"Never thought you'd ruin my plan. It's fine. Once i take you to Magenta, I'll re-educate you on everything. What should we start with? Do you want to choose? Let's leave out the traitors and just be together. Our Paradise, where everyone is happy…"
You had somehow managed to let go of his grasp. The silhouettes of the trees, the benches and the narrow stone pathways of the park became a blur in your peripheral vision as you could only focus on trying not to trip and fall as you escaped. Magenta, the place of hopes and dreams, he had said before you shoved him away and started running for your life. The city lights surrounding the park were bright enough to compensate for the lack of lampposts within the area of the park you were in, but the streets themselves felt like they were miles away. If only you found the exit, you could try and find the car Yoosung was lying unconscious in. Not that you knew where to drive it, but as long as it put distance between you and the nightmarish man that had managed to fool you both, both of you would be fine.
You bit your lip so that the tears wouldn't cloud your vision. You should have listened to Jumin. You shouldn't have gone into the park before the bodyguards arrived. He'd had a bad feeling but you were too angry, got too carried away to listen. Your heart was pounding so hard and your lungs felt so strained; your ankle had wobbled a few times already but you had to keep running. When you saw a small dirt road you made a right turn and took it, so that the clicking of your heels against the pavement wouldn't give your location away. It seemed like a good idea until a stray root caused one of your sandals to snap, and you went face first onto the ground. That wobbly ankle was positively busted now, but you dragged yourself into the nearby bushes after a few seconds.
The tears had now come flowing down your cheeks, mixing with the blood from the cut on your forehead before meeting the corners of your lips. The adrenaline was numbing the pain, but the frustration seemed to intensify the throbbing sensation on your knees and forearms. You reached for your phone. The fall had luckily spared it and the screen was intact, but you could see how your thumb left a smeared, bloody fingerprint against the background when you unlocked it. You scrambled to enter the RFA app and hit the call button; they were the only ones who could help you even if you were realizing just now how horribly you had been treating them these past few days. But right as you were tapping on the green symbol, a pair of strong hands grabbed your wrist and pinned your head to the ground.
"Catching a break from all that running? But that's not fair" he said, and you could picture the twisted smile that accompanied the question. You struggled, but were unable to flip onto your back since the man's knee was now crushing your ribcage. He pulled your hair and leaned in closer to your ear, lowering his scarf so you could feel his hot breath making your neck hairs stand on end. "I thought you said you were done dealing with liars".
"…Hello? Hello? MC, is something wrong? Hello?!" you suddenly heard a voice similar to the one threatening you. You looked to your side and saw the pone screen lit up in the darkness, Seven's face showing behind the blood and the dirt that had stuck to it. "MC! Can you hear me? Please, say something! MC!" he cried out, and you grew more desperate. The weight on your back increased as your attacker leaned forward to grab the phone and you gasped for air, unable to respond. Unfortunately he had to let go of your wrist, and you dug your nails into the hand that was holding your hair. He shifted his weight towards the leg he still had on the ground, allowing you enough time to flip over, but you weren't expecting the punch to your face. You whimpered as you finally got to see a clearer view of Unknown's face, seething with anger. He then straddled you and grabbed your neck while holding the phone in his other hand, lowering it towards your face. "Come on", he said; "say your goodbyes like you intended to".
"L-Luciel…Luciel, please…I, Yoosung…Help us…" You choked on your tears as you heard his breathing through the speaker, on the verge of sobbing.
Click. The screen went dark. He'd hung up, and Seven was gone now.
"I guess you're just another liar yourself". He smashed the phone against a rock nearby, damaging it to the point where he could remove the battery with a single hand. "But you were also lied to. He will never help you".
"Who are you?"
"I'm an emissary of Paradise. I'm here to take you with me", he replied.
"Why me?"
"You were chosen. I told you, I'd come and get you. You didn't need to run, and you don't need him". His grip had tightened at the mention of Seven, and suddenly something clicked. You had never met him in the flesh, but the resemblance to the pictures and most importantly, the voice was so eerily similar. You tried to talk, but you could only let out a whisper through your crushed windpipe.
"Why…you…and Luciel…"
"SHUT UP!" you heard, and then more punches started raining down. "HE'S A LIAR!", he roared. Your eyes were fixated on the large tattoo on his arm, but your vision was becoming blurry as you felt your face swell and your mouth fill up with blood. A loud crack resonated through your skull as your nose broke.
"You don't need the RFA anymore. Think of your cute little boyfriend, so willing to find out the truth. Don't you want to see him again?"
Even the blood that had yet to abandon you ran cold at the thought. You flinched at the mental image of Yoosung in the car, his eyes wide open as the man who was now on top of you had stuck a needle into his leg, right before falling limp. You needed to get him out of there, whatever could await you two in that so-called Paradise was best if it remained unknown. But there was no way you would get help now. Your phone had been torn to pieces and rendered untrackable now, and so was Yoosung's. Jumin's bodyguards could take hours sweeping the park until they got wherever you were, and even so they didn't know who or what they were looking for. There was nothing that Zen or Jaehee could do on their own. V… He had tried to warn you. All you had was…
"Seven…" you murmured, as you finally broke down into sobs. "I'm sorry…Luciel…" was all you could say as your lasts bits of strength finally abandoned you. You were still conscious, but your body felt too heavy to move anymore.
On top of you, the madman finally snapped. But it was not like it had to do with you anymore. You felt the warmth of the blood seeping out and the cold breeze that was blowing softly, bringing the faint smell of the ocean. Your mouth was salt and iron. The grass was soft beneath your fingertips. The moon was so bright, and it made everything shine. You felt the rip of fabric and the glint of metal, and the weird scraping sound it made against your ribs. Somebody was screaming, but you just felt so tired, your eyes were closing on their own. You only wished to say sorry, but your intentions never got past the halo of dark red that was now seeping into the ground.
Somewhere else in town, four phones vibrated at the same time. Upon opening the chat, there was a link to an image called "Traitor".
A mangled body in a pool of blood, face barely recognizable, with the numbers 707 carved in deep crimson across your chest.
Below it there was a message.
This is on you.