Chapter 1

“Into The Mist”

The faint outline of my face reflected off the glass as I stare out the window of my dad’s car. The cold outside seemed to reach clear to my bones, making me shiver. My breath fogging the glass, and I wiped it away with the sleeve of my hoodie, continuing to watch the scenery flash by. The sky was dramatic, with enormous swirling dark clouds that could start pouring rain at any moment. Actually everything looks cold. Or dead. 

Maybe it’s because I’m from Los Angeles, California; and I’m used to the sunny weather there. I already miss it too. The constant warm sea breeze, the palm trees, the smell of the coffee shop next to my old school. Funny how I took all that for granted when I lived there. Now that I don’t have it anymore, I want it back. Like I still want my mom back; she die a week after my 10th birthday and it’s been my dad and me for the last seven years. Until now.   

“Oh, honey! Look at those houses,” my stepmother, Taeyeon said as she pointed at them. I look out the window and indeed there were huge mansions with big yards and some dogs running around. 

Even though the scenery was really pretty I didn’t answer. Why? Because the word ‘honey’ is an endearment word reserved only for my dad. 

So to update you on my current location, I’m in South Korea. And I am not used to the country live here. I am a city girl from the states, not a country girl from Korea. And to top it off, I am totally not used to Korean traditions or the language. 

My dad, Baekhyun Hwang, is Korean-American and my mom was American so that makes me 25% Korean amp 75% American. My parents raised me in America, so I’m used to the american costumes. 

On the other hand my new mom, Taeyeon, is totally 100% Korean. So after she got married to my dad, my dad proceeded to move to Korea. 

I pull my legs up, lean my head against the cold glass and closed my eyes. So much has happened lately, it’s strange to think about it all in sequence. It's strange to think that this is my life now. 

Before my mom died, I was your typical kid-except for being freakishly excellent at playing the flute. I spend time with my friends, had sleepovers, and watched movies like the old Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street and things like that. And since we lived only two blocks from the beach, my friends and I gathered there nearly every weekend. I even had a big Zac Efron poster, from his High School Musical days, hanging on the ceiling above my bed. 

But after my mom died, everything just went downhill. I really don’t know how, just that something didn’t seem to have the same appeal to me anymore. In other words, I withdrew. 

Where I had once been loud, silly, and cheerful before; I was now quiet and looked for more alone time. My circle of friends grew smaller and smaller until I was totally alone. Michele, my best friend and whom had hung on the longest left me as well. She just began to distance herself, growing closer to other girls, and to be honest I don’t really mind. 

By the time we left to Korea, it just…wasn’t a huge deal that I was leaving. We hugged each other, said our goodbyes, and promise to keep in touch. Maybe even see each other over long breaks, though I doubt it’ll happen. 

I became a mayor downer for a long time so I didn’t really expect my friends to be dragged down with me.

Hopefully this move would make things better. Maybe I’ll meet new people at school, make new friends who will like and accept me for who I am now.

I rest my cheek against the cool glass, scroll down my iPod to another playlist. I’m feeling a little gloomy today so Adel’s “Rolling in the deep” plays through the ear buds as I continue to stare at the wispy ribbons of mist.

The weather reminds me of the day we bury my mom. That day the weather has also been like this, covered with black clouds and rain. 

I still think that my mom and I share a special connection, especially when it came to books, movies and music. Mom started me on reading mystery books, like Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes, which I still love. She also introduced me to the flute which I’ve been playing since I was five years old. My mom gave me my first instrument at the age of 3, which was this miniature working flute that she found at a garage sale. I still have it, too. It almost looks like a toy, but it really does work. 

I shift on my seat and tug on the sleeves of my oversized hoodie, pulling them down to cover my hands. A light rain has started to fall from the charcoal sky. It seems even darker than before. 

In the co-pilot's seat Taeyeon said, “A few more minutes and we would get there”

Taeyeon is a beautiful woman: not so tall, with short light brown hair, and brown eyes. My dad, he is tall, with black hair and black eyes. Sometimes I’m surprised it took my dad as long as it did to find someone else. But then again, Mom was a pretty hard act to follow. Everyone says I took just like my mom, with fair skin and light brown eyes. My dad says my  hair is as straight as hay, but recently I had a pink streak put in and I love it.

As we keep driving the houses grew father apart and creepier than the house before, until we got into a forest. I thought that after the forest we would get to a beautiful house like in the movies, but boy was I totally wrong. 

My dad gasp and I nearly did too. A massive medieval gate made of gray-and-black stones stretched before us, and in the middle there was this huge mansion that seems to be taken out of a horror movie. 

We stopped in front of the heavy black iron gate and my heart began to pound like crazy. I’m going to live here? This isn’t a heartwarming manufacture mansion. Instead it’s…menacing.

Taeyeon presses a button and the gates swing open with an ear-piercing screech and grown of metal against metal. As dad drives through, I turn on my seat to watch those iron gates slowly close, locking us inside. And as soon as those gates are close, an unfamiliar feeling of dread grips me.

A flock of ravens rises like a black cloud out of an ancient-looking tree. Most of the orange, red, and yellow leaves have already fallen off the trees and lay scattered on the ground. I think about the fact that Halloween is in a couple of weeks and that maybe this is part of the decoration, but I highly doubt it. 

As soon as dad puts the car in park, I grab my back-pack and put it over my shoulder, opening the door and sliding out. It’s stopped raining which is good but the icy wind stings my cheeks. I pull my red knit hat farther down to cover my ears to prevent them from freezing. 

Mist slips through the air in front of my face, and I drag my hand through it and watch it swish around my fingers. The mist is almost alive, the way it’s constantly shifting, drifting.

The air smells clean and sweet, a mixture of something that reminds me of clover with the salty tang of the sea, an odd and striking contrast to the gloomy doom of the mansion. Other than the crackle of dead leaves, the rubbing of dead branches, and the occasional craw of a raven, I think I can manage to live here. 

“Spooky, right?” Taeyeon says to my dad, and the two stand in front of me while they take in the view. Taeyeon hugs my dad and kisses his cheek. “I’m happy you are here with me, my very own family,” she says and then turn to me, “you too, Tiffany”  

I nod, biting my lip and stick my hands in my pockets.

“Ok, we should get in. I want to introduce you to my grandmother and the staff,” she says with a smile. 

With a heavy sight, I brace myself. New people. New home. Totally different country. A little overwhelming to say the least.

They doors open before we’re even close to them. A petite elderly lady comes forward, followed by a man and a woman in servant uniforms, who head to the car to get our luggage. But it’s the old woman who demands attention. Even at twenty feet away, I can tell she’s not to mess with. With her nose tilted upwards, her sharp chin jutting out, and her white-gray hair pulled into a tight bun, she carries an air about her that is unmistakable. Wealth, snotty and boy, she wears it proudly making me instantly annoyed.

“Grandmother!” shouts Taeyeon, and hurries forward to embrace her. “I’ve a very special man for you to meet” she tells her.

“Baekhyun” she says, holding my dad’s hand, “this is my grandmother, Mrs. Rachel. Grandmother my husband, Hwang Baekhyun” 

The woman nods and then turns to me. 

“And this is his daughter, Tiffany” Taeyeon quickly says. 

I don’t like how the old lady looks at me. draws tight and her eyes narrow. She glances from the back-pack over my shoulders to my Converse. From my oversized hoodie to the holes in my jeans, to the pink streak in my hair and then back to my face as though smelling something that had gone bad. I hold my ground, set my jaw straight and stare right back. A weighty silence suspends between us. But then she turns back to my dad and Taeyeon and gives them a nod.

“Hello Mrs. Rachel, its nice to finally meet you” my dad says and gives a 90 degree bowed. Then he turns to me. I take a deep breath and introduce myself.

“Hello” I say, and like dad I gave her a 90 degree bow.

She fakes a smile and then turns to my parents, “Come in. Dinner awaits us” 

With that, she turns on her heels and glides through the door. We walked behind her and Taeyeon turns to me, “Don’t let old Granny worry you,” she says, “She doesn’t take well to strangers. She just wants to make sure everyone knows she is the boss of this mansion” 

I give her a little smile and nodded. Though I don’t belief Grandmother Rachel will warm up one little bit.

Just then, a piercing screech cracks the air. I feel a jolt of fear as I peered through the fog for the source of the noise. An unsettling feeling creeping over my skin.

When the noise comes again, I’m sure it’s a girl’s scream.