Warnings: Violence, blood, language, character death
Summary: What started as a fun Halloween masquerade turns out to be much darker than you thought. With all these masks, how do you know who is friend and who is foe?
Your hands are shaking. Your breathing comes out ragged. You can only hear your pants, the sound ringing in your ears.
It takes you an eternity to lift your head from Junmyeon’s body to look at the others. Their eyes make you feel small, make you feel like a—
a m o n s t e r.
Your first thought is to apologize. To beg for forgiveness, as if you deserve it, to deny what you did and play the victim.
The words almost slip out. The tears would’ve come so easily. You’re suddenly so glad your mask conceals your expression.
But your mouth stays shut.
You breathe in and out a few times, trying to ignore the smell of iron.
When you open your mouth, your voice is deathly calm. “Let’s check the library again. I have a feeling there’s something there.”
No one says a word, but they follow when you move. You lead them back up the stairs, to the big oak double-doors of the library.
Pushing it open, your body knows exactly where to go. You reach for the old, worn down spine of a book like you’ve done this before. You pull at it, not even reacting when the shelf moves to the side, revealing a set of staircases even as the others gasp behind you.
“I’ll go down first.” You say, not even feeling scared anymore. You step into the darkness, a hand on the wall to keep yourself from falling. Your eyes slowly adjust to the darkness, their footsteps echoing behind you. When you finally get to the bottom, lamps turn on, illuminating the room.
It looks like a dungeon of some sort. Or perhaps a wine cellar. You’re not sure. There isn’t much to see. You simply stand in a circular bricked room, lamps spaced out evenly on the wall to light up the room.
In front of you is a large, iron door. You don’t need to touch it to know it’s locked.
“W-What is this place?” Yixing asks quietly, voice trembling slightly.
“My guess is that that door is the way out.” Minseok says.
“You’re correct!” K says, her voice ringing in the small space and making your head spin. “This door will lead to freedom.”
“But?” Chanyeol asks, sounding so, so tired. As tired as you feel.
“But,” K drawls, “everything comes with a price, like I said before.”
“What do you want?” Kyungsoo growls, hands clenched tightly into fists. “What more do you want from us?”
“Let’s see.” K hums. “The next person with the mission...will be you, Do Kyungsoo.”
His face pales. His usually strong and calm demeanor seems to vanish in an instant. It takes him a long while before he finds his voice again, whispering, “What do I have to do?”
“Kill Chanyeol.” She says much too lightly. “There’s a knife under the tile of the last stair. Or,” she continues coyly, “cut off your hand, and Chanyeol can live.”
This is absurd! You want to yell, swirling to stare at Kyungsoo and Chanyeol who have both gone as pale as a black sheet of paper. They glance at each other, gulping.
What will Kyungsoo do? You can’t imagine being in his shoes...well, you already chose to kill, didn’t you? You’re almost certain Kyungsoo would choose the same. After all, Chanyeol may be able to die quickly, while cutting off your own hand would be a world of pain—a pain that lasts forever.
You don’t have the confidence to say you would choose to dismember yourself.
“Wait.” Kyungsoo says, swallowing. “If...If I choose to kill Chanyeol, or cut off my hand...does that mean the remainder all get to get out safely? We can all be free?”
“I can guarantee all of you will safely go through the door.” K answers.
“That doesn’t answer my question.”
“Sure it does.” K chirps. “Your choice?”
Kyungsoo trudges to the staircase like a man walking to his own death. You suppose that’s half true. He removes the tile, indeed finding a knife. He clutches it tightly in his hands, breath coming out short. You think he might be having a panic attack.
He glances over his shoulder, meeting Chanyeol’s eyes and it’s hard to read his expression through his mask.
There’s a moment of silence. Of silent pleas and apologies and prayers.
And then...
a
s c r e a m.
Kill Chanyeol or cut off Kyungsoo’s hand? Send your votes in!
