𝕗𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕣 | ᴇɴ-

𝟓

I walk down the cave, following the moonlight. The rock edges glimmer with humidity and the air is heavy, with only my footsteps to break the silence.

My heart beats steadily though anticipation and dread follow me. I'm not sure where I am or where I'm going, I just know I need to keep moving towards the light. It's almost as if it's calling me.

Eventually the cave opens to reveal a larger one with an opened ceiling where moonlight floods in. Everything is bathed in light and there are arrows in its walls, all pointing to the same place at its center: a girl dressed in all white, reflecting the brightness of the shining satellite over her. Her hair is long and dark, her skin pale. She reaches out a hand to me and my feet move automatically as if compelled forward.

When I am closer I am able to see all the delicate features in her face, as well as her glowing eyes.

"You've done well, Heeseung," she says.

I don't know how she knows my name but there is a familiarity in the way she speaks it. Even though I'm sure I've never seen her, part of me feels like I know her. Goosebumps rise on my skin. It burns and my ears ring, like it has been happening for weeks. And I feel so damn hungry and thirsty... for blood.

The more I am in her presence the more that my instincts buzz and tell me to run. She points somewhere behind me and I turn. Near the walls of the cave, still in the shadows, I see Jungwon. He is on the floor, crawling towards the light. I try to call him but my lips refuse to move. I watch him struggle forward without being able to do anything. The others are behind him, following his steps and making painfully slow progress. When they finally reach the moonlit stones a dark force holds them back, pulling them into the shadows again. They scream.

I want to run and help them. I want to yell but I can't move. The girl has her hand on my shoulder and I can't move a muscle.

"You will be mine," she whispers in my ear.

I sit up, gasping. My clothes are damp with sweat and my limbs shake. Darkness covers my surroundings, but it doesn't matter, because lately I've been able to see better in the dark. That's how I know I'm in my room and not a cave, that it was all just a nightmare.

I let out a breath.

Even though I know it wasn't real I am left with a sickening feeling. Who was that girl? The more I think about it the less I recognise her. Yet she had felt so real, and some deep part of me feels compelled by her still.

I stand up from bed and go to the window, looking at the moon. These days it looks even more beautiful. I hear every sound in the woods nearby. For some reason it's tempting, and for some reason I want to go out and hunt. I should be scared of going to the woods at night but I'm not. It's one of the new things about myself.

You've done well, Heeseung.

Did she mean this? This, whatever it is that's changing me? Is this... good? I do feel good, some days even great.

Though not at first. At first I felt like dying. When it came to me, with all its whispering voices, in the darkness of the wardrobe I wanted nothing to do with it. I wanted it gone but it wouldn't leave me. I knew that I couldn't fight it even if I tried. And I did try, but it mattered not in the end. In the end, I had to bargain with my life, hoping that would satisfy its hunger.

And it was fine. As long as it didn't get to the others, everything would be okay. I would never forgive myself if I brought this curse to them too. That is why I locked myself. That's why I push them away. If they stay away, maybe I can stop this from getting to them.

Still, it feels as though this is bigger than me. Bigger than all of us. And no matter how much I sacrifice, I can't prevent it from getting to them. If the dream meant anything, if the girl did, then it just might be too late. I might not be able to save them. Though I pray I'm wrong, I fear we may have been cursed from the very beginning. In the distance I hear the sky rumbling, announcing a coming rain.

And indeed, later it pours.