Chapter II:

The Locket

~

Nobody really said much on the way home, Daehwi was noticeably uncomfortable with that guy hitting on Haera, or at least what he perceived as hitting on. The car stopped in front of Haera’s house, and she thanked Daehwi’s friend for the lift, exiting the vehicle with her backpack in tow. When she was outside, she took a deep breath of fresh air. This was probably going to be the calm before the storm. In the morning she would get an earful, though Haera had a feeling she could talk her way into a simple grounding. “Hey Haera?” Daehwi spoke up, having rolled down the window of the passenger's seat.

“Yeah?” She asked turning around, still feeling a little embarrassed over him finding her with that guy. It wasn’t like they did anything, they didn’t even know each other, but she somehow felt shy about it.

“I’ll see you at work on Monday ok? Also...don’t feel bad about earlier either. I overreact, I know. Sometimes I think I’m more like Scarlett O’Hara then you are.” He laughed, and Haera did too. As long as he wasn’t gonna be awkward or mad with her, she felt relieved.

“For sure, I’ll talk to you later Dae.” Haera gave him a peck on the cheek, before walking over to the front gates. Once inside, Haera heard the car start up again, beginning to drive off just as she neared the front door.

Taking her time wouldn’t be bad, since her family were asleep and she didn’t need to worry about them, just as long as she didn’t make a lot of noise. Getting inside the house, Haera started to set down her backpack and put her cardigan on properly over her dress. That was when she realized the lights weren’t off, and she hadn’t touched the light switch once.

A thundering fear consumed her, as she crept in the direction of the just audible voices coming from the kitchen. Her Aunt, Uncle, and Yongchae were all standing together in a huddle by the refrigerator; pale complexions covering their faces. Their eyes were locked onto something, intriguing Haera to look over in their direction, to get a glimpse of what they were so completely immersed in. There sat a beautiful women with long dark hair and perfect crimson lips, laying back in one of the dining room chair, her glossy leather boots resting on the table top.

“Who are you?” Haera inquired, causing her family to jump with a start.

“H-Haera…” Yongchae stuttered, her eyes glossed and vacant. Haera couldn’t remember seeing her cousin being so shocked. “What are—where were…” The words trailed off, lost in the atmosphere of the room.

“I’m so glad to finally see you again Haera. I would have come sooner but the Instigator insisted we wait till you turned sixteen.” Gushed the women, catching Haera’s attention again.

“Again...who are you?” Inquired Haera, quiet unsure of what surrounded her. For one none of her family were yelling at her for being late, in fact they had retreated further into the kitchen, almost terrified by something. Then of course there was the elephant in the room, a stranger who apparently knew who Haera was.

“I suppose you wouldn’t remember me, you were a baby after all.” The women nodded, removing her feet from the table. “My name is Boa, and I am here to take you home.” Confusion carried over Haera’s face as Boa adjusted her position, sitting up and resting her forearms on the table top instead.

“If you hadn’t noticed, I live here?” Offered Haera, taking a shaky grip on the back of the chair across from the women. This wasn’t exactly home to her, the closest thing would be her storage room. Even then she always considered home somewhere that died when her parents did. It didn’t completely destroy her though, since she couldn’t remember them, but that didn’t stop it from hurting once in a while either.

“True, but didn’t you ever wonder where your parents lived?” Boa responded. “It definitely wasn’t an apartment complex.” She stood up, and advanced in Haera’s direction, to which she stood back.

“Look I don’t know you, and if you were a neighbour or not doesn’t change the fact you can’t just come to someone’s house without an explanation.” Cautioned Haera, pulling as strong of a voice as possible, not wanting this stranger to sense the dread and uncertainty filling her up.

The expression on Boa’s face showed she understood Haera’s position, and didn’t dare move closer. The conversation she had with her Aunt and Uncle made it clear they hadn’t given Haera her letter, much less any explanation of who her parents were. In every way, Haera was clueless about who and what she was. Explaining anything would result in some sort of emotional trauma, it was unavoidable regardless. “I’ve already spoken to your family, and they very forwardly admitted they never told you the truth. They lied to you about everything, including how your parents died.”

“Well it wasn’t our fault my sister got herself killed, I new that man was bizarre from the beginning but she married him anyway, and he ended up getting the both of them killed!” Her Aunt interjected, clearly tired of being penalized, something she was very unaccustomed to.

“Wait—What? Killed? You said my parents were sick!” Haera felt a nausea vibrate through her, causing her hands to shake uncontrollably. She had believed her Aunt and Uncle’s words since she was a kid, but now she had heard duch contradictory words from her Aunt herself. They had lied to her