N and the rest of the vampires sat around the dining room table. In the middle of the table sat Mihyun’s spell book. No one was really sure anymore if they should open the book or kept it shut. Hyuk had even thrown out the suggestion that they should burn the blasted thing. No one had yelled at him for suggesting the destruction of what could be the only way to bring the originals back. N had been tempted to, but the book gave off such a dark aura that he kind of wanted to burn it himself.

“Anyone home?” the sound of Baekhyun calling out front the front hall was enough to bring everyone back to the real world.

“In here,” Jina called, happy to have a distraction from the spell book.

“What’s going on?” Tao asked, coming to stand beside Gayun, “what’s up with the book?”

“It’s Song Mihyun’s spell book,” Ken explained, “what brings you here?”

“Luhan’s ready to make peace with N,” Kris explained, pushing the blond foreword, “aren’t you, Luhan.”

“Yes,” Luhan muttered, his pride making him a bit reluctant to admit he was wrong, “why do you have her book?” he could still remember when she’d taken control of his body and tried to use him to kill Bora

“There might be a spell in it that can break the seal,” Ravi explained, “or it could be cursed to kill them.”

“Then why aren’t you opening it?” Luhan yelled, “If this can bring Bora back, we need to open it.”

“Didn’t you hear Ravi?” N scoffed, “it could kill them. Or it could bring Mihyun back so she can do it herself.”

“Do you have any other leads?” Luhan replied, making a grab for the book only to be blocked by Hongbin and Hyuk, “we need to bring them back and this could be our only chance.”

“We’re all in a weakened state,” N argued, “it wouldn’t be hard for Mihyun to kill all of us. Finish off the last vampires and hybrids left.”

“And what if it can bring Bora back, huh?” Luhan shouted, “Are you willing to risk it? This could be our only chance to free her and you’re passing it up out of fear.”

N opened his mouth the argue some more, but Luhan managed to get his arm past the vampires blocking him. His fingers managed to knock it closer to him so that the hybrid could open the front cover of the book.

“No,” N hissed, watching as the pages of the book started turning by themselves.

“Crap,” Ken seconded as the pages came to a stop and the words written on the page it stopped on started to glow.

Everyone felt the explosion of magic coming from the basement. The sudden burst of power was so strong that a few of the vampires and hybrids fell to their knees. N and Leo shared a look; this was exactly what they hadn’t wanted. Song Mihyun was back, she had to be. That was the only thing that could explain the burst of energy.

“You fool!” N yelled at Luhan, “this is all your fault, you stupid mutt.” Luhan looked around and found everyone else had the same reaction; anger directed at him.

“Now, don’t be mad at the poor boy,” Mihyun smiled as she came into the room, “I have no intention of killing any of you or my children.”

“Could have fooled me,” Ravi muttered. Mihyun heard him and frowned.

“I admit I was wrong,” the witch said, a sad smile on her face, “my children aren’t monsters. They deserve to live long, happy lives just as much as everyone else does. I want to give them that chance.”

“I don’t know why,” N sighed, “But I trust you. Even though I probably shouldn’t, I’ll help you.”

“Good,” she smiled, “because I’ll need help from all of you to collect what I need to break the seal.”

Everyone ended up agreeing to work with Mihyun, but promised that they would kill her in a heartbeat if she ended up betraying them. The witch spent the next hour making a list of all the things she needed for her spell, assigning everyone a couple of items that they needed to find for her. Eventually, everyone left and Mihyun moved into the living room with N.

“It isn’t going to be that easy, is it?” N frowned at Mihyun. To her credit, she didn’t deny it.

“No,” she sighed, “it wouldn’t be as easy as gathering a few gems and herbs and chanting some words.”

“What’s the catch?” he’s frown grew and he glared at her. A part of N realized using such a tone with the witch responsible for vampires exiting was not a smart move. But what could she do? Kill him? That worked out just fine for him because then he’d be with Bora.

“My children will only return if they want to return,” Mihyun explained, walking over to the statue version of her children, “I suspect that it will be easy for Jiwook. He has Nara on this side. He does not have someone he loves as deeply as he loves her on the other side. Suji could go either way. Shin is a wild card, he could stay with those on the other side who care for him, my husband and oldest sons, or he could return to be with his brother and sisters.”

“And Bora?” N almost feared her answer.

“That depends on if she can make peace with her past,” Mihyun frowned, “the curse of the other side is that all of our lost loved ones are there, waiting for us. Right now, my children are with their father and elder brothers right now. And there is also him.”

“Him?”

“The one who shattered Bora’s heart,” she sighed, “he wanted to use Bora for the magic she held. When she became a vampire, she lost that power and lost him as well. That loss might have been dealt with long ago had he not killed my husband and oldest sons. I’m afraid Bora has held onto that far longer than she should have.”

“Suji told me about him,” N looked down sadly, “but she never told me he’d killed her father and oldest brothers.”

“Bora loves secrets, doesn’t she?” Mihyun laughed, but it lacked humor, “Bora used to be quite trusting, and the world does so love to use those kinds of people. Long before she met you, lots of people used her for their own gain, leaving her alone when they were done. She let her pain and hate for those people cloud her judgement, so she stopped being so open.”

“I was the first one who stayed,” he told the witch, making his way over to Bora, “everyone else left her.”

“Her father was so pleased to see that,” Mihyun smiled, “but I’m afraid that damage had already been done. Too much betrayal clouded her mind. I’m sure you noticed how she started keeping things from you more and more as time went on, keeping information from you so that you would follow her orders and fulfill her requests.”

“She doesn’t do that with me,” N growled, “she doesn’t control what I do. She trusts me to know everything.”

“She didn’t tell you how much she cares for you,” Mihyun smirked, “she didn’t tell you how she really felt when you confessed.”

“What?” he whispered. Perhaps that wasn’t the best way to tell N the truth about Bora’s feeling, but Mihyun had already said it so she should at least explain to the poor boy what she meant.

“Bora cares for you, probably even loves you,” Mihyun explained, smirk gone, “but she’s confused. Very confused. In her mind, it wasn’t fair to keep you with her while she figured out her feelings. What if she realized she didn’t love you? Then she would felt like she’d lead you on. You’d have been hurt, something she wanted to avoid.”

“So she pushed me away?” N growled, “That stupid girl. That stupid, foolish girl.”

“Indeed,” Mihyun laughed, “my eldest daughter is quite the foolish girl.”

A/N: is Mihyun really going to bring Bora – and Suji, Jiwook, and Shin – back? Or is she lying? *strats crying* we're so close to the end. only 3 more chapters *crying louder and harder* thank you to all my subscribers and non-subscribed readers, it means so much to me that you like reading my work