“Hyung?” SeungRi whispered. “Are you here?...” he stretched out his hands trying to find out where he was. It was so dark and that smell… it made it painful to breathe. He waved his hands searching for something to lean on, a landmark, anything useful to help him understand his location.

“Maknae!” JiYong also whispered. “where are you?” he asked stretching out his hands as well. 

“I’m right here, hyung…” SeungRi replied trying to reach his friend through the absolute darkness.

“I can’t…” JiYong wined. “I don’t know… Can you see anything?”

“No…” SeungRi answered in disappointment and listened as his voice faded away in a soft echo.

“Hyung…” he once again said after a long moment of tormenting silence.

“Mm?” Ji answered.

“Are you afraid?...”

“No…” the echo flew away. “It hurts…” Ji answered happy that the youngster  could not see the falling tears from his eyes. The same burning pain that ate him alive back there on the alley tortured his shaking body. He had no idea where they could be; he crouched next to something made of hard but somehow warm rock. He was trying to persuade himself it was time to react in any way when SeungRi’s voice locked up his thoughts:

“Hyung, do you think this is Hell?”

A thin thread of blood came out of SeungHyun’s mouth.

“Ah…” he moaned in pain when his eyes started moving underneath his eyelids. A strong brimstone stink made him frown and postpone the moment he’ll be opening his eyes; he checked the surroundings using only his left hand. Strange kind of soil… hard and yet frail, almost velvet like. He grabbed a hand of this unknown dirt that changed into dust when he clenched his fist. Without having the guts to open up his eyes, he stretched a little more and hit something that felt like a human hand. Suddenly a warm, slippery liquid bathe his hand. He all at once opened wide his eyes fearing that it could be the blood of the fallen person next to him, but his sight just goggled and his breath stopped.   He was panting heavily but he was making a superhuman effort not to show it, particularly when the three-headed behemoth bent over to sniff him. He gripped tight his eyes when the split nose of that… creature… almost touched him, burning his cheeks with its hot breath. His body felt uncontrolled shudders when “this head’s” saliva touched his chest. However, his curiosity helped him to overcome this fear and managed to take a glimpse at its fiery dark eyes. It looked like a dog, only twenty times bigger, had three heads and its body instead of having fur, it had scratches and open wounds from head to toes.

The other two heads draw their attention on the other laying body.

Daesung growled softly and frown on the heavy smell that brought his hands up to his nose. He twisted around with his eyes half opened and stood on his buttocks. A growl and a hot breath froze him in place.

“Don’t move!” SeungHyun quickly whispered. He knew his friend a little to well to anticipate his moves, so he jumped up and grabbed Dae’s hands just in time. As he saw the behemoth, Daesung delivered a loud scream that would’ve end with his head getting chopped off his body if SeungHyung wouldn’t have dragged him away.

“Go! Go! Go!”he yelled pulling Dae into a desperate run.

“What is THAT??” Dae kept on screaming while they covered in great speed that murky valley.  “Where are we?...” he asked again seeing nothing else but grey ground anywhere they turned. But was that truly important now, when the creature almost reached them and there was not a single place they could hide at least? Every step they took hoisted a fine greyish dust. The soil looked burned – everything was in dark shades of grey, only the sky had an intense reddish tint.

The creature opened wide its mouth, ready to nab Deasung’s arm when SeungHyung knocked him on the ground with one push. The creature banged its teeth just two centimeters away from SeungHyun’s horrified eyes. He fell on the ground, waiting for his imminent death.

Daesung rolled over a few times until he stopped face-to-face with a skull. The thin ashen smoke surrounded him making the creature’s noses to raise up sniffing the air.

SeungHyun quickly waved his hand in an attempt to calm down his friend and make him understand they had to remain silent.

Daesung turned facedown covering up with his arms, just to make sure he won’t scream again. Every step the creature made rose the grey dust and scattered a death scent. With a terrified sneak-peek Daesung watched as it passed by him and almost screamed when the big furless paw stopped its big claws right next to him. He closed his eyes biting his lips, trying to control his breath. He turned his away his sight just to meet again another skull – a half burnt skull that seemed it stared at him. Just now he understood the nature of the ground they were laying on: it was ashes… ashes of what used to me human beings.  He looked alarmed for his friend who was silently signaling for him to calm down, he was pointing towards the creature’s eyes and covered his own, then he pointed to his ears.