Bullets & Bondage

#13 Don't Stop For Anything

You awake with a jolt. Someone is shaking your shoulder and shouting. You force your eyes open to stare into the frantic face of Jimin.

"Jimin," you say, "what is it? It's still dark outside."

The curtains are pulled back, as you had left them when you went to bed, to reveal silver moonlight in an inky blackness. It's the only light in the bedroom, illuminating the handsome man's face, leaning over you with his arm on your shoulder.

"No time to explain, get the kids up and follow me quickly," he says, his tone is serious, mixed with a hint of panic. You can tell something is wrong.

Groggily, you sit up. Picking up a sleeping Haneul and taking Ayden's hand, you quickly follow the pink-haired man.

Jimin pauses momentarily in the doorway, checking if it's safe, before motioning for you to follow him into the hallway and to the left.

"Jimin, seriously, what's going on?" you say.

Bam suddenly begins to growl from downstairs.

"It's because you've been found," Jimin says.

Your stomach drops and you clutch your children close to you. If anything happened, they were your top priority. Their safety before anyone else.

"What do we do?" you say, "where's Hoseok?"

"Hoseok's keeping watch with a gun. We knew something like this could happen, which is why I'm going to have to reveal to you my secret escape route," Jimin explains.

This time, muffled voices from outside the front of the house mix with Bam's barking.

"Crud," Jimin says, gritting his teeth. "We need to move faster, they're at the front, now."

"Mommy," Ayden says, "I'm scared."

"I know, Hunny, I'm scared too," you reply, squeezing his hand. "But I promise that I won't let anything bad happen to either of you."

Jimin leads you into a room filled with nicknacks scattered about and resting on a shelf. Closing the door softly behind you all, Jimin crosses the room and pulls at a book on the bookshelf, resting in a neat row amongst others. The bookshelf shutters and swings open to reveal a dimly lit tunnel.

"After you," he says, gesturing to the eery tunnel.

You're still in shock at the fact that he has a secret passage leading to who knows where in his house.

"Where does it lead?" you ask.

Sudden banging on the front door and angry shouting cause you and the kids to jump.

"Does it matter?" Jimin scowls, cocking his head to the side.

You don't argue and enter the secret passage.

"You're not coming with us?" you ask when Jimin doesn't follow.

He shakes his shaggy head. "Hoseok will need my help. You'll be safe here, don't worry. Just follow the tunnel until it ends, and, when it does, say the word 'bullets.' And remember, don't stop for anything, whatever you do."

He gives you no explanation as the tunnel entrance swings shut, leaving you both confused and scared.

"Where are we going?" Ayden asks as you lead him deeper into it.

"I'm sleepy, Mommy," Haneul says.

"I don't know, Ayden, but we need to trust Jimin Hyung. Rest your head on me, Haneul."

You walk for a bit in silence, passing by cobwebs and rickety lanterns, lighting up the dark tunnel. The only sound that can be heard is your bare feet plodding along the earthy floor and heavy breaths. No sounds of Bam barking. No sounds of the men that had been banging on the front door. No sounds of Jimin or Hoseok. And even no sounds of the night.

"Are Jimin and Hoseok hyung gonna be okay?" Ayden asks, causing you to jump a little at the sudden sound.

"Yes, of course, they'll be. They're really good at what they do," you tell him.

"What do they do?"

You bite your lip, hesitating for a second. "They're assassins, and highly trained ones," you finally say.

"Assassins? But I thought that they were detectives."

"No, honey, Daddy lied to you. He lied to all of us."

"Why?" Ayden presses.

"Because he wanted to protect us. He didn't want us to worry about him or be in any sort of danger by knowing the things he was doing."

"To protect us? Protect us from the bad people who are trying to hurt our family?"

You nod, swallowing back tears.

The tunnel continues on and on and you don't know how long it's been. Twenty? Thirty? Forty minutes?

"Can we stop to rest?" Ayden asks, "my feet are hurting."

"Jimin Hyung said not to stop for anything," you tell him.

Ayden whines.

"Here," you say, squatting down.

He wraps his arms around your neck and you continue on like that for some time more. Haneul in your left arm and Ayden on your back. Despite the aching pain you feel from carrying them both, you press on, gritting your teeth. "Don't stop for anything, whatever you do." Those were the words that Jimin had said before he closed the entrance. Why he'd said those words? You have no idea, but you trust him. You trust all the members of The Bullets with your and your kids' lives.

Finally, after what's felt like an eternity, you pause to stretch your back, setting both of the kids down. The soreness had been too much and you'd been dying for a rest.

It'd only been five minutes tops, but a shadow of a man suddenly emerges some distance down the tunnel. Your heart stops and you quickly grab the kids, backing the way you'd come from. "We stopped. We stopped when Jimin had said not to," your brain says. A glint of steel in his hands, a menacing posture. It can't be one of the boys. The shadow continues forward, and you start to run, dragging Ayden behind you and jostling Haneul in your arms.

"Stop!" the voice commands, it's not one you recognize. "Put your hands down, now!"

Panic grips your heart, but you don't listen.

His footsteps thunder on the ground as begins to pursue you. "We're dead," is the only thought that fills your head as you try desperately to flee.

"It's over," the voice says. A gun cocks not far behind you. "Might as well give up now, before I blow your brains out. Or you can come willingly."

You stop, tired and breathless, and slowly, turn to face your pursuer. A man dressed head to toe in black, his face covered, points a silver revolver at your head.

"Night," his voice is filled with a creepy glee.

"Bullets," you shout, before closing your eyes.

You're not sure exactly why you'd decided to shout it. You hadn't reached the end of the tunnel, but it seemed to be the end of your tunnel of life, so it was worth a shot.

Hugging your children close to you, you wait for your end. "Jimin had said 'don't stop for anything, whatever you do' for a reason." Perhaps he knew this would happen.

A gunshot goes off.