Elliya barely registered Wonshik's back and forth pacing as she sat in the waiting room staring down at the now dry blood on her hands. Glancing up slowly she looked up at Wonshik's pacing, he about looking even worse for wear then her. Given the current circumstances she couldn't say she was really surprised. The blood on his hands also stained his clothing and there were even parts of his face splattered with blood. His features expressing numerous motions almost simultaneously blending all the anger, frustration, fear, and sadness together as they awaited the doctor to give them some news on his father's condition.

She wanted to voice her concerns for Hakyeon and Taekwoon or at least get him to sit and calm down but her fear of him violently lashing out at her kept shut. Instead she stared back down at her hands again feeling the need to retreat to a restroom to wash her hands despite knowing the bloody imprint would always be there in her mind even after her hands were clean. When she could bare either sight no longer she fled to the restroom without a word to the frantic man. When the girl returned she saw Wonshik talking to a doctor and the news did not appear to be the good kind.

After the doctor repeated to her what he had just told the male, Wonshik appeared to be frozen in shock and he stumbled backwards until he fell into a nearby chair. Hesitantly, Elliya walked over and sat down beside him but he didn't seem to acknowledge her presence. Too caught up in the grief that they couldn't save his father and he had died on the operating table after hours of surgery. He bowed his head and rested it in his hands as he did his best to stifle the sounds of his grief. The girl didn't know how to comfort the male, having never really been on good terms with him, yet his father was also Hakyeon's father and despite their troubles she felt sympathy for others loss.

And as much as Elliya wanted to let him grieve his father's death and try her best to help him deal with the preparations of a funeral she knew they still had to find his siblings. Yet she couldn't bring herself to mention this fact to him so instead she stayed silent, sitting beside him, and staring at the floor.

She blinked in surprise when he finally did speak, mostly because it was to her, his was voice a little hoarse as he said, “he won't get away with this. We're gonna get them back.”

“How?” she asked. As much as she wanted them back they were still just two people and they had no idea where to even begin to look for them now.

“We'll find a way, we have to.” he replied continuing to surprise her bright reaching for her hand.

“Perhaps I can help you with that.” a new voice said joining in on their conversation.

Simultaneously they both searched out the source of the voice and spotted the red headed male, now wearing a black cap to cover up his cat ears. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and Elliya didn't miss the hint of a smirk on his face as he stared at them as if awaiting to see if they would accept his help. Not that they could really refuse it even if they wanted to knowing he was probably their best choice for help at the moment though that didn't mean that they had to trust him as well.

“Why should we trust you?” Wonshik asked.

“Because...I know where they're being taken. Caught me before but I escaped. Now they have my sister. And I'm looking for a little payback for the way we've been treated.” He made to walk away, “but if you don't want my help then I'm just wasting my time by being here.”

“Wait!” Elliya stood up as he glanced back at her, waiting. Wonshik narrowed his eyes at the girl as if warning her to go back to being silent but she ignored him.

“We'll take all the help we can get.” she told him.

A cheshire like grin graced his already feline like features as he replies “great! But first we should go some place more private before we discuss any type of plan. I'm not much of a fan of any place that includes needles or surgery equipment of any kind.”

Wonshik stood up, hands “well my father was just murdered so I'm waiting until they release his body before I go anywhere with you.” he looked over at Elliya “ if you're smart you'd stay here and wait for me rather then go off with mister no name here.”

“And waste time while we're at it.” the hybrid snubbed.

Elliya was torn between deciding which one to listen to. She didn't exactly have the best relationship with Wonshik but she knew he would do right by Hakyeon. On the other hand she didn't even know the red head's name let alone if she could even trust him just because he appeared to have been taken just like Hakyeon.

“He's right,” as much as she hated to admit it, she continues “we don't even know you nor have you bothered to introduce yourself. Why should we even take you at your word?”

The hybrid rolls his eyes with a sigh, “my name is Tao. I'm twenty-one years old and a Taurus. I like long walks on the beach and-” Elliya interrupted when she heard him start getting more and more sarcastic.

“Okay we get it, you don't need to be an about it.” She responds.

“Well what can I say I guess I'm just getting impatient in wanting to rescue my sister and while I'm at it my mate as well. I would have thought you'd be the one to understand. That tanned guy is your mate isn't he...” he furrowed his brow apparently trying to recall her name that she hadn't yet given to him.

“Elliya” she nudged Wonshik in the side as a hint he should give his. He sent a brief glare in her direction before saying his name. The mate comment made her uncomfortable particularly because Wonshik was standing there.

“Well now that we know each other shall we get going now?”

The girl glanced once again towards the still aggravated looking male beside her who then sighed, rubbing his temples, “fine, go with him if you want. Call me if you find anything.” Elliya nodded before leaving with Tao.

As they left the hospital Elliya hoped that Tao had some sort of a plan already formed of what to do next or at least had a place to stay at but when he questioned her on where they were going she stopped short of continuing on.

“Are you the one with a plan?” she asked.

“Sorta but I'd rather not talk about this here.” He smirked when she frowned, “what? Not allowed to take home strays?”

“My brothers don't know about any of this and I'd very much like to keep it that way.” she informed him.

“They're in more danger by not knowing and we could use all the help we can get whether it be from humans or otherwise.” he replied.

It was debatable as to whether or not he was right or wrong though she did know she probably couldn't, and maybe even shouldn't, keep this a secret from them forever. In some way she even thought that getting everything out in the open would be a relief. It still didn't make it any easier on how she would explain everything that had happened to them.

So when they arrived at the cabin and she was face to face with them Elliya found she didn't know how to begin.

The bucket full of cold water that they poured all over Hakyeon was enough to rehydrate and snap him out of the darkness that had lay claim to him. He knew he had been out for a while because he was no longer in the van though he didn't know for how long that had been. When his eyes had finally adjusted to his surroundings not only did he notice the cage that he had been put into but that he wasn't alone. Nearby, the girl with the pink hair had her own cage and as he glanced around he saw the numerous cages as well as those that were forced to inhabit them. As he skimmed through the group Hakyeon realized Taekwoon didn't appear to be one of them causing him to become frantic.

“Taekwoon!” he called out in hopes his brother would reply.

“Shut up freak!” one of his captors shouted, prodding him painfully with a metal rod.

He gave a pain groan but refused to shut up until he got an answer “I want to know where my brother is now! What did you do with him?”

“You're in no position to be making any demands. Plus, we don't have any intention of listening to a freak.” He felt another painful jab into his back and side. Their laughs reverberated even as they left the room once they were done, at least for now, with their harassment. When they were finally gone Hakyeon called out for his brother again but still received no reply from the younger male yet he did get an answer from the girl in the cage next to his. He frantically gripped the bars of the cage desperately wishing he had the strength to break them apart so he could get out.

“He's on the other side of the room and he's still out.” she answered.

Hakyeon may have had perfect underwater eyesight but it wasn't that great out of water. The terrible lighting of the room didn't help his eyesight as he tried to find his brother, despite her attempt to point his cage out to him, so he could only take the girl's word for it. Sighing he finally loosened his grip on the bars and fell back into a sitting position as what little strength he had left his body. He pulled his legs up to his chest, glancing at the pink hair of the cat girl nearest to him.

“What's your name? I'm Hakyeon.”

“Krystal.”

“I'd say nice to meet you but considering the circumstances of how we met...” he cleared his throat nervously before continuing “do you have any idea where we are or what's going on? What do they want with us?”

“That really depends on what you are.” she answered.

“What I am?”

“If you're like me, a feline hybrid, or a canine hybrid, you'd probably be forced to fight for the amusement of the s who can pay.” Krystal looked his drying body up and down “but seeing as how you and your brother seem to need a lot of water to survive, you must be like Luna then.”

“Who's Luna?”

Krystal's head tilt to one side as if she were trying to remember something, “I think she called herself a naiad or something like that.”

She was the same type of creature as he but his family knew of all the other Naiads that lived in the area and he couldn't recall anyone by that name. “Was everyone taken from the same area?”

The girl shook her head “our kind come from different places, countries even. I was originally from California.”

“What do they do with those of my species?” Hakyeon asked curious yet fearful of the answer.

“Well since you can't really be used for fighting they put on display as if you were some prized catch.”

“Sounds like I get the better part of being kidnapped but not by much,” he sighed, “did you see what happened to the others that had tried to get us out?” he could only be so hopeful that someone had made it out.

“Tao, the red head and also my brother, had gotten away. If there's anyone that can help your friends to get us out it would be him.” He took that to mean that at least Wonshik and Elliya were alright though as much as he wanted to be happy they were at least okay, it still made him a little nervous that it was Wonshik that she had to be stuck with knowing how unpredictable he was around her. Hopefully his father had enough sense to not allow his issues to get in the way of finding them.

“At least they got away.” he finally allowed himself to feel some relief in that aspect at least.

“Maybe the girl and the blue-haired guy did but I saw that other man take a bullet and go down.”

Hakyeon startled, staring wide-eyed at the girl, “what?!”

“All I saw was him get shot but I don't know anything more, I'm sorry.” she replied.

Hakyeon slumped down at a corner of the cage, drawing his legs up to is chest and burying his face against his knees. If his father had been shot he needed to be there unfortunately his current situation made that impossible to do being stuck in this damn cage. Despite their rough relationship he still loved his father and as much as he wanted to immediately bust out and get back he knew that the only thing he could really do was hope that his father would be okay.

“Was anyone else hurt?” He asked needing one last question answered before he wanted to recede back into his jumbled mind in an effort to sort through his frazzled thoughts.

Although she wanted to be reassuring Krystal knew she could only be honest with him, “I don't think so but I can't be sure.”

Their conversation ceased after that as he tried to take everything in as if the silence would help him make sense of all that had just happened and everything he had just learned.

Unfortunately Hakyeon wasn't given very long to think things through as two unfamiliar men came over to his cage looking none too friendly. A fact that was easy to prove as they unlocked his cage and dragged him out of it with harsh force. He struggled weakly, at first, to get away but knew he hadn't gathered enough strength to truly fight back and get away as much as he 'd like to have done. As he was left with no other choice but to go along with them he instead looked around at the numerous cages in hopes of being able to spot Taekwoon. He needed the reassurance of seeing him alive to truly believe Krystal's words that the other was, for the most part, all right. He soon found the reassurance he was looking for as he passed by a cage presumably placed far away from his most likely done so that the brother's couldn't conspire to escape.

Taekwoon seemed to be coming to just as he was being dragged past and the two siblings locked wide eyes and the only thing he could do was grab at the bars of his cage and watch the men take him away through another door. It was one that he could not follow.

“Where are you taking me?” Hakyeon asked after finding his voice once more.

“You'll see.” Despite the reply not telling him a thing, in his mind a ty answer was better then no answer at all.

As he was shoved into the new room his mouth fell agape, whether out of horror or shock he didn't know, for what lay before him were a series of empty human sized aquariums. One of them was already occupied by an unfamiliar female. He presumed it to be Luna, the girl Krystal had told him about. Her eyes and gills glowed a fluorescent lime green. She appeared to have short teal hair and had been forced to wear a green sequined bikini top and matching bottoms that made her legs look even more like a mermaid's tail even if her true appearance had been hidden. The moment she saw him she let out sorrowful chirp.

The only comfort this change could bring him was that their kind seemed to be treated with better conditions then the others. Though that could possibly be because they don't really have much of a choice if they wanted to keep them alive. No one would pay to see a sickly creature on display.

They shoved Hakyeon forward into walking once again, “welcome to your new home.”

As they reached a prepared aquarium, a pair of blue sequined wetsuit pants and told to change. Hakyeon stared at the embarrassing garment in his hands for a moment before glaring at the men in disbelief, “you've got to be ing kidding me.”

“No we're not. Now get changin' fish boy.” one of the males taunted earning a laugh from the other.

“Maybe we should turn around and let him change since he's probably embarrassed about his 'size'” the other one chimed in with another laugh.

“But too bad for you we're not easing your uncomfortableness by turning our backs on you in case you decide to get stupid and try to escape. So change. Now.”

Hakyeon stared at them a moment longer before he sighed and begrudgingly did as he was told as quickly as he possibly could. Once changed they pushed him towards a ladder against the aquarium forcing him to climb to the top and get in. As soon as he was submersed into the cool liquid they put the lid back on leaving him unable to resurface and forcing him to shift in order to become able to breathe again under the water. They tapped their fingers annoyingly against the glass with smug smirks before laughing and disappearing out the way they had come.

After they were alone this gave Hakyeon the freedom to truly search around his surroundings. He tried to lift the lid that kept him trapped but it wouldn't budge. He briefly considered trying to smash the glass but figured that even if he was strong enough to break the glass all it would end up doing is more harm then good.

“If you try to escape they'll kill you” a feminine voice entered his mind, drawing his eyes to look towards the other occupied watery cage. When underwater they also had the ability to communicate with others of their kind through telepathy. Something that their captors probably didn't know otherwise they probably would have kept them separated.

“We have to do something.” he argued back.

“The last one that had tried ended up electrocuted. I've been the only one of our kind ever since.”

His escape plans immediately deflated “I'm sorry.”

“It's alright. I'm Luna by the way.”

“Hakyeon. Krystal told me a little about you. My brother Taekwoon also got caught with me.”

At the mention of the pink-haired girl Luna's eye's widened in mixture of sadness and fear “I had hoped she would've been able to escape.”

“There was a red haired guy that did escape, Tao, I think, if he's with my other brother and my girlfriend they might still be able to get us out of here.”

This new information seemed to shock her but it also seemed to give her some hope that the hell she had been living might soon come to an end. Though Luna didn't want to get her hopes up that they were successful in case they weren't but still it revived her energy that she may get her freedom again.

“Well I hope they can get us out.” she replied.

“Me too.” Hakyeon said sharing the same sentiment. For now all he had left was that hope that those on the outside could put an end to this sick place.