"we should be in and out in 15 minutes." Hiyyih divides the knifes. each per person, and slips the gun into Yeonjun hand. "it's unloaded. so don't worry." she notices the worry in his eyes.
he nods, trying to forget there's a gun in his hand.
"we need to move fast, because the gate only opens once at night." she warns. "after 15 minutes, it closes. and if we're not out by then, well... we're practically dead. so don't waste a second."
"how much time we have?" Kai asks with a small voice.
"the gate opens in two minutes." Hiyyih points at the large shutter doors. "once it's opens, don't wait until it reaches the top. crawl under the crack. it'll buy us time."
Taehyun slides the knife into his pocket, as well as Beomgyu and Yeonjun. his heart beats fast, and hard. he eyes the shutter doors, just like Beomgyu.
with focused, sharp eyes.
it feels like a lifetime before the countdown starts.
"10.." Hiyyih whispers. "get ready to run.."
"9, 8... 7 "
"let's come back in one piece." Yeonjun jokes.
"6, 5..."
"good luck guys." Beomgyu squeezes Yeonjun's hand, and the elder offers him a tense, yet reassuring smile.
"4.."
Kai stands on his tiptoes, his hands on the floor, ready to sprint. a few stray hairs fall on his eyes and he pushes them away.
"3, 2..."
"go."
like runners in their lanes, readying for the starting whistle. Yeonjun, Taehyun and Kai push the ground behind them, running with their life on the line.
in the other side, Hiyyih takes Beomgyu's hand, and the two sprint their way towards the opening gates.
they slide under the small opening with their hands intertwined. their clothes making contact with the floor and swiping the dusty tiles. Beomgyu scrambles on his feet before standing back up..
he looks to the side, seeing Yeonjun and Taehyun and Kai run inside.
Beomgyu takes one more glance at Yeonjun, before they have to part ways.
they might be inside, but the chase for time doesn't stop. Yeonjun and the other take a left, towards the stairs, and they start climbing up.
"come on." Hiyyih pulls distracted Beomgyu to the other way. their target being the vaults on the underground floors while the other go up to find Soobin.
"on our left, be careful..." she slows down, giving Beomgyu a heads up before someone in black uniform comes behind the curb. her eyes light up, and she pulls Beomgyu back behind her body.
they hide behind the wall, and when the timing is right, Hiyyih closes her palm, and opens it with force. long, light pink claws coming out of her nails.
the man gets closer, and just when he's about to make eye contact with them from their hiding spot, Hiyyih stabs her nails in his nape, and he falls down with a gasp.
"I should really be nicer to you.." Beomgyu comes to an obvious conclusion.
she rolls her eyes, and they start running again.
they go down the stairs with fast yet careful steps, not wanting to encounter another one of those guards.
fortunately for them, despite the vaults being the building's prized possession, it seems as if the security is significantly low compared to other floors.
which means Soobin's floor is flooding with guards.
they can only hope the others are hanging on.
.................
it doesn't take long before Kai's powers take over.
in fact, it only takes one person for Kai to take guards one after the other.
the second an known person points his gun at Yeonjun, Kai's eyes light up. he gets down, and looks up at the uniformed person holding the weapon.
his blue eyes peeking behind the strands of his hair. the black contradicts the blue, and sends shivers down the guard's spine.
"I need back up!" he yells to his earpiece. "back up! he's here!"
"Kai! now!" Taehyun watches the man preparing to pull the trigger.
"just be confident.." Soobin smiles. "you're already good enough. but you are too afraid." he sets his boxing gear aside, and unwraps the hand bandages from Kai's arms.
"you're saying I'm holding back?"
"I'm saying you're hesitating." Soobin corrects him. "when you have the strength, use it. don't think about what happens next."
Kai tilts his head, and stays quiet. repeating Soobin words in his head.
"I'm not saying you shouldn't be careful. but sometimes, you just need to fight. no thinking. just... throw the punch. what happens next is only a bet."
Kai opens his palm, takes a step and lunges forward. his flames reach the guard before his body, and the cold blew of wind blinds the men, and he stumbles a few steps back.
the flames dance in Kai's palm, he throws himself at the man and wraps a hand around his neck. turning the Spanish mobster's skin light blue.
"that's enough, Kai." Taehyun pries the young boy off the man when the other finally loses consciousness from lack of air. "hey, come on, that's enough."
with much struggle, both Yeonjun and Taehyun pulls Kai away from his position on the man's chest and the blue eyed boy pants.
"we have to go." Taehyun taken Kai hand. suddenly hyper aware of the fact that they only have 7 more minutes.
Yeonjun follows behind them, still a little stunned from almost being shot at. they go another story to the 5th floor, and make their way up to the 6st floor where Soobin's location at.
"ready?" Yeonjun pats Kai's back, and the younger nods, determination clear in his eyes. and finally, Yeonjun understands what Soobin was talking about when he said the boy has the soul of a fighter.
Kai takes a few deep breaths, and focuses his powers. energy building up at the tip on his fingers, and tickles under his skin.
soon, there are 3 doves hovering over his palm. 2 large ones, the size of basketball, while the third is only a fist big.
all blue, and shedding white, sparkly dust.
Kai pulls his hand away, and with the swift motion, sends the doves in front of him. them flying at an eye level, and continue on flying away.
"stand back." he physically distances Taehyun away from him. and the two wait patiently for Kai's further display of powers.
with a grunt, and a tilt of his head. the doves explode to million little pieces, and like grenades, they release a cold gas that knocks 8 other guards standing at their post, suspecting nothing.
they wait until the air's clear, which doesn't take long. maybe a couple of seconds before Kai signals them to move along, and they start counting the rooms.
"forth one on the left.." Yeonjun mumbles, biting the insides of his cheeks.
"is this it?" Taehyun stops at a door identical to the rest. only that one matches Hiyyih description. forth to the left, after the stair case.
his heart rate picks up as he presses down on the door. and Yeonjun peeks inside, immediately hit by a stuffy heat wave that makes his eyes sting.
"shit.." he opens the door fully, and in the middle of the room. a figure in slumped on a metal chair, a black hood covering their face and ropes wrapped around their limbs.
"Soobin!" he runs to his fiancé, recognizing Soobin's frame and built. he rushes to loosen the strings on the hood so he can take it off.
Taehyun pulls the blade of his pocket knife and begins cutting the ropes and zip ties as fast as he can.
Kai stands by the door, doves already prepared for another attack. his eyes begin to hurt, and the exhaustion slowly builds up. he leans on the door's frame, and keep the doves close to his chest until it calls to let them go.
Yeonjun discards the hood on the floor, and raises Soobin's droopy head. he carefully unties the cloth around the younger's mouth, and Soobin coughs.
"baby.. wake up... " Yeonjun's voice chokes up. "how much time to we have left?"
Soobin's head pounds, and he shudders.
"7 minutes." Taehyun tears the ropes by hand, trying not too look too directly at the marks the restrains leave on Soobin's arms. "we're barely going to make it."
He's not even halfway through Soobin's arms, not the mention the ropes around his legs.
"Bin-ah.." Yeonjun shakes the younger's shoulder. "wake up, Hyung's here.."
Soobin's eyes flutter open. heavy and reveal a set a red shot eyes. The sights in front of him are blurry, but he recognizes Yeonjun's voice.
The one he craved so deeply each passion day in that God for saken chair.
Yeonjun's heart drops upon seeing tears brim in Soobin's eyes, and he caresses his cheek. Feeling the sticky tear tracks on his face.
"water..." Soobin whispers with a hoars voice. he coughs again, a pained groan escape his mouth and he winces.
Yeonjun nods, taking a bottle out of Taehyun's pouch and rips the cap off.
He holds Soobin's neck, thumb grazing the younger's jawline. And he manually raises Soobin's head up, and presses the tip to Soobin's lips.
"Slowly, slowly..." he sees Soobin gulp the water at a concerning pace. A few drops runs down his chin, and Yeonjun wipes it using the back of his hand.
"How's it going?"
Taehyun shakes his head.
"4 minute..." his voice quivers.
"Fuck." Yeonjun starts working on the ropes tying Soobin's legs to the chair. "We're done for."
"Hyung...." soobin heaves. "Where's Beomie?" His voice is weak, and breathy.
"With Hiyyih. They're both okay, Don't worry."
Soobin nods.
"You? You're not hurt are you?...."
Yeonjun takes a second to look at Soobin tired, pale face. And something inside him twist and pulls.
before he can answer, his voice is drowned by a blaring alarm.
Lockdown. Intruders in the building.
Doors are shutting.
Lockdown. Intruders in the building.
Doors are shutting.
.............
Lockdown. Intruders in the building.
Doors are shutting.
Lockdown. Intruders in the building.
Doors are shutting.
Beomgyu flinches to the sound of the alarm ringing.
he looks at his watch, and the timing doesn't add up.
they're supposed to have 3 more minutes.
"Come on.. " Beomgyu speaks under his breath. Eyeing the empty hallway. Praying to every God that it'll stay empty until it's time for them to leave.
"Come on.." he grows restless. "ah, seriously..."
Blood starts flowing from Hiyyih's nose the more she concentrates. Her hand is slightly raised, and her gaze dazed and unfocused.
Without taking a step, her mind maps the entire space of the vault, and searches for the blue tubes.
The search isn't long, but it drains her energy fast. eventually she sees the blue light coming out of one of the coolers.
"How many more clothes am I going to ruin because of you?" Beomgyu whines, soaking the blood from her nose with his sleeve. Cringing when the brown fabric turns deep red.
There's noise in the very back of the staircase. Footsteps hinting at someone heading their way.
"Would you hurry up?" He whispers to the very not aware girl.
After a few seconds of struggle, Hiyyih manages to knock the tubes on the floor, and they shatter one by one.
All three, spilling on the tiles. The liquid painting them blue before disintegrating into thin air.
Upon hearing the faint shatter of glass. Beomgyu breaths I'm relief.
"Great. Can we go?" He speaks not above a whisper.
But Hiyyih's eyes shine even brighter, and soon enough, he feels the ground rattle below him.
"Hey, crazy girl. Stop it." He shakes her shoulders to hopefully bring her back to reality.
"Just.. Distract me.."
"Shouldn't be too difficult."
"Distract you?" He remembers her words. But has no idea what she meant by that.
"What the heck am I supposed to do? Sing itsy bitsy spider?" Beomgyu grows frustrated.
But it's nothing compared to the fear washing over him when something firm presses on his shoulder, and the sound of a gun loading breaks the silence.
"Stand up." The man orders in a thick, Spanish accent.
Beomgyu gulps down nervously, his legs shaking as he stands up to his feet, and feels the grip on his shoulder grow tighter.
"hands up. rapido."
he pins Beomgyu to the wall, gun aimed to his head.
he eyes Hiyyih, the pink haired girl still sitting on the floor. blood dripping from her chin.
wake up, please wake up
a few more voices join. into his view, enter 3 other men, all dresses in black.
"face to the wall."
......................
Author here!
Just wanted to say. I've decided this book will be the last of the blue flame series.
I think it's better to let this book end in it's prime.
I'm going to miss the characters, and this world. And I'm grateful for everyone who's been here since the beginning. And those who has joined and read every single chapter.
Hope you enjoyed!