Treasures of The Damned

15. Whispering Shadows

Briar let herself be helped through the entire theme park. She could hear people walking around, but anytime that she would look around, in hopes of seeing if they were near, she couldn't find them at all.

She looked up when Seonghwa opened the door in front of them, and she paused for a split second, looking around. She didn't trust the animatronic, even if he was helping her. Who knew if he'd suddenly become evil.

She hissed as she was set down on a chair, and Seonghwa gently took her leg in his arms to examine the wound and see how bad it was.

"I know that Hongjoong usually does this to our...victims, but I think this is the worst I've ever seen."

"I've been hearing that all night. How often do you guys do this?"

"Whenever...someone gets locked into the theme park. So not so often, I would say," he muttered softly.

"How many people a month do you kill?"

"Uh...more than a dozen-...?" Seonghwa looked up from his task of healing her. He then just looked down and pressed his lips together. "Listen- I know that sounds bad-."

"Yeah- that does sound bad. But-...I can't say anything about that...I have no power." Seonghwa just hummed and looked down, not saying anything for a few moments.

"You seem to have many questions, little mouse. Why don't you ask me?"

"Uncle Seonghwa-...what happened to you? Happened to you? None of us know."

Seonghwa paused at that and stopped his motions of cleaning up and bandaging Briar's legs.

"My story is not for the faint of heart, Briar Rose." He hummed simply.

"I don't care, Uncle Hwa...I want to know...you were the first member to die-..."

"Well...what do you know?" Seonghwa asked softly as he looked up at her.

"Not too much. Just that you were hiking with your wife and kids, and you went missing after trailing behind them. It wasn't until a week later that your body was discovered."

"Well, that is partly true. When I was hiking with my wife and kids, I was actually in front. We heard a gunshot, and we figured it was someone who was hunting in the nearby woods. We didn't think much of it." He started to explain, working on Briar's leg while he spoke.

"A few minutes, maybe half an hour after we heard the first gunshot, we heard another one, closer this time. We decided to listen around, but there was nothing around us. That's when we wanted to go home. So, we started to head back to where we'd parked the car.

While walking, I got my leg caught in a bear trap, so I told my wife to take the kids to the car and find a place where she had phone service. They did. While I was waiting, an animal, I don't quite remember what, saw me, and smelled both my blood and my snacks." Seonghwa took a small, deep breath, as he started to very carefully wrap Briar's leg up with bandages, making sure they were tight enough that they wouldn't move, but not cutting off any circulation.

"I don't remember anything else after being lunged at by the animal...I'm guessing it probably killed me because I looked weak, plus the smell of my blood, and the snacks I had," he muttered softly. "But that's my story, Rose."

Briar paused for a moment before shifting and leaning down, hugging Seonghwa the best she could. "I'm so sorry Uncle Hwa...that sounds horrible...living out your last few moments alone..." she looked worried but didn't say anything else, just watched Seonghwa for a few moments as he finished wrapping her leg.

"Yeah...so I try not to think about it too much, luckily for me, we're either usually performing, shut down, or just roaming around and talking to one another. I don't quite feel alone anymore." he smiles ever so softly as he looks at her and stands. "Alright, your leg should be healed a bit better. Just be careful not to bump into something with it, okay? And don't tire yourself out too much." he muttered.

"Yeah, I'll try not to tire myself out as I run from 8 murderous animatronics." She let out a small little chuckle.

"Hey, I'm not murderous right now. So technically it's only seven-." Seonghwa joked softly, causing a small smile to appear on Briar's face.

"I guess that's true..." she whispered and pressed her lips together.

Seonghwa hummed a bit. "Who have you run into so far?" He asked after a few moments.

Briar paused to think about that. "You, when you guys first powered on, Hongjoong, Jongho, and Wooyoung when I hid in the snack bar for the first time, Yeosang when I ran away and hid from Wooyoung and San in Wooyoung's building, my Papa, my dad, Hongjoong, San, you and Jongho, Hongjoong, and then you." She chuckles ever so softly.

Seonghwa nodded his head. "Whose powers have you seen?"

"Yours, Hongjoong's, and San's I think." She muttered after a few moments and she shifted a bit, looking uncomfortable. Seonghwa slowly nodded his head before his eyes flicked over to the clock on the wall, and he narrowed his eyes ever so softly. "1:30. You've survived quite a bit longer than other victims. I will warn you, that will make Hongjoong both annotated and pleased. He likes to play with the victims, but he hates chasing them for an extended amount of time."

Briar didn't answer for a few moments before she shits. "Is there any way for me to survive?" she asked, looking up at Seonghwa, who slowly nodded his head.

"There is, but it's dangerous. You've got to survive until our good sides take over once more, at 6 am. Do you think you can do that?" he asked gently, looking down at her with a worried look on his face.

Briar slowly nodded. "Yeah...I have to...if I don't..." she sighed softly, before her eyes widened. "Is there any way for me to help you? You know...become good 24/7...? Instead of evil and good sides?"

Seonghwa didn't answer, but he got a grim look on his face. "Perhaps. But you'd have to kill us for that to happen."