The speed of shivers (stray kids)

8. Black furry monster🕯️

(Warning! This chapter includes: kidnapping)

Katarzyna's POV:
Time skip to 11:00 the next morning

The soft sunlight reflecting on the white wall wakes me up. I open my eyes and look up at the painting frame leaning onto the white wall. Wow, it's a long time ago since I saw real sunlight. I think to myself as I blink a few times. I pull my right hand out from under the pink blanket and rub my eyes. The fresh wind blows gently over my body. Will the window with the bedsheets still be open? Brrr, a shiver passes through my body. But luckily I have the blanket protecting me from catching a cold. A cramp goes through my lower stomach. Fortunately, I already feel a lot more energetic than yesterday. Only what am I going to do next? A tickling sensation passes over my cheek. I run my right hand over the ticklish spot and feel something soft. My hand takes it off my face and hold it above me. Hmm...Black fluffy stuff, now what is that coming from? Whatever, I put my hand back under the blanket and continue daydreaming. Wait what? Blanket?! I sit up halfway and see that I am indeed lying under a pink blanket. Huh? How can that be possible? My mind goes back to last night. I'm sure I went to sleep without a blanket. Or wait a minute... there was something lying by my feet. I sit up a little straighter and see that the fluffy thing by my feet is gone. Maybe I pulled it over myself in my sleep? It's the only logical thing I'll be able to think of.

Time skip, later that day
I somehow must have fallen sleep because the next time I open my eyes I see nothing but black. I'm still laying down on my back thinking about what to do next. Shall I go back to Bang Chan's room and discover more of the papers? I still don't know what's in the painting frame and maybe it will be a clue to whatever is happening right now. But what if he's sleeping? I don't know if I can be silent enough and don't forget to mention, the painting is very close to his bed... I just stare at the sealing until I hear a church bell rinking outside. One...two...thr...? No just two times. So it's 2 o'clock at night. "Let's go" I whisper to myself as I sit up halfway. Oof my back hurts from the wooden floor. Carefully I bend over and craw head first from underneath the painting frame. I look around me to see that there is nobody there before I fully crawl from underneath the frame. My eyes move around the room inquisitively. The candle by the half-finished statue is still burning. But there is no one else to be seen or heard. Just me and me only. The coast seems safe and cautiously I take a deep breath and start taking small steps towards the candle light. Part of my body says 'do it' and the other half says 'Are you an idiot? This is life-threatening.' But still I sneak on until I reach the doorframe. I look down the hall and see the dim light of the other hall at the end of the curve. Shall I...? Yes fuck it.

I sprint forward and within two steps I reach the wall on the other side of the hall. I feel my heart pounding and know this is a stupid idea, but still I keep going. The adrenaline is too high to stop now. And rotting away behind that frame is not an option either. I put my left hand against the wall and walk towards the right side, the side where the dim light is coming from. Fortunately, I'm still just wearing my socks, making it easier for me to sneak without making any sounds. Just before turning the corner, I stop for a moment. In complete silence, I listen for any possible sound that might come from the other side of the corner. But no sound can be heard. A dead silence, one of those silences they say is too quiet. And so you have to be on your guard. Still, I place my left hand on the corner of the wall and take a step forward. At the same time, I turn to the left and look down the hall. No one to be seen here. Quickly I look to the right. And there is no trace of life there either. But just as I'm about to take a step to the left, a door near the left wall flies open. As fast as I can I shoot back to where I came from. With my back pressed against the wall facing the art room. In the dark part of the hall with my hands beside my body also pressed against the wall. Sweat forms on my forehead as I try to breathe as gently as possible. I push my head against the wall with my eyes squeezed shut, too afraid that someone will be in front of me if I open them. I hear a bang of the door banging against the wall. It is followed by a low "auwww." Huh, I've heard that somewhere before haven't I? "Walk" sounds a deep, intimidating and loud voice. In terror, I open my eyes. No, say it's not true. Say it's not true! I feel my heart rate go up and look cautiously towards the dim part of the hall. Suddenly, I see a shadow approaching that looks like three people. "Hyunjin hurry up or we'll eat llama meat tonight understood?!". It dawns on me, it is Minho's voice. Not to mention, Hyunjin is there too. And then suddenly they walk past me down the dim hall. From left to right. It's Minho and Hyunjin, but there's someone walking in the middle. Well, walking? Rather, the person is being dragged along backwards. In an instant, I can't see who it is. But the person looks down at the ground and holes with blood stains all over his white blouse. His hands are tied up on his back and gets roughly pulled on by Minho and Hyunjin. A black cloth covers his neck, mouth and a piece of his nose. "Now I will teach you what listening means!" Minho says as they pass me in the other part of the hall. I hold in my breath and just watch them pass by without noticing me. And just before they walk out of my vision the person in the middle looks up. Directly at my eyes. The look in his dark brown eyes makes me want to cry. He looks so helpless but at the same times his eyes look so thrust worthy. But the second he sees me, it seems like his eyes light up a bit. But I didn't saw it properly because they already passed me. Why did his eyes look like that? Why did it feel like I knew him? I'm still standing there, clamped against the wall. The only thing I can think about right now are his eyes, is it someone I know?