I woke up in the middle of the night shaking.  The blanket I was using seemed scratchier than usual, and I was freezing even curled up underneath it.  I threw the blanket up and leapt up from my bed.  The moonlight coming in through the windows was brighter than I ever remembered, so bright and sharp that I was sure I could touch it.

            As I looked over at Handong, I realized I could see my own breath turning to mist in the air.  But even though the room felt like an igloo, Handong was sleeping soundly without a movement. 

            I took my mind off the cold for just a moment to realize how thirsty I was.  I was sure I had never experienced a thirst like this in my life.  I took a deep breath and began coughing with my dry throat.  I felt like I was going to die.

            Staggering out of the room, I looked down the long hall across the second floor of the mansion.  Deep blue moonlight poured through every window and I felt like I was underwater.  I closed my eyes, hoping they would stop playing tricks on me, but I realized something more mysterious instead.

            The sound was different.  Even in the dead of night, I could usually hear a nightingale outside, water running through the old pipes, the weeping wind, the creaking of a floorboard.  But it was like my ears were plugged with earphones that played only the deep, throbbing beating of my own heart. 

            I took a step down the hall.  The floorboard didn’t creak, yet I felt the thump of my foot run through my body as if it were a heavy iron.  I took a few more steps and tapped my ears in frustration, hoping to escape from this terrifying world.

            Just as tears began to fill my eyes, I looked down at my heavy feet and back to the hallway to see Siyeon standing in the thick moonlight, wearing her grey nightgown and holding a stuffed bunny in her right hand.  Her face was pale, and dark bags rested just below her eyes.  She stared at me with her piercing eyes just underneath her dark bangs.  She didn’t say a word, but somehow, I could hear her.  I could hear her breathing.  I could hear a heart besides my own beating slow and hard, and I just knew it was hers.

            “Siyeon.”  My dry throat could barely uttered her name, and my voice sounded like it was underwater through my plugged up ears.  “What are you doing?”

            “I’ll never let you go.”  Her voice was piercing.  Somehow it was so much clearer than my own.  Her voice made my ears rumble.  It was like she was speaking from inside my head.

            “Siyeon…Are you okay?”

            “I’ll put you inside and never let you go.”  Her voice was only a whisper, but it made my head ache.

            “What are you saying?”  Before I could continue, I fell to the ground, and my body was so weak I could barely keep my head up.  With my hands and knees pressed to the floor, I looked up at her again to see that her bunny had become one of the kitchen knives.

            “You can’t escape.”  She stared at me fiercely, and her strong voice sent chills down my spine.  But as soon as she had become more terrifying than ever, dropped into a helpless grimace, her body hunched over, and her eyes glimmered with tears.  “None of us can escape.  We’re all trapped here.”

            “Siyeon!”  I watched powerlessly as raised the knife to her hand and made a cut identical to her wound from the kitchen.  “Siyeon, stop!”

            All the breath left my lungs as her face appeared suddenly before me, just a few inches from my own.  I gasped for air as she glowered at me in fury, holding the knife up to my neck. 

            “NONE OF US CAN ESCAPE!”

            “Siyeon, no!”

            My body was freed at the sound of Sua’s voice, and I jumped back as quickly as I could.  For only a few seconds, I saw Sua come up from behind me, grab Siyeon, and disappear into the moonlight.  Warmth filled the room, and I collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion, finally taking a deep breath of air.  The heat from the air rushed through my body, up to my head.  My vision went dark, and I felt my head fall back onto a soft pillow.

            I opened my eyes.  Delicate morning light filled the room, and I could hear the finches tweeting outside the open window.  A brisk draft blew through the room, and my whole body shivered.  I realized I was dripping in sweat.  All of it was a nightmare.

            As I slowly sat up in my bed, the bedroom door opened, and Handong peeked her head in.  She looked at me with a surprised expression and rushed over.

            “Jiu, are you okay?” she asked quickly, wiping the sweat from my forehead.  She rubbed her thumb across the top of my cheek.  “You’re sweating so much.  And…were you crying?”

            I blinked hard, and the last of my tears that had formed during my nightmare leaked out.  Giving a tired grin, I wiped them away and gave a sigh.  “I just had a nightmare.  It was…crazy.”

            She smiled at me and patted my cheek.  “Well, you’re safe now.  I should have woken you sooner.  We left you some breakfast; you should come eat quickly.”

            “How is Siyeon?” I interrupted suddenly, the horrifying images in my nightmare haunting me.

            “She seems fine,” Handong explained, though her eyebrows furrowed in worry.  “She greeted us this morning while we were eating breakfast, but she didn’t stay to eat.  She’s out taking a walk with Sua right now.”

            “She was in my dream last night.”  I let out a quiet, dark chuckle before I gave a long sigh.  “It was so scary…I feel like I’ll go crazy if I don’t see the real her soon.”

            “Hmm, that makes sense,” Handong concurred, nodding her head slowly.  “She was actually in my dream for a little bit last night.  It was a little scary, I guess.  Sua was in it too, and we were picking wildflowers outside of the mansion.  Siyeon stood far off, watching us.  I’ll have to figure out what such a dream means.”

            “We were so worried for Siyeon last night, I guess we couldn’t help but let her in our dreams,” I smiled, feeling the weight in my heart lifting slowly.  “I’m going to go see her before I eat breakfast.  I’ll be back soon.”

            “Okay.  The fog is gone for now, so you should hurry up and enjoy the outdoors while you can.  Yoohyeon is already outside taking pictures with Dami.”

            Handong was right.  The fog was gone, and the weather was so much warmer than last night.  I noticed Sua wearing a bright white sundress and strolling through the middle of the field.  As I made my way over to her, I noticed Siyeon closer to the edge of the forest, looking up at the sky and all around her like a little child.

            “Are you okay?” Sua asked me suddenly while I was still a few feet away. 

            “Me?”  The cozy sunlight warmed my skin and felt like life to my soul.  I laughed in amazement at her worried glance.  “I was going to ask you about Siyeon.”

            “It’s just…you were so worried last night,” she sighed, looking down at the swaying grass.  “It made me worry about you.”

            I looked out at Siyeon.  The temperature, the light, and the beautiful sky was euphoric, and it made me feel silly for ever worrying about anything.  “I don’t know why I was so dramatic yesterday.  I jumped to the worst possible conclusion.”

            “You were on edge,” Sua assumed, still gazing at me with concern.  “Siyeon was behaving strangely…And I hear you’ve been reading Dami’s book.”

            “How do you know about Dami’s book?” I asked, forcing myself to push the witch’s graphic drawings from my mind.

            “I caught her and Yoohyeon attempting to translate it,” she chuckled, finally tearing her eyes from me and looking at Siyeon.  “That book is awfully frightening.  I don’t blame you for being scared.”

            “How is Siyeon doing?”

            “She’s…getting better.”  Sua took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes.  “She’s just going through a hard time right now.  She’ll be fine.”

            “You seem tired,” I noted, taking a few steps closer to her.  “Were you up all night with her?”

            She stepped away from me and turned her body to face Siyeon.  “Yeah…I’m not physically tired really, just mentally.”

            “Listen, Sua, Siyeon’s situation is really serious,” I insisted.  “I think we should inform the professors and make her see a counselor.  Maybe she needs to go home early.”

            “No.”  Sua folded her arms and looked back at me.  “Just give me the weekend with her.  I promise I can help her.”

            “It seems hard on you.”  I wanted to get closer and read everything in her eyes, but I knew she needed space.  But I wasn’t going to let her suffer on her own.  “You could both burn out at the same time this way.”

            “Please trust me.”  Her voice was urgent, but her frown shifted into a soft grin.  “I know you’re trying to protect both of us, but I’ll be okay.  We both will.  We all will.”

            I sighed and hugged my arms around myself.  “Fine.  But you’d better come to me when you’re tired.  I know you’re going through a lot right now.”

            “Thank you, Jiu.”  She smiled brightly and nodded towards the mansion.  “You’d better get some breakfast.  I don’t know how long Gahyeon will leave extra food laying around.”

            “Hmm, you’re right.” 

We shared a laugh, and it was refreshing.  Even Siyeon beamed at us from where she was as she held up a butterfly that had landed on her finger.  Though I worried about them both, my worries were pushed deep inside my mind by the pretty sunlight and the warm breeze. 

            By the time I returned to the mansion, everyone had left to spend the day in the sunlight.  I felt relieved and more relaxed than I had felt during the whole school year.  Even as the chilly fogged returned when evening neared, I could appreciate the scenery without it constantly sending chills down my spine.

            “Do you know where you might have left it last?”

            “I don’t know.  It’s not like I ever used it on this trip.”

            “What are you two talking about?”

            Yoohyeon and Dami froze like stones when they heard my voice from the kitchen hallway.  They were coming through the front doors like two adventurers after a long, exciting journey.  But they looked at me with wide, anxious eyes as I walked towards them holding me warm cup of tea.

            “Talking about?” Yoohyeon asked.  “We weren’t talking about anything.”

            “Yoohyeon, please tell me you didn’t lose your EpiPen,” I sighed.  “I told you to be careful with it.”

            “I didn’t lose it!” Yoohyeon insisted, letting out a nervous squeak.  “I mean…I might have misplaced it.  I know it’s around here somewhere.  We’ll find it!”

            I took a sip of tea and looked at both of them with a grave gaze.  “You’d better find it fast.  Yoohyeon, your mom will kill you if she knows you lost it.”

            “Isn’t that what it’s for?” Yoohyeon grumbled.  “Is it saving my life from bees or my mom?”

            “It will save your life from me if you can find it quick enough.”  I took pride in being like a parent to them, but I found true amusement in scolding Yoohyeon.  She always reacted like a dramatic child, not matter the topic of frustration.  I sipped my tea and smirked.  “Come have some tea first.  I lit the fire in the parlor.”

            They followed me into the kitchen and mumbled frantically to one another as I got some extra tea cups.  I couldn’t help but chuckle quietly at their panic.  We moved into the parlor, which was past the entrance hall in the back of the mansion.  The atmosphere was made dark yet warm by the red curtains and beige wallpaper.  There were stiff, creaky chairs by the fire, as well as a comfy red loveseat that was obviously more modern than most of the furniture.  Yoohyeon and Dami rushed to the loveseat, and Yoohyeon glared at me spitefully as if she had stolen my seat in revenge.  But the two of them looked like small children, and I only laughed in response.

            “Here.”  I handed them their tea cups and took the pot from the small wooden table in the middle of all the seats. 

“Thank you,” Yoohyeon said quietly as I poured her tea.  She blushed as her amusing bitterness seemed to dissipate.  “And I’ll find my EpiPen.  Don’t worry.”

            “I have some ideas of where to look,” Dami insisted after taking a quick sip of tea as soon as I poured it.  “Maybe it dropped out of bag while we were walking along the river today.  We should go out and try to find it tonight.”

            “You guys found a river?” I asked in confusion.

            “Yeah, it’s just beyond the forest to the south,” Dami explained excitedly.  “It’s not very wide, but it’s pretty deep and rocky.  Maybe we can all go swimming in it tomorrow.”

            “Hmm, maybe,” I started reluctantly.  “But I don’t want you guys going out into the forest anymore tonight.  It’s getting cold and dark.”

            “Fine,” Yoohyeon sighed, rolling her eyes.  “The fog is sort of creeping me out anyway.”

            “It’s so thick, it’s hard to see anything,” Dami noted like a curious scientist.

            “You should have seen my dream last night,” Yoohyeon began, leaning back and sinking into the thick cushions of the loveseat.  “I was walking outside, and the fog was so thick.  It was so cold to, I couldn’t believe how real it all felt.  I found the vanity from our room on the edge of the forest.  It was just sitting there in the grass.  I couldn’t stop walking towards it.  When I finally reached it, I noticed Siyeon was in the reflection of the mirror, but when I looked behind me, she wasn’t there.”

            “Ugh, you’re giving me goosebumps,” Dami interrupted, putting her tea cup on the table and wrapping her arms around herself.

            I watched Yoohyeon curiously, remembering my own nightmare from last night.  Yoohyeon told the story plainly, but I could see an essence of panic in her eyes.  She sipped her tea and cleared .

            “It didn’t stop there,” Yoohyeon continued.  “When I reached toward the mirror, this black slime appeared where I touched it.  I wanted to pull my hand away, but I just kept pressing it against the mirror instead until it eventually went through the mirror.”

            “It broke the mirror?” Dami questioned, examining inquisitively.

            “No…It just went through the mirror.”  Yoohyeon looked down at her hand and ran her thumb across the tip of each of her fingers.  “I guess it wasn’t a mirror…It was like a barrier.  Because I could see my hand appear on the other side of it where Siyeon was.  And that was the worst part.  Suddenly Siyeon got closer and closer and grabbed my hand.  She started pulling hard, like she was trying to pull me through.  But I felt someone grab my shoulders, keeping me back.  They were playing tug-o-war with me when I eventually woke up.”

            “Geez, that’s horrifying,” Dami sighed, squinting her eyes and looking at Yoohyeon.  “It reminds me of how the witch kept mentioning mirrors in her journal once her daughter died.  Maybe that’s why a mirror was in your dream.”

            “I…I don’t want you reading that journal anymore,” I said suddenly, looking down at my tea.  “It’s scary.  And I think it’s messing with our minds.”

            “Maybe the witch put a curse on the journal,” Dami suggested with excitement.  “Now we’re cursed to have nightmares of Siyeon forever.”

            “I guess I’m just that powerful.”

            The three of us looked up in surprise to see Siyeon standing in the doorway with Sua beside her.  She wore dark slacks, a black sweatshirt, and a white hat, and she even had makeup on her tired face.  I leapt up suddenly, so happy to see her looking like her old self again, but she and Sua jumped back in surprised.

            “Siyeon,” I called gently, unable to keep a smile off my face.  “Are you feeling alright.”

            “Yeah,” she replied with a soft voice and a feeble grin.  “I’m sorry to worry you last night, Jiu.  I promise I won’t do something like that again.”

            “That’s…That’s fine.”  I wanted to hug her and tell her how grateful I was that she was with us, but there was an anxiousness in her eyes, and I didn’t want to startle her.  “I’m just happy you’re okay.”

            “I just wanted to say goodnight before I went to bed,” she explained.  “I know it’s a little early, but I’m feeling tired.”

            “That’s completely fine,” I assured.  “Get all the rest you need.”

            “Please let Gahyeon know that I’ll be sleeping in Sua’s room again.”

            “She was feeding birds outside with Handong right now,” Yoohyeon informed, putting her tea cup on the table.  “We’ll tell her right now!”

            As soon as Yoohyeon jumped up from the loveseat, Dami followed, and they rushed out of the room.  I looked at Siyeon anxiously.

            “You’re really okay?” I asked.

            “Yeah.”  A certain remorse was in her eyes, the kind of remorse I often sensed in Sua’s.  “Are you okay?”

            “What do you mean?”

            “I…I heard that you had a bad dream,” she said quietly, looking down at the floor.

            “Oh, well, I did,” I replied with a chuckle.  “Did Handong tell you?”

            Her eyes moved back and forth from one floorboard to another.  “Yeah.  I’m glad you’re okay.”  She looked back up at me and gave a hopeful grin.  “Get some good sleep tonight, okay?”

            “You too.”

            That night I lay in bed and stared up at the dark wooden ceiling with a calm heaviness in my heart.  Visions of my nightmare were so vivid in my mind that they almost overshadowed her healthy appearance from this evening.  Even beyond my own dream, I recalled and Handong’s and Yoohyeon’s dreams, and even passages from the witch’s journal that felt so real.  They haunted me.  But I played Sua’s words from today over and over in my mind.

            Please trust me.  Please trust me.  Please trust me.

            “Are you thinking about Siyeon?”

            Handong’s small voice came from her bed, and I my side to look over at her.  “Yeah.  I’m still worried about her.”

            “I was really worried last night,” Handong told quietly.  “But I think she’s fine now.  I really do.”

            “That’s good,” I grinned.  She was lying on her back, and I could see the moonlight reflecting off her big eyes.  “She seemed so much better today.”

            “Jiu?”

            “Yeah?”

            “Before we came here, you told me that you would make sure all of us were together.”  Her voice was dreamy and serene, like a ghost.  Yet it didn’t frighten me; it only made me sleepy. 

            “Yeah.”

            “You said you would protect me.  I struggled to believe you.  But now I know you were telling the truth.  I know we’ll always be together.”

            “Really?”  My eyes were heavy, and I couldn’t keep them from closing.  “I’m glad.”

            “And I think everything is going to be okay.”

            “Me too.”

            “Goodnight, Jiu.”

            “Goodnight, Dongie.”

            “Jiu.”

            My eyes opened suddenly at the sound of Siyeon’s voice.  All I could see in the dark room was the shape of a head above my own, and my heart skipped a beat.  Suddenly the lights , and I saw Siyeon’s bright, shining smile.

            “What’s going on?” I exclaimed, quickly sitting up from my bed.

            “We’re going to have a sleepover!” Sua announced, appearing suddenly from behind Siyeon.  They both grabbed my arms and pulled me up from my bed, and I noticed Handong, Yoohyeon, Dami, and Gahyeon standing around me with excited expressions.

            “Sleepover?” I stared at them with wide eyes.  “We’ve been sleeping in the house for weeks now.”

            “But we haven’t had a sleepover,” Siyeon insisted, wrapping her arms around my left arm and putting her head on my shoulder.  “We need to spend some quality time together, don’t you think?”

            “I made cookies!” Sua cried, suddenly turning to Gahyeon who was holding a bowl of cookies and quietly nibbling on one.  “Gahyeon!  Don’t eat them all!”

            “Aren’t you on a special diet, Sua?”  I didn’t even care about her diet; I desperately wanted her to eat as much as she wanted.  But I was so frazzled by this sudden party, I couldn’t quite believe it was happening.

            Snatching the bowl of cookies from Gahyeon and turning back to me, Sua gave me a smirk.  “I’m going to cheat a little tonight.  Don’t tell my dance teacher or else I’ll have to murder you all.”

            “I have no reason to doubt her words,” Dami admitted, pretending to shiver in fear.

            “Already testing my patience, huh?” Sua grumbled, taking a few steps toward Dami.

            “Stay back!”  We all watched in wonder as Yoohyeon grabbed one of Handong’s pillows and smacked Sua as hard as she could.  As Sua stared at her with wide burning eyes and her tongue in her cheek, Yoohyeon leapt up on Handong’s bed, crouched down, and held the pillow in front of her.

            “Do you want to die?” Sua asked with a powerful voice.

            “Give me the cookies!” Gahyeon suddenly shouted, grabbing Handong’s other pillow and hitting it over Sua’s back. 

            Sua turned at her and let out a laugh of confusion and amazement.  Shoving the bowl of cookies into Handong’s arm, she rushed to my bed and took a pillow.  Before Gahyeon could take one step to escape, Sua smacked the pillow over her, causing her to fall on Handong’s bed by Yoohyeon’s feet.  Feathers flew into the air as Sua hit her a few more times.

            “This is war!” Yoohyeon screamed, stepping in front of Gahyeon and countering Sua’s attacks with her own pillow.  I felt lost in a storm of feathers, and Siyeon held onto me a little tighter as we navigated through the bloodshed to Handong.  After watching in amusement and eating a few cookies, I picked up a pillow of my own and joined the fight.

            “You can’t hurt my baby Gahyeon, Sua!”

            Before I knew it, Sua and I were in a violent pillow battle, and I could have sworn Yoohyeon inadvertently took a hit at me within the chaos.  We were all smiling and laughing, and Siyeon seemed back to the way she had always appeared.  I was so happy, I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but no one could see them through all the feathers, and I was glad.  This was all I imagined for this trip.  Everything was back to normal.