The Girl with the Rose Tattoo

Chapter 3

**5 days after the attack**

(Jaehyeong's POV)

I awoke to the sound of sniffling, something small and gentle tugging on my sleeve. Opening my eyes, I'm greeted by one of the youngest residents of the orphanage, tears running down his cheeks.

"Junho-ah, what's wrong?" I quietly asked in concern, not wanting to wake Hajoon. Wiping the drowsiness from my eyes, I checked the time, wondering what could have happened this late at night.

"Hyung... I had a nightmare..." came his whimpered reply, his bottom lip trembling as he looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Shh... It's okay." I reassured him, pulling him into a tight embrace and stroking his hair. Once I was satisfied that he had calmed down, I pulled away and gently took his soft hand into my own. "Do you want to go back to your room now?"

A gentle nod from the younger gave me the confirmation I needed. Swinging my legs out from under my warm duvet, I slowly stood up and lead Junho out into the hallway, back towards his room. Nothing could prepare me for what I saw next.

Two mysterious, towering figures loomed over us in the darkness. They were wearing all-black, masks covering their faces and hiding their true identities. Was this a robbery? I instinctively stepped in front of Junho, protecting him from these strange men. I opened my mouth to speak, but one of the men cut me off before I had a chance to.

"Oh, dont worry, It's not him we want." The man almost spoke with a sort of venom dripping from his voice, what I could only imagine to be a smug grin plastered across his face, hidden by his mask. I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, as his intimidating stare sent a sudden chill down my spine.

Before I could react, the small boy behind me scarpered off to his room as the figures before me crept ever closer. I froze, paralysed with fear. My mind was screaming at me to move, to run as fast as I could away from these men, but no matter how much I wanted to, my legs refused to move, glued to the floor beneath me.

"Now, be a good boy and don't make a sound. I'd hate to have to get violent." The other man spoke, his voice dripping with venomous hostility.

From my frozen state, I watched despairingly as they made their way towards me. 'I need to get away! I'd probably be able to out-run them!' The inner conflict only added to the fear in my trembling body.

It was only when one of the men, the taller one, pulled out what appeared to be a sort of rope, that my legs finally started to listen. A sudden much-needed surge of adrenaline propelled me away from them, all conflict is gone, the only thought in my head is to escape.

I heard one of the men swear loudly behind me, and fear welled up inside me as I heard quick heavy footsteps, betraying the obvious speed of my pursuers.

I had hardly made it to the end of the hallway before one of them grabbed at my arm. Instinctively, I opened my mouth to scream, only to have any sounds muffled by a piece of fabric, some sort of makeshift gag.

I continued to struggle, I had to get away. Realising it was my only option at this point, I kicked. Upon feeling a set of arms leaving me, I pushed at the other man with all of my remaining strength. I was free!

The fleeting moment was interrupted when I felt a strong hand grasp onto my head, painfully pulling my hair and a snarl resounded in the room: "You'll pay for that one you bastard!"

These were the last sounds I heard before my head was brutally slammed into the wall and my vision went black.

(Hajoons POV)

I wake suddenly, every thought in high definition. Though my eyes are open I can't think of why; my heart is pounding, a sudden feeling of dread settling in the pit of my stomach. It's as if a hypodermic of adrenaline has been emptied into my carotid. I strain into the utter darkness, breathing rate beginning to steady.

It wasn't until I noticed that Jaehyeong's bed was empty that my worst fears had been realised. He was gone. This wasn't normal, he never went anywhere by himself, especially without me. Scrambling to my feet, I rushed into the hallway. That's when I saw it.

In the shadows of the dark hallway stood a strange man. He had Jaehyeong slung over his shoulder, tied up and gagged, with blood dripping down the side of my best friend's head. A mixture of rage and fear bubbled up inside my chest. What have they done to him?

As I was still trying to process the scene I was witnessing, a ragged cloth was pulled over my nose and mouth. I turned my head to the side, attempting to make out the identity of the man behind me, however, his grip was too strong. The scent of the rag was suffocating, a strong chemical stench, making my eyelids droop and my vision blur.

Chloroform.

This was the last thought that ran through my mind before I drifted into unconsciousness.

**2 hours later**

As I rouse from a heavy slumber I am first aware of the coolness of the air and its loamy fragrance. The ground is lumpy as if I were on a bed of rough concrete. I half wonder if I'm dreaming as I sit up to take in the shafts of light that burst through the gaps in the iron bars.

The sound of Jaehyeong talking to two unfamiliar voices pulls my brain back into full consciousness. I had no idea how long I'd been knocked out, but by the looks of it, it was now morning. Moving closer to my friend, I try and make out the conversation he's having with the two strangers.

"So, how long have you two been here?" I hear Jaehyeong ask the taller of the two. He had honey-coloured skin and wavy black hair, his chocolate coloured eyes curiously inspecting us as his labrador daemon sat beside him.

"Two days. You guys are roses too right?" He enquired cautiously.

"Yeah," I replied bluntly, still unsure as to whether to trust these guys. "I'm a blue rose and Jaehyeong is a pink. My name is Hajoon." My eyes are drawn to the back of his cell, where another boy was chained to the wall, his messy black and brown hair falling over his eyes, a wolf daemon lying next to him. "Why is your friend chained up?"

"Ah, that's Woosung, he's a white rose and I'm Dojoon, a red rose. As you probably already know, white roses and black roses are seen as the most dangerous of us, so the people who captured us probably chained him up so we couldn't escape." He explained.

The harsh reality of the situation suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. We had been captured by strange men who were keeping us locked in a cell. Nothing good could possibly arise from this situation. This is it. We're going to die here. The dark thought lingered in my mind as I heard the heavy steel door to the room slowly creak open.