Stuffing her phone back into her pocket, Meisa switched to a power walk, heading for the elevator with haste. Jungkook's call had caused a cluster of mixed emotions to explode deep within her chest.

On one hand, she was tremendously glad to hear that Aera had finally woken up. These past three days when the brunette had been unconscious for no apparent reason had been immensely stressful for all of them. A strangely ominous feeling hovered in the air and eerie silence dwelled upon the friends every time they were together. Jimin kept pacing through Aera's room like a silhouette of himself, his face a perfect picture of controlled sadness.

Why wouldn't this constant grief go away now? No one was dead or about to die, but Meisa still felt suffocated by a numb pain, unable to shake it off.

She had grown doubtful of even Taehyung, who had been the last person to witness a conscious Aera, and even suspected him of doing something to her. The black-haired man who barely fitted in their little group, with his odd and distant behavior and extremely short temper, was giving her strange vibes and the mint-haired girl was still struggling with trusting him.

On the other hand, the news that Yoongi had escaped only fueled her perturbation. Jungkook hadn't been exactly talkative on the phone, not offering her any details as to how it had happened, but she had a feeling this would only bring more troubles their way.

What truly bothered her, however, was her twin brother's sudden disappearance. Hobi was nowhere to be seen for two weeks now, and while this hadn't been exactly a rare occurrence back in the days when he was struggling with his alcohol addiction, right now it was rather worrisome.

It didn't help Meisa the fact that she had chosen to stay quiet about her brother's Powers, hiding valuable information not only from her friends, but from the love of her life, Jungkook, as well. Torn apart between protecting her significant other and the only member of her family she still loved and cared for, her chaotic and conflicted thoughts kept her awake at night and wouldn't let her sleep.

Fortunately, they had eventually found out about Hoseok's fire manipulation abilities when Jimin finally regained his memories from the night of the masquerade ball when Hyukjae and Yoongi had abducted him and compelled him to kill Aera. According to him, Hobi had been there, too. The information had left Meisa completely and utterly devastated. Why was her brother siding with that despicable bastard Hyukjae? Had he completely lost his mind?

She refused to believe that it was true. It had already been proven that there was a shapeshifter somewhere in the picture too, what if someone was simply impersonating her brother? This was the only thought that brought her any sort of comfort.

The subtle chime of the elevator startled her. She had already reached the last floor. The thought of seeing Jungkook soon caused relief to wash over her. It felt like an eternity since the last time she had held his hand. She desperately needed his soft skin gently cloaking hers like a warm blanket.

Marching down the hallway, Meisa's heart picked up its pace. The subtle rumble of her anxiety in the back of her mind refused to cease, its intensity was only increasing. She gulped, never having realized just how disturbingly creepy these hotel hallways were when they were empty.

Turning round a corner, Meisa was suddenly pulled forward as a door to her left was yanked open. Everything happened so quickly that she couldn't even manage to make a sound, her scream getting stuck in her throat.

Her blood ran cold as she was greeted by total darkness. She had never been a scaredy-cat, but right now she was consumed by crippling fear. Sensing another presence there with her, she reached out to grab onto something to defend herself with.

A switch was flicked as the dim light spilled across the small, stuffy space, and all of Meisa's terror evaporated.

There, in the middle of the broom's closet, stood her brother.

Meisa's transitory shock was quickly replaced by hurt, disappointment, and...

Anger.

"You fucking piece of shit!" she thundered, fingers tightly clutched into fists as she started swatting punches at her brother's chest.

"Be quiet!" Hoseok whisper-yelled, flinching as he tried to grab a hold of his sister's wrists and block her hits.

"You be quiet!" Meisa shot back, enraged. "Do you have any fucking idea how worried I've been while your stupid ass was nowhere to be found for two fucking weeks!" her incensed green orbs quivering as she glared at him. "I even thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere, you dipshit!"

"Calm down, please-"

"Look at me! Look at the bags under my eyes! I haven't been able to sleep or eat properly because of you!" Meisa hissed, all of her bottled up emotions pouring out of her.

"Damn, you're right." Hoseok commented, eyes surveying his sister's face calmly.

The mindless comment about her appearance seemingly only fueled Meisa's exasperation as her hand darted to one of the brooms resting against the wall.

"Don't you dare 'damn you're right' me!" she seethed. "If you don't talk right this second, Jung Hoseok, I swear I'm sticking this broom so far up your ass it's going to poke out of your mouth!" she threatened, fingers tightly wrapped around the broom's handle as she waggled it in front of his face.

Hoseok took a step back, visibly scared of his sister.

"And here I was, hoping that this conversation would somehow go smoothly." he mumbled, massaging his temples.

"Tough luck, big bro, because you know that if someone wrongs me, I'd never let them off the hook," Meisa continued to glare at him. "And you fucked up big time. So spill."

"It's complicated." Hoseok deadpanned.

"Then break it down for me," Meisa gave him a pointed look. "I'll make it easier for you. Why weren't you answering your phone or any of your messages?"

"I wasn't able to."

"Why? Did you travel back in time to the dark ages when there were no phones?"

"You have to come with me." Hoseok uttered flatly, long fingers wrapping around his sister's wrist and tugging at it slightly.

"Why?" now Meisa's voice held no hostility, only genuine confusion and hurt. "Hobi, you can't expect me to follow you somewhere when you're being cryptic as fuck and offer me no explanation!"

"It's just better for you if you come, Meisa." His words did little to convince her.

"And what is all that I'm hearing about you siding with Hyukjae and Yoongi? This couldn't possibly be true, right? It wasn't you, was it, Hobi?" her voice was laced with brittle hopefulness, watery eyes scanning her brother's dejected face. Now, when her initial irritability had faded away, she noticed the small bruise occupying the outer corner of his lips. She reached out to touch it, but he recoiled away. "Who did this to you?"

"It was me that night of Jimin's abduction." Hoseok admitted, a sharp edge to his tone. His expression had significantly shifted, and the sorrowful look was replaced with a hard and rigid one. "And I was the one who helped Yoongi escape."

Meisa's lips parted, devastated at his confession and the sudden change in his demeanor.

"Why?" she whispered, all of her hopes of this being one giant misunderstanding crashing down. "Why would you do that, Hobi?"

"Hyukjae is about to do something horrifying." Hoseok stated coolly, his sister's previous question flying completely over his head.

Meisa gave him a dumbfounded look. "Yes, I know. He tried to kill his own sister."

"No," the red-haired man shook his head slowly. "Something much worse than that."

Worse? The word bounced around in Meisa's head. What could be worse than trying to kill your own flesh and blood?

"I don't think you realize how little sense you're making right now." she said. Instead of offering her more clarity, her brother's words did nothing else except perplex her. Did he just pull her into this abandoned storeroom only to throw enigmatic riddles at her, like some kind of mythical sphinx? It made her head hurt. She decided to try a different approach and bombard him with questions. "If what Hyukjae is about to do is so abominable, then why are you joining him?"

"He has been planning to do this for years," Hoseok explained, his distant demeanor melting slowly like an ice cube under the summer sun. "He admitted it to me and Yoongi one night while we were out drinking. He was going on and on about how true power belongs to those who can handle it, and how he was going to make everyone tremble in fear before him. At that time, I didn't realize it, you know? I thought he was salty about how he was always looked down upon for being born out of wedlock."

"Sounds like him." Meisa mumbled, reminded of how self-centered and narcissistic her ex-fiance had always been.

"After a while, he confided in us about the Powers. And believe me when I say this, I never took him seriously even for a second. I always thought it was bullshit, even found it funny at some point. It was entertaining, the way he would brag about having supernatural abilities. I thought he was merely joking around. But as you well know, I was wasted all the fucking time, so I found almost everything amusing."

"Hobi..." Meisa's heart dropped in her shoes. Words left her as she witnessed her brother's stern expression melt into a softer one.

"When I came back from rehab, I was stunned to discover that not only had Yoongi believed him, he had also joined him in that ridiculous plan Hyuk had of releasing the Powers. Much to my surprise, they had been expecting me to come back so that the plan could move forward. Needless to say, I didn't want any part of it. I had changed. I was a totally different person. There was no alcohol in my system to cloud my judgement. I didn't find it funny anymore, nor amusing."

Hoseok took a pause to gulp as his hand went to his chest.

"As expected, they wouldn't let me back out," he went on. "Not even when I found out what was needed for this whole ordeal to advance. This wasn't just innocent messing around anymore, Meisa. It had turned into something diabolical and foul. It freaked me out." A visible shudder ran through his whole body as his face contorted in a grimace.

"Then why don't you just leave, Hobi? Why did you take part in it?" Meisa questioned, sympathetic to her brother's suffering. She reached out to touch his hand.

"I don't think you understand," he deliberately raised it to weave his fingers into his scarlet red hair, avoiding her touch. "I have no chance of leaving now. Turns out I signed some kind of a blood pact with them back in the day. I have no recollection of it, but no surprise here. I was probably too drunk to remember it. Also, they threatened to damage something precious to me and I couldn't let that happen."

"What?" Meisa asked, holding her breath.

"My baby sister." Hoseok's mournful gaze cast downwards as the outer corner of bruised lip curled in a sad smile.

"Oh my fucking god." Meisa breathed out, her head spinning. All this time, Hobi was trying to protect her? But what was it that Hyukjae had been planning to do to her? Kill her, too?

"In order for Hyukjae to reach his vicious goals, a blood sacrifice must be made." Her brother said flatly.

"A blood sacrifice?" all Meisa could do was repeat his last words in utter shock. This made a dark turn rather quickly.

"At the end of this conversation, you might have the urge to accuse me of being selfish or even heartless," Hoseok warned her. "Just remember, everything I did, it was to protect you. I never wanted to cause harm to anyone. The thought of losing you ravaged my mind. I could never let that happen."

"What are you even talking about, Hobi, tell me!" Meisa was becoming gradually upset, the suspense making her feel strongly unsettled.

Sorrow flickered in his eyes as he drew a deep breath in. "Predictably, in a return for a higher power gain, something similar to a ritual must be performed. In this case, in order for Hyuk to accomplish what he wanted, a young girl had to be sacrificed."

"You mean murdered?" Meisa was genuinely appalled.

"Exactly. She has to be under the age of twenty-five and unwed," Hoseok clarified. "And his first target, my little sis, was you."

"Me?!" she gasped, shell shocked. Cold chills ran down her spine as she tried to remember how to breathe, her eyes as wide as they could stretch.

"Of course, they had been keeping it from me. I was late to find out and needless to say, I was horrified. No amount of words could express how furious I was. It all made sense. He proposed to you so that he could keep you close to him and have you at his disposal when the time was right. I'm not saying he never loved you, because I know there was a time he did. Perhaps before his soul turned dark and he became this wicked psychopath. It was so long ago, he probably can't remember it himself. He's lost it, Meisa. He's totally lost it. He's beyond saving now." Hoseok's teeth caught his lower lip and he groaned dejectedly.

"What did you do then?" she asked animatedly. Part of her was still composed enough to keep her train of thought logical. Hyukjae had been plotting to kill her, but there she was, still living and breathing. Apparently something stopped him, but what?

Hobi's head hung low and he released a long sigh. A brief pause of silence followed that tugged at Meisa's heart.

"I begged him not to do it," he whispered. "Which drove him to the decision of killing the only other girl he found fitting and that was at an arm's length from him."

"Aera!" Meisa exclaimed in a hushed tone, her voice wavering. "Hobi, how could you! She was your friend, she cares for you!"

"What was I supposed to do?" for the first time Hoseok snapped, his voice increasing in volume, ebony eyes bulging. The lash-out was so sudden, it sent his sister slightly stumbling backwards. "It was either you or her, Meisa. You're my sister, my twin. We literally used to be one. It's like killing off a part of me. If I have to do it again, I'd trade her life for yours in a split second. Perhaps I'm hateful, but that's something I could live with if I get to keep you alive. And when it comes down to choosing, I will always choose you. " he enunciated the last words slowly, wide eyes boring through her.

Meisa's face was frozen in an expression of stunned surprise as her brain tried to make sense of it all.

The parallel was tragically contrasting. One brother was willingly planning to take his own sister's life, while the other was desperately trying to keep his one alive.

"Hobi." She breathed out, placing a hand on his brother's shoulder. This time he didn't shudder away. She couldn't be mad at him, not judge him for his choices. From his perspective, he believed he had done the right thing by saving his sister's life.

At the end of the day, weren't they all trying to protect what was precious to them, no matter what it took them? This just proved that no one was entirely good, nor entirely evil. They were all just human beings, trying to survive in this time of turmoil.

"I can't live without my baby sister," Hoseok groaned, running a hand through his face. "It was the lesser evil, or that's what I kept telling myself. Surprisingly, that very same night after Hyukjae agreed to the change in plans, Yoongi approached me and comforted me, saying that he knows a way that Aera would stay alive."

"He did?" Meisa couldn't believe her ears.

"Yes, and I was astounded, too. What was even more strange was how bothered by all of it he looked, when in front of Hyukjae he showed no emotion towards Aera. Somehow he knew that even if we compelled Jimin to hurt her, he wouldn't be able to do it."

"Yoongi knew?" Meisa took a sharp breath in. If he did, why hadn't he said anything when they were questioning him while being captured? Why was he keeping it a secret? Was he so eager to be the bad guy?

Hoseok gave a grave nod. "He most certainly did. It was thanks to him that we managed to convince Hyukjae to try this different approach. Aera's brother even found it eerily poetic for his sister to be killed by the one person who was most loyal to her."

"But the plan failed," Meisa muttered. "He must have been furious. And if his goal hadn't been unlocking the Powers in the first place, then what was it?" she was doubtful that unleashing the Powers would require such atrocious actions as killing an innocent girl.

Hoseok wore the face of a man who was reliving his worst nightmare over and over again. His eyes enlarged and his teeth sank more deeply into his lower lip.

"Hyukjae intends to open a place called Abaddon and unleash the souls of people who have died. It's like an afterlife for people like you and me, people with Powers."

"But why?" Meisa croaked in shock. "That's all kinds of wrong, not to mention that it would bring havoc upon the whole world!"

"I have no idea," Hoseok said, looking defeated. "But I know that he's about to reach his goal any second now."

"You mean he's already killed someone?" her hand shot to cover her mouth. "Another girl?"

"I've already said enough." he shook his head erratically, going back to his previous vague demeanor.

"Hobi, tell me!" she tugged at his sleeve abruptly.

"All I can tell you is that I doubt that Hyuk is the one in charge of all of this," Hoseok's voice trailed slowly. "I'm fairly certain someone's dictating him what to do. There's another puppeteer."

Meisa stood still, unable to release a word. This just became more and more mind-spinning by the second.

"I'm going now," Hobi announced suddenly, making her wince. "I'll be away for a while. I can't say for how long. And I want you to come with me."

Taken aback, she gripped at his sleeves once again. "You can't!"

"I put myself in enough danger by telling you this. I know running away is not the best option, but it's the only option for me now. You have to come with me. It's the only way I could keep you safe."

"I- I can't," her words caught in her throat. "Hobi, I can't leave Jungkook behind." Just the thought of doing that ripped her apart. She loved her brother too, and realized how much it took him to come here and warn her about all of this. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't possibly choose between her brother and her lover.

Hoseok's face hardened as he stared back at her, refusing to look away.

"I understand," he nodded eventually. "I know you love him, and I respect your choice. Just know that wherever I am, I'm keeping you in my thoughts, little sis. Keep me in yours, too." His voice broke towards the end of the sentence, pulling at Meisa's heart strings. He pulled her into a loose hug.

"When will you be back?" she mumbled against the fabric of his shirt, arms enveloping around his frame.

"I don't know," he sighed and the words sent a piercing sting through her heart.

"Please be safe." she pled, fingers gripping at his hands and refusing to let go even when he jerked them backwards a bit.

"I will." He promised, spinning on his heel and reaching towards the door handle. His shoulders slightly slumped as his head hung low. He had never been a sentimental person in showing his emotions freely, but she had always know he had her back.

Meisa let out a dejected sniffle, watching the only family relative she truly loved walk out of her life for an indefinite amount of time.

"Oh, and I almost forgot," Hoseok twisted around to flash her a weak smile. "I was joking before about the bags under your eyes. You look beautiful. You always look beautiful to me, sis."

With those words, he disappeared behind the door.

author's note:

hey guys! Rina here.

Just wanted to apologize to everyone in case you feel like things are becoming confusing in the last few chapters. I'm trying to leave as many clues as I can without giving away too much of the plot. I know we were all waiting for Aera to wake up, and it's coming soon.

This might come across as a filler chapter, but it's necessary so that the story can move forward. A lot of things were explained, like the reason why Hoseok was siding with Yoongi and Hyukjae this whole time.

I wanted to point out the fact that almost all of the characters here are faced with tough decisions, like Hoseok willing to sacrifice Aera's life for his sister;  Meisa choosing to stay with Jungkook instead of following her brother no matter how difficult it was for her; Aera not subduing to the temptation of crossing the afterlife so that she could see her parents (in the chapter 'Aera's Dream'); Jimin choosing to stay strong and not succumb to Yoongi's manipulations about whether his family is alive or not; Taehyung throwing his pride away and straying from his usual 'lone wolf' personality to stay by Aera's side.

These are major, life-changing moments for anyone that determine one's character.

Also we found out that Yoongi did in fact know that Aera wouldn't die, which offers some clarity on his feelings for her. We have yet to discover where does this put him. As I previously said, no one is entirely good or entirely evil and it would be naive to think that they were. And regarding that, I'd like to share one of my favorite quotes with you:

"Nobody's all good or bad, and nobody's all light or dark. Every human being has so many different aspects and facets to them. And there can be something noble and something really dark and dangerous going on in a person all at the same time."

And I feel like that's one of the messages I've been trying to convey with this story.

Thank you for reading this long-ass author's note lol. I'm sorry I'm like this. In case you guys have some questions, I'm more than ready to answer them. I purple you all so freaking much.