Innocence, such a naive thing when it comes to this world. If you're innocent then you're often mistakened as a fool. Innocence can be compared to unlimited kindness. In my life I learned that if you are too kindhearted the others will take advantage of it without you even noticing. It's not wrong to be kind and innocent but neither to let the others fool you. The girl with the sweetiest smile can be the one who is crying her heart out every night before she falls asleep. A boy who is mistakened for an angel in disguise can actually be the devil. Appearances are deceiving. Don't have trust in no one and nothing, neither in your shadow.

 

 

A young girl, around the age 11-12 years old, was running downstairs. She was happy that finally, after a long time, she could spend time with her parents. When she got down the stairs, she started to jump in excitement. Her mom held her right hand while her father held the left one. They were almost at the front door when a dark fog covered the whole floor instantly. Her parents looked at each other for a few second and after that at their little girl who was waving her hands in the black fog. The female grabbed her hand and dragged her to a closet under the main stairs. "Honey, listen to me carefully. Whatever you will hear or see, you will stay here. Uncle Jihoon will come after you, until then, don't move." The little girl nodded. "He's here. Close the door." the male patted his wife's shoulder. " Whatever happens, we love you honey. Always remember that." They both kissed her forehead and closed the door. A loud bang was heard, the lights began to flash and turned off afterwards. 

 

The little girl hugged her knees and bit her bottom lip. She tried to look through the door's glass and when she did, she saw two bodies being thrown across the room. The window above them shattered and some glass shards pierced their skin. Her heart was beating so fast that you could even hear it. She covered in order to keep herself from screaming. Silent tears streamed down her face. The moonlight lighted up the room a little but she still couldn't see her parent's attacker. The silence covered the house for a few moments when suddenly a creepy laughter froze the blood in her veins. She peeked out the window but a black fog covered the whole room and she couldn't see anything.

 

She could only hear her parents' screams and the furniture in the room moving around. The attacker let out a growl that sounded like it was coming from everywhere. The girl peeked out the glass one more time hoping to see what was happening outside. Sharp objects were floating in the air aiming to her parents. Her eyes widened and inside her head she was screaming for help, she was screaming "No!". She was shaking her head and hitting the door with her fists. In the moonlight she saw a black shadow walking towads her parents. The doors, cabinets and cupboards started opening and closing loudly. She tried one more time to open the door, this time she suceeded. When she stepped outside the door the sharp objects pierced her parent's bodies right in front of her eyes. She watched with horror how their bodies lied on the floor almost lifelessly. 

 

As her mother saw she was outside the closet her eyes widened as she started to mumble words to make her go inside it. "Go back there." her mom muttered. "But..." the girl looked at the closet and back to her parents unsure about what to do. "Just go!" her mom shouted from the top of her lungs. But when the girl turned around to run up to the closet it's door closed. She heard her mom gasping while she was trying to open the door but the knob became hot and burnt her hand. The girl had the feeling someone was watching her and heard some footsteps behind her. She took off her jacket and covered the knob and opened the door. When she was about to go in the closet a hot hand with long nails grabbed her hand and tried to pull her out. His nails left scratches on her hand while she was struggling to set her hand free. By mistake the man touched the cross she had around her neck as a necklace and burnt his hand. The girl took advantage of it, ran to the closet, got in and shut the door. The man tried to open the door but it burnt his hands. After several tries he gave up.

 

The lights and the noises stopped. It was silent. She opened the door a little and peeked out to see if the attacker was gone. After making sure that it was safe, she got out of the closet and ran to her mother's side , who was still alive. Her mother caressed her head and face. A tear slowly made it's way on the female's cheek because she knew she dosen't have too much time. She drew on the floor with her own blood a symbol and holded her daughter's hands. "Under the .. under the pentagon." she said to her as tears rolled down her face and she started coughting. 

 

The girl knew in her heart that this was the end, her mother was going to die like her father."Mom ... " she called her as if only her call could keep her there. The female shook her head as if she knew what was in her daghter's heart. "Don't go, please , don't go. "The girl broke down and held her mother's hand tightly near her chest. "Don't leave me alone ... " her voice cracked as her vision became blurry. With her last drop of strength her mother wiped her tears. " Promise me to follow what is written and be strong." The little girl didn't react. With teary eyes the woman caressed her cheek one more time. "Promise?" the little girl nodded slowly. Her mother smiled, holding herself from crying. She blinked several times until her eyes closed forever. "Mom? " the little girl panicked and started to shake her mother's arm. "No .. " her eyes widened and her heart started to ache as if someone had stabbed her with a knife. Tears were rolling down her face as she kept calling her mother and father to come back. She started to scream and shake their bodies but it was no use. As she saw the blood she became horrified. That was her parents' blood that stained the floor. She kept denying the reality. It was impossible for her yet possible in fact. But then she remembered what her mother said to her and followed her instructions.

 

When Ilhoon, her father's bestfriend, came, he found her waiting for him at the door. The emotionless expression on her face was unusual. She was not the girl everyone used to know. "Are you ok? What happened? " he cupped her face and widened his eyes as he saw her burned and scratched hands. He ran in the house to see what happened. As he returned with a shocked expression on his face he finally understood why her father messaged him to come and take her. They had been attacked and killed. He hugged the girl and patted her back. " It's okay now, uncle Ilhoon is here now." though he tried to confort her she didn't moved an inch. He looked into her eyes and sighed. She didn't cry because the only thing she wished right now was revenge and nothing else. Though she didn't showing it, inside she was breaking down. Since that day she wasn't the same person anymore. After her parents' funeral, she left with her uncle and started her training.

 

Four years passed since that day. A day she never forgot, a day she kept having nightmares about. It was tearing her apart that her parents died like that in front of her and she couldn't help them in anyway. She felt useless. Her fist tightened every time she looked in the mirror as she failed to recognize herself. Her smile seemed to have vanished from her face. Her eyes didn't have that sparkle of joy anymore. She couldn't even remember the last time she smiled or laughted. 

 

After four long years she would return home. It's a little hard to go back to those horrible memories. It was like she was going back in time. As she stepped in the house, flashes of that day started to cross in her mind. Though everything that was destroyed had been replaced, for her nothing changed. It's the same room where her parents had been killed. It's the same house she used to call "home". She was grateful to her uncle for taking care of the house but something was missing. All these years, that day had been on repeat on her mind as if it was a tape. She still felt that something was missing. It was impossible for her to forget a single detail about it though she had the feeling that a piece of the puzzle was missing. She didn't know what it was yet, but she was sure that she would find out sooner or later.

 

 

Inside the house she felt like she was choking. It was still hard for her to return to the place where she lost almost everything. A place filled with good but also bad memories. Slowly, she made her way up to her bedroom. The room she missed the most. The drawings she drawed years ago were still pinned above the bed and desk. She took a closer look at them and recognized most of them. In one of the drawings it was her family next to a christmas tree. She was opening her presents while her mother and father were taking pictures of her every move. She still remembered that day well though she was only ten years old by then. On that day one present amongst all of them got her attention instantly. It was a brown teddy bear with a blue scarf on, which "Hope" was written on. Back then she though it was an awkward name for a teddybear but now she understood the meaning of it. 

 

As she looked at the drawings again she recognized a drawing in which she seemed to be running on a hill. Another one she was on a boat on the lake near her house. Many memories came through her mind as she was looking at each one of her drawings, especially the ones with her parents. She missed them so much. She missed the when her mom used to wake her up in the morning by tickling her until she was got up. The way her father used to play hide and seek with her in the forest. She remembered how once she even got lost. When her father found her, she was very scared. So scared that at the first sight she though her father was a monster who wanted to eat her. As soon as she recognized him she ran towards him and hugged him tightly. Since then they played hide and seek only near the house.

 

The bed was still in the same place, right next to the glass door by the balcony, between them being a bedside table where it was placed a purple lamp and a photo with her family when she was around of six years old. The curtains, purple like the lamp, where covering the glass door ,and the window above the desk where she used to draw, had pink flowers outlined on it. The bed and the desk were parallel. Across the room in the left of the door it was a small library , a coffee table and two armchairs while on the right there were two cabinets. The purple carpet fitted perfectly with the brown floor and the blue walls giving a modern and confortable feeling to it. The light in the room was still being provided by the medium sized glass chandelier. Nothing had changed. Even her plushies were spreaded in the room. She layed on her bed staring at the walls and ceiling as they were the most interesting things she ever saw. Being deep in her thoughts she didn't even noticed how the time fled by. It was evening. After she put her things in their place she went to the super-market as it was nothing to eat in the house.

 

She took her jacket as it was very cold outside for a September evening and went outside. The way to the market was quite long so she didn't have time to lose. As some neighbours saw her, they greeted her and welcome her while some started to gossip about the reason of her return. The neighborhood was still the same as she remembered. The same creepy Mr. Jung, the same crazy old lady Mrs. Kim and the same noisy kids at the playground. But then something got her attention. In front of her walking was a strange guy wearing a green sweater with its hood on his head. There was something about him that made curiousity rise up in her mind. As he walked in the opposite way of the super-market she decided to not follow him and to continue to walk on her way.

 

On her way home she mentally made a note to herself to not buy so many groceries next time as the bags were kinda heavy. She sat on a bench near the playground when she saw the same strange guy she saw before. Her eyebrows furrowed and she was wondering what he was doing at this hour outside walking all alone. But she shrugged because it wasn't her business, took the bags and continued her way. After a few minutes of walking she heard some footsteps behind her. She continued to walk though much faster than before she could still hear those footsteps behind her. When she was sure someone was following her she decided to mislead her follower. When she was sure she lost him she took a look behind her and smirked in victory but when she turned around she bumped into the same guy she saw already twice in that day. Her heart skipped a beat and she dropped her bags as she did not expected that. Though deep inside, she was a little bit scared on the outside her face was emotionless. She muttered a "Sorry" , took her bags from the ground but right she was about to walk away he grabbed her hand and pulled her down. Before she could react she heard a loud bang. She looked in the direction from which the sound came and saw a trash bin laying on the ground. Then she realized what actually happened. "Are you ok?" he asked and helped her to get up. She just nodded as her eyes were still on the trash bin.

 

After she thanked him for helping her, he offered to drive her home but she refused, turned around and left without even looking at her saviour. She couldn't get out from her head the thought that the trash bin was aiming for her. What if the one who killed her parents comes after her now? Her fist tightened at the thought she could finally get revenge but she didn't feel ready yet. She didn't know anything about her opponent. Though she couldn't wait for the moment because she waited so long, she decided to take things slow. But now other questions came into her mind, this time about the guy she saw today and how he saved her just in time. "There's something weird about this guy .." she muttered and crossed her hands. "I will keep my eyes on him just in case." she tapped her chin. As she looked at the clock she sighed. She knew she was supposed to eat and prepare for tomorrow, because tomorrow is Monday. Tomorrow is the beginning of the school year, tomorrow is a new beginning.