Minhyuk Park

"Alright, so how're we doing this?" I questioned Trigger as we planned how to break Santiago out. At this point, I still wasn't willing to believe that he was alive.

"I have a meeting with baldy in a few, so I can't help get him. I'll try to find the pills; I'm sure baldy has them somewhere. You and Castle will have to figure it out." The pills were supposed to reverse the effects of being in the kitchen. Given the fact that A, I had never seen the kitchen or its effects, and B, I wasn't going to ask how Trigger knew that, I merely nodded my head.

"What about me?" Stephanie interrupted loudly. Sometime in the past 24 hours, she had her hair trimmed up more evenly and decided she was a fashionista. I mean, who the fuck is going through the effort to put on makeup when we're in a life or death situation. Trigger at least had the reason that she had to act like everything was normal.

"Bruh, from what Miranda told me, you could barely make it there without passing out." Stephanie flushed. Clearly, she hadn't been keeping up with training after she escaped.

"But he's my brother!"

"Stephanie-" Trigger tried to calm the girl down.

"I can't just leave him! I need to help!"

"Nope. I'm not putting up with your tragic heroine story plan. If you get caught we all die. You need to realize that. Save your drama for whatever Hollywood movie you want to star in." Castle's words seemed to strike the red-head. Even I was startled. As far as I knew, serious wasn't in the girl's dictionary, but apparently, I was wrong.

"Hey, I gotta go." Trigger gave her girlfriend a quick hug, a silver ring glinting on her finger. I noticed it earlier, but I figured it was their own business. "Stay alive." The woman quickly exited the room.

"Yo. Are you paying attention?" Castle waved her hand in front of my face.

"Yeah, sorry." So far we had established that Castle and I would get San together before splitting up. She would, hopefully, be able to get him out disguised as me and I would leave through a different route. I would then have to go find Trigger and get whatever medicine would reverse or at least pause the effect of the drugs from her.

"Hey princess," Stephanie frowned at the name, "stay here and don't answer the door. Lights-"

"Lights off, no loud noises, yeah yeah. I know the drill." Whether or not Castle was annoyed at being interrupted, she didn't show it. I left first, to pick up some clothes from my own room. Hopefully, they'll be big enough for him. I still can't fucking believe he's alive. Maybe this is all a dream.

When I got to my room, it felt cold. Maybe it was the lack of body heat, or maybe the AC was on. I wasn't going to stick around and find out. Quickly, I made my way to the forest to meet Castle.

"That took you a while." I turned to find the woman sitting on the ground. The area surrounding was too empty to be natural. In front of her was a trap door, shining in the sun as if it was brand new.

"So h-" Before I could even finish the question, Castle reached down and opened it.

"Miranda kicked it down last time which meant they had to replace it. Conveniently they haven't installed the fingerprint reader yet." Oh.

We descended the ladder easily, aside from my slip up with the missing rung. I could hear Castle snicker below me, no doubt amused.

"Hey! What are you two doing?" Shit. They must have added additional guards. I glanced at Castle, wondering if she had a plan. Slowly, I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt lower.

"Castle and Mirror, we were told to check in on number 261." How did she remember our numbers?

"Ah, is that the one related to 262?"

"Yes. We'll just be making sure he's still there."

"Go on ahead. No one's been down here since the incident a few days ago."

"Just making sure. Wouldn't want to rely solely on word of mouth." The guard let us through, not even bothering to verify our identities. I followed the woman through the halls and the painting, hoping that I could memorize the path. As if. I couldn't even find all my classes at school. I figured now was as good of a time as any to talk.

"So you're Vicki."

"That only took you half a year." Castle wasn't nearly as impressed by my discovery.

"Then why do you go by Bruce?"

"Because I like it better." This conversation is going nowhere.

"I can't believe you're my brother's friend. He's so," I paused, thinking of the word, "plain compared to you."

"Clearly you don't know much about your own brother." It was probably true, but it still annoyed me.

"Like you know any more-"

"Did you know he has a tattoo?" What the flying fuck?

"How did you know that?"

"I'm the one that went with him to get it." It seemed like she wanted the conversation to end, so I left it at that. Quietly, we entered a room resembling a kitchen.

"This is where they're kept when they aren't in use." Castle's tone put me off.

"You act like they aren't human."

"At this point, they really aren't." As I glanced across the room, I recognized a very familiar figure. Oh my god.

"Santiago?" The head turned towards me in recognition. Without a second thought, I flung myself towards him. It's been so long. Tears were flowing freely as I held onto him.

"Oh my god, you're alive...," My voice faded when I noticed his gaunt, cold skin and unfocused eyes. "Right?"

"I told you he wasn't really human." I turned to Castle who had opted to perch herself on the counter.

"We can fix this right?" I grabbed the boy's hand, recognizing the silver ring from all those weeks ago.

"As long as Miranda finds the pills." She muttered something under her breath, but I was too preoccupied with the figure before me. I thought you did because of me.

"Hey we gotta split, so I have time to blame the guard for this one's disappearance." Reluctantly, I let go of Santiago and dried my eyes. I took off my hoodie, before pulling it over the boy's head.

"Meet you later." I pulled out the map Trigger drew for me with the other escape route. Castle dragged the boy along, his steps uneven and slow.

So I go this way? I walked around aimlessly, cursing myself for being so directionally impaired. Eventually, I found the gate Trigger told us about. Hopefully, I can fit through this...

Somehow I made it through the bars and was promptly greeted with a set of stairs. Taking in a deep breath, I raced up them, heart pounding. I feel like I'm dying. No wonder Steph had a hard time. When I reached the top, I was hesitant to open the door. Trigger had assured me no one would be in the dining hall, but there was no guarantee. Peeking through, I verified there was no one in sight before climbing out. Now I just have to find Trigg.

"Min!" Just then, the woman had appeared, untamed curls only amplifying her frantic expression.

"What's wrong?" Please don't tell me they got caught.

"I don't know but I think baldy knows something. He wants you in his office, now. Be careful about what you say.

"Did you get-"

"Yes! Now hurry up, I've been looking for you for thirty minutes, he's probably even more suspicious." Following her advice, I hurried along to the man's office, rehearsing my lines. I was almost there when a familiar voice cut through my thoughts.

"What's the rush, Minhyuk?" Baldy stood in front of me, a grin stretching across his face.

I'm so fucking screwed.