The Fall of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 2) (62 page)

Treacherous rain clouded her vision, drenched her hair, devoured her clothes, and inundated the entire world beneath her yet she continued on, blood that didn’t belong to her seeping from her clenched fists.
 

Her lungs were struggling for air, yet she paid no attention to it.
 

She had to hurry.
 

She kicked down a door and burst into the dark room. Her heart hammered brutally against her chest. She looked from left to right. Only shadows surrounded her. Her frantic eyes focused on the room at the further end of the abandoned hall.
 

While fiercely holding on to the item in her bloodstained palm, she kicked another door down. The door nearly flew off its hinges. Jumping and passing over several steps, she landed on the seventh
 step and continued to run. 

Huff…

Huff…

Huff…

Darkness…darkness everywhere. 

The storm continued to echo in the far distance as she lunged onto the ground. She fought through spider webs and dust before reaching a brick in the wall. Her heart throbbed in her ear
s. She kneeled on the ground. She pulled out the brick, revealing a hollow space within the yellow stained wall. 

Panting quietly, she held out her trembling hand. It was too dark to see it, but she knew
 exactly what she was holding. She could still feel the strings of blood adorning it. 

57…

Red-hot tears threatened to mist her eyes while she took a moment to ponder its value. Anger. Scorn. Hatred. Disgust. All these emotions ripped through her, drowning her. No longer able to stand it, she threw it into the hollow space. She filled the brick in that space, blocking off any knowledge that the wall was disturbed. 

No one else could know...

Just as the distant thunder roared outside, she rose to her feet, sprinted out of the room, sprung out into the hall, and flew into the awaiting storm. As if anticipating her return, the dark sky illumed with lightning, revealing the spacious lawn she was running on and the splatters of blood staining her dark clothes. 

No one could know where she hid it
. It would be her secret; one that she would take to her grave if she had to. 

Huffing and puffing, she continued to run despite the violence of the weather. She continued to run despite the pain and desperation tearing through her.
 

I’m doing the right thing
, she told herself.
I’m doing the right thing. There’s no other choice…

Yoori woke up with a quiet gasp after she felt a chill slither up her spine. Her heart drummed agains
t her chest. Her dreary eyes surveyed her surroundings in momentary confusion. What the hell did she just dream about? Yoori couldn’t remember much…just that in the dream, it was really dark, rainy, cold, and there was a lot of running. Too much running and too much anxiety.

Yoori sighed to herself.
 She hated her dreams.

She nuzzled into her pillow. It took her awhile to realize that she
wasn’t sleeping on her bed and that she wasn’t nuzzling into a pillow. She was sleeping on a couch and nuzzling into Tae Hyun’s chest…her boyfriend’s chest. 

Her mood lifted instantaneously.
 The stress and fear that once coursed through her vacated when Yoori noted that she was safe in Tae Hyun’s arms. They were still sleeping underneath their purple blanket and the waves of icicle lights that glimmered above their ceiling. 

What a breathtaking sight.

Butterflies quaked in her stomach at the reminder of what took place the night before. It wasn’t a dream. All of this was still real. She smiled blissfully at Tae Hyun, who was still sleeping soundly. He looked so handsome and he was all hers now.

Unable to help herself, she allowed her fingers to stroke over his smooth face.
 She was so tempted to just kiss him. As her fingers moved from his cheek, to his jaw and then whispered down to his neck, Yoori’s eyes blossomed when she remembered that she hadn’t given Tae Hyun the birthday gift she bought him.

The diner
.

She had forgotten his birthday gift at the diner!

Yoori wanted to smack herself. In the process of rushing out of the diner, she had completely forgotten Tae Hyun’s gift bag on the kitchen counter. She was so angry. How could she forget something as important as Tae Hyun’s birthday gift? 

Something clicked in Yoori’s mind. The diner was closed,
but she still had the keys. Wouldn’t it be nicer if she went to the diner, got the birthday gift, came back and cuddled with him as she presents the gift when he wakes up? Yoori glanced at a sleeping Tae Hyun.

She smiled at the thought.
 

It would
be quick. She would just drive his Mercedes, fetch the gift and come back before he even knew she was gone. She doubted she would run into any gang members because she only planned on running into the diner for two seconds to get her gift. Worst comes to worst, she would just drive back home if she sensed suspicious people near the diner. What were the odds that she would run into any danger if she was away from Tae Hyun for a couple of minutes? She couldn’t stay under his protective wings forever. She had to do things for herself. 

Decision set, she quietly untangled herself from Tae Hyun’s embrace. She lifted herself off the couch and lowered her bare feet onto the cold tiles. She watched cautiously as Tae Hyun moaned a soft protest and shifted on the couch, moving around like a little puppy. It was as though he was searching for her in his sleep.

Relieved that she hadn’t woken him up, Yoori descended into the bedroom where she grabbed Tae Hyun’s white hoodie, put it on and grabbed his keys from the counter. She wore her black boots over her pajama pants and sped out of their apartment. 

Yoori noted that it was 4:17 in the morning as she drove Tae Hyun’s Mercedes.
 

She looked around.

The world was unusually quiet. 

Though night had long past, the sun continued to hide behind the dark clouds that floated above the city. Snow had risen to a couple of inches and there were barely any people out on the streets.
 Yoori shivered despite the strength of the heat eliciting from the car. Something was making her…uneasy. She had long gotten out of the cold so she didn’t understand why she was receiving chills. Yoori sighed, stepping on the gas in an attempt to get to the diner faster. 

It’s because you’re up at an ungodly hour and outside in ungodly weather,
 Yoori sullenly told herself. 

Though she was bitter, Yoori was more than encouraged by the fact that she was doing all of this
 for
Tae Hyun. She wanted her first day as an official girlfriend to be a good one, hence the unusual behavior of waking up at an ungodly hour and doing something sweet for him. She smiled to herself again. She was too excited about giving him the gift when he woke up. She was also too excited about jumping into his arms again. 

She was so lost in a daydreaming bliss that Yoori hadn’t realized she reached the diner until she nearly drove past it. She hastily stepped on the brakes, placed the car in reverse and carefully backed into the parallel parking space a couple of feet away from the diner.
 Just as she switched off the headlights and killed the engine, an onslaught of panic came over her. 

Like a hawk, her eyes zeroed in onto the diner door.

The door had the “Closed” sign on it.

Uneasiness clawed at her.

Something felt…
off
 to her. 

She examined the dark streets. Everything appeared normal. It was quieter than usual, but Yoori attributed this to the cold weather. Everything appeared in order but the simple fact that her stomach was coiling itself in dread was enough to make her wary.
 

Yoori depressed the auto-lock for the car doors as a safety precaution. She sat in the dark with her Blackberry in hand. She was tempted to run into the diner to just grab the gift, but the better part of her instincts was screaming at her to leave. She could
 feel it in her tense hands, her shivering skin, the tightness in her chest, and the uneasiness in her gut. Something was wrong here. Knowing very well that her gut instinct had done nothing but serve her well in the past, Yoori was ready to leave when she suddenly heard voices.

On instinct, she threw her back against the leather seat and slid down in an attempt to hide from detectable view.
 Her heart slowed when she registered that the voices were coming out
 
of the diner. It was only when Yoori craned her neck out did her heart completely stop at the sight of bodies materializing after the voices.

Chae Young.

Chae Young was the first thought that came to Yoori’s frantic mind. Her eyes locked on the men piling out of the diner. 

She counted.

One…two….five…eight…eleven…

Eleven…

Eleven men and…and…and…Chae Young? 

As if injected with adrenaline, her heart rate raced from 0 to 100. Nausea overcame her while her stomach twisted into unbearable knots. Holding in her gasp with her shaking hand, Yoori instantly speed-dialed Tae Hyun’s number. She kept her eyes solely focused on the men who were disappearing into the dark distance.
 

She shook uncontrollably in her seat.
 

It took three rings before Tae Hyun’s voice came over the other line.
 

“Yoori, where are you?” he prompted frantically. From the sounds of disarray in the background, Yoori could discern that he was already getting dressed once he realized she wasn’t in the apartment.
 

“Tae Hyun!” Yoori gasped desperately. She spoke to him, her mind running in circles.
 “Tae Hyun! I—I came to—to get your present f—from the diner—” She could hear him running out the door. “And I saw 
eleven
 men walk out from the diner.”

She inhaled sharply.

Her eyes continued to stay on the group of men who were disappearing into the shadows. They were all dressed in dark colored puffer jackets, jeans, and dark colored beanies. 

Her horrified eyes swiveled back to the diner. “Oh my God, I—I think Chae Young is in there and they did something to her! Oh God, Tae Hyun! She’s in there! She’s in there! What do I do?”
 

She was losing it. The only image in her mind was of her best friend: smiling and helping her bake a cake before hugging her goodbye.
 

“Yoori!” Tae Hyun shouted, clearly sensing that she was in a state of disarray. “Do
not
get out of the car! Do you hear me?”

It was clear to her he was running like a maniac down the apartment stairs.
He was coming.

“What if she’s hurt?” Yoori trembled like a leaf as she thought about all the possible things they could’ve done to her.

Eleven men and Chae Young...

There was only one possibility that Yoori could surmise and she prayed it didn’t happen to Chae Young.
 

“I—I have to go in,” Yoori stuttered, already unlocking the door. The men were out of sight and she couldn’t stomach hiding out in the car anymore. Not if her friend needed her. “I have to make sure she’s okay.”
 

“Yoori, don’t! I’ll be there soon!” Tae Hyun shouted, the heavy wind taking form on his line, making her believe that he was probably running to his motorcycle. “You don’t know if there are still people in there. You don’t even know if Chae Young is in there.”
 

“I—I have to go make sure she’s okay.” With no more reservations, Yoori hurled herself out of the car, ran into the billowing wind and sprinted toward the diner.
 

“Yoori! Don—”
 

“
Please hurry,” was the last thing Yoori said to Tae Hyun before she hung up. It was foolish of her to go in by herself, especially if there were still people in there. But she didn’t care. She didn’t give a fuck about anything but her best friend. 

She could feel the tears coat her eyes. She could feel her heart wrench in agony and she could feel the anxiety puncture itself through every nerve in her body.
  Yoori veered through the opened door. The darkness in the diner threw her off, rendering her blind for a split second. The distraction was enough for her to slip on a piece of fabric. She fell forward. Her chest slammed onto the hard tiles before her Blackberry slipped free from her grasp. 

Spikes of pain attacked her chest, causing Yoori to
gasp painfully for air. Groaning, Yoori reached for her Blackberry. Her vision had gradually acclimated to the darkness. Once she saw something twinkle in the shadows, she reached out for it and found her phone. Her eyes widened when she observed that the fabric she slipped on was a turtleneck. Chae Young’s red turtleneck. The fine hairs on the back of her neck stood, not because she realized she slipped on Chae Young’s top, but because she realized that the screen of the phone was wet…wet with blood. 

“Chae Young!” Yoori sprang to her feet.

Her eyes roamed the room in horror. It was Chae Young’s blood. She had no doubt about it. Yoori’s surveying eyes caught sight of something in the corner. Chae Young’s white apron hung on one of the booths. Her eyes continued to roam the room and there on the floor, she saw something that drained the color from her face. 

Chae Young was sprawled on the floor, naked and
 unmoving
.

She was covered in blood.
 

The world stood still as Yoori froze there, the seconds distending to eternities. Other than the screams of anguish bellowing within her, nothing was discernible to her ears. Her eyes ran over the blood, the torn clothes, and Chae Young’s lifeless body.
 

Yoori was ready to keel over when she heard soft
 moaning. The dark spiral she felt herself being dragged into was lifted when light held onto her.

Chae Young was still alive
. 

“CHAE YOUNG!” Yoori shouted. She ran over to Chae Young so fast that she almost slipped on the trail of blood that led up to her body.
 “Oh God, oh God. Thank God!”

Yoori fell to the ground, picked Chae Young’s head up, and carefully placed her knee underneath Chae Young’s neck.

“Chae Young, please open your eyes,” Yoori pleaded, her chest tightening in agony. Tears threatened to rise up through her. She gently slapped Chae Young’s cheek so that she would lift her lids. Chae Young was ice cold and it was killing Yoori, ripping her apart to see her friend like this. “Please…Please look at me.”

“
Yoori
?” Chae Young finally whispered, opening her bruised and swollen eyes slightly. Her eyes were merely slits, its full bloom prevented by the huge swelling surrounding her eyes.