THE KINDOM OF NIGHTMARES AND SMOKE.

50 SHADES OF YOUR BLOOD.

Really heavy.

Alena continues walking slowly, still carrying the dead body as she walks past her mom's. She makes it outside, and gently lays the body down on the grass. She begins digging a hole 6 feet deep in the ground, dirt splattering on her face as she does so. Once she is done, she gently lifts up the body and lays it inside the hole. She buries the body, stands up, and bows deeply as a sign of respect.

Alena: "Rest in peace..."

Alena stands up straight, and faces her village.

Alena: 'Assassin... I... Am an assassin.'

Alena walks towards her village menacingly. As she reaches it, she unsheathes her claws. Well, they are really just her fingernails. She's not a werewolf or anything, she just has really sharp fingernails. She can unsheathe them when she gets overwhelmingly angry or upset, or when she just wants to by straining her hands. A few villagers see her, and they stare at her in shock. Alena launches at them, but right before she is about to hit them...

[BACK TO REALITY]

...She wakes up.

She jolts upright, sweat dripping from her face, her breathing heavy. Soon-Hyun and Soon-Ok wake up at the sudden noise, and look at her.

Soon-Hyun: "Alena? Are you okay?"

Soon-Hyun stands up and walks over to her. Soon-Ok does the same. They both sit on the bed next to her, Soon-Hyun holding her hand while Soon-Ok puts his hand on her shoulder.

Soon-Ok: "Do you feel okay?"

Alena: "I don't feel too good..."

Soon-Hyun looks at Soon-Ok.

Soon-Hyun: "Your power is healing, right?"

Soon-Ok nods.

Soon-Ok: "Yes."

Alena: "No, it's not like THAT... I just.. Don't feel good..."

Soon-Hyun: "Do you feel like you're going to be sick?"

Alena shrugs.

Alena: "I-I don't know! I-I feel weird... Something feels weird..."

Soon-Hyun looks at Soon-Ok.

Soon-Hyun: "Could you maybe inspect her to see what's wrong, Soon-Ok?"

Soon-Ok nods, closes his eyes, and begins concentrating on Alena. This is another way of using the power of healing. He can inspect other people by concentrating on specific locations of their body without the need to actually look at or touch them. Soon-Ok opens his eyes again and shakes his head.

Soon-Ok: "I've got nothing. Everything seems to be perfectly fine."

Soon-Hyun: "What? B-But wait... Can your power only detect physical injuries then?"

Soon-Ok shakes his head once more.

Soon-Ok: "No, they can detect external AND internal injuries. Nothing came up."

A look of concern crosses Soon-Hyun's face.

Soon-Hyun: "How can this be possible? She doesn't look alright to me... She's sweating, breathing heavily, and..."

Soon-Ok: "She had a nightmare."

Soon-Hyun's eyes widen at the mention of a nightmare.

Soon-Hyun: "What? A nightmare? Really?"

Soon-Hyun looks at Alena, his face changing from a concerned expression to a comforting one.

Soon-Hyun: "Can you tell us what the nightmare was about?"

Alena nods, struggling to find her breath. Once she does, she speaks again.

Alena: "It... Was about my past..."

Soon-Ok: "Hmm... So then maybe it was a symptom of PTSD? Do you mind explaining to us what exactly happened in it?"

Alena: "One day, I came home from school and... And I had gotten bullied that day. I told my mom about it, and she said she would do something about it. I thought she just meant talk to the principal or something, so I just went to my room to draw. A few hours later, I was looking for my mom. That's when I saw her standing over my dead bullies' body. I ran away, but she kept finding me. We kept going back and forth between me hiding and her finding me, so I decided to stand up to her even if it cost me my life. I didn't know I would actually end up killing her... But strangely, I didn't feel any remorse. Not even a drop of it. Nothing. Her last words were "Make sure to become an assassin..." That's when I found out that the only reason I was born was to be an assassin. I was born to be a murderer. When I heard this, I think I... Completely lost it. The spark disappeared from my eyes that used to always be there, and I ended up killing my entire village that day..."

Soon-Hyun and Soon-Ok look at her in shock, completely startled by this confession.

Soon-Ok: "I'm guessing it's still affecting you? The spark is still completely gone.."

Soon-Hyun: "Of course it's still affecting her, you idiot! She just had a nightmare about it!"

Soon-Ok scratches the back of his neck awkwardly.

Soon-Ok: "Oh, right... I forgot about that! Haha..."

Without warning, Alena puts a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. She pushes through Soon-Ok and Soon-Hyun, running straight to the bathroom. Soon-Ok and Soon-Hyun stare after her, concerned. Once Alena reaches the bathroom, she shuts the door and locks it. She runs over to the sink and grips it tightly, her hands shaking violently. When Alena looks up in the mirror, she finds something abnormal happening to her.

Alena: 'Blood...?'

Blood is pouring out of her nose, and Alena just stares in shock. Alena opens her mouth to call out for help from Soon-Ok and Soon-Hyun, but blood starts pouring out of her mouth. She runs over to the toilet, lifts open the lid, and pukes out blood. She wipes the blood from her mouth, flushes it, and walks back in front of the mirror to inspect herself once more. The blood she just wiped from her mouth is now pouring out again.

Alena: 'This is a lot of blood... I-I need to get out of here and have Soon-Ok and Soon-Hyun help me...!'

Before Alena can turn around, she feels a sharp pain in both of her eyes. She puts her hands up to her eyes in pain, and when she looks up at the mirror again, she notices blood pouring out from both of her eyes.

Alena: 'W-What's happening...?!'

The blood continues pouring. She's losing blood.

A lot of it.

WORDS: 959.