Y/N.

I leaned my head gently against my Jungkook’s shoulder, seeking comfort in the only place that ever felt like home. The car moved steadily. Yaze was at the wheel, calm and focused. The other Jungkook sat silently in the front passenger seat, insentient .Meanwhile, my Jungkook and I sat tucked into the back seat, wrapped into each other in a silence that was heavy, but somehow safe.

He ran his fingers softly through my hair. By his each stroke I felt his silent apology, a wordless promise. I clung to him. My arms were around his waist. I breathed in his scent. I breathed in his warmth. I held him tight , like I was afraid he might vanish if I let go for even a second.

But no matter how tightly I held on, one thought refused to leave my mind, why?

Why did he do it?

Why did he kill his parents, the very same way my mother had schemed? Why did he make that choice when he knew what it meant? What it would cost? I wanted to believe there was more behind it than just survival. I wanted to believe the man who held me like I was everything wasn’t capable of such cruelty.

But the truth haunted me.

"Why did you kill your parents, Jungkook?" My voice  wobbled as I spoke. "That's what my mom was planning,to frame the other Jungkook. And you… you did the same. You placed his fingerprints at the scene… why?"

He let out a long sigh. "I knew, baby. I knew everything, her plan, every fucking twisted detail."

" Then why?" I asked, my voice came out a whisper. “Why did you still do it?”

He gently placed his palm over my cheeks.

"For you, baby," he murmured. "I did it all for you. So they wouldn't follow us. So they wouldn’t try to stop us. Because if I don't kill them,..."

"You promised Ian you wouldn’t hurt them," I cut him off and I reminded him, pain hoisted in my chest. "You swore."

" I know,." he whispered, his forehead rested against mine. "I broke that promise. For you."

Tears stung my eyes. "Why?"

His voice was , desperate. "Because I love you, Sunflower. I love you more than anything. You are my world, my beginning and my end. If I had let your mother’s plan happen, you would have been taken away from me. I couldn’t let that happen. I won’t lose you. I cant sunflower. Because if I didn’t kill them, Paxson would have," he said, his voice cracking just enough to make my chest tighten. "And he would have framed the other Jungkook for it, and they would have taken you. You really think if I stayed back and tried to protect my parents, my dad would have let me walk away with you? You think the cops would have let me just ride off into the sunset with the girl I love?"

I swallowed hard, the knot in my throat growing tighter with every word. For a split second, He didnt scare me at all..

"And this Jungkook?", he motioned toward the front seat."You think he would have stepped aside and let us disappear together, without a fight?"

My lips trembled, but I couldn’t answer. Because I didn’t know.

"I already killed two officers back at the station just trying to get out," he confessed. "And after that, I was a walking target. Maxwell put out a shoot-on-sight order. That bastard always had it out for my dad and he wanted to take it out on this Jungkook. He was waiting for the right moment. Your mom… she had a backup plan. Even if Paxson failed, she had Maxwell in place to do the job. She covered every angle."

He looked at me, eyes brimmed of desperate. "If I didn’t act first, if I didn’t make the first move, they would have won. My dad wouldn’t have let me walk away with you. Your mom wouldn’t either. Nobody was going to let me keep you."

His voice dropped to a near whisper. "I want you. That’s it. I can’t lose you. So they had to die. If that makes me a monster... then so be it. But I did it for you."

"You never came for your brother?" I asked, though part of me already knew the answer.

He scoffed bitterly. "Brother? He was on my way.  I came for you. You are all that matters to me. You are the only thing that makes sense in my life. At least this way, I knew they would die . I didn’t want to do it, but if it meant keeping you safe, keeping you with me, I would rip the whole world down. I would kill anyone who tries to take  you from me.

He held me tighter, as if he feared I would vanish. "Even if you hate me for it, I will still do it all over again. For you, Sunflower. Only for you."

" Then why did you put his fingerprints...?" I whispered.

" I will explain everything later, baby," he murmured, bristled a soft kiss to my forehead. His lips lingered there for a moment, like he wanted to press away all the fear shaking my soul.  "Right now, let’s just get you somewhere safe."

My throat blazed. "What about Jungkook?"

"Eleanor will look after him," he said calmly.

"Eleanor?" I blinked.

"Yaze’s mom. She will take care of him, trust me. And we., we can stay low until we figure everything out. Just until dawn."

But my heartbeat was pounding too loud to hear anything clearly. A storm swayed inside my chest. Paxson. Uncle Paxson. He wouldn’t let us go. He wouldn’t let him go. Not after what he did to her. Not after killing the woman Paxson worshiped like a god. My mom.

"No…" My breath shortened. "No, Jungkook, he will come after us. He will find you. He will hurt you. He will kill you for what you did to Mom."

"Baby, stop. It’s okay," he said, trying to calm me, his voice was soft and pleading. "I won’t let him touch you. I won’t let him near us."

"No! Pull over," I panted. My nails gripped the seat. "Please, Jungkook. Just  pull over."

"Y/N, baby..."

"He won’t let us go. Don’t you get it?" My voice ruptured. "He will come for you. And this time, he won’t stop. Please… please take Jungkook with you. Just take him. I can’t come with you. I can’t watch them hurt you."

Tears stung my eyes, and it blurred his face as I turned toward him. "Please."

"Baby…" He offered me a gentle smile. " Why do you..." He swallowed hard and shifted closer to me, trying to analyze and wring out the words from my lips. The three words he just spilled a moment ago. And yes. I want to say ' I love him' and kiss his lips . Tight and sealed. "Why do you care , sunflower?"

" I can't lose you." My voice wobbled, as I placed my palm gently against his cheek, and felt the warmth of his skin under my trembling hand. "I would rather stay behind than risk you being hurt. Because…" My lips curled inward as I fought to say it. "I love..."

Before I could finish it .

The car jolted violently, with a sudden surge forward before it crashed headfirst into a pole. The metal crushed , crunched and screamed. The glass shattered into shards .  In a blink, everything turned upside down. The car flipped, and spiraled through the road like a discarded toy. I barely had time to gasp before Jungkook’s arms latched around me, like a shield to my entire body. The car landed upside down, the roof screeched against the pavement. Shards of glass exploded around us like wrath stars.

My ears rang.

The world was sideways. Upside down.

All I could feel was Jungkook wrapping himself around me, his arms were steeled as he refused to let me go.

Blood dotted the ceiling. No, the roof. We were upside down. Shards of glass were embedded into the seats. Smoke fizzled from the engine. It was a fucking Kia carnival.

Jungkook hung from the backseat, his arms still wrapped around me like steel. His chest was heaving, breath ragged.

I heard Yaze groan from the front. “Shit… my leg..my leg is stuck!"

"Jungkook ?"my Jungkook gasped, and gripped me tight.

"He is fine." Yaze confirmed. " He is fine. Breathing "

Jungkook loosened his arms around me just enough to reach for his seatbelt.

"I am going to unbuckle you now, okay?" he panted . He held me close in his one hand. My face crashed to his chest.

I nodded, my heart still latched somewhere in my throat.

He clicked the seatbelt free, and we both tumbled and tripped down to the crushed roof of the car with a grunt. I landed half on him, half on the ruptured metal. I flinched, but he pulled me against his chest immediately. Blood ran down his temple, a slice from one of the glass shards, but I was untouched.

He had taken it all for me. He never let go of me.

" I am gonna get out." He gently dusted my forehead with his thumb. " Then I will pull you out. Don’t move yet."

"Yaze, man, you okay?" Jungkook called out again.

"I am stuck, Ian," Yaze’s strained voice came from the front. "My leg is fucking stuck."

Then,

"Aah! I told you to just hit them, not flip the whole goddamn car, Clark!" Paxson’s voice cut through the chaos like a scythe.

"No. No, no…" I turned to Jungkook in terror. "Jungkook, please. Run. Please, I am begging you, go! Get out and run. Please. Please they wont let you go..please. They will hurt you ."

" I am not leaving you!."he bellowed, and his eyes were wild with desperation. " I am not going without you.."

" Please I am begging you. Leave please.." I sobbed.

" Baby, please . Just... "

Before he reached me again, out of the blue a pair of arms shoved inside the car and reached me only to yank me out.

I screamed.

"No! Let me go! ." I screeched trying to reach him. "Jungkook!" I thrashed in their grip.

But within seconds, they reached in again and dragged him out too. He writhed against their hold.

"Jungkook… please… no!." I broke into a sob, my voice ruptured as the scream tore through my throat. My body writhed violently against the unfamiliar arms that was restraining me, and dragged me down to my knees on the cold asphalt. My palms scraped the rough road as I reached out for him. I tried to reach him ,helpless, trembling, and wrecked.

Paxson had him.

He grabbed Jungkook by the collar and flung him across the road. His body thudded against the pavement, hard, the sound of it sliced straight into my every fiber of my heart. The night air was coarse with the stench of burning oil and smoke from the wrecked car, and the wind whipped against my tear, stained face.

And then Paxson kicked him. Hard.  He flung his leg right in the stomach.

Jungkook’s body twisted with a cry. He tried to get up, but Paxson already crashed another kick over him again.

"Do you even understand what you have done?" Paxson bellowed and kicked him again, harder this time. "You killed her! You fucking killed my Rey! She is all I fucking had !"

I couldn’t breathe. My throat constricted .I couldn’t take it anymore. "No, stop it! Stop! Let him go! It’s me you want! Please,just stop hurting him!" I wailed.

But Paxson didn’t listen.

He crouched over Jungkook’s crumpled body and snarled through gritted teeth, "You took what was mine… now I am taking what’s yours" He delivered me a glance.

"Don’t you fucking dare take her from me!" Jungkook growled. The  blood bubbled at the corner of his mouth as he forced himself up on one elbow.

"Oh, really?" Paxson growled. "Then watch closely…"

He seized Jungkook by the collar again, slammed him back down, and ground the sole of his boot against his face and pressed him into the pavement with cruel force. Then, with one hand, he grabbed Jungkook’s left arm and began to twist it backward. Slowly and leisurely.

Jungkook screamed.

"No! No, stop! Let him go!" I screamed until my voice cracked . The man holding me let go of my hair and shoved me hard. . I crashed to the ground. My knees scraped, my palms tore open on the rough road. Blood bloomed across my skin. It fizzled.

"Get in the car. Or I swear, I will break his fucking arm." He spoke through his clenched teeth.

"Please!please don’t!" I sobbed, and pounded my fists against the road. Pain splintered through me, but I didn’t care. "Let him go! Hurt me if you have to, but let him go!" I pounded my fist again to the coarse road.

He twisted Jungkook’s arm further.

"Fuck!!" Jungkook cried out, his voice was  hoarse and raw. "Don’t do this, Y/N. Don’t… leave me. Baby, please…"

My body moved on its own. I crawled .I was broken and bleeding, yet crawled toward them. Gravel pierced into my knees, my palms, but none of it mattered. Nothing mattered except him.

I reached Paxson’s leg, the one he was crushing on Jungkook’s face into the road, and I clutched to it desperately. "Please!" I sobbed, tears blurred my vision. "I will do anything. Just stop. I will come with you, I won’t run. I won’t fight. Just please… let him go. He is not yours to hurt. He is not part of this. I am. Take me!"

Paxson looked down at me with disgust, but I didn’t care how pathetic I looked. My face was streaked with dirt, blood, and tears. My knees throbbed, and my hands trembled as I tried to peel his boot off Jungkook’s cheek.

Jungkook whimpered beneath him, trying to hold on. "Don’t… don’t do this, Y/N… please…"

"Y/N!" Paxson barked, and jerked away his boot back and grabbed me by the wrist. He yanked my face to his, and I cried out as the skin on my scraped palms screamed in pain.

"You want him alive?" he snarled. His face was close to mine. "Then you get in the fucking car. Now. Or I will shatter every bone in his fucking arm and make you watch."

My lips trembled. I looked back at Jungkook, still crumpled on the road, blood smeared across his cheek and his arm twisted unnaturally under him. His eyes locked with mine.

"Baby… don’t… please don’t go…" he whispered, in agony.

"Please… just go. Just leave me alone. Leave!" I cried out, and  I cupped Jungkook’s bloodied face in my trembling hands. My tears poured freely, and dripped onto his cheeks as I tried to hold him together ,even while I was falling apart.

But Paxson still had him ,his thick, brutal hand clamped around Jungkook’s arm and twisted it further back with every second passed. Jungkook fizzled in pain but didn’t flinch away from me. His eyes looked only at me.

"No, Sunflower. I can’t. I can’t leave you." he beseeched with pleading softness in it that made my stomach wrench. "I won’t leave you."

"Please!" I sobbed harder. My nails dug into my own palms as I curled my fingers inward. "Why are you doing this?! Just go, Jungkook! Just live! Please, I’m begging you.."

Paxson snarled behind us. "Enough! Into the car, now! Or I swear to God, I will snap his fucking arm right here!"

Jungkook flinched as Paxson yanked harder, and a sharp cry of pain escaped his lips.

"No,NO!" I screamed, and grabbed at Paxson’s leg, trying to pull him off, even though I knew it was useless. "Please! Stop! Let him go! I will get in the car! I will do anything! Just. please, don’t hurt him!"

Jungkook shook his head at me."Don’t, Y/N. Don’t do this for me. Don’t give yourself up. Please, baby, I can take it,just don’t,"

"You think this is a choice?!" I bellowed back at him. "If you die, what’s left of me, Jungkook?! You think I can live with that?"

And then Paxson growled again. "Ten seconds. And I will break it. One. Two..."

"Stop!" I screeched such that my lungs was about to explode. "I am coming. I will go. Just… let him go. Please. Let him live. That’s all I want."

Jungkook cried out, "Don’t go with them! Y/N! Please, don’t do this!"

The other man shoved me toward the car. Every step I took away from Jungkook tore something out of me that I wont get back ever.

"Clark, get that brat too. We need him." Paxson commanded him and he walked to the crashed car and pulled out the other Jungkook.

" no! dont! " My Jungkook growled. They didn't care. And I dont have any idea why they want the other Jungkook too.

Before I climbed in, I turned one last time, blazing the image of him into my soul .His broken body on the road, his hand was trying to reach out for me.

The car door slammed shut beside me, and I sealed myself in between the evil. The car keys jiggled as the man twisted the keys. "Lets go Clark!' Paxson commanded the man. The engine growled .

As the car began to pull away, I instinctively turned toward the rearview mirror , the one thing left tethering me to him.

And then I saw it.

Him.

Jungkook. He dragged his broken body up from the pavement, stumbled  after the car like a man possessed. His limp was brutal, but he pushed through it like pain meant nothing. His voice sliced the air behind us.

"Y/N! No! Please! Don’t go!"

His arms swayed, blood dripped from his fingertips as he ran like he could still catch me , like he could undo the impossible and embrace me in his arms.

"Please! Don’t leave me!"

I pressed my palm to my mouth to keep from screaming. My chest congested with pain  violently as I stared at him shrinking in the mirror.

"Y/N!"

I twisted around in my seat just in time to see him , Jungkook , My Jungkook. He stumbled to his feet on the broken road. His body drenched in blood, still chasing the car like a madman.

He ran.

With no strength left in him. With blood soaking through his body ,and one arm cradled to his side, he still ran. He sprinted like his life was ending , like I was his life itself.

"No! Don’t take her! Y/N!"

His screams was so loud it crashed to my chest.

I slapped my hand to the glass of the window, but it didn’t matter. I hit the glass , profusely. He couldn’t hear the silent words I mouthed ,"I am sorry... I’m so sorry..."

And then he fell. My heart thrashed to my ribcage.

His foot caught something in the wreckage ,glass or gravel, I didn’t know  and his knees slammed into the asphalt. His palms scraped forward, his might have tore as he skidded with his face first hit the road.

"Jungkook" I screamed, even though he couldn’t hear me through the metal and glass. My voice tore out of me like flesh.

But he didn’t stop.

He shoved himself up and spat blood to the side. He set forth his feet to run again. He ran. His legs shook beneath him, like it was begging him to stop running. But his heart? It refused. It screamed louder than the pain. It screamed for me.

"I love you! Please, don’t leave me, Y/N! Don’t let them take you!"

His voice reached me over taking the roar of the engine .And I  sobbed so violently, I couldn’t see. My vision blurred behind a wall of tears. The rearview mirror wobbled with every bump on the road, but I kept my eyes on it like it was the last thread tying me to him.

He was fading now.

Further.

Smaller.

Still running. Still screaming. Still trying.

"Y/N! Don’t go! Don’t do this to me!"

His figure hadn’t faded yet.

He ran. Like if he just ran fast enough, maybe this nightmare would stop. Maybe he could reach me in time.

But Paxson was done watching. He slid out his phone.

"Run him over," he snapped into the phone. "He is running like a stray dog behind the car."

My heart plummeted.

"No,no! Please, don’t!" I screamed, panic crashed over me like a wave. I slammed my fists against the window. "Jungkook! Stop! Stop running!"

"Shut up!" Paxson snarled, and grabbed my arm and yanked me away from the glass.

But I twisted around again and shoved myself back against the cold window of the back seat. Tears blurred my vision.

"Jungkook!" I cried. "Behind you, please, stop! Look behind you! stop running . please. Please. Stop running!" I sobbed weakly.

But he didn’t.

He kept running.

He couldn’t hear me. " please!!"

A flash of headlights. A blur of steel, glass  and speed behind him.

"no! no! god no!" I screeched.

"Jungkook!"

The car hit him.

His body flew into the air . His body twisted in midair before crashing down to the road with a  lifeless thud. He rolled once. Then twice. Then  he was immovable.

I gasped.

My scream caught in my throat, like my soul had shattered inside my chest. My vision blackened, the world muffled as if I were underwater. My hands trembled against the glass, blood still sheathed on my knuckles from earlier.

He wasn’t moving.

"Stop the car! STOP!"I shrieked and clawed at the door handle. I pounded my fist again and again.

But no one listened. Paxson didnt listen. The man driving the car didnt listen. The universe didnt listen.

He was lying broken on that road. And I wasn’t there to hold him.

"Stop looking," Paxson said bluntly.

But I couldn’t.

I wouldn’t.

The car sped up. His form grew smaller.

My lips quivered. A sob tore through me before I could stop it. And then another. And another. I pressed my forehead to the window, my breath fogged the glass, my tears fell silently.

"Jungkook..."I whispered. I hit my forehead to the glass of the window.

His silhouette faded behind the curve of the road.

But I still heard his screams resonating inside me. Still felt his warmth on my skin. Still saw the anguish on his face as I gave up everything, including him.

I wanted to throw myself out of the car. I wanted to die. But most of all, I wanted him to know.

I didn’t leave because I stopped loving him. I left because I loved him too much. And that was the last I saw of him before the trees swallowed the road behind us. I turned, pressed my face into my hands, and let out a scream. A scream ripped my soul apart.

If I turned around now, I would run back. I would throw myself at Paxson and beg for them to kill me instead. I would ruin whatever small, fragile chance Jungkook had left to live.

So I kept my eyes forward. Even though every fiber of me was screaming to go back.

He begged me not to go. His voice still thundered in my skull . "Don’t go with them… Y/N…"

I can still feel his hand in mine. Still feel the heat of his blood from the pavement. Still hear the way he called me Sunflower, like it was the last word he had ever say. And maybe it was.

I gave myself up. I traded my soul to the devil, just to keep him breathing. And I would do it again. A million times.

Because I can’t lose him.  Not after everything we have been through. Not after all the things we have survived , the fires, the lies, the monsters in our families. I can handle anything but the thought of his blood on my hands.

If Paxson had broken his arm in front of me , if I had stood there and let it happen ,I would have died right there on that road.  I let them take me. For him. For love  

They think they have won. That I have surrendered. but the universe will bring us back together

Because if Jungkook could face bullets for me, bleed for me, then I can drown in hell for him and crawl my way out with bloodied hands.

He saved me. Now it’s my turn.

------------------

I lingered there on the chair like a lifeless corpse, my limbs were  heavy and numb. my mind was spiraling in the haze of everything I had just witnessed. My eyes stayed unfocused and stared into nothing, while Paxson was ranting something to the man in white coat beside him.

"Yes,  She was working on something radical,"

Another voice sliced in. The neurologist. "Rey was manipulating nerve signals in the children’s brains, trying to enhance neural activity beyond its natural capacity. Essentially, she aimed to double their cognitive performance."

My stomach churned.

"But the research," the doctor continued, "wasn’t approved by any medical board. It was highly experimental. Potentially lethal. These children’s brains weren’t ready for that level of stimulation."

Paxson exhaled. "She wanted to bring her research into the spotlight. Even if it meant crossing every line."

The neurologist’s voice dropped into a mumble. "And it drove her insane."

"Don’t you dare call my Rey insane, "Paxson snarled.

Before the neurologist could even react, Paxson grabbed him by the collar and yanked him forward.. The doctor stumbled.

"She wasn’t crazy," Paxson growled, his grip tightened. "She was a fucking genius. The world didn’t deserve her, didn’t understand her. But I did. I always did."

The neurologist’s eyes widened. "I..I didn’t mean it like that. I was just.."

Paxson slammed him against the wall with a thump that echoed through the room. "You speak about her like that again, and I swear I will make sure your brain gets tested for how much pain it can process."

The room went still. The only sound was my hard breathing and the soft rustle of my trembling hands clenching into fists. My body still felt numb… but my heart, my heart was was pounding painfully as the truth tangled further around me.

Mom was gone. And Paxson was unraveling.

"And do you know what she did to every failed experiment?" Paxson snarled, his voice sheathed in venom.

"She split open every single skull, like they were nothing more than test tubes she could toss away." His eyes gleamed with  pride and madness, and his fingers trembled as they curled into fists.

"She wanted results. She didn’t care if it was a child or a corpse. If their brains didn’t respond the way she wanted, she opened them up. Tore through them until she understood why."

He stepped closer to the trembling neurologist. "That’s not insanity to me. That’s brilliance."

I sat frozen. My body didn’t move. Not even to blink. Paxson’s words resonated inside my skull like the crack of thunder, rattled through every bone in my body.

"She split open every single skull…"

I felt sick.

My stomach turned, bile hoisted up my throat, but I forced it down,because this wasn’t the time to fall apart. Not yet.

I was there.

I had been in that basement. I had walked across that cold concrete floor, barefoot, unaware. I had scrubbed the walls. I had scrubbed the innocent blood off those fucking walls. The walls that enclosed every bit of innocent and fearful scream, the poor kids might have let out while their life faded. While the pain took them.

At the time, I told myself it was rust.

Just rust.

I told myself the stains on the floor were from old furniture, old iron chains, anything but what my gut was whispering to me.

But now? Now I knew.

I was cleaning up after her experiments. I was washing away evidence. Erasing the screams. Making it all invisible like it never happened.

And I had no idea.

No idea what kind of horror she was burying beneath the floor.

I had no idea the woman I called “mom” had turned that place into a slaughterhouse for children.

And the blood, the way it clung to the tiles, thick and stubborn, like it didn’t want to be forgotten. And I, like a imbecile scrubbed it all away.

I helped her.

I was part of it.

My hands trembled. My vision blurred. My entire body shook with a kind of terror I had never felt before, a helpless, hollow fear that tore straight through my ribs.

I couldn’t breathe.

all this time. I was cleaning up her madness.

"Alright, let’s get to work," the neurologist said, calm like this was just another routine job, like they weren’t talking about dissected skulls or failed experiments on children.

I flinched.

"What does this do?" Paxson asked, eyeing the equipment with a cold curiosity.

"This.." the neurologist replied, and held up the small device, "is... optogenetics. It allows us to manipulate the neurons in her brain using light. We can implant false memories."

My heart shuddered.

"I fucking knew that," Paxson muttered. "So, will this erase her existing memories too? Can we wipe her clean and make her believe whatever the hell we want?"

The neurologist nodded "With the right stimulation, yes. Her past memories will fade, and the new ones will take root. To her, they will feel just as real as the truth."

I felt sick.

They were going to erase me.

My thoughts.

My pain.

My love.

My Jungkook.

Everything that made me, me,they wanted to destroy it and replace it with a lie.

"And what memories do you want to implant in her head?" the neurologist asked, and rolled his gloves without emotion.

Paxson stood silently for a beat, then smiled.

"She will believe she is my daughter. That she always was. And once she accepts that lie, I will have everything I need to finish what Rey started and ruin her… for letting my Rey die."

A silence stretched, before Clark sliced in with a sardonic chuckle. "What about that shit?"

He jerked his thumb toward the other Jungkook, still lying unconscious on the cold tile floor.

Paxson  glanced over. "Just call Wilson."

"And what did the other fucker inject into him?" Paxson turned to the neurologist again. I recalled that my Jungkook injected a tranquilizer to the other Jungkook.

"Tesprine," the neurologist replied. "It’s designed to induce temporary anterograde amnesia."

Paxson raised a brow. "Which means?"

"He won’t be able to retain any new memories for about twenty four hours. Everything will feel fragmented, disjointed, like a dream he can’t quite hold onto."

Paxson gave a dry and please guffaw. "Perfect. That’s exactly what we need." He held out a hand, and Clark handed him the phone.

Paxson pressed it to his ear.

"Wilson," he said with a low snarl. "You have got a new admission at Flem Mental Asylum. A fresh piece of meat. Hold him until I say otherwise. And while you are at it, make sure he confesses he killed his parents. Say whatever you have to.Do whatever you have to , Maxwell will do the rest."

I had to stop this.

But how?

They were going to bury me in memories that weren’t mine. Turn me into a puppet. And they were going to take him away,lock him up, erase him, destroy him from the inside. And they are going to destroy my memories with my Jungkook. NO. no. I want him to reside inside my head.

I clenched my jaw. I have to get out. I have to find him. Before they erase us both.

And suddenly, a cold sting of metal lingered against my arm and sharp prick. My head jerked weakly, and I caught a glimpse of the syringe in the neurologist’s gloved hand.

"No…" I tried to say. My lips barely parted. My voice didn’t come. The world around me began to blur again, like thick smoke rising between me and reality.

A tranquilizer.

My limbs turned to stone. My chest hoisted up and fell, each breath a desperate, shallow wheeze. I was slipping. Fast. And I couldn’t hold on. The lights above me began to ripple. The voices became distant. Muffled.

But I could still hear his voice.

Roy.

His boots clicked the floor.

"Wow," he breathed, and stepped closer to my side like a vulture drawn to a corpse. "You really went downhill, didn’t you, sweetheart?" His hand brushed my cheek and I couldn’t even flinch. Couldn’t slap it away. Couldn’t scream.

"Look at you. So pretty, so delicate. Like a doll." He leaned closer,  it was disgusting. "You remember what your mom told you, don’t you? You were supposed to marry me."

I wanted to vomit. I wanted to scream. But my body was paralyzed.

"Mr. Parker," Roy turned over his shoulder. "she still looks like she is fighting. We will need a heavier dose if you really want to wipe that fire out of her."

The neurologist nodded. He prepared another tranquilizer. " and then I can have a few minutes with her." Roy snickered.

"No. Please. Stop. Please, Jungkook.." I begged silently.

"Where’s the other one?" Roy asked casually, and motioned toward the crumpled body of Jungkook still unconscious across the floor. "The brat. I thought Paxson wanted him out of the way."

"He will be taken care of," Paxson muttered "Wilson’s got it. That boy will forget everything. And when he wakes up... he will confess to things he never did."

Roy laughed, and leaned in toward me again. “And you, sweetheart, you will wake up a brand new girl to be tangled in my bed. No Jungkook. No memories. Just me."

I would rather die.

"Oh. And what about her Romeo?" Roy asked it all of a sudden.

He meant my Jungkook.

"He won’t come for her. He is taken care of." Paxson’s answer was sharp. Confident.

"Sure?" Roy pressed.

"Yes." Paxson’s tone held finality. Then Roy laughed.

"Because he is a sick psychopath," he spat, "he would do anything to have his sunflower."

My chest stung.

Even sedated, the name sunflower cracked something wide open inside me.

That word.

His word.

Ours.

"No he won’t," Paxson answered. "Not anymore."

No.

No.

They thought he wouldn’t come?

They thought Jungkook would abandon me?

They didn’t know him.

They didn’t know how he bled for me. How he killed for me. How he broke every law of sanity and morality just to be by my side.

He didn’t love like other people. He devoured.

And even if the whole world stood between us, he would still crawl his way back to me, ripping everything apart.

I wanted to scream it.

You are wrong. He is coming. And when he does, you will all burn. In his hell.

But all I could do was lie there, my body limp, my fingers twitched uselessly on the metal chair.

Trapped.

Drugged.

But I knew Jungkook. He will come. He will come for his sunflower.

And they made one mistake.

They didn’t finish him.

___________