Once Jimin and Joy had been reunited, the group waited for Jimin to be directed again by the green smoke. “We need something that we can use to win the war against the werewolves and Hyuna and those hybrids…” Jimin shut his eyes, his fingers fluttering to the sides of his head as if he had a headache. “…What can we use? Please help me, green smoke…”

Joy shivered. It would take awhile to get used to hearing Jimin pray to the green smoke. Did anyone truly understand the depths of evil that thing held?

“This place has a weird way of getting inside your head and tempting you,” said J-Hope, interrupting the human girl’s thoughts. “We came here to get power, to become stronger with the spirit of the Dream World and by drinking the absinthe, but…the absinthe causes hallucinations. It makes us see things, see colors. I’m sure you’ve noticed that. Look around, Joy. Do you see all those colors?”

She glanced around, taking in the vibrant swirl of azure, alabaster, and apricot that seemed to envelop over everything, as if it would swallow the entire place whole. She nodded. “I see it.”

“We see those colors because of the absinthe. I believe we woke up in different places because the Dream World wanted to separate our group. We’re weaker on our own. And this place is filled with all sorts of evil, Joy. We all need to stick together and work as a group. But…” J-Hope’s brows furrowed, lines creasing his forehead in worry. “I’m worried sick about V. The evil is taking him over, bit by bit, until there’ll be nothing left of the V we know and love.”

Joy couldn’t imagine how the Bangtan clan felt in regards to what V was doing here. They had filled her soon after finding her, and she would be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t terrified at the thought of what harm V was capable of bringing upon their group. He had already tried to hurt Jungkook. Suga had told her that souls who died here became trapped forever; they could neither go to heaven nor hell, rather, they would float around here for all of eternity. It was a fate much more cruel than being a vampire. How would any of them stay safe in the Dream World now? Would this green smoke really protect them? Joy couldn’t wash away the bad feeling that was twisting her insides.

“I know what we have to do,” Jimin announced suddenly, making everyone turn their heads to stare at him. His eyes were filled with an eerie green light, and green smoke enveloped his body, curling around his head as if it would swallow him like prey. “There is a key to the laboratory and a sword that we must retrieve before leaving the Dream World. The sword was forged from a special kind of black magic long ago and is the only existing weapon that can kill the hybrids. They are located in one place. But…” Jimin frowned. He wasn’t looking directly at any of his friends. His eyes were focused on something faraway, something only he could see. Joy realized that the green smoke made him see visions, and that was how he gained his knowledge.

“But what?” prompted RM anxiously.

“V does not want us to use it.”

“Why is he trying to make us lose the war? I just don’t understand any of this!” Suga cursed and kicked the ground hard with his shoe, sending pebbles flying into the distance.

Jimin’s eyes widened, a look of horror crossing his face, as the green light in his eyes burned even brighter. It was creeping Joy out. She understood that the green smoke was helping them win the war, but she hated the way it controlled Jimin.

“V enjoys the power the Dream World has spoiled him with,” Jimin hissed through clenched teeth. “He lives for it. He will never give it up. The evil has promised to make him a God of the Dream World, the reigning king, only if he feeds our souls to the darkness by killing us. So he doesn’t want us to get what we need and leave. He’s going to try to kill us.”

“V would never do that!” J-Hope cried.

“That isn’t V!” Jimin snarled, snapping his head towards J-Hope. “V has been possessed by the evil spirits of the Dream World. They’ve taken him over, and they control his mind like he’s their puppet.”

“Sounds a lot like someone else right now,” J-Hope muttered under his breath, glaring at Jimin.

“I shall lead us to retrieve the items we seek. Follow my lead.” Jimin moved swiftly under the swirl of colors in the sky, walking in silence. RM and Suga followed at his heels, with Joy and Jungkook in the middle, and J-Hope was at the back, protecting the two humans should danger come their way.

They finally reached their destination. It was an ice cave that was illuminated with every single color belonging to the spectrum. Icicles hung from every direction and sparkled in shades of aqua and mint green. The cave seemed to stretch on forever, an endless ice paradise filled with magic and wonder. Fascination glittered in Joy’s eyes as she followed behind RM and Suga. This place was incredible. She had never seen anything quite like it.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” RM smiled. “I read of this place in the spell book that witch gave V a long time ago. Apparently it would lure souls in with its enchanting beauty and magic, but it went on forever. The souls would grow cold, tired, and hungry, and they would get lost trying to find their way inside this ice cave. They would eventually freeze to death, and their souls would be trapped forever inside the icicles.”

Joy almost choked. “Why are you just saying this now?”

The leader chuckled. “Don’t worry. Those poor souls didn’t have the green smoke to guide them.”

“Oh.” Joy didn’t know what to say to that. So these icicles hold trapped souls? How can something be so beautiful yet still be so cruel…The beauty of the Dream World is a lie. It’s a sick lie, part of some sick, twisted game.

All of a sudden a loud boom echoed throughout the cave, causing joy to jump in fear and knock into Jungkook who walked beside her. He put his arms around her protectively and looked around in fear. “What was that?” he breathed.

Again, a loud, deafening boom thundered through the ice walls. “JOHNNY’S COMING FOR YOU…YOU CAN’T ESCAPE ME, FOOLS…”

Jimin cursed and ushered the group to follow him more quickly. They sprinted across the frozen ground, and Joy nearly slipped with each step she took. V was closing in on them. She could feel it. Even to a mere human like her, the evil presence that V now carried with him was overwhelming and smelled like a thousand rotting corpses.

“Just a little further!” promised Jimin, practically flying through the cave now at vampire speed. Light filtered in through the cracks, suggesting that the cave was finally ending. J-Hope lifted Joy and Suga carried Jungkook, and they followed Jimin and RM out the cave.

The ice cave opened up to a massive clearing that was covered in thick snow that sparkled like fairy dust. Only a single bare tree stood in the center of the clearing, a pair of white sneakers dangling from it on a rope. Joy glanced up towards the pale sky. It almost seemed as if real sunlight filtered down from the clouds, warming her face. She closed her eyes against the warmth and savored the feeling. “What is this place?” she mumbled.

Jungkook let out an excited laugh and bent down to touch the soft snow. “It’s real!” he exclaimed, gathering a fistful of snow and throwing it at J-Hope.

The vampire let out a surprised yelp. “Hey, come back here!” he shouted, chasing Jungkook through the clearing and trying to pelt him with snowballs.

RM grinned. “Do you remember, boys? Back in the real world, this is where we found V on the verge of freezing to death, and Jimin decided to give him another chance at life by turning him into a vampire. The Dream World recreated that exact place for us.” He turned to Jimin. “What does this mean?”

A sad expression clouded Jimin’s features. “Yes, the Dream World has recreated that exact place for us. This clearing filled with snow represents the cleansing of our souls. This is a pure and holy place, the only place where evil cannot touch.”

“So V can’t reach us here,” RM realized, gazing back at the cave.

V stood inside the cave, his entire body convulsing, his jaw hanging open to reveal his razor sharp fangs, his hands outstretched to the group. His eyes were full black holes and blood smeared his mouth. He was shirtless, his bare chest exposed to the icy cold air, and a pair of black wings sprouted from his back, making him look like an angel of chaos and death. He looked like the craziest vampire Joy had ever seen. The evil had really destroyed him.

Jungkook could feel that the dirt of the Dream World, the dirt of evil spirits, had been washed off himself when he entered this clearing. He felt as if he had been bleached clean and his innocence had been restored.

“The key…” Jimin reached up and plucked the sneakers off the string, digging his fingers inside of them until he pulled out the golden key to the laboratory. It was small enough to fit inside his palm. “I found it. This is how we’ll get inside to where Hyuna’s keeping the hybrids. RM, keep the key in your pocket.” Jimin kneeled down and placed his hands on the surface of the snow that covered the tree’s roots. “The sword is buried underneath here. Suga, J-Hope, help me dig it out.”

“No!” screamed V. “Don’t do it! Don’t you dare touch the sword! Don’t you dare, Jimin! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill all of you if you keep getting in my way!”

They ignored his threats and dug up the sword in only a few minutes. Jimin picked it up, admiring the shininess of the blade. It was four feet long, midnight black, and forged with the most dangerous black magic. It seemed as if it was the sword of Death itself. “We have what we need. That was the easy part. The tricky part is how we’ll escape the Dream World with V out to get us.”

Suga narrowed his eyes. “The only way out is back through the ice cave, isn’t it?”

Jimin shook his head. “Not quite. I think I can use the green smoke to transport us out of here, but we need to drink some more of the absinthe. RM, do you have anymore?”

“Of course,” he replied, pulling out his silver flask of absinthe and waving it around. “There’s plenty to go around for all of us.”

Each of them took a few sips from the flask. Joy could feel it burn and insides; it left an extremely unpleasant aftertaste on her tongue and almost made her gag.

“You, you can’t do this to me!” V shrieked in pure fury. “I’ll slit your girlfriend’s pretty little throat. I’ll kill her! I’ll kill that human boy, too! I almost did it once. I’ll do it properly this time!”

“You will do no such thing,” Jimin scolded him. “You’ve lost your way, V. You gave yourself up to the darkness, to the evil. But if you give me your hand right now, if you promise to cleanse your soul of the filth that you’ve buried it in, then I’ll let you go back to the real world with us. We can go home together, V.” He took a few steps toward V and looked at him with concern and love in his eyes.

V growled, “I will sit on my throne and rule the Dream World. The trapped souls who linger here shall pray to me, their God.”

“Don’t you see?” replied Jimin. “The evil tricked you. It just wants to possess you and drain you of whatever life and energy source you have left inside of you. It will use you, manipulate you to do its evil work. You’re going against vampire code, V. Vampire law requires you to return to the real world. This dimension of black magic is like poison for us. You won’t last long here. The evil is already twisting your mind and senses and driving you mentally insane.” His eyes were glowing green, and he got that faraway look again, seeing a vision the green smoke directed him to see. “One day amidst all of the destruction you will cause, you shall wake up and regain your senses. The evil will have left your soul, but you will be so depressed and shocked and guilty by what you did, by how you betrayed your vampire clan, that you’ll stand on the train tracks and commit suicide. You’ll kill yourself, V. The sneakers that dangled from this tree represented death. You’ll die in the Dream World, alone, cold, and starving for the sweet taste of human blood that you will not find here, and your soul will remain trapped here for all of eternity. That will be your punishment. And the evil shall rule once more, and when it finds another unlucky vessel to prey upon and possess, that creature shall rule over you and the other lost souls who linger here. You see, in the end, you will lose everything you will gain, anyway. Tell me, will it be worth it?”

“I’ll never let that happen. I’ll control this world forever. I’ll sit upon my mountain of souls and reign over them,” V repeated over and over.

Suga turned away, disgusted. “Let’s go, Jimin. He’s made his choice, and he will have to pay the price.”

Tears flowed from Jimin’s eyes as he gazed up at the lonely tree, its bare branches sticking out in all directions. “V, wait a little bit, just a few more nights. I’ll be there to see you. I’ll come for you. Passing by the edge of the cold winter…until the days of spring, until the days of flower blossoms…Please stay, please stay there a little longer.”

Joy put her hand in Jimin’s and pressed her lips to his icy cheek. “Let’s go home, my love,” she whispered.

He held onto her tight and chanted a prayer to the green smoke. It granted him his wish and the six of them vanished in a puff of evergreen mist, leaving behind the Dream World.