➰The secret➰

"Is that a key?" Jungkook arched his brows in confusion, examining what Taehyung was showing to the group after explaining whatever happened at Janice's room upstairs.

"I think so."

The seven boys were now gathered at the living room of the mansion, sitting on the dusty sofa and lighting an old-fashioned lamp they found at the corner. They didn't have much progress from point A but the investigating was taking longer than they expected, it was better to stick as one for now.

"So this little girl you saw... It's weirding me out." Hoseok whined and shivering at the feeling of eyes watching him. He was the only one who seemed to be bothered by it.

"Do you think she's just another victim of Janice?"

Namjoon bobbed his head as yes to Jin's question. "Most likely. I'm sure since Janice traps souls in the nursery in the other realm, her soul might be still trapped there that's why you saw her in that room."

Suddenly, Jimin felt a cold gush of wind rush down his spine. His ears perked up when he heard faint sobs from a distance. He turned his head back and forth, looking for any signs of Janice but he found none. He heard multiple whispers around them but his friends failed to notice it, they couldn't hear anything.

He held unto his head and gripped his locks tightly. All of the inaudible whispers started to get louder, horrendous, dreadful cries reverberated the empty mansion. "Tulungan niyo ako!"

"Tulong!"

"Umalis na kayo dito!"

"Palayain niyo ako!"

"—min! Jimin! Are you okay?!"

Unaware of his friends calling out to him, Jimin finally was brought back to his senses. In that short lapse of time, he couldn't hear the voices of his friends over the sobs of those trapped souls cowering to him. Jimin held unto Yoongi's shoulders for support, face displaying horror as he took a moment to steady his breathing. "Jimin, are you okay?"

"Hyung, something's wrong... I want to check the room for myself. I wanna confirm my suspicion." Jimin declared, standing up from the sofa and running towards the stairs.

"Yah! Jimin! Don't go running by yourself!" Yoongi shouted quickly following the younger as the rest followed suit.

When they finally caught up to him, they saw Jimin staring at Janice's room from outside, eyes widening as his hands threw over his mouth. "Jimin, tell us what's wrong!" The first person to follow, Yoongi, asked as soon as he reached his frightened boyfriend.

"This isn't the nursery..."

"What?"

The others came running soon after. Hoseok crouched down and huffed. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Hyung, this isn't the nursery. We need to get out now."

"What? Why? We haven't find anything yet," Namjoon inquired.

Jimin pointed his finger towards the room, the others were perplexed and sought out to see for themselves. All of them had the same reaction at the sight of the bold red painted letters on the wall. They recalled it wasn't there earlier when Namjoon's group visited. The letters spelt 'Run' in big letters painted with blood.

"I just had a very bad feeling. We need to get out now!"

They all stopped at the sound of a sinister laugh echoing further against the walls. At that moment, they all had a terrible vision. Darkness, lonesome and horrid place trapped them to oblivion. Hoseok was in a strange room, a tent of red and white surrounding him. The sound of a carousel ringing in his ears as mountains of chocolate bars towering from the floor.

There was a door, an only exit of the room. However, the familiar sight of a button-eyed doll with a paper stuck to it's chest saying 'Feed me' was blocking his way. It sat there, looking at him but what horrified him the most was its stitched mouth slowly curving upwards forming into a small smile. The only he could do is scream.

Namjoon was on the same state. He was running around in a room filled with mirrors. Everywhere he looked, he always see that figure of a small girl. Her laugh rings in his ear as she runs to a different direction. Without thinking, he continued to run forward fearing the girl will catch up to him. But it took him a while to realize, he was running in circles.

Seokjin wakes up in an empty room. The white curtains flowed from the breeze coming outside the window. He glanced down on the floor and saw a white lily lying helpless. He bent down with his hand reaching towards it. And with the small touch of his fingertips, the flower's petals broke down, it's fragility got him dumbfounded. As the flower withered, the room disappeared into ashes. He was lost in a dark abyss.

Taehyung was locked in a small box. The walls were filled with a variety of mobile devices, blinking lights back on and off multiple times. He ruffled his locks, covering his ears trying to shield off the noise that kept repeating the same words over and over on his head. "Tulungan niyo ako... Tulungan niyo ako..." He wanted to escape but there was no way out.

Jungkook stood in a dark, quiet room. It was raining heavily and lightning illuminated the milieu. A faint eerie music in a distant mixed with the thunderstorm. There was a painting in front of him, he recognized it as the one he made from before. The man he drew, it's eyes started tearing in red paint and his once frowning face rose up into a smile. It was enough for him to be terrified.

Yoongi couldn't believe what he was seeing. He saw Jimin playing the piano at a short distance. He ran to him in hurry but he faded away as soon as he reached him. He shouted for his name but his voice only replied to his call. Soon later, he skimmed his finger over the surface of the keys and played a note. It happened in a blink of an eye, the piano started burning down likewise to everything else around him.

"JIMIN!"

He ran around looking for another exit. He only found himself being slowly eaten by the fire. No, this can't be happening! He needs to find a way to Jimin, he needs to save him! He needs to save him... But he can't.

"Yoongi! I'm here!"

He can't.

Yoongi blinked back to his senses. He felt Jimin hugging him and sobbing out for his name. What just happened? He comfortingly hugged his boyfriend back as he stared at everyone on a state he can't explain. They were all barely standing, shoulders slouched down like a literal zombie and irises staring up at the ceiling. "J-Jimin, what happened?"

"H-Hyung? Hyung! I'm glad you're back! I was so scared!" Jimin cried on the crook of his neck.

"What happened to us? Why are the others like that? Was I..."

"We need to wake up the others and get out of here! She's taking over us bit by bit, we don't have much time left!"

At that second, the others suddenly began to gain consciousness. Their irises fell back to it's place and no longer in a daze. All were wearing the same fearful eyes and horrified expression on their faces as if seeing something they never encountered before. Spacing out and waking up in a blink of an eye. They were slowly losing contact with reality.

"We need to leave. Now."

➰➰➰

"I'm still freaking out! You guys have no idea I've been through in there! That d-doll and those freaking ch-chocolates! Why is this happening to me again?"

"Again? What do you mean again?" Jimin asked Hoseok.

"Not technically but that doll showed up before when you were away! It creeps me out!"

The boys were back on the hotel, now sitting inside their checked in room. Jimin was shivering despite the three blankets draped over his body. Everyone was silent when they arrived back to their room, they had no idea what to say after what they saw. Words weren't enough to describe how terrified they were.

"Dolls and chocolate? That's weird, I was trapped in a mirror maze." Namjoon replied, remembering the vague memory of him inside the room.

"I see, so all of us were brought to different rooms on the other realm." Taehyung brought a finger under his chin. "I was in a room filled with blinking phones stuck on the walls. Those lights almost blinded my righteousness."

"Ah I get it!" Jungkook snapped his fingers. "If my guess is correct, everything we've done while Janice was living with us was happening all over again but this time it's vice versa. She's doing them to us and hence using them as tools to bait us into her trap."

Yoongi arched his eye brows, holding his boyfriend's cold and trembling hand. "Bait? You mean like a passageway to lure us into the other realm."

"Yes and getting the chance to trap us to her desire. That's why that painting showed up with me on that room. First was when Hoseok hyung confronted us with that creepy looking doll that one morning you remember?"

Hoseok nods his head.

"And then that doll appeared on the other side again. Next was Namjoon and the broken glass at the restroom, we didn't thought it was suspicious since it was normal. But I bet something happened in there, right hyung?"

"Yeah," Namjoon nodded his head. "I saw a bloody handprint on the mirror but when I touched it, it shattered into pieces."

"Right and I was next with the painting and I bet the room you were stuck in had something to do with that phone call you received that day, am I right Taehyung hyung?"

The latter hummed as response. He turned his head to face the eldest who was biting his nails nervously. "Hyung, what did you encounter with Janice when Jimin hyung was possessed?"

"W-Well... I couldn't sleep that one night and decided to go downstairs. I heard Jimin talking from the living room so I went to check up on him. But then I saw a trail of lily petals descending leading to Janice." Seokjin gasped. "The lily! It was there with me!"

"And Yoongi hyung?"

"The music box was playing a famous piano piece on our room before we realized Jimin was possessed and then I witness a burning piano from the other realm." The older simply replied, finally getting what was happening. "Now I understand. She's using those objects to manipulate us."

"Exactly! The chocolate, the mirror, the painting, the phone, the flower and the piano. We need to stay from those things at all cost or else she'll be able to grab ahold of us."

"What about me? What's my connection to her?" Jimin quietly muttered.

"You act as a vessel to her." Namjoon glanced at the younger male looking so vulnerable. "You're her main source of energy to go in and out of our realm. He used you at your most fragile state and took over your mind."

"W-What does that supposed to mean?"

"It means, you're the key to stopping to all of this madness."

A/n:

The month of love and here I am on my horror story! Have a great night and hope you have nightmares! I mean— stay weird!