I see stars.

Little by little, I open up my eyes. At first, the stars seem beautiful. But then slowly, all of them fade away. The darkness swallowed them up, and soon I'm left alone there. I realize I'm curled up in a ball, on withered grass. I grogily get up, and I can see that I'm in a white nightgown. My mind was zoning out, and I was getting swallowed up by darkness.

" Don't fight it, baby..." a coo sounded at my right ear.

I whiped around, " Who's there ? " but there was no answer.

" It's all your fault ! " someone screamed into my left ear.

" What did I do wrong ?! " I yelled aimlessly. " Anyone ? "

" Now it's your turn ! "

" No ! " I covered my ears. " Pleasepleaseplease......I didn't know any of this would happen..."

I was kneeling on the ground, I was sobbing so hard. First thing's first, I didn't even know why I was crying. I felt like Snow White, trapped in the dark forest. Hopeless, lost, and frightened.

Then the winds suddenly got stronger, making me have goosebumps all over my body. Hence wearing nothing but a nightgown, I was jittering in coldness. " JOOHYUN ! "

I twisted and turned, desperately finding whoever was shouting out my name. 

Then I saw her.

My mom was lying on the ground, covered in a pool of blood. Her eyes were wide open, half dozed. I ran towards her, but some kind of invisible barrier stopped me from getting closer to her. " Mom ! " I was gasping for air.

At first it was silent, but-

" AHHHHHHHH ! " her eyes darted open when something was dragging at her legs. She was getting pulled away like in a horror movie, and I was witnessing it all. 

In a flash shock, I was in a room. A dark room, with only one light bulb shining onto a table. On the table, was a strange looking board. It had characters and numerals, plus illustrations of spirits. Creepy drawings of morning in excrutiating pain. The chair beside it automatically pushed itself away, as if beckoning me to sit.

My mind was clouded, and I did what I was told. I crept closer and sat down. On the board was a pendant, it was still and unmoving. 

" Little girl....little girl....why are you crying ? ......." a woman's voice whispered into my ear, sending shivers down my spine. Then I could feel a pair of cold hands rested on my shoulders.

I gupled. " You can tell me, and I will rid all your problems..." the voice kept telling me.

" I-I don't want to see anyone else dying. I-I d-don't want any more nightmares..." I stammered in fear.

The voice chuckled softly, but the grip on my shoulders were getting stronger. It was like nails digging into my skin...

" Death is inevitable..." she whispered. " It'll come to you, darling..."

" N-No ! " I sobbed. 

Her hand pulled my hair, making my head tilt down and my chin up. Cold sweat was trickling down my spine, and I was shaking again. 

" Jussssst like how you made me sssssuffer...." she hissed devishly. " How you left dear old mummy to die ! "

" I'm sorry ! I'm sorry ! Please !!! " I screamed and wailed. " I couldn't do anything ! " 

" Excussssses !!!! " and she slammed my head onto the table hard, making my head spin. 

I slowly raised my head, and found a trail of blood trickling down my forehead. I was losing breath, and I felt like dying out of fright. Again, I saw the ouija board. But this time, the pendant was moving. I stared as I spelled out what it was showing me filling me with dread...

YOU'RE NEXT...

Someone knocked over my chair, making me fall. It grabbed me by my hair and dragged me into the darkness...

I screamed and screamed.....

" AHHHHHHHHH ! " I woke up again, gasping for air. 

This by far, was the worst nightmare I had. Tears stained my cheek, and I was still sobbing. My bed covers were already messy, my pillows trashed and now scattered onto the floor. 

I didn't bother to clean up, but I stayed in bed. Rocking back and forth,I placed my head between my knees. I bit my lips, until they bled. I could taste the rusty taste in my mouth, it was horrible. But it wasn't as horrible as my nightmare, that was excrutiating...

I soothed my own chest, and steadied my breathing. I knew that even if it was scary, I'd know that wasn't my mom. She would never blame me for her death, it was just the idea of it that frightened me. 

Again, I took my coat and slipped out from the backdoor. I still wondered how the guards managed the security in the castle, when they never caught Junmyeon sneaking out at night. I was wearing slippers tonight, because I knew exactly where I wanted to go. 

I walked up the staircase in the lighthouse, even if it was the silent night. Techinically it was half an hour before four in the morning, but I cared less. I looked out the lookout tower, the salty sea breeze from the dock blowing into my face. I paced back and forth, lost in my own messed up mind. 

This place...it was the start of my unreal fantasy. Unreal, but wonderful. If I could have just one dream of a fairytale, it would beat all those nightmares that jolt me up every night. Gosh....I couldn't even describe the feeling I had at the moment...

It was lust, I was positive. I wasn't in love with Junmyeon, or I thought I was before. That kiss was bittersweet, tender but stinging. I counted down the seconds everytime he kissed me. The first, it was sweet and making me plunge into a awestruck dream. The second, it was heated but on edge. The third second, I woke up from that dream. 

I felt digusted of myself, how I was double-crossing everyone.

" Irene ! " I heard someone whisper out of nowhere.

I looked around, " Who's there ?! " I panicked.

A few pebbles landed on the lookout tower, I peered down. I squinted my eyes, the dock was full of boats. There was a fisherman, squatting near the bay. He was untagling a fishnet. Then I noticed his upper arm, engraved with a tattoo of a scorpion like drawing. 

I recognized that tattoo anywhere.

I literally flew down the stairs, and crept out to the dock. The fisherman was still there, still untying the fishnets. If my guess was wrong, I would be in such a mess. But I took my chances.

" Yi Fan ? " I called out.

The man was still for a second, but " I thought you forgot about me after all this time you spent in there. " he said and took off his hat.

It was him, in rags and filth. His face was the same, grim and still. The faint relief in his eyes never reached the rest of his face, but that was also the reason I knew he wasn't really mad. 

" I-I didn't expect you to be here, not at this time. " I stammered.

He smirked, " Hmm, and I think you're not that innocent. What are you doing outside at this time ? And in that ? "

I was aware I was only wearing a nightgown and a thin cardigan, I gulped. " Enough about me, what are you doing here ? " 

He looked around, " I think it's best we don't talk outside, it'll draw unwanted attention. " he took my hand. " C'mon. "

He took me into a yacht, and he closed the door from behind. The yacht was decent, and rich looking. I frowned at him, " Whose yacht is this ? " I asked him.

He walked over to the mini bar, and poured water into the glasses. " Some business man's, I don't know his name though. " he answered.

I gulped, " Then what did you do to him ? " 

" I killed him. " he simply said. like it was nothing.

I stood up, " Are you out of your mind ?! You killed an innocent man ? How could you ? "

" It's none of your concern, Irene. " he said as he approached me, handing me a glass of water. " That man wasn't worth sparing-"

I jerked away, sending the glass propelling and shattering onto the wall. " This, was not part of the plan. You never said anyone else was going to die in this game, you liar ! "

He jabbed a finger at me, now he really looked offended. " Don't you act so mighty ! You're part of this too, Bae Joohyun. You should've known the casualties when you agreed to this. Making this work without sacrificing other lives, it's impossible. " 

" You should've told me from the start ! " I hissed. " At least, let me have an early preparation or something. "

" For what ? " he hissed back. " So you could kiss your prince charming a last goodbye ? "

My hands went numb, " What did you say ? "

He glared at me and slumped onto the couch, chugging down the contents from his glass -which I noticed wasn't water, but white wine. I looked closely, his cheeks were a little scarlet. He looked slightly drunk, I was sure of that.

" How much have you been drinking ? " I whispered, not daring to look at him.

He scoffed, " Wanna know how I know what's going on ? Trust me, just like how I know you'd be out here. The surveilance cameras can be hacked any moment, I know where you go. "

I backed away, " You put a tracker on me ? "

He didn't answer, " That was just in case you were in danger. "

I snorted, " More like to keep an eye on me every second. "

" And a good thing too. " he said. " So, I hope you haven't forgotten about your job ? "

I pursed my lips, " N-no, what makes you say that ? "

" You seem to be getting, attached to the prince. Or was it just realistic acting ? " 

I walked away, so he couldn't see the colour draining from my face. " You've known me for half of my life, you should know that I would do anything for Jinnie. And I will, if the Infected are coming. "

He nodded, " But, I also know that you have a nack for feelings. Don't let them fool you, Irene. They're the least important to care about, you have to focus. "

I nodded, " I know, and I never forgot. "

" Good, and now that's settled, I'll make sure you do your job. And I'll call you over when I need to, you'll get the signal. "

I woke up in my bed the next morning, but that meeting was still clear as water in my head.

Yi Fan was right, I had to focus. 

I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was saving my people outside the wall.

That fairytale had to be forgotten.