***

The cold’s absolutely merciless, torturing me every time I a breath as my legs keep moving fast -as fast as they could carried me- through the forest uneven ground. I didn't even dare to look behind me as the cackles getting louder on my trail, keep getting closer and closer with every steps I take. Birds of prey screeching around me behind thick thick cloak of shadows, hidden from the eyes, formless voices haunting and making the hair on the back of my neck stood as cold shivers ran through me both from the cold and fear of getting caught,

“come out, come out wherever you are, youngest~” the velvety voice called from the dark, resonating through the hollow forest and I pressed my body harder onto the big old tree trunk where I’ve been hiding, hoping for the ground to open up and swallow me whole,

I trembled on my feet as the shadows crept closer to where I stood. I tried helplessly to cast my own shadows but yet it turned be another failed attempt and I whimpered,

I couldn't remember how and when did I end up in this situation, all I could remember is getting engulfed in a complete darkness before opening my eyes and realized that I’ve been surrounded by tall trees in a path that I couldn't recognized,

“oh you bad child, you know hiding from me is pointless, I could sense your fear even from miles away, dearest” the voice said again in its sweet voice. My Grandmother’s voice,

Looking down, I gasped when the shadows already reached my ankle and climbing up before I shot out off my hiding place in my panicked state,

My grandmother’s form emerged out of the shadows and smirked down at me on top of the dark amorphous stairs her throne placed upon as I stared up at her in horror,

“there you are, I’d love playing hide and seek with you but this is hardly the time for the game, don't you think, sweet child?” the woman cooed, grinning widely, blood red painted lips parted open, showing her pearly white teeth and weirdly enough, the expression does not make her beautiful face even more beautiful, instead she looked terrifying under the pale moonlight. I clenched my jaws as I desperately tried to stop my quiver, refusing to submit to her presence,

This isn't real

“isnt real? Are you sure about that? This might as well happening inside your mind, you know?”,

I’m safe

“safe? Safe from what exactly, my dear?”

This is just a bad dream

My grandmother chuckled this time, a cold sadistic chuckles that sending shivers through your veins instead of joy, “this is a dream, alright but can you wake up from it? Or rather,” her eyes squinted evilly as she continued on “can you keep running away from it?”,

A devilish smirk formed on my grandmother’s lips as she slowly stand, towering over me on her throne, “stop fighting, youngest”. I clenched my eyes shut,

“don't you want to be like me?” she taunted again,

“don't you want to have all this power? To rule over every single person who hurt you? Who hurt us?”,

Collecting myself quickly, I opened my eyes and stared back with whatever determination I could gathered as I actually felt that my sanity has already been hanging on a thin thread,

“I’m not like you and I don't want to be like you,” I began and the smirk on the woman’s face faltered a little as I continued,

“I’ll do whatever what it takes to make sure that I’ll never become you”,

A light scowl decorating her beautiful face and her ethereal form slowly becoming more and more devilish as she glared down at me before suddenly the poker face fixed back and masked the previous trace of anger as her posture relaxed,

“oh, well that’s a pity,” she drawled, bottom lip jutted out a bit, making her youthful face even more childlike with such expression as she tilted her head slightly while ascending from the stairs and my brows creased at the turn of event before me. I fully expecting her to lash out right and then but this reaction was throwing me off of my feet a little if I have to be honest here,

A big cheshire grin formed on my grandmother’s face as she stopped on her track on the middle of the stair and my focus completely on her. Warily observing her movements,

“I’ll just force it out of you then,”, my eyes glided to the weird stairs, eyeing the oddly shaped edge behind the foggy dark shadows until I could make out a slightly familiar shapes draped awkwardly a few inches from the feet of the crystallized throne. It’s strangely resembled a person’s face, my jaw dropped slightly as a muffled gasp left my mouth and I felt like biles threaten to come out of my stomach,

“now… I wonder who will be the next sacrifice”,

After finishing her sentence, as if in cue, the shadows dissipates completely and I stood face to face with the horror of my life as my suspicion proven,

What I thought as an oddly shaped stairs in fact was a pile of bodies, lifeless bodies that piled up in a way to make it resembled stairs and my eyes widened when I recognized the face that sprawled beneath the throne earlier. I spilled the inside of my stomach, tasting the bitter acid and felt even more sick as my eyes meet my father’s dull and lifeless eye,

My grandmother merely smiled as I emptied my stomach before flicked her fingers in the air and a body formed beside her, slumping before she grab it’s hand and entangled their fingers together as her other hand grabbed it’s waist, angling their bodies in a waltz dance pose,

She giggled as she twirled, both of their red hair dancing with the cold wind behind them and I whimpered at the sickening scene. The scene of my grandmother dancing with my mother’s corpse

I shut my eyes tight when shadows engulfed my mother and the form changed again. I watched in horror when the limbs grow longer and the hair became shorter and as the pair stopped, my grandmother opened , whispering to me as she let go of the male and the body fall to the ground beneath her, facing me,

“I’ll play your game, youngest”,

My scream echoed loudly through the forest as Kim SeokJin empty eyes looking straight back at me and then the world blackened.

***

I gasped harshly as my eyes shot open, hands grabbing whatever they could grab in my desperate attempt to pull myself back from the horrifying nightmare I’ve been trapped while the hands that seizing my shoulders tightened to the point that it becoming hurts and I heard from my fogged and terrorized mind someone’s voice calling me,

“JooYeon, hey! Angel! Sweetheart, hey! It’s okay! it’s only a dream, you’re safe now. You are safe” the voice said in its calming tone but I could feel the worry underneath them as clear as the day,

SeokJin peering down at me, deep crease decorating his face and his soft features edged in alarm as he loosening his hands on my shoulders and move one of them to pick a stray locks of hair on my forehead before the side of my face gently. Nox pawing one of my sprawling legs above the thick blanket, the feline huffed softly in worry as his silver eyes watching my every moves. Weird, I don't remember calling for him before going to bed this morning,

“you okay?” he asked cautiously and nodded absentmindedly, still trying to decipher everything and calm my ragged breath,

“wh-what happened? What are you doing here? Are you okay?” I panted, bombarding him with my own questions and he frowned at the last question, pulling away a little to give me some space to breath more freely,

“I- uh, well, I was just about to check on you when I heard your cries from inside, so I barged in and considering things, yes, I’m actually the one that was okay here between us and you are the one that obviously not” he answered as I finally breathing normally,

I ignored his confused explanation as I covered my face in both hands, relieved beyond anything that it all was a nightmare. SeokJin moved to sit on the edge of the bed near my folded legs in silence as he observed me while Nox settled himself on my side, folding his four limbs beneath him as he rest his big head on top of his front paws,

The pregnant silence lasted for awhile as we just sat there in the dim lighted room, listening to our breath before a sudden movements and sounds of flapping wings heard from the open windows and we simultaneously jerked our head towards the source of the sounds only to found a branch of the old cherry tree that nurtured near my windows shaking gently as if something just jumped on it. I noticed Nox growling softly under his breath as he glared at the window with flattened ears,

“what’s that?” I croaked with knitted brows right when SeokJin stood up and walk towards the windows to close it,

“it’s an owl, I noticed it staring at you when you tossing on your bed earlier,” he answered after checking the outside and then closed the windows shut completely, blocking the cold winds from flowing into the already freezing room,

SeokJin pressed his lips tightly with thoughtful finger on his chin as he walking back towards my bed “weird, the sun is still up and also, I haven't seen that type of owl around here before, the owls in this area have a brown and white feathers, there’s a bunch of them but this is the first time I seen one with a mask like ring around its eyes and sleek black feathers like that one, the rings on the outside of its eyes even looked like a mask” he murmured,

“it’s beautiful yet it sent shivers down my spine each time it fixed its eyes on me when I tried to wake you up earlier”,

I shake my head at his rambling and lean my head back onto the headboard “the sun is clouded, it’s nearing winter already and maybe that’s just one of the new birds, there’s migration going on in nearby forest, you are looking too far into things again, oppa” I said with closed eyes and he hummed in response, agreeing to my reasoning quickly,

“so, do you want to talk about it?” he started after a few seconds silence and I understand what he meant immediately,

“no, not really” I sighed, folding my arms to hug myself as a shiver run through my veins once again when I recalled the nightmare that still freshly embedded into my mind. SeokJin stared at me for a second before nodding his head, understanding the situation as he did nothing to push me to talk but reach out his hand and my head gently as he always did. Which is I appreciated so much,

This is one of the many things about Kim SeokJin that I always like, he know how and when to make people around him feel at ease and safe with his presence. He always knew when he act as an authoritative leader that he is and when to become -funnily said- a motherly figure,

“want me to fetch you some hot chocolate? It might help your nerves so you can go to sleep again” he offered kindly, still my messy hair and I shake my head slowly, burying my face half way into my folded arms that resting on top of my knees,

“apple pies? I just finished the dish when I came up here”, I shake my head again and he sighed,

“anything?” he tried once more but I merely staring up at him, silently taking in the face in front of me and comparing them to the one that I saw in my dream earlier. Cold and hardened in death,

A sudden emotion washed over me and I felt my eyes sting as I quickly ducking my head into the crook of my left arm while the right one reach out for SeokJin sleeve, tugging them lightly,

“stay”,

SeokJin blinked, twice, before finally smiled and moving to my side while Nox moved away and lie flat on his belly near our feet. Something that I haven't seen before, he acted so docile towards SeokJin this whole time. Weird...

Wrapping his arm around me, SeokJin pulled our bodies closer and resting his head on top of my crown. I inhaled the familiar scent and fel