CAGES OF LOVE || KIM TAEHYUNG FF

121. Growing Fear

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A faint ringing echoed somewhere inside her head as her body lay completely still, her cheek pressed against the cold, dusty floor that reeked of rust and mold. Her head throbbed with a dull, pounding ache, and her temple burned from a sting. The air was thick, almost suffocating, and the sharp stench of sweat, metal, and something acrid filled her lungs the moment she inhaled.

Her senses started awakening slowly. Her eyes didn't open at first. Only her body began to register the pain in her entire body.

A trail of blood dampened down the side of her face and into her skull. Strands of her hair sticking to her cheek. Her lips parted. Head shifted.

Somewhere in the distance, metal creaked and footsteps shuffled, but her mind was slow to catch up, as if her consciousness was swimming through mud. Her muscles screamed when she tried to move. Every joint ached, and every limb felt like it had been twisted. Her ribs refused to expand properly.

Her fingers twitched first, a weak movement, before her eyelids fluttered open in a haze of pain and confusion. As she forced herself to move, groaning, her eyes finally adjusted to the room around her, and what she saw made her stomach churn.

Y/n sat up with a jolt, her eyes wide awake now, her breath ragged. The pain shot through her body like someone had shoved needles under her skin, but she ignored it. Her eyes frantically moved across.

There were girls everywhere.

At least twenty of them, huddled, slumped, unconscious, or barely awake. A few were wide-eyed and trembling, clinging to their own knees, while others lay motionless. Some had been beaten so badly that their faces were barely recognizable-purple bruises, bleeding lips, swollen cheeks, and torn sleeves.

If that was not enough, what she saw next stole whatever breath she had left.

A familiar face amongst the girls.

"Ara.." Y/n's lips mumbled as she watched Ara lying on the floor, motionless. She was in office clothes which were completely stained and she was not bruised at all. Probably just drugged.

Y/n looked around, holding her breath. The space they were in was big but suffocating, built like a large metal shipping container. It was old, scratched, and coated in a thick layer of dust that rose in the air with every breath or movement.

The light came only from one flickering bulb above, casting an ugly yellow tint over the rusted walls. Chains clinked quietly in one corner. The ground was uneven, cold, and stained with God-knows-what. It wasn't just a room. It was a holding cell.

Y/n's stomach churned. Her throat formed a lump.

The last memory she could grasp was of her mother's room-those pictures that she was watching. The picture of him kissing her forehead in their garden, her mother's journal mentioning his name, was the last thing imprinted on her mind.

Where was she now? And how -

She didn't even get a second to think when someone burged in through the door, making everyone flinch. Y/n turned her head, looking at him with her big horrified eyes.

A man was standing tall at the door, smoking a cigarette. His eyes moved around the girls like he was inspecting them, and her blood ran colder than the floor beneath her when his gaze landed on her, causing a smirk to curl on his lips.