Chapter Text
A boy gasps awake as his head flies up from a desk which now has a small pool of drool sitting where his face had been. The boy wipes a small dribble of spit from the corner of his mouth as he takes in his surroundings.
There are six rows of desks with six empty chairs in each; that is, except his own. A large desk sits in front of a blackboard which has the words "detention" scribbled crudely in white chalk. The only light which illuminates the room comes from a single flickering lightbulb over his head and the moonlight which seeps through the window on the wall to his far right. He doesn't quite recall falling asleep in a classroom, but it alarms him further that no teacher or administrator had woken him and asked him to leave. Even the janitors didn't bother to do anything.
He wracks his brain for some type of logical solution. Maybe everyone left and forgot him, and didn't bother to come check out the room. But why could he not recall even falling asleep in class.
He remembers his name is Donghyuck and he remembers his friends and family, so clearly he hadn’t suffered from any severe memory loss, but why couldn’t he remember how he managed to get to his school?
The boy's train of thought is abruptly interrupted by the sound of pattering feet dashing past the open doorway. He feels his heart pump harder in his chest, but he attempts to breathe slow, deep breaths to remain calm. Though his brain tells him not to follow the sound, Donghyuck's body begins to move on it's own accord. He stands from his desk and begins slowly shuffling towards the doorway. He exits the room and wanders wearily down the dimly lit corridor.
Donghyuck passes classroom door after classroom door, finding none of them were open like the room he'd just exited from. A loud bang startles Donghyuck, causing him to spin on his heel and find that the classroom he had woken up in was now closed off just like the others.
"Fuck this," he mutters under his breath.
He turns and jets off in the opposite direction he came from. Donghyuck's blood pumps hard in his ears, forcing him to hear only the pulsations of his heartbeat rather than the second set of footsteps clomping towards him. Just as he turns the corner, Donghyuck slams into a figure and is knocked backwards. His back slams down hard onto the floor, causing him to groan in pain at the harsh contact. He hears a yelp come from a few feet away, and nearly jumps out of his skin. He sits up and finds the figure was lying on the ground.
"Fuck," the figure hisses, causing Donghyuck's heart to leap.
"Mark?" he gasps as relief washes over his whole body.
"Donghyuck?" the latter murmurs, "You made me hit my head on the fucking wall, you jackass. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I-I dunno. Where are we?" he asks.
"I was about to ask you the same question," Mark admits with a shake of his head, "Something isn't right about this place."
"You're telling me," Donghyuck remarks.
"It looks like our school, but...something feels very wrong here," he states with deep concern lacing his voice.
"Mark, how'd we get here? Why are we here?" he questions.
"You think I'd be this confused if I knew what was going on?" Mark groans, "We need to get the hell out of here."
"Yeah," Donghyuck hums in agreement.
Both boys lean against walls to help give them support to stand. Once they're on their feet, they stand face to face for a moment. Donghyuck gazes at Mark's slightly illuminated face and watches as a small glint shines in one of his eyes from the reflection of the moonlight. Mark turns his head to survey the area while Donghyuck looks off down the hall with a soft smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"Mark?" he murmurs.
"Huh?" he grunts in response before spinning around on his heel to check the way he came.
"Do you...remember anything that happened before we got here?" Donghyuck asks nervously.
Mark freezes.
"I...I actually don't. Not much, anyway," he admits.
"What do you remember?" Donghyuck presses as he tilts his head slightly.
"I swear I was...I was driving you back to your house...from school," Mark mumbles as he struggles to remember, "There was some sort of argument? I think? After that, my mind draws a blank."
Donghyuck inhales sharply as he realizes he remembers that as well.
Except, he remembers what started the argument.
And what ended it.
"What is it? Do you remember what happened?" Mark asks in confusion.
"I...um...no," he lies.
Immediately, his stomach turns slowly with guilt. He hates lying to Mark. He always hated lying to Mark. It was truly ironic how he absolutely despised himself for it, yet it was something he did quite often as of late. And it led to a blowout he could only blame himself for.
"Really? Are you sure? Anything helps,” Mark urges, making Donghyuck’s body tense even further.
”N-no, I don’t remember anything,” he says quietly.
“Damn..." Mark says with an air of disappointment.
"I-I’m sorry," Donghyuck stammers as he scratches the back of his neck.
Mark suddenly shushes him and places his index finger over his own lips. Donghyuck watches Mark while the latter stares down the hall he came from. An odd whimpering sound comes from a room nearby. It takes Donghyuck a moment to realize it's the sound of an animal crying.
"Mark, is that-"
"A dog," Mark whispers, cutting him off, "We need to get out of here. Now."
"But-but there's an animal crying!" he protests, "We can't just leave it!"
"I don't trust it, Hyuck. Something feels very wrong here," Mark insists.
"Please, Mark," he begs.
Mark shakes his head and exhales stressfully.
"This is a bad idea. This is such a bad idea," Mark mumbles to himself as the both of them head towards the source of the crying.
They travel a few doors down and near one which appears excessively and abnormally locked up. Eight locks line the door, all varying from deadlocks to latches, giving the impression that whatever was inside was intentionally being trapped there.
The whimpers begin to grow increasingly somber, nearly breaking Donghyuck's heart to hear the sound of.
"Help me unlock it," he pleads as he steps on his tip toes to reach for the highest lock.
"Whatever's in here clearly is meant to be kept locked away. It could be dangerous," Mark warns him.
"Please," Donghyuck whines, causing Mark to cave with a deep sigh before joining him in his efforts.
The two boys fumble with the locks until all eight are undone. Mark and Donghyuck look to each other before Donghyuck twists the doorknob and opens the door.
A single, dim light shines on a black Doberman that's lying on its stomach in the middle of a cleared classroom. There are no desks except that of a teacher's, and something about that fact makes Donghyuck's skin crawl. A long, sturdy, silver chain trails from the dog's red collar into the darkness somewhere behind it. As Donghyuck slowly approaches it, he notices that the dog has a black metal muzzle surrounding its face, restraining it further. Its eyes appear to be dark and glossy. The sadness radiating from the helpless creature further breaks Donghyuck's heart. He sits on his knees and reaches for the muzzle, but the dog quickly shifts its head away, whimpering loudly. Donghyuck twists his body to face Mark, who's still standing in the threshold of the classroom door.
"Come help me," he requests, and Mark, yet again, complies reluctantly.
He crouches down beside Donghyuck and finds the dog looks straight at him. It suddenly stands and walks up to him, surprising both boys simultaneously. The dog whimpers and nuzzles it's face against Mark's legs before setting it's head into his lap.
Mark shoots Donghyuck a nervous glance, which Donghyuck returns with an urgent nod. Mark sighs and turns his head back to the sad dog. He cautiously removes the muzzle and discards it towards Donghyuck.
"Take the chain off," he commands eagerly.
Mark hesitantly unhooks the chain from the collar and drops it on the ground. He stares quietly at the dog, watching as he practically holds his breath. The dog whimpers yet again and moves it's head to nudge Mark's hand.
"Pet it," Donghyuck urges, but Mark doesn't do it. He sits idly, refusing to move a muscle.
The dog begins to cry.
"Mark, please! It just wants love!" Donghyuck cries out.
But Mark still does not move. It's as if he's frozen.
The dog wails louder and louder, still.
"Mark!" Donghyuck bellows as he finally snaps.
The dog then barks loudly, causing Mark to jump and scramble back away from it. Donghyuck stares in shock at it with wide eyes. It begins to growl viciously at Mark. Donghyuck watches on anxiously as he hopes the dog was consolable.
"It...it just wanted a little love..." Donghyuck stammers out weakly.
Mark remains speechless as the dog barks again. Donghyuck begins to feel as if he wants to cower away from it. Just as this feeling washes over him, the Doberman's eyes blink. When they open, they appear to glow a bright ruby red.
"M-Mark," Donghyuck whimpers as he glances towards the older boy, "Wh-what is that thing?"
"Come to me...slowly," he instructs as his eyes keep glued to the dog without staring it in its eyes.
Donghyuck obeys, but his eyes drift to the evil-looking creature standing mere feet away from him. He startles as the dog barks aggressively at him.
"Don't look at it. Look at me," Mark states, and Donghyuck complies, "When I say go, we make a run for it. Okay?"
Donghyuck nods and a few seconds of silence pass.
"Go!" Mark suddenly screams, and both boys make a break for the door.
The dog barks repeatedly as it chases after them.
Donghyuck runs alongside Mark as fast as his legs will allow. He feels a scream clawing up his throat, but it won't come out. He ignores the feeling and presses on as he tries to focus on Mark.
"There!" Mark says breathlessly as he points to an open door at the end of the hall.
Donghyuck doesn't respond, but instead pushes himself to go faster. The vicious, deafening barks of the dog remain hot on their heels, frightening Donghyuck further.
He notices Mark is falling behind, and he tries to slow to maintain the same pace as him, but Mark shoves him forward harshly. Donghyuck blunders through the doorway and tumbles to his hands and knees. He hears the door suddenly slam behind him. He instantly begins to panic, wondering if the door had shut by itself. He turns himself around and finds a dark silhouette standing at the door, pressed against it. The sound of loud scratching starts to fill the room, and Donghyuck bursts into a fit of tears as he screams loudly.
"H-Hyuck," Mark stammers as he gasps for air, "G-get desks to h-help barricade th-the door."
With tears still falling from his eyes, Donghyuck pulls himself back up onto his feet and starts stumbling around the dark room. He uses all of his energy and shoves anything he can get his hands on, towards Mark.
As the desks begin to surround Mark, he starts to crudely stack them and help Donghyuck gather more until the last desk is set in place. Both boys dive behind the teacher's desk and sit face to face with only the silvery moonlight to see each other through the darkness, though Donghyuck could hardly see anything through the blur caused by his tears.
"Hey," Mark whispers softly as he places his hands gently on either side of Donghyuck's face, "Listen, it's okay. We're okay."
"W-what the f-fuck was tha-t th-thing?" he weeps.
"I don't know, but I need you to calm down for me. Can you do that?" Mark requests, "I need calm, clear-headed Hyuck right now."
Donghyuck nods as he breathes in broken gasps.
"Breathe," Mark says softly, "Through your nose; out your mouth. Six seconds in, seven seconds hold, eight seconds out.”
Donghyuck does as instructed. He inhales through his nose, holds his breath, then shakily lets it out.
"Good. Keep doing that," Mark praises him with a small smile that Donghyuck could only faintly see through the darkness and tears obscuring his sight.
Donghyuck continues the same pattern until he no longer wishes to sob and panic. His attention begins to drift to the warm touch of Mark's hands on his cheeks. He shuts his eyes momentarily, taking in the feeling wholly.
"Hyuck, do you hear that?" Mark murmurs as he drops his hands.
Donghyuck nearly whimpers at the loss of his warmth against his face, but forces himself to remain silent. It takes him a moment, but when he registers what Mark asked, he becomes utterly shocked in an instant.
The room was quiet. Dead quiet.
"The dog's not clawing at the door anymore?" he asks in utter confusion.
Both boys slowly stand from their cover, listening close for any sign the dog was still there. They navigate around the cluster of desks to get near the door. Mark carefully scoots some of the desks out of the way and squeezes through to get to the door. Once he does, he presses his ear against it and listens closely for several long moments.
"Nothing," Mark whispers as he listens a tad bit longer before pulling away, "Help me move the desks back a bit."
Donghyuck whimpers lightly, scared that the Doberman is waiting to rip them to pieces the second they open the door.
"It'll be okay. Just help me," Mark assures him.
Donghyuck wearily starts to help pull the desks back from the door until it's accessible. Mark then places his hand on the doorknob. He cautiously turns it and cracks it open just enough for him to peek through. He suddenly swings the door open and steps outside with his eyebrows furrowed and lips parted in confusion.
"It's...gone."