Ivory Grove (Enhypen)

eight

Since he had the freedom to go pretty much everywhere, Jungwon spent a lot of time exploring the castle, feeling like a child as he walked through the twisting corridors and massive staircases. He was enraptured by the gorgeous interior of the house, often found standing in the middle of nowhere, giving Riki adequate time to sneak up to him. "What are you looking at?" Riki whispered right at the other's ear, which scared Jungwon out of his wits.

"Oh my gosh, don't scare people like that!"

The boy sniffed, "You were so distracted, is the house that nice?"
"Isn't it pretty?"

"Eh," Riki wrinkled his nose, "After a good ten years of living here, it gets kinda bland."

As Jungwon clucked his tongue teasingly, Riki smacked him (very, very gently, because if not he could have died), then strolled about stroking the paintings and walls like he owned the place. When he did so to a certain one, it quivered slightly, making Jungwon freeze.

"If it drops and gets damaged I will not be responsible."

But Riki wasn't listening, instead he was frowning as he placed both hands on the surface of the canvas, and to much of Jungwon's surprise, he jerked the frame outwards.

Before Jungwon could shout a couple of expletives, Riki heaved the painting higher, revealing a large, door-sized hole.

"Nice," Riki smirked. "No, not nice, we should definitely not go in there-"

"I'm going in there," The vampire announced, and grabbed Jungwon's hand, dragging him in after him.

Utterly speechless, Jungwon let himself be yanked down, then he finally came to his senses and tugged at Riki. "We shouldn't be doing this, what were you thinking?" Jungwon hissed. "I agree," Riki nodded, "We should have brought a jacket. It's colder than expected. And I'm a vampire."

"This is serious," Jungwon bit at him, "We shouldn't be going to places without permission."

"You sound like a goody-two-shoes," Riki rolled his eyes, "We'll be fine. I just want to see what's down here, It's not everyday you find a secret trapdoor in a wall. Especially since I thought I knew all the places around the house."

The staircase was dirty and stained, with brown crusty smudges that looked a lot like blood. Which did not comfort Jungwon in any way. But Riki seemed right at home, which is why he led the way.

The glow of something was reflected onto the wall, which made Jungwon grab Riki by the shoulder to stop him. The younger only shrugged his hand off and stepped forward cautiously.

It was quite a sight.

Clear glass boxes, four metres tall and almost ten metres wide, framed with sturdy metal stood before them. Bright LED lights glared from above, illuminating the whole room. Beside the boxes were long tables against a wall, with large screens hung over them. Currently, the screens displayed various angles of the boxes from the inside, but the boxes were empty. Computers and keyboards were lined on the table, wires curling up and down and all around.

"What is this place?" Jungwon asked in shock and almost horror, and for once Riki had no smart retort.

Heels clicked against the floor, and they were surprised to see Hera standing behind them on the staircase. She too looked mildly intrigued that they were here.

Riki asked, "Hera?" and at the same time she said, "What are you doing here?"

"What's going on?" Riki ignored her question, instead gesturing to the boxes behind. Hera's hold on her clipboard tightened, then she let out a sigh of almost defeat. "We didn't want you, all of you, to have to know," She said softly, "Maybe you would feel safer. This..." Her eyes trailed across the equipment and cell-like structures. "This is for the werewolves when they shift," She confessed, "We need to keep them and you safe, so we have them in here."

"And they willingly come here?" Jungwon questioned, baffled that anyone, wolf or not, would be okay with being in such an enclosure.

"Well, no," Hera bit her lip, "But we have to. Enough questions, you shouldn't be here. If Hestia found out..." She didn't finish her sentence, but the idea was clear. So as they were escorted up, Jungwon wondered if there were other things in this castle just as pleasant as those cells.