The following hours after midnight is the time for spirits to wander around, especially around two, or three in the dawn.

 

Jennie helplessly has to look at the clock in her bedroom again. Her poor brain keeps repeating what she heard earlier in the afternoon. Needless to say, she will definitely lack sleep the next day. Who is to blame? Jisoo.

 

Well, technically, it was the others who started it. It began as a simple discussion on what to wear for the Halloween party, and Lisa suggested to dress up as the ghost that they fear the most, which eventually led to each of them speaking up about what they fear the most, and why. The ‘why’ part is the reason she is awake and alert. Jisoo’s sentence about that ‘critical hours’ adds the topping to everything.

 

The door knob moves and Jennie feels like wetting her pants the first time after her childhood era ended.

 

“Jen?”

 

A husky voice. It is of course Jisoo, but still, she needs to look at the girl’s feet.

 

“Jisoo? It’s the real Jisoo right?”

 

“Fool” Jisoo steps in. “What do you mean by the real Jisoo?”

 

“Maybe an astral creature pretending to be you?” Jennie scrutinizes at the older’s feet again. “They are touching the ground. It’s really you”

 

Jisoo lets out that melodious laughter that became Jennie’s tranquilizer.

 

“And only you laugh that way. It’s you”

 

“What are you even talking about?” Jisoo sits on the edge of the bed next to her. “And your lamp is on. I was wondering, so I checked”

 

“I can’t sleep”

 

“Why is that?”

 

“Thanks to you”

 

“Me?”

 

“I keep remembering what you said earlier when we were talking about IT”

 

“About the ‘critical time’?” Jisoo suddenly realizes and pays attention to the clock. “Oh, it’s ‘that’ time”

 

“Yes, it is”

 

“You know” The older moves to the upper side of the bed and fixes some pillows to lean on. “I don’t personally believe too much in that”

 

“Whatever. It still haunts me and it’s your fault” Jennie sulks as she arranges some pillows for herself.

 

“Hey, hey now. Don’t sulk. I’ll sleep with you, okay?”

 

“You’ll sleep with me tonight and I will forget about it for tonight but not tomorrow night”

 

“So what do you want me to do?” Jisoo is the one having sullen face now.

 

The younger girl becomes quiet for a while, but a not-so-secret smile soon follows. “Tell me a bedtime story”

 

“What?”

 

“I want a bedtime story, but not a scary one”

 

“Jendeuki, it’s almost 2.30 and you want a bedtime story? It might as well be a scary story, don’t you think?”

 

Jennie slaps her lightly on the thigh.

 

“Just kidding! Fine, I’ll tell one story”

 

That not-so-secret smile on Jennie’s face turns to a gummy smile. She fixes the pillow again, lies down and waits patiently, being a 22 year-old who acts like a child that she is.  

 

“I’ll turn off the lamp first” Jisoo said.

 

* * *

 

“Wanna make a bet?” Lisa whispers to Rosé. “Jisoo is in Jennie’s room”

 

“Jisoo might be in the bathroom. Why are you awake anyway?” Rosé yawns. “Why did you go to my room?”

 

“I can’t sleep because of what we talked about earlier, that’s why. I saw Jisoo’s door slightly open while I was walking here. Plus, Jennie’s light is on”

 

“So what then? What do you think they’re doing?”

 

The Thai girl has her shoulders up. “Making love?”

 

“Lalisa!”

 

“God knows how big of a crush Jennie is to Jisoo. Jennie is just too blind. Oh wait, wouldn’t it be better with lights off if they’re making love? Or not?”

 

“I swear you-”

 

“In any case, why don’t we go and check?”

 

“But what if they’re really making love?”

 

“I thought you didn’t agree with me that they’re making love”

 

“Let’s just… eavesdrop first” Rosé hops out the bed and tiptoes to the door. Looking back, she saw Lisa doing the same.

 

“Lisa” Rosé whispers. They are now about a meter away from Jennie’s room door. “The lamp is off now. Maybe they’re asleep”

 

“Ssshh. I hear something”

 

They are approaching again, and soon Lisa sticks her ear to the door wall.

 

* * *

 

“So what’s the story about?” Jennie asks when Jisoo comes back to the bed.

 

“Hmmm” Jisoo seems to be thinking hard; which does not last long, because she is good when it comes to telling random stories like this. “About a jailer and a misunderstood witch”

 

“Witch?” The younger looks up with widened, questioning eyes. “I said no scary story”

 

“It is not a scary story. The plot is that there is a witch who-”

 

“Hands up in the air! What are you guys doing!?”

 

The door being slammed open accompanied with Lisa’s loudness successfully makes Jennie cling to Jisoo hard.

 

“For sake! Lisa!” Jennie yells after she notices the intruder. Rosé is spotted behind her, but Jennie decides to throw the pillows at the Thai girl.

 

“I’m sorry, I tried to stop her” Rosé says.

 

Jisoo, meanwhile, has a good time laughing at Lisa picking up all the littered pillows on the floor. “Why are you guys here?”

 

“Nothing. I was just being nosy about whether you guys are-”

 

“Are awake too because you’re scared like us” Rosé cuts Lisa’s answer abruptly. “You know, because of what we discussed earlier”

 

“Well, Jennie is. I was just wondering why her light was still on so I checked on her. And now I am getting a punishment because I apparently scared her”

 

“I asked her to tell me a story” Jennie says.

 

“Can we join too?” Lisa’s eyes sparkles despite the fact that she has got no sleep.

 

“What’s the story?” Rosé joins on the bed.

 

“About a jailer and a misunderstood witch, and no, it’s not a scary story” Jisoo explains as Lisa follows Rosé along.

 

“Promise?” Jennie tugs on her pajama sleeve.

 

“If I lie, you can slap me hard, Jendeuki”

 

Lisa smirks upon that. “Yeah, she wants you to slap her hard, Jendeuki”

 

“Lalisa Manoban, would you shut up now and let Jisoo start?” Rosé glares at her.

 

“Fine, fine. Jisoo, start”

 

All eyes are fixed on Jisoo. Jisoo stares at them fleetingly before she starts her tale.

 

A long time ago, there in the middle of a forest before electricity or anything advanced began to exist, stood a village. This village, however, was cursed. It was filled with a pack of werewolves, and it was not even a rumor. Every single year, the werewolves took one of the innocent villagers as a victim. What was worse is that this had been going on for many, many years, and no soul had been able to catch the beasts, or even know who they were. These werewolves had the power to disguise as humans.

 

But one day there was this witch who could no longer stand what the evils were doing. She promised herself to end the curse. Jennie was her name. Jennie had lived her life brewing two kinds of potion - one was to kill, and the other was to protect.

 

One day, however, the chance to kill the werewolves that she had been waiting for finally came. There was a news that someone suspicious was around; someone whom the villagers said might be one of the werewolves. Jennie came out of her dungeon bringing her potions and walked around the village streets, waiting for the moment to notice the suspect by luck or someone spotting the person.

 

“That’s him!”

 

Jennie was sitting in an inn, drinking whiskey when someone shouted. People began scurrying out before her eyes. She had to forcefully halt someone nearby.

 

“What’s happening!?”

 

“It’s the werewolf” Answered the person. “The rumored person has just passed by”

 

The person went off like a missile. Jennie followed after him outside; her pulse was racing just by thinking how she could finally lay her hands on the evil doers.

 

“Don’t tell me that the rumored evil person is Yang Byun Suk” Lisa comments.

 

“Well, let’s see, Lisa” Jisoo smirks.

 

“I will be happy if it’s Yang Byun Suk”

 

“Lisa ssshh” Jennie tells her. “Don’t interrupt”

 

People were swarming the street outside the inn, which made it hard for Jennie to pass, let alone see anything. Most were looking at the east side of where she was standing. Soon the witch realized that it was where the person had escaped to, and with all effort she tried opening ways through pressed bodies in an attempt of tracking.

 

It took Jennie some time before she finally reached the end of the road. An even bigger pool of humans were cramped there and Jennie could hear them chanting “Kill him! Kill him!”

 

“Let me pass through!” She yelled, despite knowing that her voice was nothing compared to the loud crowd. “I am a witch. I am here bringing a potion to kill the werewolves!”

 

Her path to the suspect started when one person at the outer layer of the crowd heard her. Others followed along, and slowly people began clearing the way for her as if she were Moses splitting the ocean.

 

“Who are you!?”

 

A man with beards shot her the question soon as she was in front.

 

“I am a witch who grew up with this town. I have been waiting for the moment to kill the werewolves with the potions that I brewed myself. Now tell me which one he is, and I’ll end his life”

 

“Can we trust you?” The same man asked. “What if you were actually a werewolf?”

 

“I am not. Why would I kill my fellow werewolves if I were one of them?”

 

“Well, the person is crouching there begging for forgiveness”

 

The bearded man pointed to another man leaning on the wall. He was kneeling with her hands and ankles tied with rope. The blood that stained him from head to toe and rocks of various sizes scattered around his feet became the proofs that stoning had been done.

 

“I am not… a werewolf” The poor guy said in agony.

 

“Lie!” The bearded man shouted. “I saw you murdering one of the villagers before!”

 

The uproar behind Jennie broke out again. A big portion was chanting “Kill him!”, some others were throwing words at the wounded man, and some were quiet but had this shocked, disgusted look on their face.

 

“What are you waiting for, witch girl!?” A random person behind her yelled. “Kill him! Kill the werewolf!”

 

“I am not a werewolf!” The suspect responded. His expression was a mix of sternness and hurt. All he earned from that was the chant getting louder and louder.

 

Jennie touched the black pouch that she set on her left waist, where the killing potions were kept. She unraveled the tie and pulled out one of the many small jars. Jennie lifted the transparent container up in the air, disclosing the black liquid inside under the sunbeam.

 

“This liquid is the killing potion” She announced. Everybody else was quiet as she spoke. “This will not only kill him, but also turn him into his werewolf form afterwards”

 

The witch approached the suspect. The bearded man came closer too. With his assistance Jennie managed to stop the suspect from writhing and refusing. The wounded guy’s mouth was forced open, and soon Jennie poured the liquid down his throat until she was sure the last drop trickled down her jar.

 

Along with the crowd, she waited until reaction took place. In a short time afterwards, the suspect dropped to the ground. His body then started trembling before tossing and turning in a disarrayed, violent manner. This went on for a while until Jennie could see his skin color turning to a shade of purple. Blood, as she had expected, erupted out of his mouth and nose. They waited again, and then he died.

 

Jennie’s heart raced as she waited for that moment - the moment where the body shifted back into its original evil form, the werewolf. But even after the loud yells of people behind her subsided, the poor man just lay there, lifeless and still as a dead meat.

 

“Why is he not turning into a werewolf!?” The bearded man shouted.

 

“It… It might take a while”

 

The witch gulped in panic when the crowd made noises again. This time, however, when she looked at their face, they were not only mad, but also startled.

 

“He is not the werewolf!” A young man on her left side exclaimed. “You just killed a pure human!”

 

“You all were the ones who wanted him dead!” Jennie stared at them. They all looked to her like tigers ready to jump on their prey at any time.

 

Uproar started again. Even when Jennie failed to catch what every single one of them was saying, they knew those yells were directed towards her this time. This made her step back to the wall near where the dead man had begged for his life before.

 

“You killed one of us!” The bearded man moved one step towards her. “You are not a witch, are you!? You are one of them! You are a werewolf!”

 

The moment the pool of people barged after her, Jennie knew she had to run for her life. She tried escaping to her right side. Arms were scratched and legs made harsh contact with the rough ground, but she kept struggling. God or whoever the higher being up there must still have loved her, for she managed to crawl out by taking advantage of the blind and random pushing.

 

She still had no moment to catch a breath, because just a second after she broke free from the cramped villagers, they noticed her again in a blink of an eye. It was easier this time to dash out, though, because the path in front of her was occupied with only a few old women and kids who were doing nothing but watching. She moved her legs as fast as she could. Looking back, through the corner of her eyes she could see the crowd charging towards her.

 

Jennie ran ‘til the end of the street, but it was a dead end. On her right she noticed an even smaller path. Having no much time to think, she took the route and ran again. She did not dare to look back, but the noise of the upset villagers was still following her no matter where she ran. It would be no time until her legs felt worn out and gave up. They would get her. They would tie her hands and feet the way they did to the person she killed. They would stone her. They would make her drink her own potion.

 

Before that happened, she bumped loudly onto something, or someone, and fell harshly to the ground for the nth time that day.

 

“Ssshh” Jennie had just opened her eyes when she heard a voice. “Follow me”

 

A girl who seemed to be around her age dragged her by the arm. The poor witch had no idea who she was. How could she know when she just escaped death and all she could see was the girl’s long, black hair and her back? Nevertheless, she at least was brought to an empty building nearby. Much more than that, at least she was safe from the mad tigers for now.

 

“That girl must be you, Jisoo” Jennie murmurs. Drowsiness begins creeping on her but she struggles to stay awake for the story.

 

Jisoo’s eyes shift from the pattern of the bed to Jennie’s sleepy face and smirks. “What if she is not?”

 

“Why, I want it to be you” Jennie replies petulantly.

 

“The girl had better be Jisoo or I’m going to sleep” Lisa chimes in.

 

“Fine, fine. That girl is me. But just listen to the next part”

 

“I thought you were saving me” The witch’s eyes were vacant as she stared at the prison’s filthy ground.

 

“I am” The jailer answered. “You’re much safer here than in the village. At least nobody will find you here”

 

“There is no need to lock me here”

 

“Well” The jailer walked around for a bit before sitting in front of Jennie with bars separating them. “If those villagers come here to kill you, at least they can’t lay their hands on you if you’re inside. You know how blind they can be when it comes to matters like this”

 

“Why did you trust me then? Who in the world knows if I am really a werewolf or not?”

 

“If you were one, you could have killed me on our way here, but you didn’t”

 

“Well that’s true. I am not one. Those villagers are unbelievable. One time they asked me to kill a person and in a short few minutes they wanted me dead”

 

“People are scary” The jailer said. “I always think humans can be much scarier than animals, or even than the werewolves. Their minds are so easily switched, so easily provoked”

 

“Just like what happened to me. I killed that innocent guy just because they wanted me to”

 

“True, you might have made a mistake. But it’s your choice to blame yourself or to snap out of it and do the right thing the next time. It’s all in here” The jailer pointed to her head.

 

“Who are you?”

 

“I am Jisoo. The jailer of this town. And you are?”

 

“Jennie, the witch”

 

“The misunderstood witch”

 

“The stupid witch”

 

“The pretty witch”

 

“What?” Jennie’s eyebrows rose in surprise.

 

“You are pretty, I said”

 

“Jennie, Jisoo called you pretty!” Lisa yells before Jisoo could say the next sentence.

 

“Yeah? I mean, I can be pretty in the story”

 

“Jennie, duh” Rosé literally face-palms herself. This probably has been the hundredth time Jennie is being her dense self.

 

Before the witch could respond, they both heard footsteps coming from the narrow corridor next to the prison.

 

Jisoo got up and a short few seconds later was welcomed by the sight of a tall, cranky man. His eyes were reddish, but it was not the eyes that made Jennie recognize him. It was the beard. That bearded man who assisted her in taking the life of an innocent soul.

 

“You!” The witch jerked and stood up right away.

 

“Sir, who are you and what is your business here?” Jisoo approached him. Her expression showed that she had no fear whatsoever towards the man.

 

“I was asked by the villagers to come here and request for the prisoner to be executed” The man’s voice was heavily fiendish. So were his eyes.

 

“No one knows where I brought the prisoner, not even the villagers” The jailer narrowed her eyes. “Except if a werewolf told you, or if you are one”

 

“Jisoo” Jennie gripped the cell bars, so strongly that the whole thing shook. “Jisoo, run”

 

“Well, well, you are one smart jailer, aren’t you”

 

The man let out a mischievous laughter. Jisoo kept her posture steady as she watched the man moved back, still with that fiendish smirk plastered on his face. A moment later he made a short, but loud groan, and his body started trembling.

 

The jailer and the witch stood frozen. Horror filled their face as they witnessed how the arms of the man swelled out so big that the blue veins inside looked like they were about to explode. They did pop, and instead of revealing blood, they turned into those hairy legs of a wolf. A short moment later the rest of his body began changing in the same way. It was when his face bulged out that Jisoo finally took one slight step backward. She gasped as the man completed his transformation at last. A huge beast was what now standing before her.

 

“Run, Jisoo!” The witch’s hands were shaking the bars again, hoping that they would rip apart if she tried hard.

 

Jisoo, however, took out her gun from where it was attached on her belt instead.

 

The wolf growled when Jisoo revealed the weapon outwardly. A shot took place, filling the entire dungeon with the firing sound. Alas, though; the wolf dodged the projectile in no sweat.

 

Thanks to her agility, Jisoo managed to escape quickly just as the wolf made a jump towards her. The jailer’s head and back banged the cell bars and she groaned.

 

“Jisoo, hey” Jennie called, but her fingers were occupied by opening the pouch on her waist again. “Take this potion. It shall protect you”

 

Jisoo grabbed the jar from Jennie. She erected from the ground right away then, knowing that her life could end any time if she was distracted just for a second.

 

The wolf threw itself towards her for the second time. The jailer hopped to her right while her hand popped open the cap of the jar. Some of the liquid spilled, but it was still better than nothing. She quickly gulped down everything she could get inside before tossing the potion away, and was greeted by the wolf’s hungry stare when she looked again.

 

The wolf made his next charge. To Jisoo’s surprise, though, it targeted her gun this time. With its mouth the wolf snatched the weapon from the jailer and threw it. The gun sled away on the ground, far from Jisoo’s reach. Jisoo gasped loudly when the wolf got her down on the ground.

 

“Jisoo! No!” The witch screamed. She had to find a way to get out from the jail or Jisoo would die.

 

Jennie tried the lock, but of course, her effort earned nothing. Jisoo could give her the key, but the girl was panting under the wolf who was trying to leave a deep wound on her neck with its fangs. She knew Jisoo’s life should have been protected by her potion, but there was no guarantee that she would be free of damaging scars.  

 

“Ah!” Jennie suddenly heard Jisoo scream in pain. She stopped whatever attempt she was trying and looked at the wolf and Jisoo again.

 

The wolf had succeeded in sinking its fangs deep into the jailer’s neck. Jennie could see blood even from behind the bars.

 

“Jisoo!”

 

The wolf let out a brief howl, signaling its triumph.

 

“J- Jennie…” Jisoo’s breaths were already laborious. Still, her eyes moved to Jennie. “The… The potion isn’t working”

 

Jennie could feel blood leaving her face. “No. No. That can’t be. You can’t die. It should be protecting you”

 

The jailer kept breathing heavily before Jennie witnessed her closing her eyes. She was hoping that the potion would do its magic, but Jisoo seemed to never move again, let alone open her eyes. Did she give Jisoo the wrong liquid? Did she kill Jisoo?

 

She wanted to mourn, but the fact that the beast was now nearing the jail where she was trapped in snapped her out of it. Jennie stepped back to the deeper side of her cell, lips quivering at the wolf’s untamed mouth.

 

The creature growled again. Jennie’s hand found its way to the pouch. She was far from sure that she could make the potion enter the wolf’s throat, but at this point she was at her wit’s end. The jar had been in her grip by the time the wolf started besieging the lock of the cell furiously. Jennie threw her last hope to the attacker’s mouth, but it unfortunately hit a part of the wolf’s back instead. The liquid splashed out in waste. The jar rolled down from the hairy animal and shattered into pieces.

 

She would definitely die. The wolf’s teeth were so strong and ferocious that the lock began to fall apart. The witch’s life ended here, she thought.

 

Bang!

 

Just a second after she closed her eyes, a loud firing sound reached her ears.

 

Her eyes snapped open again. The wolf was still right in front of the cell gate, but its big body was now gradually falling to the ground. It soon lay down and growled painfully. Behind the sight of the dying beast, Jennie saw Jisoo standing on two legs. The jailer’s fingers were still clenched around the gun grip. Her eyes were still austere. Her posture stayed alerted in case the enemy was still alive.

 

“Jisoo!” A wide smile became the proof of how relieved Jennie was.

 

“I tricked him into thinking I was dead” Jisoo grinned at her. “Your potion actually saved me”

 

No words came out of the witch’s mouth, but there was no need to. They both stared at each other, as if forgetting that there was their enemy lying there separating them. The jailer dared herself to move closer to the wolf and touch its neck.

 

“It’s dead now”

 

“You did it, Jisoo” Jennie said, still smiling.

 

“No, Jen. We did it”

 

Jisoo approached the cell then. With the key she released Jennie from the small, damp room.

 

“Thank you, Jisoo. I don’t know how to repay everything that you have done”

 

“Well” Jisoo smiled, but it was a crooked smile she made. “How about going for a drink, rent a room and become mine?”

 

“The end” Jisoo marks.

 

“What!?” Lisa stirs on the bed. “Such a cliffhanger! Tell us the ending!”

 

“That’s the ending”

 

“Tell us if Jennie said yes or no”

 

“Cliffhangers are more interesting. Don’t you think, Jen?” Jisoo turns to Jennie, but the girl is now already having both her eyes closed. The momentary silence lets them hear the light snore that she makes.

 

“She missed the last part” Rosé frowns.

 

“The last part might not be interesting to her anyway. Now it’s time to sleep for real. You two go back to where you belong to”

 

 

“Jisoo, can I ask you a question?”

 

Jennie stirs the soup in the pan. The two unlucky girls lost a rock-paper-scissors game and are now doing their duty to cook lunch for all of them.

 

“Shoot”

 

“You know, thanks to your story, my brain kind of starts working very early in the morning” Jennie gazes at the fire that the stove lights up. “I realized that everyone has different fears, but in your story, everyone seems to be afraid of the werewolves”

 

“And?”

 

“I was just wondering what you are afraid of, Jisoo”

 

“Well that’s sort of random”

 

“Not really. Yesterday when we were discussing about what we are scared of the most, everyone said their answer, except you. You didn’t exactly answer the question and just kept babbling about the ‘critical hours’”

 

“You are right” Jisoo locks their gaze. “Everyone is afraid of different form of things. Mine happens to be a love confession to the witch”

 

It takes Jennie a few seconds for the statement to sink in. For a moment she suddenly forgets to blink. When she turns at Jisoo at last, the girl is looking away.