The monster had traded off Eunchae to take her, Sakura.
One thing had been accomplished, whereas she had given herself up to achieve it.

She was done for.
But she had done it in the end.

Eunchae was free from the monster, in trade for her.

...

Time: 21:43, October 23

They wound through the trees, covering their eyes as the rain splashed off and around the leaves and branches which sprung at them. Droplets of water fell down upon Jungwon's head as he cleared the way through the overgrowth, all the rain built up upon the treetops falling down on him.
It got into his eyes and his mouth, and he spluttered, but there was no time to waste.

They had to be hasty, or else it could be too late.

He heard the rustle of the bushes behind him as the rest of the group followed, snapping twigs under their boots and some also coughing, unfortunate enough to inhale rain.

Jungwon's hands were drenched and completely scraped up by the sharp edges of some of the plants, but he pushed on, trying to clear as much of the space as he could to make it easier for the others.

"Come on!" He called, urging them on.

Kazuha came up beside him, swiping her hand over her rain-drenched eyes.
She pointed to something, a thing that resembled the silhouette of a big bush, that Jungwon could barely see in the clearance not far in front of them.

He squinted his eyes in the darkness. It just looked like nothing out of the ordinary. Anyone could've turned a blind eye to it, especially in the dark which they were in now.

"Is that it? Your base?" He asked.

Kazuha nodded.
"I'll open it. We should hurry."

They emerged from the trees, and ran up to the entrance. Upon closer inspection, Jungwon could finally see it; the door, or hatch, even, seemed to have mimicked the shape of a rock side. It was made of some type of metal, but it didn't have a lustrous finish to it, for the sake of concealment.

Kazuha sheathed her dagger, and brushed her soaked hair out of her eyes, squinting through the rain.

"Get ready, anything could happen once I open the hatch." She told them.
She was met with acknowledging nods around her, and the others took out their weapons.

Sunghoon stood in front of Sunoo with his crimson dagger raised. He was ready to take anything on.
Jay and Jake exchanged glances, and then a small nod.

Niki tapped Jungwon on the shoulder.
"You ready, Jungwon?" he asked.

Jungwon nodded.
"I hope so."

Niki smiled at him.
"You're the best fighter I know. Whatever happens tonight, happens."

Whatever happens, happens.
There was no reversing time.

This was it.

Jungwon nodded.
"Whatever happens, happens..." he repeated.

Kazuha raised a shaky hand.
She could feel all the goosebumps in her body. A sheer amount of worry and adrenaline encased her.

She looked behind her, at Yunjin.
Kazuha opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again.
Yunjin had her head bowed down. Not once had she raised it up.

A stab of guilt pierced Kazuha.
Could she have done something for her? In the past, was there a chance she could've cheered her up, instead of waiting until what could be the final moments?
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she pushed them away, and turned back.

She had to focus.
Focus.

She had to.
She had to focus.
Kazuha was torn from the inside out, as if everything was meaningless.
She had wished for the best. For everything to be alright.

But it wasn't.

Jungwon spoke to her.
"Kazuha."

He positioned his weapon out in front of him, beckoning her to do the same.
And so she did, and Jungwon tensed up his shoulders.

"I think we're ready. You can open the door."
She glanced at him, and he nodded at her.

This was it.
This was what they had come for.

Kazuha raised a shaking hand up, and placed it upon the icy, metal plate mounted on the side of the hatch.

...

Her legs turned limp.
She screamed, bringing a hand up to her face, shaking violently with fear and anguish. Kazuha nearly fell down to the ground, but Jungwon raised an arm to stop her from falling.
But he, too, was struck by a strong wave of horror.

It was like it had been straight from the depths of her greatest fears.
The place was almost unrecognisable.

There were dashes of blood lined up upon parts of the wall, debris from furniture and a door were scattered all around the place, the entire floor was coated in rubble.
Lights had been knocked away from their places, especially around the ceiling window, leaving parts of the room in a semi-darkness.

The window wasn't any longer a window anymore. The glass had all been shattered, and its debris lay all around the room, almost like deadly pieces of glitter.
The room was ruined, some parts torn to bits.

But that had not been why Kazuha screamed.

Whatever had happened here, it had left a gaping hole in the wall.
Rubble was absolutely everywhere, and some of the fumes lingered in the air.
But, within the rubble, there was a small, unmoving mound.

And it was covered in blood.

"Ch- Chae- Chaewon- that's- that-" Kazuha stammered, crying out of an overload of terror.

"No, she can't be dead- We're not too late, are we, Jungwon? Right?" Niki said, in disbelief and worry.

Jungwon didn't reply to him.
Niki shook him by the shoulders.
"No- Jungwon, NO! WE- WE CAN'T BE! WE-"

Jungwon pointed to a point which was just metres way from where Chaewon was, at a point near the middle of the main room.
A tear streaked down his face.

There was a body lying down, face down on the ground, a pool of blood around the figure.

Sunghoon broke off from the group, and ran over to Chaewon, who was closest. He too, had tears running down his face, and he was cursing loudly.
"CHAEWON! CHAEWON, PLEASE! PLEASE DON'T- DON'T DIE ON US!"

He clawed at the rubble, shoving mounds upon mounds out of the way at a time, ignoring his hands becoming injured and bruised in the process.
Niki, Jay, Heesung and Jake soon joined, and they hauled off all they could in quick succession.

Kazuha fell to her knees, and Jungwon stayed to support her, attempting to calm her down as she began to hyperventilate. She clutched at her heart, unable to bear the sight of everything.
Yunjin was completely broken.
She had lost everything she held dear.
Everyone she kept closest were being picked off one after another.
Everything, as much as she tried to grasp it to keep it safe, was crumbling to ashes.

Sweat poured down Sunghoon's face.
He moved Chaewon up and out from the rubble, taking her broken, dust-covered body in his arms, tears blinding his eyes.

Jake stood against the wall, hands on his head. He pleaded under his breath.
He couldn't watch.

If he hadn't let them, Chaewon and Sakura leave, if he had just persuaded them to stay by any means, they could've avoided their fate.

He beat himself up for it.
If he had just done that one thing, it would've been different.
The two girls wouldn't have had to suffer.

But it wasn't what he did.

"Clear the way-" Sunoo said, coming up beside Chaewon as Sunghoon set her on the ground.

"Sakura- someone check on Sakura-" Jay muttered to the others, pointing at the figure on the ground in the middle of the room.

Sunoo checked for a pulse.

"Sunghoon. Listen to me." He said.

"Sunoo- what, Chaewon-"

"Listen, Sunghoon,"

He grabbed the hem of Sunghoon's shirt.
"Chaewon, she- she's alive... Find me a medical kit. Or something, anything you know that can help. Now."

Jake spun around, kneeling beside Sunoo. He let out a long, relieved breath, bowing his head down.
"She's alive... Oh, thank goodness... Oh, Chaewon..." he panted.

Sunoo felt cold sweat run down the side of his face.
Chaewon was alive.
Barely.

Just a little longer without any treatment, and she'd die.
He turned back to Sunghoon, urging him again.
"Sunghoon, go! Quickly!"

Sunghoon let out a gulp, but nodded. He tore his concerned eyes away from Chaewon, brushing his tears away and scrambled up to dash across the main hall to Sakura's room.

He stopped in front of it.
The door to the room was no longer standing; it had been left on the as a messy heap of splinters and shattered hinges.
But there was no time for him to sit and observe.

Chaewon's life was on the line.
His eyes darted around the room. There were huge cupboards and drawers everywhere.
Sunghoon pulled the closest one open.

There was nothing he could use, just a large array of yarn.
He gritted his teeth, and yanked open a door of a large cupboard in desperation.

Sunghoon let out a loud curse.
There was nothing. Absolutely nothing he could use.

Where did Sakura keep all of the medical stuff?
There were just too many drawers to count.
And there wasn't enough time.

Not enough time.
There was not enough time.

A cold rush of fear shot down Sunghoon's spine, and his heart beat rapidly.
He could feel his hands and legs shaking involuntary, and his mind felt like it was racing all around the place, unable to steady itself.

But then, at the moment where he had felt it was hopeless, he spotted it.
Sunghoon had turned around, and it was there.

A small bag, with a buckle to fit around a waist, lying upon the workbench table.
A black belt bag.
The exact one that Sunoo had gifted Sakura.

He grabbed it in his hands, fumbling with the zipper.
It had to be there. It had to be.
Surely it was.

Sunghoon opened the bag, his heart thumping roughly against his rib cage.
There came a small clink of glass.

He let out a big sigh of relief.
It was there.

There were two small vials in the bag, along with a clean wad of bandages.
It was exactly what they needed.

He ran back to the others, dashing out of the room and avoiding the rubble from the broken wall.
Sunoo was supporting Chaewon's shoulder, trying to hold in the blood from her wound. His hand was leaking with red, and it covered his palm, but it didn't seem to mind him; his eyes were furrowed in concentration, and he himself was shaking from the effort and the compressed fear.

"I've got it. Here."

Sunghoon handed him the bag, and he grabbed it without another word.
He started with one of the vials, and with practiced movements, Chaewon's shoulder had stopped bleeding, but yet her condition still seemed unstable. Sunoo was constantly checking for a pulse, but the stem of the blood meant that they were given a small sense of security.

Frail security.
Because there was Sakura.

Jay and Jake, upon Sunghoon's return, had ran out of the room.

She had been lying in a pool of her own blood, face down, a dead heap. It would've been a miracle to think that she'd been alive.
And so they thought the worst.

It truly had been inevitable.
Someone was going to die, and they weren't able to stop it.
No matter how hard they had tried, someone had ended up dead.

Tears formed in their eyes.

Jake kneeled by the body, crying bitterly. His shoulders heaved, and his hands came up to his face.
Jay was shaking his head, cursing and beating the floor with his hand.

"No... no, NO! NO!!!" he screamed.
He wanted to deny it. It couldn't really be true.

He could hear crying all around him, from Jake, who was next to him, and from behind him, where Kazuha was weeping, trying to be consoled by Jungwon, who fought the tears to stay strong for everyone's sake.
Yunjin's legs had given up on her, and she had slunk to the floor, defeated.
Niki kneeled close by her, bowing his head.

They all knew.

Jay continued to pound his hand on the ground.
It didn't matter that it was hurting.

The hurt in his heart was worse.
So much worse.
He cursed, screamed and cursed again and again.

He wanted to turn back time. To make things right. To stop what had happened.

But it was too late.

What had happened, happened.
There was no turning back time.

He bowed his head, looking down at the body.
She was ragged, and her clothes had rips at the elbows, shoulders and knees. It was a terrible sight to behold.

He wanted to deny it.
But it was right in front of him.

There was nothing to deny.

And so, a tear fell from his eye.
"Sakura..." he mumbled.

He brushed her ragged, blood soaked hair off of the side of her face, where her head was turned off to the side, as a sign of respect.

Tears welled in his eyes, and he brought his hands to his face.
There was nothing to think about other than what had happened.

It was all finished.

"Jay..."

There was nothing he could do.

"Jay, Jake..."

Sakura was dead.

"Move..."

She was dead.

"Jay!"

He could do nothing, but cry.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!"

A pair of hands latched onto him, and he was hauled back, pulled away from Sakura's body.
He opened his eyes, and stared at Heesung, who was standing in between him and the body.

Jake was on the floor opposite him as well, and Jungwon had stood next to Heesung, blocking them, their backs turned.

Jay flung curses at them.
"YOU BASTARDS!!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!?"

What were they doing?
Sakura was dead, so what were they doing?

He ran at Heesung, but Jungwon stopped him.
He looked at Jungwon, awestruck.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?-"

"It's not what you think-"

"GET OFF OF ME!"

"Jay-"

"LET ME GO!"

"LISTEN TO ME!"

He stepped away from Jay, and pointed at Sakura's body.

Only, it wasn't Sakura.
Jay had only ever seen her face once, but it was unforgettable.

It was Eunchae.
The person lying on the ground was Eunchae.