I shouldn’t be mad at Insu. She obviously doesn’t want anything to do with this. Now that I was alone with my little light, I could think clearly. One way or another I’m definitely getting out of here. I know I wasn’t meant to die at the hands of some girl in a dark basement. If I-When I find a way out I’ll have to make sure that Insu is safe. Maybe she could go with me.  I don’t think she’d try to tell to Jang.

                I rested on my back, watching the dust particles as I tried to think of a safe to escape. It would be unbearable if she tried to hurt my family or my friends, which now included Taemin. Maybe he’s looking for me now. People obviously know I’m gone. Maybe my mom got a call from the school when I hadn’t showed up in any of my classes. Then noticed something was wrong when I didn’t get off the bus after school. What if she asked Jeremy if he’d seen me? She must have been so scared when I didn’t show up at all that night…or the next morning.

                That’s it! I can’t stay here any longer; I have to get out now! There has to be something I can use to pick the lock. The chain doesn’t feel so tight anymore. Maybe Insu loosened it or something. Or I just got used to the feeling of it. I don’t think I could have lost that much weight in just two days. Even though it feels like I’ve been here longer.

                Taking a deep breath, I slowly closed my eyes and attempted to clear my thoughts. Once I had achieved that, I finally fell back asleep. If Jang really does plan on killing me, I’d rather she did it in my sleep. What is she waiting for anyway?  Why am I not afraid yet?

                I woke up gasping for air, grasping for my neck. Once again, the necklace was there! Why does this keep happening?!  I wiped my wet eyes; I must have been crying in my sleep again or something. Is that why it felt like I couldn’t breathe?  That still doesn’t explain why this necklace keeps showing up. I know I didn’t sleep walk all the way home, put it on, and come back over the night. I looked up at the small window again; the moon light was flooding the room. This is the night that I have to do something. I can’t afford to stay here any longer; I have to try something, anything.

                My attention turned to the chain links wrapped around my ankle. Maybe I can try to pull them apart now that I have most of my strength back. Or…maybe I really can try a spell or something…it’s worth a try. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the links, feeling the cool metal on my hands.  On my exhaled breath, a new energy came to me. The chains started to heat up. I opened my eyes to see that there was a light smoke coming off them. Is it really working?! I concentrated more, feeling the energy and the heat in the chains increase rapidly.  Suddenly, the silver loops pulled apart as the heat decreased in a second.

                My heart started to race. It actually worked! I struggled to get my ankle free quietly.  They finally came loose. I stood up and flexed it. A sharp pain shot up my leg in response. It felt like I hadn’t stood up in a long time. Blood rushed down my leg, feeling like a thousand needles. I shook it out and limped towards the stairs, stopping at the first step.

                Maybe I should wait here for Jang and ambush her. No, I have to go now. Can I do more? Are my powers coming back? I limped up the stairs, ignoring the increasing pain in my ankle. Once I reached the top step I turned the doorknob to the left-to the right- damn, its locked! Maybe I should wait till Insu comes and we both can leave. No! I can’t keep wasting time.

                I grabbed the doorknob again, summoning the energy. There was a low clicking sound. This time the doorknob turned all the way, opening slightly. It opened to a dark room. It was a kitchen. A small light on the stove read that it was a little after eleven.  What day is it? Feeling my way around the kitchen I found the front door. The layout of this house is a bit similar to my own. Am I at Insu’s house? If I am then my home would be just up the street. Luckily this front door doesn’t scream like mine. I slipped through the smallest space I could manage and locked the door behind me with the energy.

                My heart started beating so fast it felt like if I were to touch the skin id feel the shape of it. It felt good to finally be outside in fresh air!  I should run home…but, I don’t know where I am. This must not be Insu’s house. Maybe if I keep walking things might start to look familiar. I took a step forward, forgetting to look down. I strained my already bad ankle on the unexpected step below. My hand shot to my mouth, covering my pained gasp. I looked into the night filled neighborhood, it was dead silent.

                Sitting on the steps, I inspected my ankle where the chain had left deep marks. Surprisingly, the energy came back in my palms.  I placed my hand a little distance away from my ankle. A faint glow appeared, turning from a light red to an orangey red and back again. I could feel the warmness in my palm again as the glow morphed into white. As the energy faded the pain went along with it.

                I moved my hand away slowly; little twinkling lights flowed out of my palms before disappearing completely. The pain was completely gone! I jumped down the stairs easily. It feels perfect! I tested it by stomping my foot down, nothing happened. It’s like it was never hurting in the first place. It’s like what I imagined a person felt like after a massage.

                Smiling down at my healed ankle, a pool of light illuminated where I stood. The light came from inside the house. It wasn’t the light that had me frozen like a deer in headlights; it was what I saw in the window. Or, who really. Jang was staring down at me, her face in some form of shock. She quickly closed the window curtain, the light going out with her. Is she coming here?!

                I ran into the closest hiding spot, a forest across the street. Once my feet hit the rough ground of the forest I remembered how Jang or Insu had taken all my things, even my shoes. As I ran it felt like the ground was cutting into my bare feet. I have to keep running though.

                After avoiding tripping over large tree roots and fallen branches I ended up in a small clearing deep into the trees. Why would they cut down so many trees here? Is this some kind of construction spot? I stopped by some tree stumps to catch my breath. It seemed like I had been running for at least thirty minutes with no sign of Jang.

                On my exhale, a loud howling ripped through the clearing. It felt like my heart stopped. My body froze with confusion; I couldn’t inhale as my eyes scanned the entire area. If I stay here Jang will find me and kill me, if I run whatever made that noise was sure to find me quicker. And I’d bet it’d kill me quicker than Jang intended. It feels like either way, I’m going to die tonight…but not without some kind of fight.  And I won’t go down easily.

                I ran forward blindly, back into the dark trees. As expected I eventually tripped over an abnormally large tree root, scraping my arms and legs. I rolled onto my back towards a shuffling in the grass. I reached into my back pocket as something more horrible than Jang stepped out from behind the trees.