Junhong watched in horror, unexplainable terror, as Hayi's body began to change. She let out one heart wrenching sob before her eyes turned completely glassy, the eyes he fell in love with at the shortcut alleyway to his mother's work. Her left eye shattered completely, destroying everything around it. That black hole, something he was able to easily overlook. She was turning into a life-size doll, a doll that was pulled by the strings of the shadows all over the room. That's what they were doing. They were waiting, like a panther hiding in the shadows, for the perfect moment to strike at her. To override her senses. 

"One by one, the lights will go out, so bright and true. In the dark, even the shadows disappear, and all that's left is you." It was still her voice, that sweet voice, but there was something else laced in it. A malice, a bloodthirsty intent, held fast to her tone like a parasite. 

Hayi lunged after him, ing the knife forward in a simple straightforward attack. It was easy to deflect it with the splintered chair leg he hid. But Hayi was fast, quickly regaining her balance and using an uppercut to try and get at him. He deflected it once more before he stepped back and retreated out of the dining room. 

Maniacal laughter rang through the house. It echoed off the walls, into his blood and stopped it cold. It was almost enough to paralyze him. Almost. 

The young man stumbled into the small entranceway of his home. He contemplated on grabbing shoes but was quick to decide against it. Putting on any sort of shoes would slow him down. 

Still, he was too slow. 

The kitchen knife sliced through the air and landed into the wooden door with a loud thwack. The silver glinted towards him menacingly, revealing Junhong's scared reflection. He had completely frozen. It was as if Junhong had become a statue. 

Not only did he see his reflection, Junhong spotted trickles of blood, tantalizing down the point of the blade and onto the doorway. His cheek was numb and the only sure way he was able to tell he had been cut was the drops of blood that landed onto his neck and jawline. He felt no pain from the cut. He didn't feel it cut through his skin. Soon, drops of blood became a flowing stream. Hayi had cut him good.

"Mirror, mirror, hear my call."

An eerie voice resonated from behind him. It was not Hayi's. This was something else. The smooth voice was replaced with such evil and darkness that it sickened him down to his stomach. It prompted him to begin moving, to become real once more.

Junhong struggled to open the door. After juggling with the doorknob and ing his weight against it, the knob had fallen out. Looking out into the evening air, he saw that there was something against the door. He couldn't open it from the inside. He cursed and slammed his open palms on the door before looking back at him. 

"My birthday will soon fall."

Was this voice singing? Was it taunting? Was it doing this just to worm its way into every single crevasse of his mind? Was this simply to remind him not to love anything strange to him? 

Hayi was looking more and more like the doll he found her as, with her honey blonde hair smouldering and her hands destroyed to the brink of being unable to use them. Her socked feet made strange clinking sounds against the floor, much like porcelain would when you set it down. She stood in the way of being able to call for help. She no longer even looked like the doll. The creature in front of him was a demon. 

"Many to the party, I shall call." 

Junhong finally grasped the strange words that flew out of the demon’s mouth. 

"Will one give me a pretty doll?"

It was the curse. 

And with that, the demon lunged, not planning to kill. Planning to deform and maim. To do the damage to him as it was done to her. He wondered idly what she would use. He threw the splintered chair leg at her, and it shattered the right side of her face. She uttered no sign of pain. 

"Mirror, mirror, hear my call! My birthday will soon fall. Many to the party, I shall call." 

A hammer in the pocket of her apron. How long did she hide that in there? Has it been since this morning, when she put it on? Did she stash it on her when he was asleep? Or did she just go for it now, as he was feebly trying to escape? 

"Promise, you will give me a pretty doll."