Eighteen

Eighteen—Awaken

The whole place stayed as cold as the icy air outside. Weather forecasts say that there is a typhoon coming in the next 24 hours. Wind whistled loudly outside the thick glass windows of the complex.

Luhan looked out of the window, watching the distant lights of a famed bridge in the country. He thought of his family overseas and the possibility of meeting them soon for a small get together. Then his thoughts drifted to the first few days of being an EXO member… Then he thought of Chen.

He remembered how caring he was, despite being the sarcastic troll that he is. There were times when he didn’t care if he had the least fans among them or if he didn’t receive any gifts… just as long as the members are happy and healthy and safe, he would smile like a puppy.

No one seemed to pay attention to Luhan as he looked at each of them in the room. Then he focused on Chanyeol who seemed totally unfazed on what “happened” to him. He asked himself, “Could Chen really do such thing?” No one even dared find him or know where he went to.

All of a sudden, Luhan’s vision seemingly defocused and he saw flashes of a familiar scene in his mind. He fell over onto the floor and sweated hard as his brain throbbed in pain. DO came to his aid and made him sit on the floor as Lay came to give him some water.

“What happened?” Lay asked while rubbing Luhan’s back.

Luhan couldn’t answer. Even he couldn’t make out what happened or what he saw except for the trees. The nausea building at the pit of his stomach wasn’t helping either. Lay tried to calm him but he felt a little scared. Just that morning, he might have experienced the same though he didn’t tell anyone.

“Did you see the forest again?”

This time, Luhan looked at him in surprise. He hasn’t said anything about it yet but Lay already knew about it. It was that reaction that made Lay go back to that day… when they’ve gone missing and the crime happened.

The program on TV was suddenly interrupted by breaking news and almost all of them gathered around automatically. Since they knew that Kai was arrested, they quietly waited for any news about him. Sara hasn’t called them yet so all of them were on the edge of what could have happened to their brother. And of course, Chen is still out there but at least they are all safe with him away from them. Or so they thought.

“Turn up the volume,” Suho ordered and Baekhyun willingly complied.

“Suspect for the EXO FAN Rape Case apprehended by the police. One suspect was arrested tonight upon gaining enough evidence according to the police. Mr Lau, the spokesperson of the victim, confirmed the news to the media earlier tonight and said that further details to the arrest will be given in a form of official statement as soon as the case is formally filed.” The female reporter said.

The shot of the hospital was cut to a well-built man in a dark blue suit. Camera flashes lit up his face and a dozen microphones were fighting over a spot in front of him. The screen says “recorded earlier” and below is his name.

“As requested by the victim’s family, we will keep the details private for now until further actions are made.” Henry said formally in front of the media.

“Wait a second. Huh??” As Sehun read the name of the spokesperson, he shot up from the couch to look closer, “No way…”

You want my name, kid? I’ll tell you my name.

Everybody was clueless at Sehun’s reaction and Kris was convinced that the people in there are starting to lose it. Suho asked Sehun and the younger just walked away in a hurry to get the keys to his car.

My name is Henry.

Suho never saw Henry’s face or knew his name but Sehun did and the chills that came with it stayed in Sehun’s system. The more he thought of the reason why Henry was Andrea’s spokesperson, the more confused he became. This fact either confirms that it was really Andrea who had him kidnapped or she is now being deceived by this man… this supposedly blue-eyed devil.

“I have to go to the police station.” Sehun said hurrying out of the door.

“What happened?” Chanyeol stood up.

“That’s the person that kidnapped us.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened and stood up too to follow Sehun. The maknae glanced at him like asking what he was doing but he just followed like he didn’t care what Sehun thought at all.

“So are you sure that’s him?” Chanyeol asked as he followed Sehun to his car.

“Yes. I saw his face and he told me his name. I just thought I saw his eyes blue but still… I can feel that’s him.”

“I’ll go with you then to be sure.”

Sehun got into his car and waited until Chanyeol was in too. Then he sped up into the highway a bit preoccupied. In fact so occupied that he didn’t see his brother’s smirk in the passenger’s seat that almost screams “I got you”.

Meanwhile in the hospital, Jessica woke up screaming. Andrea rushed to her side and tried to calm her down but her cries didn’t stop. She kept saying, “I remember, I remember.” Andrea’s heart raced as her most dreaded scene started to play before her eyes. Her sister is beginning to remember.

“Tell me what happened Jess…”

“I was… in the forest behind the hotel…”

Andrea patted her back to comfort her sister. She understood what kind of shock it must have been to suddenly be reminded of the horrible things that had happened to her after keeping it from her for quite some time.

“And I saw EXO…” she started sobbing again, “some people in… black… took them…”

It’s EXO…

“I tried to run but… someone caught me…” Jessica’s hands grabbed on the sheets tight, “I was pushed on the ground… and…”

She sobbed as the assault had taken its climax in her head. Andrea’s heart was crushed as she listened to her sister. She hugged her tight and wished that the excruciating pain felt by her little sister could just be hers. If only she could undo everything. When Jessica somehow calmed down, Andrea asked her a question she’s been dying to know all this time…

“Did you see who did this to you?”

Somehow, panic stirred inside Andrea while she watched her little sister’s fear stricken face. After a moment of pause, Jessica’s head tilted up, staring directly behind her older sister.

“NO!” Jessica screamed, completely terrified.

All of a sudden, something hard hit Andrea’s back, sending her barely conscious on the ground. She couldn’t move for a few seconds as she watched Jessica being injected of something clear while she struggled in bed.

“H… Henry.” Andrea’s voice came out almost in a whisper.

She tried to crawl to Henry but the pain on her back seemed to paralyze her. He was dressed as a nurse making Andrea wonder if he had minions in the hospital too. His blue eyes shone despite the slight darkness in the room.

“We had a deal, Ann.” Henry put the groggy Jessica on a wheel chair, “I did exactly everything that you told me to do. But you are weak.”

“Stop this… madness Henry.” Andrea still couldn’t stand up.

“Madness. How will explain to your precious little sister that it’s you who did all these to her..?”

Henry shot Andrea a warning look as her eyes widened out of their sockets. Jessica’s weak eyes looked up at Andrea as she tried to make out what she was hearing.

“Did what… s… sis?”

Andrea manage to get on her knees but still wasn’t able to stand up. She was shaking with anger and fear. She tried hard to push herself more to protect her sister but her legs were still disconnected from her system.

“Don’t hurt her!” Her scream sounded like a roar.

A stinging slap landed on her beautiful face. She fell on the ground as her little sister watched, unmoving. Soon enough, Jessica will fall unconscious… wondering what everything she heard meant. Henry knelt in front of Andrea and pressed her cheeks in between his fingers like he’s done before. The distant chilling scene played unnecessarily in Andrea’s head until Henry’s voice pierced through her thoughts.

“YOU! You hurt your sister. I was simply happy to torture my one and only rival with you back then. But now… you’ve forgotten who I am, Ann.”

The gravity of Henry’s words made her weaker. She remembered that night in pieces…that time when she laid out a plan to destroy the boys without thinking of the complications it will cause on her and her sister. And that other night when she overlooked the fact that Henry is merely a masked saint that must never be trusted at all costs.

“What do you want?”

“The same thing as always, Ann. You. No matter how bad you have been to me,” Henry says, “But until you give me what I want, I’ll keep her.”

Henry wheels Jessica out of the room after putting on a face mask. A few minutes later, Andrea grabbed her purse and followed, limping her way out of the hospital. Some nurses came to her aid but she pushed them away. Right then, the only thing she needed to have was forgiveness from her sister.

She got on her car and immediately took out the keys from her purse. She started it, not realizing the two hidden figures at the far end of the parking lot that were waiting for her to do exactly as she just did. In just a few seconds, she was out speeding in the highway, not knowing the danger of what she was doing. But as she neared the intersection, she realized something she hadn’t noticed before.

She wasn’t slowing down at all.

All of a sudden, her phone rang and when she saw who it was, she immediately answered it and put it on speaker after nearly missing another car. It was Mirae.

“You’re going to pay for everything you did, ma’am,” Mirae said sarcastically.

Andrea almost laughed at her nerve to talk to her like that but the situation she was in kept her focused on the road more. She let Mirae talk on the background as she floored the brake pedal without any success. She also tried pulling the hand brake but it was jammed too.

“You think you’ve protected your sister with all your crazy antics, huh? What kind of evil are you?!”There was a second of pause before Mirae heard a brief intake of breath. “The kind of evil you don’t wanna mess with,” Andrea’s smirk was plastered on her face.

Mirae cursed at her. She was getting annoyed at the fact that Andrea sounded like she always does and now it was starting to scare her and make her feel like they’ve done something horrible and that it will come back to them tenfold.

“You think you can kill me, Mirae? Impossible. You know why?” Andrea’s tone gave chills straight to the soul, “Because right now, I’m your worst nightmare.”

Mirae was rendered speechless by her boss’s warning. It was then that Tiffany snatched the phone from her. Meanwhile, Andrea gave up on the brakes and made sure her seatbelt was tight. And then she floored the gas, hitting almost the speed of 100 on a highway.

“You hurt Jessica and Henry!” Tiffany butted in.

“What did he give you to make you do this to me, Tiffany?” Andrea whispers, “I expected more from you.”

“Nothing. You were going to betray him. I can’t let that happen.” Her boss could hear the tears falling from her face.

“Betray? Haha. You love that monster, don’t you?” Andrea’s voice softened in a terrifying kind of way.

“Yes. But what is it to you? You’re a monster, too.” Tiffany’s voice quivered.

“Believe it or not, Tiffany,” The engine revved loudly on the background, “You were like a sister to me.”

After saying this, one tire exploded making the car spin around, burning its remaining tires in the middle of the road. It went on until it crashed on a newly put up lamp post in the sidewalk. Tiffany heard everything but it was Andrea’s last words that echoed in her head.

**

Sehun and Chanyeol thread through the quiet streets when they heard a loud crash somewhere in the distance. The highway was completely deserted if not for their car. But as they neared the place where a thin smoke was starting to build up, Sehun’s eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing.

“I… Isn’t that Andrea’s car?”

They found it on the side of the road and Sehun quickly pulled over behind it. He went to check on her if she was okay. He jogged to the driver’s seat and found Andrea’s head rested on the airbag, her seatbelt still holding her in. Even so, Sehun noticed shards of glass on her skin, some already made crimson blood trickle down her left cheek and arm.

“Andrea!” Sehun tried to wake her up.

“Is she okay?” Chanyeol asked as he walked to Sehun.

“I… I think so. Can you call an ambulance?”

Sehun hesitantly opened the door but as he was about to take Andrea, he falls on the ground as Chanyeol attacked him one punch after another. He tried to turn to look at him but he was being beaten to a pulp to the ground.

“Wh—what are you doing? Stop!” The maknae curled up into a ball to protect himself from the possessed giant.

“I hate you.”  Chanyeol was relentless.

Sehun tried to put up a fight but he was still weak from his recent abduction. All he could do was ask Chanyeol “Why?” repeatedly. When the giant was sure that the maknae wasn’t getting up, he stopped and massaged his wrists. A familiar arrogant smirk spread across his face as he went down to look Sehun closely.

“After all this mess, I’m gonna be the only one. No you, no EXO. Just Park Chanyeol.”

“What the fuck are you saying?” Sehun spat despite his form.

“Haha… you don’t get it do you? I’m the only one who deserves the spotlight. I’ve waited long enough. Henry will finish you all off for me.” Chanyeol pulled back his fist again, ready to punch Sehun to coma.

“Stop it, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol turned to look at Andrea and then quickly dropped his hand and released Sehun onto the ground, shocking the youngest of his obedience to her.

“So you are really the one that did all these?” Sehun said, “You are disgustingly evil.”

“Fool.” Chanyeol mocked at him, “All of you are fools.”

Andrea kept a straight face, not wanting any sympathy for Sehun to come out. She limped out of the car and looked at him straight in the eye without even flinching. Sehun’s emotions were revolting inside of him as he saw the girl he adored shedding her skin in front of him.

“I enjoyed watching you fall for me. It was entertaining. But like I said, I don’t want it anymore,” Andrea says, “Let’s go, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol willingly led her to Sehun’s car and secretly made sure she won’t be able to escape. He just received new orders from Henry and there is no way he was failing his only chance to infinite fame. Meanwhile, Andrea’s heart was tearing yet again into tinier pieces as the car sped away from Sehun.

“Evil.” Sehun whispered under his ragged breath.

I’m sorry Sehun.

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a/n: one more chapter to go. fasten your seatbelts.