It’s not funny to wake up with your best friend shouting at you and pulling you up and dragging you away. First of all, my mind can’t function after 2 minutes of waking up. Second, I don’t like being forced to wake up then screamed at.

I hate that.

I hate him. Ugh.

“Hurry up, midget!” Kris rushed as he ran to identical looking corridors.

I don’t know how many times I almost tripped and staggered and almost threw up. You know those moments when you stand up too quickly and you feel like the world is spinning and it’s like you’re high? Think of experiencing that while running.

, right?

I clutched my stomach and took a deep breath as I nearly collapsed on a wall. I swallowed the bile that was threatening to leave my throat as I felt my eyes water.

“Taeyeon! Come on!” Kris exclaimed, pausing and beckoning me to go.

“Chill, you stupid freakin blonde ape! Do you want me to throw up?” I groaned as I gasped for air.

“Shut up and come on! You didn’t see Changmin….” His face darkened and I felt the hairs at the back of my neck raise.

I have no idea what happened, but if Kris was panicking like that, then I know it’s something serious.

He shook his head and ran towards me, pulling me up. “Are you okay now? Can you run? Come on!”

I cursed as I bit my tongue and ran after him. My short rest had only given me enough time to run for 5 more minutes until I almost collapsed again.

“Where the hell are we even going?” I gritted my teeth.

“To Yesung hyung.”

My ears perked up and I raised my head. “Yesung oppa? Why?”

He looked around cautiously before answering. “Your… locket. Aish. You’ll know when we get there! There might be someone listening. Come on, Tae!”

Don’t make me hit you, I grumbled under my breath as I held my breath and continued to run.

“Hyung!” Kris burst through the doors of the Curse Professor’s office, and as I entered, I felt like I went back in time.

Everything was made of wood, and I think the only modern thing inside was this pool table. Bookshelves and cabinets containing biographies, autobiographies, history books, forks, figurines and other random things like a jack in the juke box, dolls, mirrors, broken watches and small paintings greeted us. Those surrounded the main desk. Even the desk was vintage as hell. Probably made of oak wood, a lamp was on the side, thick books beside it. There was a neatly arranged set of pens beside a brass telescope (what the hell is this for?) that was next to an old but miraculously working clock.

The fireplace was bright and brought warmth inside the room, a painting of an archangel above it. More bookshelves and cabinets. Scrolls and parchment paper were stacked on one shelf alone with boxes containing who knows what.

Weird.

The professor was casually sitting on a leather chair that looked like it had been favored by Sherlock Holmes. He held a glass of wine (I could smell) in one hand and a book with the other. He looked at us with wide eyes.

“Yes?”

“Hyung!” Kris approached him. “Did you receive Changmin hyung’s message?”

He stared at us blankly before setting down the glass and book. “I’m afraid not yet. I haven’t had the time to check the window.”

Window?

He stood and approached the biggest window in the room. He knocked on it 3 times, paused then knocked twice.

The hell?

He then opened the window and a cluster of owls and crows and other birds swarmed the windowsill. Sounds of chirping and scratching AND ANNOYING PECKING echoed throughout the room and I thought I would get sick again.

“Changmin, Changmin, Changmin, ah! Here is it. Triton,” he grinned victoriously as he removed the knot of a paper tied on a large barn owl’s leg.

Who even does that these days? I mean seriously? Owls?

Oppa’s eyes moved left to right as he scanned the content of the letter. He stared at the paper after reading it, then reread it again. After doing so, his gaze flicked to me, then to the necklace. “Oh dear,” he frowned and quickly moved towards me. “Come with me, Kim.”

The aloof person I had nearly cursed at before was gone as soon as I heard him command me with a stern voice.

“Close the doors,” he said curtly, and Kris immediately complied. Meanwhile, the professor closed the window.

I blinked at them.

He checked around before pulling two books aside. He inserted his hand in the gap and I heard a faint click! There was a short rumbling of the ground and I thought an earthquake struck the school.

I grabbed on the nearby chair and braced myself. Then it was gone. I coughed the dust and waved my hand in front of me.

“What are you kids waiting for?” He raised a brow at us and descended to the dark path that I figured was a hidden passage.

I put the pieces together and realized that the mini earthquake before had been the passage opening. My brows crinkled.

“Taeyeon. Come on,” Kris waved.

“I’m coming, sheesh,” I rolled my eyes at him as I went towards the black route. I unconsciously gulped as I went in, Kris following close behind.

The mini earthquake was back, and in less than 30 seconds, we were shrouded in darkness. I panicked for a few moments because I didn’t know where I was. I bumped on the wall, bumped on Kris, who grunted, and bumped on other things like a torch.

Wait, a torch?

“Calm down,” Yesung sighed and snapped his fingers. On cue, the torch I bumped into came to life, illuminating the once dim corridor. Several other torches lit up one after the other, and finally, I could see where I was going.

“Where are we going, Sir?” I asked as I followed his figure.

“To the dungeons.”

I nearly fell down. “Dungeons?!”

The dungeons were where all the creatures were kept and maintained. The zoo for them. They were jailed in four walls of transparent bulletproof glass.

I only got into the dungeons when I was in my first year, doing a dare from a friend to enter the dungeons and search for a werewolf. I managed to do it, but then I got detention for a week.

Now, years later, I wonder if there are things that changed.

xoxo

The first thing that hit me was the wave of sound and smell. It was chaotic as soon as I found light at the end of the corridor. Literally.

Everything was white at first, but then something squealed, something roared, something shrieked, then something smelled.

At first the smell was pleasant; grass and nature. Then it shifted to the smell of wet dog, caves, vomit, then mud, then blood and corpse.

“Welcome to the haven.” He raised his arms and motioned everywhere.

There wasn’t enough time for him to give us a tour. He walked with large strides, Kris on par with him. Those giants. With them speed walking like that, I was forced to run.

The professor turned around the corner and disappeared. Kris followed. I ran again and when I rounded I almost bumped with the 6 foot baboon.

“Be careful!” He hissed at me and I punched his arm.

“Here we are,” Oppa gave a tight smile.

I peeked and saw a hunched figure bent at the corner of the cell. I pointed at it. “What the hell?”

“Language, Kim,” he narrowed his eyes at me. I sighed and urged him to answer.

“This is an old witch, a hag. Surely if what Changmin stated in the letter is true, then only a witch can distinguish it.”

“Distinguish what?” I prompted.

“You’re the owner of the necklace,” he frowned.

I looked at Kris and he shrugged. “You told me you’ll explain it to me when we get there. We got there. We’re here. Spill.”

So he did. He explained that after I passed out he had discovered the necklace. He searched for a clasp but there was none. When he tried to open it, a voice echoed in his mind and told him to go away.

I grew dizzy at the story, and by the time he finished, I was already sitting on the floor with my head in my hands.

“Yah!” Yesung tapped the glass.

The figure’s head turned and immediately I saw flashing red eyes. “What do you want,” the voice was shrill and ancient, the voice of someone that had gotten past a lot of obstacles in life.

“Hag, we have a question,” Yesung pushed some buttons on a panel I didn’t notice before. On the glass, a shape formed and shifted and seconds later there was a hole on the wall.

We entered inside, and I almost wanted to immediately run out even though I was a complete mess. The air was freakin cold and I thought I was in the freezer and there was no way out. It felt like I was being watched even though I know there were only four of us inside. I felt overpowered by something I can’t explain. I felt chained down and trapped. Trapped in a box that had no holes.

I was suffocating.

Using the remaining drop of my strength to look at Yesung oppa and Kris. The former looked unfazed and Kris was pale as paper, and I could clearly see him shaking.

“Stop, hag,” the teacher stomped his foot and the room shook.

“Impressive,” the creature said with amusement lifting its voice. “Such few humans survive that.”

As soon as the words left I could suddenly breathe. I welcome the air in my lungs greedily, in every oxygen I could.

I heard Kris let out a loud grunt as he dropped down to the ground. His blonde hair stuck on his forehead and a sheen layer of sweat was layered on his neck. I guess trying to hold on that long without collapsing took a toll in his body.

“Idiot,” I managed to stick my tongue out.

“Weakling,” he responded as he gave me a cocky smirk.

“No time for fooling around, children.” The older guy made us shut up. “Kim, go to her.”

I obliged and went towards the creature with cautious steps. My eyes went back to the two other males behind me. Kris was looking at the hag suspiciously as the professor was looking intently at me.

“Go give her your necklace.”

“I can’t take it off.

“Then just go closer. Let her see. Let her inspect it.”

“What if she kills her?” Kris interrupted, stepping forward.

“Just let me be, ape. I can do this,” I pushed on, giving him a short glare before bringing my attention back to the creature.

She was facing me, and at first I saw nothing but black. Pitch black with a shape. Then I could finally make out the arms, with handcuffs restricting its wrists. Thin limbs that were not proportional to its large head. Its hair was silver and yet there was traces of green and red and I wasn’t sure if the red was blood or something but it creeped me out.

She grinned and I thought I would faint.

Rows of uneven teeth greeted me and I really wanted to back out now.

But I couldn’t.

Because, for some reason, the necklace didn’t want me to.

It hovered in front of me, tugging my neck and moving towards the creature.

“W-wait, stop,” I panicked, grabbing the nonagon and tried to root my feet on the ground and looked helplessly at the other two.

“What’s wrong, Taeyeon?” Kris called out.

“The necklace! It won’t stop moving to the thing!”

“Wait!”

But it was too late.

The hag had grabbed my necklace already, and a strong wind blew past us and I saw the thing in front of me take a deep breath.

The hag’s dark eyes sparkled with warmth that I never thought would appear.

It smiled again.

“Yuri…”

Authors’ Note:

Lu-Yoon12: Helloooooooo! We’re finally back! I apologize for being so late >< I lost my internet connection for a while and then our school also started. School is as busy as hell. It is only our 2^nd week but we already covered 2-4 quizzes and 2 performance outputs, not to mention that Pugnny and I are training for extra school activities. So really, I’m sorry! We didn’t mean to neglect this story!

Also, thank you for the new subbies and those who commented, I’m sorry I cannot reply to you guys because I can only use internet through my phone, which makes it hard for me to connect to my computer. Thank you guys for sticking with us!

LeFabulousPugnny: HABHASASHDSHDSHDHASDGHAD I LOVE SCHOOL WE LOVESCHOOL SCHOOL IS GREAT SCHOOL IS KEWL. Lol yes I’m sorry this chap got so late. School, as per usual, took all our remaining life force. (But lol yes we are still alive. Whats that song again? IM STILL ALIVE BUT IM BARELY BREAAATHINNNNN. YOLO)

So yes back to yes yes where yes WE’RE GONNA TRY TO UPDATE FASTER ISTG ISTG. *stabs school activities and raises sword* LETS DO THIS!