….I’m such a failure….

Those were the last words I thought to myself as I fell to the ground before losing consciousness. Next thing I know I’m lying in a bed at a hospital. A nurse came by and I asked her what was going on. Apparently I had fainted at school and some teachers had brought me, but they all left since my parents were on their way here. She told me I just had lack of oxygen due to hyperventilation, product of some kind of fear. I took my cellphone from my pocket and looked at the messages. I prayed for it all to be a dream or a misunderstanding, but no… The text was there, saying exactly the same thing…and it was already 5:45pm….LuHan…I jumped out of the small bed and without taking time to recover, I sprung out of the hospital running as fast as I could, going straight towards the abandoned museum…

A failure… that’s what I was. Knowing my friend was in danger I just had to faint… You mother er!! You’re the first one to always criticize fainting! It’s a habit only weaklings do to get themselves out of doing thing they don’t like!! And LuHan… what would he think about you if he knew you were sleeping while he was being kidnapped to the other side of town… You failed him MinJeong…you promised to always protect him, and you let him slide right through your fingers…

As I ran I felt tears covering my face…it’s been years since I last cried, and it was at my grandmother’s funeral. Crying is not a thing I like to do in public, but right now I was so afraid that crying was the only way to express what I felt. God…I was so terrified… If something happened to Lulu, how will I ever forgive myself… how will I tell his parents… who’s going to be my Best Friend, my right hand, my secret lover…MY EVERYTHING! I kept running, never stopping to catch my breath; fear was the only thing that moved my body…

After 20 minutes I had arrived at the edge of town, and a mile away was the abandoned Museum. It was far away from civilization; no one had come to this old building in centuries. According to legends it was abandoned after some weird incident, and from that day onward no one dared set foot in it. Occasionally, people mention seeing hobos going there to spend the night, but apparently don’t see them return. Right now I could be sure the girl from “The Ring” was waiting inside the Museum to kill me, and I would still barge in… The only thing on my mind and soul was saving LuHan, no matter the risk or price…

After 15 minutes walking through the thick, dense grass, I arrived at the abandoned Museum.

It was a 2 floor old style, wood structure. Some of its windows were broken, while others were crossed-out with planks. The tall grasses surrounded every inch of terrain, the roof was decaying, and the fading pink color of the exterior walls showed how inhabitable this place was. It gave out an eerie and melancholic feeling. I stopped in front one of the open arched doorways and silently stared into the darkness inside the structure. I tried to catch my breath as I looked at my clock…10 minutes till 6:30pm. The sun was setting, soon it would be dark… my fears were beginning to double; like they say, everything gets worse at night… Without wasting another second, I prayed the Lord for strength and walked right into the building. It was dark, and little sunlight came in through the windows and arch doors, making it very difficult to see. I began screaming LuHan’s name over and over again as I kept walking deeper into the museum. I tripped on something and fell to the ground. As I was getting up, I saw a dark figure in one of the corners of the house. I forgot what manners were…

MJ: GIVE ME MY FRIEND BACK! WHERE IS HE!?!? LUHAN~~! LUHAN~~!

??: (a deep, husky voice came from the faceless-unknown man that hid behind a hooded cloak) He is not here.

MJ: WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE’S NOT HERE YOU MOTHER ER!?! GIVE HIM TO ME!... NOW!!... LUHAAAN~!

??: I’m afraid I can’t. You see, we gave your friend a lot of opportunities to play with us and he always rejected our invitations. We then told him not to go mentioning us or go asking for help, since it would cost him; but he ended up telling you. We waited patiently for him to join us, but he was too afraid to test his own skills… So now—

MJ: ENOUGH WITH THE BULL!! JUST GIVE ME LUHAN!! I won’t tell no one about you people, your game, or what you do, or where you are... I JUST WANT HIM BACK!!

??: You’re not getting the point here miss… Your friend not only refused us, but went against our strict rules about spreading personal information regarding our group and game. For that he must be punished… and you’ll be going down with him…

MJ: (I was losing air; my voice trembled)… what did you do to him… tell me…. TELL ME WHERE IS HE!!! (I broke down in tears) LUHAAAAN~!! ANSWER ME!!!

??: As I told you, he is not here. But don’t worry, we haven’t done anything to him….yet…But let’s get down to business, shall we? (I could feel a smirk forming on him)

MJ: DON’T YOU DARE TOCUH HIM YOU DEMONS!! I don’t care how many you are, I’LL RIP ALL OF YOUR HEADS OFF!!

??: Wow, I had never met someone like you. I like it… feisty…Well Miss Park, I’d like to propose you with “the only way out”… Are you interested, or are you going to continue your little one-sided argument? We all know who is going to lose in the end with THAT attitude…

MJ: (I calmed myself) … what is it?...what are you going to propose?...

??: Follow me.

The unknown figure walked to the back-end of the museum and went through one of the arches. I followed him with exasperated nerves, ready to defend myself to the first sound I heard. I went out the house through the arch and gasped in astonishment to what lay in front of me. The building did not have a normal backyard: what it had was a huge open-underground city with buildings and mountains.

MJ: …what the hell is this… (My eyes were as wide as saucers)

??: This Museum was founded by Dr. Lee SooMan with the sole purpose off showing the World the Forgotten City of Exotica. This is Exotica (he pointed at the land below). Dr. Lee knew that below this terrain was an underground city, and he wanted to re-discover it. This pre-historic place has been hidden for millenniums, until Dr. Lee brought it once again to the light. But not everything was victories and glories. Dr. Lee had a group of anthropologists, archeologists, astrologists, and scientists that were working with him on this project; until one day they all betrayed him, saying he was too obsessed with his work and had become crazy. They left and Dr. Lee was left alone, but he did not stop. He spent the rest of his life digging up Exotica by himself, until he succeeded. He knew that if he exposed this new land to the World it would be taken away from him, so he decided to keep it a secret, just for himself. He also discovered an ancient ritual the Exotics practiced: The Shadow Games. Soon after that, Dr. Lee died, but he left a group of men guarding Exotica and the secret of the Shadow Games. Now we, the new Exotics go after those who left Dr. Lee, as a token of our gratitude for making us part of this perfect place…

MJ: I don’t get it… That was centuries ago. No one has been here in ages, how could you people still be alive…how could those anthropologists or whatever, can still be living? And what does this all have to do with LuHan!!!!

??: Our great grandfathers were the ones alive at that moment; we the descendants are the ones in charge of keeping the tradition throughout the years. As for LuHan, his ancestors were part of Dr. Lee’s crew. After many years, it is time to finally take vengeance over the Lu Family. Other families have already suffered the consequences over these hundred years, so just be grateful we took long for this day.

MJ: WHAT THE ARE YOU PEOPLE!!! May God have mercy on your sin-full souls!! What is it you’re going to do with LuHan!! What do you want me to do!?!? Spit it out already!! TELL ME!

??: Easy there princess; now we’re getting there. Since LuHan didn’t want to play, we just took him by force. But now someone has to play for him. We’ve gone through this countless times, and the results are always the same: the guest always loses. So either if he had played, or you play for him, you will all end up in our hands…

MJ: I’m SICK of you talking bull about this game. What is it!?! Tell me already! You want me to play to save LuHan!?! Fine, give me the info!!

??: The rules are simple, yet dangerous… As the Sun sets, shadows will begin to appear all across the land. You can only walk on the shadows; if your feet touch any part of the ground that is not covered in darkness our men will storm out from the unknown and throw sharp knives at you and your allies. If you, the leader of your group, get hit and faint, we will take you as our prisoner and the game will be over for both you and your friend. Your allies will once again belong to us.

Some shadows can go miles without an end; sometimes shadows may be separated by long distances, making it impossible for you to move forward until the next day… unless you are willing to put your life in peril for the sake of your friend and never stop walking… This is a game of skill and courage, but above all, a game of Life and Death…

… are you willing to play?

MJ: You people are crazy… what kind of stupid game is that!?!? Why take it so seriously!?! Why does my friend’s life depend ON A LOAD OF SATANIC GAMES!?!?

??: This is the Exotic ritual Dr. Lee found in Exotica. He named them The Shadow Games. It was used to prove the skills, bravery, and intelligence of their warriors. Those who did not pass were taken as prisoners, and if proven useless, they were killed. Now we use this ritual to avenge Dr. Lee, for all the mockery his crew made out of him.

MJ: I had never heard of such a severe grudge… now I really know why those people left that whack-job... HE WAS INSANE!

??: (irritated) Miss Park, it’s getting late. The sun is minutes away from hiding itself completely. You must make a decision now. If you refuse to play, we will take you as a prisoner immediately. If you play, you are at your own risk. As for LuHan, he will be in our power until the end of the game… that is, if you finish it… So what will it be?

I thought these kind of things only happened in Jackie Chan Movies. I would have never thought that there was a hidden underground city so near town or that a secret sect has been roaming our country for centuries, kidnapping people… If playing this game was the only way to get in and save LuHan, I was going to do it. I wasn’t going to waste another second more! God, please help me! If I die here, at least let me know LuHan is safe!... I’m so afraid…I’ve never been so terrified in my life… LuHan…I’m coming for you! I’m going to save you, as I’ve always done, so just wait a little longer…I’m here now…

MJ: Yes…I’m going to play…