Beast, Blood, & Soul

* 62 *

Shock, that's all I feel at the moment, shock.  I'm dripping in Brendan's blood, killed by his fiance and I'm stunned at what has happened in front of me. 

Roars and yells of anger and defiance ring around the cavern as Bangtan howls in fury at the unnecessary death we just witnessed. Chains clank and rock groans but the harnesses hold against the rock, keeping Bangtan from ripping Ceren to shreds.

The blood from Brendan's body starts to be absorbed into the rock and moves off my skin to flow into it.   That's puzzling.  The magic is now vibrating in angry energy along the strands.  Fury and fear fight as the dominant feelings on the strands and while I hear Bangtan yell, I can't take my eyes off the body laying before me. 

As the blood is absorbed into the rock, a shimmer takes place and the body before me starts to change.  The skin loses its tan ruddy glow and takes on a softer paler tone of someone who doesn't spend a lot of time outdoors.  The hair changes from blond to a darker brown and the face changes from Brendan to......Marcus?!!

My mouth drops open as I see the dead body of Marcus before me.  No longer governed by the spell that hid his form and probably made him a willing victim of this madness.  Now his blood was being added to the blood of who knows how many others in the furtherance of this curse.

"MINDY, THAT'S ENOUGH!"   Jin yells from his place on the wall.  This jerks Ceren from her enjoyment of what is happening and she glares at Jin. 

"Excuse me?"  She purrs.  I get up on shaky legs, trying to get away from Marcus's dead body lying next to me.  I turn to face the image of Ceren that stands before me, knowing it was never really her.  I just never thought she would take this so far as to kill a fake Brendan in front of us.

"You heard me, Mindy. This ends now." Jin's voice reverberates against the cavern walls, echoes bouncing.  His authority is unmistakable.  "Take off that ridiculous costume". 

"Why would you think I'm Mindy?"  she asks, playing coy.

"Because you've always been the witch," I breathe.  She turns to stare at me. "I was hoping you were a sibling, trapped like me, but once you confirmed you killed all your children but one, we knew you could only be the witch,"   I said. 

Ceren looks around at each of our angry faces and starts to laugh.  Before our eyes, the image of Ceren falls away to show the jealous veterinarian underneath.  Her leather outfit didn't look any better on the new body.  I could only shake my head.

"Too bad you didn't figure it out in time, Y/N.  Now nothing is stopping me from taking those strands and claiming what is rightfully mine."  She laughs.  

I shake my head, there's just one last mask to remove now.  A tear escapes.

"When did you take over Mindy's body?"  I ask, knowing that the real Mindy was lost long ago.

"She never recovered from her poisoning, did she?"  Yoongi asks.

Mindy turns to look at the men-turned-monsters held against the wall and smirks, "None of those you "accidentally" poisoned survived.  I was always amazed that you never caught on that I would replace those who would come close to dying at the Center." 

"It didn't happen often enough to look suspicious,"  Taehyung's husky voice was deep with barely controlled rage.

Mindy chuckles as she struts around the glowing dais I'm tied to. I know the spell has been activated that will yank the strands from me,  but when it will strike is anyone's guess.  The magic within me is building strength though, moved by our feelings, ready to take action.