Drag Me To Hell ✦ Markhyuck

08 - the only way out

Donghyuck races down the hall, hoping he'd manage to make it to Mark in time, but he begins to notice something alarming.

The hallway is elongating.

Before, there were only two sets of doors on either side, now there are ten doors lining both sides. And still counting.

Donghyuck halts in his tracks and whips his head around every which way as he tries to determine what to do.

"You can't run from me!" the clown bellows from somewhere behind Donghyuck.

With an extreme sense of panicked urgency, Donghyuck turns to the nearest room and rushes inside as quickly as possible. He shuts the door with a loud bang and locks it before resting his forehead on the smooth wood while breathing in laboured breaths. The lights suddenly turn on, and Donghyuck inhales sharply, thinking he's officially fucked.

"Donghyuck, I need you to listen to me," a voice states sternly behind him. The tanned boy spins around and lets out a sigh as relief crashes over him like a tidal wave. Rather than being met with the sight of the demonic clown, he finds Jaehyun standing in the midst of a completely barren room with white walls and a white carpet. Not a single piece of furniture was in sight. Not a single window or closet door could be seen. It was a blank canvas.

Though, seeing Jaehyun brings Donghyuck peace, he is suddenly overtaken with confusion as a flood of questions come to his mind.

"How'd you get here?" he asks as Jaehyun crosses his arms over his chest.

"You need to tell Mark the truth," Jaehyun says seriously, ignoring Donghyuck's inquiry entirely.

"But...but I did!" Donghyuck argues.

"I didn't just mean about the accident," he informs the younger boy with a disapproving shake of his head.

"Then what am I supposed to tell him?" Donghyuck asks in a much smaller voice, though he already has an inkling of what he meant.

"You know exactly what," Jaehyun responds firmly.

"No...I won't do it...I can't," he replies as he feels a large lump forming in his throat.

"You have to," Jaehyun breathes as he gazes into Donghyuck's eyes with an earnest expression.

"Why?" Donghyuck questions as tears begin pricking at his eyes. Unfortunately, they start streaming down his cheeks before he is able to stop them.

"Because facing your fears is the only way out," the older male explains.

"Wh-what does tha-at mean?" Donghyuck inquires through choked sobs.

Jaehyun's eyes flicker to the door, then back to Donghyuck.

"You need to tell Mark the truth," Jaehyun repeats.

"P-please, I–"

Violent pounding on the door startles Donghyuck out of his skin. He stares at it with eyes as wide as saucers whilst a scream involuntarily escapes him. He tries to ask Jaehyun what to do, but upon turning back around to face him, he finds the man has completely vanished. Again.

With a loud crash, the door bursts open. It swings on it's hinges and bangs into the wall beside it. Donghyuck lets out a loud cry as the clown comes stalking into the room.

"Mark!" he attempts to shriek, but his throat is still vaguely hoarse from being choked not long ago. He can't seem to yell without croaking.

"He's not coming for you. He left you for dead," the clown laughs before pouncing at him, knocking Donghyuck to the ground. As it hovers over him, it smiles wickedly and wraps both hands tightly around Donghyuck's throat, strangulating him. He instinctively throws his arms up and attempts to claw at the clown's face, but even as he ends up causing it to bleed, it hardly acts phased by the pain.

As the pressure begins to build up in Donghyuck's head, he wonders if hanging on and struggling to stay alive is even worth it. With this thought, Donghyuck's will to fight against the clown depletes. If he really was left for dead, then why try? He can't win, anyhow.

"Giving up, already?" the clown taunts him as he stops struggling.

Hot tears fall from the corners of Donghyuck's eyes as he shuts them. He begins to mentally beg that it would be all over soon.

"Donghyuck!" a voice screams.

The clown's grip loosens as it glances over its shoulder to see who had called out Donghyuck's name.

"Leave him alone!" the voice bellows in anger.

At that moment, the clown lets go of Donghyuck. He gasps for air and protectively places his hands over his neck. He wants to take a moment to catch his breath, but he soon realizes there's no time for that. He opens his eyes to see that the clown is slowly approaching Mark who is standing in the doorway, staring the thing back with a piercing glare that sends a shiver through Donghyuck's body.

Donghyuck looks around for any sort of item he can use as a weapon despite the lack of anything in the room at all. To his surprise, though, he spots a baseball bat merely a foot away from him in the corner of the room. He was certain it wasn't there before, but decides not to question it. He scrambles to his feet and hastily takes it in his hands. He swings the bat over his shoulder, getting himself into batting position as he comes up behind the clown. He swings with as much force as his small body can muster, and with an obnoxiously loud thunk, he hits the clown in the side of the head. It drops to the ground, leaving Donghyuck to feel vomit slowly rising up his throat. Blood drips from the bat, horrifying Donghyuck to the point of tossing it to the ground.

He makes eye contact with Mark and notices him staring with a startled expression.

"We have...to...get out...of...here," Donghyuck says through uneven breaths, "It's...it's not...safe."

Mark blinks slowly as his eyes flicker from the clown back to Donghyuck.

"Let's get going, then," Mark murmurs as he grabs ahold of Donghyuck's hand and leads him out of the room.