The wind strike her face like needles as she ran towards the garden. Her heart heavy and her eyes watery, anger running through her like poison, her veins burning in that undesired hatred she had felt. A hoax, she thought, it had all been a cruel lie. Her heart beated fast as she halted to a stop, just in front of a Cherry Blossom tree. Its flower were slowly falling, covering the ground in light pink colors. She looked at them, feeling the emptiness inside. She had been afraid, afraid that this world was crazy, but it was, indeed, worse than she had thought. Her hands trembled as she lifted them, turning them around so the soft skin was exposed to the light. She gasped and cried louder as she saw the scars on her wrist, a deep cut, a red scar exposed to the world to see.

Chaerin fell to her knees, looking at the scars that told her that everything was true, that her childhood had been changed completely, and that she was, in fact, a creation of someone else’s magic. She couldn’t cope with that, and as she saw the scars, images of her screaming and crying appeared on her mind. She gasped and looked forward, at the tree. The scenery of green and pink and purple in front of her distorted, and her own reflection on a mirror appeared, her blond her sticking to her face as her tears streamed down. Her eyes, bloodshot and narrow, looking at herself on the mirror. She felt pain, a sorrow deep on her skin as she looked at herself in the mirror. She looked down, and as she did, she saw a knife on her right hand, shining brightly with the bathroom lights. She gasped again, and slowly, the knife got closer to her wrist, grazing the soft, white skin on it.

“Enough!” She screamed, but it wasn’t her doing it, and she wasn’t in control of what was going on. She saw how the knife cut deep on her skin, scarlet blood oozing out as the knife cut through the skin. She cried harder, and went to the other hand, cutting it deep until blood stained the floor, the sink and the knife. She let go of the knife as she lost movement of her hands, and she laughed. She heard herself laughing as she took clumsy steps back, her back hitting the bathroom as she slowly slid down to the floor, blood staining her clothes, the floor. She hit her back countless times, until she felt dizzy, her eyes slowly closing. Chaerin shook her head countless times and closed her eyes, gasping as she fell forward.

She opened her eyes, green grass poking her fingers. She gasped, and when she looked up, another vision hit in, she was in a white room, her hands grazing her hair as she sat up. She felt groggy, slightly confused. She looked up, and saw Dara standing next to her, and Jiyong was standing in front of the bed while Jonghyun was on the other side.

“Do it.” Jiyong said. Chaerin crooked her head as she looked at them.

“Are you the doctor?” She said, her voice incredibly weak. Jiyong smirked and nodded.

“Yes, I am.” He said, then looked at Dara and nodded. Dara put a hand close to Chaerin’s head, and she flinched back, a burning sensation hitting her whole.

“What are you doing?!” She said, and then, Dara started to chant some unrecognizable words, and Chaerin fought. Jonghyun held her hands, keeping her steady.

“Don’t worry, you will not remember this in the morning, we will give you a better life.” Jiyong said, his voice sounding distant. Chaerin screamed, then everything turned to dark. She gasped again, her vision coming back, the Cherry Blossom tree covering her from the rays of the Sun. She panted as she held her head, a throbbing pain taking the best of her.

“What is this?!” She screamed at the top of her lungs. The wind blew hard, caressing her sore skin. She sobbed as she crawled closer to the tree, her legs too weak to help her up. She hugged the tree, crying silently as images of her life with Jonghyun flashed through her mind. It’s all a lie, she kept repeating herself over and over again. A lie, a lie, a lie…

And as she cried, a subtle pain struck her, a feeling of dying, of emptiness. She put a hand over her chest, feeling the pain slowly growing. Her eyes narrowed as she looked around, the wind slowly vanishing, the flowers stopped dancing, and the trees stopped moving. She slowly stood up, looking around, the pain grew stronger, and as the pain grew, the flowers started to wither. She gasped as she turned around, looking at all the flowers around her, all of them were withering. With widened eyes, she felt the pain grow, then vanishing, a feeling of emptiness washing over her. She gasped, the flowers, the garden and the trees looked dead, everything looked dead. She looked at the manor, through the crystal clear windows. People were running around, Chaerin crooked her head as she walked inside, all the flowers on the inside were withered as well. She walked through the crowd until she reached the main lobby, where the two enormous staircase were. She saw Dara running fast through them and into a door, the door Chaerin had just gone out from. She felt her heart stopping as she realized what could be happening.

Without any hesitation, she ran after Dara, pushing her way through the curious people around the stairs. She ran towards the room, the door slapped open as a person was burning with blazing fire. She widened her eyes as she realized who that was, Jonghyun. She shook her head in denial, even if everything was a lie, if their childhood was made up by Dara, he had spent a few real years with her, and she had loved him, loved him so much she considered him her best friend. She saw how the blazing figure disappeared, and Jonghyun was nowhere to be seen. She wanted to walk in, she wanted to ask what was going on, but she was scared, scared of facing whatever had happened in there.

But she was never good at following fears, so she walked towards the crowded door, rumors around the crowd spoke of “Evil” and “He succumbed to evil, that’s a great loss.” She was too scared, but what she saw, proved that her fears were right. Taemin was sobbing on the floor, Dara was hugging her, and Jiyong was kneeled in front of the window, also crying. Chaerin felt her insides turn, and deep within her, she heard a voice, a soft, calming voice talking to her.

“Move your Coven, ask them out.” She crooked her head, turning slowly around to face the crowd of curious stares. She cleared and lifted a hand.

“Please, leave them alone for a few seconds, this is a very delicate matter, we need time to discuss.” She said loudly. Everyone looked at her and nodded. She bowed slightly as everyone started to scatter, walking out of the hall. She turned around, and saw Jiyong looking at her, his eyes small and bloodshot, his face flushed.

“Hello.” He said, his voice strained. She walked in the room and closed the door, her hands trembling.

“W-What–”

“Happened here?” Jiyong said, his voice far from humorous. He looked at the charred floor, his face more composed, though Chaerin could still see his pain through his brown eyes. “We have lost, that’s what happened. Taemin, I know you’re devastated, but we still need to assembly the armies, can you take care of that?” Jiyong spoke, slowly crouching in front of Taemin. She saw how Taemin nodded, and for a moment, she didn’t saw the mysterious man that frightened her, she saw a vulnerable child, crying for his mother, for his dad, for the world.

“I will…” Taemin murmured, slowly cleaning his tears. Jiyong nodded and put a hand over his shoulder.

“I am so sorry.” Jiyong said, his voice soft with sadness. Taemin nodded again and looked at him.

“I am, too.” He said and stood up, slightly touching Dara’s hand. She let go, her face flushed from crying.

“What happened here, Chaerin, is that Jonghyun succumbed to Evil.” Jiyong explained, his voice composed. Chaerin widened her eyes.

“What?” She said. Jiyong walked towards her, standing just in front of her. His scent drove her crazy, a tingling sensation over her, pulling her towards him. She noticed his eyes widened a slight bit, and he gulped, his hands balling into fists.

“This is what happens when we can’t control our emotions, when we have too much anger, too much sorrow.” He said. “We can’t use our powers against our brethren, that’s the Law of the Coven, and he broke it.” He put a hand over her shoulder. “He suffered too much, and now, he had died, his body a vessel of evil, he is no longer the Jonghyun, the Jacek we knew, but an evil entity, with memories of our own brother.”

“I can’t believe it.” Chaerin said out of breath. “It was my fault.”

“No, you had nothing to do with it. If there was someone to make responsible for it, that someone will be me.” Jiyong told her. Chaerin shook her head.

“I shouldn’t have been so harsh on him.”

“Chaerin, stop now.” Jiyong said and let go of her shoulder. “I need you strong, we will be summoning tonight.” He said and left. She looked at Taemin, at his devastated expression. He looked at her and shrugged, walking slowly towards the door. Before he reached it, he stopped in front of her, looking down at her with the same sorrowful expression.

“My brother,” He said, his voice hoarse and strained. “My brother truly loved you. But that’s not the reason why he left, Evil can only reach darkened hearts, maybe, just maybe, he had one.” He put a hand on her shoulder, squeezed it, and left. Chaerin looked at Dara, who was staring at her blankly.

“I think we should prepare you, for the summoning.” She said and walked towards Chaerin. “With herbs tea and stuffs, you need the energy.”

The day went by slowly, hours seemed like years, but the slowness of the day helped him clear his mind. He had spent almost halve of the day in the gardens, admiring the flowers in full bloom, dancing with the wind. The emptiness on his heart was heavy, the sorrow and mourning too, but he knew he had to cope with it, had to learn to get over it, there was a much more greater threat out there, and only the Gods knew how hard or how strong it was. Jiyong let out a sigh as he threw a piece of bread into the pond, the fishes jumping the catch it. He chuckled and ate the rest, still looking at the pond.

As he thought, silent footsteps made him turn, and as he did, a weak smile plastered on his face. It was Chaerin, walking towards him, a black, tight dress covering her body, her curves visible, her cleavage too. He gulped down the piece of bread as he admired her. The dress was short in the front, long in the back, and it was dragging as she walked. She smiled weakly at him and extended her hands. “Dara made me wear this.” She said. Jiyong nodded and turned around, so he could face her.

“She has always loved those type of dresses.” He said. Chaerin nodded and stopped in front of him, her face down, looking at the green grass. Jiyong stood up, looking at her with appalled eyes. He lifted his hands to touch her, then let them hung limply at his side.

“I want to say I’m sorry.” She said. Jiyong raised an eyebrow.

“For what?”

“For everything. I know this is all my fault and I’m sorry.” She said. Jiyong pouted his lips and nodded.

“It is, but it’s also mine, so we’re even.” He said. Chaerin chuckled and nodded.

“About Jonghyun,” She said, her fingers pressing each other. “Is he really dead?” Jiyong’s face softened, her eyes were too big, too curious, too depressed. He let out a sigh and nodded.

“In a sense he is. He is just no longer the good guy we met. Powers were bestowed on him, and he will no longer protect you, he will try to kill you. The source of his anger, it’s the thing they want to eliminate.” Jiyong explained. Chaerin looked down.

“Is that what happened to Alina?” She asked. Jiyong let out a sigh and put a hand on her exposed shoulder.

“Something like that.” He said.

“And who’s the source of her anger? You or me?” Chaerin said with calm eyes. Jiyong smirked crookedly and looked down.

“It’s me.” He said and looked at her. “Since the very beginning, I was the source of this hatred, I messed up.”

“How can you mess up? I mean, it’s not like it was your fault not to love her…” She said and stopped, looking at him with wide eyes. Jiyong narrowed his as he looked at her.

“Chaerin? What’s wrong?” He saw her panting as her eyes were wide, disoriented. He saw her muscles tensing, the ones on her neck’s making a V as she took deep breaths, her eyes turning red. He quickly understood what was happening, and his first thought was to get into her mind.

With a hand on her neck, he closed his eyes and murmured a spell. “Da mihi ingressum as somnia vestra.” He whispered. As he did, he felt his mind going blank, a shock ran through his body, pushing him away. He opened his eyes, gasping, his hand shaking and hurting. He had been pushed away enough to see Chaerin completely. Her eyes were blazing red, and she was looking at him, her eyebrows furrowed as her hands were balled into fists. Her hair turned red, her whole body glowed in the fire of her veins.

“Not anymore.” She hissed. Jiyong narrowed his eyes as he composed himself, the shock still lingered through his veins, and he had to take deep breaths to hold in the pain.

“It wasn’t on a bad intention.” He told her. She clicked her tongued and hissed.

“If it wasn’t for your intentions, nothing of this would have happened! You’re a monster!” She yelled and turned around. Jiyong looked taken aback, trying to figure out what she had seen, what had been so terrible that she behaved like that.

And the thought came like a lightning, making him remember what had happened so long ago. He shook his head, his eyes full of sorrow as he looked at her back, her hair turning from red to brown, glowing in pure anger. Jiyong took a step forward, slightly touching her shoulder. It burned him, but he shook off that feeling and turned her around. “I am sorry.” He said.

“Sorry? Sorry for sleeping with her? At my own house?!” She yelled. Jiyong gulped and nodded, looking down.

“It wasn’t me that day, I swear!” He said, his voice rising. She scoffed and walked a bit away.

“If it wasn’t for you, all of this would have ended, everything!”

“Do you think I’m all that there is to blame for?! You had your share of poison, my beloved woman!” He yelled at her. Feeling attacked wasn’t the first on his list, and he wouldn’t let her do whatever she wanted with him.

“I suffered because of you!” She hissed. Jiyong scoffed and crossed his arms.

“You suffered? For what? Because I “cheated” on you? Because you felt betrayed at some point? Guess what, you took more from me than I took from you, and I still don’t hate you!” He said. Chaerin narrowed her eyes.

“What could I possible had taken from you? You have taken everything, from all my lives, and now, you took away my only possibility of being normal. You are all to blame for!” She said. Jiyong scoffed and looked at her with narrow eyes.

“Think, Lee Chaerin. If you think you know it all just by one vision, think more wisely, there’s so many things you don’t know, you weren’t there.” He said. Chaerin scoffed and turned around. He kept looking at her, his mind filled with visions, visions of that day, visions of her bleeding, of blood, of anger, of sorrow. He extended a hand towards her, and smirked. Remember the pain.

Gily's Notes: Sorry for any typos made, I am too tired to check it :3

Tomorrow we will see next chapter, hold onto your chairs, the good is comming! hahahaa!

Happy Reading ~

Gily ☺