She heard someone call her name in the darkness. It was faint, and her surroundings were bleakily dark.

"Taeyeon."

It was a familiar voice. She immediately recognized it. The weight under her eyes slowly began to disperse, allowing her consciousness to rise.

"Guys, she's waking up."

She heard the voice again as her blurry vision was met with a distant glow of a lightbulb on the ceiling. Sounds of shuffling soon filled her ears and hands on her back helped her sit up. A groan escaped her lips when a dull headache began to crawl in the back of her head, causing her to feel nauseous and let her head hung low.

Her hands on her lap was the first thing she saw. Untrimmed nails that remained long for several weeks, the lines across the base of her palm. Someone came up in front of her during her daze state, and wrapped their cold hands around hers.

A chill went down her spine, and she looked up to see a pair of eyes looking at her concerningly.

"Taeyeon. Are you okay?" The girl said. It took a second for Taeyeon to realize that it was Jessica.

Taeyeon nodded, before another dull headache cause her to let out a low groan. She reached for the back of her head, and felt a small bump grazing on her fingers. The pain increased which immediately made her retreat her hand back.

"Take it easy. The guy hit you hard enough to make you pass out for a couple of hours," Sooyoung's voice filled Taeyeon's ears as the tall girl softly rubbed the injured area. She didn't say anything, allowing her friend to scare the headaches away.

Taeyeon tensed up as a thought crossed her mind. A struck of realization hit her like a slap in the face. She looked up at Jessica, who looked at her with a questioning look.

"Where's Seohyun?"

Jessica sighed softly, and smiled a little. "She's fine. She's doing fine."

"No, no, no, I need to see her. I wanna make sure she's okay, where is she?" Taeyeon frantically said, standing up on her feet even when she felt the headache coming back. She looked around, not stopping when her friends told her to calm down, fearing the young girl's condition after what had happen. An enormous wave of guilt washed over her like a tsunami, drowning her in even more sorrow than she intended.

"Unnie..." Everyone in the room stopped talking once they heard a soft, vulnerable voice calling out the panicked leader. The latter felt relieved to hear Seohyun's voice, and instantly turn towards the source of the voice. Tears formed in her eyes as she saw the young girl laying her tired body against Yoona.

Seohyun wore a small smile. It showed reassurance, and a growing comfort the girls are in need of after what has been going on during the longest twenty four hours of their imprisoning solitude. Her eyes showcasted exhaustion, mentally and physically, and seeing this broke the heart of the leader.

Taeyeon ran towards Seohyun, kneeled down in front of her and embraced the girl in an emotional embrace. Seohyun gladly returned the hug, letting the girl who had been treating her like her own daughter to cry as much as she want.

Taeyeon muttered sincere apologies towards the younger girl, in which the latter reply with 'it's okay's. She Seohyun's hair in her hands, silently cursing the man for pulling the poor girl's beautiful hair. For making through a traumatic experience that will scar her for life. For losing her ity, and taking away what now was her lost innocence. The thought only made Taeyeon sob even more.

"Unnie..." Seohyun let out a soft giggle, gently pushing the motherly-like girl from the embrace.

"I told you it's okay. I'm fine now." Taeyeon didn't say a word, keeping her guilty eyes on Seohyun's fatigue face while her cries turned to hiccups. She felt a thumb wiping the tears on her eyes and cheek, and saw the other girl smiling softly.

"It's okay, I'm fine. Don't worry, unnie," Seohyun's words soothed Taeyeon into reassurance. Nodding her head, she pulled the girl back into another tight hug.

After the emotional scene, Taeyeon sniffed and wiped the remaining tears in her eyes while still holding Seohyun in her arms. She turned towards the other girls, checking for their condition when she noticed something odd.

"Where's Hyoyeon?" The ambience around the room turned cold. The girl's expressions were unreadable, as if there was something that they're hiding from Taeyeon. The latter suspicion increased, her panic state slowly rising again.

She asked them once again, "Where's Hyoyeon?"

"Taeyeon," Sunny voiced out among the others, hesitation visible in her eyes. "We didn't..."

Taeyeon waited patiently for the girl to continue, even though she prepared herself for the worse.

"When we woke up..." Sunny said, her voice cracking at the end. She gulped before continuing, "She wasn't here anymore."

Taeyeon felt the oxygen in her lungs being out. She felt like fainting again. The ringing in her ears started again, and she felt nauseous. She slowly turned her head to the wall beside Sunny, and read the text that written on it.

'And then there were eight.'

:::

Short update. Sorry about the lack of updates, school's been weighing me down but I promise that I will make it up to you in the next update!