AN: This chapter is pretty dark. It is needed to progress the story, just beware, it gets bad.
Voices In My Head
Chapter 9
MC's POV
MC groaned, her head was pounding and she couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her. She brought her hand up to the side of her head and felt something wet. She pulled her hand away and saw the reddish tint of blood on her fingers. MC looked around frantically, her feet kicked up dust, causing her to cough. "Hello?" She called out after the coughing fit had stopped. The silence refused to give an answer, but the shuffling from the other end of the room let her know that someone was there. MC stood up slowly, her pounding head made the room spin; so, she collapsed back down to the ground. Small pebbles dug into her knees as she felt the ground for something. Her hand connected with a smooth object, her eyes adjusted and saw a familiar boot. "MC… How nice it is to see you." The voice said softly, there was a poison just barely detectable in those words. "Seven…? Is that you?" MC asked, trying to stand up again. "I wouldn't stand up if I were you. That head wound could get worse." He said while pressing his thumb into where the pounding originated. MC cried out and fell to the ground, her teeth clicked together as her chin hit the ground. "Where am I? Where's Saeran!" MC spat at the red-head. He chuckled darkly and crouched down to look at her. "I don't think my brother is coming to save you. Last, I saw, he was still crying in your bedroom. He looked so torn up to see his precious MC gone. Especially after he had gone out his way to apologize to you with roses. How sweet, a romance foiled by tragedy." Saeyoung laughed and grabbed MC by the chin. His nails dug into her skin as he inspected her, smirking to himself. "Fuck off! You don't even know your brother!" MC hissed while trying to pull away from his grip. Saeyoung threw her down to the floor in disgust, kicking up sand as he stood up. "You think that you know him?! Saeran is no person, he can't feel things. He is a monster! What will it take for you to see that?!" Saeyoung screamed at her. MC flinched and shifted into a sitting position. "He may have made mistakes before but at least he's trying to fix them! You haven't done shit to help either him or yourself! All you do is hide behind the computer screen, ignoring all of your problems!" MC yelled back at him. His face contorted into a sneer and he grabbed a fist full of her hair, yanking her up to him. MC cried out in pain and clawed at Saeyoung's hand, tears pricking her eyes.
"Saeran will never come and get you. The sooner you come to terms with that, the sooner you can get out of here. Refuse to accept that, and the people here will give you the same treatment that they gave Saeran." Saeyoung hissed before throwing MC on the ground again. MC glared up at him, tears were freely falling now. Saeyoung made a noise of disgust and walked out of the room, muttering something to someone else that was in the room. A strange pair of shoes walked up to MC and picked her up, carrying her out of the room. She kicked and screamed, but the person held her tightly, refusing to let her go. Her screams could be heard through the corridors and other cells. She was in Mint Eye, the heart of all the disaster that had occurred.
Saeran's POV
Twenty-four hours had passed too quickly. Saeran's throat was raw from crying and screaming. His face was pale, his eyes dull. He heard a knock on the door and slowly got up. His joints screamed in protest, Saeran had spent the past day curled up on MC's bedroom floor. He heard the door open as he stepped out of her bedroom, the RFA members had entered the house. "Saeran! Are you alright?" Jaehee asked as she rushed towards him. Saeran held his hand out and gripped onto the doorframe, not looking any of them in the eye. "She's gone. It's all my fault, I made her mad at me and… and now she's gone!" Saeran cried as he fell to his knees. Jaehee crouched down with him and rubbed his back, trying to comfort the grieving boy. "We have to go find her!" Yoosung chimed while tugging at his hair. Zen sighed and rubbed his temples. "Where was Mint Eye's headquarters before?" Jumin asked while leaning on the wall. "In the mountains. It was a white building with an eye on it." Saeran muttered while leaning into Jaehee. The woman hugged him and kept rubbing his back. "They would have moved locations after being found out. Where is the next most secluded spot that you can think of?" Jumin asked again, his cold eyes staring at Saeran. Zen was the first one to speak up. "A warehouse? It would be large enough to hold whatever they needed to." The suggestion worked, but all the warehouses in the area were in the city. "How about a beach?" Yoosung muttered quietly. Saeran perked up and stared at the blonde. "The beach. I heard something about that once." He said as he pulled away from Jaehee. Jumin watched Saeran and pulled out his phone. "I'm going to call anyone I know who owns a property near or on the beach. I'll tell them to look for either a sports car or an unfamiliar vehicle." He said as he dialed a number. Jumin left the apartment to go talk, while the other three members went into MC's room to look for some sort of hint.
"All they left was this note. They want me to go back…" Saeran whispered while sitting on the floor in front of her bed. Zen looked at the empty dress box on the bed and noticed some sort of sand in it. "Saeran, there's sand in here." Zen said as he sifted through it. Saeran stood up and observed the sand, something about it tugged at his memory. "I feel like this is a scavenger hunt…" Saeran muttered as he tried to pinpoint the memory. His mind wandered back to when Mint Eye had first contacted him, he was on a beach with V and Rika. "The beach where they first contacted me. That's where they want me to go first." Saeran said as he stood up quickly. Jumin walked into the bedroom and nodded. "Someone did mention seeing a sports car go to a beach and drop off something under a tree. We should get moving now." The businessman said before walking out of the apartment.
The RFA members walked out of the building and got into Jumin's car. Jaehee stuck close to Saeran, she knew that if anything happened to him, MC would never forgive her. Saeran leaned against the window as the car drove off, headed towards the beach from his memories. He eventually dozed off, everyone else remained quiet so that he could sleep. His sleep however; was anything but peaceful.
Saeran was in the cell again, the screams of others going through the same drug process echoed in his ears. One scream in particular called to him. Her voice was laced with pain, the drugs must be rejecting her body. Saeran stood up and walked to the cell door. He pushed on the door and watched as it opened, almost inviting him to inspect the scream. Saeran walked down the dark and damp corridors, the scream grew louder. His mind clicked, the voice belonged to MC. He ran down the halls, the other shrieks and moans blurred together. She was the only thing that mattered, he would not let her get hurt. Once he reached the door that her screams were emanating from, his body froze. What would be behind that door? Would she be near death? Saeran couldn't move as the door opened, showing MC on the ground. Her dress was torn to ribbons, bruises laced her legs and arms. Her hair was caked with dirt, her eyes were dull. The hazel orbs that he had loved were now a dark brown, no life was held in them. MCs mouth opened and the words that came out of her mouth shook Saeran to the core. "Why did you leave me to die, Saeran? Why?" The voice wasn't hers. It was a hollow shell of what her voice used to be. "WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHWHYWHYWHYWHY!" The voice screamed at him. Saeran tried to back away, but his legs were frozen in one spot. The shell of what MC used to be crawled over to him, it's dead eyes staring directly into his soul.
Saeran jumped awake and gripped his chest. It was just a nightmare, nothing more. His breaths were shaky as he stared out the window. Jaehee placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort the younger boy. Zen and Yoosung were arguing over which of Zen's selfies were better. Jumin was typing on his phone, most likely making sure that his cat was taken care of for the night. Jaehee had dozed off, her hair tickled Saeran's shoulder. The white-haired boy sighed and pulled out his phone. He went to his gallery, looking through the pictures of MC that he had collected. His favorite picture was of one where she was sleeping. Her hair was fanned out on his arm, lips curled up into a small smile. Saeran winced when he thought about his nightmare and put the phone away.
Outside the window, the day had faded into a bright sunset. How could something so beautiful, come out of a day filled with so much pain? Saeran figured that it was the world playing a cruel trick on him. The car made a hard stop, jolting Jaehee awake. The woman rubbed her eyes and looked around. "Are we there?" Zen asked while reaching for his fallen phone. Jumin nodded and stopped messing with his phone. The car door opened, Yoosung was the first one to jump out. Zen and Jaehee followed after the blonde. Jumin left before Saeran, leaving him to his thoughts. What if she looks exactly like the MC in my nightmare? Saeran thought to himself. The nightmare had shaken him up more than he cared to admit. As Saeran stepped out of the vehicle, memories hit him like a tidal wave. This beach was the last place that he was truly happy before Mint Eye started the drug treatments. "Alright, we all need to search around for something that could belong to MC or Saeran. Look mainly under trees, focus on the ones right up against the sand." Jumin ordered once he saw everyone. They all nodded and went off in separate directions.
After an hour of searching, frustrated sighs could be heard from everyone. "Nothing is here! Is there a building somewhere near here?" Yoosung whined as he sat down in the sand. Zen sat next to him, taking his silver hair down from its usual ponytail. "What now?" Jaehee asked, clearly disappointed that they didn't find anything. Jumin shrugged and leaned against a tree. Saeran crouched down and ran his fingers through the sand. That's it. Comb the sand. He thought while quickly looking up. Saeran grabbed a branch from a tree and dragged it in the sand behind him. "What are you doing?" The RFA members asked as they watched him. "I'm combing the sand. Just leaving something in plain sight for me to see is not what Mint Eye does. One of the training sessions, hide things in plain sight." Saeran muttered. He kept dragging the branch along until it hit something solid. Bingo. He waved the others over and told them to start digging.
Underneath the sand was a small box, barely large enough to hold a phone. Saeran shook the box gently, the object inside hit the sides. He opened the box and choked on his tears. It was MC's phone, a large blood stain was on the screen. Saeran dropped the box and walked away, she was hurt. After a few seconds, he walked back over and picked up the device. It turned on, the battery still at full charge. There was an unopened message from an unknown number. Saeran pressed it, wincing as he touched the blood.
Saeran. If you are reading this, then that means you have found her phone. I'll let you guess where she is before telling you...
Mint Eye headquarters. The same one in the mountains, the same one where you were held.
Saeran glared at the phone, he knew exactly who sent the message. He was about to throw the phone when a message chimed in.
Unknown Number: Hello Saeran
MC (Saeran): Saeyoung.
Unknown Number: You are quick to catch on. She's been screaming for you. I think they have started the drugging process already.
MC: You sick fuck.
Unknown Number: Now now, if you keep acting like that, I'll just have to mess up her pretty face even more.
The phone chimed with a picture message. The image was of MC, but she looked terrible. Her hair was tangled up, her dress was torn to ribbons. Her face was covered in small cuts and bruises, dirt caked her arms and legs. Bruises traveled up and down her limbs, giving evidence that she had struggled. Another image chimed in, this time it was a close up of her face. MC's normally bright hazel eyes, were now a dull brown. She looked like she had gotten beaten to a pulp. Saeran growled at the phone and was about to type a message to his brother when the final picture chimed in.
Saeyoung had sent a selfie of himself with MC. Her eyes were filled with hate as Saeyoung's fingers pulled her lips into a fake smile. The red-head's eyes were filled with a sadistic pleasure, he was enjoying hurting her. Saeran threw the phone and screamed. The RFA members backed away from him when they saw his gold eyes go black. The sweet and caring Saeran no longer existed, what was in his place was a monster. Saeran walked to Jumin's car, snapping at the others to follow him.
Saeyoung Choi. I hope you are prepared to meet mother, because I will kill you if you lay another finger on her.
The monster that had replaced Saeran was the one Mint Eye had implanted into him. A creature fueled on pure rage and hate. Nothing could stop it, not even the RFA members. Whatever was about to go down at Mint Eye would not end until blood was shed.