Let me In | Enhypen

| 25 |

All at once speakers in the depot room began sounding out an omnious message. That seemingly sounded innocent at first.

"Welcome to a small game. Now that you've decided to join us as guests in our game, let's play tag."

Fairly innocent, almost something a child would tell you when you've agreed to play a game with them. Maybe it was what made this whole ordeal more sickening, or maybe it was the fact that it was a deep man voice that had spoken it, making it sound like he had smoked at least forty cigarettes before talking into the microphone.

"Let's go over a few rules of the game. We have set taggers out in the hallways, you can identify them by their white masks. Once a tagger has tagged you, you cannot escape. You will have to play a game with them before you can continue. Each game will be determined by rolling a dice, two dices if you're to play in teams of two. Once a game has been decided you'll pick a punishment from a deck of cards with red symbols, and a benefit from another deck of cards with black symbols. Your punishment will be given if you lose, if you win you will recieve your benefit."

Again, if you look beside the point of the taggers wearing masks it seems fairly innocent. A punishment could be having to wait for another round before continuing and a benefit could be skipping a game. It woulid be a pair of creative kids to come up with this.

"Your goal with the game is to find the exit before you sacrifice your life to the game. You will be let out one by one. For the game's first round you have to escape your zipties and agree on who is to start the game. Let the games begin."

The four girls sat scattered around the depot room, unable to see each other due to the tall shelves all around. In one place sat Lin with a tearstained face, another sat Soomin staring out into the air still in shock, a third place sat Jiyeon ripping up the skin of her wrists while she wriggled around her wrists. 

A whole fourth place sat Millie. When they had ziptied her to the shelf she had purposely flexed her wrists and held her hands in fists, so now that she was relaxing in her hands and wrists it allowed her a small space to slip one hand out before the other.

She quietly massaged her wrists before pushing her up from the floor, rushing to walk through the aisles until she found Jiyeon.

"It's just me," Millie whispered in an attempt to not startle the girl, "stop pulling on your wrists," Millie quietly scolded as she reached Jiyeon and watched how scratched her wrists were around the ziptie.

Thankful that she was the one who had the keys to the van Millie knelt down by Jiyeon and inserted the key in a small space between Jiyeon's hands, and began sawing at the ziptie.

A relieved breath escaped Jiyeon as her wrists were freed from teh ziptie, muttering a small thanks to Millie.

"We split up and find Soomin and Lin, alright?" Millie questioned and Jiyeon nodded, immediately rushing in the opposite direction of Millie.

Jiyeon had seen where Soomin had been taken and had some sort of direction she had to go in to find her. Meanwhile it didn't take long for Millie to find Lin and cut her out as well. 

Once Jiyeon had called on Millie she had quickly found Soomin as well, helping the last girl out of her restraints. So now the four girls sat on the floor in silence trying to comprehend what they had to do.

"Let's just choose one to start the game," Lin muttered eventually as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

"What about the boys?" Soomin questioned glancing back and forth between the three girls with her.

"They aren't in here," Millie shook her head, I could see them get lead out of a door from where they zipties me," Millie shook her head. I think it's one of us four that has to start the game."

"Then... the goal should be looking for teh boys, right?" Soomin questioned, "before we try and find the exit."

"Lin you were on track," Millie remarked and looked to Lin, who quietly shook her head.

"I was out the last month of the season because I got an injury in my hip," Lin murmured and rubbed her face, "if you can die of this game I'll be the first one."

"No one is gonna die," Millie immediately shook her head, "who else was on any of the sports teams?"

"Jiyeon-ie," Soomin murmured and all girls looked to Jiyeon, "she was on Volley."

"Can you start the game?" Millie questioned Jiyeon, who began picking at her nails.

"Once you've decided who starts the game she is to move to the exit and start. The remaining players will be let out every hour."

It went silent with the last assignment and the eyes all fell back on Jiyeon once again, as she chewed down on her bottom lip.

"You'll only be out there for an hour," Millie pointed out, "then one of us will come out to help you. Is that alright?"

Jiyeon glanced between the three girls before eventually nodding. Quietly Lin extended a hairtie to Jiyeon, who quickly tied most of her hair back in a low ponytail. It was only the shaggy curtain bangs in front of her face she had trouble tying back.

Quietly Jiyeon got up from the floor and walked along the walls util she eventually reached a door, where a tagger already stood. The white masks ere those face like masks without any marked features besides a generic form of lips and a nose, two holes for the eyes to look out of.

"Is this the exit?" Jiyeon questioned quietly.

"Palm," the tagger extended out his hand, and Jiyeon laid her hand in it with her palm facing upwards.

Without another word the tagger took out a small dagger and quickly cut a bloody 'X' from just under her pointy finger and across her palm, and the other line from under her pinky and all the way over to her thumb.

With no other word exchange the tagger opened the door behind him and Jiyeon hesitantly stepped out into a long hallway, with multiple sideturns, glass showcases - which all were empty. Most of all it looked like a museum.

With weary steps Jiyeon slowly moved down the hallway, holding tightly onto the center of the X in her right hand by pushing down with her left thumb.