He was starting to wake up. Eyes adjusting to the light that was streaming in through the shades. Furrowing his brows, he tried to remember what had happen last night. He recalls coming home feeling almost like a dead person. Having to drag himself up the flight of stairs. Keeping himself balance with the furniture and the wall. By the time he got into his room, it all went dark.

Pushing himself up into a sitting position, he realized that he was holding something in his hand. Looking down to it, he saw that it was someone else’s hand. It was Raina’s. She had fallen asleep in an armchair that was next to his bed while taking care of him last night.

He just sat there surprised and staring at her. Not sure whether he should wake her up or just let her sleep. He looked down on their intertwined hands and chose the latter. He sat back against his headboard and watched her sleep with a small smile formed on his lips.

But that smile quickly faded when she started to stretch. Her eyes slowly flickered open and scanned the room. He sat there paralyzed until her eyes finally landed on him. Then they grew wider.

“Oh, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” she asked, now very much awake.

“Why are you in my room?” he asked her. Remembering that he was still holding her hand, he released it and pulled his hand back.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” she said under her breath, wasn’t sure what she was apologizing for. Was it for entering his room or for holding his hand? Maybe both?

“I heard you came back last night. Then I heard a crash in your room. When I got in, you were lying face down on the floor and you were burning up. So, I took you to bed and applied some wet towels under your neck and back,” she explained.

He noticed the towels that were now dry. He glanced up again and met her eyes. She has been taking care of him the whole night. Even Hanjoon, his personal servant has never done that. Of course, he was under strict orders not to.

For so long, there was no one else other than Hanjoon that would look after him when he was sick. She was the first one in so many years.

They have been staring at each other for quite a while until she finally broke the silence.

“I better get back to my room,” she said. She got up from the chair and was about to head for the door. As if breaking from a trance, he grabbed her wrist making her paused and turned to look at him.

“Umm. Thank you,” he whispered. She seemed a bit lost at his response but shook it away with a warm smile. He could’ve sworn he felt his heart skipped a beat as she did. He didn’t want her to leave him yet. If it was possible, he wanted to just to stay in that room with her for the rest of the day or maybe not leave at all.

Just stay in there and blocked everything else around them so that it would be just the two of them. But alas, life can be so unfair. As reluctant as he was to let her leave, eventually he did. He gazed at her as she grew further and further and she disappeared behind the door.

He couldn’t hide the disappointed in his expression. He didn’t understand why he was feeling that way and he wasn’t quite sure how he feels about it either. Ever since he came across her, he had been developing strong feelings for her. However, he was uncertain whether it was good or bad.

At first he has been trying to ignore it. Then it grew stronger and stronger. He was starting to get a bit frustrated about it too. Nonetheless, he tried to hide it as best as he could. He couldn’t afford the risk. Lately, he has found his focus to be wavered.

It has been a morning routine for her to go on a jog every morning. As always, she would take the path that was behind the mention that lead to the beach and eventually lead her to the woods. And that was when she heard it. A cry for help. She became immediately alert with her surroundings and tried to focus on the voice.

She looked around, searching for a sign when she heard it again. “HELP! SOMEBODY! PLEASE!” it sounded like a girl and she wasn’t that far. She ran towards the cry when she got bumped by another body and was thrown on the ground. Letting out a wince, she pushed herself up and saw a girl that was about her age. By the looks of it, she has been crying and her eyes were filled with panic and fear.

“Are you all right?” she asked the girl while helping her up on her feet. The girl suddenly grabbed her by the hand.

“You have to help me,” she said. Tears staining her cheeks and her breathing was uneven. She must have been running. “It’s my mother,” she continued, half panting.

“I don’t know what happened. She was fine when I left her this morning but when I came back she was lying on the floor and there’s blood. So much blood,” she broke into a sob.

“It’s okay. It’s okay. Where is she now?” she asked the poor girl.

“S-She’s at the house,” she stammered. She nodded her head and asked her to lead the way. Soon, they come across a small house and the door was left wide open. They quickly got inside and she took a look around.

Why would someone be planning an attack on the resident of the house? Judging by the looks of the place, it didn’t look like there was much to steal. Frankly, there was hardly anything that was worth stealing. Not to mention, nothing seemed to be out of place. Scanning around, there were no sign of any breaking and entering either. Could it be that the mother knew the culprit and simply let her or him in? That could be the explanation.

Suddenly, she had a realization. As if it had hit her right on the head. She started to recollect an information that L had told her when she first got here. He and Hanjoon were the only residence of this entire island. This was a trap.

She quickly retreated towards the front door when something had caught on to her legs making her trip and fell face down.

“Leaving so soon? You haven’t even helped my mother yet,” the girl appeared from out of nowhere and she wasn’t crying anymore. Actually, she didn’t look like she has been crying and in a panic at all. The girl took a step closer and closer. With every steps, she and the house started to morph into something else. It was a glamour.

The house started to shrink and dark fluid were running down on the surfaces of the walls. From the looks of it, it almost looked like blood. The floor had cracked open and there were spikes poking from underneath it. One of it had made contact with her skin making her yelped in pain. She looked to her side and saw blood oozing out from the cut. She brought her attention back to girl and she could’ve sworn that her heart had leap to .

She wasn’t looking at a girl anymore. Instead, she was face to face with a tall monster with a skeleton body that had spikes all over and really long and sharp talons for fingers and have the eyes that was darker than the night and fangs that could break bones into pieces in a mere seconds.

She sat there paralyzed by the monster that was bearing its sharp fangs and talons in front of her. Her mind had suddenly went blank of any action or response.

“Oh .”

Ta da. Double updates. To make up for my loooooonnnnnnggggg hiatus. Thank you so much for staying with me and I hope you enjoy the updates.

XOXO

EXOWENDY88