A Bite of the Apple

4 - Danger

It ended up being me, Siyeon, Yoohyeon, and Yoobin who met up that morning. Gahyeon had ended up listening to wisdom and had fallen asleep.

The rest of us went straight to one of the bars we'd been at last night to look for Yoohyeon's jacket. I couldn't exactly talk about Siyeon with my friends when she was right there, and there was a gleam in her eyes which I assumed was happiness, so I thought it best to leave it be for now.

The bar in question was one of the fancier ones, so the alcohol had been correspondingly pricey last night; but we had all planned and saved up a bit for the night out. Besides, the queen (me) deserves only the best.

It was closed when we arrived. Empty, save for the memory of last night's crowd. We stood outside at the doors.

"How are we going to get in?" asked Yoohyeon.

We all exchanged glances. None of us had thought of this.

"Maybe we can come here later," said Yoobin.

"But it's my favorite jacket," Yoohyeon pouted.

At this point, Siyeon interjected. "Why don't we just break in?"

"That's a crime! I don't want to become a criminal," I hissed.

"Aww," Siyeon pouted at me like she would a little puppy, "she's a good girl." She cupped my cheek. "Don't worry - I'll soon fix that." She winked as she slid away, leaving my face hot and my skin tingling where she touched me.

Yoohyeon and Yoobin exchanged a glance, the latter with an eyebrow raised.

Then Siyeon focused her eyes on the door.

"What are you going to do?" asked Yoohyeon.

Siyeon raised a finger at her. "Shh."

Yoohyeon flinched back and pursed her lips.

Everyone was silent as Siyeon stared at the door handle. The sounds of the city surrounded us. Cars rushed by, their tires swishing the water still on the road from last night's rain. People walked past us, some strolling, some bustling, and all of them uncaring about us four girls loitering before a bar that's closed.

At last, Siyeon's lips moved soundlessly. The air shimmered, then sparks burst from the lock on the door. Yoohyeon, Yoobin, and I startled at the sudden sound.

"What was that?" I gasped, clutching at the neck of my jacket.

Siyeon smiled. "Power." She shoved the door open and strode inside. "You two," she pointed at Yoohyeon and Yoobin, "check this area. Bora and I will check out back."

Yoohyeon and Yoobin exchanged another look before Yoobin replied, "Alright."

Without waiting for me, Siyeon headed behind the bar. I hurried on my admittedly shorter legs to catch up. "Wait. What game are you playing?" I said. "And what do you mean by 'power'? What the hell was that?"

Siyeon simply shrugged as she opened the door to head to the back. I followed her into what looked like a kitchen. Unlike the front of the bar, barely any of the daylight reached back here. Everything was a shadow only just highlighted by an edge of light.

I grabbed her by the arm and spun her around to face me. "Answer me, please. Don't just walk away." I glared into her eyes. In the depths of the brown I saw the cogs turning. She was balancing whether or not she should tell me. Or how much to tell me. Or what could happen if she did tell me. But when her answer wasn't forthcoming, I pushed again. "After the help I gave you last night, you owe me some answers. Who are you, and why were you injured last night?"

Siyeon opened her mouth to answer when a thump sounded from beyond a pair of double doors at the back of the kitchen. She shook her arm free of my hand.

My heart was in my throat. I didn't want to be caught.

What surprised me, though, was that Siyeon looked just as nervous as I did, if not more. Sweat beaded down the side of her face. Her breathing was shallow, and she was poised as if to run. Or fight. She had 'power' though. Why should she be scared?

And then I heard a voice: "Return it to us. Return what you stole."

It was low and slithering, but it echoed through my bones. It seemed to speak directly into my head. After quickly glancing at Siyeon, it seemed like it spoke directly to her too. I was frozen. What was I supposed to do? I was confused, yes, but that confusion was beginning to give way to a mounting terror. What was happening? Of course I wondered, but I dared not ask. Maybe if I stayed frozen and kept my mouth shut, nothing would happen. But that was not to be.

Siyeon snapped me out of my stupor. "Run!" she yelled. She grabbed my hand and dragged me back out to the front of the bar, and despite my terror I immediately noticed something odd.

It was night-time.

The bar was packed with people, and my friends were no-where in sight.

I didn't have time to question it though. More thumping sounded from the kitchen behind us. Siyeon and I shoved our way through the crowd towards the entrance. People were angry. They glared and yelled and swore at us for all their spilled drinks and interrupted conversations.

The door to the kitchen burst open, and creatures of darkness stalked into the bar. I say darkness, but it was like...

You know black holes? How their gravity is so strong that even light and time is warped by them? They were like that. They were like creature-shaped holes punched into the fabric of reality, and the world around their forms was twisted and warped. But the strangest thing was that nobody seemed to notice them. Apparently only Siyeon and I could see them.

Siyeon and I sprinted out into the dark. The creatures gave chase.

As we ran down the street away from the creatures, Siyeon said to me, "I need you to keep them busy. I've got a plan!" And with that, she vanished in a flash of red light.

I panicked at this point. I had no idea what the hell was happening. I pick up a girl off the streets and then next thing I know she's got some power and these weird, reality-defying creatures are chasing us- no, me. She left me. She left me alone in the dark.

I screamed, and tears streamed uncontrollably. I didn't know what was going on. I begged to wake up from this nightmare. I didn't know how long I'd been running for. Time lost meaning in my world of fear. It could have been a minute, or an hour, or a year.

And then Siyeon was back with another flash of red light in front of me, with a knife in hand. I tried to stop suddenly, but I tripped over my feet. As I fell, Siyeon carved a line with the knife from her feet up. She didn't cut herself, no. She sliced the skin of the universe open and I fell right through, head over heels.