Flashback to Joonie's past coming up! 

Chapter 17: 20:16 – A Countdown to First Death [03:44am]

Joon POV

Controlled. Again. The ringmaster was only giving us yet another reminder that it was he who comandeered everything - our positions, our movements. Our emotions. 

My mind flickered back to what he had said before.

[SIMPLE] he had rumbled in that annoyingly loud voice of his. [GET THROUGH THE MAZE AND REACH THE STAGE. ONCE THERE, YOU’LL REALIZE THE TRUE TASK FOR YOURSELVES.]

And here we were. On the stage. But where was the true task? There was nothing. The stage was devoid of props and people other than the three of us. Or perhaps there was a trick. A trap. Was he going to launch something at us? Was he going to drop us down from here into a pitfall? Was he going to-

Suddenly, a voice from the overhead sounded. A shudder ran through me. It didn’t seem masculine or feminine, and that just made it all the more spine-chilling. “The interval is over, Act 3 begins soon. May the audience please return to their seats.”

I felt my breath quicken. Act 3? Audience? What Audience?

From the corner of my eyes, I could see Seungho and Byunghee glance at their surroundings. Our fight was forgotten in the face of fresh danger.

Then the overhead voice spoke again. “Act 3 begins now. Please enjoy the rest of the show.”

“Wha-“

From the sides of the stage came a whirring sound. I tensed, readying myself for what might happen next. Who knew what the Ringmaster had up his sleeve. I expected puppets jumping at us, the floor crumbling beneath me. Anything, everything. Instead, what happened was that the plush red curtain shuddered and slowly winched backwards, revealling rows and row of empty red seats. They were haunting, those seats. They stared at me as if I was on trial and I tried to suppress a shiver.

And then something caught my eye. Brown and Black. 

Those seats were not completetly empty.

Two figures struggled in two seats, each at polar ends of the audience area. Thunder and Mir. 

"Thunder! Mir!" I yelled. I tried to comprehend their actions? They were just sitting there. No. Struggling. I squinted and then saw. Light glinted off the silver cuffs that chained them to the chair. Around their mouths were black bandanas, effectively restricting speech. I took a step forwards, my feet propelling me towards them, my inner self driving me to save them.

But before I could even reach the stairs, the answer to the trial fell from the sky. Giant jail bars crashed to the ground, separating Seungho, Byunghee and I. Tall they were, stretching to the far ceiling and trapping us all. 

“Byunghee! Seungho!” I yelled, clasping the cold metal. We had to get out! There was no way that Thunder and Mir chained to those chairs could be anything but. But at the touch of the metal bars, a chill ran through my hands and up my arms. It pierced my heart.

I staggered back, staring at my hands even though they looked no different. My head throbbed. I heard a voice call my name in the background, but it was blurry and faded. And then the throbbing intensified and the memories came flooding back.

 REWIND <<<<<

Alive.

Changsun was alive.

Cold and shivering like a fish hooked mercilessly out of the water and now flopping on land, Changsun gasped for breath, each gulp sending spikes of pain down his throat. It hurt, but so did not breathing. His hands were still cuffed together but now it wasn’t just his hands that felt like they were leaden down, his clothes were heavy and his head thrummed uncomfortably.

The enforcers had fished him out and thrown him onto the ground none too gently. Now they were buzzing around him, speaking to each other in soft whispers that annoyed Changsun and didn’t help with his pounding head.

“What are you going to do with me?” he demanded to the closest enforcer. The man, at least he seemed a man from his build, stared at him. From the frown of his mouth, Changsun guessed he wasn’t being looked upon kindly.

“You do not have the right to speak,” the enforcer said in a monotonous voice. “Remain quiet and comply.”

“What?! No!” Changsun struggled. “I didn’t commit any crimes! And where’s Byunghee? He’ll tell you everything!”

“Shut up,” the enforcer said stonily. “We have found your accomplice. What happens to him is none of your concern.”

“What?! But-“

A kick to his ribs. Changsun spat out dirty harbor water and had to hold back a scream. His ribs felt delicate and he curled up.

“Remain quiet and no more harm shall come to you,” a second enforcer spoke. A feminine voice.  

Changsun writhed on the floor. “Please-“ he choked out.

Another kick. Changsun let out a short scream.

“Enough,” said the first enforcer.

“But he’s not complying with orders,” complained the second.

“We’ll just knock him out. It’s faster that way,” explained the first.

“Ah,” the second one sounded pleased.

“Wait-“ Changsun croaked, realizing too late what they were about to do. But then there was sudden current that electrified his entire body. He screamed as white hot pain filled his vision and the smell of burned skin filled the air. And then everything was lost as he was thrown out to sea.

► PLAY

“NO!” the words flew from my mouth unbidden.

“Changsun! Changsun!” it was a familiar voice calling my name. However, the memories had me in their grip too tight. A falcon clutching its prey. It wasn’t going to let me go. Or if so, only to kill me further. I felt my stomach drop and my knees fall to the floor. And then the memories swept me up again.

 REWIND <<<<

Cold concrete. Grey walls. Changsun woke to an empty cell with a cry peeled from his lips.

For one bone-shattering heartbeat, he thought he was dead. But he was too cold, too filled with pain to be simply dead. The hawk still had him in its clutches.

He slowly sat up, ignoring the throb in every muscle and the cold that pierced him.

The thick steel bars in front of him told him exactly where he was: in an enforcer jail cell. He looked to the electronic panel just outside of the bars. A black screen with blocky white text. It read:

“Lee Changsun

: Male

Status: Mid-level citizen

Crime convicted of: Possession of the Christmas virus, Possible trafficking of, Level 5 crime

Days in jail: 1

Judgment: Not yet passed”

He had been here for nearly a whole day and for a crime he did not commit. No. He had tried to save Byunghee from being committed for the very same crime and instead it was his head which was going to roll.

A voice interrupted his brief moment of horror.

“Lee Changsun,” came a dry voice. “I see you are finally awake.”

Changsun’s eyes locked onto the enforcer who stepped in front of his bars. He was built solidly, muscles straining and a smirk on his lips. A different enforcer from the ones at the harbor. This one looked like a trainee, arrogance painted in the twitch of his mouth. An artist's rendition of the royalty gone wrong. The enforcer believed he was better than Changsun. Changsun was sure though that this enforcer had once been a mid-leveler like he was. Position had just gone to his head. The enforcer glanced briefly at the black board and then back to Changsun who was curled on the floor.

“What have you got to say for yourself?” the enforcer asked, his tone mocking and unfriendly.

Changsun stared at him. Then he spoke, realizing this was his chance, “Where is Jung Byunghee?”

The enforcer tilted his head in a bird-like fashion. “What a question,” he said, drawing each word out with a vicious lilt. “And why does that concern you?”

“Byunghee’s my brother. Not by blood, but he should be able to tell you the truth. I didn’t commit this crime! It was a set up from the BlackBeards, they’re a pirate gang to the south east and-“

The enforcer kicked the bars with his steel plated boots. “Yes, yes,” he said in a bored tone. “You’re not the criminal, just the victim. If I got a credit for every time some little jail bird said those words to me…” he shook his head as if he couldn’t believe Changsun had to the nerve to say such a thing.

“No! Listen to me!” Changsun clutched the bars. “This is the truth! If you convict me, you’re letting the worse evil go! And the BlackBeards, they're planning something!”

“Yes, yes, heard it a million time,” the enforcer picked his ear and flicked away the earwax.

“Byunghee will speak for me! He-“

“He’s gone.”

Changsun trembled. “Wh…what?” he asked in a soft voice as if he couldn’t believe his ears.

The enforcer grinned a wolfish smirk. He liked what he was hearing. “That’s right. Jung Byunghee was cleared four hours ago. He won’t be coming back. He’s gone home and that’s the last you’ll hear from him.”

“You’re lying!” Changsun screeched. “Byunghee would never do that to me!”

“Well he has. I’ve got the police reports on in.” the enforcer shrugged. “The court has ruled Byunghee innocent and you, not.” His tone was malicious. “The judge is finishing deciding what punishments to assign you, but…” he lowered himself to his haunches and leaned in real close, whispering to Changsun’s ear. “Rumor is that you’ll be sentenced to lifetime labor in the graveyards.”

Changsun tore himself away from the bars. “LIAR!” he screamed. The graveyards were the worst of the worst. Convicts that had not committed murder, but crimes bad enough were sentenced there, to work with the dead to the point where you became a living dead yourself. The worst kind of sentence. There was black magic there, people said. The kind that stole your soul.

The enforcer stood up straight and grinned cockily. “Sounds like you’ll be in for a lot of fun, Changsunnie.”

“No! No, no, no…” Changsun trembled, clutching himself as if that was the only way to hold together the pieces of himself that threatened so badly to fragment. “I didn’t commit the crime! I’m innocent!”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that on the way to the pits,” the enforcer wiggled his fingers and turned around, prepared to leave.

But then, the door burst open and another enforcer charged in.

“Hey!” the male enforcer looked taken aback. “What’s the big idea?!”

“Stop!” the second enforcer yelled. A female. Her voice was pitched with worry and ragged as if she had run all the way here. “Stop…”

“There’s no hurry.” The first enforcer appeared confused.

“Stop!” the female panted. “Release him!” she ordered.

Changsun’s head shot up. Release him? Was she trying to save him?

“Huh?!” the first enforcer was at loss for words. “Wait what? Why?! He’s a criminal!”

“He’s not!” Changsun’s eyes widened as he recognized her voice.

“Noo…na?” he whispered, crawling to the bars to get a better look at the female enforcer. She stood up straight, having regained her breath and tore her black visor off. And it was her, that face still as beautiful as always except for the slashed scar down her right temple.

“Hey Changsun,” she looked at him tiredly. “Boy have you got yourself into a big mess this time.”