Vendetta

Chapter 4

    "Hyunjin? Changbin? Minho? Is someone there? Please get me out of here. I can't stand being alone anymore..."

    ___________

    Heavy silence fell over them once Chan had joined their ranks as a watchful presence, but it soon morphed into a challenge of who could beat Seungmin's ten game winning streak in a card game. Jeongin wasn't invited to join, no one keen on talking to him after he had nearly gotten them into deep trouble. While Jeongin understood why they were ignoring him, it still hurt to be cast aside by the people he held dear.

    Jeongin watched, frozen halfway between the couch and the hallway, as his siblings created a large circle on the floor watching closely as Seungmin shuffled the deck of cards to start the game. Just as Minho began to lower himself down to either join or make sure that Seungmin wasn't cheating, Chan tapped his shoulder nearly causing the younger to jump out of his skin. Slowly, he turned his attention to Chan with wide, fearful eyes.

    "We have some time on our hands and I'm in the mood to work on our little project. Care to help out?" Chan asked in a tone that suggested it wasn't an offer that he would be allowed to decline. Jeongin knew that Chan was watching to make sure he wasn't listening, so he stepped closer to the circle of his siblings but stayed far enough away that he could still hear their conversation.

    "But...C-Chan, it isn't Monday yet," Minho stammered, clutching the handle of his cane so tightly that his knuckles went white. "I-I thought there was a schedule for this!"

    Chan offered the younger a tight smile that didn't reach his eyes. Malice lurked in his dark eyes as they scanned Minho from the bottom up as if appraising him. "I've done away with the schedule. Your siblings have pissed me off beyond words and I can't wait until Monday."

    Minho gulped but followed Chan without further protest. His eyes glimmered with terror as Chan took hold of his arm and led him to the basement door just beyond the barrier between the dining room and the kitchen. Jeongin wanted to step in and do something, but what could he have done? If Chan was doing something bad to him, Minho would have told everyone by now. They told each other everything and that surely wouldn't have been an exception.

    All he could see was Minho's eyes, wide with terror as he was led into the basement, the door clicking shut behind them. Jeongin convinced himself that Minho was in good hands as he hesitantly joined his siblings who welcomed him into the circle with no mention of what had happened just a few minutes prior. No one questioned Minho and Chan's absence since them disappearing was just a part of their daily lives now. But what happened behind closed doors?

    This situation was all too familiar. Minho sat down on the blood-stained mattress in the center of a circle of cameras just as he had done countless times before. His body trembled from head to toe as he stared into the dark voids at the end of the cameras, knowing they watched his every move. Chan swiftly moved from camera to camera, a small pinprick of red lighting up on them before Minho was surrounded by a familiar sea of red.

    Minho used to be chained down to the mattress, unable to fight back against whatever Chan threw at him. Now, Chan felt as if the younger had been broken down enough that he no longer needed restraints. He couldn't get far with his mangled leg, but at least now he had an option to fight back.

    Chan slipped on a mask of some creature that he had once referred to as a wolf before stepping into the circle of cameras for the film to begin. Though the ritual was second nature by now, Minho had no clue what Chan had in mind. If he started with one thing, he often changed his mind in the middle of it and never stuck to one specific method. It was all part of the fun. Chan thrived off of the fear of the unknown and the unexpected.