Separated ('Dread' Series Book 1)

The Other Side

(Soojin's POV)

I stood up from the ground, trying to find balance. What happened? Soyeon was right next to me, but where was everyone else?

"Soyeon. Soyeon?" Soon, she stood up as well and was just as confused as I was.

"Where are we? In the moon?" I nodded in response. Then we took a moment to study our location. The sky was super dark with an eerie, orange and pink glow. That was the only light we had to see each other. The ground was slightly warm and felt a little like sand. Expect it was completely black. I would have never thought the inside of the moon would look like this. The weirdest part was there were bits of orange sparks on the ground that helped light up the place. Was it fire sparks?

"So, what now?" I asked. We stood in awkward silence, with no one knowing the answer.

"I don't know, I guess, try to leave this place?" Soyeon replied.

"But how?" We stood in more silence. Things weren't usually this awkward with Soyeon, but this situation is really a special one.

"Why don't we try to find the others instead? Maybe they know how to escape."

"That sounds like a good plan," Soyeon agreed. So then, we started walking, hoping to find a member. We walked until we reached an odd temple. It was made of pure gold, and it wasn't guarded.

"I didn't know there was such a thing in the moon," Soyeon said to me. I shrugged.

"Should we go in?" I know it was stupid to enter just like that, but what else could we do? So, we went in. There, in the center of the huge, golden room, was a throne with someone sitting on there. She wore a black veil and a long, glistening dress that matched her veil. She had delicate, skinny fingers that were covered with jewelry. She was just sitting there, doing nothing, and even with her veil still on. She was so quiet and didn't budge or talk at all, so I was starting to wonder if she even knew we were here. Just when I was about to start talking, she talked.

"How dare you come here?" The woman said in a stern tone. The tone of the air changed completely. I made eye contact with Soyeon, and we exchanged worried expressions. "I asked a question. Respond." Her voice was hoarse and raspy.

"We...we" I started to stutter. "We got blasted in the moon, in here." The woman made a cold laugh which formed a lump in my throat.

"Tell me something I don't know. Like why you came to my temple." Clearly, something was wrong. How did this woman know we got here?

"Why should we tell you?" Soyeon asked. I stared at her like she was crazy. She thought before she talked, which almost all of our members did, besides me. Soon, she also realized her mistake and her face showed nothing but sorrow. But it was already too late.

"What?" Another one of her cold, dark laughs came out. "WHO ARE YOU TO SAY THAT TO ME?!" Her voice was so loud and frightening that both Soyeon and I took a step back instinctively. This person had a powerful, queen feeling.

"Ye-yes. We...we were just curious..." Soyeon started. For some reason, even though the woman's face was covered up, it looked like it showed a sign of relief.

"That's good. That's good." I had a billion questions swarming in my head, and I tried my best to ignore them. But no. Not Soyeon.

"How did you know we were here? And why are you here too? Who even are you?" I thought we would for sure be dead, but to my surprise, the woman actually responded, for the first time in a gentle voice.

"I will be glad to answer your questions. I am here because, well I live here." She said with a slight chuckle. "I am the queen of the moon. I sent you here." Why was she suddenly no longer mad and yelling? That's so odd. But you know what's odder? How she was the queen of the moon. What was that supposed to mean? And why did she send us here? How did she send us here? What does she want? Why did she wear a veil? Why-

Forgot it. There are so many questions in my brain right now that I can't function correctly. Before I could think any more, the woman's voice interrupted me.

"Now that I've answered your questions, you can leave now." Soyeon and I nodded in unison and quickly scurried away.

"First I want to say, could you please think before you talk next time?" I said, half-serious half-jokingly.

"Sorry..." I said it was okay and that we should try to keep finding the other members. Soyeon agreed and we continued to look for people. But I kept thinking about that woman's cold voice. It was so...alluring, even though it was raspy. I wondered what she would look like without her veil. Was she beautiful? Or super ugly? But it didn't matter too much. Where were the others? Would I lose them forever? The thought brought a chill down my spine. Worse than that, what if we never left the moon? I felt trapped. The feeling I hate the most. 

A/N If this is confusing for you, sorry. It will probably take a while until I explain everything clearly.