The Monster From The Nightmares

23. Aggression

Six Months Later

Autumn lays on her bed, her hand raised to the ceiling, sparks flying off her fingertips. Over the last few months, each of the boys had taught her how to use and control the power she had gained from them. Her favorite one to use was Chen's. She loved the feeling of electricity flowing through her veins. Her least favorite, while she still loved it, was Yixing's. Mainly because she only used it after the boys had tortured another victim. That was something she still didn't agree with, but what was could she do?

"When do you think she's going to figure out our lies?" someone asks outside her door.

"Be quiet, this is her door!" someone else hisses. Autumn gets up curiously and presses her ear against the door.

"She won't Yixing," the same voice whispers, she recognizes it as Suho.

"She's a smart girl Suho. She's bound to...." the voices fade out, they must've walked away.

What the hell?

She transports herself to Chen's room, where he nearly jumps out of his skin.

Over the past few months, along with his power being her favorite, the two had become close. At first he had tried romantic advances, but she brushed him off. Now, he was content just being like her older brother.

"Jesus Nim-nim, you scared me!" he laughs when he realizes it was just her. He sobers at her serious face, "What's wrong?"

"Chen, how long have you been here?" she asks quietly.

"I don't get it," Chen replies, tilting his head.

"How long have you been a part of Exo?"

"Since I was four, when my powers first developed. Why?"

"So you were around when the boys in the basement were first put down there?"

"Yeah..." Chen answers cautiously, "Nim-nim, why are you asking me these questions?"

"I want to see what happened with them," she answers quietly, playing with her hair. It's natural color had returned.

"Autumn, you don't need to know!" Chen shouts at her. She flinches, he never used her actual name, "We've already told you what happened, what more could you need! What has just inspired you not to trust us?"

"I heard Suho and Yixing talking about how I was bound to do something because I was a smart girl."

"Jesus Autumn, they were talking about a prank Chanyeol and Baekhyun were planning to pull on you and Jongin tomorrow!"

That didn't sound right. She had no doubts that the two derps would pull that on her, but not on Jongin. He wasn't getting better and was over exhausting himself. She witnessed him dancing for six hours straight with no break. He only stopped when he couldn't move anymore and she had to call Yixing to help take the tired boy to his room.

Chen was hiding something.

"Oh, okay," she replies, then hangs her head, "Sorry Chen."

He places a hand on her shoulder and squeezes it gently.

"It's fine Nim-nim, just don't ask stupid questions ok?"

She nods while hatching a plot in her mind. She was going to need food.

〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️

Autumn slips into the kitchen while Kyungsoo is busy cooking. He was singing a ballad song and she has to refrain from staying back and listening like she normally would. She takes two slices of bread, two apples, and two bottles of water,then teleports back to her room.

She heaves a sigh before picturing Kris and Luhan's faces. She is horrified to find she doesn't remember what they look like.

Think Autumn, think.

The CCTV's!

She grabs her remote and turns on the special channel Xiumin had showed her. He said if she wanted, she could watch the torture of others if she wanted. She had never used it until now.

She flips through the CCTV cameras footage until she sees two naked figures hanging by chains in a filthy room. Both were extremely emaciated and dirty, dried blood on their bodies as well. Her heart clenches, they were barely breathing. There was a single, clean tray of untouched food in the center of the room. She feels like vomiting. The food was there to torture them. She takes in the room in her memory and wills herself there.

The smell hits her first. It is so horrible, she feels her eyes watering. She uses her sweater to shield her nose, then looks up. The boys looked worse in real life. Their hair was overgrown and oily, caked with God knows what.

She has to stare at both figures in order to figure out which one was which, both were so hunched over so much. She grabs an item of food, a banana, and walks over to the one chained on the left.

She touches his face, his skin was so cold. She gets a good look at his face, his eyes were closed and his lips were chapped. She breaks the banana into a small chunk and presses it to his lips.

"Come on, eat," she pleads softly. She wills herself to use Yixing's power to heal him a bit.

His chapped lips open slightly and he takes the small piece in his mouth. She can see him swallow. She swiftly presses another small piece to his lips, again and again, until the banana was gone. She runs over and takes another and comes back to him.

"W-water," he groans weakly, trying to lift his head. His voice was so raspy, it was barely audible.

"Okay."

She teleports back to her room and grabs the water bottles before going back. She unscrews the cap and tilts his head back before pouring a bit into his mouth. She lets him swallow before pouring more in.

When the water is gone, he tries to raise his head again, failing.

"L-lu-lu," he croaks, "H-h-he-lp... L-lu-lu."

Her eyes tear up. This was Kris? The strong, handsome, unbeatable Kris was now shriveled over, barely alive. Her heart twists, even now he was so selfless, telling her to help Luhan before he was satisfied.

She obeys what he says and starts with Luhan.

🔹🔹🔹🔹

Jongin watches Autumn move around in the basement, taking care of the boys. He knows he should tell the others, but he doesn't move. He just watches, unblinking. After a few minutes, he turns off the TV and heads to the dance room for another sleepless night.