ethereal | park jimin | ✓

chapter 16 hiding in the dark

Taehyung is the rudest boy I have ever spoken to. It's as if he believes I can't see him glaring at me in the dark.

Unfortunately, I feel sympathy towards him like I do for Jimin. I am willing to brush off his attitude on account of a lifetime of suffering in this horrible place. Like Jimin, Taehyung doesn't trust new people and wants to protect his family. Yet Jimin was more optimistic about escape but that's probably because he realized he could do it.

Taehyung has a point about the difficulty of escaping this place. It would be impossible to do it without outside help. The only thing giving me hope is that Jimin is coming to rescue his family anyway.

I sit quietly in the dark cage and stare at the door beyond the cage doors. We are in a larger cage than before in a warehouse-like area. There is a faint light behind the door with shadows moving back and forth meaning there is somebody guarding the door.

In the distance, the echoes of screams bounce off the thick metal walls of the warehouse. I silently pray that it isn't Hoseok's screams.

As I try to curl up into a ball, my muscles ache sharply in protest. I wince as I press my elbows into my sides, attempting to block out the cold air. I rest my bruised chin on my knee and stare off into space, struggling to form a solid plan of escape that would help Jimin instead of hinder him.

In the movies, the rescuers and prisoners end up jinxing themselves and landing themselves in huge messes due to a difference in escape plans. The rescuers would show up at the place where the prisoners should be, but they aren't because they already escaped and are wandering around, and then the rescuers get caught and the former prisoners have to go rescue the ones—, you know what I mean.

I'd like to avoid that situation as best I can.

Taehyung's deep voice draws me out of my planning. "They're coming. I can hear them."

I blink in surprise, giving him an odd look. "Coming for me?"

"Yes, you," he snaps, "of course for you. I'm just giving you a heads up." He looks away from me and pulls Jungkook's sleeping body closer to him as if to protect him.

I try to mentally brace myself but the sound of the slamming door causes all calm thoughts to escape my mind like fleeing mice. I jump back and drag my bruised self to the center of the cage, instinctively moving away from the bars of the cage.

A man walks into the large room and approaches the cage in a threatening manner. He leans down and picks up a random piece of pipe to swing at his side. He reaches the cage and bangs the metal bars with the pipe causing the sound to echo loudly.

Jungkook stirs from his sleep as Taehyung moves in front of him, trying to block him from plain sight.

They really do protect their own, I think to myself. Would Jimin protect me too?

I grimace as I scoot further from the cage door. Pain throbs in my skull when he hits the pipe to the bars again.

Stop thinking about that. You can't rely on him to save you. You have to stay strong for as long as you can.

Keeping my mouth shut about his whereabouts is how I am going to protect him. How I am going to help save the others? Thinking of this situation in a noble way helps ease some of the gut-wrenching fears I have developed.

"Good, you're awake," the man's voice sends a shiver of dread down my spine. He is the man who tortured us earlier. "I hope you thought about what I asked, Miss Eden."

I swallow hard as I lean away from him. I wrap my arms around myself to protect all my vital organs. My heart pounds hard against my chest; its beat echoes in my aching head. I shake my head at the horrible man, "I won't change my answer."