Abducted

[Chapter 24 - III]

                Footstep crackled along the ground and voices surrounded Himchan. At the side of a deserted road, he laid half unconsciously on the dirt where he had crashed after an almost fatal blow from Zelo from last night. It was the crack of dawn. Himchan, finally awake, tried to turn his head and open his eyes. The mere trial made him moan in pain. His shoulders were aching and so was his whole body. Few broken ribs and a broken shoulder, he calculated as he felt all the pain coursing through his body. He squinted and tried to open his eyes. The first things he saw was the still pink-ish blue dawn sky above him and a few heads strange heads staring down at him.

                “Do you think he’s dead?”

                “Idiot, can’t you see he just moaned.”

                “So… Is it them? The kidnappers?”

                “I think so.”

                “But—Sunghee! S-She’s not here!”

                “Shhh! This guy is about to wake up.”

                The strange heads and voices hovering around Himchan made him open his eyes fully. After a few seconds. “What the fu—!!“ Himchan realized both his hands and feet were bound by something, preventing him to move.

                Chanyeol’s wide eyes startled Himchan. “Who the are you?!” Himchan screamed. “And—What is this?!” He motioned his tied hands as tried to sit up. “Untie me!”

                Kris pushed Himchan back down to the ground, the weight of his hands on Himchan’s bruised chest. “Relax—whoever you are—we’re looking for the girl you kidnapped.” Yifan’s choices of words were contradicting his rather threat-full tone. “Now if you don’t want to get hurt… Even more… then I suggest you tell me where she is.” Kris hand weighed double on Himchan’s as if he was about to crush his ribs.

                “Aggghh!!” Himchan screeched.  If Kris were to pin him down even more, he was going to die of internal injuries. “Stop! Stop!”

                “Tell us where she is!” Sehun almost wanted to punch someone in so much frustration if Luhan weren’t there to hold him back.

                “S-She?” Himchan tried relaxing himself. There’s no use trying to escape. H-How many are they? Himchan orally counted all the men he saw. F-Five.. right in front of me. There’s probably more. I’m obviously outnumbered. . Where the hell is Yongguk?! “You mean… that girl? The one Zelo was looking for?” Desperate times calls for desperate measures. If I cooperate they wouldn’t hurt me.

                “Stop stalling.” Kris eyed him impatiently. “Your friends over there are also tied up.” And sure enough, when Himchan turned his head, he saw Yongguk, Jongup and Youngjae all tied up and lined up at the foot of their wrecked car. “They can’t help you right now. Just tell us where she is.”

                No choice. Himchan gritted his teeth. “Alright.”

                “Let’s start by asking why.” Chanyeol eagerly stepped in. “Why did you kidnap Sunghee? What do you want with her?”

                Himchan tried to sit up as soon as Kris stopped pinning him down the ground. “It all started when what blasted general stole Zelo from us.”

                “General?” Kris’ brows went up. “And once again, Who the hell is Zelo?”

                “Yeah. That general who kept on trying to make us one of his lab experiments. And Zelo—He’s a robot. And a very good one too. He’s like a brother to all of us.” Himchan paused. He never thought he’d ever say these kinds of things. In all honestly, he now realizes he does miss Zelo a lot too.

                “Okay, so Zelo is a robot—and he was stolen. What does that have to do with my sister?” Joonmyun, who had been so quiet, finally spoke.

                “Wait, there’s also Daehyun. He has this power—I’m not sure how to call it but—He can control minds and stuff.”

                “Wait a minute. Power? What do you mean—“ Chanyeol intervened. “Are you—“

                “An extraterrestrial.” Luhan finished the question with an answer. “Just like us.”

                “That time when Sunghee was sleep walking…” Sehun’s eyes grew in realization and then suddenly turned solemnly stern. “That was him?”

                Himchan nodded. “Daehyun also has the power of sight. He sees things. Future… I guess. And he saw that girl—what was her name? Sunghee?—Daehyun claimed that she was somehow connected to all this. That she is the key to finding Zelo.”

                “And so you kidnapped her.” Kris ended.

                “Yes.” Himchan went on. “But last night… last night when we finally had her, we ran into Zelo. He was somehow reprogrammed—probably by the crummy old general!—And then he started attacking us. He said he’s looking for that Sunghee.” Himchan unintentionally looked at Sehun. “…And that he was planning to lure out some aliens and kill them all.”

                “A trap?” Sehun tensed up. Anger built up inside him. “They’re using her as a hostage.” Sehun clenched his fists until they turned white. Sunghee… My Sunghee?… How dare they—“I’m going to make them pay.” His eyes filled with rage, and a single tear almost fell but quickly wiped it away before anyone sees. No. No more crying. That won’t help me get her back. I… I’ll save her with my own two hands. Although he was emotionally drained and physically exhausted he was mentally determined. He was prepared to kill—even if he has never done so—he’s ready to do anything. He can’t loose her this second time around.

                “Where’s the Daehyun guy?” Luhan asked.

                “Well.. that’s just it. As the fight was going on Sunghee disappeared. She ran off. That only pissed Zelo even more and attacked like a rampaging lunatic.”

                “She ran off? You mean you’re not sure if Zelo caught up with her?” Kris said.

                “Technically, yes. As we were holding Zelo off, Daehyun went and searched for her… That’s when I was thrown aside… and I passed out.” Himchan felt ashamed admitting it. “I don’t know where they are.”

                “There’s a possibility that Sunghee got away.” Chanyeol’s eye’s lit up with hope.

                “Or got caught.” Himchan said looking discouraged.

                They all shot Himchan a disapproving look.

                “Untie him, Chanyeol.” Joonmyun said, gesturing towards Himchan.

                “W-What?” Himchan’s eyes grew. “You’re letting me go?” He was shocked.

                “Why?” Chanyeol was a little skeptic.

                “They meant no harm to Sunghee. They were all just victims too.” Joonmyun said.

                Chanyeol used one finger to burn away the ropes around Himchan’s hands and feet. “A-And then what?” Joonmyun’s rationality came as a shock to Himchan. He’s never met a man this coherent before. Himchan was truly astonished.

                “You’re free to go.” Joonmyun simply said. Then he turned to Kris with an intense gaze. “Let’s go save my sister.”

                Himchan was left gawking at the five men who were walking away. T-That’s it? They just… leave?

                “Where’s Kyungsoo and the others?” Kris asked as they head to the car.

                “I’ll go call them.” Chanyeol volunteered. “They walked around looking for breakfast.”

                “It’s gunna be okay, Sehun.” Luhan patted Sehun’s back. “We’ll get her back.”

                “H-Hey! Wait!” Himchan called after them. “Can..Can we come with you?” Yongguk, Jongup and Youngjae were apparently finally awake and heard everything. “We want to help—as an apology. And also we have to get Zelo back too.”

                “He wouldn’t buzz off so I took him with me.” Zelo reasoned with the general, looking down at the unconscious Daehyun and Sunghee below him.

                “Doesn’t matter.” The former general smirked. “We have what we want. Once they try to save the girl they’ll all step into their death traps.” He chuckled. “I’ll have my sweet revenge.”

                Zelo asked. “Is there anything else you want me to do, master?”

                “You?” The general scoffed. “You have done your part well.”

                “That’s all?” Zelo asked obediently.

                “Well you can join in on killing them if you want to.” The old man laughed. “For now you may head back to your quarters.”

***

                “Hey.” Sunghee nudged him. “Hey, are you alright?”

                Daehyun slowly opened his eyes. “I… Where are we?” He sat up and looked around. Daehyun felt the soft bed beneath him. A bed? They were inside a big luxurious looking room. There were beautiful paintings hanging on the wall and bookshelves and expensive looking furnitures. “What is this place?”

                Sunghee had fresh new clothes and her hair was slightly still wet, obvious that she had just taken a bath. Although she was tidy and neat she looked like she hadn’t slept in days. “It’s some sort of mansion.” She answered him. “They took us here and sent us clothes and food and—“

                “Mansion? And… why on earth would they keep prisoners in an enormous room like this?”

                “I… I don’t know.” Sunghee’s lips quivered. She was about to cry. “I… I don’t know what’s happening.” The trauma was just too much.

                Daehyun felt bad. It was his fault. He kidnapped her and now they were both kidnapped. How ironic. He told himself. “I’m sorry.” He looked at her. “It’s my fault.”

               “No. You— You saved me from that… that thing.” Sunghee cried as she remembered Zelo’s red glowing eyes. She was sure he wasn’t human. He looked so evil. “You tried you best to stop him from getting to me. Thank you.”

               “Please, don’t cry.” Daehyun held her hand and tried to smile. “It’s my fault you’re here, I’ll get you out.”

               She nodded. But there was only one thing on her mind.

               Sehun. His name was the only comfort she had. Sehun. Sehun. Sehun.... It only made her cry even more. He’s probably worried sick. She thought. He’s looking for me. Sunghee wiped her insurmountable tears, assuring her self. He’ll save me.