It was dark, the gravel road beneath my feet tapping with every step as I ran, towards the only beacon of hope in sight.
A street light was on, but every step towards it seemed to send me further away, so as my breathing came out in spluttered sobs, I bit back at my tears.
It was so painfully quiet, the only noises I could hear coming from myself.
Every time I tried to yell out, I felt my throat swell, making me choke.
I couldn't speak. I couldn't yell for help.
I was all alone.
I was all alone on this street, surrounded by darkness, leaving me trapped and alone.
I couldn't see a foot in front of me, as I sat down, my legs feeling heavy, body aching.
I could just nap here, couldn't I?
I felt sleep take over, as I curled into a ball, the road scratching at my skin, but nevertheless, I fell into a deep, lonely slumber.
Bang Chan had pulled himself into a ball, as he sat under the light.
Every time he had tried to run towards his friends shadow, he was pulled back, chained down by the shadows that locked him in his place.
The light had grown brighter recently, almost nine times as bright as before.
What used to be as weak as a candle light, was now as bright as the sun.
He hoped that meant something.
For the last what seemed like eternity, the darkness had been pulling at him, sucking out his energy like how a leech sucks out blood, leaving him as nothing but an exhausted body.
But his eyes wouldn't shut, and his mind wouldn't rest.
He was trapped awake in this loneliness.
He saw a shadow that was finally getting closer, but he believed his exhaustion was getting the better of him.
As he narrowed his eyes to focus, he could make out Felix's silhouette.
"Felix.." He croaked out, crawling forward.
Only for the light to go out, and drown them in the darkness completely.
Felix felt something hit him in the throat, as he coughed up, suddenly winded as he collapsed, gasping for air.
He felt his throat close up, and as behind his eyelids speckled with white, he felt himself slip out of consciousness.
Bang Chan felt himself get dragged across the harsh gravel stones of the road, cutting into his skin.
He was too tired to fight it, so he let himself be taken away.
He was probably going to die there anyway, and in the worst way possible.
He was going to die alone.
When I awoke, it was still dark, but a single red candle lit up the room in an eerie yellow glow, sending shadows dancing on the walls.
All nine of my friends were unconscious around me.
I crawled towards Seungmin, as he was the closest, tapping him.
"Wake up. Please." I whispered.
That's when I noticed the blood dripping from his ears, as I jumped back.
Seungmin was crawling, as it chased after him.
The same dreaded demon from the dollhouse.
It was in front of him in an instant, as it grabbed at his head, pulling him right into its face.
It smiled, it's teeth dripping with yellow saliva, pooling and melting Seungmin's clothes, burning the surface of his skin.
"How I would love to eat you. But, that's not masters plan, yes. Things must be in order for him to come back. So what I want is your hearing." It spat, moving its head to Seungmin's ears, it's teeth grazing at their surface.
He kicked, but it was no use, as the demon bit down, Seungmin screamed.
All he could hear were the vibrations.
The demon dropped him instantly after that, wiping its mouth.
"You're helping something amazing. Just remember that." It chuckled, slinking off.
It knew the boy could only hear the vibrations of its laughter, but that didn't matter.
It had been done.
As the demon climbed up into the darkness, it made its way into its masters room.
Kneeling in front of the alter, the creature drooled, the blood pooling from its mouth.
Along with the ear, which had been ripped from the boys head.
"Only a few more ingredients to go, master, before you can return to the human world. This batch has been a lot more useful to us." It laughed dryly, looking to the other organs aligned on the alter.
A heart, and eyes.
The demon frowned.
"I'll go get the tongue myself then. Lowly human scum."
Changbin was trudging along, pulling at the strings on his lips.
Every time he did, pain seared through his body, like a lightning bolt had hit him from above.
He felt something creepy up behind him, so he ran.
"Ah, ah, not so fast." The voice said, grabbing at Changbin's neck, as they pushed him down onto the road.
His eyes widened in panic, as he started to scream, sound barely escaping his tied lips.
"Don't alert anyone. I should've done this to you properly the first time, you know?" They said, cutting at the string, using the other hand to reach I to his mouth, for his tongue.
Changbin was gagging, as he pushed up, trying to get them off of him, so he could yell out, and alert the others.
They scoffed, slicing at Changbin's tongue.
"Now you can't tell them. I'm sorry it got this far, but hey, it's all for a good cause."
The demon came crawling over, oozing hand outstretched.
The person who was attacking Changbin stood up, placing the tongue in the demons hand.
"It's done. Now move it onto the next stage." They demanded.
The demon scoffed. "Don't tell me what to do, mortal."
But nevertheless the slight amount of light vanished, as Changbin's vision went black, still choking back on the blood that filled his mouth, causing him to gag.
He was out cold within the minute.
As I screamed, everyone started to come to.
Except for Changbin, who was gagging and choking.
I moved over to him quickly, turning him onto his side with Jeongin's help, so he could cough.
His lips were untied, but his mouth was so full of blood I couldn't see what had truly happened to him.
It was when the light from the candle flickered over, and as he opened his mouth wide to spit the blood out, I noticed the lack of a tongue in his mouth.
It had been cut out completely.
I placed a hand over my mouth. "Changbin.."
He was crying, but I didn't blame him in the slightest.
Mya was holding Seungmin, crying slightly.
"Can't you hear anything?"
He shook his head.
"Must.. vibe rations ." He said, mispronouncing his words.
"Vibrations?" She asked.
He nodded, honestly not having a clue what was being said.
Hyunjin, Han, Lee Know, and Felix held Bang Chan in a tight embrace, majority crying except for Han, who was faking a cry in that moment, not wanting Bang Chan to know what was wrong.
"I thought I lost all you guys." Bang Chan sobbed.
"I thought I lost you!" Felix cried back.
"You scared us so much." Han sobbed.
"I saw you dying in my chapter and it felt so real." Hyunjin cried, voice cracking slightly.
"I've been searching so long.. thank the lords you're okay." Lee Know said, smiling sadly.
I stood in the middle of the group, automatically making me taller than everyone, as they were all sitting.
"I'm happy we've found everyone now. But, we still aren't in chapter selection. The demon gained hearing and taste now. From- from what I imagine, it only needs one more I thing." I interrupted.
Felix walked over to me.
"It needs a life." He read, looking at the blood scrawled on the floor.
I could see everyone's expressions as they fell, avoiding my eyes.
"We're not going to let it have that- we can't." Jeongin started.
"After how hard we've fought to stay alive, we won't. But I have a plan." I said, lowering my voice to a whisper, walking out to where the candlelight didn't reach.
Felix understood instantly, ushering for Bang Chan and Lee Know to follow only.
"We 'kill' someone, right, but they're actually still alive. This will mean the demon will come out, and we can ambush it? That, or it'll show itself and we can like, I don't know, confuse it enough that we can go onto the next chapter." I said, sighing.
"Or we could actually stop one of ours hearts, but bring them back straight away. If we had water, that would be easier. Drowning someone and bringing them back is the easiest." Lee Know whispered.
"I would say we try that." Bang Chan nodded.
"But who?" Felix asked.
"I can do it." I offered.
Felix shook his head. "You've lost too much blood. We should ask someone else if they want to step forward."
I scoffed lightly. "Good luck. Leave Seungmin, Han and Changbin out of it, though. They're all in pain."
"That kind of just leaves Mya, Hyunjin, Jeongin and us." Lee Know pointed out.
"Mya lost her sight." Felix said.
"She doesn't seem to be in much pain, though." I commented, looking over to her.
She was sitting with Seungmin, talking quietly to him.
Her eye caught mine, as she smiled slightly, before looking away.
Felix shrugged.
"No harm will come by asking."
We all moved out of the shadows, and as I looked up to the black 'sky' above us, I saw the red eyes blinking tiredly.
They couldn't see us out of the candle light, so hopefully what we had been discussing was safe.
"We need a sacrifice. So, anyone uh, willing to do it?" Felix asked.
Mya frowned. "Why can't you do it? Or Y/N? You're the geniuses who are coming up with the plan, anyway."
Felix lowered his voice.
"We're going to make sure no one dies, okay?"
"The demon won't like that." She whispered.
Changbin finally sat up, and as he did, he frowned, as he pointed at Mya over and over.
She just looked at him, confusion painted on his face.
"Why are you so angry at me?"
He scowled, before he stuck a finger in his mouth, coating it in blood as he scribbled on the floor, writing in his own scarlet lettering.
He stood back, letting us all stand around him.
My face dropped as I read the message.
Mya is working with them - she cut my tongue
She just laughed. "That's the pain talking."
He shook his head, scrawling again.
I saw you, I remember you.
"It was a mirage?" She suggested.
He shook his head.
I looked to her, as she stood back.
"Mya is this true?"
She shook her head, holding her hands up innocently.
"I didn't do anything- Changbin's lying."
Changbin frowned again, going to write another message.
Check her eye. Then you'll know.
Lee Know walked up to her, and before she could blink he pulled the blindfold off.
Her eye was completely fine.