Vendetta

Chapter 14

They were nearly at the city, their excited yet anxious chatter filling the air, when Jeongin's breathing shallowed abruptly. Sweat beaded on his forehead that had nothing to do with the long walk or the heat. The world around him swayed violently, and for a few terrifying moments, he feared that he was dying.

    Felix was the first to notice, pulling everyone to a halt and gently lowering Jeongin to the soft grass just beyond the curb of the road. He gently rubbed Jeongin's back, reassuring him that everything would be okay and that he would get through this. Jisung gave him a comforting back hug while the rest of the siblings hung back to give Jeongin space. Felix and Jisung who had been tortured to the point where they nearly ended it all, putting Jeongin above themselves.

    Jeongin's breaths came in ragged gulps, and while everyone being there for him was comforting, they couldn't erase his deepset anxieties. Had he done the right thing setting everyone free? Minho had suggested it, but just like him, he didn't know the true intentions of the outside world. Maybe he should have let Chan live and let him start over, but the opportunity had long since passed. He couldn't just waltz back into the house and apologize. He had murdered Chan with his own hands.

    "I...I've made a mistake," Jeongin choked out, tears wetting his cheeks. He should have stayed calm for his siblings when they needed him most, but he just couldn't hold it together any longer. "I killed him because I was blinded by my own rage. He killed Minho and he hurt all of you, I just couldn't...I couldn't let him get away with it."

    "I'm sure you did the right thing," Changbin soothed, squatting down in front of him. He didn't seem the slightest bit fazed that his youngest brother was now a murderer. "We'll figure all of this out together, just like we always do. Just because we're free doesn't mean we're going to abandon you for doing what you felt was right. We're a team."

    Jeongin's face formed into a small smile, his gaze flickering to each of his siblings. Never in his life had he felt so grateful to have people like his siblings at his side. Felix with a red puckered scar around his neck, Jisung with remnants of stab wounds littering his torso, Hyunjin with his burn scars. Every single one of them had been through hell and back and yet they were all willing to stick together after everything they had been through. They were family after all.

    "Thank you so much," Jeongin said quietly, slowly lowering himself to his feet. His breathing still came in shaky gulps but he needed to pull it together. "Maybe in the city, we'll find someone who can help us out. We'll start a new life with just the six of us."

    As they continued down the road, Jeongin felt an uplifting spirit guiding him along. As he glanced over at his siblings taking in the new and exciting views with wide eyes, he wondered if any of them felt it too. The six of them who had been through hell, laughing and smiling out in the sunlight, free from the restraints and terror the Bang family had subjected them to.

    When they entered the city, Seungmin ran slightly ahead, pointing enthusiastically at the colorful signs above him. They all wanted to know what each sign meant and explore every building from top to bottom. However, their amazement was cut short when a woman in her mid-thirties walked up to them, gently tapping Changbin's shoulder.

    "What do you want?" Changbin snapped, stepping in front of Jeongin and the others, crossing his arms tightly across his chest. In his weak state, he wouldn't have been able to take on anyone in a fight, but his glare and tone of voice were intimidating enough.

    "Can you please come with me?" The woman asked, standing her ground. "I know it's not my place to intervene, but you all look awful. Please let me take you to a hospital so you all can be checked out, I'll cover the bill. I promise I have no ill intentions, you just remind me of those poor kids that started going missing twenty years ago."

    Jeongin immediately stepped forward, his expression lighting up at the hope that they would be found. Maybe they could finally reunite with their long lost biological parents and gain some sense of normalcy. "That's us!"

    The woman gasped, her face blanching but her expression remaining as friendly as ever. "I...I can't believe you are all still alive! It's been a cold case for years, but it does pop up on the news from time to time as an anniversary thing. You are all pretty much celebrities."

    No one replied, hangbing behind as she began to walk away, spilling all the theories she had heard about the case. Clearly, she had been invested in it and meant well, but after all they had gone through, it was difficult to trust anybody. It was only when Hyunjin began to trail behind the woman that everyone else followed suit.

    The woman couldn't have been any sweeter, calming them down and walking them through what to expect. She told them that they would be going to the police station first and then going to the hospital, just to be safe. As they walked, she even offered to take care of them until they met their biological parents or were able to go out on their own. While they appreciated it, they weren't keen on trusting a complete stranger. It was only when they reached the police station that things began to go downhill.

    The woman instructed Jeongin and the others to take a seat in the waiting room, Seungmin and Hyunjin leafing through some of the magazines on the table in front of them. The woman talked to a few bored looking police officers, one of them visibly waving her away in a 'don't waste my time' manner.

    "I'm serious!" The woman cried, sounding irritated. "Look at the missing child pictures I know you have and then look at the boys behind me. Tell me that they aren't the same people. Even if I'm wrong, you can't turn away six people clearly in need of help."

    Sluggishly, one of the officers peered over the woman's shoulder, their jaw dropping at the sight of the six boys. All professionalism that remained was swiftly thrown out the window as a handful of cops filed into the waiting room, wanting to see the boys in person. Despite protests from the now grown missing children and the woman, the police officers violated their personal space, treating them more like animals than actual human beings and leading to the situation only escalating from there.

    Felix's chin was tilted up, the puckered scar on his neck traced by unfamiliar fingertips. The burn scars that covered Hyunjin's body were inspected like morbid patchwork. The voices were too loud, the excited chatter wounding like an angry swarm of bees ready to attack. Changbin was trying without success to get the officers to back off. It was only when Jisung's shirt was lifted that all hell broke loose.

    Jeongin was lost in the frenzy, his blood running cold as he heard Jisung's distressed cries and pleads for the officer to let go of him. He knew the woman hadn't brought them there with the intention of that happening, but Jeongin couldn't help but hate her at that moment. Jisung had thrown a punch at one of the officers in a panic and was now laying on the floor with his arms pinned tightly behind his back, his screams growing louder by the second.

    "Give him a break!" Felix shouted, his deep voice causing the officers to freeze for a fraction of a second. "You have no clue what we've been through, and you have some nerve touching us like we're some sort of freak show!"

    "What did you go through, hm?" One of the officers asked, clearly in a smartass mood. "Did you kill Minho? Is that why he's not here? It seems awfully convenient that all of you escaped wherever you were except for him."

    Without thinking, Jeongin ran at the officer in a blind rage. Catching them off guard, he managed to put them in a chokehold for a few moments before two prongs cut through his back, his body locking up as the electric current tore through him. He could barely remember screaming as he was lowered to the ground, the rest of the situation going by in a blur. Another scream. They must have gotten Changbin too.

    The last thing he could remember was how he didn't want his siblings to lose all trust in fellow humans because of that experience. Maybe there was no safe place for them in a world gone insane.