It was dark. That was the first thing he noticed when he opened his eyes. It was almost as if he hadn’t opened them at all, because he could see nothing but pure darkness. It normally would have been a bit frightening, but there was an almost… comforting feeling to it. Whatever was causing this darkness, he felt that it didn’t want to harm him. In fact, it sort of felt like it was trying to tell him something. It wasn’t talking to him, not exactly, it was just another feeling – as sure as he was that this wasn’t harmful, he was also certain that there was some message he was missing in all of this. He didn’t know how this darkness could actually be some kind of consciousness, but then again there was nothing about this whole experience that he could explain. He knew that somehow he needed to find out what it was trying to tell him, but it seemed like whatever this darkness was, it was struggling to form its thoughts into words. Instead he tried to focus on the feeling he was getting from it, hoping that somehow that would help him figure it out. Beyond the feeling that it didn’t want to harm him, he sensed something more, like it wanted to protect him from harm as well. He started to wonder if maybe it could be some kind of warning, though he had no idea what it would be warning him of. Then, the feeling intensified, and it seemed as though the darkness had finally figured out how to push its thoughts out to him…

Baekhyun was startled awake by a sudden noise, any recollection of his dream quickly fading away. Rubbing tiredly at his eyes, he glared at his cell phone lying on the table in front of him. It had buzzed, alerting him of a new text message and jolting him out of dream land. His glare softened when he saw who the message was from, though he still frowned slightly.

From: Tao

Baekhyunnie~ How’s the investigation going?

Sighing, Baekhyun glanced at the DVR monitor he was supposed to be watching. He could see Suho and Kyungsoo walking around in one of the rooms on the other side of the house, but nothing else out of the ordinary. He recalled Kai calling in before he fell asleep, saying he and Sehun were going to walk around the grounds for a bit, so he assumed they were still out there. Looking back at his phone, he frowned again, wondering how he should reply. He quite honestly didn’t know how the investigation was going, considering he had spent more time sleeping and staring dully at the monitor than doing any actual investigating. He couldn’t tell Tao that though – then he would ask why, and that would lead to a conversation that Baekhyun really didn’t want to have. Deciding to reply later, he quietly stood up, glancing briefly around the room they had set up central command in. It was a small room near the front of the house that the owners had set up as an office, which had been perfect for them to set up their equipment in. There wasn’t much to it, just the desk where Baekhyun had been sitting, a few bookshelves, and a couple of chairs on either side of an end table in the corner. Shooting one last look towards the monitor, he figured there wasn’t any harm in walking around for a few minutes, so he grabbed a flashlight and stepped out of the room. He hadn’t caught anything on the DVR all night, and if he missed anything they would just catch it later during the evidence review anyway.

He walked down the hallway a bit, looking into a few of the rooms but not really seeing anything that interested him. He started to feel a little uneasy, but attributed it to how much creepier this place looked in the dark. Baekhyun had taken up the post at central command pretty much as soon as he had finished setting up the cameras, so he hadn’t gotten much of a chance to see the place after lights out. Soon he found himself reaching the end of the hallway, which led to the entrance hall. He could see a few lights moving around through the window panes on the large double doors, most likely Kai and Sehun’s flashlights outside. In the hall, there were two other doorways leading to different parts of the house, and a wide staircase leading up to the next floor. The place was huge, more of a mansion than a house, though only a few people lived in it. The family of four had gotten rather frightened of the activity that seemed to be happening in the old building, and eventually had contacted Kyungsoo, hoping the group could figure out what was going on. Baekhyun stood there for a few minutes, trying to decide which way he wanted to go, until he heard a noise at the top of the staircase. It sounded metallic, like a door handle being turned, and he immediately tried to find the source. Judging by how distant it sounded, he figured it was most likely further down the second floor hallway. He knew that Kyungsoo and Suho were still on the first floor somewhere on the far end of the building, and he had just seen the other two outside, so he knew it couldn’t have been anyone else in the house. Making his decision, he walked carefully up the staircase, trying to be as quiet as possible.

Despite his efforts, the old wood beneath his feet creaked slightly with each step as he made his way to the top. There were several doors in the hall at the top, leading to a few bedrooms as well as a bathroom and a storage closet. At either end of the hallway there were large double doors, both sets currently open. To his left he recalled there being a small library, and to the right there was another hallway with a few other rooms. Thinking back to where he thought the sound had come from, he turned to the right, looking around for anything that seemed strange.  Shining his flashlight down towards the end of the hallway, he noticed that the last door on the left side was opened slightly. Walking over to it, he gently pushed the door open far enough for him to step into the room. It seemed like the room was just being used for storage, a few pieces of furniture pushed against one wall and a bunch of boxes piled in the back. As he was looking around, he thought he saw a shadow moving off to the right, and stepped further into the room to make sure there was nothing there. The uneasiness he felt earlier seemed to intensify, but he ignored it and continued looking around to figure out what he might have seen.

Suddenly, he felt like there was someone watching him, and before he could even turn around the door slammed shut behind him. Jumping at the noise, he immediately went to the door and tried to open it, only to find that it wouldn’t budge. The handle wouldn’t even turn, seemingly locked despite the fact that there was no lock on this door. Belatedly realizing that he hadn’t thought to grab his cell phone or two-way radio before wandering off, he did the only thing he could think of and started banging on the door. He yelled for Kyungsoo and Suho, hoping that somehow they could hear him on the other side of the house. For the first time since his early days of investigating, Baekhyun felt something like fear.

At the other end of the house, Suho and Kyungsoo were sitting in the main dining room on the first floor. The claims in this room included shadowy figures and voices, so the pair had decided to try doing some EVP work. They had been sitting there for about half an hour already, asking questions and listening for any sounds or responses. In addition to the DVR camera set up in the corner, they had a mini DV sitting on the other side of the room to catch it from a different angle. On the table between them, they had a digital audio recorder and a K2 meter. So far they had gotten a few K2 hits and the occasional knocking sound, but nothing that seemed to be particularly in response to their questions. They were about to give up and move to another area when the K2 meter lit up again. Looking at each other for a second, they decided it wouldn’t hurt to ask a few more questions, just in case.

“Is there someone in here with us?” Suho asked, leaving a pause for a response. A few seconds passed and there was nothing, so he continued. “We were about to leave, did you not want us to?”

To their surprise, the K2 meter lit up almost instantly. It died down just as quickly, but it was hard to deny that the spike seemed to be in response to Suho.  Hoping that it would continue, they kept on talking.

“Okay,” Kyungsoo said gently. “If you don’t want us to leave, then we’ll stay right here. We only want to help.”

“Can you tell us your name?” Suho asked. He heard a quiet knock on the wall behind him and turned his head slightly, but as he expected there was nothing. “If you’re trying to talk to us, I’m sorry but we can’t hear you. You have to be louder, can you do that?”

Kyungsoo, who had been looking down at the K2 meter, suddenly whipped his head to the side. He could have sworn he saw a shadow over by the mini DV. Reaching over a little, he tapped Suho lightly on the shoulder, pointing over to where he had seen the shadow. This time, they both saw the dark figure dart across the room. Behind them, they heard what sounded like a laugh, and then there was nothing. Kyungsoo stared wide-eyed over at his partner, the two of them waiting a few minutes to see if anything else happened, but the room stayed quiet. They saw no more shadows and the K2 stayed flat.

“Kyungsoo, go check the mini DV and see if it caught any of that,” Suho ordered, reaching for the radio clipped to his belt. “I’m going to radio Baekhyun and see if he saw any of those shadows on the DVR.”

Nodding, Kyungsoo walked over to where he had set the camera up. He picked it up and rewound the recording a few minutes, back to about when the activity had started. Suho pressed the button on the radio, speaking quietly into the device.

“Hey, Baekhyun, have you noticed anything on the DVR in this room? Kyungsoo and I just had some weird stuff going on.” Waiting for a response, he watched Kyungsoo as he reviewed the tape. After a moment, Kyungsoo looked up and shook his head. Suho frowned, realizing that Baekhyun hadn’t replied yet. “Baekhyun, are you there?”

“Is he not answering?” Kyungsoo asked, walking over with the mini DV in hand. Somehow, the camera hadn’t managed to catch anything. He hoped the audio recorder at least caught the laugh they heard.

“No. He probably fell asleep or wandered off again.” Suho sincerely hoped it was the former, though knowing Baekhyun he was willing to bet it was the latter. “There’s nothing on the mini DV?”

“Nothing. I’m hoping we at least got something on the audio or the DVR, that was strange to say the least.” Kyungsoo replied, his thoughts along the same train as Suho’s. “I guess we should go hunt him down, by then it will probably be about time to call Kai and Sehun back and wrap things up.”

“Yeah. Let’s go check central command first, in case he did just fall asleep. If he’s not there, we can wander around the house for a bit, we’ll run into him eventually.”

The pair was about halfway to the entrance hall when they heard what sounded like a door slamming. Suho felt a chill run down his spine, something in his gut telling him that wherever that noise had come from was where they would find their missing team member. He immediately started running, Kyungsoo following right behind him, and soon they reached the entrance hall. They could hear banging coming from the second floor, and were almost at the top of the stairs when they heard something that made their hearts drop. It was muffled, but there was no doubt that it was Baekhyun’s voice.

“Suho! Kyungsoo! Someone, please… Suho… “

They were down the hall in a second, quickly finding the door the sounds were coming from. Suho ran to the door, trying to push it open, but it was stuck. He could still hear Baekhyun on the other side, calling for them.

“Baekhyun? It’s okay, I’m here. Kyungsoo too. We’ll get you out in just a second okay?” Suho said soothingly, trying to keep any fear out of his voice. He pushed against the door again, and to his surprise it swung open easily, as though nothing had happened. Baekhyun, who had been leaning against the door slightly, was knocked to the ground. Suho rushed to help him up, pulling him out of the room. He didn’t miss the tear tracks on the younger man’s face, and signaled for Kyungsoo to come help him, gently pushing Baekhyun into his arms. Once he was sure Kyungsoo had him, Suho walked into the room, making sure to hold the door open. He looked around for a minute, searching for anything that may have caused that. He stepped out of the room and closed the door, playing around with it a bit to see if maybe it had just gotten stuck on its own. No matter what he tried, the door opened and closed perfectly, with no indication of how or why Baekhyun had been trapped in the room.

Eventually he decided that Baekhyun was more important, the younger man having been silent the whole time with the exception of a few sniffles. He was practically attached to Kyungsoo, and Suho motioned for them to head out. The three of them went back towards the entrance hall, and as they were walking down the stairs Kai and Sehun came in through the front door. The pair sent Suho questioning glances, concern obvious in their faces, but their leader just shook his head and told them it was time to wrap up. The three of them went around turning lights on, gathering equipment at the same time, while Kyungsoo took Baekhyun back out to the van.

Baekhyun had never been so relieved to hear Suho’s voice. Though it had only been a few minutes, to him it felt like he had been locked in that room for hours, banging and yelling for his friends. The events after the door opened passed in a blur, his relief at being found overwhelming everything else. He didn’t even notice that he had been crying until he was sitting in the back seat of the van with Kyungsoo, finally realizing that his face was wet. A little embarrassed, he wiped at his cheeks, trying not to look so shaken. He could feel Kyungsoo’s pitying gaze, and as much as he appreciated his friend’s concern, he couldn’t stand it.

“I’m fine.” He said, trying to assure the younger man, but his voice came out much weaker than he intended and his smile was forced. The whole experience had affected him more than he cared to admit.

“Baekhyun…” Kyungsoo sighed, offering his friend a small smile. “We both know that isn’t true, and you also know that I won’t judge you. Anyone would be frightened by what just happened, though I’m not entirely sure I know what happened. Want to talk about it?”

“Not really…” Baekhyun replied, pouting a little. He knew no matter what he wanted, he wouldn’t get out of telling someone. Honestly, he would rather talk to Kyungsoo than Suho, certain their leader was just going to scold him yet again for going off on his own. “I just wanted to walk around for a few minutes. I was so bored I actually fell asleep, so when I woke up I figured I would just walk around in the hallway for little while and then come back. When I got to the entrance hall though, I heard a noise upstairs, like a doorknob being turned. I went to check it out, and when I was looking around the room, the door slammed shut behind me. No matter what I tried, it just wouldn’t open. I knew there was no one on that side of the house, so I just made as much noise as I could, hoping you guys would hear me.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t get there sooner.” Kyungsoo put a comforting hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder, deciding he would wait to tell him about the experience he and Suho had.

“Kyungsoo, it’s okay. It was scary, but I promise you I’m fine.” Baekhyun said, his smile a little less forced this time. “We’ve been through plenty of weird things before, it’s really not a big deal.”

Kyungsoo wasn’t so sure about that. They’d been doing this together for nearly five years, and he couldn’t remember ever seeing Baekhyun so afraid. Still, he let it go for the moment. It was obvious Baekhyun didn’t want to talk about it anymore, and he knew that Suho would pester the man for details later anyway. They spent the rest of the time waiting for the others to finish in silence.

The following night, Baekhyun couldn’t help feeling anxious as he walked into their office. Suho had driven him home last night without saying anything, but he knew that only meant he would have more to say now. Other than a few vague replies to worried texts from Sehun and Kai, he had spent most of his day trying not to think about what happened. He decided not to tell Tao about it at all; he had received a worried phone call earlier in the day after failing to reply to his friend’s text the previous night, and saw no point in worrying him even more.

As he entered the room, he saw that the other four were already seated around the cheap folding table they had set up in the center. When he saw the look on Suho’s face, it affirmed what he already guessed: this wasn’t going to go well, at all. The others just watched him as he pulled out a chair on the other side of the table from them and sat down, not saying a word. After a few seconds of just staring around at each other, Baekhyun realized that he was going to have to speak first.  

“Look guys, I’m fine. It really wasn’t anything,” he started, hoping he sounded much more convincing than he had last night. Suho opened his mouth to say something, but Baekhyun continued, cutting him off. “I know what you’re going to say, okay? I shouldn’t have gone off on my own.  You’ve told me a million times and I never listen, and really I’m sorry about that. Believe me, I won’t be doing it again.”

“Well, that’s good to hear. You scared me to death yesterday,” Suho replied, though it was obvious he had something else to say. Something Baekhyun wasn’t going to like. “Baekhyun… Kyungsoo told me what you said happened, and I’ve come to a decision. I really don’t think it’s safe for us to continue on with an uneven number. Even if you hadn’t wandered off, if there was something malicious there, it could have just as easily gone after you when you were sitting alone at central command. I know you’re against this, but starting tomorrow we’ll be having a new member join us.”

Kyungsoo at least had the decency to look guilty, looking down at his lap when his name was mentioned. It took a few seconds for Baekhyun to process what Suho had said, but when it hit him, he was angry.

“You can’t do that,” he said flatly, trying to keep his cool and not glare at his friend. He thought they had come to an agreement about this, and that they weren’t going to bring in anyone else.

“I can, Baekhyun.” Suho’s voice took on an authoritative tone. He hated pulling rank, but he was the leader, and something needed to be done about this. “He’ll be joining us for our meeting tomorrow night, and you’re going to train him.”

Baekhyun was about to protest when he heard the last part. He stared at Suho in stunned silence for a minute, mouth opening and closing a few times as if he just couldn’t find the words to express himself. In the end he simply glared at Suho, before getting up and storming out of the office, leaving Kyungsoo, Kai and Sehun gaping as he slammed the door shut and stomped out of the building. Suho’s expression remained indifferent; inside he hated what he was doing, but he knew Baekhyun would have to get over this eventually, and he wasn’t going to do it if they didn’t push him.