Mansion in the Forest

He's dead, Lei.

"Lex, wake up." With a light tap on her shoulder, Lexi shot her eyes open and saw Jisu next to her. She immediately looked down to see the girl in her arms and she sighs in relief upon seeing Jazen still sleeping peacefully. "We should go down and eat."

"What time is it?" Lexi asked, still groggy.

"We don't have clocks or watches in here, but I think it's safe to go out since it's already daylight." Jisu replied then she helped Trevor to remove all the stuff they used to block the door last night.

"Babe, wake up." Lexi whispered, shrugging Jazen's shoulders slightly. "Get up and let's eat."

"Hmm." Jazen hummed and she sat up from Lexi's lap and was about to rub her eyes but she noticed that she's still tied. "Aren't you gonna remove it?" She asked while looking at the blanket wrapped around her body. Lexi looked up to Trevor and Jisu as the two stopped from what they're doing when they heard Jazen. "If you're still thinking that I'm going to kill you, then stop. I just want to get out of here then let's deal with it outside after."

"Fine." Lexi sighed deeply and started removing the blanket, while the two are ready if Jazen does something against Lexi. "Sorry."

"Enough." Jazen said dismissively. Lexi's sorry won't bring back her sister's life, so whether she accepts it or not, nothing will change. She stood up and offered her hand to Lexi.

Lexi looked up and smiled before reaching Jazen's hand and she helped herself to stand on her feet. After Trevor and Jisu removed everything on their way, they left the room and walked downstairs from the 4th floor to the kitchen. There was no sound aside from the birds chirping outside the mansion and gush of the winds hitting the trees.

"They might still be asleep." Lexi said when they saw no one in the kitchen but like usual, there was a lot of fresh food on the counter. Jazen started cooking since she was the only person who knows how to cook. Jisu prepared the table while Lexi and Trevor roamed around to find the others.

When they got to the second floor, there was still no sound, they started knocking every doors to call the others but no one responded. "Lexi here!" Trevor yelled when he saw one room that was in a wreck, proof that someone was there last night and the monsters attacked it just like what happened to them.

"Where are they?" Lexi asked while looking around the room, maybe looking for blood trace since the room was attacked by monsters, but she sighs in relief when she sees nothing. "They must have run into somewhere else." She said and was about to turn her heels when she noticed something on the shelf. She turned back and walked inside the room and started scanning the shelf.

"There's a passage behind." Trevor said while looking up to the books stuck together. "They must have found it and hid behind it."

"Possible." Lexi said as she reached for the books but it won't budge at all. "What the hell." She mumbled. She looked for something to step on so she would have a better stance to pull the books. But they are still not moving.

"What's wrong?" Trevor asked when he saw Lexi struggling on top of the chair.

"It's not moving." She replied and used all of her strength to pull it but nothing happened.

"Let me." Trevor said and he replaced Lexi in her spot. But just like Lexi, he couldn't move the books even if he used all of his force. "What's wrong with this?" He asked and examined it carefully. "s**t, it's broken."

"What?" Lexi asked. She grabbed another chair and stepped on it to see the books. Then she saw how the books are already intact and there's no other way to move it. "It's impossible for those monsters to break this thing specifically."

"Do you think someone did it?" Trevor asked.

"Of course it's not monsters." Lexi said as she descent from the chair and leaned her ear near the shelf before knocking. "Hello? Are you guys in there?"

"H-hey, wake up." Iris shrugged Siena's shoulder when she heard a knock coming from behind the shelf.

"Don't speak, you will lose oxygen." Siena said as she sat up from Iris's laps.

"I think someone is calling us." Iris pointed out. Chantelle snapped her head to the spot where the shelf was blocking the passage. And with all the strength left on her, she stood up and walked towards it.

"We're here!" She yelled and bangs the back of the shelf. "Help us! We're losing oxygen!"

"Trev, they're behind and they are losing oxygen, we have to remove this shelf." Lexi said as she ran out from the room and she went back upstairs where she left her sword. She picked it up and ran down again, when she arrived, she saw Jisu with Trevor and they started breaking the shelf with everything they could use as a hammer. "Move!" Lexi yelled and she used her sword to s***h the shelf but it just stuck in between the woods. "Damn it!"

"We need tools! I think there's a hammer in the kitchen." Jisu said then she ran to get it.

"Hold on, we're going to break the shelf!" Trevor yelled near the woods so everyone who's behind the shelf could hear him.

"Thank God, they're here." Lei mumbled weakly and he pulled closer his brother on his chest. "Hold on, Ver. They are here to save us." Denver just smiled because he's too weak to even utter a word.

Last night, they thought they were safe when they got inside the secret room, so they stayed and waited for the sun to rise, but as the time passed by, they could feel suffocation and they started having difficulty breathing. That's when they realized that the room was closed and no air coming inside, they tried breaking the glass window but to no avail, it was made out of 25mm tempered glass.

No one can break the glass window and no hole around the room for the air to get in. They gave up after sometime and decided to just wait for Lexi and the others to find them. Luckily, Lexi and Trevor knew that there are a lot of secret rooms in the mansion because they've been in there, a lot.

"Here!" Jisu yelled while she ran towards Lexi, holding a hammer. Lexi grabbed it and started hammering the shelf, but it would take some time to break it, so Jazen stepped in.

"Tell them to move on the side so they wouldn't die." Jazen said while holding her shotgun tightly and it was pointed at the shelf.

"Guys, listen!" Lexi shouted near the shelf. "I want you to move on the side and lay flat on the ground!"

"Move, quick!" Chantelle said after she heard Lexi. Everyone lay down and covered their heads with their arms. Siena grabbed Han because he didn't even move, but she froze when she felt Han's cold hand. She put her fingers near his neck to feel the pulse but there was no beating at all, she knew Han was dead but she didn't tell them yet.

Jazen positioned herself as the other three moved away. Then she pulled the trigger, making a hole in the middle of the shelf. Chantelle heaved a quick breath when the air started filling the room.

Trevor used the hammer to widen the hole while Lexi and Jisu started using their bare hands to tear the woods. Until the three successfully made enough space to get them out. Iris pushed Siena into the hole first while Lexi helped her out, then she followed and they both lay on the floor weakly. Then next is Chantelle, when she got out, Jisu pulled her into a tight hug and kept saying sorry for leaving her.

"Here." Lei weakly called to ask for help. Trevor went inside and helped Denver, he wrapped his arm around his waist and pulled him up. "Han, let's go." Lei called but Han didn't respond. "Bro, let's go, we're safe." Lei said again but still got nothing from the guy. "Han."

"He's dead." Siena said as the tears rolled down on the side of her face while she's staring at the ceiling. "He didn't make it."

Lexi snapped her head inside and went in. She bent over to feel Han's pulse in his neck and in his wrist, Lexi put his ear near Han's chest but just like his pulse, there was no beating.

"Damn it!" She groaned.

"Han, this is not a good joke buddy." Lei chuckled nervously. "Dude, we didn't save you from those monsters just to die here!" His voice started to get loud but he still got no response.

"He's dead, Lei." Lexi said and she stood up to help him get up on his feet.

"No he's not! We saved him without your help! How dare you say that he's—."

"He's dead and just f*****g accept it!" Lexi shouted back and without Lei's consent, she dragged him out of the room. When they got out, everyone was just looking at them with fear in their eyes.

"We have to get out of here safely, so we have to stick together from now on." Lexi said as she put down crying Lei next to Denver who immediately consoled his brother.

"You were from here right? You should know all of the secret passages here!" Iris shouted.

"I do." Lexi replied and she smiled at Iris but barely reached her eyes. "But there's no way they would let us escape easily."

"Who? The monsters? Then let us kill them, we have skills and weapons!"

"It's not the monsters." Lexi said.

"Then who?" Siena asked.

"Those people behind this bullshit."

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