MAVERICK: Back in the Game (TBZ)

Prologue

Ju Haknyeon awakes with a jolt, springing upright. Sweat drips off of him and his heart pounds inside of his chest like a hundred horses thundering through a town. He can feel his hair soaked with perspiration and plastered to his head.

Haknyeon's eyes slowly maneuver around the dark dorm-room and land on the sleeping figures of his roommates: Kim Younghoon and Lee Sangyeon. They are both fast asleep, Sangyeon's phone resting on a nightstand to one side, softly playing The Boyz' song, "Walking In Time."

As his eyes grow more accustomed to the darkness, he flinches when Sangyeon suddenly snorts and rolls over in his bed, pulling the sheets with him. The leader of his K-Pop group has messy curls of brown hair sticking out in every direction. Younghoon, in the other bed, remains deathly still with one hand propped over the top of his head, his long luscious dark brown waves of hair fluttering gently by the fan overhead.

Gradually, Haknyeon's heart slows down to a more normal pace and he wipes his eyes with his clammy hands. What had I been dreaming about? He shakes his head. Whatever it was, it had horrified him enough to jerk him awake from a hard sleep.

As he lowers his hands, he notices a strange white mist filtering under the door of the room. He cocks his head to one side, curiosity surging through him. He climbs out from under the blankets and begins to walk toward the door.

Haknyeon drops down, when a poof of mist slams into his face. A sweet, almost fruity smell hits his nostrils and instantly makes him feel light-headed. He staggers to his hands, falling sideways on the floor.

"Hey, Sangyeon, you should..." Haknyeon begins to say in a drunken-state, as his visibility clouds over more and more.

The last thing he sees is the door opening up, light engulfing the misty room and then he hits the ground.

After a few more seconds, his hearing becomes muffled, like he is underwater or inside of a glass box. The last thing he hears is a piercing muffled scream from behind him in the room, before his hearing cuts out completely.

His eyes close and everything is plunged into a deep, pitch blackness.