Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

I pressed on Taylor’s chest so that he would lie down.

"Stop talking..."

"I was lucky. I wasn’t special, so they always targeted... the two geniuses who didn’t fit in..."

As Taylor spoke, he began to cough up more blood.

I wondered if his ribs had already pierced through his lungs.

"On that day when they were going to commit arson... I was scared. I heard their plans, but I hesitated. I wasn’t sure if I should tell both of them..."

"I felt guilty, so I secretly told Dexter. I told him to escape with Simeon... That they should leave the orphanage since the rest were going to commit arson..."

"But Dexter said that there was somebody that he was waiting for, so he refused to leave."

Taylor looked at Dexter. I also turned around to look at Dexter.

So did everyone else....

It turned out that someone had notified Dexter of the arson beforehand.

I wondered why Dexter didn’t escape, causing Simeon’s death in the process.

Dexter stood in silence. He kept his head low, refusing to explain himself regarding the incident from years ago.

After all, Dexter... had his flaws too.

"Dexter... Simeon could’ve escaped, but you insisted on staying. That’s why Simeon died, right?" Quinn asked, teary-eyed.

"Carol said it was all Sophia’s fault because she made you wait for her..."

Everyone looked at Dexter.

Simeon died because he got held back.

I wonder if Dexter had been feeling guilty, hence spending years being homeless. He was punishing himself by staying guard at the orphanage.

"What do you know?" Joel interjected, his breath quickening as he tried to say something.

"We have to leave soon..." Dexter interrupted Joel.

In response, Joel clenched his fists and stared at Dexter.

Without any explanation, Dexter lowered his gaze.

As I stared at him, I sensed he felt lonely and hurt. He looked so... alone.

It felt like he was trying to do something in his own world, but nobody supported or understood him.

I thought he would’ve needed a hug or a kiss.

No words were needed to explain or express my solidarity with him.

"Let him lay flat and not move. We must carry him with us."

I touched Taylor’s chest and continued, "Stop talking. I know you just wanted to live. If you want to live... hang in there"

"Sophia... I’m sorry... I’m sorry..."

I frowned. I couldn’t understand why he was apologizing to Sophia.

Zion and Eason made a makeshift stretcher and placed Taylor on it.

I walked to Dexter and gave him a back hug...

"Dexter, I’m so tired. I want to go home."

Dexter froze. He turned around to look at me, and his eyes were red.

I wondered if he felt upset when he was misunderstood.

I looked at his eyes and the tears in them.

Suddenly, I couldn’t help myself but kiss him.

Let us console and heal each others’ imperfect souls.

Dexter, my Dexter.

A voice from the depths of my soul told me... that I should trust and love Dexter unconditionally.

Because he was Dexter. The one and only Dexter.

"I hope you’ll stay alive."

After Dexter inspected the elevator, he looked at Taylor.

He hoped for Taylor to stay alive.

But I knew Dexter wasn’t hoping for the individual, Taylor Barlowe, to be alive. Instead, he was hoping for humanity and innocence to stay alive.

Humans were born kind...

As long as one was not born evil, any average person should be allowed to make up for their mistakes.

Taylor was the average person among the group of geniuses. He was going through the motions...

He didn’t have the chance to make decisions for his life. He was average, yet he tried his best to stay alive...

"When we get out..." Taylor said to Dexter, smiling as blood continued to flow from his mouth.

"If we survive... You should all buy insurance... from me."

I smiled at Taylor.

"Yeah. I’ll buy the most expensive personal accident insurance policy."

Taylor smiled at me, but his eyes began to lose focus. In the end, he passed out.

Zion looked away, then pressed the elevator button to the first floor.

If we could make it out alive... we should live a good life.

We should appreciate the people around us and also appreciate every new day.

Suddenly, the elevator halted on the tenth floor.

I glanced at everyone else in the elevator.

After inspecting the control panel for the 13th floor, I found it was not connected to other floors. Similarly, Benjamin’s control room was not interlinked with other people’s control rooms either. Yet, the mastermind still found out about our intention to escape.

That only pointed to one thing-there was a spy among us.

Sparks flew along with the screeching sound that the elevator made. The light inside the elevator began to flicker.

Out of reflex, Dexter held my right hand while Damien held my left hand.

I wanted to shake Damien’s hand off, but he refused to let go.

The elevator stopped between the tenth and 11th floors. The door opened

to reveal a wall,

"What do we do? Are we trapped in the elevator?" Quinn cried out of fear. She trembled and hid behind Eason and Zion.

Violette consoled her, "It’s fine. Don’t be scared, we’ll figure a way to get out."

"We’re stuck on the blank floor," said Joel, frowning. He turned around to Dexter.

"What do we do now?"

Suddenly, the elevator moved and began to drop rapidly.

Dexter embraced me and said, "Everyone, look at the sides of the elevator and squat down."

Soon, the elevator stopped at the next blank floor. The door wouldn’t close, and sparks continued to fly.

Quinn began to bawl from fear, and even Violette hid in Zion’s arms fearfully.

Eason turned pale from the shock. He cursed, "Crazy..."

"Someone’s controlling the power source, When the electricity gets cut off.

We will get stuck," I whispered.

Then, I took a deep breath.

"They’re trying to kill us," Eason cursed.

"They’ve discovered us..."

Joel warily scanned everyone in the elevator.

"There must be a spy among us."

On the 18th floor, the madman had also claimed to be among us....

Now, many had died and sustained injuries. The surviving ones were familiar people, but the more familiar we were, the higher the possibility for the culprit to be among us.

"Trust no one," Dexter said in a low voice.

"It’s you, isn’t it?" Violette snarled at Juliet. "Are you the one who’s trying to kill us?"