~_____~

Victoria and her friend were nowhere in sight when Donghae ran outside. He made a thorough search of the lobby and even the huge parking lot, but still no Victoria.

By then he could feel his insides twisting in anger. Did she not realize the extent of the danger she was in?

Letting out a loud grunt and throwing his hand to his side he stomped his foot before hurrying toward his car. If he couldn’t find Victoria here, he’d find her at her place.

~_____~

“I parked outside of the emergency exit,” Yoona explained quietly as she helped Victoria along. “Showed my I.D. and hey, what do you know!? I’m allowed access to pretty much anything.”

She listened to Victoria breathe quietly as they made their way outside to the back of the hospital with weed growing out of the cracks in the road. No less than five feet away was her black Jaguar.

“Are you sure about this? Aren’t you in a lot of pain?” Yoona wondered later after getting into the driver’s seat. “Move slowly, will you? I didn’t know you were in such bad condition. How’d you get shot like that?”

Leaning into the chair with tired pants Victoria squeezed her eyes shut, “That’s exactly why I need you.”

“Me?” Yoona repeated as she swerved off into the road. “You should’ve seen the Chief’s face when I said I need a week’s vacation.” She let out a loud shout, “If he finds out I’m doing work for you in the meantime, I’m going to get busted. You know who’s going to take responsibility then, right?”

Weakly opening her eyes she glanced at Yoona with a small smile, “Yea, don’t worry about it.”

~_____~

“This?” Tao questioned loudly staring out the window with the deepest frown he could summon. Turning around to look at Kris with no faith in him proclaimed, “Are you sure you heard right? Does Chorong really know what she’s doing?”

Kris wanted to punch him instead of telling him to shut up. Listening to Tao go on was already annoying enough.

“Are you getting off?” The cab driver questioned after parking the car in front of the two-story house.

There were two cars currently in the driveway, apparently one of which were the color blue. Too busy staring at the mahagony home of rich exteriors he accidentally dismissed all the other cars parked along the street. He wasn’t confident that Chorong had given them the correct address either.

Hideouts tended to be in isolated areas away from prying eyes. This here, was a home, a regular home. It was just a house next door. Some building in the neighborhood in which a family occupied…yet they were led there.

It wasn’t right, it didn’t sound right.

“Yes, hold on a minute,” Kris replied and twisted around his seat while dialing for Chorong.

He listened to the phone ring repeatedly and Chorong finally picked up just before he was sent to the voicemail.

“Are you sure it’s the right place?” Kris asked deniably. “It’s a house, Chorong…”

“I know,” Chorong quickly replied to cut him off. “Just…check around or something.”

Kris rubbed the side of his head and almost turned away before he caught sight of a dark blue car parked down the side of the street. Its bumper and headlights were somewhat smashed just as Chorong had described earlier.

“I’ll see you later,” Kris said before hanging up and reached over to pay the driver before getting out.

“Are you serious?” Tao complained following Kris. “What the hell would a house have to hide? There are probably old people eating lunch right now!”

“Shut up,” Kris snapped with a glare before turning to stare at the mahagony colored home with well polished windows.

His eyes first landed on the very top window, which was covered by a very white curtain. As his eyes moved down he noticed that the only window with its curtain drawn was the living room. It wasn’t occupied and remained very empty. Kris would have expected to see at least a family member walking in or out and for the television to be on, but there wasn’t a soul.

“Come on,” Kris urged entering through the yard and toward the concret steps toward the front door.

The yard was very green as if expressing how well off the family that lived there was. Kris searched for the doorbell and rung it.

“Is there evena anybody home?” Tao muttered from behind while sticking his hands into his pockets and turned to look back toward the street.

Kris ran all things possible through his mind that could be there. He had no clue or idea. Hiding girls inside a home like that was too risky. Wouldn’t neighbors notice and report to the police if there happened to be any suspicious behavior?

He rung the doorbell again and waited. About two minutes later a bearded man in casual clothing came to the door. He smelled funny, but he didn’t look nervous at all in their presence. However it all it was very silent in the house. Kris’ eyes swam into the house over the man’s shoulder in search of anything.

“Excuse me,” the man moved his head to block Kris’ view, “may I help you?”

“I’m actually looking for someone,” Kris started, debating very quickly within his mind about whether he should use his I.D. to get him into the house or another excuse.

In the end he pulled out his I.D., “I’m a detective. May I come in to ask some questions?”

The man stared at his I.D. and still showed no surprise in his face. As if with a very deep internal sigh he took a step back to allow the two of them in.

The living room, as Kris recalled from outside, was very barren. A picture of a pastor and his family hung above the TV, a couch across from it. What struck him suspicious was that the man standing in front of him was not the pastor in the photo.

What exactly was going on?

Tao also seemed to be observing the home before he turned his head and let out a shout. Within a split second Kris found himself sprawling to the ground as Tao took the man, who was suddenly wielding a knife, on. Forcing the man’s arm to his back, Tao knocked the knife out of his hand. Pushing the man to the floor Tao held him down.

With a grunt Kris stood up and walked over for the knife. Once he had it within his grasp a door opened.

“Woo Chul, what’s taking you so long?” A man started before halting when he realized his friend wasn’t alone.

There was a cry of agony and a loud noise of someone getting slapped before the door shut. The thin man who just walked out stared at them wide eyed.

“Help me, you idiot! These people are cops!” Woo Chul screamed from underneath Tao.

Kris’ eyes raced toward the closed door. Something dirty was going on in there and he didn’t even want to imagine what it was. As if on cue, the second Kris turned back to look at the man they lunged at each other.

Lifting his leg up Kris kicked him down and reached for the door. Upon opening a stench of intense human liquid hit him hard. Kris almost wanted to double over to vomit what disgusted him so much.

An erosion of anger turned his blood into a boiling mixture of hatred. His hands shook before he clasped them into fists. His heart was no longer racing at the fact that they’d stepped onto criminal territory, but on territory where human rights did not exist; where these young souls were dehumanized in the most awful ways possible.

“Tao!” Kris shouted at the top of his lungs without turning around. “Call the cops and call Chorong. Tell her not to come here!”

~_____~

Tao lifted his head curious about what Kris had discovered. What was in that room wasn’t visible to him from his angle. When the thin man rose from the ground Tao opened his mouth to shout, but it was too late. Kris was thrown into the room and the door slammed after them.

This was not what Tao had expected, not in a house. Dragging the man under him up Tao started for the door, but once he grabbed onto the knob discovered that it was locked. Woo Chul laughed at him and annoyed Tao twisted his arm further up against his back only to hear him scream.

Shoving him to the floor ruthlessly Tao rammed himself continuously against the door before it finally flew open. Upon his arrival everyone froze, even he himself stilled. Tao’s eyes roved over the young girls who were nearly just old enough to walk and the young girls who weren’t even near 12. They were , bruised, and some had started crying at their arrival.

Chairs were decked around the room in a full circle as if they’d been playing a game of Musical Chairs. Each chair had been designated for a man, who might perhaps be a father, an uncle…a relative. Some of them were pantless and others had quickly jumped into their jeans when they saw Kris.

Tao unconsciously gritted his teeth and flexed his hands into fists. All the fear and pain in those girls’ eyes made his blood rise to his head.

“Come on, man,” one of them called out in an attempt to reason. “We just want some fun. Why don’t you two join us, then you’ll realize why we do this. Come on.”

At his immediately voice Tao saw tears drop inside his head. The wail of the crying girls hit him inside and he remembered sitting next to Namjoo in the hospital seeing her cry for the first time. And he remembered how she’d screamed terrified and helplessly in Daegu. All of it swirled in his head suddenly becoming his reason.

Leaping forward he shot his leg out slamming his foot against the man’s face and everyone watched as his body flew to the ground like a sack doll. A second after a metal chair hit his back flinging him to the ground. When he pushed himself up he heard Kris starting a brawl with the other men.

Shaking his head for stability he turned toward the doorway when he heard footsteps and saw someone rush by. Tao recognized Chorong’s shoes and quickly drew himself up.

With a glance toward Kris to see that he was being ganged up on, Tao rushed forward to offer him a hand. Heaving one of them over his shoulder he tossed the man to the ground and turned for another one. The next victim was shoved against the wall with an arm twisted to his back.

“Wait, wait! I’m sorry! I really am! Please don’t hurt me!” The man begged.

Tao listened to him beg for mercy, but his cries were nothing compared to the girls cowering in the corner of the room.

“I’ll give you something less painful than a gunshot,” Tao viciously hissed, “trust me, it’s a lot less painful.”

Pulling his hand up he listened to the man’s elbow pop before throwing him to the ground. He wouldn’t hold guilt for the act. It was less of what a bullet could do.   

Turning to Kris Tao quickly said, “You can handle it here, right? I’ll be back.”

~_____~

After immediately spotting the blue car outside Chorong rushed up the stairs. Since Kris and Tao were supposed to be there already she had no fear about entering the home. Chorong knew it was etiquette to ring the bell, but she tried the knob first. It unbolted upon the first twist and she pushed the door open.

The sounds of people fighting were coming from the first door and the left, so assuming that Kris and Tao had found something she hurried forward. If something had happened on the first floor there was no doubt that something would be on the second floor either.

She hurried through the empty rooms before discovering a staircase coated in soft carpeting and slowly started up. It was silent very silent even when she reached the top and stood there for ten long seconds.

A short hallway stretched before her and all doors visible were closed. Pressing her lips together she stepped forward turning her head every which way to catch any noise. Half of her was hoping she wouldn’t discover anything and the other half hoped she would find something.

Was Hyukjae hiding up here? Or was there something else? Why hadn’t she stopped to ask Tao or Kris about what was actually going on instead of rushing by?

Chorong wanted to slap herself for being careless, but it was too late to head back downstairs now.

She finally stopped in her footsteps when her ears caught the sound of a man’s voice. He was loud, relentless, and his tone was demanding. Chorong turned toward the door on her left and stared at it before opening it.

Her heart stopped and she felt it drop from inside her rib cage to the floor as extreme horror slapped her over and over. Sympathy and anger flushed through her before she rushed forward to lug the man off the young girl on the bed.

“Get off her!” Chorong’s scream echoed throughout the room maddeningly.

Twisting around with all her might she threw the man into the wall and slapped him all the while screaming angrily. She wished she was armed, but she had no weapon on her. The young girl wept silently and crawled off the bed to hide on the other side.

The man shouted angrily before managing to shake her off and throw her to the floor roughly. Before she could stand by herself he pulled her up and shook her. Chorong’s hair spewed all over her face becoming a quick mess before he slapped her and threw her on the bed.

“Who are you!?” He demanded angrily. “You little ! God will have no mercy on you! I am His word and I will punish you!”

Chorong immediately became trapped under his knees draped around her hips before he slapped her again and again. Her bruised up cheek would only worsen in color when it should be healing. Wailing in pain and in anger she reached her hands up to claw at him, but accidentally ripped the cross around his neck off.

“You , how dare you!?” He screamed and bit her neck.

Chorong let out a taunting scream before she managed to slam her fist into the side of his face. Then angrily digging her nails into his face she forced him off before falling off the bed. She was ready for escape when she got back up to her feet, but the man surprisingly jumped at her from behind. The force pushed her down face first and a kind of screaming pain melted throughout her nose.

In due time, Chorong was flipped over only to have his hands at her neck, his weight disabling her movements. Chorong’s legs flailed out in an attempt to escape and felt her head thud agains the floor when he shook her repeatedly. It wasn’t long before his hands became stronger around her neck and she could barely breathe.

~_____~

“So that’s what’s going on?” Yoona questioned clutching onto a cup of hot coffee. “So you’re trying to find out who this Eunhyuk really is. It is strange that Donghae refuses to share anything with you.”

“See, you get me, right?” Victoria asked, happy to have someone to understand her situation. “I couldn’t get to those files Kris found. Supposedly I should have, but I don’t know what went wrong.”   

“Then…should I find that out for you?” Yoona offered. “I can possibly try some tricks, but are those records of value to this investigation of yours?”

“I’m sure,” Victoria nodded.

She was in her large bed, her upper back propped up on her two fat pillows. Yoona would be staying with her until she finished the jobs Victoria required of her. In the meantime, a doctor from the SWAT bureau would be stopping by to check on her overall condition.

It had taken so long for her to remember she had connections outside of Donghae’s unit.

“Take it easy and get rid of that fever of yours,” Yoona assured. “Are you hungry? I can make something easy-to-eat for you.”

Before Victoria could answer the doorbell rang. The two of them quieted only to hear it ring impatiently again.

“Who’s that? You have a visitor?” Yoona turned to look at her.

Victoria continued to listen to the continuous doorbell and heard Donghae’s voice of irritance inside her head.

“No,” Victoria answered, “ignore him.”

Yoona frowned before leaning forward, “Is it him? Donghae? Even he knows where you live?”

Victoria turned away annoyed and shut her eyes. Taking it as her dismissal Yoona left the room. As Yoona’s footsteps faded, the louder the ringing of the doorbell became. Victoria wanted to stuff her ear with her fingers, but instead just clamped her eyes shut hoping that sleep would drive it out.

It wasn’t long before the ringing of the doorbell ceased and Victoria wanted to snort at how easily Donghae had given up. Of course, for her what kinds of things would he go so far as to do?

Donghae didn’t care, he didn’t give a damn. He only wanted Eunhyuk and he only paid attention to her so that he could stop her from any more investigation. Those mere thoughts angered her before she could even ask herself why it mattered at all.

“Feigning sleep?” A voice broke her barrier.

Victoria’s eyes opened in recognition before turning to see Donghae staring down at her. 

***Chorong, Tao, and Kris have themselves a sticky situation! 

***Yes! Tao is indeed becoming the good guy! /proud proud!

***LOL at HaeToria though xDDD Vic won't be able to escape Donghae's clutches this time around thanks to Yoona xDDD Is Vic suddenly angry about the lack of attention Hae gives her? XD

***Things like these do happen in normal households. I took some ideas from an account of a survivor of child ion. It's nothing that should be written lightly of, so I apologize for my inability to write it well.