VAMPIRE SURVIVAL - ENHYPEN

Escape?

- Hey guys, author here. Soz on the short chapter from yesterday, so I'm here to make up for it as I promised ;) I always keep my promise to my readers. If you are enjoying this, please share with others as it means so much to me since it is my first story. Please also consider voting/commenting. Thanks! Back to the story...

I stared at the scene playing out before me, my breathing strangely calm. I'd just witnessed my first death, yet I felt nothing. Perhaps it was the shock, or the way it had just happened. Deaths in stories seem so dramatized and slow, but seven year old me had simply come across a girl choking to her death in the forest. One moment she was talking to my companion and I, and the next she was gone. Maybe my ability to numb my emotions was what has allowed me to survive throughout all these years. Through every murder I've ever witnessed, I've managed not to think too deeply into things. Perhaps its because I've been accustomed to loss for a long time. But I know that all the pain that I've simply thrown away has been stacking up in the back of my mind for years, pulling me down.

Yet although I hadn't fully processed Ameena's death, seeing Ni-ki lying there on the grass, tears streaming down his cheeks convulsing slightly, caused a pang in my heart, and a few tears came to the back of my eyes. That's when I realized that I cared for Ni-ki: that for the first time in a long time, I found myself wanting to protect someone and make sure that they never got hurt. It was a strange feeling since after my mother left me I'd learnt to trust no one and only care for myself. Realizing that I had clung to this boy so readily made me feel vulnerable. What if he left me too? But for some reason I pushed those thoughts away and put a hand on Ni-ki's shoulder, patting it.

'Ni-ki...' I began to talk, hoping to say something comforting but realizing I didn't know what to say. 'She's... she's gone.'

'I know that! Otherwise why would I be crying?' he asked, pushing my hand away. I retracted it sadly. I'd never had a way with emotions or sympathy.

'Who was she?' I asked, deciding against comforting him in case I said anything else that was stupid. Instead I got straight to the point. 'How long have you known her?'

'Since as long as I can remember. She joint the orphanage before any of us, so we've all known her since we were young. She was like an older sister to us. What happened? Why did she die? Who did this to her? Why is she telling us to run away?' Ni-ki sobbed.

'I don't know... but I have a feeling we should listen to her. I've only been here for a day but I have a bad feeling about this orphanage already,' I told him, looking around and shivering. Suddenly we heard footsteps approaching in the crunching leaves.

'Ni-ki! Sophie! Where are you? Did you find the ball?' I heard Jungwon's voice coming from behind us. He came into view, Heeseung, Jay, Jake, Sunghoon and Sunoo behind him. They each looked between the two of us and then saw the body. I heard gasps from all of them.

'What happened!?' Sunghoon exclaimed. Sunoo's hands were covering his mouth, and I saw a tear streak down his cheek. Jay took his glasses from his face in astonishment and Jake took a tiny step back, feeling the ground with his feet as though he were making sure it was still there. Jungwon cowered behind Heeseung, who was staring with his lips parted slightly and his eyes filled with shock.

'Hyungs! We found her whilst looking for the ball. She told us to run away from the orphanage, she said they did this to her, she told us to escape!' Ni-ki said between sobs. Jungwon ran to Ni-ki's side and put an arm around his shoulder, gently turning him away from the body.

'Ni-ki ya, who exactly did she say did this to her?' he asked. Ni-ki shook his head.

'She just said to run away before they do to us what they did to her, she didn't say anything else,' Ni-ki replied. Heeseung rubbed his face with his hand, sniffling.

'Sophie, Ni-ki, you two should go back to the dorms and rest. The rest of you make sure that they're OK. I'm going to sort this out,' he commanded.

'No you're not! Ameena just died! We can't just go and rest!' Ni-ki exclaimed, his tears dripping onto the grass. He looked younger than usual, his small features contorted with pain as he gritted his teeth through the tears. I'd never seen him look so small and vulnerable.

'Ni-ki, there'd nothing we can-' Heeseung was cut off by sudden shouts approaching us from somewhere in the distance.

'Where is she!? You didn't poison her yet did you? We weren't done with our experiment!' a voice rung out in the forest. It was rough and intimidating.

'I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again. But we've got another one, haven't we? That Heeseung boy, he's old enough for the experiments, isn't he?' a more timid voice said. Sophie's blood ran cold. She glanced up at Heeseung, who was frozen to the spot. She opened her mouth but he covered it, indicating not to make a noise with an index finger to his lips.

'He's not thirteen yet, we've still got at least a month,' the third voice was more serious.

'Why do we even have to wait? Just start them now,' said the first voice.

'As you wish, sir,' the third voice replied.

'Find him now and start the experiments,' the first voice ordered. We all stared at Heeseung, who still had his index finger to his lips.

'Hyung... we need to get out of here,' Jake muttered. Heeseung looked at him, barely breathing. The footsteps were coming closer and closer. It was now or never. Heeseung drew his palm away from my mouth and grimaced.

'Run.'