If anyone tell Taekwoon that dolls are scary, he will give them a cold, unbelieving look.

But after what happened in the house, he will never see dolls the same way again.

He was woken up by a girl ,with long brown hair tied into a ponytail who explained how they found the three of them in the middle of the Old Witch’s path.

He told her there was supposed to be six of them.

It was then she told the real story.

She was a witch and she with a few friends were hunting for a monster that preys on people’s fears and nightmares.  It can release a magical wave that can cause people to pass out and initiates nightmares.

The monster was in its weakest state during the day and it will try to find shelter until nightfall. Unfortunately, it came across Taekwoon’s group and managed to kidnapped three of them. It can takes more but the witches came in time to spook it off to leave.

She brought him to her witch friends who were tending to Wonsik and Hongbin.

She introduced herself as Euniji and she told him the names of her friends.

They were also friends with Wonsik, Jaehwan and Hakyeon and when Eunji explained the situation, they were all worried.

The leader, Chorong asked if there’s something that belongs to any of the kidnapped trio, so she can use a spell to track it. Wonsik took out his navigational crystal and told them about how Jaehwan had made six of it and currently he was holding one, wherever he is.

Bomi smiled and thanked Wonsik because using the crystal would make the tracking much easier.

But when they found out  location being the old witch’s house, the six witches’ face blanched.

“ Why? Why? Why?”, Hayoung whispered fearfully. The others comforted her but they still looking at the worn-down house with a wary expression.

“ It’s ok. The witch’s dead. We just need to be careful in the house”, Eunji said softly.

“ So how big is the monster anyway?”, Hongbin asked, his eyes were scruntinising the house like it was his nemesis.

“ It is quite big like a sphinx”, Namjoo answered. “ Why do you ask?”

“ Trying to guess where in the house they are being held captive. Maybe the basement? So that we can avoid searching the whole house ”

“ Do you know how big is a sphinx?”, Wonsik asked skeptically. Hongbin rolled his eyes.

“ Ok, don’t start fighting here ok? We are going to save our friends and I hope you can put off your hate fight later on”, Bomi said with an edge to her voice.

“ Sorry if we don’t look convincing enough of having the capability to save them. It’s just the house brought bad memories. The old witch went out a murder rampage years ago, killing any magic users she can find so she can be more powerful. We lost our parents to her and entering her house is not on our wish list”, Eunji whispered at him while Bomi tried to pacify Wonsik and Hongbin and the others were discussing about plans.

“ I did not say anything”, he replied.

“ I can see it on your face. But maybe I misundertood”.

“ That usually happens to me”, Taekwoon bitterly said, remembering the same situation in his village.

“ I’m sorry and I will make sure to not do it again”, she smiled sweetly at him, causing him to blush from the attention.

“ You are cute”, she giggled.

Before Taekwoon can get any redder, Naeun called Eunji to discuss magical stuff. Taekwoon just sighed with relief but he noticed Hongbin and Wonsik looking at him funny.

If he could just throttle them.

He did throttled them but in his defence, it was to save their lives. They were now in the house, being attacked by random stuff like flying silverware and vases and even a dropped chandelier which almost squashed the two.

 Taekwoon could not blame the witches for not knowing about the still-active safety mechanisms in the old witch’s house.

Unfortunately, the witches could not used their magic too much because the house seemed to drain their magic little by little. To preserve enough magic to defeat the monster, they could only use a light spell to see their way in the dark, abandonned house. But to their disappointment, they could not find the trapdoor to the basement.

To make matters even more worse, there were dolls.

It’s not the common pretty doll that he used to see his sisters played with. It’s a doll with crosses for eyes with missing limbs. Namjoo told them that the old witch like to make dolls and it were probably set to attack any intruder.

They were everywhere and they just kept coming to hurt them with the needles scattered around their bodies. They even fall from above, landing on someone’s hair and tugging it hard.

In the attack, Taekwoon saw a glimpse of a wolf ripping the dolls to pieces but Wonsik got pretty overwhelmed soon after. Hongbin was released from his restrains by the witches so they could get some extra help. Hongbin did a good job evading the dolls and kicking them away but unfortunately, a doll slipped into the back of his shirt and he ran around the place, screaming in pain.

The witches were also in bad shape as most of the dolls focused on them. Some dolls even held knives and pieces of glasses and used it to scratch the witches. Hayoung then yelled in anger and shouted some spell and all of the dolls around them burst into flames. But her sudden burst of magic drained her and she fainted.

They thought it was over but they heard a scuttling sound from above and more dolls were coming to them. Taekwoon ran into the kitchen, trying to find a weapon when he saw it.

The most beautiful cat he had ever seen.

It was completely black with fur so well-kept. The most attracting thing about the cat was its glowing green eyes that seemed to glitter with intelligence. Taekwoon could stare at it for the whole day if he was not interupted by the screams of his friends.

Black cat. Witch. Taekwoon pieced it together and realised the cat was not an ordinary cat.

“ You did this, don’t you?”, Taekwoon asked. The cat just looked at him knowingly.

“ Please my friends are in trouble and they are trapped in the house. Please let us go and we will immediately leave after we get our friends free”.

The cat stood up and walked away with its heads raised high up. Taekwoon realised the cat was stubborn and it won’t do anything. Except for a reward.

Taekwoon searched the kitchen and found a dusty magical pot similar to Jaehwan’s.

He hoped it still work and he was not disappointed. Inside the pot was five grilled salmon and the smell of it was mouth-watering. The cat sensed it too and it crept closer to Taekwoon.

“ You must be hungry, right? Your master died and no one come to feed you. I will give one fish if you stop the dolls”, Taekwoon said and lifted a salmon high for the cat to see.

The cat its lips but the chaos did not stop yet so Taekwoon tried a different approach. He bit off a part of the salmon and smiled widely, savouring the taste. The cat meowed pitifully and tried to jump in order to reach the pot. Taekwoon just lifted the pot higher.

The cat huffed and nodded. It walked back to the living room where the witches were shouting and shrieking from the needles and Wonsik( in human form) and Hongbin unexpectedly working together, wacking the dolls using broken parts of furniture and taking care of each other backs.

The cat meowed and the dolls immediately stoppped. It looked back to Taekwoon and he threw a salmon at it which it instantly pounced on.

“ Taekwoon, thank you so much! That was brilliant, persuading the witch’s guardian like that. You are really good with cats”, Eunji jumped with joy and gave him a quick hug.

Taekwoon froze like ice, only to move when Wonsik and Hongbin laughing at him. He gave them a glare and they looked away.

Eunji tried to pet the cat but it hissed at her.

“What’s the cat doing here?”, Hongbin asked, wiping the blood from his lips.

“ This cat is the old witch’s companion and guardian. It took care of her needs and since she died, it takes care of the house so the house is under its control. It was different from other cats. Its magic enables them to live longer and perform simple spells but it needs  a master to live. Even if it is taking care of the house, it will soon get lonely and die from depression”, Namjoo explained.

Taekwoon pet the cat and scratched its neck, causing it to purr with a content look on its face. To Taekwoon, it is still a cat and it need love and food like any other cats, magic or not.

With four salmon and immense amount of scratching, he managed to persuade it to bring them to the basement. It led them to large mirror and walked through it. They all followed and Eunji quickly set another light spell to light up the large space.

They all gasped when they saw a creature with the body of a centipede, a head of a dragon and tentacles as its legs and Hakyeon, Jaehwan and Sanghyuk was trapped in it.

“ Hakyeon?’, Eunji whispered.

“ Eunji?”, Hakyeon answered with disbelief in his eyes. His face was gaunt and pale and he was shaking.

“ Are you okay?”, Wonsik stepped forward but then the sleeping creature shifted.

“ Girls, we must be quick. It can wake up any minute now so we must be careful”, Chorong said.        

  “ Hayoung, you stay at the back, you are still weak but you can act as our back up”.

The witches went to work. Chorong, Bomi and Eunji focused on freeing the trapped trio while Naeun and Namjoo put some bluish powder around the creature.

They were almost finished with only Sanghyuk left to be released. They lifted him up slowly but then the monster moved again and its tail almost hit Sanghyuk. They lowered him down but his feet crossed the blue circle.

Then they heard a yelp. Naeun was hit by the tail and the creature opened its eyes, revealing slitted red orbs.

It roared and Taekwoon saw something released from the monster. But Bomi quickly waved her wand, creating a shield around them. The wave passed but Bomi quickly dropped, panting from the magical drain of the house.

The creature roared again but this time it charged them. They all scattered, Wonsik holding up Jaehwan, Hongbin with Sanghyuk and Taekwoon managed to carry Hakyeon on his back.

The witches were fighting back with full force but they were beginning to tire quickly.

The monster almost snapped them up in one gulp when something happened.

Suddenly, the witches were trapped in a floating sphere and the cat entered it, snatching a pouch from Namjoo.

The cat landed  on the floor and gave Taekwoon a look as if waiting for him to do something.

“ Taekwoon!! It wanted to complete the circle so the seal can be activated to trap the monster. It needs you to distract it and when it finished, you need to lure it into the circle”, Eunji shouted.

“ I don’t know you speak cats, unnie”, Namjoo said.

“ Oh, Yugeom did help me with my studies”.

Taekwoon carried Hakyeon to the corner of the basement and and found a rusty sword beside him. He grabbed it and slashed at the monster’s body. It turned its head on him and Taekwoon tried his hardest to dodge it. He saw Wonsik and Hongbin managed to place Jaehwan and Sanghyuk to safety.

“ Taekwoon, pass me the sword”, Hongbin shouted.

“ No, don’t!”, Wonsik countered, maybe he still wary of Hongbin.

“ Just pass it. I know how to use it”, Hongbin shouted again.

Taekwoon did that and quickly ducked when the monster’s tail swung above him.

“ You throw me at its head”, Hongbin said to Wonsik, who looked at him like he's crazy.

“ Look, I really hate you but I really want to get out of this alive and I...I need your help”.

Wonsik just stared but then shrugged.

“ Ok, just don’t die. I don’t want to let you die because it will give me trouble”, Wonsik said before lifting Hongbin up with his super strength and launched him at the monster’s head.

Hongbin flew and stabbed one of its eyes. The monster roared in pain and Hongbin laughed but it died down when he began to fall. Thankfully, Taekwoon was there to catch him.

They heard another roar and saw Wonsik in wolf form, scratching a deep bloddy wound on its head. He jumped away but one of the tentacles wrapped around his legs. Hongbin hacked at it and Taekwoon pulled him free.

“MEOOOOW!!!”.

“ Taekwoon,Wonsik, Hongbin, you guys had lure it into the circle now!”, Bomi shouted.

Hongbin threw the sword at the monster and grabbed its attention.

“ The last one to reach the circle dies”, Hongbin said before breaking into a sprint only to be cut off by Wonsik and Taekwoon. Hongbin just groaned and continued running.

The monster followed them and it entered the seal. The three of them jumped out of the seal and watched the blue powed glowed brightly. The monster roared in anguish before turning to dust.

The sphere prison disappeared, leaving six witches with their mouth opened.

“ I do not know the seal can do that. I thought....I thougt it only trap it”, Hayoung stammered in surprise.

The cat meowed again with a cocky tone and purred against Taekwoon’s leg,earning a scratch to the ear.

“ Thank you”, Taekwoon said.

“ Thank you, kitty”, the girls bowed in unison.

The cat looked up at Taekwoon with sad eyes.

“ I’m sorry we have to leave. We can’t stay”, Taekwoon thinked deeply before asking. “ Maybe if I be your master, you can follow me.? I don’t want to force you but you choose”.

The cat looked at him with its  mysterious glowing green eyes.

“MEEEEEOOOOOWWWW!!!!”

The house rumbled and there was a huge flash and when Taekwoon opened his eyes, they were outside the house, the moon shining on the dark woods.

The girls healed Hakyeon, Jaehwan and Sanghyuk with the remaining of their magic and they all said goodbyes.

Taekwoon saw Eunji talking to Hakyeon and giving him a hug. Then, she gave him a ring which Hakyeon reluctantly kept in his pocket. Then, Eunji came to him.

“ You are amazing today even though you are human. I know it is impossible but I hope we can meet again. I like making friends and you are one interesting friend. Anyway, I leave it to you to figure out about the bracelet thing”, she said with a wink before joining her friends to go home.

Taekwoon looked at his wrist and saw a gold bracelet with a picture of a cat on it. Most particularly, a black cat.

Taekwoon just smiled, thinking that he had enough magic things happened today. The bracelet could wait tomorrow.

“Taekwoon, let’s go! Do you want to sleep near this house? We are going to set up camp somewhere else!”, Jaehwan shouted at him with a grin, his full energy was back.

“ Or are you going to follow Eunji? Sorry, Taekwoon. She already had a boyfriend !”, Wonsik yelled, earning laughter from the others.

In a  matter of minutes, Wonsik was on the ground with Taekwoon pining him down with an evil smile on his face.

A/N Sorry for the late update. I had some writers block and thanks to my brother, I can get my story back on track.

So Apink is here!! I don't know them much and if I write anything that is unsatisfactory, I want to say I'm sorry.

Thanks again for the people who had read, subscribed and commented this story. I really,really,really appreciate it.

If there's anything I can improve, please do leave a comment or a (private)  message.

Sorry if the magic fight scenes are crappy. I'm still learning.

Thanks for reading.

smallbear99