>_____<;;

Namjoo always left the bedside lamp on when she slept. She wasn’t as fond of sleeping in the dark as Victoria. Nightmares had been a cliché for her when she was a child, they lessened when she got older, but even so she never slept without a nightlight.

Without effort, her eyes shut on her the second she laid down. Her earlier nightmare picked up from where it had left off.

Her lips quivered as a painful grunt eased out of her and she dropped onto her knees. She panted, but lost more breath by doing it.

“Give yourself up,” the man on the horse ordered.

The pain was so overwhelming Namjoo couldn’t listen to him, but her nerves and crying blood. She gripped onto the spear and clamped her eyes shut. The present Namjoo could feel herself panicking, but the one in her dream seemed immune to her thoughts. A deafening scream left her when she courageously pulled the spear out of herself and tossed it aside. She fell over on all four, but the pain quickly lessened when she began healing herself. Namjoo was utterly confused, but the one in her dream seemed to know what was going on, which made her even more confused.

“Go kill yourself!” Namjoo swiped up a patch of soil up into the horse’s eye.

She listened to it shriek and jump onto its hind legs panicked. Making a run for it she continued dashing through the woods. Escape was near, she could sense it. Then without warning something shot at her and she tripped forward harshly. When she pulled herself up she spotted men on horseback armed with bows and arrows. A cry seeped through her lips when another one pierced through her shoulder paralyzing her senses. She watched one of the men get off his horse and walk over before slinging his fist across her face.

When she awoke to she was lying face down in a jail cell of iron bars on a pile of leftover thin hay that the horses had rejected. The first thing she recognized was that there was still pain in her body; her injuries hadn’t healed which was strange when they should have. Namjoo half choked when one of the men who’d brought her there threw water at her.

“Finally awake?” he raised an eyebrow in a cocky manner. “About time, you little witch.”

Namjoo let out a painful groan before opening her hand up to summon her fireball, but nothing happened.

The men laughed at her as if she were an animal playing a stupid trick. “We smeared those arrows with leech seed. Don’t think your powers can save you this time. Your execution will be in 2 hours. Enjoy the last of your last breath. No one’s going to save you this time.”

He chuckled before getting up to walk away. An overwhelming sense of hatred and anger surged through her. The emotions were so strong; Namjoo couldn’t help but shake from them. Her loose hair damp from sweat and grime fell over her face as she lie there helpless waiting for the last of her life.

2 hours passed by quite quickly when two officers came to haul her out of the jail cell. Her legs were weak and helpless to her. The arrow that had shot through her right leg couldn’t move properly and she could almost barely walk. The officer to her right had to lift her through the whole walk until they came to the execution site.

Unlike most execution sites where there were headboards for her to slide her head through and wait for her head to be cut off, there was a long plank about three feet off the ground. Namjoo felt her heart race in fear when she realized that she really had traveled back to the Joseon Dynasty. Panic equipped her when she ran her eyes over the private torture grounds in the palace. There were stones that made up the walk to the large beautiful shrines and halls all around her. The only audience she was given were the personal body guards.  

What the hell had she done to be brought there?

“Bow for the Majesty!”

Namjoo turned with chapped lips to see an old man donned in a rich silk outfit walk through the iron gates followed by more guards in his attendance. There was even a Shaman, who she guessed was there to protect him in case she had the ability to use her powers again.

“Bring her forward!” the King ordered when he was finally seated after his long march.

Namjoo was harshly shoved forward and held in place like the prisoner she was in front of him.

“You refused to become concubine to the Prince and killed him with your wicked magic!” the King shouted. “Now his wives have no husband, his children have no father! My country will rot because of you! Do you have anything to say for yourself?!”

Namjoo wanted to cry and call for Victoria and Chorong to come save her. Her body was in immense pain, she couldn’t stand it, and she was frightened by what felt so real.

But instead she muttered, “The Prince deserved it!”

“Kill her!”

Namjoo refused to move, but the guards won her over with all their tugging. She was forced down onto the plank, but she wasn’t just about to give up so easily. She struggled to have her hands set free so she could kill them the same way she’d killed the Prince, but they skillfully bound her hands into fists and even bothered to tie her ankles to the plank. And before she knew it, her torturers were there with their weapons.

Blood shot out of and onto her face when the long flat pole hit her abdomen for the fifth time. She was stubborn though, and refused to allow tears to fall. She wouldn’t let them feel their victory through her suffering.

“Stop, stop, stop,” the King held his hand up, “bring the rocks.”

Namjoo was finally able to catch her breath and vividly cough, but felt death embrace her again when she saw the rocks being carried in. Her insides screamed and bellowed pleading for this dream to end. She watched in horror when her torturer started swinging an edgy rock right at her face.

She heard herself scream crazily before she sat up in bed with sweat trailing down every inch of her body. Namjoo vaguely coughed and felt her hand crawl up her chest to her neck before she glanced around her room still engulfed in fright. She wasn’t sure if she could separate reality from dreams anymore. What if the men were still after her?

Suddenly fearful she sprang up from her bed and felt tears swing down her eyes before she crashed through Chorong’s door.

“Chorong, help me!” Namjoo sobbed. “They’re coming for me!”

“What!?” Chorong yelped shocked before looking up and around. “Who! Who’s after you!?”

Namjoo shook her head suddenly more overwhelmed than she’d expected and just bawled.

>_____<;;

Skeptical, Chorong even walked out into the hallway to glance around. Calling out her light powers she watched the lights flicker on and peered around. She couldn’t be confident that Namjoo was telling her the truth since, after all, so many strange things had happened lately.

But the sight was clear. No men were around. Especially none from the Joseon Dynasty.

“No one’s out there,” Chorong said when she walked back into her room to discover Namjoo rocking herself back and forth on her bed. She looked viciously terrified and Chorong felt immediately sympathetic. “Do you want to stay in here for the night?”

“I can’t sleep,” Namjoo shook her head. “It’s going to continue from where I woke up.”

“No it won’t, you don’t know that.” Chorong sat down on her bed and patted Namjoo’s head.

“Because that’s what just happened,” Namjoo told half angrily before realizing she was using her anger on someone who just wanted to comfort her. She covered half her face with her hand and sobbed, “I had a dream earlier when you and Victoria were gone. Someone was chasing me and he stabbed me with a spear. It felt so real, it was like I was there, but not really there, like…like I was in someone else’s body. What if I killed someone and they’re coming back for me…”

“You killed no one,” Chorong deepened her voice to emphasize the facts, “it was just a dream. No one and nothing will hurt you. Trust me.”

She watched Namjoo sob and nod like a child.

>_____<;;

“A dream?” Victoria asked grabbing something from the cabinet before turning around to look at the panda-eyed Chorong. “That bad?”

“She was up all night,” Chorong explained, “she looked so frightened, it was scary. You should have seen her.”

Victoria put her toast on her plate before walking over to join Chorong at the table, “What did she say it was about?”

“From what I understood, her dream took her to the 17^th century,” Chorong answered, “the Joseon Dynasty. She said she was wearing a dirty hanbok and running away from a man in the woods before he shot a spear through her. Then I guess she pulled it out, healed herself, and continued running only to be shot with arrows. From there she ended up in a jail cell and she said something about how they prevented her from using her powers, and I guess she was tortured after that. She said the King in her dream blamed his son’s death on her, so I guess Namjoo killed his son and he was seeking revenge.”

“But it’s just a dream,” Victoria slightly finished.

“That’s the problem,” Chorong verified, “Namjoo says it felt like she was really there, but the body wasn’t hers.”

“So where is she?” Victoria asked.

“Taking a shower, she’s getting ready for a date with Chanyeol.”

“Are you sure it’s a date?”

“At least she’s getting out of the house.” Chorong shrugged. “So what are you going to do today? Go see that crime investigator to tell him to stay away from all of this?”

“Well,” Victoria began, “I was thinking we could use some of his help.”

“Victoria!”

“What?” Victoria asked. “Maybe we should stop playing safe and start taking chances. There’s a high possibility this guy isn’t after our gems. We need to find out where Lee Shin Il ran off to and I think he can help us do that.”

“What if he wants something in return?”

“Like what?”

Chorong shrugged.

“See,” Victoria pointed out. “When it happens, we’ll deal with it then.”

>_____<;;

Namjoo stared at herself in the mirror and combed her hair repeatedly.

“It was just a dream,” she repeated to herself again before Chanyeol called.

Chanyeol reached over to tap his spoon against her plate, “You’re not hungry?” 

Ever since they arrived at the restaurant, Namjoo felt her mind wander until she found the painting of a King sitting on his throne, his loyal guards surrounding him. He was staring at her. The King in the portrait was staring at her. Namjoo thought she was going to be sick.

“Here,” he switched their plates.

“Uh…no…it’s not that.” Namjoo began turning to him then whispered, “That portrait, doesn’t it look like it’s staring at you?”

Chanyeol turned to look at the picture and laughed, “The King in the picture? How can he be looking at you when he’s drawn looking at one of his guards?”

Namjoo abruptly turned and saw that she’d seen wrong. Her heart dropped and she felt her breathe quicken. Gripping onto the end of the arm of her chair she swallowed. Was she hallucinating now?

“Oh…” she managed before picking up her utensil.

During the ride back to the house she could hear Chanyeol humming happily to the music on the radio while her mind raced back and forth between reality and her dream world. Which one was the real one now? She suddenly really wished Chorong or Victoria were there with her.

“Lets meet up tomorrow,” Chanyeol suggested and leaned over to give her a peck on her cheek, which she couldn’t feel.

Namjoo stared at the house looming over them realizing that if she went in she would be alone and anything could happen then. She felt sweat start to trickle down her neck at the sudden thought of a man on horseback.

“On the other hand,” she turned to Chanyeol, “do you mind if I stay at your place?”

>_____<;;

The crime investigator was waiting for Victoria when she walked into the police department. As busy as everyone else was, she could tell he was prepared for her.

Making her way over to his desk she paused, “I’m not interested in reopening the case.”

“You came all the way here for that?” Changmin questioned as if he’d expected more.

“I don’t care about putting my mother’s killer on file,” Victoria stated, “I can’t guarantee that he is what you think he will be.”

“Ok,” Changmin nodded without retort, “whatever you mean by that. So what are you doing here?”

“You offered to help, why?”

She needed to know his reason in order to deem him on her negative or positive list. And whether he would turn out to be different than she’d predicted later, she and her sisters could finish him off.

“I’m a crime investigator,” he folded his arms onto his empty desk.

“Lee Shin Il, heard of him?” Victoria asked.

“Who here hasn’t?” Changmin questioned.

“He was the one who worked on my mom’s case,” Victoria stated, “I want to find out where he is.”

“How will finding him lead to your mother’s killer?”

“That’s my business,” Victoria reminded. “Get it or don’t get it.”

“Alright,” Changmin nodded, “I can do it.”

Victoria eyed him again suspiciously before she left.

>_____<;;

“Do you have some coffee?” Namjoo asked when they got to his place.

“Oh yea…hold on a sec,” Chanyeol told before making his way to the kitchen.

When he disappeared out of sight Namjoo turned toward the window when she felt a breeze send chills down her spine. Namjoo felt her heart start to race and recognize immediate fear grip her heart. She wasn’t in the condition to be alone, why had Chanyeol left her alone!?

Turning around she bumped into him and felt hot coffee pour down her shirt. She shouted and pulled at her shirt to keep the taunting heat off her burning skin while he set the cup aside and pulled out one of his shirts.

“Are you ok? Here, change into this,” he handed her the shirt.

Grabbing the shirt from him she stepped away to pull off her shirt. While doing so she felt her eyes land on the red patches of her skin before she watched them quickly dissolve as if they were never there to begin with. The burning pain disappeared along with them.

“Does it hurt?” Chanyeol asked from behind.

Namjoo hastily drew the shirt over her to hide what just happened and slightly turned to look at him, “No, I’m fine.”

She lightly patted her chest to confirm that there really was no burn on her skin. It was strange and Namjoo couldn’t comprehend it.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” he wondered. “You’ve been kind of out of it.”

“I’m fine,” she repeated hastily before letting him take her hand to lead her to the bed where they sat.

“My sister’s going to be stopping by in town,” Chanyeol told, “do you want to see her?”

“Not really,” Namjoo slightly glanced around and noticed him tilt his head to frown at her.

“Come here,” he shifted into the center of the bed before pulling her to sit on his lap. “Why are you so tense?”

She didn’t know, and for a second she had to wonder if she was having a panic attack. Every fiber, every muscle in her body felt like it was on the lookout for something that wasn’t really there. It felt really creepy and it made her feel all the more insecure.

Namjoo felt his strong arms slide around her pulling her into a comforting hug where she relaxed for a few seconds. She was safe, she was ok, and she would be ok. No one was after her and certainly no one was there with them. Namjoo repeated that bit to herself over and over.

“What’s with the bags under your eyes?” he ran his thumb over them. “You didn’t sleep last night or something?”

Her eyes locked on his for a quiet second before they started off into a slow kiss. When he paused for a slight second she felt the curb of his nose run across her face and she kissed him again. At first she was kissing Chanyeol in her mind’s eye then the person she was kissing became someone else, someone familiar. None of it made sense, but then she was feeling an overwhelming amount of love for this stranger she was kissing, unlike the hidden fluttering emotions she had with Chanyeol. This was different. Then Namjoo saw it.

She was in an old traditional Korean styled house back in the Joseon Dynasty and she was suddenly starting to see herself with this stranger. Before she could make it all out her eyes shot open and she drew back from Chanyeol, her heart pounding like a drum. He stared at her confused before she got off him.

“Nam…”

Avoiding the chance to explain herself she quickly lie down turning her back to him, “I’m going to take a nap.”

And she didn’t realize she’d chosen the wrong move. Once her head hit the pillow her eyes unwillingly closed on her and she was sent back to dreamland.   

***And Changmin teams up with Victoria. I'll slowly approach their relationship, so you can wait for it. Now I'm focusing on Namjoo's dreamy problems before I reveal the reason behind Luhan's appearance. 

***Now to mix Suho into the storyline.