Act 15 “Crocked”

It happened so fast for him, yet, too painful to remember. He was molested, hurt, and tortured as his pride turned into ashes. Never in his life had he felt so shameful of himself like this. He wanted to skin himself alive; hoping it would bring his dignity back. Then, he realized something. No, he was forced to remember everything.

It was like strange energy enveloped him for a few moments before images struck his head. He screamed and cried out because of the pain but it was more bearable than the previous pain he had been drowned in. He knew who he was; his true self in present time and in his previous life. He was the bishop that sealed the shaman.

Pulling himself together, he tried to recreate a spell he knew long time ago. As he finished, everything turned pitch black around him; the hallucination was gone. Yes, everything that happened to him was only imagination in his head as the shaman did some black magic to him. He spoke once again another spell and this time he was fully awakened. He opened his eyes slowly and took a peek around.

They’re in square room; he spotted the shaman few meters away, doing some stuff. He realized he was tied and he discovered Yunho beside him; also tied to the stoned bed. He quickly muttered some spell that broke him free and so was Yunho. The shaman was surprise and before he could flick. Jaejoong used another spell to bounce the old man few meters away.

“Yunho!!!” Jaejoong called Yunho but he got no reply; he later discovered Yunho was also in shaman spell and cursed the old man; Yunho was bleeding slowly from his wrist. Yunho was under different spell from Jaejoong before. The hallucination Jaejoong saw was only to break him apart mentally and eventually Jaejoong would lose his sanity and remained as empty shell of human body. Yunho was under deadly spell that would torture him till he committed suicide; worst of all, the wound he experienced in his head would be real in the real world.

“Yunho, I’m begging you, please come back to me!” Jaejoong cried out as he tried to reach Yunho’s mind with a spell he remembered. He tried and tried and almost brought Yunho back to reality before the shaman attacked him till he crushed block of stones behind him. Jaejoong could feel one of his shoulder dislocated. Yet, he didn’t give up; he attacked the shaman once again.

They bounced spell by spell till finally the shaman brought some undead and Jaejoong was outnumbered. With the entire spell he could remember from his previous life; he could only think of one that would wipe out the whole zombies. It was deadly but if Jaejoong was lucky, he could be alive. He spoke and light suddenly blast out; the shaman was shocked as he made ward around himself and his creation fell lifeless on the cold ground.

Yet, the impact was too much. Jaejoong felt his head like wanted to explode as blood streamed out from his nose and shoulder wound. He coughed some blood as he began to lose his sight. The spell was drained from his body after all; every spell needed a source and its source was the spell caster’s energy. In the other hand, the impact also affected Yunho as he woke up and images attacked his head. He didn’t scream, only froze in horror as the pain finally stopped attacking him; he finally remembered everything.

“Yun…ho…” was Jaejoong’s last word before he fell cold on the ground; almost not breathing at all. In horror, Yunho rushed to Jaejoong’s side as he called the name endlessly. Worst, the shaman recreated new spells and attacked Jaejoong mentally, causing more blood streaming out from his nose.

“STOP IT! DON’T HURT HIM ANYMORE!!!”

Yunho shouted his lungs; that was when Yoochun and Junsu got into the room. Yoochun attacked the shaman endlessly as the old man stopped his attack on Jaejoong. Junsu rushed to Yunho’s side, offering a bottle of infected blood into Jaejoong. Yunho took fast reflects as he helped Junsu fed the dying man. Slowly, Jaejoong began to move his eyes behind his eyelids before opened them.

Suddenly, Junsu’s screams filled the room as Yoochun’s figure fell on the cold ground. Junsu cursed at the shaman as he attacked furiously; putting his whole energy to kill the shaman. Surprised by the attack and also exhausted because he had used too much energy, the shaman fell back as Junsu pulled Yoochun away. The shaman took his chance to disappear from the room as Junsu called Yoochun’s name over and over again.

“Damn it, Chun! Don’t die on me!!!” Junsu cried as he got his last stock of infected blood and made Yoochun drank it. Yoochun’s breathing was hoarse and labored; the wound was only few inches from his heart. Junsu couldn’t bear to see his childhood friend like this.

“Yunho, help me,” Jaejoong got up with Yunho’s help as he sat next to Yoochun and Junsu. He began to speak some spell as Yoochun’s pain went away and the wound magically healed. Jaejoong was still not finished; he mumbled more spell and put a ward on Yoochun, Junsu, and Yunho. The others just watched in silence; hoping Jaejoong didn’t overdo himself. But suddenly, Jaejoong collapsed on Yunho’s arm.

“Jaejoong!!!”

“Hyung!”

The three chorused as Jaejoong smiled softly; he was so tired, the magic drained his energy too much. He told Yoochun and Junsu to chase the shaman but they didn’t want to leave Jaejoong.

“Don’t worry, I and Yunho will follow,” Jaejoong spoke,” I’m too weak to battle with him directly now, all I can do is to support you two from behind. Just make sure he doesn’t escape…We need to put an end to everything…”

Yunho couldn’t see Jaejoong like this; unlike the usually cheerful and energetic Jaejoong, this Jaejoong looked badly hurt and exhausted, like even a touch would kill him. His skin was as pale as the undead and his body was cold.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect Jaejoong no matter what,” Yunho gave his promised as he got Jaejoong on his back. Yoochun and Junsu was the first one to lead as Yunho and Jaejoong followed from behind. With Jaejoong’s guidance, they managed to track the shaman and followed the old man’s track.

The cave was pitch dark and nothing made sound except them. Yet, their movement was so soundless like an ant sneaking out slowly. Suddenly, large portion of zombies attacked them from above, jumping like monster ready to crush its prey. Junsu and Yoochun could take care of them pretty easily as they completely remembered the martial arts and strategy they learnt in their previous life; being a general before might come in handy after all.

Yunho jumped, avoiding a zombie attack as he kicked the head off. It rolled few meters away, into another tunnel direction they didn’t take. Suddenly, more hoarse screams came out from that direction as Yunho cursed.

“We can’t waste time fighting these monsters,” Jaejoong mumbled softly on Yunho’s back,” He’s…getting farther…”

“Yoochun! Junsu! Ignore them and just move forward!” Yunho commanded as the other men did the order. They jumped from zombies to zombies as they killed the one that blocked their way. Dead blood splashed to the cave’s wall, ceiling, and floor; flooding the cave with disgusting and smelly red liquid. They knew it was distraction the shaman made to hide himself but Jaejoong knew other spell he could use and it wouldn’t be infected by the ruckus.

He spoke it half-way before lost his sight. Blurry, he could hear Yunho screamed his name to hang in there. Jaejoong eventually opened his eyes again; he had new idea now.

“Jae, seriously, stop overdoing yourself! I can’t lose you!” Yunho said almost shouting.

“Sorry…Yun…Can you lend me your energy…so I can track him down?” Jaejoong’s voice was so tired and Yunho was more than relief he could finally help Jaejoong.

“Take as many as you need,” Yunho spoke as Jaejoong connected their hand. They were kept running and fighting with the zombies as they walked their dark path. Suddenly, Yunho felt like he started to get tired; like his energy was drained. He knew it was Jaejoong.

“There!” Jaejoong pointed to a tunnel on their left side. It was crushed, mostly, maybe because the earthquake Jaejoong caused by his spell before. They managed to get inside between the rubble as the zombies screamed their lungs because they couldn’t get through. The four men rushed fast, leaving the zombies; because they knew, soon enough, the zombies would learn how to pass the rubble.

“Turn left and then right, he’s right in the dead end,” Jaejoong spoke as they did follow the direction. It was further than they expected but they knew they were so close to the shaman. Just before they took the last turn, Junsu screamed in pain.

“Junsu!” Yoochun caught Junsu before he hit the ground. Junsu was unconscious; like he was sleeping. Suddenly, Yoochun felt pain on his head as he also lost his consciousness; fell flat on the ground.

“Damn you---Arrrggg!” before Jaejoong could utter his spell and Yunho could blink, both of them fell on the ground. Their consciousness left them as the shaman showed up; laughing like hell as the four men were finally in his trap.

“Finally! I can get my revenge! Hahahaha! I’ll torture all of you to death!!!” the shaman screamed as he laughed and laughed; he knew Jaejoong was out of energy and wouldn’t b able to detect his trap. It was the simplest trap he ever set; just some spell that would make them lost consciousness and then he would be able to use other spell to torture them. Yes, he would torture them and tore them inside out.

---

Changmin was scared, confused, and lost; especially after he went to a certain room. The things he saw were nightmare. He spotted two stoned bed on previous room, some torturing tools, and there’re trace of magic battle. His guess it was Jaejoong and the shaman. Worst, there is blood almost everywhere; not clear whose it belonged to. It might be the monster’s because he spotted bunch of them lied died on the ground. Still, he got very bad feelings.

His thought was disturbed as he heard hoarse scream nearby; he hid well as he looked for the situation. He almost jerked back, pulled his gun, and screamed when a small light appeared in front of him.

“You scared me!” Changmin whined like a small child; his voice was only a whisper as soft laughter came from the light.

“You’ve never changed,” the empress’s spirit continued,” The barrier was gone after the earthquake so I could get in.”

“Really? Is this a trap the shaman made?”

“I don’t think so; I can sense he was too exhausted now; maybe that’s why he dropped the barrier. But the most important thing now is the shaman got your friends. We need to save them fast.”

Changmin cursed. He almost stormed to the zombies’ lair if the empress didn’t stop him.

“Stop, I’ve other route so we can pass the zombies and reach the shaman, come with me.”

It was enough for Changmin to follow the empress’s spirit. They walked to another direction and it was pitch dark; only the light from the empress’s spirit shone their path. Changmin knew he had to think of an idea. He couldn’t just go to the shaman killing himself; he’s not that stupid. Then, the most important question rose on his head as he dared to ask the empress. The answer somehow didn’t surprise him.

“We need to stab him right on the heart to kill him, but you know how hard it is as he has so many wards protecting him. Not forget to mention, his deadly spells. Even if he’s exhausted now, we can’t guess what he will and capable to do. He’s beyond dangerous and that’s why we need to stop him.”