His face slack and indifferent, Yoongi strolled down to stand next to the gloating Jiah.

Lightning came, ripping the utter blackness of the night sky in two.

Aera felt as if she had been stabbed in the back. The betrayal was physically painful, like a cold hard blade pressing against her skin. But could this really be considered a betrayal? Had Yoongi ever pledged her loyalty to her? No. A single act of kindness and a couple of sweet nothings didn't mean he'd had a change of heart. Deep inside he was still the same dishonest and deceitful person he had always been.

"I bet this is, ah, - how would the youngsters nowadays put it? - really shitty." Jiah's high-pitched cackle rent the air, penetrating Aera's ears.

"Why?" Aera simply asked, her tormented gaze locked onto Yoongi's. Almost blending with the night in his usual all-black attire, he did not flinch or remove his eyes away from her. Her heart shifted at the sight of his merciless stare.

"Because why not!" Jiah exclaimed, clapping her hands enthusiastically. "I knew seeing your old lover here would make you vulnerable. To be honest, your reaction is actually better than what I anticipated, even though I expected tears, but oh well." She shrugged nonchalantly. "I guess you're just too good at being a fucking disappointment."

Aera desperately searched Yoongi's face for any kind of sign of his true intentions. Her heart raced. There was nothing in his eyes, only bare coldness. He wouldn't be her savior after all.

Jiah swayed past the statuesque Yoongi, taking a seat back on the bench and crossing her legs in front of her.

"If you'd allow me, Aera – and you really have no chance here but to do it – let me give you a friendly advice. Being good will get you nowhere. Look at you – you're the same gullible and trusting fragile woman like your mother was. And where did that get the both of you?" Jiah spread her arms wide, gesturing to her surroundings. "Your grave, quite literally." She snorted in the form of a laugh, impressed by her terrible joke.

"You think you're so virtuous, always looking for the good in people," Jiah went on, tucking a scarlet red strand behind her ear. "But to refuse to play dirty in a corrupt world is not heroic. It's dumb." She grinned widely. "Yoongi knows that. Don't you, Yoongi?"

"Yes." Yoongi grumbled in a monotonous voice.

"I just thought of a way we could make this even more fun," Jiah enthused, pushing herself off of the bench and waltzing towards the black-haired man, draping one arm over his shoulders. Her thin fingers caressed his chin as her mouth whispered close to his ear. "Tell me, Yoongi. Have you ever had any intention of helping Aera?"

"No." came his short reply.

"Have you ever truly loved Aera?"

A brief pause followed as his cold raw stare stayed fixated on the girl.

"No, of course not." Yoongi uttered. "It was all a game."

A triumphant glow appeared on Jiah's face as she chuckled gleefully.

"You were playing dirty, weren't you?" she praised, looking at him with admiration.

"Exactly." Yoongi confirmed, not breaking eye contact with Aera.

"If you have absolutely no feelings for her, then I suppose you won't have any trouble compelling her to tell us where the crystal skull is?" Jiah beamed.

"Not at all." The outer corner of Yoongi's mouth curled upwards in a devilish smirk.

"Great!" Jiah screeched. "Feel free to use torture. If she resists, you can always implant the image of her parents' car accident in her mind." she chuckled.

Stealthily as ever, Yoongi prowled towards Aera. The pain from her injured arm had dulled, subduing to the emotional distress she had been enduring, but it awakened again with a roar. She watched him approach her, trembling orbs darting to and fro the ground and him. She had never felt so terrified of him as she did now. He knelt down before her and grabbed her intact upper arm harshly.

"It's better if she's standing up." he explained, pivoting his head backwards to glance at Jiah.

Yoongi leaned in, one arm enveloping Aera's waist as he jerked her up slightly, urging her to stand up. Just as his lips were next to her ear, he whispered so quietly she barely heard him.

"Trust me."

Unsure of how to react, Aera yanked herself up. Horrified, her eyes traveled to Jiah who merely observed the scene unfolding before her with casual curiosity.

Gripping on Aera's shoulders, Yoongi helped her regain her balance just as her knees were about to give way to gravity. Cupping her cheeks, he oriented her face so that she was looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Do you know where the crystal skull is?" Yoongi asked in a powerful, demanding voice. Her usually dark abysses had become even darker, if that was even possible, resembling pools of poisonous ink.

Aera held her breath, anticipating the upcoming invasion of her mind. The desired object was in the right pocket of her jacket. Any second now, her mouth would operate out of her control, and the words would slip off her tongue...

But nothing happened.

Dumbfounded, she gulped heavily. Her heart rate skyrocketed. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed how Jiah subtly tensed up.

"I..." Aera stammered, drowning in bewilderment and shock.

Yoongi tilted her head to its previous position, forcing her to look at him again. Bringing her attention back at his expressionless face, she noticed how his lips started moving almost imperceptibly.

"Say no." he clearly mouthed, causing another wave of shock to overcome her.

"No." she promptly obliged, desperately trying to keep her raging emotions at bay.

"I'm going to ask you again," Yoongi spat out harshly, staring right into her eyes. "Do you or do you not know where the crystal skull is?"

"I don't know." this time Aera found some ounce of strength inside to make her answer sound natural.

Releasing a long exhale, Yoongi let go of her shoulders. He turned.

"She really doesn't know where it is," he told a rather disappointed Jiah. "I don't think torture will be of any help. I searched her mind for any sign of lying, but she's being genuine."

His outright lie left Aera's mind a puzzled mess.

The laughter evaporated from Jiah's eyes. Instead, her face curled with unfiltered rage.

"Looks like I have no choice but to kill her then." she grumbled, red eyes narrowing to thin slits, unfeigned hatred swimming in them.

Hurriedly, she strode towards Aera, shortening the distance between them in three brisk strides. Without hesitation, she grabbed her by the shoulders and pushed her violently. Weakened, Aera fell down with a painful grunt, her already injured arm taking another hit.

"You really are useless after all!" Jiah roared. In one swift motion, she kicked Aera in the stomach and the girl curled up in a ball, feeling as if her inside were being torn apart. As if she were paralyzed, she couldn't fight back.

Jiah bent over, tugging harshly on a fistful of Aera's hair. "You should have never been born in the first place." she barked, shoving her backwards again like a rag doll.

Teary-eyed, Aera's gaze cast onto Yoongi's stone face. He stared down at her impartially, his pupils slightly dilated.

She was all alone with no one to help her. Weak. Pathetic. Her mouth filled with blood and more tears pooled at the corner of her eyes.

"Now you'll finally be reunited with that slut your mother." Jiah sneered, twisting her wrist once again like before when she had made the portal to Abaddon appear. A mind-splitting pain pierced the back of Aera's skull and she couldn't suppress the scream that ripped from her chest. Jiah waltzed around the withering girl, twirling her pointy index finger in the air and there were thousands of tiny stings notching in Aera's shoulder.

"Ahhhh!" her painful cries ricocheted off the gravestones, echoing through the air. Once again her gaze drifted up at the indifferent Yoongi, pleading. Help me... Please...

The effects of Jiah's cruel magic were rendering her unconscious. Small dots of light started dancing in her range of vision. The pain was unbearable, scorching at her insides. Her ears were ringing. Another choked up scream was torn from her chest. Make it stop... I can't fight it anymore...

She kept on writhing on the ground, unable to suppress the violent jerking of her body. The darkness consumed her, threatening to close in on her. Please, I don't want to die. Jimin's face surfaced in her mind, more clear than ever. Help.

With full intensity, the pain came back, gnawing at her and rendering her incapable of thinking clearly. Desperate, she gripped on the ground, a terrifying bawl erupting through her.

A smudge of black and brown flashed before her. Damp nose, sharp teeth. Fur glossy and thick. Aera heard Jiah's shriek along with the sound of violent chewing. A dog? A wolf? The beast lunged forward, its muscular body landing on the screaming Jiah with all its weight. Furiously, it started digging its teeth in her body, biting her aggressively, splattering blood all over the grass.

"Vinnie!" Aera gasped at the hazy sight of Taehyung's dog.

With Jiah under Vinnie's attack, her influence on Aera's body had subsided for a second. She sat up on her elbows weakly, trying to drag herself away, her breathing shallow and ragged. Confused, her eyes darted to the struggle unfolding before her as she crawled backwards.

A flash of light between the gravestones caught her attention. It moved briskly, at a neck breaking speed, changing its position in a split second. She barely made out a human's silhouette in the swirling blur. Like someone was running, moving too fast to be registered by the naked eye...

"I'm here," Jimin breathed out, dropping to his knees to pick up the barely conscious Aera. She tumbled to the side, falling right into his embrace. Hastily, he discarded a couple of wet strands from her forehead. "I'm an idiot, but at least I'm here." Remorse was dripping from the tone of his voice. His eyebrows curled, his full lips slightly parted with his labored breathing. "The others are on their way. Jin will take care of you, you're going to be okay."

"Get her, Vinnie!" Taehyung's voice boomed as Aera's head swung to see him shouting from the other side of the graveyard, one hand gripping on a... baseball bat? "Get that dirty bitch!" Pushing himself off the rusty iron gate, he started running towards them at enviable speed.

Her relief was short-lived as she saw Jiah push Vinnie off of herself. Face covered in blood, the red-haired woman sprung up rapidly and jumped to her feet. The dog swayed to the side, yelping and whimpering, blood dripping from its jaw. Jiah twirled her finger and Vinnie staggered down, unable to coordinate his limbs. His head on his paws, he yelped again. She was killing him.

"Stop this!" Taehyung bellowed in agony. "I'm going to kill you, you psycho bitch!"

"Come on, Aera!" Jiah screamed, bursting in hysterical laughter. "Do you really want me to start killing every living person you care about before I get to you?" she extended an arm, her fingers curling. "Come here and die."

A sharp knife was suddenly driven through her back. Jiah turned, wide unbelieving eyes pinned at Yoongi whose hand was wrapped around the blade's handle.

"What- what are you doing?!" she rasped in between shaky breaths.

Yoongi smirked, twisting the knife in deeper.

"I'm playing dirty."