The air that went through felt like blood, heavy and slick. tasted coppery, and she could feel a warm liquid going down her chin as she slowly opened her eyes. Completely confused and dizzy, she put her hands on the floor and tried to stand up, only to fail miserably. A loud rumble of chains made her widen her eyes, and she looked around frantically, trying to see anything at all. Darkness, it was all she could see. Chaerin took a deep breath as she tried to ignite a flame, only to burn herself. Crying in pain, she realized her hands were balled into fist and locked within a strange iron. She tried to scream, but was sealed with something she couldn’t identify. Her mind went crazy as she started to move her hands around, the chains hitting her legs every time she did.

She sobbed harder, looking for answers, for anything at all. Squinting her eyes, Chaerin noticed a small gap with light not far from her. Her eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness, and she could see shadows moving on the other side. It must be a door, she thought with hope. Moving slowly, she tried to near the door, but the chains weren’t long enough, making her stop midway. She tried to scream again, but her screams were muffled by the thing covering .

Her eyes widened in realization, she didn’t needed to talk at all to communicate. With a chest heavy of hope, she closed her eyes, visualizing anything at all. At first, she wanted to reach Taemin or Seunghyun, but his smirking face before she collapse made her suspicious, so she discarded that thought. In an instant, her mind got filled with Jiyong’s images. His ever so rare smiling face, his fierce eyes, the toned muscles, the perfect skin. She smiled weakly as she concentrated on him, and as if she could feel him, he breathed in front of her. She gasped a bit as she opened her eyes, and to her surprise, she could still feel him, see him.

“Jiyong… can you hear me?” She said in her mind. A shock ran through her skin, making her jump back in pain. His face appeared in front of her, just like the first time he ever got into her mind, just like that time in the hospital, or in the bathroom. She took a deep breath and concentrated even more on him, just him. His image filled the room, a strange light emanating from him, illuminating her face.

“Chaerin? What’s wrong?” He said. She let out a sigh of relieve hearing his voice loud and clear on her mind. She could almost see him furrowing his eyebrows, and she swallowed before talking again.

“I’m trapped somewhere…” She said. Jiyong’s rage filled her veins like her own anger, and for a moment, she thought she lost connection with him, only to hear him grunt.

“Trapped? What do you mean trapped?” He said.

“Hands tied, mouth covered, dark room. That trapped.” She said in a tone of annoyance.

“What? By who?!”

“I’m not sure… Something’s not right, are you alright?” She asked, her hands were starting to shake, her mind hurting. Drops of sweat starting to fall from her forehead, and she had to make a great effort to keep the connection.

“I am, we found Dara. We are on our way to the manor.”

“Then please be careful, something’s not right and I’m afraid Taemin has something to do with it.”

“Taemin?” He asked, and she screamed in pain as another shock of electricity ran through her. “Chaerin?!” She heard Jiyong’s voice again, but she couldn’t keep the connection any longer, as if she was cut out from his mind, pushed back into the dark room.

Her eyes widened in shock as she realized the dark room was illuminated with a white light, and someone was standing in front of her. Taemin, his hair and eyes were pitch black, his smirk strong on his face as his hands were hidden deep on his pockets.

“Do you really think I’ll be fool enough to not keep an eye on your thoughts?” He said, his voice dark, foreign. She squinted her eyes as she looked at him, it was Taemin, but everything about him had changed, he didn’t looked familiar, at all.

“No, I have been watching your thoughts ever since I got here, and trust me, it is not interesting.” He said walking towards her. She moved back, and he held the chains, pushing her towards him. She flinched and scream, though nothing but a grunt came out. “Lee Chaerin, new Insegnante, the greatest of all, your powers hold great value, don’t they?”

Chaerin tried to hold in her sobs, watching him betray her right in front of her eyes was something she couldn’t deal with. First Jonghyun, now Taemin, it was hard to believe, even for her, living so many strange things daily. “Jonghyun, come over here.” Taemin said as he stood up. She blinked a few times, trying to prevent her tears to fall, when Jonghyun walked in, limping, his face struggling with pain as his clothes looked ragged.

“What?” Jonghyun said. Taemin smirked and walked over him, dangerously putting his fingers close to his throat.

“Is Alina dead?” Taemin said. Jonghyun straightened his face and nodded. Chaerin would have thought that maybe, if Taemin worked with her, he must have felt something, sorrow, maybe sadness, anything but the dark and satisfactory grin he wore on his face. “Good, she was of no use any longer. My dear Jonghyun, get everything ready, the Magna Veneficus is coming, and once he does, we’re starting.” He said and walked out. Jonghyun looked at Chaerin one more time before leaving, and she could swear she saw pain on his eyes, not physical pain, but emotional pain, sorrow and regret. She must’ve imagined it.

A piercing pain made him flinch in agony as he felt the connection being ripped out of his mind. He gasped as he put a hand over his forehead, bending over so the pain would subside quickly.

“Ji? Ji what’s wrong?!” Youngbae said as he put a hand on his back. Jiyong took deep breaths, trying to talk, but the pain was forbidding him to do so.

“… Bae, hurry…” It was all he could manage to say. Youngbae didn’t asked for anything else and stepped on the gas, speeding off and back into the manor.

When they arrived into the manor, Jiyong didn’t wait until Youngbae properly parked the car, he just jumped out of it, running back into the big mahogany doors. Everyone looked at him with raised eyebrows, the place looked normal, nothing had changed. The people were wearing their fighting clothes, daggers in hand or in the belts, apparently preparing themselves to fight. He looked around the place, his eyes wide in horror. He put a finger on his forehead and tried to concentrate on Chaerin, but there was nothing more than a black hole.

“You!” He screamed to a girl that was walking towards the stairs. She turned around, her eyes wide in fear.

“Y-Yes, Magna Veneficus?” She said. He took a deep breath and walked over her, soothing his mind.

“Have you seen the Insegnante? Have you seen Chaerin?” He said. The lady shook her head tremulously.

“No sir, last time I saw her she was in her room.” The lady said. Jiyong smiled and nodded, putting a hand on her shoulder and running towards the stairs. He could hear Youngbae yelling at him, but he ignored him and continued running until he reached Chaerin’s room. The door was open, but there was no one inside. He walked slowly inside, feeling strange auras all around the room. With his hands opened, Jiyong moved them all around the room, the presence increasing dramatically as he reached the balcony. Loud footsteps interrupted his concentration, but he had felt what he wanted, what he needed.

“What is it?” Youngbae asked him, out of breath and panting. Jiyong furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at Youngbae, his front teeth.

“Since when we have a demon in the house?” He asked.

“A demon?” Youngbae asked in disbelieve.

“And she was even asking about it! I’m so stupid!” Jiyong said as he kicked the bed and threw a chair out of his way. He stopped right in front of Youngbae, panting heavily. “Check the old dungeons, there’s a demon on the loose.”

“Bring her here, now!” She heard Taemin’s voice not too distant from her. “And once you bring her, go out, I think Jiyong’s here.” Chaerin heard the door opening, and Jonghyun’s silhouette entered the small room. She couldn’t see his face clearly, but she could feel him, could feel the misery and regret on his soul, as if she was watching it in front of her eyes.

“Come.” He murmured as he unlocked the chains, freeing her hands. Her first instinct was to burn him to ashes and run out of that place, but she couldn’t do it, couldn’t hurt him herself. Jonghyun knelt in front of her, and she instinctively moved back. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He muttered on his usual soft voice. Chaerin felt a pang of agony running down her body as she heard him murmuring words to her, like he used to do always, whenever she was afraid.

She moved her hands slowly towards her face, to get whatever it was on out of it, but she couldn’t, it was as if it was ironed to her skin. She flinched as she pulled it, only to cry in pain. Jonghyun got closer again, making soothing sounds to calm her. “Let me help you.”

“Jonghyun? What is taking you so long?” Taemin called from the other room. Jonghyun looked back at the door, hissing, then back at her and let out a sigh.

“Chaerin, please, let me help you.” He said. Chaerin looked at the door, then at Jonghyun and nodded. It was useless, she couldn’t take it out on her own. He got closer to her and pulled the fabric off her face. It didn’t hurt her at all.

“Thank you.” She muttered as she rubbed her wrists, where the chain once had cut into her skin.

“Come.” He muttered again, extending a hand towards her. She hesitated for a moment, then grabbed his hand and allowed him to lift her up. Her whole body felt numb, sore all over due to the lack of movement she had. He led her out of the room, the bright lights blinding her instantly.

She covered her eyes with the back of her hand, slowly adjusting to the lights. “So you untied her?” Taemin muttered. Jonghyun grunted and pushed Chaerin forward. She gasped, looking at her front. It was a white room with a metal bed in the center of it. On top of the metal bed, lied a badly burnt body, breathing slowly, painfully. So painfully Chaerin could almost feel the pain in her own skin.

“W-Who is that?” Chaerin stuttered as she looked at the body.

“That, my dear, is no other than Alina, or Bom.” Taemin explained as he moved to a side of the metal bed. “That’s how your beloved Jiyong left her.” Chaerin held in a breath as she saw Bom looking at her through burnt eyes. She could heard her grunting in pain, and Chaerin had to put a hand over to avoid gagging in front of them.

“W-Why…”

“Why isn’t she dead?” Taemin said with a strange satisfaction on his voice. “Well, that’s because her little spoof spell binds her to you, it is your own hand that has to kill her, not Jiyong’s, not anyone’s.”

“Me?” She said slowly. Taemin nodded and lifted a dagger in midair, moving his finger, as if it was weightless in the air.

“Do it now before I lose my patience.” Taemin said and the dagger flew close to Chaerin’s hands. She gulped as it touched her skin, sending goosebumps all over her flesh.

“No.”

“End her suffering, Jiyong put her like this, there’s no turning back.” Jonghyun said on her side. Chaerin looked at him with narrow eyes and shook her head. She gasped as she felt a slap on her face, but no one had moved.

“Do it.” Taemin hissed one more time, and she saw the amber aura increasing, turning dark, almost black and then amber again. “Now.” Chaerin slowly lifted her hand, and the dagger made its way to her palm. She was trembling all over, and she could see Alina’s eyes wide in fear as she breathed in with difficulty. Chaerin was shaking her head no as she slowly approached the burnt body, her hand trembling as the dagger felt too cold on her hand.

“Perhaps a little help.” Taemin said, and when Chaerin looked at him, he moved his wrist, and a soft wind pushed her on top of Alina’s body, the dagger burning deep on her chest. She felt Alina soft shrieks as the dagger broke her ribs and got into her heart. Chaerin cried as she threw herself back, looking at how Alina’s body burnt in a blaze she had never seen.

But that wasn’t everything she was crying for. Her vision changed and she started seeing stuffs, seeing Jiyong in different styles, in different clothes and different places. She could see herself, smiling, laughing, crying and suffering, all in one torrent of torments on her mind. She screamed in pain as she felt the same blaze burning in her veins, slowly burning something within her.

“Yes, oh yes.” Taemin said as she moved in front of Chaerin, and her eyes widened when she saw the same face she had seen before, the face of a Demon, the face of Azazel. “Now got to Jiyong, he’s mortal again, but don’t kill him, just make him weak.”

Chaerin shook her head in fear as she felt the burning subsiding, burning something she couldn’t quite tell inside of her, but it made her feel empty, alone and completely empty. Mortal again, she thought, now he could die, so could she and there was no one stopping that, no one to save them more than themselves. “No…” 

Gily's Notes: I smell an ending soon... Oh la la...

Good news is, I just started drafts for a new Skydragon Fiction, for those who love my stories (not as much as I love you guys)

Enjoy this, I'm getting all nervous about it I don't know why xD 

Happy Reading ~

Gily ♥