“We need to find the others,” Sooyoung said, stopping so suddenly that those behind her crashed into her.

“What are you talking about?” Jessica asked, did you see something?”

“Everyone’s crying,” Sooyoung replied, voice just above a whisper as she realized what she’d seen in her vision of the future.

“Why?” Ravi asked, trying his best to remain calm, “what happened to make them cry? Did you see it?”

“I don’t know,” Sooyoung replied, “but I know I saw blood. Lots of it.”

“We need to go find the others,” Ravi growled, not at all liking the images that came to mind after hearing those words from the little witch.

“We can’t all go back,” Jessica argued even though she herself would have liked nothing more than to rejoin the others, “we need to find out what’s going on. the answer is down in one of these basement levels.”

“Yeah,” Hyoyeon nodded, “we’ve already seen all the crates and whatnot they have down here. We can’t just turn around and leave.”

“But if the others need our help,” Ken pointed out, we can’t just leave them. They could……they could die.”

That word, die, sent a cold chill through all of them.

“We should split up,” Chanyeol decided.

“Only thing we can do,” Hyoyeon nodded, “Jessica, Ravi, and Ken are with me checking things out. Everyone else, check on the others and bring them back down here.”

“Alright,” everyone nodded and the group split up.

Ravi glanced at the others heading to the upper floors. He wanted to go with them, he wanted to make sure that Sori and N and Leo and Hongbin and Hyuk were all alright. But instead he was staying in the basement, checking things out. He had to trust that this was the right move.

Besides, Jessica and Ken were clearly in the same boat and they weren’t complaining.

Of those leaving, none were completely sure if they wanted to leave. They had no idea what they were going to find and they all feared the worst. Sooyoung’s prediction of blood could very well mean that someone they cared about was dead and none of them wanted to find out who.

“Lina,” Chanyeol grabbed her hand, “let’s check on the others, alright? I’m sure they’re alright.” He wasn’t sure if he’d said that for his benefit or her’s, but so long as it made someone feel better…..

“You’re right,” she tried to smile, “they’ve got Sori and Kris and Suho. I’m sure that they’re all fine.”

Sooyoung trailed slightly behind the others, going over in her mind the vision she’d seen. She wasn’t at all sure that everyone was fine. She’d seen too much blood on Hongbin’s hands and Hyuk had looked far too limp to be alright. But she just couldn’t bring herself to tell the others that. She couldn’t bring herself to deliver that kind of news to Ken and Ravi about their youngest brother.

She hoped she was wrong, that Hyuk was alright, but she……she……

She knew that everything was not alright.

And that was all without taking into account who’d been missing from her vision.

--

“Good girl,” Yuri whispered, “you did well not to tell them what you saw.”

Yuri knew that Ravi and Ken shouldn’t have been told right then that Hyuk was gone. That was a conservation for later, after they were all safe.

And it sounded so horrible of her to even think that.

Hyuk was their brother, their baby brother. They had a right to know that he was gone from this world. But at the same time, the news of his death would destroy them much as it had Leo, N, and Hongbin. Those three were very broken by the loss. Hongbin especially. They were all a mess of sorrow and…..and they couldn’t be like that. Not now, not in the middle of this battle.

It was horrible of Yuri to say, let alone think, but they needed to push their grieving aside and focus on the task at hand. They could mourn for Hyuk once they had won.

That’s what she was doing with the loss of Hyuna.

“Wait,” Yuri suddenly sat up, tuning into N’s thoughts, “no…..no way.”

--

“Hyuk,” N fell to his knees, tears running down his face, “you……”

“Right here, hyung,” the ghostly version of Hyuk tried to smile as he looked at his family grieving over his body, “right here. Lay and Hyuna are here with me. Well, they were. They went off to get Sehun. They, um, weren’t sure if you would be able to, um, do the talking thing with us since…….you know.”

“N?” Sori questioned, “what are you…..looking…..at.”

“Hyuk,” N cried, lunging forewords to hug Hyuk only to go right through him.

“Silly,” Hyuk managed a small laugh, “you can’t touch a ghost, remember?”

“You see him?” Hongbin wheeled around, eyes wide and wild, “he’s here?”

N could only nod because he was crying far too hard to form actual words.

“Hyukkie,” Hongbin cried, “I’m so sorry.”

“Not your fault, Bin,” Hyuk said before remembering that the other couldn’t hear him, “um, N? little help.”

“He,” N tried to talk, “he says you…..it’s not your fault.”

“Yes it is,” Hongbin sobbed, “I should have been able to save him. I should have gotten to him faster. I should have never left his side. I….I’m the reason he’s dead.”

The others watched Hongbin dissolve into another round of tears. N watched as Hyuk tried in vain to hug the other, listened to him curse his lack of physical form, and his heart shattered.

A/N: so, this chapter was a bit hard to write ‘cuz, well, Hyuk just died and now here’s N with a ghostly visit from him and Lay and Hyuna. This chapter and the next will be dealing with that and…..heck if that isn’t gonna be hard to do. Especially ‘cuz I’m like “should I have this in here? Is this too much?”. …….and this is where I look to you guys for some encouraging words ‘cuz you would not believe how much I need a simple “good job” right now when it comes to this story.