Fluctuating Beats

Teaser

You felt light. As if you were hanging in mid-air, in an unconscious state between being awake and asleep. Your vision was hazy making your surroundings look blurry and out of focus. All sound seemed to have been switched off except a mild ringing in your ears, similar to the one heard after a gunshot that was too close.

You turned on your heel, your boots kicking up dirt and dust as you looked around through the fuzzy darkness. As you strained your eyes, someone appeared out of the darkness to your right. They were sprinting towards you as if their life depended on it.

A silent fiery explosion lit up your eyes making a wave of heat lick up your face. It illuminating the silhouette of the figure as they paused for a moment, glancing behind them.

You could recognise who it was by his hair. Minho was the only one who's hair stayed so perfect when he was doing something physically demanding. You could recognise his the shadows of his strong arms anywhere.

"Minho," A smile flicked onto your face as you waved, your voice echoing around you as if you were stood in the middle of a deep well. "Minho?" You questioned your smile fading as he didn't stop to acknowledge you, he simply kept running as if you were completely invisible.

A sudden burst of gunshots rang around you making you jump and cover your ears at the unexpected noise. You turning your head side to side frantically trying to find the source of the noise, but saw no sign of anyone around you.

You snapped your eyes to Minho and saw him kneeling on the ground a little way from you with his hands bound behind his back facing the opposite direction.

Taking a tentative step forward, you watched as two figures loomed out of the darkness and stopped in front of him. Their faces were unfocused so no details were visible but you knew who they were from their clothing.

Ava Paige, her white clothes glowing as if she was an untouchable godly figure. Beside her was a man who made your blood boil instantly, you wished you could storm over and kick him in the nuts repeatedly until he puked. Janson. Ratman. The man who'd changed the course of you and your friend's lives. 

"You're going to be very useful for us," Ava's voice echoed in a soft whisper, "You're going to cure so many people."

"I'll never help you," Minho struggled against his restraints. You automatically felt yourself want to move over to help him, but found you couldn't move your legs. Not in the sense that they'd frozen out of fear, it was like you'd been glued in place and no matter how much you tried to move your feet, you couldn't.

You let out a groan as you placed your hands on your ankle in an attempt to pull them off the dusty ground, but it made no difference. You straightened up hastily as Janson moved closer to Minho with something silver in his hand. Your eyes widened as worry rolled down your body like a wave of chilling water. You had a feeling something bad was about to happen and with your feet stuck to the ground, you had no way of intervening.

"MINHO!" You shouted stretching your arm out in warning.

Janson and Ava looked over at you with blank expressions but your eyes were fixed on Minho. His head turned slowly to you, his face the only thing coming into clear focus. His face was glittering with sweat and he was puffing slightly his shoulders rising and falling a little too quickly for someone not doing anything. He nodded to you, a comforting look on his face as if he was encouraging you to conquer one of your greatest fears.