“Something is definitely wrong,” Hana tried to be calm, but Sehun knew she was panicking. She seemed paler, her lips a terrifying red-white. He was worried for her, and she was worried for her friend. “Miyoung didn’t answer my call. And Luhan is nowhere to be found.”

She ran her hands up and down her arms, trying to feel warm. Ara had not sent her or Jaejoong any information since her disappearance. Something was definitely wrong. She could sense it. Sehun thought she was overreacting, that she just felt at edge since the alliance between the major clans were severed. But Hana knew what she felt. And she saw dangers coming, just not when and where.

“Luhan is a nomad; he is where he wants to be,” Sehun replied, trying to soothe his mate. He caressed her cheeks gently, and forced Hana to look at him, “He has vowed not to step into Jaejoong’s territory unless proven necessary. Maybe Miyoung has something to do.”

Sehun didn’t understand. “Miyoung is not like that,” Hana whispered. Her white flowing dress wrapped prettily around Sehun’s legs. He pulled her closer until his face was close to touching her chest. “Miyoung always tells me everything, no matter how busy she is. She will never ignore my calls…”

“Kris is coming. Maybe I should try to ask him,” Hana added on thoughtfully. Kris had disappeared for the past few weeks, but she wasn’t curious about it as Luhan’s had been. For all she knew, Luhan liked to be around Sehun, Fallen or not. She’d seen through his feelings, and he resented her for that. But the two formed an unlikely friendship where they tolerated each other. Hana would gladly call Luhan a ‘friend’. Just not in front of him.

“Still no news from the Faery clan?”

Sehun shook his head and wrapped his arms around her waist. She was so soft and fragile, and most definitely huggable. “I don’t think they will want to share anything with anyone right now. The tension between the clans is so intense. We are trying not to point out fingers at anyone, but I can’t say the same for the other clans. The werewolves are still mad because of Baekhyun.”

Yes. Baekhyun. The biggest traitor of the year. Of course Hana remembered the thin frail guy with dangerous eyes who never left Prince Kyungsoo’s side. Speaking of the Winter Prince, Hana had last heard that he, too, was nowhere to be found. His mother, the Dear Queen of Unseelie Court was very, very displeased.

“How can he do that?” Hana rested on Sehun’s lap and closed her eyes, “A Faery can’t lie, right?”

Sehun didn’t know how to answer her question. He had no idea how Baekhyun managed to fool the entire Faery clan. He had seen him occasionally, and he always wore the same pleasant smile which was a bit unnerving. But Sehun never gave it too much thought. Until recently.

“Sehun, what if the rumor is true? What if Jaejoong was right?” Hana asked, heaving a deep sigh that didn’t suit her age, “What if the Demon is really awaken?”

Sehun felt fear. He wasn’t a Fallen anymore, so the feeling that was once so foreign came back to him. Fear was something he often chose to ignore. “If it is true then we have no choice. It’s kill or be killed. But frankly, Hana? The chance of winning against someone so ancient and powerful is highly unlikely.” 

Hana wasn’t fond of reading the books about Shadow world. During her first week here, the teacher Jaejoong assigned was practically choking her with a pile of books so high it could make up a cupboard. Her frown deepened. This world was so chaotic. They just survived one war, now they were planning another. Things like delegation didn’t exist at all.

“Hana!”

It was a familiar voice she came to love. Hana practically jumped out of Sehun’s arms and flew across the room to embrace Kai and Jaejoong. Sehun pouted, feeling left out as he watched her excitement replaced the gloomy mood when she saw them both. Truly no one could make her happy like Kai did. Not even Sehun. Somehow, he envied the fact but chose to keep quiet about it.

Kai immediately brightened up when he saw his best friend engulfing him in a bear hug. His exhaustion was gone. He’d missed her flowery scent and her energetic antics. Scratch that. He missed everything about her. Period.

“Hey, Princess,” the silly nickname never grew old for Kai. He kept on calling her that since day one. Sometimes she felt special. But most of the time it was just weird and cheesy. But Kai liked it. He loved the way she frowned when he . If Kai was happy, so was she. Sehun might be her destined mate, but Kai was…. special. She had never felt quite the same thing with others as she did with Kai.

Hana turned to Jaejoong and hugged him too. He’d been missing her as much. Ever since she chose Sehun, Jaejoong suppressed his feeling for her and acted as an overprotective older brother. That didn’t mean he loved her less, though. It was just another type of love, and Hana was never more grateful for that.

“How are you, Dearest?” Jaejoong’s tone was noticeably softer when he talked to her. Even Sehun knew that. Jaejoong had never spoken so nicely to anyone but her. She was, indeed, an exception to the three brothers. Jaejoong saw Sehun coming down the step and he hugged her tighter to make his brother jealous. How he loved it when Sehun sent him that look.

“Oh, you know, just sitting around, running errands with Sehun doing the official stuff,” Hana smiled fondly at Kai and Jaejoong. She felt a hand around her waist, and she was pulled back by the possessive Sehun. “How was the werewolf clan?”

“Chaotic,” Kai was the one to reply. “They have one underage newborn kidnapped not long ago. They are insisting that a girl did it. But they couldn’t catch a glimpse of her face. How ridiculous is that. One clan chasing an unknown girl in their own territory. Needless to say, they are extremely pissed off.”

“The ever so-stubborn mutt,” Jaejoong added on, and Hana knew he was referring the mutt to their leader Junhong, “said he would think about patching things up with us. But I don’t know about the Faery clan. They have closed down their entrance ever since.”

“Kris said he would come. He should be arriving soon,” Sehun explained.

“I’m here,” A deep voice spoke and all four heads turned around to greet the Fallen. Kris was the same as ever. His blonde hair shone fairly, like the moonlight. His eyes were now purple, signaling that he was in distress. He looked grim and angry. “I’m here not for long.”

Hana had always been terrified of Kris. His aura was overwhelmingly choking. He never failed to scare her with those cold, emotionless eyes. He rarely spoke, but when he did, he was filled with authority and force. He was like Ara, but his sister was much, more approachable.

“Kris?” She tried not to squeak or tremble, “Where is Luhan?”

If Kris knew something, he didn’t give it away. He remained vague and secretive as always, “How am I supposed to know? Luhan is not my business. He goes wherever he pleases.”

And so he said.

“Jaejoong,” He first addressed, “The Demon is back.”

A simple sentence. Endless terror. Kris had said it so lightly as if it didn’t matter but Hana’s eyes were as wide as saucer.

“That’s all,” Kris nodded out of courtesy as he stared at everyone. They were frozen on spots. Even Jaejoong. Kris knew he was old enough to have witnessed the tragedy a thousand year ago. “I’m leaving.”

Hana was first to react.

“Wait! Where are you going?”

Kris glanced at her for one split second before he fastened the pace. Hana was behind him with no one stopping her.

“Kris! Are you going to the human world? Or to Ara’s place? Either one of them, just take me with you!”

He scoffed at her ridiculous request and opened a Portal. The blue wind-whirl was always so fascinating to watch. Hana watched as he stepped inside, but at the very last second, she grabbed him by the arm, and both of them got into another dimension of time and place.

Sehun realized he was too late.

***

“Tell me something about you.”

 I stared back at him defiantly and crossed my arms together.

“Why should I? That’s only for a friend.” And admittedly, I had none.

“Ouch!” My Lord said it without a hint of emotion. He was mirroring my gesture, his arms crossed in front of his chest. The only difference was the confident smirk that graced his features. “That doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, can we?”

“Well, for a starter…” I replied quickly, “What kind of friends hide his name? How am I supposed to call you by? ‘My Lord’ doesn’t sound very… pleasing.” It was too dominant, in fact, and I didn’t like the fact that he knew he had this power over me.

I wondered what he was thinking of. In case no one noticed, I didn’t like making friends, and I was good at it. I didn’t let anyone close by, because people were bothersome. Once we got close, they would start asking for more. I didn’t like helping others; it was a waste of time. And I hated wasting my time on trivial matters. I liked to be left alone.

“So you agree,” The Lord chuckled, “You agree to be friends with me?”

It was a rhetorical question. I didn’t have to answer. Still, I glowered at him with a hateful expression that amused him.

“How about a little deal between you and me, hm?” He tilted his head forward, a gesture filled with confidence. Not many could do this without looking like a snobbish bastard, but he actually managed to pull it off nicely… and seductively. Or perhaps it was just Baekhyun’s voice that got onto me.

“I don’t know. I’m not good with deals,” I retorted. If he thought that he would get me that easily, he was so damn wrong. I would not give in to his seduction, no matter how good he was at it. He really shouldn’t be making any advances by flirting with me if he wasn’t serious about it.

“I will ask you questions, and you will answer them honestly,” His eyes turned a shade darker. I had always admired people with green eyes. I thought the color made Baekhyun – and my Lord, in a sense – more alive. Baekhyun had been born with dull grey eyes which were a pity, because right now, looking at my Lord in his body, I realized he was better suited with green coral color. “In return…” Now this was the interesting part.

“I will give you my name.”

Now that was a good bargain. I would like to know his name. I pretended to look thoughtful, as if I was not interested at all. He gave me a good few minutes for my effort, raising his eyebrows a few times and waited patiently.

“Fine. No more than ten questions so make it good.”

He seemed more than pleased. The Lord motioned me to come by his side, and slowly, unsurely, I walked to him and sat on the chair, facing each other.

“I heard that you were found fifty years ago,” He emphasized on the word, and suddenly, instead of talking normally, I felt like I was the one being investigated. “What happened? Don’t you have a family to go back to?” So he knew a bit about my history.

I was stricken. I avoided his watchful eyes. “Sensitive subject. Avoid.”

“You promised to answer. You are breaking the deal right now.”

I glared. “Fine. I was wandering around.”

“Don’t you have a family?”

He was really pressing onto the most sensitive part of me. I avoided his gaze again and looked elsewhere. I stood up and paced around the room, putting the words together so that it would sound vague. “I did. They died. And besides, I was old enough to be wandering around without my family’s concern.”

The sudden coldness in my voice must have surprised him. “Does your siblings take care of your parents, instead?”

If he knew anything about my family, then he was being a jerk. But now he was simply curious; I could tell from the way he spoke and stared. “I don’t have siblings.” My tone was still bitter.

“I see. Your parents must have loved you so much.”

I stopped pacing around and looked at him acidly. It wasn’t the statement that angered me. It was the flash of memories and the sudden nostalgia. When I spoke, my voice was so bitter I almost couldn’t recognize it, “You don’t know anything about parental love, my Lord.”

“Tell me about it, then,” He pulled out the bait. But he was sweeter, softer, as if he was trying to soothe me. I refused to break down in front of him. This cold would never shed another tear.

“We mutually hate each other; my parents and I,” was all I could tell my Lord before I began my own spin of the story. I stopped right there and caught myself before I spoke more. He noticed the cliffhanger in the way I talked and raised his eyebrows,

“You are terrible in socializing, aren’t you?”

I bit my lips and continued glaring at the floor, “I just don’t like people.”

“Is that why you push everyone away?”

Had I been doing that? Perhaps. It was becoming a habit. Avoiding, ignoring and preventing people from coming in too close. Like Baekhyun. Jinki was different. He knew me for long; had been there for me. He taught me everything I knew, told me about my destiny and gave me a new life to begin with. He involuntarily came close without my concern.

“Why do you ask?”

The Lord seemed frustrated now, as if he didn’t know how to deal with me. His eyes darkened again, and I felt the anticipation building. He reached out his hand, and for a moment, I thought he would punch the wall or threw me off of the window for being so foolishly stubborn. “I think you should stop pushing me away.”

I ignored the sudden increase of heartbeat and stared at him, almost dumbfounded. The Lord was asking, and though the tone was not so nice and friendly, I still felt a hint of desperation when he asked. “I don’t want to.”

“Why not? Are you scared?”

Scared that I would love him someday? Scared that my attraction towards him would grow to be something I never wanted? Scared for the unexpected? Yes, I did. I hid my fear in the corner. I was scared. I was often scared, but fear never hindered me from doing what I felt was right. And now, the only thing I was supposed to do was to stay as far away from this demonic being. For I knew things had changed.

“I am never scared,” I tried to be confident, and he seemed to buy my tone, but I could detect doubt in my sentences. And doubt never did good to me.

“I think you are,” Perhaps the Lord had grown tired from watching. He rested back in a more relaxed posture and his half-lidded eyes stared at the fireplace as the flame danced in his bright orbs. “If you are not scared, you wouldn’t be pushing me away. You would use your position to your advantage by closing in to me.”

I knew what he meant. I could have pretended that I loved him, and asked him for anything, and he would have granted it. But I didn’t want to. “I have everything I need.” Well, almost everything. “I have immortality, I have a shelter, and I have a clan to return to.”

The tension had eased. We now talked in a more comfortable manner. Instead of feeling the flame of passion, or the irresistible desire to be close to him, now I was calmer, and much more relaxed. Once again, I took the chair and rested, as we both stared at the same thing. The warmth engulfed us, though we didn’t need much of it.

“I think you should know, Child…” He spoke in a haunting whisper. His eyes were almost closed by now, and his voice was a lullaby. “You were never her. And you should never be her. I do not see you as the others do.”

That could have meant a lot of things, or nothing at all. My heart constricted and I gripped onto the seat tighter.

“What do you mean by that?”

“What else could that have meant?” He chuckled with his eyes closed.

Thump… Thump… Thump.

I was even more confused now. I looked at him curiously, and hoped that he would wake up to tell me what that meant. I wasn’t exactly sensitive in catching up with feelings and all. Did he just indirectly say that we had a chance together, or that I would never be half as good as Joo Ri was, or that I was still a child and we were impossible? Which one was it?

I screamed mentally and pulled the hood to cover my entire head.