[CONTENTID1] Prologue END [/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2] warning: long chapter ahead!

II

Upright: Mystery, stillness, passitivity, wisdom, knowledge, learning, intuition, purity, virtue, lack of patience, and a teacher.

Reversed: Ignorance, a lack of understanding, selfishness, secrets, information withheld, lack of personal harmony, and shallowness.

October 31st, 2017

♦

     One month, one week, one day, six hours, thirty seven minutes and eight seconds since the dream occurred. The proposal she agreed to.

Yes, she calculated it.

Nothing seemed to change. Everything had remained presumably the same…- at first. Vivid or not, Moonbi wanted nothing more than to cast it away within the back of her mind. Forget about it, ignore it, and move on to the more trivial matters in her life.

It succeeded for time. Moonbi continued to faze throughout life without much to contemplate on. But then, she started to take notice of the things changing around her.

Maybe she has lost a bit of sanity after the dream, or maybe she just started to pay attention to situations around her. Reports of people somehow disappearing within the dead of night with little to no traces to be found.

It began with one person, then three, and now a dozen people within a week span. Police is recommending traveling in pairs and to report any suspicious activity.

She should be concerned? Absolutely, but it didn’t make sense since her security guards are often around wherever she goes.

And then that night. The night to truly challenged her mental state of being. The night where Choi Moonbi considered the dream to be complete truth. Real. Too real for a mere dream.

It was during the night of Halloween to be exact. One would assume Halloween is the most cliché time to have paranoia, and yes, true, but Moonbi couldn’t help but to question her reality.

Somehow, alone in her bedroom feasting upon chocolates and advertising for an audience invested in her parents’ company, something felt off. Bizarre. Ominous.

For some odd reason, Moonbi couldn’t help but to gaze at her mirror much longer than usual. She never paid it no mind beforehand, especially when using makeup and trying on different jewelry sets. Though, that night brought out something she could never imagine.

Of course, Moonbi had blamed it on the horror films she watched earlier. She went to sleep and everything had gone fine for the most part.

I am thou, thou art I

I am you, you are me...

Soon she finds herself wide awake again and unusually anxious. For what reason? The mirror. That cursed damned mirror.

Just what is it that’s freaking her out so much?! Moonbi jumps out of the bed and marches over to it. Nothing seemed abnormal, she assumed, since her reflection is normal. Like it should be.

The full moon that illuminates through her window shines upon the mirror.

Nothing.

But there’s something. There must be. After all, she wouldn’t get so worked up over this. Moonbi continued to stare, staring hard and unwilling to move until her anxiety had decreased. But it didn’t. Instead, it escalated tenfold.

She didn’t know how long she stared into the mirror. Maybe no more than a few minutes or so until one lingering moment later and within a blink of an eye the entirety of her reflection changed.

Moonbi's brown eyes widened in shock. What the hell?! Her reflection ceased to be anything of a reflection. In fact, the mirror blurs and distorts into this fainted outlook of her bedroom. Is the mirror possessed or is her mind playing tricks on her within this sleep deprived hour? A thin outline of darkened ink smeared across the top of the mirror.

Even in the midst of her growing fear and hesitation Moonbi then noticed the symbols.

∞:Ø2.

"Infinity?" She murmured. The symbols marks the mirror in a thinnish black stamp.

The mirror soon transforms into something sickly and disturbing. Grunge, darkening as the orbs to her eyes became blackened like empty sockets. Darkened blood trickling down her now cracked lips. Ghostly pale skin with thick veins penetrating throughout her- its face.

As if her reflection became an individual of its on. A grotesque imitation of herself.

Moonbi wanted to scream.

Within an instant, the reflection struck out the mirror and snatched her by the wrist. Cold. So cold to the touch. Stunned into oblivion, Moonbi couldn’t get the opportunity to retreat when her reflection yanked her inside the mirror.

Into the world of the unknown and something Moonbi did not ever wanted to know.

It felt like a horrible, god awful nightmare that never wanted to end.

It felt surreal. It felt bizarre. It felt like the air was suffocating her lungs. It felt like weight was crushing on top of her. She tried to bring herself to wake up. Tried to remind herself that it’s only a dream.

A realistically terrible dream.

A large prison. No matter where Moonbi ran, it led her to nowhere. Shackles rattled at her feet and hands as the young girl tried to gain her bearings on the situation.

“You cannot run from me.” A voice so similar to hers uttered.

“L-leave me alone!” Moonbi pleaded that maybe someone, anyone, might be able to help her. She didn’t care. She just wanted to get out.

A giggle vibrates throughout the walls of the prison.

“Leave you alone?” It cooed. “I am you. After all, that’s all you ever do… run away from problems.” This time the deranged voice sounded much, much closer. Moonbi inhaled sharply, trying to ignore the voice and find an escape route.

The figure appeared in front of her.

Dressed in a clean white blouse and ruffled black skirt with some golden jewelry. Yet it didn’t appear anything like her. It can’t. Couldn’t. They may look alike, but she’s not deranged and insane and terrifying like that thing is.

“Yes. We’re quite similar. Just begging to be accepted by somebody in this world. Wanted to find a purpose in this meaningless world.”

W-what? No way! “You’re wrong. That’s not true.” She won’t believe these useless lies. It’s just bull. Its trying to scare her.

It tilted its head in a mocking manner.

“Moonbi, you must be really stupid.” It then proceeds to laugh, “Of course you are! So blind to the truth. Turning away from the problems since you are so weak and useless. Why do you continue rotting in those confined spaces?” That’s… that’s not true...-

“Tell me when’s the last time your parents talked to you? Or they praise you for your good deeds? Or you had friends of your own? That’s right. NEVER. No one ever wanted to be around someone as pathetic as you.”

It walked even closer now. Moonbi should run. She should, but she remained there, frozen. Lost.

…It should be okay, though. I-if she could simply reason with it-

As if the being read Moonbi’s thoughts, its nose flared and eyes grew sickly wider. A nasty snarl curled its lips into a terrifying one.

“Okay? OKAY. OKAY! OKAYOKAYOKAY-“ This distorted, illusion of her reflection suddenly released a loud bloodcurdling scream that made Moonbi cry out in pain.

“Stop! STOP!” But it didn’t. It seemed to get even louder.

“OKAY. ARE YOU OKAY WITH ME KILLING YOU? ARE YOU OKAY BEING THE LEFTOVER IN THE FAMILY?”

Is this how she’s going to end up? Dead and probably forgotten by the entire world? “No! I’m not!” Moonbi wasn’t truly okay with any of this. In fact, terrified. She just wants this to end.

“Really? Giving up so easily? How typical of you…” Moonbi could feel the hairs on the back of her neck rise. The being slithered closer and closer, cackling underneath its staggering breath as the hunger of bloodlust infected its face.

Moonbi tried to desperately move, but found herself stuck to the concrete floor as sudden chains were cuffed around her ankles leaving her immobile.

This… this isn’t okay. None of this is okay.

It’s… it’s true.

She was never okay to begin with. And now to watch as death gradually awaits her. Is this how she wants her own life to end? Like this? Not accomplishing anything?

It’s right. I always hated this. I did. I never wanted to be bound by expectations. I wanted friends. I wanted freedom. I wanted acceptance. I wanted to be myself.

With her head bowed Moonbi clenched her eyes shut.

She wished she was a better person. She only blinded herself from reality because she felt miserable in it. She just couldn’t bare living in the mundane cycles and slept it all away… and now, for what? Just to die? To see her own demise?

Her labored breathing felt sharp and tight to her constricted lungs. Each breath felt painful, miserable, a slow suffocation drowning out the consciousness of her physical senses.

“…Y-you’re right… I know…” What on earth is she even saying at this point? Moonbi found herself panting. “I’ve known it for a long time. I’ve been hurting for a long time… and I’ve numbed myself from the pain of it all. It still hurts me, and it… you're me, r-right? T-then... it must be h-hurting you, too.” Accept the truth as it is. Acknowledge it. Receive it.

And now face the consequences.

This is truly an unjust game...

A blue light cautiously fills her vision. Soft, subdued, and gentle like the whispering inside her conscious. The voice, whatever it was, was hard to dictate whether male or female or anything other than humane compassion.

Moonbi wanted to listen further. To gather more of this tenderness that placed her frantic mind at ease. 

Your chances of winning is almost none.

In a blink of an eye the blue light transformed into a butterfly.

Awe. Wonder. Curiosity.

These emotions bubbled inside her chest and cheeks had turned tickled pink. She haven't felt this way for a long time. Maybe after turning eight, she supposed. 

But if my voice is reaching you, then there may yet be a possibility open to you...

And everything around her begins to fade. Darkness swallowing her vision whole. Moments prior to darkness Moonbi fell through this endless void of nothing. Of darkness. Jerking downwards as gravity became anything but logical and scientific, shifting into something weightless and illogical.

Her head was swimming, stomach tightening, eyes blurring with tears and Moonbi was certain death crawled upon on her very being as she feared falling further into the abyss of nothing.

Moonbi slammed onto something hard and cold. “Ouch!” The girl hissed as she rubbed her behind. Her eyes squinted in pain...- hey, wait, where is she again? And soon widened them as she looked around the room.

Her bedroom, that is.

“I’m… back…” She whispered.

Holy . She's back.

Moonbi didn’t sleep that night. Or a couple of days for that matter.

For many reasons yet to come.

  November 10th, 2017

♦

     Emptiness.

Desensitized.

Dead. Mute. Paralyzed.

Emotions that embodied her over the years. She felt numb for so long, and even now all she could feel is... nothing. The rain and fog only increased her spiraling, empty feelings as she stood there watching the casket lower into ground.

Her brother's casket, that is.

Choi Daemin.

Seventeen years old. A junior at the Ichiwon Boys Boarding Academy. Excellent in his studies and well recepted by everyone. A favorite student. An ambitious teenaer ready to present the world with new ideas and options.

Daemin had the opportunity to enroll into the academy at the mere age of fifteen. Being gone from home for almost three years it was a rarity for her to see him.

Moonbi and Daemin didn't often talk due their mixed relationship. Both too deeply invested in their own life paths for any sibling bonding, but whenever they did spend time together during the holidays, it was really nice.

For once, it felt like Moonbi could open up and share things she'd never thought to discuss. Friends. Life outside of work and studies. Chocolate. Sweets.

Moonbi wasn't incredibly close to her siblings. Most already grown and living their lives while she tries to find hers. However, she still deeply cared.

So, it didn't make any sense. None of it did.

Reports stated that Daemin's body was found hanging above the school ceiling. Mangled, broken and bloody. Autopsy reveals multiple broken bones and lacerations to the face and chest, which then the suspect led Daemin to an agonizing, slow death.

Apparently, the body was discovered after Halloween around four o'clock in the morning.

Amongst the crowd of sobbing friends and family, Moonbi could only reflect. Reflect why and what could potentially cause this outcome.

Why did it had to be him, her own brother, of all people? And the verdict? It's her own carelessness. It's her lack of foresight. The lack of understanding of what she agreed to.

No one knows how it happened or why.

But she did. Moonbi could only come to one possible conclusion. The possibility that her brother had suffered the same fate as she had. Only this time Daemin wasn't so lucky.

Was he crying? Begging to live as the last moments of his life ended in total pain and suffering?

Why didn't that voice, that light, help him like it did for her? Is it because she accepted that woman's offer in the dream? Was that her only defense?

"He was a wonderful person. An amazing friend. No one should have to suffer like he did. "

It's her own damn fault.

If I haven't accepted it. If I just ignored it all.

As a result? Her brother dead. Gone. Never to fulfill his life purpose again.

Would this still happened, anyways? The disappearances still occur every week. But never a dead body. For now.

Moonbi paused in her thoughts. Or, maybe people were already dying beforehand. Perhaps, no one could find the bodies. Then it wouldn't make sense to only find Daemin's. Everything is just so... confusing.

Regardless, it didn't matter what Moonbi thought anymore. Because Daemin is still dead.

December 2nd, 2018

♦

     Choi Moonbi sat in front of her mirror, waiting.

She needed answers. She needs something to appease her grieving soul.

Moonbi concluded this would be the first place to start. Sh