CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Possessed

 She watched as the dancing fire burnt the kettle hanging over its flame and listened as the water cackled and spit as it came to a boil. She snuggled into one of Chanyeol’s shirts as she stretched both hands towards the fire, warming them. The sun had just come out over the horizon and the morning was at its freshest but the coldness still left a stinging sensation in her bones.

“You aren’t going to catch some sleep?” Luhan asked, settling beside her but then moved away from the heat of the fireplace she had set up. Jaehwa didn’t say anything and simply shook her head with her gaze still fixed on the warm hues of the flames before her.

“You look awful.” Chanyeol spoke, his words were laced with care and a tentativeness she found so out of character. After the events of last night, Chanyeol had become particularly aware of Jaehwa because if anything, she had been one of the few women in his life who'd actually exhibited strength beyond his imagination. Suddenly, Jaehwa had risen to a new level for him.

“I’m fine.” Her voice was low and meek and she didn’t sound the least bit fine. “Lay needs some time to rest.”

“He’s got half the tent to himself.” Chanyeol reasoned as he offered her a packet of the many nutrition bars that they had packed for their journey – they weren’t particularly appetising especially knowing that they had a shelf life of ten years, but down one bar with a glass of water and you’d be full for quite some time.

She shook her head again and whispered, “I’m not really hungry.” Except the bar didn’t remove itself from her peripheral vision and she turned to look up at him through sore and swollen eyes. He pressed his lips into a thin smile, nodding for her to take the bar and she couldn’t help but abide by his commands. “Thank you.”

“No need.” He shrugged as he disappeared back into the tent. When they realised that they wouldn’t be getting anywhere near some decent shelter before dawn, they decided to camp out for another morning just so Lay could get some rest.

Not long before, Jaehwa had changed Lay’s clothes with D.O.’s help and had also cleaned up the wound a little but his condition was worsening. He still hadn’t begun to hallucinate but she knew it was coming soon and when it did, it wouldn’t take long for the poison to spread all through his body.

“Well we can’t just let him die!” Jaehwa heard Soojung’s muffled voice from inside the opposite tent, “What’s the point of having a healer if she can’t heal? What’s the point of being a guardian if she can’t protect any of you? Lay was a healer and he helped us when we were sick or injured and now that he is, we’re all just going to sit here and do nothing?”

Jaehwa closed her eyes, sighing heavily as her head pounded. She wished she could tell Soojung that she was wrong about all her accusations but there was nothing she could say because in reality, there was nothing she could do to help Lay without magic. She wasn’t even sure she could do anything with magic.

Luhan rested a cold hand on top of hers and gave it a gentle squeeze, “Don’t blame yourself – it’s not your fault.”

Still, Jaehwa said nothing as the headache began to spread through her. She needed sleep but how could she? How could she sleep when Lay was dying? How could she sleep when she closed her eyes and the first image that flashed through her mind was Soojung in Sehun's arms?

“But she’s right.” Jaehwa sighed, “She’s right! I’m supposed to be your guardian-“

Luhan shook his head when he heard her words, “Nobody wanted this.”

She looked at the calmness in his face and wondered if he was hurting as she was – if he was as worried as she was but realised that Luhan had probably undergone more loss in these fifty years than any one living person could endure. The truth was, they all had – Sehun, Chanyeol, Suho, Kai, Kris and to an extent maybe even Soojung, who watched her family pass away, her sister grow old and the human life she once had, dissolve into memories. Luhan was almost numb to it – he was afraid of death and of goodbyes but that didn’t change the fact that he was slowly beginning to accept and adjust to this lifestyle – a life with no constant.

In the midst of her staring, she felt a yawn begin to surface and tried to stifle it but Luhan saw it and smiled.

“I told you, you need some rest.” He pointed out.

She smirked and looked away as she unwrapped her nutrition bar and chewed on it slowly. When the water was done, she used the excess fabric of Chanyeol’s baggy shirt to form a layer of insulation between the kettle and her skin before she poured a cup of tea for herself and Luhan.

It wasn’t until after two cups of tea that Sehun walked out of the tent with Kai and Chanyeol tailing behind him. His movements were fluid and poised and she watched as his body unfolded to his full height after having to duck under the shelter of the tent. He walked casually towards her and Luhan with a hand tucked in his pocket, settling himself beside her. If she hadn’t noticed the way he never dared to look at her directly, she would’ve thought that he had completely no clue that she was avoiding him, but Sehun was smarter than that.

She lifted her cup to her lip and closed her eyes as the warm tea eased its way down – helping her take her mind off Sehun. She didn’t want to talk to him or look at him or have anything to do with him for now because right now, she was still jealous and angry.

“How is he?” Kai asked as he sat down, directing his question at Jaehwa as he motioned towards the tent that Lay currently slept in alone.

“He’s alright, the poison’s spreading quite quickly though – I don’t know how long he’ll last before it really kicks in and starts causing hallucinations.” She sounded softer and quieter compared to the days before and they all remembered that even though Jaehwa was one of them now, she was still not used to staying up for days on little food and water.

“Right. What Lay needs now is something that’ll slow down the process of the werewolf poison from completely spreading throughout his body which means he’s going to need something to fuel his immune system.” Sehun analysed before he turned to direct his gaze at Luhan. “We’re thinking of going into the nearest town for blood.” 

“You don’t think they’ll notice?” Luhan asked with his brows furrowed, slightly unsure of the idea but Jaehwa could already tell that Luhan was set on going. Whatever he could do to save his brother, he would do and that applied for all of them because their bond as brothers was far more sincere than anything she had ever seen.

“I’m willing to the take the risk.” Sehun replied almost instantly, “Even if it’s for Lay.” His voice dropped and she was curious as to what he meant because all his brothers seemed to understand.

“Jaehwa, we’re thinking that you should stay back with Soojung to look after Lay. The rest of us will split into two groups – one group will go look for blood for Lay and the rest of us will hunt for ourselves in the forest.” Chanyeol briefed Jaehwa on their plans and she nodded.

“That’s fine.” She nodded.

“You’ll be alright with Soojung?” Kai asked and from the tent she heard Soojung snap, ‘Yah, Kim Jongin, what’s that supposed to mean?’

Jaehwa nodded as she stood up to leave but was stopped when Sehun reached for her hand.

“Jae-“

She pulled back almost immediately and the atmosphere between the small group grew awkward all too quickly. Realising what she had done, she curled her hair behind her ear and coughed.

“Sorry,” She muttered, though Sehun could sense that she was only being the bigger person to ease the tension in the air – if it had just been the two of them, Jaehwa would’ve preferred to not have said anything at all. “If there’s nothing else, I’m going to check on Lay.”

He wanted to talk to her and ask her what had happened because the feeling of her pushing him away plagued him. He could barely think straight or focus without knowing the reason as to why things had changed so drastically between them but seeing her pull away from him so quickly ate away at his confidence to confront her again. He didn’t really understand why Jaehwa had turned so cold but it made him bitter to see her react to him in this way and somehow in his head, the only thing he could think of was that Soojung would never treat him this way.

Yet Jaehwa made him do things that no one else could – things that he thought he was incapable of. Sometimes, he wished he didn’t love Jaehwa so much now because it seemed