Treasures of The Damned

5. Don't Trust Squirrels

When the Seonghwa animatronic reached out to her, a scream erupted from her throat and she took a few steps back, away from him.

As soon as she did, he stepped forward, still reaching out for her.

"No no no no no." She cursed softly, huffing as she looked around quickly. There was no other way out of the room.

She ran towards the circle of animatronics once more, pressing herself against their cold and metal chest San.

She tried to calm her breathing, looking around with wide eyes as she saw that the Seonghwa animatronic was slowly looking at her with wide eyes.

It opened its mouth to speak, and his deep voice rang through the room. "Song Briar...you can't hide forever." He purred, the voice box 'glitching' as he let out an evil laugh after the words

Briar stayed pressed against San, eyes wide until she felt a shifting behind her. Looking up, she saw the San animatronic had opened his eyes and was staring down at her.

His eyes were the same blood red as Seonghwa's, and another surprising squeak escaped her lips as she tried to get away. But her wrist was being held tightly by San. In her fear, she hadn't even seen him move his arm to grab her wrist. She cried out, struggling a little bit and trying to get away from San.

A few moments later, she was finally able to get free from the harsh grip and turned around. Behind San, Seonghwa smirked sadistically as he tilted his head and purred. "Song Briar~ come to us. We'll help you out~" He purred

"No thank you-" She called back, turning around and turning tail. This time, she was able to get out of the backroom and to the main stage. She took gasping breaths but knew it wasn't smart to stay still and wait for them to find her.

She rushed out of the main building, looking around quickly before rushing to the snack bar. It was a building with tons of different vendors, and she slowly crawled under one of the vendors'' counters, curling up as small as possible and hiding there.

"Where are you, Little Song?" A voice called out in a sing-song voice as the door to the snack bar opened before closing softly.

"There's a kid around-...we need to find her." Another voice whispered.

"She's around here somewhere, I saw her come in here." A third chimed in, sounding excited to be a part of the hunt.

"Well even if she's not here, everyone is looking for her. We'll find her eventually." The second voice said, seeming more commanding.

While she listened closely, she tried to keep her breathing as shallow as possible so it would be harder to hear her.

After a few moments, she was able to guess that Jongho, Wooyung, and Hongjoong were the ones in there with her.

As she stayed there, she just listened in anticipation. After a few moments, she heard a soft chattering noise to her right. Looking over, she saw a small squirrel, probably a baby, staring back at her.

It stayed silent, scared, just staring at her for a few moments before a loud chattering noise came from the animal, staring at Briar for a few more moments before running off.

"What was that?!" Hongjoong called, looking around with narrowed eyes, causing Briar to hold her breath with a small, scared squeak.

"It sounded like a squirrel, Hyung. Coming from the boba vendor." Wooyoung's voice purred, as footsteps made their way closer to the scared girl.

"No no no no no..." she hissed softly, trying to calm herself down as the footsteps got closer, just on the other side of the counter. There was a small pause where no one in the building moved, not Briar or the three animatronics before Wooyoung let out a small, happy noise.

"Come on~...there's nothing wrong with being a little dumb." Wooyoung's teasing voice rang through the entire building and he looked around, smirking and purring a bit, looking around with murderous eyes.

Briar put her hands over her mouth, watching with wide and terrified eyes as Wooyoungs footsteps got closer and closer, moving around the entire counter she was hiding under before gripping the metal table just above her head and crouching.

The moment that Wooyoung crouched to find her, she kicked out at his legs, causing him to stumble back in surprise and fall backward, giving her the freedom she needed to escape from behind the counter.

She looked around quickly, eyes wide. Her hair fell into her face with her panic as she huffed, pushing it out of her face quickly as she made a knot with a pen she saw on the counter, taking in the information around her.

Jongho was standing nearby, only the counter and a few tables separating them, and Hongjoong was closer to the door, both of them staring at Briar.

The 18-year-old kicked out at Wooyoung when he tried reaching for her ankle, and huffed a bit, shaking her head. His cry of pain was the moment of distraction she needed because she was able to run away from Jongho.

Now the only thing standing between her and the door was Hongjoong, who snarled before pausing and looking at a nearby clock. "Hmm...11 pm." he paused before slowly stepping away. "I want to have a little bit more fun tonight. Go. I won't stop the others from attacking you, but I'm letting you go. This once." he narrowed his eyes. "Don't let me regret this decision."

She slowly nodded her head before rushing around him and running out the door, looking around with wide eyes. She pants, feeling like she needed to throw up with all the panic and fear coursing through her veins. She turned right to try and go hide in one of the side buildings but ran smack into the chest of another animatronic.

When she looked up, she was met with the iconic silver hair of her father, who was staring down at her with blood-red eyes.

After a few moments' pause, Mingi blinked and looked down at her, his eyes now a light green, just barely glowing with the wired and CPU behind them.

"Briar...?" His voice was soft and gentle, much different from the other voices she'd heard all evening. He stared at her, not saying anything before suddenly he turned tail and ran.