After Jang Hyuk had led the monk up the stairs Taeyeon tossed the blanket onto the ground getting up from the couch unsteadily.

“Where are you going?” Leeteuk asked blocking her way.

“Where do you think I’m going? Upstairs.”

“Sit back down.”

Taeyeon stared at him as if he were a psycho. “Step aside.”  

“You’re sick,” Leeteuk told, “can’t you see that you’re burning with a fever right now?”

Taeyeon averted her eyes from him and stared at the ground moving her eyes about. Flashes of dropping her head in the water and the voice speaking to her appeared in her head. Without realizing it she reached her hand out to touch her hair to see if it was wet and touched her dry ears.

“What are you doing?” Leeteuk questioned confused at what she was doing.

“What happened to me?” Taeyeon asked finally turning to look back at him.

Confusion splashed him like an incoming wave. Did Taeyeon not remember anything at all? It was strange that he should have just never minded her but yet he couldn’t pull himself away from her either.

“Wasn’t I outside?” Taeyeon looked around with a deep increased frown. “And there was water…” she looked down at her feet. When she saw that the ground was just the ground she looked back up at Leeteuk laughing an embarrassed laugh.

;;;;;

Yoona’s coughing and fever quickly subsided. The sweat glands that had formed on her forehead had quickly dissolved as if they’d never been there. Opening her eyes she sat up in bed looking around.

“What…what are you…” Gyuri began before she heard footsteps behind her.

The both of them turned to see the monk and Jang Hyuk standing at the door.

;;;;;

Was it crazy? Had it all been a dream? How had she ended up back in the mansion? She couldn’t meet Leeteuk’s eyes. If she said something to him they would think something was wrong with her. Half turning around so that her back was to him she glanced at the couch where she had been laying before. How in the world had her dream felt so real? She was confused now, terribly confused about what had happened…what was happening to her. The whole morning and now this…how was she to explain it to herself?

A rush of footsteps down the stairs caught her immediate attention. Turning around she and Leeteuk saw the others stop before the living room. The monk wasn’t missing from sight but clearly standing at the side hiding something from his face expression. Other than spotting him she clearly saw Yoona standing on her own looking as healthy as ever.

“Her pneumonia suddenly disappeared.” Gyuri explained turning from the others to look at Yoona as if suspicious of something strange.

Yoona just smiled widely. “Unnie!!”

After Yoona had gone back upstairs to check on Siwon Taeyeon followed Jang Hyuk and the monk to the door but kept her distance so they wouldn’t notice she’d followed.

“Thank you,” Jang Hyuk thanked.

The monk just smiled pleasantly as if nothing had been wrong at all. “Don’t hesitate to call on us if something else happens. We’re always willing to help. You young kids take care now.”

Jang Hyuk nodded and watched the monk walk out before closing the door. Taeyeon quickly turned around walking away. Stopping by the stairs she put her thumb up to her bottom lip. The monk definitely knew something she decided after recalling Changmin’s words of advice to her before he left that morning.

“Are you feeling ok? Leeteuk said you’re having a fever,” Gyuri’s voice popped into her mind.

Spinning around she found Gyuri standing not too far from her.

“Oh…” Taeyeon said keeping her surprise to herself. “I’m perfectly fine. I’m going to go sleep now.”

Turning around she hurried up the stairs leaving Gyuri to stare after her.

;;;;;

When she had returned to her room Gyuri closed the door sitting down on the bed. How many of them had been ill since that morning? And how many strange things had happened that morning? First starting with Taeyeon, who often ended up getting hurt, had somehow drowned in the pool. Then Yoona’s strange behavior which quickly evolved into a strange pneumonia phase before it disappeared as if she’d never had it at all. How in the world did that happen? How in the world could these events be explained? Coincidences? Gyuri couldn’t bring herself to believe that they were all coincidences. Illnesses didn’t disappear just like that.

She turned to the night table to glance at the amulet lying beneath the lamp she’d had ever since young. If she remembered correctly her birth mother had given it to her. Her mother had said that it would ward of spirits and keep her safe at all times. If the area was highly dense with spirits as the monk had explained would it be something of their doing? But why?

;;;;;

Leeteuk slept well that night and awoke early. He found Gyuri in the kitchen chopping up some veggies and some meat she’d found in the fridge.

“Ah…you’re awake?” she said when she spotted him at the doorway. “Seems the housekeeper likes coming in early to stock up the fridge. We barely see her if you think about it.”

“Is anyone else up?” Leeteuk asked getting himself a cup of water.

“Yes,” Gyuri suddenly stopped chopping as if thinking, “I saw everyone else, but Taeyeon.”

“Taeyeon?” Leeteuk repeated.

Gyuri nodded. “You could go see if she’s with Yoona and Siwon. Those three are often together. I’ve noticed that.”

Leeteuk drained his cup of water before walking out of the kitchen. Walking up the stairs he passed Taeyeon’s room. The door was closed but he was able to push it open easily. The bed was made and the room was empty. No sight of Taeyeon. Heading further down the hallway he stopped for a moment. Why should he worry about her going missing? She was probably exploring somewhere in the mansion. Heading back downstairs he waited for Gyuri to finish cooking before the others joined them for breakfast. However, when they were all gathered at the table Taeyeon was missing.

“Where’s Taeyeon?” questioned Yoona looking around.

“I haven’t seen her at all,” Junsu told making a grab for his utensils but Jang Hyuk slapped his hands.

“Did she go out somewhere?” Zhoumi suggested.

“I guess we better look for her before we do anything,” Gyuri told getting up from her chair.

“Lets go guys.” Jang Hyuk agreed.

The group filed out of the house in a silent manner. Before making his way down the drive Leeteuk turned around to see Gyuri staring up at the mansion.

;;;;;

Taeyeon stepped into the yard where Dark had jumped her looking around. It was empty. The sun was shining down heavily so she wondered why Dark wasn’t lurking around.

Stopping in her steps she called out, “Is anyone home?”

No one replied.

“Did they all go out somewhere?” she wondered.

Suddenly she heard someone running. The sounds like horses hooves against the ground every time it touched the dry surface but it was a quieter kind of sound.

“Whoa, boy!” Changmin shouted grabbing Dark by his collar suddenly coming into view.

Taeyeon stared at them surprised but laughed. Changmin stared back at her with a wide clumsy kind of smile.

“What brings you here?” Changmin questioned allowing Dark to walk toward Taeyeon.

She rubbed his back while Changmin made his way over. “I was just wondering…is your uncle home?”

“My uncle?” Changmin repeated. “His house is over there at the far back.” Changmin pointed back toward the area where his house was located.

Taeyeon turned to glance down the walk, “Would you mind taking me to see your uncle?”

Changmin stared at her with curiosity marking his face but nodded in the end. Turning around he began to lead Taeyeon down the walk.

“Are you feeling better?” asked Changmin.

“Huh?” Taeyeon felt her heart race again. “I’m feeling fine.”

“You still don’t look so well.” Changmin told looking at her.

Taeyeon felt like hiding away from him. Why was it that she felt so shy around him? Then she wondered if her face was red. While busy thinking she hadn’t realized that Changmin had taken off his cardigan and placed it around her.

“We should hurry and get you back to the mansion,” Changmin suggested.

Taeyeon glanced at the cardigan he’d put around her. “No…it’s ok. I’m completely fine. After your uncle came last night I’m really feeling better.”

The quietness that came from Changmin made Taeyeon wonder if she’d said something wrong. It wasn’t the kind of surprised silence but the kind of anger shocking silence. He didn’t feel so happy.

“Are you ok?” Taeyeon asked nervously.

“My uncle came to the mansion last night?” asked Changmin.

Taeyeon stared back him. Was he angry about that?

“Did he?” Changmin continued.

“Uh…yea…” Taeyeon nodded.

“What happened?” Changmin questioned.

“I…I’m not sure…” Taeyeon replied.

Changmin finally turned to look at her before his face softened. “You’re alright though…right?”

Taeyeon nodded feeling lost. Why was he upset?

“Lets go,” he said putting an arm around her shoulder.

Taeyeon couldn’t help but feel so small next to him. Maybe she could ask Changmin some questions after they’d found his uncle.

;;;;;

“Taeyeon!”

“Taeyeon!”

“Unnie!”

“Kim Taeyeon!!”

They all shouted one after another. After their 30 minute round they headed back to the mansion. No one had found her.

“Where would she have gone?” Yoona tried to dig into her mind.

Leeteuk was silent before he said, “You guys all wait here.”

“Why? Where are you going?”

“Just stay here.” he told. “There’s somewhere I want to check alone.”

***So I decided to add in some more things about Gyuri. Yes, she's becoming suspicious of the events that are happening. I thought it'd be a stupid idea to just have the rest of the characters be idiots and only argue and fight so I'm going to make them slowly realize what's going on.

***If you have any more questions feel free to ask me in the comments section and I will answer you there. I know that this story has a lot of unexplained things but this story is supposed to be like that. It's mystery after all xD