TRACK 121 | PORCELAIN by GLADES

Rara was barely 8 years old when everyone discovered she was like her great grandfather. She was drawing something, and with her level of skill, a certain detail was unachievable. She grew frustrated by the minute. When she tried to bring her imagination to life and it came out wrong and unsatisfactory, her rage went uphill. Orange fire appeared in her fist, then blue, then purple and when she was so agitated that the illustration in her mind was not happening, strands of black flames mixed with purple.

She hated training with her great grandfather. He always made her feel weak, inadequate—stupid, even. But whenever he acknowledged her progress and hard work, it was very fulfilling and motivating. He was only harsh to her because he wanted her to surpass him. She turned her despise into something good. Soon she looked up to Jaehyun. More than her parents, more than her grandmother, she wanted him to notice her the most.

He was her hero.

She wanted him to see her master all their lessons, she wanted him to tell her that finally, she was walking in the same level as him or hopefully, tell her that she was surpassing him.

But now that he has apparently passed, her dreams will never see the light of the day. She wasn’t even a quarter of the vampire he was. How can she become better without him? How will she protect her loved ones if she wasn’t strong enough to not let her emotions get the best of her?

How will she become Baekhyun’s equal now?

What was the point of all this?

She ran and ran, a silver blur into the twilight. There was a throbbing in her head and it was as if she was underwater the whole time, like there was something blocking her hearing. She felt warm, warmer than usual, and to think that she was cold-blooded. She wanted to be soaked in deep water, she wanted to numb everything. Her great grandfather was a huge chunk of her life, and without him, it felt like losing a limb.

As soon as Baekhyun arrived at their cabin, an abhorrent feeling washed over him, like a ton of hollow blocks were placed on his heart. The rest of the pack picked up his emotions through their chemosignals. For a while, they looked at each other, then the next thing they knew they bolted out of the cabin and followed Baekhyun.

Because it was still early evening, they didn’t transform into wolves since campers or forest rangers might be around the forest and instead, they moved around in human form with stealth, with Baekhyun taking the lead. He immediately knew where Rara was heading, to the nearest cliff. If she fell, she’d fall down into ice-cold seawater—something that could damage her down to her core. Rara was reaching a level of speed that was too high and the rest of them tried to keep up and when she slowed down, indicating that she was near her destination, they all doubled their speed and picked up the pace.

Rara looked at the crashing waves below the cliff. That would make a nice painting. I think I’ll paint that. She thought to herself with a bitter smile. If I came out alive.

She put one foot forward, closed her eyes, and abandoned all control for her body weight.

The moment she disappeared from the edge was the exact moment the pack arrived. All of them rushed to the edge. Suho knew that water was not good for Rara and at the same time, D.O spotted a small twig down on the hill. Together, the alph