Baekhyun remembered the books that he had left on his bedside table from the time he spent in the village talking with Wonwoo, the young store owner had been nice enough to listen to Baekhyun as he rambled on about all the worries in his world. The human didn't think much into it, offering the troubled stranger an ear to hear him out when apparently no one else would. The vampire knew that he couldn't get into too much information so he had kept things to the bare minimum, never mentioning the supernatural beings he had unknowingly surrounded himself with for most of his life.

Most of those stories that Baekhyun had purchased were romance, which was ironic at the time since the man he didn't even realise he loved was too focused on another person. He had gotten himself some novels from many other genres but right now the only ones he could recall were those belonging to the romance category, specifically the first book he had read while he was waiting for everyone to get back on the bus.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

The romance story that had such a sad ending, where a girl had to say goodbye to the love of her life at the mere age of seventeen.

If there was one thing that Baekhyun would be taking away from this subconscious world that the curse had brought him to, it would be that he didn't get a happy ending. Sometimes Baekhyun was the girl saying goodbye to the love of her life, sometimes it was Chanyeol.

A story where both of the main characters were plagued with a curse that would eventually take both of their lives. Hazel Grace watched as she lost Augustus Waters to cancer, the author claimed that she followed him a year later. Baekhyun couldn't help but laugh at the irony, his heart heavy as he turned away from the last set of familiar eyes.

The vampire let out a breath of air he didn't even realise that he was holding onto, his heart pounding against his chest as he realised that the path before him had run out. There was no more road to lead him towards his mate, there was nothing below him, no marker, no welcome home sign. Baekhyun didn't know what to expect at the end of the line but he thought that it would be better than this.

He stared at the border of the forest that he recalled from the time he met Suho by his dumpster, the vampire having offered him a gentle gesture before leading him towards his home.

There didn't need to have a marking to tell Baekhyun where he needed to go. He ran towards the tree line, his lips curling upwards at the air blowing against his face just like it had done that day he was introduced to Millennium High. A rustling sound from somewhere next to him had Baekhyun momentarily stopping in his steps, his brow raised in confusion. He figured that he would see another Chanyeol staring back at him, but the eyes greeting him weren't ones that he had familiarized himself with. It pulled a gasp out of his lungs as he stumbled backwards against the trees, his jaw hanging open as he stared ahead of him. He could feel the goosebumps push themselves through his skin, his entire body being covered by the little bumps. Baekhyun wished for nothing more than the tree to open its bark in order for him to slip inside and hide.

This wasn't possible.

~*~

"Do you want to explain why you called this emergency meeting?" Jongin sighed, holding on tightly to Kyungsoo who had been cuddling into his side the entire time they had been in the library. "You were lucky that Kyung just woke up, if you had appeared shouting and screaming when he was asleep I would have killed you myself. He needs his rest Skylar-"

"Jongin, knock it off." Kyungsoo huffed, pressing his lips against his boyfriend's cheek. He turned his head to Skylar, a brow raising uncontrollably as he stared down at the new journal in her hands. He could sense the energy pulsing off it from a spell that had only recently been cast, he didn't want to jump to conclusions so he simply sat himself down in his own chair before turning back to the witch before him. "Skylar what happened?"

"I had most of Katherine's journals, but there has always been one that no one in my family was able to obtain because she placed a curse on it so that it wouldn't appear to one of us until it was necessary.." she shifted the journal from her knee and held it up for the small group to look at. "Necessary became certain about three hours ago."

"Why did it take you so long to come to us?" Ms. Lee gasped, looking at the girl through narrowed eyes. Kyungsoo sent her a glance, taking in her tired appearance and her tightened fists.

"I needed to read it before I called the meeting, I didn't want to pull you guys here for the stupid reasons. I didn't want to disturb you over something that might have been meaningless."

"Well clearly if we're here it's important right?" Sehun wondered, placing his hand down on Luhan's shoulder. The blonde haired vampire turned to look up at his mate, his lips curling upwards in a small smile. Their fingers slipped through the gaps, their grips tightening on one another as their gaze fell back on the witch who was blinking back the tears in her eyes.

"I just want to start by saying that I'm extremely sorry." Colin was by her side in seconds, holding her shoulder tight to remind her that he was there. Skylar shook as the tears finally fell down her cheeks, her eyes searching through the group before her eyes landed on Ms. Lee. The woman stared at her waiting to know what she had to say, she didn't know much about Katherine. The ancient witch having chosen to stay behind as her sisters greeted her when she arrived on Earth all those years ago. "I didn't know any of this would happen..."

"Skylar you have to use your words," Kyungsoo offered the poor girl a small smile, he stood up from his chair and began making his way over to her. He held out his hand to her, watching as she hesitated to take it. "you need to breathe, sweetheart."

"Baby relax, whatever it is we know that it's not your fault." Colin tried to reassure her but the witch was too focused on the journal, her eyes unmoving from the bounded leather cover.

"Skylar, Luhan told us that the journal appeared above your head after you spoke about it. We know that whatever was in it you didn't know about until very recently, you just need to explain it to us so that we can help you or help them." Sehun stated from his spot by the window, he offered the girl a tight lipped grin but it went unnoticed by the person it was directed to.

"I don't think we can help them anymore." She whispered, her voice breaking as her eyes finally turned away from the journal. "Katherine always referred to the final test being more difficult than the rest but she never specified just how much... until now. I know what the final test is and I know that it is definitely something that we should worry about."

"What's the final test?" Ms Lee asked, her hands clutching the side of the desk before her. "What are they up against?"

"Ever since Baekhyun went into the subconscious world he has been facing different versions of Chanyeol, all of which were linked to his previous lives. But this time if they get to the end they're going to be dealing with themselves."

"Okay so why would that be a problem? Why are you so freaked out about the fact that Chanyeol will be dealing with himself as the final test?" Jongdae wondered, tilting his head to the side. "Chanyeol knows himself, he'll be able to overcome whatever previous life he is faced with."

"It's not just Chanyeol I'm worried about," Skylar snapped. "It's both of them. They won't be facing just another random previous life form, they're going to be facing the original one, the one that brought all of this into being. They're going to be facing their first life, the very being that their souls came from. They're going up against the first versions of themselves, the creation wolves."

"How the hell is that possible? I thought that the only versions of themselves they would be able to access would be those that died while under the curse?" Minseok shrieked, his eyes wide as he stood up from his chair. Everyone's breathing had hitched in their throats, Ms. Lee scrambled out of her chair only to rush out of the room before anyone could say anything else.

"Their souls are linked, that's all that matters." Skylar sniffed through the tears in her eyes. She turned her head towards Colin, the werewolf's hand gently cradled her cheek. The witch nuzzled into the warmth, a small smile drawing onto her lips as they met her mate's for a brief moment. "Using their original forms is low but the witches weren't exactly looking to give them mercy, they wanted to make sure that Chanyeol and Baekhyun meant their confessions regardless of the situations. The last test will have to be different from the others because it would solidify their bond, give them back everything that Katherine and her sisters had taken away from them. If they can overcome this test then they will retrieve their powers, mate marks and memories and more importantly... you will all achieve the same."

"Okay so it's a harder test, surely they will be able to overcome it somehow." Yixing nodded his head, he always was the optimistic one. "Original form or not, they love each other. They'll get through this."

"For the first time in a few hours, I have to admit that I don't believe that to be true." Skylar swallowed down the growing lump in , her tears continously spilling over her cheeks. The group of protectors looked at her in utter surprise, their eyes blown wide as they watched the poor girl shake in her seat. They had no idea what she had read apart from the information that she had already leaked, but if it was enough to scare her that meant that it should be enough to scare them.

"I don't care about what you believe." Kyungsoo hissed, his eyes ablaze as he turned his head back to Skylar. The girl looked up at him in shock, opened and closed trying to form words but they died on her tongue before making it out into the air. "I have faith in them, Baekhyun is not getting a sad ending to his already sad story. Over my dead body."

No one said anything as he ran out of the room. Even Jongin stayed behind, staring into the space that he had once occupied. They knew they could rush after him and block him off from the infirmary, but what was the point? Whatever odds they thought they had at the beginning were now lost, it really was up to the universe if they pulled through. 

~*~

Baekhyun stared frightened into the eyes of the white wolf before him, the creature emerging from the shadows of the trees surrounding them. The vampire watched as those careful brown eyes stared back at him and not from inside a mirror, they were looking straight at him moving all on their own, judging him up and down.

"You know when I gave my soul to the tree of life I wondered what my next body would look like, can't say that I'm not surprised to see such an ideal type staring back at me." The wolf's voice sounded so unlike Baekhyun that the vampire momentarily thought that it belonged to someone else, until his mind wanted him to remember the recording of his voice he heard on Luhan's phone one day. It sounded exactly the same, he supposes that the myth of people not claiming that their voices were the same in audio to their own ears was true. "I believe you earned yourself a human name too?"

"Baekhyun, my name is Byun Baekhyun."

"Well Byun Baekhyun I guess you can call me Six since I was my mother's sixth son. I'm assuming that you already know my powers?"

Baekhyun nodded his head, his lips suddenly feeling very dry. "You control light and you created Earth's moon for your soulmate."

"My soulmate?" The wolf's head tilted to its side, its wide brown eyes blinking back up at the vampire. "I see that you haven't been told the true story."

"The true story?"

"Yes the real story, the very one you think you know so much about." The wolf hummed, Baekhyun catching the wagging tail in the corner of his eye.

He had to admit that he was never able to imagine what the first version of his soul looked like, he figured it as an average wolf but this one standing before him seemed a little bigger than a common earth wolf. He supposes that it had to do with it being one of the twelve creators.

"Maybe you should tell me what you think you know about my story first, so that way I know exactly where I have to explain things." The wolf spoke using Baekhyun's unfamiliar voice. The vampire watched as the wolf moved forward, stepping out fully into the light of the full moon above them, the witches really went to town on this subconscious world.

"I know that you were the sixth wolf, you controlled light. You were one part of the first mates and you made the very moon you see above us right now."

"In what term do you use the phrase 'mates'?" the wolf continued to ask his questions, walking around Baekhyun's legs with his snout pointed upwards.

"Soulmates, like a romantic pairing-" his words were cut off at the sound of a heavy huff of breath and the lack of movement coming from below him. Baekhyun turned his head towards the wolf, his eyes wide as he stared into the eyes of the creature.

"I was never romantically involved with my mate. This is the problem that you creations have, you just love to romanticize things that aren't even meant to be romanticized in the first place. Mates as you define it don't have to be romantically involved with one another, the term can also be used for platonic feelings."

Baekhyun felt his heart drop in the centre of his chest, a ball of emotions gathering in the middle of his throat. "You mean to tell me that all this time-"

"I was never romantically involved with the eighth wolf? No. We were friends, buddies, pals whatever your generation is calling it these days. Sure we were affectionate with one another but we were never lovers, that part came in the form of someone else."

"Wait-" Baekhyun begged, choking down the lump in his throat. He stared into the eyes of the wolf before him, into the eyes of his first ever life. "you mean that there was another wolf that you were meant for?"

"Yes," the white wolf nodded it's head, it's tongue darting out to its snout. "the sixth was complicated. He had problems that nothing of this universe could understand, it made things hard and difficult for us as a community. I couldn't love him so I set my eyes on another, stronger, more entertaining wolf someone who is still in your life today."

Baekhyun wanted to tell the wolf to shut up, he wanted to tell his previous life that he had heard enough. He wanted nothing more than for the darkness surrounding him to open up and swallow him, he couldn't listen to another moment. The tears were piercing his eyes now, the sting of their presence ripping a strangled breath from his lungs.

"He was always there in the background, offering me comfort when my best friend would shove me away. He would be the arms that held me, telling me that I would be okay when I didn't think that to be true myself. He never went against the things I asked him to do, he would accept without hesitance. Surely things haven't completely changed in the thousand years?"

Baekhyun knew who the wolf was talking about, the answer blinking at him in his mind like a broken neon sign. He couldn't deny that there always was someone there for him whenever Chanyeol wasn't, someone willing to offer him comfort because the other giant couldn't give it to him. Baekhyun felt his heart break at the thought, he couldn't allow his mind to think that far into things. He refused to believe that he was meant for anyone else apart from Chanyeol, he refused to believe that he was capable of falling for someone other than Chanyeol.

"Kris? You're telling me that you fell in love with Kris' soul source, the what second wolf creator?!"

"He's actually the third but yeah I suppose if that's his name in your lifetime, he was just Three in mine."

"That's not possible, he belongs with Tao."

"He belongs with you, if you hadn't been so intrigued with Chanyeol in our second life then we wouldn't be here right now!"

"No!" Baekhyun screamed back, his tears finally overflowing their cages. He felt them as they rolled down his cheek, he felt them as they fell from his face and to the ground below him. He could feel his entire body shake as his hands clenched into fists, his knees felt weak as he collapsed onto the ground, the harsh forest growth stinging his knees. "I belong to Chanyeol."

"Honestly, belonging to someone is so annoying. Whoever thought that one up was a right idiot. When we were alive we were independent, we could experiment with our powers wherever we deemed fit. We were able to love whoever we chose to love, I found my home with Three."

"What happened to Eight then?" Baekhyun cried, sniffing through his tears as he looked up to the wolf who was suddenly towering over him. "If you were platonic mates like you said you would have seen how he was."

"He left our home after our role was done, I didn't even know that he allowed his soul into the Tree of Life but clearly since you talk of him he must have. I lost interest in him shortly after Three and I's wedding, it was such a beautiful ceremony."

"You're lying..."

"Why would I lie to you? Do you think that if I was truly in love with your Chanyeol that I would be fighting so much for you to see that I had no feelings for him apart from friendly compassion? The boy you supposedly love is a ticking time bomb, Three's reincarnated soul is your true mate and the quicker you realise that, the easier it will be getting over your nonsense feelings!"

~*~

Kyungsoo heaved a deep breath once he sat himself down on the chair right next to Baekhyun's bed, the boy laying calmly like he had always been before. The warlock classed witch closed his eyes for a moment, it could have been longer than that since he wasn't paying attention to the clock on the wall but what did grab his attention the moment he reopened his eyes was his best friend.

Baekhyun was panting harshly, his fists clenched around the blankets he had grabbed in the palm of his hand. His cheeks were tainted with tears, trickling over his cheekbones and sliding down the sides of his face, collecting on the pillow below him. Kyungsoo's body worked quicker than his mind, almost instantly he had taken Baekhyun's hand into his own, his best friend's harsh breathing getting rougher and rougher as the seconds ticked by.

"Baekhyun!" he screamed, unable to stop the sound coming out of his mouth. Kyungsoo had half a mind to slap the poor boy's cheek but he didn't want to bring the boy any more harm than what he was currently going through. He blew out a deep breath of air, collecting his thoughts before squeezing his best friend's hand. "You need to calm down, I don't know if you can hear me but you have to calm down please.. I can't lose you..."

What do you guys think?