16. MOOD WITCHES



I ran.

What was I running from? No idea. But I knew it was dangerous. 

Darkness was everywhere. My mind was telling me to run away from it, but I pushed forward. Someone was in that darkness, someone I loved. Who was it? I don't know... 

And then the screaming began.

At first it was Bom's scream, which was joined by Seohyun and Yoona's. They echoed around me, never ending, until my screams joined theirs. 

Then everything stopped. 

Everything but that one high-pitched scream. My scream. Their screams. Our screams. All joined together. 

I fell to my knees in the darkness...

I woke up drenched in sweat. It was coming soon. But what is coming soon? Ugh, this is so confusing!

Why can't I be like normal girls? Normal girls don't have weird dreams. Normal girls don't have weird powers. NORMAL GIRLS AREN'T THE VAMPIRE PRINCE'S SOUL MATE! Yeah, what I would give to have one day of normality... almost as much as I'd give to have one day as a smurf.

Sitting up, I examined my surroundings. I was still in the meadow, thank God. Jiyong hasn't found me yet- or he hasn't discovered that I'm gone yet. Deciding to, again, no think about Jiyong, I stood up and walked over to a mud puddle. It had obviously been left from a previous storm and was amazingly sloppy.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea popped into my head.

I grabbed the bottom of Jiyong's t-shirt and ripped it so it only reached just above my belly button. I then ripped his sweat pants into shorts.

Taking a couple of steps back, I launched myself into the puddle. Mud flew everywhere and seeped through my clothing. Once I was sure that I was full covered, I drew two lines on each of my cheeks and rolled around in a pile of leaves.

Step one: Camouflage.

Done.

Step two: Pack up.

I walked around the meadow and covered up all the signs that could indicate me sleeping here.

Step three: Move before your-so-called-soulmate tracks you.

Hoisting my rucksack onto my shoulder, I walked into the endless trees and began my journey to nowhere. There was no possibility of me going back to Seoul Academy, since I'd probably be killed for being Ji's soul mate. I guess I'll just have to wait for it all to blow over, which is only ten days. A little bit more than a week.

I kept to the shadows as I walked, stopping every now and then in a meadow to rest, and finally settled down in a cave behind a waterfall. Yeah, it was beautiful.

Suddenly, my stomach growled.

With a sigh, I stood up and searched through my rucksack. I took out a ready-made sandwich and bit into it. While I was eating I could hear sounds from outside my cave. It was like someone was trying to find a way in. Frowning, I put down my sandwich and sunk into a crouch. I cocked my head to the side.

There was definitely more than one of them.

Gathering up my rucksack, I quietly climbed up the wall and hid in a massive hole. I could feel bats and creepy-crawlies scuttling around me, obviously making room. By the time I was sure I was completely concealed, the men had entered the cave.

There were three of them, one I recognized. It was Leeteuk, the lead in the search for me. The other two looked just as large and menacing, but I knew I could take them down. Carefully reaching into my rucksack, I pulled out a massive stick I had found during my walk. If they find me, I'll beat the out of them.

'Come out, little Dara.' Leeteuk cooed, his voice echoing around the cave. 'We won't hurt you... much.'

The two thugs behind him laughed and I gritted my teeth.

'If you come out we won't make it painful,' the biggest thug promised. 'In fact, we won't kill you.'

'We'll just kidnap you,' Leeteuk laughed. The three of them examined the room again. I held my breath.

Leeteuk's eyes stopped at my little hole.

'Found you!' he laughed. I jumped out of the hole, landing on the balls of my feet, and bolted out of the cave. Big Thug grabbed me but I wacked him in the head with the stick.

Man that felt good.

Big Thug fell onto the cold, rock floor- unconscious. Littler Thug came charging towards me next, but I sidestepped him and laid a blow on his stomach. While he was crouched ov