The floor did collapse, but not literally.

Taemin looked around in amazement as the walls caved in on themselves, the floor plan collapsing into squares that folded up like the display of a virtual reality headset being shut down. The room, ice white and burning hot, seemed to disappear into a gaping abyss of nothing all around him.

It wasn't just the room—Irene, the Angel, every other living soul in the room seemed to be swallowed up by a breaking illusion, but it didn't stop there. Once the floor had completely 'collapsed', it was replaced—building itself up from scratch, except this time, what Taemin saw wasn't a renovated old asylum.

It was the interior of a mansion.

"What the—" Kai exploded into a string of curses, staggering forward to look around himself in complete awe. "What the hell is this?"

Taemin let go of a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. When he glanced down at his wrists, they were shackle-free. Taken aback, he whirled, and found that there was no one standing behind him. Or even next to him. In fact, the Four didn't seem to be present at all.

The walls were high and made of polished wood, with a ceiling that stretched so high it gave him vertigo. The windows were massive, bolted and locked with curtains drawn over them. The room was bare, nothing ornamenting it except for the thick carpet and a huge piano to one side of the room.

"It's an illusion," Taeyong muttered. He had appeared along with the rest of them so the group of seven was complete, all of them standing in the middle of the carpeted floor that looked strangely familiar to Taemin. "She showed me scenes before, I—she showed me this place. That's her power." Then a frown appeared on Taeyong's face, as if he'd just realized something didn't add up. "But why are you all here?"

"For moral support?" Ten suggested.

Taeyong scowled. Before he could say anything or smack Ten upside the head, Lucas interrupted. "It's not an illusion," he said. He was kneeling on the floor, running his hand over the surface of the rich carpet with a frown on his face. "This is...this is all real."

"Impossible," Mark said immediately.

Baekhyun glanced at Taemin, looking unsure. It was a jarring turn of events, and he couldn't blame anyone for being disorientated. Just seconds ago, the had been in danger of being dropped through three storeys to their deaths, but now, here they were, perfectly safe yet perfectly ignorant of where they were supposed to be. Even the perfectly safe bit was subject to change.

"I smell smoke," Mark murmured. He was sniffing the air, looking worried, but more grounded and able than before. Less scared kid, more responsible hero. "This is so confusing."

"Teleportation?" Baekhyun asked.

"Possible," Taeyong said thoughtfully. "But if that's it, where are Irene and the rest?"

"It's not teleportation," Taemin said suddenly. He swept his gaze around the room, looking for the door with growing dread. Smoke...carpeted floors...piano. "It's not a real place, either. It can't be."

"Oh?" Taeyong asked. He sounded sarcastic, but there was a brittle edge to his voice, like he was desperately hoping Taemin wasn't about to deliver some epically bad news. "Why exactly do you say that?"

"Because I know this place," Taemin answered. He spotted the doors to one side of the room, and started towards them with his heart feeling heavy and cold in his chest. "And it burned down ten years ago."

The tiny part of him that had been hoping he was wrong died when he pushed open the massive double doors that led them outside. Just as he had suspected, Taemin found himself in a balcony which ringed the interior all around like a walkway at a mall.

They were a few floors above, easily two or three. The floor of the balcony was also carpeted, thick and movable, and the carpet was ripped in places like a massive beast had clawed through it. The railing was shattered in spots, the wood cracked and splintered, some of the debris broken on the ground below and the unbroken points of some standing like deadly spikes lining the edge of the balcony.

Far below, he could see the massive snakehead insignia of the family that owned the mansion, the oblong reptilian head stitched skillfully into the surface of the carpet covering the ground floor.

"What do you mean?" said Taeyong's sharp voice behind him. Taemin to turned to see that the rest of them had joined him outside the room, looking worried and more afraid than they had before, and they had a right to. The air of the manor was dark and foreboding, like there was a vicious surprise hidden in every unlit corner. Watching. Waiting. "What is this place?"

"The Bae Manor," Taemin said grimly. "Irene's childhood home."

Taeyong went white around the mouth. He staggered backwards, pale and shaken. "How?" he demanded. "Are we—is she controlling our minds? Showing us the illusion? All of us at once?"

"That would take too much power to control," Mark said. He was picking at the burned hem of his sleeve, looking agitated. "There's a fire here somewhere. I can smell it."

"Maybe she's sharing someone else's power," Lucas suggested.

"That Taehyung guy," Ten realized. He glanced at Taemin. "She said 'collapse the floor' to him. She could be drawing energy from him, or the others—using them as a source."

Baekhyun nodded in agreement. "This isn't technology, this is magic," he said darkly. "Though they aren't as separated as I'd thought. Is she in our minds? All of our minds? That could explain why everything feels real."

"We're in her mind," Taemin corrected. "Much easier to control, and the details are perfect. I think she's taken us to the night of the fire, ten years ago."

Kai's eyebrows twitched. "But why? We can just escape it."

Taemin laughed sadly. "It's much harder than it seems," he said. "If something happens to us here, we probably won't die, but she could break our minds beyond repair. That way we won't be able to get to the children in the actual place we are right now—the asylum. Our consciousness is contained in this."

"That doesn't seem right," Taeyong muttered. He looked troubled, as if something didn't add up. "We can break out, though?"

Taemin shrugged. "At the end of the day, it's just an illusion." He glanced over the edge of the railing again. "Irene is around here somewhere. If we can get through to her and break her concentration, we can inch out, one by one."

"Wait," Ten said. There was a sickly pallor to his face. "In the real world—I mean, in the physical world, are we—"

"Probably being held in place by something," Taemin said. "Our bodies, at least."

Ten sighed. "Cryogenic freezing," he murmured. "Should have known it couldn't last."

The group fell silent. Taemin hadn't been present for most of what had happened, but he could sense their dejection. It wasn't hard to understand. They were trapped in a memory—someone else's memory at that, with no real way out and no idea what to do.

"I don't think Jeonghan would quit on us like that," Lucas told Ten gently. "It was probably Irene manipulating his thoughts, like she did with Taeyong."

Ten said nothing.

"This is all horrible," Kai moaned. "How can she flip the whole board like that? What are we supposed to do now? Everything's ruined."

"That's not true," Lucas said. "In fact, your part of the plan could actually work much better in here. You won't even have to kill anybody."

"Okay, we don't know about that part for sure," Taeyong muttered. He glanced uneasily at the broken points of the railing, then at Taemin. "Can we die here?"

"Good question," Taemin said. "I have absolutely no idea."

"Thanks," Taeyong muttered. "Okay. Okay. God, this is all so bizarre. I thought Irene's powers were just psychic stuff, how could she share it?" He threw his hands up. "And how did that other guy break the floor that other time? I have so many questions, this is all so messed up."

"It's new for me, too," Taemin reminded him.

"Just one last query. Is it possible you're dead wrong about all of this?"

"Well," Taemin started, then admitted, "yes."

"Great. So we could just be wandering about in some kind of memory palace thing with no idea what to do."

"Yes."

"Guys," Mark said nervously. "Isn't there supposed to be a fire?"

"You're absolutely right about that," said a new voice. They whirled, finding themselves looking across the gaping divide of the fall, to the balcony across. Irene stood behind the broken banister, no barrier between her and the chasm-like opening before her, but there was a pleased smile on her face. There was the sound of something crashing, and flames bloomed up from the ground, their tongues licking up the wooden columns. "Better?"

|

oof i'm SO sorry for disappearing on you guys, i was really sick and needed some time off :( i'm lowkey panicking about this book too, because i've had to scrap some of the final outline to change some parts and now i don't know if i'll be able to pull it off. well. second drafts i guess (hope).

if something feels off or unnatural, don't hesitate to message me or point it out! i'd really appreciate it actually. this is my first time trying this kind of stuff, too, so it's a little hard for me. hopefully updates will be regular from now until the end! feedback is much appreciated as always <3

love, 
Manx.