Amnesia

XVII.

Jeongguk handed Taehyung to Hoseok, then sprinted down the stairs. Some of the rest of the group shouted at him, trying to ask where he was going, but he didn't stop. There was a loud banging noise from the kitchen, and several objects clattered to the floor.

"How much water has he had to drink today?" Seokjin asked.

"Clearly not enough. The heat's gone to his head," Yoongi replied.

Remy rubbed her arm. "You know, it shouldn't be this hot here," she said quietly. "In fact, in Death Valley in the wintertime, it should get cold enough at night that you could see your breath."

"Oh yeah, I forgot it was winter," Hoseok said. He coughed and used his shirt sleeve - still the same shirt he had worn for the concert - to wipe his face. "Isn't Christmas soon?"

Remy nodded. "Christmas is in three days. The day after tomorrow is Christmas Eve."

Taehyung swore. "I was supposed to spend Christmas with my family."

Namjoon nodded. "We all were supposed to spend Christmas with our families."

It was only then that Remy remembered what the concert had been. It had been a charity concert, raising money so families in need could have good meals on Christmas.

It was a concert that was run so people in need could do something nice for themselves on a holiday, and it was being paid for by a bunch of rich kids with wealthy parents that couldn't even remember what the concert was actually for unless they were in a life or death situation. All those rich kids cared about was seeing their idols perform.

Maybe all of this was bound to happen to someone in that arena. Instead of asking herself why me, perhaps the better question would be why not me?

Still, maybe they all had a chance to get out of this. Maybe they all still had a chance to be with their families on Christmas. "You might still," she said.

There was another crash from the kitchen. Taehyung crossed himself, his eyes lifted up to the heavens. Whatever sort of mojo he was asking for from a higher power, Remy was pretty sure they could use some of it.

"What's he doing?" Hoseok asked, referring to the boy in the kitchen.

Remy did not have an answer to that one. Perhaps the conclusion she had come to just a minute earlier was not the same one the maknae of BTS had come to.

Jeongguk was tearing the kitchen apart when they got there. "Where's the gun?" he asked in hurried, highly-accented English.

"What?" Remy asked. First things first, why was he looking for a gun, and second things second, hadn't Remy had it with her when they were talking outside and he had that weird waking-dream attack?

"You brought it in with you right after I said the thing about the dream that freaked you out. Then you passed out in the living room."

She had? She didn't remember ever walking inside. "Uhh..." her eyes landed on the drawer where she had found the photograph of the young boy. She pointed to it. "Try there."

Jeongguk practically yanked the drawer off its hinges opening it. Remy almost wanted to scold him, saying this wasn't their house to abuse, but then she stopped herself. Maybe it was their house. Maybe they were supposed to abuse it. Maybe it was there to be abused. Or maybe it was there so it could abuse them.

If that was the case, it was doing a fantastic job of kicking their asses.

The gun clattered to the cheap white linoleum flooring with a painful clank, and Jeongguk grabbed it before it could even bounce. "Show me how to use it," he said, thrusting it at Remy.