I smudged the ground with my blood until it covered a portion of the circle. I grabbed afterwards Byung Hee’s hair until my hand fully healed. Then onto Daesung’s hair so that white energy could flow back between my fingers.

“This will hurt,” I warned Byung Hee who only nodded. Daesung kept a watchful eye on the basement’s door while wincing from my pull. His hair is a really good anti-stress tool. I slapped my hand against the ground to smash it. Thick black smoke filled every corner of the basement. I coughed my lungs out and thought I’d blackout in a second. The smoke twisted and twirled until it became a thin thread pulled through the floor’s cracks. The view cleared with Byung Hee’s blue eyes shining powerful in the darkness. The door suddenly opened. The Keeper didn’t waste time and flew straight up the stairs. He shoved the intruder back inside the hallway. I let go of Daesung and followed him, curios if it was Seungri. On the floor, Jung Min growled as Byung Hee kept a blade under his chin.

“Stop it!” I dashed to his side, grabbed Byung Hee’s arm and pulled him away. The Keeper calmed down and his blade disappeared in an instant. He kneeled afterwards in visible pain and I couldn’t help notice how weak he felt. My energy barely reacted with his. I was about to help Jung Min stand up, when I stopped midway and stared at him. The reaper’s right eye looked like somebody dipped a brush inside his pupil and splattered black ink over his red iris. Beneath his eye, the once perfect make-up dripped down his cheek as a forgotten dried tear stuck to his skin. “...hey Jung Min...”

“Stink man?” Daesung’s voice came out before mine. Jung Min went to and fro between us until he growled again.

“What are you doing?” he barked and fixed his eyes over the Keeper. Since I was pretty much standing in front of him, Jung Min’s eyes also burnt me.

“He’s one of the good guys,” I tried to argue, but there was something extremely wrong with the way the reaper looked.

“Forget it,” Byung Hee mumbled behind me. “It’s too late for him.”

“Too late for what?” I frowned at the Keeper who kept his mouth shut. “Ya, Jung Min! Stop acting like that, I’m serious. I don’t think Byung Hee---”

“He’s a Keeper!” Jung Min howled “He must be send to the authorities!”

Woah there horse, you aren’t in a race.

Byung Hee grinned as a way to stifle his laughter. Yeah, very funny, get out of my mind already.

“What’s a Keeper?” Daesung asked. Instead of receiving his answer, Jung Min snapped him a dirty look.

“I’ll explain it, but I don’t think we have time,” Byung Hee pointed towards the front door where a pissed off Yuri fumed.

“There are reapers everywhere, care to explain?!” she came straight to us and our faces almost touched.

“Wasn’t Seungri coming after him?” I smacked Byung Hee’s arm who remained unfazed. I could see Yuri was about to grab our heads and knock them together. Instead, she looked at Daesung.

“You already told him?!”

Daesung waved his hands. “I had to... I mean, wasn’t that what we were supposed to do?”

Yuri grabbed Daesung by his collar. “This is why you should have never become a Red Priest. You ed things in the past, you’re ing things now!”

“Guys...”

“Not only that, but you have absolutely no respect for us!”

“Guys...”

“Who the heck thought it was a good idea to give you better abilities?”

“For ’s sake! Yuri, stop shaking him!”

Yuri let go of Daesung who waddled until his back hit the wall.

“You guys are a happy gang, aren’t you?” Byung Hee snickered. Yuri was ready to pin him back to the ground with her weird black tangles. I stepped between them.

“Now, now... we have a bigger problem here.”

“Not good,” Jung Min uttered with his eyes focused outside. “There are ten Warriors and two Seekers, including Seungri.”

Warriors and Seekers... great, I had no idea what he was talking about. I suspected those were all reapers. Though, the names were funny. What next, Watchers?

“We have those too,” Byung Hee sneered at me. I smacked him. Well, tried. He stopped my hand before I could do anything and kept a firm grip.

“Have you told them what you’ve told me?” Yuri suddenly asked. The Keeper nodded.

“They know everything.”

See! He was one of the good guys. I had no idea why Jung Min was the only one in doubt... and the craziest among us, even more than Yuri.

“...what’s wrong with your eye?”

“I could ask the same,” he snorted and I couldn’t help snort back.

Bang!

I was very sure something hit the front door. We all turned there and waited. There was absolutely no way they could get past the barrier. Yuri knows her stuff way better than any of us.

Oh...

Unless... when I broke the floor, the cracks spread to the seal blocking the house from uninvited guests. And if that seal was also disturbed, then the shield might not be as good as before. Or worse – it was down and we were vulnerable.

, , , what now? I heard something land over the roof. Heavy steps filled the upstairs. Great, I was right. Byung Hee’s second blade appeared out of nowhere. He turned towards the stairs and we all waited. Harboring a rogue reaper meant we were against the other world and no matter how many times we would try to explain the situation, we wouldn't be forgiven. They can get inside our mind and find the truth. At least, Yuri, Daesung and I are guilty. Jung Min could escape conviction, but from the way he acted and the Keeper’s words, I had a feeling he no longer was on the reapers’ good side.

Either way, we’re screwed. I’m screwed. I can’t even help them.

I think.

Actually, were my abilities back? I did see the Keeper and his wings, I did see Jung Min’s new appearance and for some reason, my spell didn’t fail on the first try. Should I blame my new eye for that?

Or am I that awesome?

Byung Hee turned to me and smirked.

“No, it’s the eye,” he answered and I wished I could ignite his back to the other world. “I don’t think that works on me.”

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

“My, my...” Seungri’s voice cancelled our imminent fight. The reaper smiled at us. “It seems we have a problem. Care to explain?”

“Yeah,” I puffed my chest “We don’t want to work with you guys anymore.”

He laughed.

Eh? Eh? Eh? What’s so funny?

“Who said you have a choice?” he inquired as three more reapers came from behind him. “...Jung Min?” he stopped the other reapers and stared at Jung Min. “Kill him!” Seungri ordered. “Kill him now!”

The reapers flew past Seungri, past me and Byung Hee, past Yuri and Daesung and attacked Jung Min.

I’ve been scared many times. At that moment, I froze and wondered – why couldn’t I stop them?

Why wasn’t anybody defending Jung Min? He who protected me all his life couldn’t be returned the favor.

Time slowed down as I looked at Byung Hee. He nodded once and assured me everything would be alright. His eyes flashed blue as his body flared with pure energy. I couldn’t see the Keeper anymore, but I could see his blades wounding the three reapers. They disappeared in a thick fog which surrounded the living room.

“Daesung!” my vision had been completely obstructed. “Yuri!” at least I could hear myself. “Jung Min!” but where was everybody? Somebody grabbed me from behind. I felt something sharp press over my throat.

“Shhh,” Seungri whispered in my ear “Listen to me,” he loosened the blade from my skin “This is between you and me, understood?” I moved my head enough to give him a sign of approval. “The Other World is crumbling. We are rebels led by Byung Hee’s initiative. Help him as you can before it finds out.” Seungri pushed me forward. I almost tripped if not for another catching me.

“Grandma?” Daesung asked with his strong arms wrapped around my body.

“We have to go,” I urged him. “Let’s take everybody and go!”

“Yuri’s already out,” he said as he let go and grabbed my hand. “I came back after you.”

The area slowly cleared and as I ran with Daesung out the front door, I saw behind me all those reapers breaking the house apart. I didn’t know if what Seungri said was true, but it meant that he was pretending. It meant that he knew we would help Byung Hee, he knew that we would delay turning him in. Daesung kind of ruined his plans when he called Seungri and I guessed he had no other choice but follow the orders.

But who was it? Was it their leader or some kind of other reaper with greater authority than Seungri? Byung Hee looked pretty badass for me, so I guess Keepers were higher in rank than Jung Min’s kind.  

“Quickly!” Yuri yelled as she punched a reaper in the face, spun him around and then kicked him between his wings. Byung Hee then slashed the reaper with his blades, the same fog spreading in an instant from its damaged body. Daesung rushed me to their side.

“Jung Min...” I exhaled when I counted only four of us. “Where’s Jung Min?”

Just then, another reaper hit the snow as Jung Min crawled on top of him, punched him a couple of times and then plunged his hands inside his chest. I watched with horror as the reaper screamed in agony and then transformed into mist. Jung Min was kneeling in snow, staring at his hands.

His smile scared me – it was twisted and ugly. He lifted his gaze and I could see the ink splattered eye from before had turned completely black.

“It’s too late...” Byung Hee said again. “It takes three of your human years to build a reaper,” he mumbled “and the same three years to become a demon.”

“No,” Yuri barely spoke as she stepped forward “he’s just fooling around. He likes to joke... he always jokes.”

“It’s too late,” Byung Hee repeated. “We have to leave, get on my back!”

I grabbed Yuri’s hand. She struggled.

“Let me go!”

“I can’t!”

Daesung grabbed Yuri and forced her on top of the Keeper. We all hanged onto his body as his wings spread out of nowhere. Then they split into two more wings until there were four of them. The same snowstorm came from all sides.

I heard Yuri scream after Jung Min. Daesung kept her still.

Jung Min rose from the ground and watched us.

His black eye became red again for a a minute. It was enough to give us a sincere smile, salute us with his hand and then wink.

“Goodbye,” his voice filled all our minds. “I love you.”

Two reapers attacked him. The snow covered everything.

“JUNG MIN!”

Yuri cried as Byung Hee soared to the sky with his four gigantic wings. A warm shield created a safe bubble around our bodies.

I didn’t look back anymore.

We chose to fight and paid the price.

And as much as I wished to cry again, I couldn’t, because I know Jung Min would call me a crybaby and chuckle when I wouldn’t stop.