Hana grew up believing that fairytales didn’t exist and ghosts were lies. She had heard countless ghost stories and read plenty of them, but she had never encountered any. The world taught her that aside from reality, there was nothing else. No dream, no imagination, no fantasy.

            So the scene that happened in front of her right now felt unreal.

         The person in robe moved so fast. He made it seemed almost effortless to move the silver blade in his hands, slicing the creature, separating the head from the body. Hana gasped and clenched her jaws tightly, her hands and feet frantically moving. She wanted to run.

           Black liquid poured out of the creature instead of blood. Hana couldn’t scream. She wanted to cry out loud in frustration, but just like a dream, she couldn’t do anything. The robe-man slayed the creature in front of her eyes. Then he knelt down, examining the remains of the creature. As soon as he touched it, though, the remains turned to ashes.

          “Oh God…” Hana whispered, and the robe-man seemed to move a bit, much to Hana’s horror. She had to escape this. Her house was only a few blocks away, and if she ran, she would be able to reach it in no time. The robe-man was about to turn back to face her, and that was when she ran. As fast as she could. Away from this nightmare… or reality. She couldn’t decipher which one she was in anymore.

           That robe-man just killed that thing. His blade cut through the stone-like skin. Hana grew even more scared at the thought of it. Her curiosity was almost as much as her fear, and she gathered just enough courage to turn back one more time while her feet dragged further away.

          In the distance, she saw nothing. No one. No trace of the murder that happened a few seconds ago. There was flying ashes, though, as the wind blew it around. Hana cringed. The robe-man disappeared. There was no way a person could move that fast.

           Without giving so much as the second thought, Hana searched for the keys in her pocket and forcefully pushed it into the door’s keyhole. She slammed the door close and quickly put off her shoes and socks. Sweats trickled down from her face. There was a mirror in the kitchen, and Hana could see horror in her own expression, as well as disbelief.

          Shakily, Hana reached out for the glass and poured water into it. Her hands were trembling so badly to the point that the water spilled out everywhere. She grabbed the cloth and roughly wiped off the remaining water on the kitchen table. A muffled cry escaped her lips unconsciously.

           She was almost . Or killed. Her mind couldn’t register properly.

           She wasn’t almost killed by someone. She was almost killed by something.

           A stranger showed up and saved her somehow.

           Hana groaned. Her brain was exploding somehow. She must be having PMS. Did PMS lead to hallucination? Possibly. Yes, that must be her period coming nearer and she must be too tired recently. There was no way she would see those things in her ‘normal’ day. No stranger. No creature. No murder. Perfect.

           Hana gulped down the water, trying to calm down. She was almost . But she hit the guy on the head and ran away safely. That was the story Hana was imagining in her head. She was safe now. That was all that matter.

***

           It was Friday; everyone’s favorite day.

        And when it was Friday, there would be no class to attend, with the exception of extra activity students voluntarily chose. For Hana, it was swimming class. She loved water. When she was inside the pool, she just felt like some sort of mermaid, if that even made sense.

          “It’s Coach Hyunseung that’s teaching us today,” Miyoung whispered to Hana, trying to sound as normal as possible. There was a faint blush in her cheeks as if she just ran for miles. Hana smirked at her best friend and unlocked the locker. “Well, aren’t you excited, Bestie?”

          “Me? Well… he’s okay, I guess. I mean, wait, why would I be excited?” Unknowingly, Miyoung babbled out. Hana almost laughed when she saw her best friends' denial. “Coach Hyunseung is okay? Do you want me to tell him? Or you can tell him in personal…”

          “Shut up, Hana. I don’t like him,” The blush on Miyoung’s cheeks was more visible than ever. It was kind of cute, actually, seeing Miyoung pouting and blushing. Besides, this was the only time Hana could without being smacked painfully on the head.

         “I never said you do,” Hana shrugged, hiding a smile beneath the thinly pursed lips. “Come on, Miyoung. You are attracted to him. He’s nice. He’s handsome. He’s cool. I mean… I can understand why you’d be attracted to him. Just try to talk it out, will you? I swear he won’t bite.”

          For a moment, Miyoung looked like she was about to reject the idea. Her face was contorted with worry and doubt. But then what was there to hide if it was your own best friend? “Well, don’t you think there’s going to be a scandal? A teacher and a student? Besides, I’m not even sure if he likes me. What if he doesn’t? Oh God!”

         Hana tried hard not to roll her eyes. It was always hard to convince someone in love. Miyoung seemed so doubtful whether or not Hyunseung would accept her. Hana was grateful that she wasn’t in love like her best friend. “I see him checking you out countless of times.”

         Miyoung didn’t answer. She seemed to be contemplating what to answer. Hana already started taking off her clothes, which left her with her underwear and towel. She was planning to take a shower before jumping into the swimming pool. Hana’s eyes narrowed suddenly.

          “Nice tattoo. When did you get it?”

        “Tattoo? What tattoo?” Hana turned back abruptly. She never got a tattoo. And she wouldn’t have wanted it anyway. Miyoung raised one of her eyebrows suspiciously, biting her lips and pointing at Hana’s waist. “There, near your spine line.”

         “That’s impossible. I never got a tattoo,” Hana replied, her hands feeling her waist and she tried to look back, but she couldn’t see anything. Miyoung put a hand on Hana’s shoulder and turned her around so that she could face the mirror entirely. “Well, I don’t remember you having a birthmark with this symbol though.”

        “What symbol?” Growing more confused, Hana looked at her bare body in the mirror and saw what Hyuna meant. There was a very faint line on her back, much like a brush , which she never remembered existed before. “It’s definitely not a tattoo. Maybe a bruise or something. I’m not sure.”

          “It’s black though. Like it is inked onto your skin,” Miyoung carefully examined. “Try to wash it off in the shower. I’m quite sure it’s not a bruise.”

          “I guess I will,” Without much thought, Hana walked over to the shower room and the water. It fell onto her skin nicely and she quickly tried to rub off the black ink-like mark on her skin. It wouldn’t come off though, and just like Miyoung said, the brush -mark looked too much like it was inked, rather than bruised.

          “It will fade off, I guess,” With a careless shrug, Hana turned off the water and took the towel from the bench.

***

           Oh Sehun was, is, and always would be alone.

           He had accepted the fact for thousands of years since his existence of life. He lived to kill, and to simply exist. Because that was what he really was, and that was what he lived for.

          “What is it, Luhan?” His cold voice was icy, and normally that sort of tone shooed people away. Luhan didn’t look too bothered though. His beautiful deer eyes looked almost soulless, with little to none emotion left. Luhan and Sehun had the same expression on their faces.

           “I came here to tell you something you’d be very interested in,” Luhan didn’t even greet the younger male, and Sehun didn’t look like he cared much about it. He was playing with the small daggers in his hands, twirling it around his fingers like some sort of toy.

           “It’s about your older brother,” Luhan continued, and a swish of air brushed passed his left ear. The blood trickled down from the corner of Luhan’s ear, and he didn’t need to turn back to know that Sehun just threw a freaking dagger right at him.

           Sehun kept a very calm expression, but his eyebrows were furrowed together, and in his hand, he held another dagger, as if he was ready to shoot again anytime soon. The dagger he just threw missed a few inches from where he was aiming at. Luhan was fast enough to react. At least, Sehun only injured the tip of Luhan’s ear. If he aimed right, Luhan’s lips would be ripped off right now.

           “I see you’re still the same. Your older brother is a forbidden topic for you. I wouldn’t… try daggering myself for the second time, Sehun,” Luhan warned, wiping off the trace of blood and revealed the new, cured skin. There was no sign of wounds on the tip of his ear, just the leftover of blood liquid from there.

           “You might want to hear this… I wouldn’t travel this far if this news I bring isn’t worth it,” Luhan convinced Sehun. Sehun was still playing with the dagger, but he was listening very well to what Luhan was saying. When Sehun didn’t show any sign of refusal, Luhan continued.

           “Your brother has been Marking lately,” Luhan explained, and Sehun suddenly went stiff. Marking was not a good term to hear. “There are a lot of reported missing person, and increasing numbers of the Forsaken. The Southern Clan has just reported another attack. About a hundred Forsakens showed up in one night and the town became a mass murdering place.”

          Sehun was still quiet, his dagger securely wrapped around his slender long fingers. His face was always pale, but Luhan thought he looked paler than usual. “Why is that bastard Marking around? It is against the rule of the covenant to give the Cursed Marks to any human.”

          “Of course, he may have a different schedule. He may not be trying to turn them into one of his kind. He may be trying to build an army of the Forsaken,” Luhan added on his point of view. “But if he is, indeed, building an army of the Forsakens, then he is breaking the Law.”

           “My brother never cares about rules,” Sehun insisted, “He doesn’t care if what he does is breaking the Law. Unless he is trying to raise a war, I don’t see the point of a Forsaken army. They are mindless killing machine.”

          “They are killing machines that are royals to their creators. Whoever blood is mixed within their own body will command them whether or not they accepted it. The Forsaken is dead creatures, but not quite dead. They are half-alive, half-dead. A thousand of Forsakens would only bring trouble to the entire world.”

           Sehun said nothing. Luhan’s explanation was true and clear enough. An army of the Forsaken would be a huge trouble for him. “Does the Children of the Moon know this? Has the Lykae heard about this situation?” The Lykae, the Children of the Moon was a less used term of werewolves.

           “You’d pray they haven’t,” Luhan grimly added.

           “I don’t pray,” Sehun replied in the same grief tone. He was far too lost and gone from the light to even remember when he last prayed. Sehun tried hard not to shiver when he thought about it.

           “From now on, keep a close watch to the city. Especially to the Marked ones. We need to be secretive and careful in handling this. No one can know of this but us two.”

A/N: If you're expecting instalove, love at the first sight, etc. sorry that's definitely NOT gonna happen. The system doesn't work like that. You don't fall for a stranger and not gonna marry one, either. Thank you for the understanding ^^