Minho was thrown onto the cold barren floor, chained and beaten. He had been running four days without sleep before he was caught. He doesn’t even know where he had been brought to but the place seems huge from what he could briefly see.

“I think you may have given Jonghyun a workout.”

Minho growls, his head barely lifted to see the person’s shoes. The person – no – the monster who caused all this. He should have known from the start but had turned a blind eye. The reason why his friends disappeared and turned up dead. The reason why he had been hunted by a former friend who doesn’t need to eat nor sleep.

The reason for his misery grabs him by the roots of his hair causing him to hiss in pain. His vision dizzy as he sees the person who caused all the horrible things to happen to him.

Key smiles back at him, yanking his head for a better look. His intentions behind his actions are filled with amused malice, angling Minho’s head higher eliciting another hiss. His cat like eyes gleam with deep, feral crimson.

“You know it’s useless to run,” Key playfully scolds, his half smile shows off his vicious white fangs. “So why do you even try?”

Minho wanted nothing more than to reach out and strangle Key where he stands. The chains holding him are tight and the two vampires standing in the same room are able to kill him easily.

Jonghyun is standing behind him like a faithful watchdog, holding the chains. He would slam Minho’s head into the floor or crush the back of his neck like a dog if there was hint of disobedience. And Key would watch on the sidelines like he’s watching a game.

It was horrible. When he first encountered Jonghyun he had begged and pleaded for him to snap out of whatever trance he was in. Whatever shared history they had were forgotten and lost as nothing can get through to him. He tried to create traps to capture Jonghyun but they were all obliterated. And the last resort – he just couldn’t – so he was forced to run.

He was caught in the matter of minutes.

“I think I like you like this in this position,” Key idly muses, letting go of Minho’s hair. Minho’s head rebounded to the floor with a loud sound but none had cared. “Right below my feet.”

“I’ll kill you!” Minho snarls against the floor, the chains tightened when he tries to move. “I’ll kill you for what you did!”

Key heaved a sigh, shaking his head. “You were always so melodramatic. Don’t you want to know what happened to them?”

Minho froze, his eyes widened at the mention of them. He had dare hoped that at least one of them would have gotten away. But if Key had them he couldn’t bear to think what tortures they have endured through his hands.

“What have you done to them?” he nearly whispers, desperation slipping into his voice. “Let me see them.”

Key clicks his tongue, wagging a finger mockingly in front of Minho’s face. “Patience.”

He felt himself pulled to his feet by the chain around his neck. Key led the way while Jonghyun follows dragging Minho with them. They reached the end of the hall to a door to what leads to the basement. They go down the stairs, past multiple empty cells.

And then he sees Onew, sitting on the floor in his cell.

Minho didn’t realize he moves past Key, dropping down on his knees in front of the cell. He could feel his heart breaking at the state Onew is in. His wrists are chained against the wall, above his head. A large iron bar holding Onew’s middle, restraining him to the wall. His head drooped to his chest and his hair had grown long covering his eyes. He couldn’t imagine just how long Onew has been down here.

“Onew!” Minho croaks, clutching the bars on Onew’s cell. “Onew! Hyung!”

But no matter how much he calls for him, Onew doesn’t respond.

“He’s sleeping,” Key informs, leaning against the cell, checking his fingernails. He doesn’t seem to mind Minho having a breakdown in front of him. “I made him sleep. No matter how much you call for him, he won’t hear you.”

“Why?”

“To keep him from hurting himself or anyone else. It’s already hard to keep him still when I turned him – nearly broke out of Jonghyun’s grip as a human. Imagine his full strength as a vampire, hence the overkilled restraints and his slumber.”

This wasn’t real, Minho thought as his head leans against the cool bars of Onew’s cell. None of this is real. It’s just a nightmare. He should be coming home from the gym just in time for Onew cooking dinner. Jonghyun would be full of life, laughing at something he’s watching on TV. Key would be doing his skincare routine, scolding Minho for coming home late, nothing monstrous or vampire about him. And Taemin would greet him at the door, hugging and smiling at him with a welcome home, hyung.

None of this is real.

“Onew has been so stubborn,” Key continues, moving away from the cell. “Imagine if he saw me turn Taemin in front of him –” he makes an amused sound – “I think it would have wake him from his slumber.”

Minho whirls up, the chains tighten just as he reaches for Key, making him fall on his knees. “You won’t touch Taemin,” Minho strains against his restraints, his glare intensifies with a dark promise. “I’ll kill you.”

Key bends down and gives an unkind smile, “Let’s pay him a visit.”

He’s being pulled again as Minho loses sight of Onew. A part of him hates himself that he’s glad he couldn’t see him anymore, couldn’t stand to see Onew like that. At the end of the hall a set of heavy doors opens up just as the scent of stale blood invades his nose.

It’s his worst nightmare.

Taemin who went missing a month ago, just like Onew is also in chains. But unlike Onew, Taemin has the whole room to himself. He’s restrained to the wall by a long chain connecting his neck and wrists. The sight of Taemin right there in the open has Minho wanting to scramble to him, to protect him from Key and Jonghyun.

And then Taemin lifts his head.

“Hyung!”

Taemin tries to move forward with fever attempt to get to him but the chains held him back. It didn’t stop him from trying, forcing several strangled chokes