The three girls stared at the dark tunnel while waiting for a response from the other team, each coming up with different ideas on what might be hidden inside and whether or not this would finally be the right path to find what they were looking for. 

"Good, that's good," Seohyun responded through the earpiece, the three girls hearing the heaviness in her voice. 

"Are you ok, unnie?" Wendy asked, her face showing confusion and worry over what might've happened with the other three.

"Well, if you count almost dying as being ok, then yes," Joy replied this time, still somewhat panting. 

Irene furrowed her eyebrows, "What exactly happened down there?"

"We found this creepy note-" 

"Language," Irene cut Joy off to which the latter ignored and continued on explaining. 

"So apparently the note is from another group that came here before us and it basically told us to get out the maze that we were in since the one who wrote the letter said they got lost and that they were hearing strange whispers even when there is nothing behind them and-" 

"So, you got out there unnie?" Yeri cut off Joy's rambling. 

"Yes." 

"Well unnie, I guess you won't be up for exploring this tunnel we just found." 

Although Yeri couldn't see Joy at the moment, she knew that her unnie was making a face that said 'what are talking about, I'm always up for an adventure even if I almost died'. 

"I'll have you know that I'm walking towards your location as of now. Park Joy never backs down." 

Yeri snickered, "I'll just agree just so you can feel happy." 

"Yah!" 

"Alright, alright. So it's just you coming Joy or is Seulgi and Seohyun coming?" Irene spoke, getting back to the main topic before the two maknaes start arguing. 

"We're coming unnie," Seulgi responded. "I think it'll be a waste of time looking through the remaining doors." 

"You guys should still check out those rooms, they might contain something we need." 

"Do we really have to?" Seulgi whined, "I'm like half way up the stairs." 

"Yes, you need to," Irene said sternly her hands resting on her hips (although Seulgi couldn't see her) like a mother scolding her child. She hated it when not everything has been checked whether it'd be rooms or the items she needs for a trip as she feels that she had left something behind. 

"Ok, Ok, unnie. Wait for us." 

Within 30 minutes, Seulgi, Joy, and Seohyun arrived on the top floor.

"Did you guys find anything?" Irene asked as soon as she saw them. 

"Nothing special, just a few screws and a bloody knife is all," Seohyun responded recollecting what they had seen. 

"A bloody knife?" Yeri questioned, her head titled to one side, thinking. "I don't think that's a good sign." 

"Seeing a bloody knife is never a good thing, pabo," Joy responded, lightly knocking the maknae's head with her fist.

"I was just thinking why it would be there," Yeri said, slightly pouting, "I don't think we're alone. There must be some sort of monster that Gyuri created wandering around this place guarding the next clue that we might have." 

"I never even thought of that, good thinking," Wendy praised, receiving a shrug from the youngest.

"I like to watch a lot of horror movies."

"Well, let's get going. That faster we find that stupid clue, the faster we can get out of here," Seulgi said wanting to speed things up a bit. Everyone nodded, agreeing with her. 

WIth a deep breath, the six girls walked forward into the tunnel, letting the darkness consume them. And just like all the other times the entrance behind them closed with a large thump causing Irene to jump and let out a yelp. 

Reaching into her backpack, Seohyun (as well as the others) took out a flashlight and walked on ahead, leading the way to what they hoped is the end to all this madness. 

They walked for fourty-five minutes that felt like fourty-five hours and it wasn't until they heard a hissing sound that they haulted their steps. 

"What was that?" Seulgi asked as she turned around, flashing the light wildly in front of her. Seohyun grabbed her hand haulting the rapidly moving light before  closing it. She motioned for the other girls to do the same. They were now in complete darkness.

"Unnie-" Yeri started, confused by the older girl's action, but was quickly hushed by the elder. Soon enough, the six girls heard another hissing sound, this time much closer than the previous. Suddenly, they hear large echoing footsteps coming their way.

THUMP.

THUMP.

Then they hear a low growl.

"Even when all of Gyuri's monsters sound similar, it's still terrifying," Seohyun thought to herself.

The six girl's eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and they could now make out a silhouette of a large and tall human with spikes extending from its limbs. None of the girls could see whether or not said monster had eyes.

Seohyun tapped each of the girls to get their attention. "This might be risky, but I need to try something," she whispered so quietly that the other girls thought that she wasn't saying anything. But they decided to trust the eldest as she had more experience.

The eldest girl held tightly onto her flashlight and turned it on, the beam of light shining right next to the monster. She noted the alarmed look on the five girls face from her peripheral vision but otherwise kept her eyes on the monster who didn't move a single muscle. Furrowing her eyebrows, Seohyun took a chance and decided to flash the light directly into the monsters eyes, expecting a reaction though none came. The monster's eyes were purely white with no pupils.

"Ah, this one doesn't have sight," Seohyun thought with a slightly relieved look on her face.

The monster then let out a thoroughly large scream that can fill one up with nightmares before turning to leave, its large footsteps echoing along the large corridor of the hallway fading as it got further away from the six girls.

Seohyun let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. "Well I guess that answers our questions," she spoke quietly to avoid the monster hearing her.

The rest of the girls let out a sigh of relief now that the monster was away from them. "So, this one has no sight which must mean that all it's other senses are amplified. We cannot risk being too loud and we have to mask our scents somehow," Wendy says.

"How are we gonna mask our scents?" Joy asks confused.

"I think this means we might have to put mud on ourselves," Seulgi replied seeing a bunch of mud near the walls of the long tunnel. "I've heard that mud is useful to cover a human's natural scent, but I could be wrong."

"I mean even if we do put mud on ourselves and somehow mask our scents, isn't this sort of like a never ending tunnel? We would still end up encountering the monster anyway even with all of this," Irene pointed out. Besides, she really didn't want to have to resort to putting the nasty looking mud on her clothes and face.

"That's true..." Yeri agreed though hesitating when she continued, "Unless there is a secret pathway that would lead us away from the monster. This may not be very credible evidence but in the horror movies that I've watched, there always seems to be some sort of hidden passage ways that lead that main characters away from danger."

Joy gaped at her. "What kind of horror movies are you watching?"

"The best kind," the youngest replied with a playful smirk playing against her lips. She turned to the three eldest before adding, "Where else could Gyuri have had an idea as elaborate as this whole thing?"

Wendy looked at both Irene and Seohyun, "She does have a point, although it sounds like a horrible plan."

"Hey!"

"Well, there is no harm in trying... We pretty much don't have any leads on where to go," Seohyun said. "Now we just need to figure out where the hidden entrance is."

 

---------------

 

"Hey, unnie," Yoona whispered, giving her attention to the older girl next to her who was busy writing down the notes on the board. "Don't you wonder where those six girls are?'

"What six girls?" Taeyeon whispered back, keeping her eyes on the board and on her paper.

"You know, the six girls who we spied on yesterday."

"Oh, them," Taeyeon nodded her head in acknowledgement, the image of six girls running out of the science building filled her mind. "What about them?"

"Well isn't it kinda weird how all six of them decided not to show up today?"

Taeyeon shrugged, not really caring where those girls were currently at. "It's none of our business where they are, Yoong. Why are you so curious about them?"

"I don't know. It's just... I feel like they are the ones who Boss unnie hired to find Gyuri."

"What?" Taeyeon furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She never heard Boa say that she was hiring other agents. "Where did you hear that?"

"Well... I kind of, maybe sort of, installed a listening device in Boss unnie's room."

Taeyeon snapped her head towards Yoona so fast that the younger girl was afraid that she would get a whiplash. "What?!" Taeyeon hissed so loudly that the professor stopped his lecture and glared at the students in the room. Taeyeon quickly shut in order to avoid being caught. She let out a sigh of relief when the professor continued. She returned her attention to the younger girl next to her, whispering quickly, "Tell me you're joking."

Yoona let out a sheepish smile and Taeyeon groaned. "I'm sorry unnie, but I just had to know what Boss unnie's plan was."

"Do you realize what would happen if she finds out? She is gonna straight up murder us! And I do not want to die yet!"

"Relax unnie, she won't find out."

"Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"Well, remember when we found the flashdrive containing all of Gyuri's 'creations'? While everyone kept their eyes on the screen, I snuck towards the corner of the room where the plants were -- the ones on the right side of the room when you first enter Boa's office -- and placed a very tiny listening device on top of the dirt," Yoona explained. "It's so tiny that they won't even notice it. Besides, it's pretty much the same color as the dirt."

"I swear one of these days you are gonna kill all of us accidentally," Taeyeon muttered shaking her head at their youngest's actions.

"Yah, why did you install the device though," Jessica whispered as she poked the alligator's back. She and Hyoyeon had been listening in on the conversation.

"I just wanted to see what the next step would be unnie," Yoona replied, her body half turned towards the ice princess. "Besides you know I can't sit around and do nothing for long."

Both Jessica and Hyoyeon nodded in understanding.

"We know, Yoong, just tell us your plans next time and be more careful," Hyoyeon responded giving the girl a pat on her shoulder. Yoona gave the older girls a nod and a smile before facing forward again, her mind wandering about Gyuri and the relation of the six mysterious girls.

 

---------------

 

"I honestly can't believe this worked," Irene stated in disbelief as she watched both Yeri and Joy push open a huge boulder revealing a hidden pathway on the right side of the tunnels. Yeri turned and faced her with a huge grin on her face as if trying to say 'I told you so'.

"I am a genius!" Yeri said while doing a little dance around the second eldest who in return did an eye roll at their maknae's shenanigans.

"Just because you managed to find the hidden entrance does not automatically make you a genius."

"You're just jealous unnie."

Irene made a move to try and hit the girl before being stopped by Wendy who simply said, "Let her have her moment."

"She's just so annoying, I can't help but try and strangle her."

Wendy let out a quiet laugh as she ushered the older girl inside the hidden entrance so they won't be left behind.

It wasn't until moments later when they discovered a dead end. Irene couldn't help but smirk, "Who's the genius now?"

"Do you think there's another hidden pathway within the pathway that we just entered?" Seulgi asked as she looked towards the eldest who was staring straight ahead.

"Well given the information we have on Gyuri, there is no doubt in my mind that there is another pathway somewhere in here," Seohyun responded with a sigh. "This is honestly just busy work."

"I think that's her plan all along," Joy spoke suddenly, everyone turning their attention to her. "She created this huge maze because she wants us to be tired of searching for the next clue. She wants us  to give up so that she would have an easier time doing whatever she is planning. But if we give up, then there would be a lot of other people at stake wouldn't you agree?" The girls were silent, acknowledging what the girl had to say.

"Well if that's the case, let's keep going. I'm sure we'll find it soon enough," Seohyun said with a small smile on her face, glad that someone had managed to keep the groups focus on task.

With a new refound effort, the girls looked for the next pathway that would lead them one step closer to the devil herself.

 

 

 

---

A/N: Hey guys! So, I know it's been a really long time since I've last updated the story (almost 2 years -- I know!) and I'm really sorry for that. I've been really busy with life and I'm starting college this Saturday which means I'm gonna be gone again. I will definitely try my best to fit in writing into my schedule and I hope that I'll be updating again soon.

Comments and upvotes are very much appreciated as it helps me know if people still read this story.

To all my subscribers, silent readers, and anyone else supporting this story, thank you all so much!!! Wouldn't have done this update otherwise. ^^

I'll see you guys soon!

Wolfey signing out *peace*