Warning: guns, violence

Vera did not know where the mysterious little package had come from, but she was suspicious.  She hesitantly poked it with the kitchen scissors.  “It’s addressed to me, but it says it was shipped from Japan,” she said as she examined the box warily.

“And you swear that you don’t order stuff online when you sleepwalk,” Sienna said.

“I don’t sleepwalk,” Vera said.  “I just have vivid recurring dreams.  Plus, none of my accounts show any money lost that I didn’t spend, and Mom and Dad haven’t said anything about unexplained spending.”

“Just checking,” Sienna said.  “I say open it.  Maybe you got something cool for free.”

“I’m not opening it if I don’t know what it is,” Vera insisted.

“Fine, then I’ll open it,” Sienna said as she walked into the kitchen.  She shook the box lightly, and a clatter sounded.

“Don’t shake it!  What if it’s dangerous?” Vera squeaked.

“Honey, I don’t think you know anyone who might want to kill you over the winter holidays,” Sienna said.  “Hand me the scissors.  I’ll open it for you.  Maybe it’s from a secret admirer?”

“In Japan?” Vera asked.

“Maybe he or she’s an anime lover and bought you some fan merchandise?” Sienna suggested.  “There!”  She pulled open the cardboard box and brushed away the foam peanuts to reveal a small box, neatly wrapped in red Christmas paper with a little yellow bow and tag.  “Hm, it says ‘Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from your secret admirers.’  Hey, it’s plural!  So, there’s more than one guy out there who recognizes that you’re pretty, smart, and generally pretty cool.  Got any ideas who the lover boys are?”

“No,” said Vera.

“Do you recognize the writing?” Sienna asked as she pushed the tag in front of Vera’s face.

“No,” said Vera.

“Ah, well,” Sienna said with a sigh.  “Well, this is going under the tree for now.  And you know that I’ll make you open it on Christmas morning!”

“I know,” Vera said, letting out her own sigh.

“Is the dream getting better?” Sienna asked.  “Any new plot or characters?”

“No,” Vera said.  “It’s very confusing.  It’s like I’m in one world, but I’m conscious of a number of other worlds all at the same time.  However, when I wake up, I never remember any of them.  Yet I know they exist because that’s how I know one of the guys is an amazing singer, another is both my brother but not, and another used to be able to control fire.”

“That does sound a complicated,” Sienna said, nodding.  “Do the feelings of being trapped and neglected still run high?”

“Yes,” Vera said.

“Have you figured out what happened in the end?” Sienna asked.

“I think I die,” Vera said.  “I’m sick, and I just don’t go to the doctor because none of us have enough money.  So I pass out when I’m teaching, and then I’m in the hospital surrounded by everyone, and then, well, nothing.”

“Wow,” said Sienna.  “That’s depressing.”

“I know,” Vera said.  She paused, wanting to change the subject.  “It’s only a few more days until Christmas.  Do you think that Mom and Dad will be back in time for Christmas Eve?”

“You know them,” Sienna said with a sigh.  “They’ll come waltzing in with some exotic presents at the last minute, we’ll all go to Grandma and Gramps’ house, they’ll make us all go to church, we’ll eat a big dinner, and, overall, we’ll all have a blast.”

Sienna was right, as she usually was.  Their mother and father came home a few hours before the girls were ready to head over to their grandparents’ house by themselves.  Boxes of assorted sizes were placed under the tree before they all headed out together in some semblance of a normal, close-knit family.

The next morning, after a good night of a meaningful homily, the holy celebration of the true meaning of Christmas, and an extremely satisfying dinner cooked by the Rossi family matriarch, Vera was woken by Sienna’s childish giggles.  “Is it seven?” Vera asked sleepily.

“You bet!” Sienna cheered.  “Let’s get our stockings!”

Vera picked up Revan and took him with her into the living room.  Sienna was as giddy as a six-year-old as she unhooked her and her sister’s stockings from their places and brought them to the couch.  Then she grabbed the mysterious little box from the ‘secret admirers’ and dumped it on her lap.  Vera smiled at her sister and asked, “So, what do we open first?”

“Stockings obviously,” said Sienna.  “It’s tradition.

Five minutes, a few boxes of candy, some makeup, and a number of cute trinkets later, the stockings were back up in their proper places.  The sisters enjoyed their sweets a few minutes more before Sienna turned to Vera.  “Open it,” she said.

“But…” Vera started hesitantly.

“Oh, hush up,” Sienna said.  “You open it, or I will!”

Vera sighed and tugged on the yellow ribbon, which slipped off easily.  She carefully pulled at the tape so as not to rip any of the paper.  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sienna watching, most likely thinking along the lines of “Seriously?”, but she continued her delicate work.  Finally she revealed what looked like a nice box with what had to be Japanese writing on it.  She pulled the top off.

“It’s a necklace,” Vera said, tipping the box to show Sienna.

“What is that, an opal?” Sienna asked, surprised.  “No, wait, it’s too translucent for that.  A moonstone, maybe?”

Vera looked at the necklace.  It was simple, with a sturdy but elegant silver chain and a single small teardrop-shaped stone that was a light iridescent blue and white in the light.  Whatever the stone was, the necklace was sweet, simple, and exactly her style.

“These secret admirers of yours know you well,” Sienna said with a grin.  “This is just so you, I can’t even believe it!”

“Do you find it a little creepy that someone out there knew exactly what I like?” Vera asked.

“I find it awesome that you got a sweet gift that seems perfectly to your taste,” Sienna said.  “Stop overthinking it and be grateful!  Maybe you should look for your secret sweetheart next semester.”

Vera nodded.  Maybe she was being a silly.  “Here, let me put it on for you.”  Sienna took the necklace and clipped it around Vera’s neck.  “There!  It really is perfect.  Now let’s go get Mom and Dad so we can open the rest of our presents.”

The next hour passed easily.  The girls found themselves with new clothes, accessories, and shoes from around the world.  “Now, we have a very special present for the two of you,” their mother said.  “See, your father and I are going to be traveling a lot around this time next year.  Sienna, I know this won’t affect you so much, but Vera, you’ll be needing a break from medical school, so we’re going to send you both on a nice long winter vacation that spans the entire winter holidays.  Sienna, we know you’ve loved our stays in Italy, so we’ve arranged for an upscale apartment in Milan for the month.  Of course, you’ll be free to go anywhere on the Italian peninsula during that time, as well as around the neighboring countries.”

While Sienna danced around the room for joy, their father turned to Vera.  “Your mother and I did some research on your new school, and you have a four-week break between your fall and spring semesters. Now, we would send you to China so that you can explore your place of birth, but we don’t have as many contacts there as we do in other parts of Asia, so we found you a flat in Tokyo.  Because of your break constraints, our stay will be from the 16^th of December to the 6^th of January, when you’ll board the plane to return to the states.  You’ll be free to travel around, even to places on the east coast of China and as far south as Indonesia if you wish, but your home base will be in Japan.”

“Thank you, Dad,” Vera said, smiling.

“Oh my gosh, I’m going to Italy!” Sienna cheered.  “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”  Turning to Vera, she said, “You and I are going shopping, do you hear me?  And I won’t let you talk me out of it ‘cause you need a new wardrobe to look totally fashionable in Japan!”

Christmas festivities went throughout the day and long into the night, but Vera found herself growing tired just after dinner.  Sienna took one look at her and told Vera to go to bed and sleep off the stress of final exams.  Vera was happy to obey.  Changing into her pajamas, she set her new necklace on the nightstand next to her bed before slipping under the covers.

~*\_/*~

She was being chased.  Everything was a blur, but she could clearly hear the footsteps of at least three men.  Sharply turning a corner, she cursed the fact that she was in a rickety apartment building.  She pulled her revolvers from their holsters, making sure that they were filled.  Her keen ear told her when her pursuers were within firing range.  She flicked the safety on both guns and jerked herself around the corner, prepared to shoot.

“No, no, no, we’re not here to hurt you!”  Jeonghye fired, but purposefully hit the ground in front of her chasers.  She recognized them, those five boys who were not quite men, her strange constant shadows who would not leave her alone.  Each was armed, though their weapons were not at the ready.  The one at whose feet she had aimed skittered back, almost comically.  Jeonghye would have snickered if the situation was not five against one.

“That’s what they all say,” she said, keeping her revolvers poised.  “What part of ‘leave me alone’ do you fellows not understand?”

“You don’t understand!” another said.  “Your life is in serious danger!  You may not know us now, but please trust us!”

“No one can trust anyone in this harsh world,” Jeonghye said bitterly.  “The last time that happened, my dad’s ‘comrade’ killed my mother and nearly killed him.”

“But we were your family once,” a different boy said.  “Please remember,” he pleaded.

“What is there to remember about five stalkers who for some strange reason claim to care?” Jeonghye asked.  “Can you give me a legitimate reason for not putting a bullet in each of your pathetic bodies?”

“How could any of us tell you goodbye after all we’ve been through?” asked the one whose hair was spiked up in the middle.

“You say it like you expect me to feel something about a figment of your imagination,” Jeonghye said coldly.  “I’m finished here.  Leave me, and don’t come back.  This is the last time I won’t shoot you on first sight.”

“But-”

The tallest boy held the one who had spoken back.  “Let’s leave her alone,” he murmured.  “There’s nothing we can do without trust.”

She blinked, and she was wrapped in blankets lying on a bed in a strange room.  In a brief moment of panic, she checked her belt.  Her arsenal was still in place.  Looking around, she took in the sparse apartment room.  There was a nightstand with a glass of water and a pitcher filled with half-melted ice next to her.  The windows were boarded and barred, the wallpaper was peeling.  Jeonghye sat up and swung her legs around to stand, but instantly succumbed to lightheadedness.

After giving it a minute to pass, she stood.  She still felt unsteady, as if she had been lying down for more than a day.  Stumbling over to one of the two doors, she found it locked.  Drawing her revolver, she made her way to the other door.  This one was unlocked, and she opened it.  Cringing as it squeaked noisily, she flicked the safety.

“Ah, you’re awake.”  The familiar deep voice made Jeonghye bite her lip in dismay.

“You,” she said, pointing her revolver at him.  “Why am I here?  What have you done to me?”

“You were being kidnapped,” he said.  “My friends and I, we beat them up and took you here to recuperate.  They must have used a very high dosage of chloroform or ether, as you’ve been unconscious for about two days.”

“Why should I believe you?” Jeonghye asked.

“You’re armed,” he said.  “I’m not.  And my friends are sleeping.”  He gestured to the pile of the four other boys lying on the floor with blankets draped over them.

Jeonghye considered this and lowered her revolver.  “Fine,” she said.

“I don’t believe we’ve ever had the chance to properly introduce ourselves,” the not-asleep young man said.  “I’m Seunghyun Choi.  The one with shaggy brown hair is Daesung Kang, the one with plain black hair is Seungri Lee, the one with his hair brushed up in the middle is Youngbae Dong, and the one with longer black hair is Jiyong Kwon.”

“I have a feeling you already know me, but I’m Jeonghye Sim,” Jeonghye said.  “Why am I of such interest to you all?  Are you trying to get in my good graces so that my father will extend his protection to you?”

“Your father’s network has a rat,” Seunghyun said.  “That’s how those thugs were able to get you.  His protection wouldn’t last long; his underground empire won’t last long now.”

Jeonghye frowned.  “How do you know this?”

“We have to make our living too,” Seunghyun said.

“You lot are information dealers,” Jeonghye said.

“Yes,” Seunghyun said.  “As long as we don’t have to kill to get our information.  But we usually don’t have to.  Our two youngest have ways of being very convincing.”

Jeonghye raised an eyebrow but did not address that particular comment.  “You didn’t answer my first question,” she said.  “Why are you interested in me, the daughter of a man whose power will apparently soon crumble?”

“You’ve been special to us for a long time,” Seunghyun said.  “It’s very difficult to explain if you don’t believe in reincarnation.  You wouldn’t happen to, would you?”

Jeonghye scoffed.  “Please.  That’s ridiculous.  You’d have to have some really solid proof to convince me and the rest of the world that it’s not a load of hogwash.”

Seunghyun nodded.  “I see.  Well, I’ll tell you our side and you can choose to laugh at us or not.  See, we knew you in quite a few past lives, and you’re very precious to us.  However, fate has cruelly prevented us all from living our lives.  Some seer or some other mystic told us that we were randomly chosen to be tested, and that until we can get everyone to live past the age of twenty-five, we’re going to keep being reincarnated.”

“I don’t think you could convince an impressionable little kid who still believes in magic that what you just said is true,” Jeonghye said flatly.

“I had a very difficult time believing it too when I finally started to remember,” Seunghyun said, nodding.

“What convinced you?” Jeonghye asked drily.

“The dreams,” answered Seunghyun.

“Yes, dreams always are very convincing, aren’t they?” Jeonghye commented.

“You don’t believe me,” Seunghyun said.

“Of course not,” Jeonghye said.  “I now know that not only are you information-dealing stalkers, but also you’re all crazy.”

Seunghyun nodded.  “I understand,” he said.

“Then I’ll be going,” Jeonghye said.

“It’s about four in the morning,” Seunghyun said.  “If you’d like, I can you out.”

“Just give me approximate coordinates of where we are and I’ll show myself out,” Jeonghye said.

“I can’t convince you to stay for breakfast?” Seunghyun asked.

“I won’t impose,” Jeonghye said, though that was not her concern at all.  The less time she had to spend around the bunch of crazy guys, the happier (and safer) she would feel.

Seunghyun nodded and went to fetch her a coat.  Jeonghye checked it thoroughly, and found it held many small weapons.  “It’s Youngbae’s,” Seunghyun said.  “It’ll still be big on you even though he’s the smallest of us.”

“You’re giving me his coat?” Jeonghye asked.

“He wouldn’t want you walking out in the night without something to keep you warm,” Seunghyun said.  “Remember, if you ever are in a tough spot or need information, just let us know and we’ll do whatever we can to help you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jeonghye said, though she had no intention of calling on them.  “What’s the nearest landmark?”

“The water tower west of the city,” Seunghyun said.  Jeonghye did not bother with any sort of farewell as she left the apartment.

Suddenly she was being chased.  Again.  But this time it was not her five crazy stalkers.  Jeonghye shoved another round into her revolver, flicked the safety, and fired over her shoulder.  She heard a few colorful words as she reached the stairwell.  Should she risk going down and letting them have the high ground?  Or should she go up and be trapped?  Granted, the streets were not safe either, but the on the top of a building there were not many places to run.

It was less exerting to go down the stairs, Jeonghye decided.  She could not afford to have a coughing fit in the middle of a life or death situation. She darted down, letting her hand brush over the railing to keep her balance.  She fired up when she heard her pursuers reach the stairs.  They faltered at her shots, stopping to reload.  Taking advantage of this, Jeonghye ran.

The door at the bottom of the stairs opened.  Jeonghye let a few colorful words of her own flit through her head.  Now she was trapped in the building.  She took the nearest door and ran into the fourth floor halls.  Of course she had to be helping her father with an errand in an older building with only one set of stairs and no good cover.

“You’d better be right about this, Daesung,” she heard a male voice say in the stairwell.

“Did you or did you not hear the shots?” asked another.  “Of course he’s right.”

Of course.  The five crazies had found her again.  She really was on a bad luck streak.  She reached the end of the hall, where a big window with thick glass was her only exit.  She could not risk breaking the glass now, as that would alert her followers.  There was an old armchair at the end of the hall next to a desk with an old phone.  Jeonghye pushed these into a barricade to crouch behind and reloaded her guns.

There was a commotion in the stairwell now.  Her pursuers had run into the five crazies and realized that there was no way that Jeonghye could have left without running into them.  There was shouting and several shots, followed by cries of pain.  Jeonghye almost felt bad.  But then again, no one had asked them to get involved.  If they lost men, it was their fault.

“No!  Jiyong, you’ll burn the place down!” she heard someone yell.  “Leave it to me and Seunghyun.  You three go find her and get her out of here.”

Somehow they knew exactly where to find her.  “I’ve got the window,” said Jiyong.  “Stand back.”

“Don’t turn us into toast, please,” Seungri said.

“You know I’m better than that,” Jiyong said.  He fired a few shots into the glass before putting his gun away, pulling back his suddenly burning red fists, and punching.  The window shattered out in a terrific shower of glass.

The noise brought people to investigate.  Jeonghye ducked behind the desk with Daesung while Seungri took cover behind the armchair with Jiyong.  “We’re gonna have to make a break for it,” Seungri said.  “That window will have brought people on the streets running.  We gotta go now before the dangerous ones get here.  I’ve got your backs.”

Jeonghye fired a few shots before dropping down.  “We’re on the fourth floor and there’s glass on the street below, and you want to jump?!” she hissed.  “Are you crazy?!”

“No, just lucky,” said Seungri.  “Go.  I’ve got you covered.”

“Trust him,” said Daesung.  “Let’s go.”

“You’d better follow right behind us, Ri,” Jiyong ordered.  A strong burst of light blazed through the hall.

“Just go,” Seungri insisted.  “See?  Bae and Hyun are almost here.”

“Fine.”  Jiyong let Seungri pat his shoulder before he jumped out the window.  Daesung did as well, and Jeonghye followed.  The fall was terrifyingly short, and the impact was rough but surprisingly only bruising.

“Where is he?  What’s taking him so long?” Jiyong muttered as Jeonghye and Daesung filled their guns and scanned their surroundings.

“We have to move, Ji,” Daesung said.  “There’s a bunch of people coming from the north end, and they don’t feel friendly.”

Seunghyun jumped out the window holding Seungri.  Youngbae held on to his shoulder as the taller boy took the impact.  The two shifted Seungri so that he was on Seunghyun’s back.  Jeonghye could see where the younger boy had been shot in the back.  Then Seunghyun grabbed her arm and took off running.  He was surprisingly strong, even for someone of his size.  “Bae and I’ve got our backs,” she heard Jiyong call.

“Sniper!” Daesung gasped, looking up.  Seunghyun muttered something as he kept moving.

“I’m slowing you down,” Seungri said weakly.  “Just leave me.  You know there’s no coming back for me this time.”

“We live and die together,” Seunghyun said firmly.  “You know that.”

Behind them, flashes of bright light and strong fire blazed.  Then the shots began.  Jeonghye counted about four shots before she felt a sharp pain in her side.  She started coughing, and it was an ugly, wet cough.  Next to her, Daesung cried out as he stumbled.  Seunghyun grabbed his arm as well, dragging them both along.  Then there was a burst of pain in her head, then nothing.

~*\_/*~

Vera woke with a start, gasping as if she had just been running.  Her head was throbbing, and the side of her right ribcage was aching.  For an instant she had an impulse to check if her revolvers were in their holsters where they belonged, and if her ammunition pouches were full, but then she remembered that she did not own any objects more dangerous that steak knives, and those were family property that were kept in the kitchen.  She looked at her clock and saw that it was almost six in the morning.  Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she settled back down into a restless sleep.

Meanwhile, all the way across the Pacific Ocean, Daesung stopped suddenly in the middle of his sentence.  “What is it?” Youngbae asked.

Daesung shook his head.  “It’s nothing,” he said.  “For some reason, I started flashing back to the real version of ‘Tell Me Goodbye.’”

“It’s only eleven; you can’t be sleepy yet,” Seungri said.

“No, it was really weird,” Daesung said.  “Never mind, it’ll pass.”

“Don’t go to sleep now,” Seunghyun advised.  “That one didn’t end well.”

“That’s an understatement,” Jiyong said as the mood in the room fell.

“It’s the past,” Youngbae said quietly.  “It hasn’t happened like that since.”

“This time she’s seems so nervous, though,” Daesung said.  “What if we can’t convince her like that time?  What if the dreams scare her off?  Maybe we shouldn’t have sent the moonstone…”

“It’s going to be okay, hyung,” Seungri said.  “We’ve got me!”

“Your power has limits and we can’t always rely on luck,” Jiyong said.

“Well, unfortunately, for now we have to,” said Seunghyun.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now,” said Youngbae.  “We’ll just have to wait until the next time we go to America.”

“There’s incentive to do another world tour,” Seungri cheered.  “So let’s start planning!  How about next year?”

“Don’t be silly,” Seunghyun said.  “You know the likelihood of that is about as good as the likelihood of Papa YG dying his hair pink.”

I’M STILL ALIVE!!!  It’s been kinda crazy, with this being my first semester in college.  I was so jealous when Big Bang came within about 3 or 4 hours driving distance for MADE but I couldn’t go because no one I know wanted to drive to that particular area because it has a bad rep for street safety (not that I blame them for that…)!  Anyway, I hope this chapter is decent quality.

By the way, does anyone want the OC/you to be paired up with a specific Big Bang member?  Because I’m good her to end up with anyone, or even none of them if you love all of the boys too much.  The story can work out any way.  Let me know!

Disclaimer: I do not know how any specific medical school works.  I did a little googling and came up with a couple answers.

Please leave any comments, constructive criticism, pointing out of typos and grammatical errors, etc.  I would love to have other readers and writers advice in order to improve my writing – I’ll take everything with elegance, except for thoughtless flames.