Hearing the scream, the ominous male lashed out and backhanded her causing her to tumble to the ground at the protesting cries of the horses. Inside the house however, all of members froze hearing the scream before Sehun scrambled to his feet and running outside with his brethren following behind. A shiver went down all of their spines when another scream pierced the air.

Hyerin’s eyes closed in pain as the male lifted her up by the throat having her feet barely touch the ground. She could feel her windpipe being squeezed and bright red eyes glaring at her. “You are mine, priestess,” he growled at her. Black dots began to flicker in her vision as she tried to drag air into her depraved lungs. Her hands gripped his arm trying to get him off her when a huge blast of wind filled the stables blowing the male away from her. As his grip left her, she felt herself fall to the ground on all fours gasping for breath.

“NOONA!” a familiar cry resounded as arms grabbed her and pulled her into a comforting embrace. Looking up through her eyelashes, she felt relieved when she saw it was Sehun clinging onto her. “Stay with me noona!” he called seeing her eyes flutter closed. Fearing the worst, he shook her slightly to reopen her eyes when another form dropped beside him. Looking up, Lay’s hands were hovering over her to check for injuries.

As they took care of her, the rest of the members looked toward the strange male before them before Kris and Suho’s eyes narrowed in anger. “Yanluo! Why are you here?!” Kris growled in anger at the leader of the Red Force. Hearing the name, the members whipped their heads toward their leaders in surprise. Realizing that he had been found out, Yanluo smirked at the EXO leaders. “It’s been a long time boys,” he sneered. “I’m here for her!” he stated pointing toward Hyerin. Hearing this, the members immediately stepped around her protectively.

“You’re not getting anywhere near her Yanluo!” Xiumin glared while frost coated his hands. “I may not get her now, but rest assured that priestess will be mine!” he stated before disappearing from their sights. “What does he mean by priestess?” Baekhyun wondered aloud, but all thoughts of Yanluo disappeared when they heard the frantic cry of their maknae.

“Noona!” Sehun cried out when he saw Hyerin’s eyes flutter and slowly open. “Sehunnie?” she whispered softly. Feeling tears come to his eyes, he rubbed his arm across them and nodded his head vigorously. Slowly sitting up, Hyerin looked around her before clutching but realizing it didn’t hurt any longer. “Are you ok Jie Jie?” a soft voice asked beside her. Turning to look, she noticed Lay looking worriedly at her.

“I am, thanks to you Lay. To all of you,” she said in appreciation while looking at each of the members. Reaching out with his hand, Chanyeol helped her to her feet and ruffled her hair. “It’s all good, noona. I’m glad to see that you are ok.” he said giving her a toothy grin. She soon felt an arm wrap around her shoulders. “He’s right noona. Let’s go back inside the house and get you to rest.” Baekhyun stated will pulling her into a side hug and slightly squeezing her shoulder for comfort.

Nodding slightly, Hyerin agreed while letting two of the three Beagle line lead her away. The rest of the group followed behind and Chen rushed forward to ruffle her hair. “Seriously Chen?” she asked trying to fix her hair again. Giving her a grin, he started to reach forward again, when he felt a tug on the back of his shirt yanking him away from her. Looking behind, he noticed that it was Kai pulling him away. “Hyung, leave noona alone,” he said letting go before turning toward her and hooking their arms together. “Yah! Is that how you treat your hyung!?” Chen called out which made Kai look back over his shoulder him and stick his tongue out.

“Get back here Kim Jongin!” Chen yelled with electricity running around him whilst he chased after the tanned skinned boy. Seeing his hyung running toward him, Kai immediately made a run for it before remembering he could teleport. As he disappeared from the other’s sight, Chen gave a groan of annoyance. “Pesky little brat,” he huffed. Laughing, the rest of the members headed back inside while Hyerin shook her head and smiled at how playful the brothers could be, even after the incident that just happened.

‘It’s so weird. Why did he call me priestess? I’m so confused,’ she thought as she felt herself frown in confusion. It wasn’t until she felt a finger upon her brow pressing lightly to ease the frown lines away, did she look up to see Xiumin in front of her, smiling gently. “You shouldn’t frown, noona. It’s not good to have frown lines so early in one’s life,” he stated while turning partially to offer his arm to her. Taking him up on his offer, she wrapped her arm around his own and the duo walked inside to the normal chaos that now feels like family to her. At the thought of family, she felt a pull in her heart at the memory of her family and why they were no longer with her. Thinking back to that fateful day, she wondered what would have happened if they had accepted her for who she was instead of discriminating her.

~ Several years ago ~

A resounding slap echoed around the room as the girl trembled before her family. Today of all days was her birthday and her parents wouldn’t even stop the abuse that they tormented her with. Now that she had come of age into adulthood, her parents rejoiced by beating her to an inch of her life. “You ungrateful little ingrate! We never wanted you in our life. If it wasn’t for your older brother pleading to us before his death to spare you, we would have gotten rid of you long ago. Now that you are no longer a dependent of ours we no longer want you in our life. Get out of my house!” roared the man whom she used to know as ‘father.’

Shakily getting to her feet, she shuffled toward the door with only the clothes on her back, which wasn’t much considering they were a pair of jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt. Seeing that at least a pair of her sandals was by the door, she managed to get her feet in them before the couple who used to be her parents could stop her. Just as she stepped half way outside, the door slammed shut hitting her and causing her to fall and hit her head on the railing by the door leading down from the small porch. Sitting there, she felt the blood trickle down from her temple and land with a loud ‘plop’ on the ground.

“Aigoo, agashi, gwenchana?” a deep voice asked of her as a slightly wrinkled hand was held before her. Looking up through lashes, she saw an older man with laughter lines around his eyes and mouth making him look like a kind old soul to her. Trembling, she took his hand and felt another hand grasp her other arm with a tenderness that shook her to her core. This man didn’t even know her and yet was so gentle with her that she felt like she would break into a million pieces if he ever let go. Pulling lightly, he helped her to her feet and with a hand that shook slightly, from what she saw, his fingers feathered across her brow to move her hair aside to take a better look at the gash that was upon her skull.

Clucking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, he then turned his gaze upon her and frowned. Seeing him frown, she automatically flinched at the look. Realizing that she might be flinching due to him, his eyes filled from the wisdom of his age softened and he placed a hand lightly upon the crown of her head. “Oh agashi, what have they done to you?” he whispered toward himself. Clearing his throat to catch the young girls attention, he looked at her and turned toward the street. “Come, little one, let’s go get you cleaned up.”

Hearing the kindness in the man’s voice, she tilted her head in wonder. Why would the elderly man want to take care of her? She was nothing but a shell of human who shouldn’t even be on this plant. Seeing that the girl had not followed her, the elderly man tugged on her gently causing her to step forward. “I will not hurt you, if that is what you are worried about,” he said gently as he finally managed to get her to walk. “But,” she started to say when a crinkled finger was lightly placed upon her lips. “Shh, let’s get you cleaned up first before any questions are asked,” he stated with a smile that caused her to slowly nod her head in agreement, letting the elder take her to the nearest clinic.

She would never forget the elders’ kindness toward her. He took her in when no other would. Xiumin reminded her of him when he had offered his arm toward her. It wasn’t until she felt a slight squeeze on her hand did she look up to see the worried gaze of the man in question. “Are you alright noona?” he asked her. Nodding her head, she continued walking toward the house while Xiumin tilted his head in curiosity wondering why she had so suddenly stopped walking and had this far off gaze in her eye. Shrugging, he continued with her as they headed back inside. Instead of leading her to where the rest of his brothers were, they ended up going toward her room where he helped her lay down. “Rest for now, noona. Once you have rested we will talk over what had happened,” he said while giving his eye smile. Nodding, she felt sleep encase her in its grasp as the sound of the other’s voices disappeared.

Authors note:

First and foremost, I want to appologize to everyone for not posting anything in several months. I have been so crazy busy with work it's not even funny. I feel so stretched thin at the moment I'm worried that I'm burning myself out. I seriously need a vacation, but there is no way I'll be able to get one anytime soon what with so many people leaving my company where I have to pick up their slack. I go to fifteen different offices and they are not in the same city either.

I haven't even been online in such a long time as well so I'm trying to get caught up on whats going on in the KPOP world. I did hear about what's going on with EXO and I truly hope that the fans can understand that there are always two sides to every story. I don't want to say too much on the issue except that no matter the outcome I will continue to support both EXO and Kris.

Other than that I hope everyone is doing well and staying healthy! Please do let me know what you think of the story so far and if you have questions, or just want to vent about frustrations you might be going through, I will be more than happy to listen and give advice if need be. Everyone have a great night and EXO let's love!

XOXO

Zoe_bug