ethereal | park jimin | ✓

chapter 17 ninja mode

By some miracle, I am able to calm myself down and gather my thoughts. The terror I felt when faced with Sam is beginning to fade leaving me alone with my rational thoughts. As I sit in the dark, I begin to realize that something inside of me changed.

After being attacked on Wednesday and electrocuted by Sam, I realize that I'm not the same Eden I was.

Where was the Eden that was worried about money for school? Where was the Eden who thought the worst thing in her life was her parents coming to visit her over a weekend? Grades and saving money were all that mattered to me. I'd risk my mental and physical health over it.

Now all I can think about is surviving the night and saving these hybrids from their cruel fates. I remember the sting of the electricity. I can still feel the man's fists beating against me, throwing me to the ground, and staining the snow red with blood.

All I can think about is Jimin and if he's safe, more so than worrying about if I'm safe.

I never had to care about somebody else in this way. I didn't think these emotions were possible in real life. This sort of thing doesn't happen in real life. I wasn't prepared to face any of this, but then again, you never really are.

The only thing I can do now is hope I don't end up dead in a ditch, and pray we can escape from this place without further mental trauma.

My head isn't helping me cope with my situation. It hurts so much I can barely see straight. Yet I can't afford to dwell on the pain lancing through my body.

There is suffering happening all around me. There are people in this place who are suffering a worse fate than I. And I think it's my job to save them from it.

Maybe this grandiose thinking is keeping me from falling apart. Maybe it's the sense of duty that encourages me to continue marching forward toward the goal of freedom.

I've gained perspective on the other side of the world of hybrids, and it's not in my nature to sit back and do nothing.

In the past, I believed hybrids weren't my issue and I didn't understand them enough to have a say in the matter. I felt like it was my job to accept hybrids as they were, but that was the extent of it.

Now all I want to do is save them.

They don't deserve this life. They deserve to be free from this horrible place.

So I'll do my best, and pray the odds are in our favor tonight.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

"I still can't believe this is working," I whisper as I help Jungkook drag the body of the unconscious guard towards the cage. Taehyung opens the cage door wider and allows us to set the guard inside the cage.

Jungkook kneels beside the man and starts yanking off his clothes. "Here," he hands me the guard's thick, gray jacket and matching cap. "You need it more than us. If we get caught, you'll tell them that you're taking us to the lab to run further tests."

Taehyung shuts the cage door quietly and jogs towards the door. He peeks through the small crack before looking back at us. "The coast is clear. We need to go," he says.

I move as quickly as I can manage but the stabbing pain in my ribs forces me to slow my pace. I swallow hard as I ease my arm into the other sleeve. I zip up the jacket and shove my hair underneath the cap.

Jungkook tosses up the guard's keycards and I catch it between my fingers. I shove it into my side pocket as I jog carefully to the door. I peer over Taehyung's shoulder to get a better look, "Should I go first?" I ask.