The room was finally set up and Lily straightened her back with a relieved sigh, rubbing the aching spot with both hands. It had been a long day and she was ready to crash but the shop was still open and she needed to lock up before turning in.

The wound in her neck throbbed, a wave hot and cold running up her spine making her shudder. She dragged a hand through her hair and tried to push back the heat rising inside her.

Xiumin had sounded so sure when he'd told her she wasn't his mate; hell, she'd even believed him when he'd said it because a lot of things did not coincide with what she'd heard from the others about the mate's link and everything it entailed. But now, she wasn't so sure.

Whatever he'd done when he'd bitten her the last time they'd made love, right before he'd left for that godawful battle… maybe he hadn't claimed her but he'd done something and it was taking its toll. The bite still hadn't healed, though she'd had it checked and everything.

It wasn't infected thankfully, despite the redness and most of the time, it didn't bother her. Too much. She'd almost become accustomed to the near constant fever and the severe pain any kind of touch elicited. But there were times, like right now, when it took her by surprise.

The first few times, she'd made the mistake of trying to relieve herself. It'd only left her a squirming mess and she didn’t think she'd ever cursed anyone as much as she'd cursed Xiumin in these past few months.

It got worse when her periods came and she'd never been so happy that she was self-employed. Those few days, she was in no condition to get out of the bed, let alone handle the shop for hours on end.

It wasn't normal, she knew. She also suspected Xiumin didn't know he'd done anything because if it was what she thought it was, sending her off made no sense. She was sure he would've kept her close… at least she hoped he would've. They hadn't parted on bad terms per se except, you know, him shattering her heart and everything. She liked to think he would've taken responsibility for putting her through this kind of crap because otherwise, she had a few choice words for him. 

She blindly felt her way over to the bed and bent her head down, trying to breathe deeply and slowly and tried, really hard, to push all thoughts of her ex far, far away. Thinking about him made it infinitely worse because then she wouldn't be able to resist the urge to just ring him up and hear his voice. She was sure even that would be enough to make her explode because well… that's just how sensitive she was these days.

After a few minutes of heavy breathing and resolute focus, the heat died down inside her and she slumped, sighing. She wished she had someone to talk to, maybe Rose because right now, she desperately needed some comfort.

But she'd put all of that behind her when she'd said goodbye and she wasn't someone who went around questioning her life-choices. Xiumin was fighting Evil without having to worry about her, her family was safe and that was all that counted.

She'd learn to cope with this as well because that's what she did.

Nodding resolutely to herself, she headed outside to lock up.

………………………………….

The black-outs were increasing and Rose was worried.

At first, they'd been like little flashes where she'd lose only a moment or two. Sure, they disoriented her but she still managed to catch up pretty easily.

But over time, they'd increased and it was getting increasingly harder not to panic every time she woke up in new place.

She wished Lily was here because she was someone who'd treat her normally at least. Her family hadn't said anything but they were increasingly distant from her, acting as if they didn't know her. Leo had been fine until recently but she suspected he'd either seen her during one of her black-outs or she'd done something and it had scared him. Either way, he was acting distant as well, treating her pretty much the same as her sister-in-law and her mother. Like she was someone alien, a stranger rather than their own blood.

It made her want to cry because she didn't know what was going on and if this was hard for them, did they even bother to think how it made her feel?

The doctors had told them, before Lily had gone away, that head trauma sometimes resulted in personality changes. She didn’t feel any different but they'd also said that the changes were apparent to those around them, so maybe she wasn't the best judge of that.

The black-outs were still unusual and she knew she needed to consult with someone, maybe a psychologist or a psychiatrist. But she was afraid of asking Leo because in the period of the few weeks Lily had been gone, her family had turned strangers to her.

As she worried, her legs pumped faster, feet taking her along a path she thought seemed familiar. She'd gone jogging because the atmosphere around her house was so tense – they were all so cautious, so covertly hostile to her – that she couldn't take it for another moment.

She didn't want to think negatively but it felt like everyone in that place hated her – maybe for taking the old Rose away? She didn't know – she was Rose, wasn't she? Why couldn't they love her for that? People changed… why couldn’t they accept it? God, she missed Lily, her sister would've understood…

And Choomin… Choomin loves me

The childish squeak inside her scared her more than the blackouts.

'Go away,' she muttered, knocking herself on the head as if to dislodge it. Her curls bounced, dancing away from her eyes before settling back in the place.

The childish voice didn't speak again and she swallowed, feeling like she'd tear up any moment.

For some unfathomable reason, Lily's ex-boyfriend had taken up residence inside her mussed thoughts as well and even though she absolutely hated the guy – any person who hurt Lily qualified for that in her book – there was this strange urge inside her, a pull in her gut to seek him out.

She suspected it was the voice and even though she resisted thinking about him in her waking hours, he showed up in her dreams.

She didn't understand any of it, just that her reaction to him was unusual. It wasn't normal. She wasn't normal, she was going crazy. She was hearing voices and blacking out and becoming paranoid – some times, she was sure she was being watched and if this wasn't crazy, she didn't know what was. No wonder they were afraid of her…

Her distressed thoughts came to halt when she realized where she was.

At the Black Pearl. Xiumin and Lily's coffee shop.

She didn't understand herself, she didn't understand what she was looking for as she paced around nervously on the sidewalk this side of the shop until the door swung open and a man stepped out.

She would've jumped on him if she hadn't been on guard; words still slipped past her lips despite her desire to keep silent. 'Choomin…'

His head whipped around just as she ducked behind the bushes. He glanced around suspiciously, looked up and down the street before shaking his head and marching off in the opposite direction.

The urge to follow him was strong enough that she took a few steps after him before shaking her head and forcing herself to run in the opposite direction.

……………………………….

'I'm home,' Rose's voice echoed around the eerily silent house.

'Welcome, sweetheart.' Leo called back, doing his best to be as normal around her as possible. He'd sent the kids and his wife back to their hometown, along with his mother because Lily had been very clear on that – she wanted them out of town.

He was still undecided about Rose though.

At first, he'd thought his mother and wife were overreacting because they held some old-fashioned beliefs and were kind of superstitious, something both he and Lily teased them about. After all, just because she'd been comatose, did not mean something was wrong with Rose when she woke up.

Except that there was.

It was like someone else had taken residence inside her. She wore the same face, had the same voice and all the physical characteristics were as they used to be. Yet, there was something different in the way she held herself, in the way she spoke, in her smile.

The doctors had told them that personality changes were pretty common, particularly if the trauma was to some parts of the brain – frontal lobe, he thought Lily had called it but he didn't understand all that fancy medical-speak. What he did understand, though, was that the changes in Rose's personality were to be expected.

She was more impulsive and childish than she used to be, especially when she'd just woken up – some of her actions had been downright strange – but they'd been reassured that it was normal.

Her eyes turning red and vanishing at night, though… Leo didn't think that was normal in any context of the word.

He hadn't thought there was any truth to his mother or his wife's constant insistence that there was 'something wrong with that girl' because it was Rosie, his baby sister. And telling him she was possessed had only made him scoff and push past them, 'Stop being so melodramatic. And stop watching that horror drama thing!'

He'd thought someone had broken in the first time he'd caught her sneaking out. The window on the first floor creaked a lot when someone tried to open it, as he'd discovered the first night when he'd rented this place so they could settle things with Lily and get best consultation for Rose. So the noise was pretty clear and he'd silently come out, picking the bat he'd bought for his son as a weapon and slowly climbed upstairs, taking care not to make any noise.

Her figure had been clearly silhouetted against the window, moonlight shining in the corridor and he'd stilled, thinking maybe she wanted to look at the sky – she'd always been fascinated with stars as a youngster, building fantastic tales around them.

'Rose?' he'd called, hesitating at the landing. It was pretty late at night, so she'd better head back as well and…

She'd glanced back at him and he'd stiffened.

Her snarling face from that night was still etched in his memory and he doubted anything would erase that.

Her eyes were a strangely glowing crimson but tinged liberally with black and that black seemed to have oozed out of her eyes, spreading all over her face and marking it in a strange pattern. The marks spread from the top of her head and went down to her bare feet as she placed them on the sill, perched to leap.

She'd hissed like an animal – or a creature possessed – before turning and jumping out into the night.

He'd panicked and ran out, intent on following her but she'd been too fast, unnaturally so. It was like something else was lending her power to be more than what her frail body was capable of and even though he was physically fit, he'd lost to her as she'd vanished from sight.

He hadn't slept the entire night, even going so far as calling his friend in the police department to keep an eye out for her. He didn't see or hear her come in but she'd climbed down the next morning, messy hair and eyes puffy with sleep.

'Mornin'', she'd yawned, blinking slowly and the crimson had flashed in her eyes again. Unlike the night, though, the black had been replaced with gold, a fine web spread over her pupils.

'Leo…?' She'd blinked again and just like that, her eyes were back to normal, brown like his.

He'd swallowed, understanding what his mother and wife had been talking about.

He'd been working so he hadn't had a chance to observe her when she'd woken up but they'd been taking care of her all this time. They had to have seen something, no wonder they were freaked out.

He'd made arrangements for them and sent them off because if something fishy was going on, he did not want his wife or son in danger, nor his mother.

Truth be told, he wasn't sure what he could do either but he figured contacting someone for exorcism wouldn't be remiss. In the meantime, he'd try to be as normal around her as possible so nothing could warn her off.

Despite what his wife suggested, he was not going to abandon her just because something had taken residence inside her. She was his baby sister and he'd be damned if he gave up until he'd tried his best.

So he went outside and smiled – perhaps a little too forcefully – and asked her where she'd been. Tried not to be too surprised when she said she'd been visiting Lily's shop. That Xiumin guy seemed to bring out that thing inside her – he remembered the flash when she'd jumped in front of him, yelling 'Don't hurt Choomin!' – so maybe…

Well, there was this ghost story that told of female spirts sometimes falling in love with a human and possessing a victim, usually a dead person, to try and get close to them. And comatose was as close to dead one could get without actually dying…

, he had no idea what he was going to do.

…………………………………….

A/N

Hello from the other side ~~~

haha, that song's been stuck in my head for a while  :P anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this update, focusing on the flower sisters. I'm going to apologize in advance for the lack of Lily/Xiumin interactions (or bascially, any Lily at all) in the upcoming chapters. I'm sorry but the plot demanded it. I do promise, however, that the entire latter half of this story will focus on Lily and Xiumin and Rose. Speaking of, what do you guys think of her? I'd really llike to hear about that because she's very important in this story and... well, you'll see. Also, Leo becamse surprisingly important - I'd only meant to refer to him as the big bad brother who wants to kick Xiumin's for breaking Lily's heart but he ended up playing a bigger role. We'll see more of them. This chapter reads pratially like a horror story, doesn't it? Well, there is that aspect to my story, so I'm happy with it. Also,,can any of you guess what Xiumin did to Lily? (pretty obvious but give it a go C: ) 

Alright then, see you guys later. Don't forget to vote for EXO, stream Monster MV loads and anticipate ChenBaekXi debut, plus Lay's Minialbum (i'm in fangirl heaven right now :D)

Love you lots. 

Later :)