'Those...puppets are our lives? How?' you thought. Then it shot through your mind. 'It's how it knows where we are and what we're doing all the time. It's how it "killed' Donghae. Those puppet versions must have the same body characteristics as all of us so it was able to design that mist to affect Donghae only. Hee Young was right.'

"It seems you've discovered my secret." the voice said exasperated. You all glared at the 18 puppets in anticipation. It could kill you all now if it wanted to. Of course, it could have done that at any time. But, you knew that it wouldn't. It would keep you alive, stuck in this nightmare of a world until everyone else was dead and you would finally snao. Your fists clenched and you felt your nails dig into your palm as you depserately tried to hold back the impulse to yell and essentially lose yourself in the anger that was rising to impossible heights in your body.

"What do you plan to do?" Destroy these puppets in hopes of sending them back?" it spoke aloud, but it was directed to you. Your fists tightened and you felt blood rise to the surface of your palms.

"I could destroy them too, you know. Once small, swift motion of this blade and your friend there joins the other. Where ever he may be. Heh." it was testing you. It knew that you had figured out that the only way out of here was to die. It knew that Donghae was fine. It was a test to see how long it would take you to crack and beg to be let go and sent back. It would never send you back though, so you stood your ground. Eyes focused. Ready.

The blade lingered next to the puppet Sungmin's throat. Lightly drifting in the air a hairs width from the current cut. Suddenly, you heard a scream of pain from behind you. Your eyes went wide. The knife didn't even move. You had your eyes on it the entire time. Quickly spinning your heard around you realized that it wasn't Sungmin. He was still standing. Blood flwoing lightly from his neck, but alive. His eyes, wide and fearful, were staring in terror at the ground on the opposite side of the room. You followed his gaze and saw Yesung on the ground, grasping his chest and in immense pain. Everyone except for a few who stared in hidden panic were next to him.

"Heh. Forgot about that one." the voice joked cruely.
"You said 3 days!" you yelled.
"Stupid girl! There are no days here! I decide the time, the year, everything! I can change it so it's as though you've been here only a few hours. You could have been here for decades if I so wish!"

You looked back to Yesung who was now lying on the ground. He didn't seem to be in so much pain, but it wasn't because he was fine. He was dying. His breathing was slowly depleting and his body was limp. His eyes only open by a quarter. Everyone around him did nothing. They knew just as well as you did. It was silent in the room except for Yesung's shallow breathing. But after a few excruciating moments it stopped. When it did, the puppet Yesung's eyes rolled back and fell to the ground and disappeared. You held back tears. No sobs were heard behind you, but you knew that everyone was fighting the tears just like you. You gained some composure and looked up to face the knife again.

"What a surprise." it said with fake amazement. "I thought one more would do you in. Especially if it were him." it mocked you.

The blade caressed the cut on the puppet Sungmin's neck. You heard a small, quiet yelp from behind you. You wanted to end this. You thought of everyone and of how much torment they've had to go endure. You thought of Donghae and Yesung and how they had to suffer through all of that pain and torture. You wanted desperately to get them out of here. You didn't care what happened to you. You would stay here for the rest of your life if it meant they could leave. You gave up. You closed your eyes and relaxed your tense muscles. You gave up.

Then, at that moment, you knew what you had to do. You could see it. You could see  the voice and knew how to kill it. You had beaten death.

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Ah~! Almost done! I'm both happy and slightly sad that it's coming to an end most likely next chapter, maybe the one after. Enjoy! :)