Jinhee made her way out of the forest by the time the sun was starting to peak out. She was exhausted and freezing but she made her feet keep moving, no matter what happened. She was at least a village or two over from the one at the base of the castle and it too looked like it had been pillaged by the mod back at her home. She saw a young woman up the street and when they locked eyes, the girl gasped and went running into her home and slammed the door closed behind her. Jinhee didn't blame her because if she had seen a woman walking out of the forest covered in mud and blood she would have run away too. Besides that one girl, the whole village seemed to be abandoned. The little hope she had left was dying with every step she took and eventually, as the sun began to rise into the sky, she fell to her knees in defeat. Was there no one who would be willing to help her?

 

It was then that she felt a tap on her shoulder and saw the young woman and with a closer look at her, she must not have been older than twelve or thirteen. The girl didn't say anything but tugged on her dress as if to make her follow. With the little strength she had left Jinhee got onto her feet and followed the girl back into her house. It was a small shack with a fireplace in the corner and a table that looked as if it would fall over with a strong breeze. The girl ran around and drew the curtains closed tightly and then pushed the table up to the door to try and keep it closed.

 

"What's going on? Where has everyone gone?" Jinhee's voice was weak but the girl drew a finger to her lips to tell her to be quiet. She nodded and followed the girl to the small fireplace and watched as she pulled the metal frame out of the floor to show a passageway under the house. It was then that Jinhee understood what was happening and she climbed down into the hole although she struggled as it looked as if it were made for children. The crawl space wasn't much bigger as Jinhee laid on her stomach and crawled along with ground, using her nails to drag her along. The young girl followed behind her and closed up the passage. She was able to get through the tunnel much easier and was right on Jinhee's heels the whole time. The space seemed to be getting smaller and smaller; it wasn't until then that Jinhee thought about how much she hated enclosed spaces. Maybe twenty minutes later Jinhee saw a bright light shining in the dark tunnel and used her last bit of energy to make it to the end where there was a rope hanging down to help people pull themselves up. Once Jinhee got herself up she was able to stand on her feet and saw a pile of wood sitting on top of the opening. She could reach up and brush the tip of her nails against the wood but she didn't have the actual strength to pull herself up.

 

"Open up!" The girl called out from behind her and quickly the wood was taken away and staring back at her was a young boys face. He gasped and slammed the wood back down and the many whispers of children could be heard on the other side. "She's fine! I said open up Jimin!" The girl was clearly getting uncomfortable in the small space as well and with a slight hesitation, the young boy lifted the wood up and this time he was joined with two other boys. They all reached down and helped pull Jinhee out of the hole with the girl pulled out right behind her. Jinhee looked around and saw that they were in a make-shift fort in the middle of nowhere with flimsy walls. In the small space there were maybe fifteen to twenty children all huddled together. Their faces were covered with dirt and their eyes were filled with fear. The hole was closed back up and Jinhee looked back at the girl who was the oldest among the kids and most likely the leader. "My name is Seohyun, this is my brother Jimin. Were the kids from the village." Seohyun went to a small pile in the far corner and pulled out some food and handed it off to her brother who then split it and gave it to the smallest children.

 

"Where are your parents?" Jinhee asked and Seohyun just shook her head. It took a moment but Jinhee figured they must have either been captured or killed by the mob that took over the castle. Once again looking over the children, a familiar face stared back at her. "Hakyeon?" Jinhee called out and the boy stood up with tears in his eyes. Her nephew ran out of the group, followed by his two siblings Taekwoon and Chorong. The three children wrapped their tiny arms around Jinhee's thighs and hugged her tightly while sobbing uncontrollably.

 

"Is that his name? He refused to tell it to us." Jimin commented but Jinhee was just glad to see some of her family was alive.

 

"What happened? Are you guys okay? How did you make it this far?" Jinhee rubbed their heads and tried to calm their crying but Chorong was no more than six so she picked up the small girl and rocked her back and forth.

 

"The men threw us in the cart. Hakyeon-hyung pushed us out and we ran." Taekwoon looked to his brother with a warm smile and pure admiration. Jinhee reached down and rested her hand on Hakyeon's cheek. Although he was only ten, there was a darkness behind his eyes that showed that he had seen somethings that no children should ever see.

 

"Your brother is very brave." Jinhee commented but Hakyeon lowered his head and his shoulders started shaking as he silently cried.

 

"I couldn't save mommy." Hakyeon said with a shaking voice, the child-like way he spoke absolutely broke Jinhee's heart and she once again embraced the three children but this time she cried with them. Her husband was supposed to be down there getting his sister and the rest of her family but if the children were here, there was a slim chance that Jongin would leave without putting up a fight.

 

"Did you see your uncle? Was Uncle Jongin there when they put you in the cart?" Jinhee looked to Hakyeon and he shook his head. A deep sadness entered Jinhee's heart. It felt almost as if it would never beat again. As of that moment she was a zombie and the only reason she lived was to care for these children with all of her ability. Every emotion was raw; exposed like a nerve. She wanted to cry, scream, lay down and die in that exact spot but she couldn't do that. Jongin wouldn't want that for her. She had to fight with everything she had until her death.

 

--

 

Jongin and a few of his men made their way back towards the castle late the next day. Many of them were wounded and a few dropped dead off of their horses on the way back but Jonin couldn't stop moving. They made it to the edge of the village at the base of the castle by nightfall but could see that many of the buildings had been burnt to the ground and the air stunk of death. Jongin took off as fast as his horse could move, towards the castle but stopped short of the gate and got off. He edged his way against the wall and climbed up a tree to see the state of the castle before entering it. Beyond the wall he could see hundreds of rebels patrolling the grounds and that sitting atop the stairs in his fathers throne was a large man with a scar running down his face and standing at his side was none other than Chanyeol. To either side of them were spikes with heads on them and the ones that he could recognize were his father and his brother Suho. Jongin felt sick to his stomach and climbed back down the tree only to throw up. He held back the tears that burned his eyes as he thought about what happened to the rest of his family; especially his beloved wife Jinhee who Chanyeol was obsessed with. In that moment Jongin promised himself to kill Chanyeol, slowly and painfully.