A/N Warning. 1st pic may be creepy and scary.

Chapter 2 : Nothing is ever as it seems...

--Haeri

All these warm feelings in my chest, is this possibly, how love...feels like? I leaned in closer to his chest, to listen to his unsteady heartbeat. Could it be? Nah! As if he would fall for a girl like me. He probably just doesn't want me to end up like how he met me. I didn't notice that a tear fell down my cheek until I felt something rolling down my face. I took a peek at Yoseob, he was closing his eyes and holding me tight, as if once he let me go, he would lose me forever. 

Now, I felt a hand under my chin, I assumed it was him, I looked up to see...a guy in black from head to toe, under his hood were nothing but bones. It's bones looked so ancient, I wondered how it could be in this form. I wanted to poke it. The surroundings very dark and cloudy, lightning clashed and thunder growled. I looked down to see two of the skeleton thingy's feet. It's real.. I shouted and shrieked in horror but as I tried to run, I couldn't, it was like I was held in place. 

I know looked at that thing again, to realize that it was that guy with the big eyes. The once skeleton was now covered in flesh, human flesh. Now I regret not poking it, I hope I have another chance to poke it, if I were to live after this, that is. It's be sooooo cool or...maybe epic, I mean, if I were to die after this, might as well poke it, right? My mouth hung open. He smirked at my reaction, obviously thinking that I was 'scared'. "Now isn't that cute? The big tough Haeri being a scaredy-cat." 

He snapped his fingers, and I was afraid what that meant and what was awaiting me now. There was a liquid-like portal, and through that, I could see Yoseob clenching his heart. When, he brought his hand to his face, it was bright red, as if it was dipped into a pool of blood, after watching that, he fainted unconscious, I knew he was afraid of seeing blood..but how did he end up like this? My mouth still hung agape from the shocking message I received. I don't know how he became like that, but I knew I was the cause of it, and I wasn't just going to stick around until that was going to happen. I couldn't understand this, my brain couldn't comprehend what was going on, I couldn't tell if it was real or fake, I have to find a way to prevent this, because, I knew that this was definitely related to me somehow. "YAH! COME BACK! WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?"

I felt a pair of strong arms shaking me, I started trembling uncontrollably, only to find out that it was a hallucination, or was it? I had tried to shake off that thought, but it just kept lingering in my mind, haunting my thoughts. I cried uncontrollably and pushed my face into his chest, explaining what I saw while my head was mashed into his shirt.

~

--Yoseob

I couldn't really understand what she said with her words being muffled into my shirt. My eyebrows furrowed in worry. What had made her like this? Was it me? Was I the cause of it? I knew none of that. I just concentrated on calming her down. The only thing I'm sure of is that I need to calm her down before I can understand anything she says.

The last time she cried this bad was when she found out her parents were dead and that her brother was missing. What has been the cause for her to cry like this? If she cries, it means its something big. I looked down at her,  she's already 165cm, plus her dad is like over 6 feet. She's DEFINITELY growing taller than me...how sad. I bent down on my knees and patiently waited for her to look my way.

Her eyes slowly drifted my way. I stared into her eyes, it’s true, what they say, that the eyes are the windows of the soul. In her eyes, all I could see was fear. I didn't know how to help her. Her eyes were now swollen red after all that crying, also making her eye-bags become more noticable. Why is all this happening to her, and how?

Who would do such a thing to such a beautiful person? Her eyelashes are long, her eyes big and dark brown and her silky-smooth shoulder-length hair, everything about her is just, beautiful. She made it through all of the worst, and it even left her emotional scars and somehow even with those, she is still beautiful, inside and out. I wanted her poor scarred and tired soul to have a rest, even for a while. But, they are coming back...

I didn't make any contact with her first, afraid she would freak out once I did. She was like that when I first met her, too delicate to touch, to fragile, even looking at her, you would think that she'd break. I wonder what she had done so wrong to deserve all this pain. I'd rather take it all for her. It didn't matter. I'd rather see myself hurt than her. Seeing her hurt is worse than having me hurt. It felt like my heart was being shredded to pieces even though it hadn't left my body. 

What's worse is that I can't protect her from what's coming against her. It's her fight, all of us had to fight that fight for ourselves, but why did her's have to come at such a time? She doesn't even know what she's capable of, how can she know what they're capable of?

I should have told her, I should have let her know a long time ago, it's my fault she doesn't know what's going on. I must tell her before it's too late...but now isn't the right time. 

Listening to what she said, I understood who it was she saw today. He is one of the most dangerous people in the High Authorities. I hope that he is just introducing her to all this. I told her comforting words and went to my place.

~

/

--Haeri

His house was big and nice, good for drawing as well. It'd be the most romantic place in the world possible, IF I was his girlfriend. Being in the friend zone .

Greenery surrounded the area, as if there was a damsel in distress and the greenery was to protect her. His house had man-made stone paths, and had a very cool and relaxing aura. His house had many windows and a doorway which extended out a little, also giving shade from rain or sunshine. Even though I've been there countless of times, I would always admire the beauty of Nature there. My house wasn't half bad as well, I just prefer his house, cause well, it's his. 

He made his way over to his house first, always making sure the guest is given most hospitality. I stood behind him on the doorstep and tapped my foot to a beat while waiting.

The door opened to reveal a magnificent view. A glassy chandelier with light bulbs made of glass hung from the ceiling of his house, certain parts of it covered with gold, or at least something that looked like gold. The sunlight came shining through a window and now, giving the chandelier a fairytale-like feeling. It looked as if someone poured glitter glue all over it. I would be puking rainbows if I weren't in his house, because his house is really like a fairytale, just, more realistic, of course.

He stood at the door and pointed the way in while he bowed as he mockingly said, "Madam." In a french tone which I found quite seductive, I pretended to roll my eyes like my usual self, acting like nothing had affected me. 

I went inside and groaned. "I'm sooooo tiredddd.." I said as I plopped myself on the couch. "Just sleep if u want, I'll wake you in an hour." "Thankkkksss, nigghhhtt." I said, now lying down.

Once again, my acting prevailed. I wish he knew my feelings toward him, but I didn't want to take the chance of telling him. He's the only person I have left in this world, he's my saviour, the one who brought me back to sanity. I don't want to be away from him, I don't want to lose him, if I lose him, I won't have anyone that I truly love anymore. True, I have my friends, but that is different in so many ways.

It already hurts enough seeing him like this, but it's bearable. I don't expect anymore. I only want us to be friends for a long time. It doesn't matter if he loves me or not. I just want to be with him, by his side. To be there, with him, to cherish every moment we have together, our bickerings, our trips...just everything. I wouldn't mind if he gets married to someone he loves. I would cry in the future if he did, but as long as he was happy, I would try to be, at least for him. But now, that wasn't the case. He was going to die! And it's because of me! My tear ducts started dampening and my nose was probably getting red, but I can't hold back my feelings any longer. I have to let them out sometime, right? Thinking about the times we've been together makes me so sad. 

Today is the day I met him two years ago : 12.02.2012. I remember clearly how horrible life was without the need to live. 

They told me my parents were dead. They had kidnapped me and kept telling me that. The kidnappers were cruel people. They also trafficked some of their victims' organs, I sometimes even heard the female victims shouting "NO!" continuosly and on the top of their lungs. I heard from another victim that they were being . The fact didn't really surprise me, if they could traffick organs, then, what more difficult would be?

For me, at that time, it didn't even matter whether I was dead or alive, or not. I lost the will to live. The food they give us are so little, sometimes they only feed us once in three days, and the best they give us is rice and mashed potatoes in an extremely small portion. 

I thought of a plan to help all of us escape. There were only 6 of us left alive, the rest either got their organs trafficked or got and died of exhaustion. In the disgusting building were 4 exits that I was sure of, all in different directions. I made a plan with them throughout the small time we gathered during the day. 

The plan was simple: I pretend to have a fight with Hyuna, while the Sohyun steps in and shout as she tries to stop us from fighting. the others join in helping her when me and Hyuna get 'too hard' to control. Then, we would start throwing things and breaking things. During that ruckus and chaos, Sohyun, Jiyoon, Gayoon and Jihyun will grab a weapon for themselves and two more for us.

When they come in, me, Hyuna and Sohyun would storm forward while the others escape. Then I will make sure that they leave before me. Making sure that the men are unconscious before leaving. I didn't mind sacrificing myself for them, besides, one sacrifice is better than all six.

 Even though I was scared, I didn't show it. I wanted them to go on without me, they still had parents, while I wasn't even sure if mine were alive, and I had no clue about my brother, so dying wasn't as bad as the depression and worry I got. We all took in a deep breath and looked at each other for a while, reminding ourselves that this could be the last time we would ever see each other again. We shook hands with each other and carried out our plan. 

~

"YOU ! YOU COME BACK HERE! HOW DARE YOU CALL THEM NAMES HUH?" I shouted as I yanked on Hyuna's hair. " THE ! WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? I'M JUST STATING THE TRUTH!" She shouted as we continued with our 'fight'. "STOP IT! You two! Do you even care what situation we're in now?" Sohyun stated, I pushed her hard on the ground. 'AS IF YOU CARE! YOU ES ONLY CARE ABOUT YOURSELVES!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. They tried to 'hold us back'. "STOP IT!" Shouted Jiyoon."THIS WON'T HELP US AT ALL!" The shouting was now continued by Jihyun and Gayoon following the order of their names. "YOU ES ARE ONLY MAKING IT WORSE! CUT IT OUT!"

Two of them stayed with us, pretending to try to stop the fight while the other two smashed stuff, they managed to get 4 weapons. Gayoon and Jiyoon quickly broke some more stuff and got decent weapons for themselves.

Just on cue, the men stormed in. Me, Hyuna and Sohyun used the wood to hit them, on the head, the stomach and we tried to aim for their south. Gayoon, Jiyoon and Jihyun helped us instead of running. "RUN! I TOLD YOU TO RUN!" I shouted to them as I fought the guy with the biggest size among the two men that came in, Hyuna, Sohyun and JIhyun were fighting off the other one.

Gayoon helped me with the big guy while Jihyun helped the others fight off the other guy. Somehow, the other guy was stronger. 

After 10 minutes, we finally got them unconscious, although with bad injuries. Hyuna had her hand twisted and I got my leg sprained. All of us had bruises all over, but the pain was bearable, they had abused us so many times we were there that we almost became immune to pain. 

I made sure they all left before me. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my leg, since it was sprained I fell. I shouted and struggled as I got dragged towards the guy with a smaller build, he hoisted me up and whispered into my ear. "You caused us so much trouble for a little girl. You have been very naughty. I think you would like your punishment." I shuddered at the thought. His arm was around my neck and my feet could reach his legs easily. I quickly carried out the plan formed in my head.

I bit his hand with all my might, hoping for it to bleed, then, right after, I stepped on his foot as hard as I could. I ran away from the place. 

Before I could reach the door, the bigger guy came and grabbed my arm. "Not so fast eh, missy. It's not that easy to get away." I stomped on his foot and ran to the door, but he quickly reached for the fabric of my long-sleeved shirt as I was dashing off to the door. He ripped one side of my sleeves off. I didn't bother about clothing now. I didn't even know if the others were okay!

I saw a trail of blood and followed it at a fast pace, only to find the girls around Jiyoon, who was the second last to leave. I ran over to them and told them to go somewhere else to cure Jiyoon. She had a gigantic cuts on both her knees, which I assumed was obtained from running and tripping. I told them to stay there. I said to meet them there after I lose those guys, they wouldn't be able to follow me far. 

I ran through the street, going into as many junctions as possible, and after 15 minutes of running and being shouted at, I finally lost them, or so I thought. I rested against a tree, trying to catch my breath. Soon, I heard footsteps coming closer. I saw no more exits, I ran to my left, only to run into them. I ran the other way with all my might, only to trip. Causing my knees to bleed. I yelped loudly in pain. The men chuckled at my response. "Ha! Not so tough now, are we?" Mocked the man with a larger build. The man with a smaller builed yanked my hair, causing me to shriek in response of his strength used in pulling my hair. Apparently, the said man had found a sharp object in the mess we made. He used it as a knife and threatened to cut my throat. I elbowed him in the stomach. His weapon grazed past my neck, causing it to bleed. I shouted so loud I thought the whole area could hear me. A part of my hair also became shorter than the rest. I ran away from the said man and dodged the other as I zig-zagged through most of the junctions and headed for the place where I left them to hide. 

I reached the area and climbed up a nearby tree. This is the first time I ever panted so much in my life. I ripped off the other sleeve and used it as a cloth to stop my bleeding. I winced a bit at first, but dared not make a sound, in case they were nearby. Luckily, my cut wasn't very deep, the bleeding stopped quite soon after.

After about half an hour, I assumed that it was safe to go down. I ran straight into the little shelter where I had left them, thank god they were safe. I saw Jiyoon fast asleep while the others stayed awake. I hugged them with all my might, we all made it out alive. I cried tears of joy and relief, but now, there was another problem: how are we supposed to get back home? We didn't even know where we were, we had not a single penny with us and nor do we have a safe chance to find help. I told them to stay put while I went out for a while. After I ensured them I would be safe, I bid them goodbye and hugged them even though I would only be gone for a short while.

In five minutes, I was able to find a grand-looking car and two figures, one looked my age was leaning against the car while the other who's figure looked like that of an adult's had one of his arm on his hip and it seemed that the topic discussed on the phone was stressing. I tested my luck, I ran over to the young boy and stopped 5 feet away.

He looked my way. I watched him for a while before I went nearer to him and confronted him. " C-can you help me and my friends? We are the only ones left. The rest that w-were kidnapped g-got k-k-killed. " He looked at me with pity from head to toe with a gentle gaze. "I will discuss this with my dad. No one is severly injured right?" I shook my head in response as a 'no'. 

A short while after, my prayers were answered. They agreed to help us! I told them to follow me to the shelter. I waved my hands at the girls. They waved back. I ran to them happily and explained the situation. I never thought I would feel so happy and blissful in my life.

After living in that hell hole for so long, we would finally be free.

OK! Took me long enough to write that. Three thousand ++ words for all you peeps! I will edit tmr. It's two thirty AM here. Good 'night'. Or rather, good morning.

I was thinking of adding something I drew for this. Idk, I'm also thinking of getting a poster but I can't really decide wht and how I want it to be yet. I will start writing the Valentine's Special now...