Tick, Tock. Tick, Tock.

No One's POV

The Seventeen members were getting ready to fight. All of them were holding weapons to protect themselves. It was only in a matter of time before the windows cracked.

The first window to crack was the one beside Jeonghan that was sitting at the shotgun. Jeonghan hit the Vambieres with all his might with the help of S.Coups who drives the van. Unfortunately, the second window to crack was S.Coups'. He was nearly choked by one of the Vambieres if not for Vernon that saved him from the back of S.coups' seat.

"Thanks for saving me, Vernon. "

"You are welcome, leader." Vernon smiles back.

Hoshi looks at the scene with a warm feeling in his chest.

'What... is this feeling?...' He sunk back on his seat, feeling weirded out. He just doesn't know that it was a proud feeling. Proud of his members that work together to help each other during good and bad times.

He looked back at the window beside him. The Vambieres outside his window looked at him weirdly cuz obviously why don't he eat the humans yet?

At last, the Vambieres were entering  from all the windows. The members and Hye In fought hard with the Vambieres. But there were too many of them.

Woozi and Dokyeom worked hard to avoid Hoshi from being dragged away by the Vambieres. Woozi then saw a big hole at a window. But strangely the window has no Vambieres around it.

"Guys, there's a big hole here, beside Dokyeom's seat and there's no Vambieres outside." Woozi informed all of them.

"Good, Jihoon. Now all of us will crawl into the hole to get out of this can without being notice." S.Coups instructed everyone.

The first one to get out of the van was Dokyeom, then Hoshi, Woozi, Vernon and others. The escaped members crawled out of the van to hide behind the boats near the jetty. Yes, they were already near the jetty. If only they were fast enough to go there...

When it was Hye In's turn, the Vambieres started to notice the strange occasion cuz it's getting lesser and lesser people inside the van. There were only Hye In, Seungcheol, and Jeonghan left in the van. The Vambieres started to notice the big hole and slowly crawls into the hole. Hye In can't help but to scream in horror. S.Coups cursed loudly. Jeonghan was shaking in fear.

Seungcheol grabbed Hye In and put her at the front seat with him and Jeonghan.

"W-what are we going to do, Seungcheol ah?" Jeonghan asked with a shaky voice.

S.Coups looked at the situation in front of him. The Vambieres were slowly entering the van. So basically they were trapped. He looked at the now safe members hiding behind the row of boats. He knew they can't do anything to help them.

He also knew that if they wanted to survive, someone had to sacrifice themselves. And he knew that someone is him. He had to sacrifice himself so that the members will be alive.

He is the leader after all.

Jeonghan' s POV

I started to become a nervous wreck when Seungcheol still didn't answer my question. I looked around to see the Vambieres were crawling to the middle seats.

"S.COUPS!!" I shouted in panic.

He seems to come back to the reality. He then looked at me in a stoic face.

"When I count to three, the two of you get out of this van by my door." He said in a serious voice.

"Wait, what about you??" I asked cuz his plan was a bit fishy.

"I will try to bring the Vambieres away from here--"

"In other words, killing yourself?? No, I won't go without you!" How can I live without S.Coups? He is the only person I can rely on along with Joshua.

He smiled sadly at us, "It is better for two people to be alive than all of us to die. "

"No! I can't lose you too... Not after Joshua!" I fought back.

He pat my head, "Take care of the other members for me, okay? You are the oldest now."

He then looked around the van.

"In one..."

How could he do this to me?? How can I take care of them all by myself when I, myself in an unstable condition?

"...two..."

I felt tears wetting my face. They just won't stop flowing. I hold on S.Coups' sleeve cuz I don't want to lose him. I thought we were in this together but... What is this?

"THREE!! GO!!!"

I close my eyes and let things happened.

Hye In' s POV

I watched as Jeonghan and S.Coups fight.  I can see from the fight that their friendship are so strong. The two of them relied on each other so much that they couldn't function properly if the other one is not beside them.

"In one, two..."

So I made the decision...

"THREE!! GO!!"

To sacrifice myself instead of S.Coups.

S.Coups' POV

"In one, two..."

I smiled for the last time at the two wonderful person in front of me.

"THREE!! GO!!"

I close my eyes and let the Vambieres surrounding me. But I startled when an arm push me back. Pushing me out of the van with Jeonghan on top of me. I opened my eyes to see Hye In looked at me with a peaceful face.

"Hye In, why??  Why are you doing this??" I cried in despair.

"What fan I am if I don't protect my idols? I'm so glad that I sacrifice myself. Please... save yourselves and find Professor Oh to cure Hoshi. We will meet again later, in after life." She said with a single tear on her face. And then she was surrounded by the Vambieres.

I wipe the tears that flowed on my cheeks. I looked at Jeonghan that still on me only to realise that he fainted. So I carried Jeonghan bridal-style towards the awaiting members.

'Don't worry, Hye In, I'll make sure your sacrifice is worth it. We will forever remember you, a strong and reliable Carat. May you rest in peace...'

☆☆☆☆☆

No One's POV 

Shownu, I.M and Wonho were training their army of Vambieres. All of them were given blood to calm themselves down before started training. This was to ensure the Vambieres to have a calm mind and be obedient during the training. The three Monsta X divided the Vambieres into three groups with the three being the leader.

Among the three members, I.M was the one who cannot concentrate. He kept on thinking about the girl at the club. There's something about her that integrated him. He wanted to meet her again...

"Yah! Why are you in daze? Is something bothering you?" Shownu asked in concern voice.

"Nothing ...."

Shownu shrugged, "Well... if you are ready to tell me your problem then I'm all ears."

I.M sighed cuz of course his hyung know him well, "Maybe later."

"Alright." Shownu then watched a certain Vambiere trained in Wonho' s group.

The Vambiere has a brown hair. He looked foreigner but really, he is a Korean.

"I can't believe we actually got him to join us." Shownu said, gesturing at the specific Vambiere.

"I know, right. I can't wait to see Seventeen's reaction when they see him." I.M smirked evilly.

☆☆☆☆☆

Dino was thrilled when he saw their leader carrying the cheonsa towards them.

"Seungcheol hyung! Jeonghan hyung! I'm so glad you guys are safe!" The maknae exclaimed.

S.Coups nodded slightly, his face still gloomy.

"Where's Hye In noona?" Vernon asked suddenly.

At that, S.Coups' face hardened.

"She didn't make it."

The members started to look down. Dino sobbed. Vernon tried to calm himself from crying. The two were the closest to their Hye In noona. Wonwoo looked up at the sky. The sky was bright, making him remember Hye In's cheerful personality. He then noticed that the Vambieres were walking slowly towards them.

"Guys, the Vambieres are walking towards us!" He shrieked.

"Three person in a boat each. One boat has four people. We'll get in the boat now. LET'S GO!" S.Coups instructed.

The boys started to push three boats into the sea. They got into the boats. The Vambieres tried to walk into the sea but they just drowned in it.

"Yay! We did it! We escaped from the Vambieres!" Seungkwan shouted excitedly.

"Seungkwannie, please sit down! You are shaking the boat!" Vernon exclaimed in alert.

Instantly, Seungkwan sat down properly. Vernon, Mingyu and Wonwoo sighed in relief.

"Everyone, let's paddle our boat to the island." Wonwoo pointed at an island.

"Is that where Professor Oh at?" Dokyeom asked.

"Yes, I'm 100% sure of this." Wonwoo said confidently.

"Alright, let's start paddling!" S.Coups hollered, making Jeonghan awoke.

'But... you don't even see the newspaper... So how do you know it's the island?...' Mingyu wondered in his heart.

☆☆☆☆☆

The brown-haired guy walked into the quarantine room that was labelled with 'NJ-0912'. He watched as his hyung lay on the bed, lifeless. The lifeless boy had an oxygen mask on his face. He seemed in peace.

"Hyung, please wake up... It's been months since you are in here. The others are getting worse day by day. All of us are in deep pressure. Our fallen angel is being punished by the evil professor for disobeying him. Our kind devil is being punished in the purge room for taking a break after finishing the heavy chores. Everything is a mess right now. So hyung, please wake up. I'm begging you..." the brown-haired guy pleaded to his leader.

Of course, the motionless guy just stay still on the bed. The brown haired-guy  wiped the tears flowing freely on his face.

He smiled bitterly, "I guess I should go now before the guards realised I'm gone. See you tomorrow, hyung."

The brown-haired guy walked out of the room. He didn't notice a single tear fall from the unconscious boy's left eye.

☆☆☆☆☆

Seventeen had been on the sea for two hours now. They almost reached the island. When they arrived, S.Coups started to take over. He calmly knocked on the only villa in the island. A person with a hoodie came out to greet them.

"What is the reason of you being here? " The person asked dully.

"I read from the newspaper that Mr Oh is searching for the cure of the Vambieres. So we came here to help him find the cure to treat our friend."

"And who is this friend?" The person asked again.

"Here." Woozi pointed at Hoshi beside him.

The person seemed taken aback to see Hoshi.

"Alright, please come in."

The Seventeen members were amazed with the villa. But a certain person seemed to have a bad feeling to enter the villa.

"I will take you to the dining room. You guys will eat with the professor. It is dinner after all." The hoodie guy said.

"Alright, thank you...."

"You can call me Jungshin." The hoodie guy smiled.

They were welcomed greatly by the professor as soon as they arrived at the dining room.

"Welcome, my lovely guests. I'm so happy to receive such a big number of guests! It's been a long time that I received any guests!" The professor happily said.

"Thank you, Mr Oh. We are honoured to be accepted here. We appreciate it." S.Coups said politely.

"Alright, let's eat the dinner!" The professor announced.

☆☆☆☆☆

The brown-haired guy was walking through the hallway when an orange-haired guy greeted him.

"JK-0901..."

"Oh hyung..." the brown-haired guy acknowledged the other.

"There are guests in this villa. Professor is expecting you and the others to stay inside the cell quietly."  The orange-haired guy instructed the other.

The brown-haired guy looked at his once hyung sadly,

'Hyung, what have they done to you? Where is the cheerful hyung that I once know?...'

☆☆☆☆☆

Wonwoo wondered around the villa. The others were already in their respective rooms to rest. The owner, Prof Oh was very kind to invite them inside his villa. Sadly, Hoshi was separated from them to investigate  further about the cure.

Wonwoo's legs brought him aimlessly. He stopped when he saw a familiar door.

He opened the door slowly. He looked at the room only to realised it was a library. He walked inside and suddenly the door closed by itself. Wonwoo ignored the anxious feeling and continue to discover the library.

'I'm sure I've never step a foot in here but... why do I think the place is familiar?...' Wonwoo wondered silently.

His heart skipped a beat when he heard a clinking sound, like someone dragging chains of metal. He then noticed the only book on the table. He peeked at the content because of curiosity. And curiosity kills a cat indeed. He was shocked to read the first page of the book.

Knock knock.

Who's there?

A loner.

Loner who?

A lonely feeling in the loner's heart that will eat him alive.

☆☆☆☆☆

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