Tell me boy, do you want to save her?

CHOOMIN!!!!

Rose gasped awake, heart thundering, still feeling the creepy sensation of smoky tentacles wrapping around her, lifting her in the air. Her skin crawled and she rubbed her arms, shuddering at the warmth of her fingers that seeped feeling back into her cold body.

'Rose?' Leo's voice was panicked and she could hear him hurrying upstairs, the lights flickering on outside a moment before he burst inside, holding a bat in his hands. Her eyes squinted when light flooded the room and he hurried forward, dropping to his knees beside her.

'You okay?' he asked, pushing her hair out of her face and taking in the tear tracks – and the red and golden flecked eyes but he'd become so used to seeing them that he didn't comment on it. She shook her head, burying it in his neck and sobbing, hugging him tightly.

Over the past few days, she hadn't had any blackouts and that was good. What wasn't so good, however, were the paralyzing nightmares that had begun plaguing her… and the entity inside her. She wasn't sure if the nightmares were mere dreams or actual memories but something told her it was the latter.

Could be the almost paralyzing fear as she watched her brother – , no, not her brother, not Leo but the child's brother, Choomin – fighting for his life as the monsters attacked him, telling her to run away, take cover. Since Rose got to watch everything from a first person's perspective, experienced all the thoughts – childish and yet so, so intense – first hand, she woke up, heart beating in and worry for her brother, Leo, plaguing her.

It was the reason why she hadn't stepped foot outside, afraid to come home and find him injured or worse. And yet, her heart wasn't satisfied, the worry not eased, despite the reassurance that Leo was okay.

Deep inside, she knew it wasn't Leo she was actually worried about and that made her feel worse. , whatever fixation this child had with Xiumin was making her become obsessed with the guy and she'd had to physically restrain herself form picking up the phone and calling his number – she'd found it in Leo's old contacts; no doubt he'd gotten it from Lily.

It was worse tonight and despite hugging the breath out of her brother and smothering his face with kisses, her heart wouldn't settle down. The child was crying, pushing against her sleep-clouded brain to get out and see with her own eyes that he was alive, okay. That it had all been a nightmare, that the Bad Man hadn't broken his word and hurt her Choomin…

She waited until Leo went back, plunging the room in darkness once again before digging around for her phone and hurriedly swiping through her contacts until she stopped at Xiumin's number. Staring at it for a moment, she closed her eyes and hit dial, something churning inside her gut as the bell rang once, twice…

'Hello?'

The relief was so overwhelming, it almost knocked the breath out of her and a soft sob escaped her lips. A part of her understood it was the child but it was hard, so hard to separate herself, she didn't know anything anymore.

'Hello…?' He asked again, a little less coldly then before, more curious.

She swallowed, unable to form any words.

'L-..Lily?' He breathed hopefully and for some reason, that made her sad.

'Choomin…' The name left her unconsciously and his breath hitched again.

'Who is this?' He demanded angrily and it scared both her and the child because he sounded so, so livid. 'Who the hell is this?'

She hurriedly ended the call and turned to her side, pretending not to notice the buzzing in her hand as he called her back. What the hell had she been thinking, calling him out of nowhere like that… and calling him Choomin.

The entity inside her was obviously confused and now it was making her confused as well. Instead of answering the call, she shut the phone off, throwing it over her shoulder and resolutely closing her eyes.

Her brother was Leo who was sleeping downstairs and schizophrenia or dissociation or whatever the hell the doctors called it, the voice inside her would do well to understand that as well.

…………………………………

Xiumin stared at the phone, unsure of what to do.

He couldn't have been that mistaken, right? She, whoever she was, had called him Choomin instead of Xiumin. Like Rose.

And Rose's eyes had flashed red that day when she'd jumped in front of him to prevent Leo from landing the punch right on his face.

What the hell was going on?

It couldn't be… couldn’t possibly be his sister. She had died, centuries ago, on that fateful day. He had held her broken body in his own hands, seen her get buried with his parents and the rest of the casualties. So what the hell was this?

Evil… was he trying to play with him again? Was he trying to use Rose to get him? Or heaven forbid, Lily?

Xiumin's eyes turned a brilliant red as he snarled at the mere thought. He had lost far too much at his hands and he'd be damned if he let Evil pull his strings like that or even hurt a hair on Lily's head.

His punch landed on the wall in front of him, denting it and covering it in a layer of frost when he removed it.

He had her number now, they could track it down but he was sure it would lead to one person. Still, he'd ask D.O to check it… and he'd ask Suho to take a spot with Chen to keep an eye on the girl himself and maybe even talk to her.

Whatever, point was, this couldn't be ignored. Not any longer.

Just then, his cell rang again – an unsaved yet familiar number – but it cut off before he could answer. He stared at the screen for a moment before sighing and slipping it into his pocket.

It was for the best.  

……………………………………

Lily hung up the phone, rubbing her forehead in frustration before slumping back against her pillows.

Tonight was one of those unbearable nights where the burn inside her was too much, the bite in her neck throbbing angrily, her skin itching so much that even the light clothes she'd thrown on felt irritating. And of course, the craving for Xiumin that was like an ache gnawing at her, plaguing her mind with memories of what they had, of his hands and lips, his voice when he whispered her name…

After tossing and turning uselessly, she'd given in and called him – just a simple hello would be enough at this point, she was sure.

Sanity returned when the dial tone rang against her ear and she hit cancel, ending it.

She couldn’t do this, of course not.

It was just that everything was so messed up and she… just wanted someone to talk to. She missed him, missed talking to him – he was the only person she ever felt comfortable talking to about herself or her problems.

More than that though, it was because whatever was happening with Rose definitely concerned Xiumin.

Leo had called her some time ago and his question had made a chill run down her spine.

'Lily,' he'd sounded like he was fidgeting, probably twisting the cord around his fingers, 'Who's Choomin?'

She'd choked on the water she'd swallowed, coughing. 'I'm sorry, what?'

'Choomin… is that some sort of nickname you have?' he asked, sounding gruff, 'For… him?'

She didn't need to ask who he meant. 'No, it's not… why'd you ask?'

He muttered something about Rose getting worse; her voice pitched higher that, worst case scenarios flashing through her head before he stalled her, clearing his throat. 'Don't worry, I guess she's just… confused.'

'Leo, what's going on?' she demanded, not fooled by his placating tone.

'Nothing I can't handle,' he replied instead, 'don’t worry about it.'

'If something's wrong…' she began, worry gnawing at her. This entire drama, separating from her family, coming here, everything, was to protect them. If Evil harmed her family…

'Like what, Lily?' he asked quietly, 'What could be wrong?'

'Leo…'

'I don't know what mess he got you into, Lil, but I'll be damned if I let him drag Rosie into it,' he ground out, 'so if you don't want me to step in blindly…'

'It's not that simple,' She twisted the cord around her finger. 

'I figured that much.' He sighed into the phone before letting out a mirthless laugh, 'Never thought I'd say this but mom might've been right this time.'

'About what?'

'You know, like spirits and possession…' he whispered as if speaking aloud would somehow make it more real.

'Leo…' she began but faltered. What could she say?

'I'll call you in the morning after I drop her off for her appointment,' he cut her off. 'We'll talk in detail then. And you will tell me everything, Lily. '

He was using his older brother tone, something he rarely did with her so she knew he wouldn’t leave it until she really had told him everything. 'Fine.' She nodded, 'We'll talk in the morning.'

'Kay, talk to you then. G'night.'

'Night.'

It wasn't a surprise she'd called Xiumin before remembering he wasn't her go-to person anymore. She couldn’t just call him and talk to him at this hour of the night; not now. After falling so hard, she couldn't go back to being just friends with him again.

With her… condition, it would make things worse for her. Besides, she needed to talk and sort things out with Leo first, find out what was going on before she did anything. Maybe Leo had misheard Rose or something…

Deep down, though, she didn't believe it. She knew the psychiatrist had said something about dissociation and possible psychosis but for Leo to even think about possession or something like that, things had to be bad.

And with Evil in the game, it wasn't that far off either… he had possessed Chen – a Legend – so what was to say he couldn't do the same to Rose?

It was a terrifying thought, one that kept her awake a major part of the night as she kept twisting the phone in her hands, thinking things through before finally dropping off in a fitful sleep.

……………………………….

The Headquarters were pretty much the same after being renovated except that outer boundary of the mansion was taller, thicker and with a stronger defensive system than before. D.O had set up several traps and used everyone's powers – except Luhan's who was away and Lay's, who couldn’t harm, not really – to strengthen their defense.

That didn't even come close to what he had set up for the second and third line of defense and then, he had added individual security measures inside the building, dividing the whole mansion in six sections, each with its own security set up.

Mei thought it was rather paranoid but given that the abbies had almost managed to enter the mansion last time – regardless of the fact that all of the Legends had been out of commission at that point – she could understand. D.O insisted they needed to set something up that would stand even in their absence and so, he had surpassed himself, planning out a defense strategy that would make the HQs an impenetrable fortress.

That was all well and good but she did not particularly enjoy having to have her thumbs and retinas scanned every evening when they came back from university, both at the main gate and then, at the entrance into the building. D.O was still dissatisfied because he'd wanted to set up locks at individual rooms but that's where the others had put their foot down. No way were they scanning their retinas just to step back into the living room after going to the kitchen.

He had acceded to their demand on that one but had still stubbornly set up the retinal scanner outside his and Chen's room and sneaked a trip alarm for Kyra and Raina's – which led to a lot of false alarms when Raina tried to sneak out to meet with Tao late at night, or when Kyra tried to sneak out for a midnight snack.

The alarm had gone haywire, the loud ringing waking everyone up and disturbing Suho's lovemaking – again – and he growled, irritated and disheveled, rounding on D.O and demanding he silence the thing before he lost it.

He'd removed the doorway alarm and set up security cameras at every turn instead. It was a minor improvement though Mei still felt rather self-conscious. She supposed they would get used to it eventually – it wasn't like she didn't understand where they were coming from, it was just a little… intimidating.

Luhan hummed on the other end of the phone, happy just to hear her voice.

'So…' she finished, relaying everything that had happened over the past two days, 'it's pretty much same as before, except, you know, the security stuff.'

They were silent for a while, just listening to each other breathe over the line. 'So…' Luhan began, clearing his throat nervously.

'When are you coming back?' Mei cut him off, whining, 'I miss you…'

'I miss you too,' he sighed into the phone.

'You said you'll be back before the carnival,' She leaned back against the headboard, 'and it starts the day after tomorrow.'

'Yeah… about that…'

Mei's heart plummeted to her stomach at his tone. 'What?'

'Uh… coach wants us to meet with the new sponsors...'

'When?'

'Um…' he mumbled and she could imagine him wincing, 'the day after tomorrow…?'

'Luhan…' she whined, feeling tears prick her eyes. Sure she had spent more than a week without him but that had been before they were married and back then, Luhan had not been too busy to hang out with her. She missed him so much, she'd literally cried listening to his voice on the phone. She missed snuggling with him, she missed having his chest as her pillow, she missed kissing him welcome every night he came home – she just plain missed him.

'I'm so sorry…' he whispered, no doubt picking on her thoughts. 'I swear I'll make it up to you…'

She sniffled quietly instead of replying. It wasn’t about his promise or anything, she just… it felt like their marriage had torn them apart instead of bringing them closer and it hurt.

'I'm sorry baby,' he muttered again; she didn’t say anything in return, just hung up and buried her head in the pillow to cry her heart out.

……………………………….

Luhan stared at his phone in silence, guilt lying heavy in his stomach. He could feel that Mei was crying and not being by her side, not being able to comfort her and even worse, knowing that she was crying because of him…

He groaned, hitting his head against the wall.

'Hey, you okay?' Doojoon, who'd been lounging around in the room, asked concernedly.

'No, I'm not…' Luhan muttered miserably. 'She hates me.'

Doojoon clucked is tongue, coming up to pat his back. 'It's just one more day, I'm sure she'll understand…'

'She does…' Luhan blinked sadly, eyes drooping, 'but that doesn't mean it doesn’t hurt her.'

'Ya…' Doojoon backed up in panic, wondering if their striker was about to dissolve into tears. He had no idea how he would handle that, 'Ya, don't cry! I'll talk to Minho, we'll tell coach to get the meeting tomorrow, yeah? Sound good?'

Luhan looked at him uncomprehendingly, too sad, before his words registered. 'Really? Will you?'

'Yeah sure,' He nodded vehemently, noting the pout still on Luhan's lips. It made him feel guilty, as it was his fault Luhan was being kept away from his wife and he knew Minho felt the same – maybe because they had been the ones to plan out his impromptu marriage. 'Don't worry, 'kay?'

'Thanks man,' Luhan gripped his shoulder tightly, yanking him into a tight hug, 'You're the best!'

……………………………………