The Monster From The Nightmares

21. To Accept Or To Refuse

"I think you should ask her again," Chen states, stealing some of Yixing's popcorn. They had been watching Autumn and Jongin on the TV in Chen's room.

"What makes you say that?" Yixing asks, tossing a piece of popcorn in the air and catching it in his mouth.

"You see what I see: she's either broke or almost there," Chen replies casually, "Let one of the others 'work' on her for a little bit and then offer again."

"She's a stubborn girl," Yixing sighs, "Even when she's broken, she'll hold out as long as she feels like she should."

"Then give her a reason not to," Chen explains, "Believe she shouldn't give in I mean."

"And how do you suggest I do that?"

"Tell her about what those two in the basement 'did'. Show her. The only innocent one was Zitao, and he's dead. Make that fact clear. They're the people she's looking up to. If she doesn't think they're any better than us, maybe she'll give in."

Yixing turns his head and grins, "Sometimes, you amaze me Chen. So, who should we send?"

"Has Suho gotten a turn?"

"I'd have to stand in the room and when he does his 'blood bending' crap, he scares the shit out of me."

"But it's incredibly painful."

"So is getting shocked by lightning."

Chen shakes his head, "Nah, I'm good."

Yixing stares. Since when had Chen ever turned down an opportunity to use his power on somebody.

"Who are you and what have you done to Chen?"

Chen smiles a bit and rolls his eyes.

"Did something happen that I need to know about?" Yixing asks.

"She just managed to get on my good side, that's all," Chen replies, a glazed look in his eye.

Yixing raises an eyebrow, but decides not to ask anymore questions.

"I'll ask Suho, he may freak me out when he blood bends, but it's better than you acting weird."

Yixing gets up and walks to Suho's room to tell him the plan.

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Autumn groans softly as she wakes up. Her body was sore from sleeping on the ground, she had gotten used to sleeping on a bed. Her eyes hurt as well, almost as if she had been crying.

Oh yeah...

She feels her eyes fill with tears again as she remembers the night before.

Zitao's dead.

She leans her head back on the bars as she curls the rest of her body into a ball. She hears keys jangling and she closes her eyes, not knowing or caring who it was.

But suddenly, her blood begins to boil. Literally. Her eyes fly open and she screams in agony. Her body drops to the ground and she begins to writhe in pain.

"Autumn, if you join us, I can make the pain go away," Yixing's voice echos through her head. She shakes her head in earnest. Not a chance that was happening.

"It's you're funeral."

Her blood runs cold, goosebumps traveling up her entire body. It was incredibly painful and her vision begins to blur.

Her body jerks and her cold blood begins to move faster.

"I'll offer again Autumn--"

"No!" she cries, "Never!"

"If you're holding on for Kris and Luhan, they don't deserve it. They're locked up for a reason. They've done bad things."

"Like... What...?" she struggles to ask, her body jerking around uncontrollably.

All of a sudden, her leg bends backwards unnaturally. She cries out in pain as both bones break. But she is unable to fall, some strange force was holding her up, causing her to have to stand on her injured leg.

"They were part of a gang. They kidnapped people and watched them tortured and killed. I'm sure they told you how we found them, right? Well, there's one flaw to their story. The boy they supposedly tried to 'save' from the bigger boys beating him up, they brought that boy to them because his family owed the gang some money. We heard his cries of fear and came running, only to see Kris and Luhan using their powers. We chased off the gangsters and boy and offered them the choice."

"You were going to kill them," Autumn whimpers.

"Autumn, if we had let them walk free after giving them a choice, they'd have come after us."

"What about all the other people you killed," she grunts as her blood heats up again.

It becomes thinner; she can feel it coming out of her eyes and nose and dropping down her face. Her hazy vision has black and red dancing across it.

"The only people we've killed are the girls we brought. All the other people we've found with powers have joined us. Kris, Luhan, and Zitao are the only ones who didn't, and they're alive aren't they?"

"Zitao isn't," she groans.

"That was an accident, he wasn't supposed to die."

Many thoughts run through Autumn's head. Is it possible that Yixing was telling the truth? But if he was, why did the boys in the basement save her? Kris's mother had seemed wonderful and she helped them so much. She had helped them hide...

What if it wasn't just to hide us from the Exo clan?

It was strange that she was able to compile new identities for all four of them overnight. One could only do that if they had connections, perhaps in a gang.

But...

"Think about it Autumn."

She can move on her own again and the first thing she does is collapse to the ground. But she didn't. Strong arms caught her before she could. A cooling sensation spreads through her body, soothing her internal wounds and she can almost feel her blood return to normal. Her leg heals and stops hurting. She moans and opens her eyes to see Yixing looking at her with concerned eyes.

"Autumn, if you don't trust any of the others, trust me. I've never done anything to make you not, have I?"

Her mind argues with itself.

No, he hasn't.

What are you thinking, he's done countless things.

But I want the hurt to stop.

You're stronger than this Autumn.

No, I'm not.

"Autumn?"

"I'll join you," she whispers, "Just make the pain stop for good."

He beams at her, his deep dimples showing. That's the last thing she sees as he hoists her up, the movement causing her to black out.