slowed to the pace of someone almost dead. Yet, he believed he could still get to know her during her time here.

Miss Lee could have sworn she saw a smirk underneath the cotton, “Your worst nightmare,”

Ten promptly rose and began walking to the door without a single word left to say. He would be the bad guy if it meant keeping himself and the other members safe. He would show her what SM represented and make her fear him.

“What the hell!? Am I being held hostage? For ing what!?” she screeched from her spot. She didn’t know if she was capable of making it very far from the bed to go after him since she was still unsure if she was being held captive or not.

For ing nothing.

-

Ella grabbed her hair in frustration and held her face in her hands. All she knew was that she was working on her Mazda Miata, and the car suddenly started by itself to which she out. It didn’t make the slightest bit of sense to her. Ella was more puzzled by the fish skin on her body, unaware that her car blew up right above her. She was working directly on the catalytic convertor of her car. There wasn’t even a need to unplug the battery of the car since it was a simple swap of changing the old convertor with the new one. There was no way a fire could have started. Oh, and the mysterious guy. She sees one good-looking man in some sketchy alley, and she meets someone that looks scarily similar to him. What the hell?

“Oh Miss Ella Lee~” a voice rang out from above her.

It wasn’t the voice of the masked figure earlier—that much Ella knew. She looked up and scanned the ceilings for a built-in audio system. What she found, though, was four cameras—one in each corner that prevented a blind spot of misconducts from happening. For once, Ella was scared for her life. She had no idea where she was and what the strange man wanted with her, or if this was some sort of cult that made everything happen by coincidence just to get her to join. Or maybe she just watched too much Netlfix. Another deviant thing to do, but she didn’t care.

“Who- who are you?” she asked. The only way to get anywhere in a hostage situation is to get the offender to talk and buy time. Was she in a hostage case?

“I am…. Injoon what am I?” discreet conversations could be heard before a traditional response was made.

“Ah, yes. I am Big Head 2. I will be your babysitter in the time being. Please let me know if you need anything. It is somewhat of a pleasure to meet you Miss Ella Lee. Please enjoy your stay,” and the intercom clicked off.

So it is a hostage. Well, time to get a move on then.

Ella hoisted herself from the cot, fish skin and all and limped to stand peer out the window from where she was. It was still sunny, but she could feel the chill come in from the window pane and saw droplets of condensation on it. What surprised her though, was of how beautiful the scenery was. There was luscious green, cut grass with surrounding hills all over the establishment. Farther away Ella made out trees. Trees that were much darker in shade and foreboding with their shadows that she assumed were the limits to the property.

What am I doing? She thought, shaking her head and walked to the front of the infirmary where the dark guy left earlier. There was a door to her right that she assumed was where the medication and other medical things were since whoever was in here had forgotten to turn the light off inside that revealed white several white cabinets and an examination seat. Then there were the doors at the center. She hesitated to make much noise since she knew whoever Big Head 2 was could be listening and watching her right now.

She could hear feet shuffling on the other side and the doors had instantly opened to reveal a boy not much taller than her with black hair and a basketball jersey looking at her with an inviting gaze. She peered at him from head to toe. He also wore crocs with insulated fur. However, her observation was cut short when the door—the simplest way to escape—had been slammed shut.

“Hi!” He smiled warmly and waved.

Ella would not be distracted anymore, no matter how charming he was she would not let him get to her. Miss Lee grabbed both of his arms and kneed him in the crotch, throwing her body against the push-handles so the door could open. Nothing. Adrenaline raced through her veins with anxiety coursing through them. She had to get out. She didn’t want to die like her parents.

“Well …” Chenle moaned as he held his precious jewels in his hands.

“The one time I listen to ge’s advice and this is what I get,” he gritted through his teeth.

Ella turned to face him and grabbed him by the collar, momentarily choking him as she hoisted him to stand and forced him against the wall. Ella only knew one thing, and that was to survive. She lost her parents to some sick psychopath that had their bodies dismembered and blood spread almost everywhere throughout the house. She was only 5-years old and saw the heads of her parents laying side by side on their bed, their eyes were awake. A hand was found on the kitchen counter with her mother’s wedding ring attached to it while her father’s torso was in the basement.

She remembered crying to herself as she collected the rightful parts to each of her parent’s bodies and dug a hole in the sloshed mud in their backyard. It took several hours to dig a whole six feet in the ground, but she did it for each of them and bur