Chanyeol feels groggy. His whole body feels stiff and his muscles scream out in pain when he tries to move. Eyes are refusing to open, but there’s no point because the room he’s in is pitch black. He suddenly hears a gasp followed by heavy wheezing.

“Who’s there?” Chanyeol yells.

“Hold on, I’m trying to find the lights,” Chanyeol hears another voice talking over the heavy gasping.

There are some footsteps and a few collisions, but one lamp turns on followed by a few others in quick succession.

“Where are we?” the person who made the loud gasps speaks up.

“Looks like a living room,” Chanyeol stands up to scan the room.

“You don’t remember?” the man who the lights asks.

“Well, I was...running…” Chanyeol trails off.

“I was at school, for detention,” the third person speaks up.

The two men nod, “I’m Kyungsoo.”

“Chanyeol.”

“I’m Tao.”

“We should wake those two up,” Kyungsoo walks towards the couches to shake the two people situated on the couch.

Now that Chanyeol’s awake, he’s able to think clearly. How did he get here? The last thing he remembers was running away from two thugs downtown. Could it be that those two caught him? No. Chanyeol knows he escaped, but how? Two groans interrupt his thought process. The two other people are named Luhan and Yixing. The five boys sit on red velvet couches in silence, contemplating on what to do next.

“We should have a look around,” Luhan stands up to heard towards the grand staircase.

“No, let’s wait,” Kyungsoo replies.

“Wait for what?” Yixing asks.

“Kai, we’re waiting for Kai, aren’t we?” realization dawns on Chanyeol when he remembers the board game shop.

“Is that his name?” Kyungsoo asks.

“So we’ve all been lured here by some psycho teenager?” Luhan growls in frustration.

“You agreed to it too,” Tao points out.

“The bastard was threatening to kill me!” Luhan grabs a candle stand and throws it against the wall.

“Whether or not you like it, you’re here. So stop getting your in a bunch and stuck it up,” Chanyeol pulls Luhan’s arm to stop any more destruction.

“So all we have to do is play the game?” Yixing asks.

“That’s right,” a voice whispers through the house. A shadow slips down the grand staircase and materializes at the bottom.

“You! What did you get me into?” Luhan lunges towards Kai to grab his collar.

Kai smirks when he feels Luhan’s hold tighten, “Tao is right, you agreed to the game.”

“You blackmailed me; I hardly think that’s fair.”

Kai smirks again, “Well now that we have a binding contract, the game’s fair. I’m giving you a chance, Luhan.”

“Well I’m out. I’m pretty sure everyone else thinks the same,” Luhan shoves Kai.

Kai catches himself by slipping into the shadows, and steps out again by the window curtains.

“You either play the game,” Kai pulls the curtain away from the window, “or be eaten by the other shadow men.”

Luhan cringes when he sees a clawed hand scrape against the window. He hears Tao whimper when a dark figure with sharp bloody teeth and empty eye sockets press its face at the window.

“This house is a safe haven. You don’t want to encounter a shadow man.”

“And you? What’s so different about you?” Kyungsoo questions.

“Can’t you tell?” Kai glides his finger on his jaw line.

Luhan’s fuming by now and he clenches his fist to punch Kai across his beautiful face.

“Na ah ah,” Kai catches the fist and whispers, “I’m sure you don’t want your dear grandmother to know her only grandson has died from mythical creatures.”

“So what this is all a dream?” Luhan says.

“Not a dream,” Kai lets go of Luhan’s hand to make eye contact with Tao, “a nightmare.”

Tao immediately stiffens up knowing what’s to come.

Kai smiles, “Now that we’re all on the same page, here are the rules: you have until midnight to get to the top floor. You get through the door, you win. The door will bring you back to where you previously were. Failing to reach the door by midnight means you’ll be stuck here with me, forever. There’s no other escape route other than the front door, and you saw what’s waiting outside,” Kai smirks, “This place can’t be found anywhere on Earth. Remember, I’m giving you a chance. So use it wisely. Any questions?”

Yixing attentively raises his hand, “You said there would be obstacles, what kind?”

“Visit the rooms and you’ll find out. But of course, I think Tao will be able to give you the general idea. I’ll be waiting for you on the top floor. Ciao,” he waves his fingers and slips into the shadows.

Luhan grabs a decorative vase and slams it on the floor, “This isn’t fair!”

Kyungsoo reaches out to touch Luhan’s shoulder gently, “Look, we’re all in this together. We can all work together. Whatever obstacles he throws at us probably won’t kill us. He said so himself. He’s giving us a chance to escape.

“Kyungsoo’s right. We have six hours to midnight. We better get started.” Chanyeol suggests.

Yixing gulps, “Better get going then,” he starts walking up the stairs.

“Coming?” Yixing calls out to Tao when he notices Tao is still in the living room.

Tao nods.

The lights flicker out as Tao prays that he and Kai aren’t thinking the same thing about the mysterious obstacles. 

A/N: Hello! Long time no see! School started. *sigh* Another hard semester. There's just so much reading to do! I actually had this chapter written out ages ago...but decided not to post it yet because bringing together introductions and the main story is very hard for me to do. I hope you enjoy the story so far! Let me know what you think so comment below! And subscribe if you haven't yet!