*Where am I?* Dayoung was wandering around in a dark hallway. She couldn't see where she was going and it was scaring her. Yet, she kept walking further. She saw a door in the end of the hallway and cautiously opened it. Stepping in, she was greeted by more darkness. She walked in a little further.

*SLAM!*

Fear jolted up her spine and she jumped up as she heard the door slam shut behind her. *Calm down Dayoung. It's only the wind.... Come to think of it... Why is it so cold in here?* She shivered and hugged herself. She felt her bare arms and looked down at her clothes. She was wearing the same outfit. A white tank top and skinny jeans, except this time it looked like she had been rolling around in dirt and she was barefooted.

"Dayoung..." She was startled by a soft whisper behind her.

"G-Guys! Are you there?" She asked, only to be answered by an echo. She slumped her shoulders down and wandered further into the room. She kept walking and walking, it felt like the room had no end. She looked back and saw nothing. The door she came in from was gone.

"Dayoung~ah" she heard the voice again. She looked around for the source, but all she saw was darkness.

"I-Is anybody there?" She asked. Nobody answered.

"Hmmm... hehe."

She heard faint giggling in one of the corners. She didn't think twice and followed it. "Please help me.." She stopped running when she couldn't hear anything anymore.

 "Is anybody there...?! Please somebody help me!" She said, her voice quivering. Her eyes were stinging as tears threatened to fall.

"Dayoung"

"Dayoung~ah"

"Kim Dayoung... hehe.."

The voices were driving her crazy. *Stop... stop... stop saying my name!* She covered her ears. But it was no use.

"Hehe... Dayoung!"

"Dayoung~ah"

It's like they were mocking her.

"STOP!!!" She yelled out loud this time and dropped on the ground hugging her knees to her chest.

"Leave me alone." she cried pleadingly.

-

            The girls were all sitting on the bed where their friend was lying in. It's been a week ever since an ahjumma found them in the forest. And since then they've been recuperating in her house. Eunbi was the first one to wake up out of the four of them, just two days after their mishap in the mountains. Then Soyoon woke up the night after. Jieun was next and she was hysterical. She woke up yelling, asking for water. She said she felt like her insides were burning. The girls had to restrain her from trying to claw because of her thirst.

Now, they were waiting for Dayoung to wake up and it was scaring them. Dayoung was laying there lifeless. It was like she wasn't even alive anymore. She was so pale and her skin was as cold as ice. If her chest wasn't moving in time with her breathing, they would've thought that she had already passed away.

 "Knock, knock"

The girls looked up at the door and saw it open. They were greeted by the warm smile of the ahjumma that helped them. They flashed her a small smile but the worry in their eyes were evident and the old lady could only sigh. She went in the room and approached the bed.

"How is she?" she asked the girls. They could only look down in sadness.

"Let me take a look."

Soyoon moved over to let her sit.

The old lady grabbed Dayoung's cold hand and closed her eyes. The girls stared at her. The old lady flashed a small smile and the girls looked at her in confusion. She opened her eyes and let Dayoung's hand down gently. She got up and turned to the girls chuckling at their curious faces.

"I-Is she alright?" Jieun asked.

"She'll be fine... She just... needs to find herself first." She patted Jieun's head and gave her an assuring smile. She walked off heading to the door. She looked back to the girls, "A little call might just help her." she said and walked out of the room.

The girl glanced at each other in uncertainty, then glanced back at Dayoung.

"Uhuhm.." Eunbi cleared , "Dayoung~ah" She said. She felt awkward when silence enveloped the room and she looked away. Jieun went up to Dayoung and bent down near her ear.

"Lisa~~" She whispered. Soyoon shrugged, *This is stupid...*

"This isn't working." She said, "She might be in a coma! We need to get her out of here and take her to a hospital!" She stood up, only to fall back on the bed wincing in pain. She forgot that she still didn't have enough strength. Neither of them did. And leaving this house would be impossible.

-

            The voices stopped and now all she could hear were her sobs.

*Unni... Jieun~ah... Soyoon... where are you guys? Why did you leave me?* She had her face buried in her palms, crying uncontrollably. She felt helpless.

"Dayoung~ah" Her cries were halted by a voice. But this time it sounded familiar.

"U-Unni...?" She stopped crying and looked up. Nobody was there.

"Lisa~~" She heard Jieun's voice this time. She got up and ran to where she heard the voice from.

"Jieun!!" she yelled but nobody answered.

"Come on Dayoung." She heard a voice behind her and she stopped running. She turned around seeing a little girl in a white dress. She had her head hung low and her long black hair was covering her face.

Dayoung was beyond scared now. Wind blew past her making her shiver. And it only made the whole situation worse than it already was. The little girl held up her hand, stretching it out towards her direction.

*D-Does she want me to grab her hand?* Dayoung hesitated for a little bit. But seeing as she had no other choice she walked up to the little girl slowly and reached out to grab her tiny hand. She gasped, *Her hands are so cold.* The little girl gripped her hand securely and started walking.

For what felt like forever, Dayoung finally spoke up.

"W-Where are you taking me?" She was met with silence.

"Hey..." She shook her hand that was holding the little girl's, trying to get her attention. The little girl stopped and Dayoung almost bumped into her.

"What... Why did yo-" Dayoung was cut off when the little girl turned around to face her, but still had her head hung low. Dayoung felt fear crawl back up in her system but was quickly replaced with worry when she saw the little girl quivering. Dayoung knelt down, "What's wrong?" The little girl was crying. Dayoung reached up to cup her face and she was startled. *She's so hot... She was as cold as ice a while ago!* She let go of her face and felt up the little girls arms. *Oh My Gosh! She's burning up!*

Dayoung stood up and grabbed the little girls hand only to let go. Dayoung winced in pain. It felt like she just touched burning coal. She looked back down to the little girl and she saw her smirking.

*What's going on?* The little girl looked up and Dayoung's jaw dropped.

"Y-Your......m-me!" she stuttered. Dayoung backed away in fright only to trip on her own feet and fall.

*Way to go Dayoung. You'll die because of your clumsiness.* The little girl approached her and she shut her eyes in anticipation of her death..... Nothing.... She opened her eyes and saw the little girl only a few inches away from her. The little girl reached out her hand and was aiming at Dayoung's chest.

"Accept it." The little girl whispered and once they made contact. Dayoung screamed in pain.

"AHHHHHHH!"

-

            "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Dayoung jolted up from the bed screaming and the girls almost had a heart attack. She fell back down to the bed gasping for air. The girls were in shock. They were scared, happy and well...scared. Eunbi was the first one to go to her friend and tried grabbing her hand but winced in pain. She looked at her hand and it was turning red.

"BAM!" the door swung open. The ahjumma smiled and headed to the bed.

"She... burnt my hand. How is that possible?" Eunbi said in disbelief and the others looked at her in confusion.

The old lady chuckled, "I see she's the keeper of fire." She laid her hand on Dayoung's chest and her breathing calmed down.

"What's going on?" Soyoon asked in confusion.

"What keeper of fire?! And why didn't you burn your hand?" Eunbi asked, her tone was frantic. The old lady grabbed Eunbi's hand and smiled. She looked down and her hand was slowly going back to its normal color. She pulled her hand back and moved away from the old lady.

"What's happening?" Jieun asked in a whisper. The old lady sighed and straightened up walking to the door.

"Make sure she drinks the water and meet me outside in five minutes." She smiled and shut the door.

"What water?" Soyoon asked. And in an instant a cup of water appeared on the bedside table. The girls jumped up in fright.

"How the hell did that just happen?" Jieun asked incredulously.

"I don't care! Just give me the DAMN water!" Dayoung yelled. Soyoon grabbed the water and gave it to her. She drank it like she had barely drunk any water for about two years.

"UGHHH!" She grunted in satisfaction and slammed the cup on the bedside table. "What?" The girls were looking at her like she was crazy.

"A-Are you alright?" Eunbi asked and she cautiously felt her friend’s forehead. She was normal.

"I'm fine... A little woozy, but for the most part, I'm feeling a lot better than I was a while ago." She assured them.

*I swear she was as hot as fire, a while ago.* Eunbi thought but quickly shrugged it away.

"Come on. Let's go outside." She said and looked at Dayoung.

"Can you walk?" She asked. Dayoung gave her a slight nod lifting the covers up and swinging her legs off the bed. She wobbled a little but Jieun quickly caught her. She looked up at her and gave her friend a smile. Straightening up, she walked to the door slowly, with the girls trailing closely behind her.

-

They stepped foot outside of the house barefooted and saw the old lady standing in front of a bonfire.

"A-Ahjumma?" Jieun said lowly. The old lady turned around and smiled at them, "Come girls." She motioned for them to come closer. The girls hesitated for a bit but complied anyways. Once they got to her, the girls noticed that there was a lake a few feet away from them. They glanced back at the old lady.

"You can call me Ara." She said and sat down on one of the tree stumps that surrounded them.

"Can you please tell us what's going on?" Dayoung asked. Ara nodded and sighed.

 "Sit down first." Soyoon dropped on the ground and the other girls followed suite.

"This isn't going to be an easy thing to convey, but girls... please keep an open mind." Ara looked at each one of them in the eyes, almost pleadingly. Jieun gasped and stared at her wide eyed.

"…..OH MY GOSH!!! Are we dead!?" She said exasperatedly. Ara chuckled and shook her head, "No silly girl. Trust me, you're all still alive."

The other girls couldn't help but snicker and Jieun looked down in embarrassment. Soyoon was the first one to straighten up, "Then where are we?"

"You're still in the forest my dear." Ara replied.

"So we've been here this whole time?" Eunbi asked and Ara nodded.

"And the police didn't look for us?!... Because I'm pretty sure my mom would've gone bat crazy by now, knowing that I've been gone for so long and not even calling her... or maybe she forgot about me...." Jieun gasped and she looked terrified.

"MAMA NOOO!!!!" she wailed and Ara was laughing hysterically now. *This girl.* Eunbi flicked her on the head and she stopped wailing cupping her forehead. "OWWWW! That hurt!" Jieun's eyes were b with tears. Eunbi looked at her confused, "Since when have you been such a cry baby?" Dayoung asked and Jieun could only sob.

"I-I don't know!" she replied and droplets of water fell from the sky and it started raining. Ara looked up and gave her a faint smile. *She's the keeper of water.* Ara stood up and grabbed Jieun's hand. Jieun was hoisted up to her feet and Ara led her to the lake. They stopped when the water was barely at the tips of their toes.

 "Jieun~ah... what do you see?" Ara asked and Jieun could not help but look at her stupidly.

"Uhhhhhh... Water.." she said and scratched her head in confusion. *Was I supposed to see something else?* Ara chuckled.

"Look again." Ara said. Jieun looked towards the lake.

*What am I supposed to see? I don't see anyth-* Her thoughts were halted when she saw a faint bright light in the middle of the lake. She looked back at Ara and the lady smiled at her. Ara let her hand go and wiped the dried tears on the girls face. She noticed it stopped raining and flashed the old lady a cheery smile.

"Jieun~~"

Her head snapped back to the lake.

"D-Did that.... t-thing just c-call me?" She asked still looking at the lake.

"Yes..." Ara said and moved back. Jieun looked back at her and she was hesitant to move.

"Go on... you'll be fine." Ara ushered her to move. The girls looked at her in worry. *But she's afraid of water...* Soyoon thought worriedly.

*You can do this Jieun!* She hesitantly stepped on the water and she felt like she was about to jump in happiness. She walked further and she wondered why her toes weren't sinking yet. She looked down and saw that she was walking ON water. She jumped up in fright and looked back. The girl’s faces were in the mixture of shock, amazement and confusion. Ara waved her hands for her to keep going and so she did.

"Come Jieun~ah~~"

She heard the voice call her again. Jieun walked faster and when she was close enough, she noticed a little pebble floating in the middle of it.

"What is this?" She reached in for it and once she made contact, she fell into the lake.

 All the girls gasped and ran towards the lake, only to be stopped by Ara's stern voice. "Don't!"

"But she can't swim!!! She might drown!!!" Dayoung said in fear. Ara glanced back at them and smiled, "I know." The girls looked at her crazily. *Is she trying to kill her??!!* "To hell with that..." Eunbi said and ran to the water only to be stopped by a huge wave coming towards her.

"Unni!!!!" Soyoon yelled in fright. Eunbi backed away and ran to the girls. She looked back and Ara was still standing there. Her conscience stopped her from running and ran back to the old lady to grab her but she wouldn't budge. She noticed that Ara was staring intently into the wave and that's when she noticed, that it was just there, caving in in front of them.

 *What the...?* She felt the girls walk up behind her, both with awestruck faces. "Jieun~ah." They heard Ara call out and they were snapped out of their trance. *Jieun??? Where?* Sooyon asked inwardly only to be startled by Ara replying.

"She's coming." Ara was still staring into the wave and the girls could only follow. Then there they saw a figure of a girl walking towards them.

"J-Jieun?" Dayoung asked, nobody replied. When the figure came closer all the girls gasped.

"JIEUN!!!" All three yelled when they realized that it was their friend but quickly frowned in confusion when they noticed something different.

Jieun came out of the water. She looked like she didn't even get wet at all. Her eyes were closed and she stopped just a few inches in front of Ara.

"Open your eyes my dear." Ara gently said and Jieun complied. She fluttered her eyes open and for the hundredth time that day the girls gasped. Jieun's eyes were pitch black. She looked like she was possessed. Then what happened after shocked them. Jieun was emitting a black flame that reached out to the trees. All the leaves withered and the trees slowly turned a shade of gray.

"H-Help..." Jieun stuttered out in shaky breaths. The other girls were about to run to her but they couldn't move. They looked down and saw that their feet were frozen to the ground. They all looked up at Ara in fear.

"What's happening to her?!!!"

Ara didn't reply and stared intently at Jieun.

*Water... Death... and Ice?.... That's never happened before....* Ara thought and scrunched her forehead in confusion.

 "Calm down Jie-" Ara was cut off when Jieun suddenly vanished. She looked around for her only to find Jieun hovering above them.

*Oh dear heavens... She's a teleporter and a flier too...??* Ara looked at the girls.

*If one girl can do all of this... I wonder what they're all capable of.* She glanced back up at Jieun and squinted. Her hair... It's changing. Jieun's hair was starting to show streaks of red. And eventually her whole hair changed. All the girls were dumbfounded. The trees around them were either dead or frozen.

*Is Jieun the one causing this?* Eunbi asked inwardly. The girls looked at Ara and she motioned for them to do something. They nodded in understanding.

"Jieun~ah" Soyoon called.

"S-Soyoon! Help me..." Jieun said and started crying. It started raining again. "Jieun~ah... You need to calm down." Eunbi said gently.

"Unni... I'm scared..." Jieun was crying uncontrollably now and the other girl’s eyes were stinging with tears. They were confused and scared. They didn't know what was happening anymore.

"J-Jieun! Come on... you can do it s-sweety." Dayoung called gently choking on her tears.

"Calm down... breathe... listen... let them guide you..."

Jieun heard a voice whisper in her ear.

"I can't" she panicked and the rain started pouring heavily.

"Shhhh... Listen...."

Jieun started to steady her breathing and held back her sobs.

"Unni~~ please... calm down..." She could hear Soyoon cry pleadingly. It was hurting her. Hearing her maknae cry was like a stab in her heart.

*Jieun... breathe..* She said to herself taking a sharp intake of breathe and letting it out. The flames she was emitting were quickly fading.  

There you go... just steady your breaths and calm down."

The voice cooed again. She started breathing in and out more comfortably now and soon enough she felt her feet touch the surface of the ground. Her eyes were now back to normal.

"Jieun!" All the girls yelled and ran to her. She warmly welcomed them with a smile. Soyoon was hugging her like her life depended on it. Jieun chuckled and patted her maknae's head.

"Thank you." She whispered, but it was loud enough for the girls to hear and they hugged her again. Soyoon pulled away from the hug and inched away from Jieun. She walked up to Ara.

"You still haven't told us what's happening." She whispered and Ara chuckled.

"From that little show that you saw just now, I'm pretty sure you know that you girls are special." Ara said, gaining the other girls attention.

"What do you mean special?" Dayoung asked.

 "Magical."

All the girls gasped.

"So you mean we have..."

"Powers." Ara finished for her and the girls looked at her dumbfounded.

 *... and maybe even more than that* Ara thought.

"What do you mean 'more than that'?" Soyoon asked and Ara snapped her head at her quickly.

*Did I say that out loud?* Ara thought again and Soyoon nodded.

"Yeah... I could hear you loud and clear... right guys?" Soyoon looked at the other girls but was only met by disappointment when they shook their heads. Ara walked up to her. *Can you still hear me?* She thought again. Soyoon nodded.

"Interesting... a mind reader..."

*Mind reader... What the hell??? That's creepy...* Jieun thought and Soyoon shot her a glare making her stiffen up.

*Oops... Did she hear me...?*

"Yes I did!!! And shut up!" Soyoon yelled in anger and Jieun abruptly shut . "MhMMpPH...MHMPH" Jieun mumbled.

"You can control people too...?" Ara noticed that Jieun couldn't open at all. "Wow... you girls... I've never seen anything like this..." Ara stared at them in amazement.

"Come on... It's getting dark out, let's continue this tomorrow and I'll answer your questions once we get inside." She ushered them to the house and they all followed, except for one.

*YAH!!!.... CHAE SOYOON!!! LET ME TALK!!!* Jieun yelled in her head and Soyoon winced in pain.

"Alright... Damn... Go ahead and talk!" She said and headed to the house.

"She's even worse when she CAN'T talk." Soyoon mumbled.

"Hey!!! Come back here! I'm not done wit-"

"Let it go!!!!" Soyoon said firmly cutting her off. Jieun stood frozen and blinked. "Okay!" She smiled gleefully passing Soyoon and went into the house.

"Wow... this mind control thing might just be fun..." She chuckled and stepped into the house shutting the door.