Chapter 9: Jongins confe (1/1)

”Mom? Dad?” I yelled around as I approached the infamous barn in our backyard. I had never been there before since I was never allowed to, but I couldn’t find my parents anywhere.  I pushed the heavy door open. It creaked as I stepped into the pitch dark barn. I looked for the light switch with the tips of my fingers and soon found it. The switch made a clicking sound as the barn was slowly lit up. Then I saw it.Blood. Blood everywhere. Right in the middle of the building, was a gigantic table. On the table was a woman with long, red hair. The woman’s face had frozen into a look full of horror. I gasped before walking up to her.“Miss, are you okay?” I whispered as I looked into her murky eyes. My eyes travelled down to her neck.Her head was no longer attached to her body.I let out a piercing scream as I saw the stump that used to be her neck.“MIRANDA!” I heard my dad yell. I turned away from the woman and saw him standing on the doorway, looking absolutely furious. His hands were clenched into fists and veins were bulging on his forehead.“We have told you to stay away from here, haven’t we?” his voice was low but scary. I took a few steps back as he took a few steps towards me. I tripped on something on the ground and fell on my butt.“ANSWER ME!” Dad’s voice boomed through the barn. I nodded while trying to crawl backwards. My hands slipped on the blood on the ground and I hit my head. Dad stomped right next to me and grabbed my hair and pulled me up.“You, Miranda, will be sorry you were ever born” he whispered to my ear. I screamed all the way back to the house.*Kris’ POV*I woke up to a loud scream. I immediately recognized it.Annie.I jumped out of bed and ran to her bedroom.  I turned on the lights and saw her, tossing and turning in her sleep. She was still screaming. I ran to her bed and gently shook her.“Annie, wake up.” Her eyes slowly fluttered open. Her breathing was hard, as if she wasn’t getting enough oxygen. I saw Tao in the doorway, shocked.“Tao, could you get her a glass of water, please?” I asked him. Tao abruptly nodded and sprinted towards the kitchen. I pulled Annie into a hug.“Calm down. It’s okay, you’re safe. It was just a bad dream” I told her, rubbing circles into her back. Her breathing slowly got better. Jongdae, Yixing, Baekhyun and Sehun had appeared to the doorway also.“Gosh, Annie, are you okay?” Yixing sat down next to her.“Nightmare. I had a nightmare” she squeaked and I noticed that she was crying.“I know, honey, I know.” Tao brought her the glass of water; I helped her drink it and then told everybody to go back to bed.“Okay, now I’ll definitely stay here with you” I told Annie. I tucked her back to bed and laid down next to her. I made sure to keep a distance, but stayed close enough for her to know that I was there. She stopped crying soon enough and fell asleep.*Annie’s POV*I remembered Kris staying with me after my nightmare, but when I woke up, he wasn’t there anymore. Instead, I found a card sitting on my nightstand. A horribly malformed Totoro was drawn on it, apparently in a rush with a pencil. I flipped the card around and read what was written behind it.Dear AnnieWe’ve already left for work and school. Minseok and Kyungsoo will take care of you today. Your job is to rest. We’ll talk when we’re home. With love, Kris, Luhan, Tao, Chanyeol, Jongdae, Baekhyun, Sehun, Yixing, ahjumma and ahjussi. I set the card down on the nightstand and flung myself out of bed. I dragged myself to the bathroom and decided to take a bath. I placed the plug on the bottom of the tub and opened the tap. As I let the hot water fill the tub I turned to the sink and splashed some water on my face. I looked at my pale reflection in the mirror and gawked at the awful sight. Even though I had only had one sleepless night, my eyes had dark circles around them like a raccoon. I slightly lifted my shirt to reveal some nasty bruises on my stomach. I slapped both of my cheeks lightly a few times before turning back to the tub.After my bath, Kyungsoo brought me breakfast and insisted that I stayed in bed. I told him that I didn’t want to spend the whole day alone, so I, he and Minseok all snuggled up in the theater. We watched Disney movies the entire morning. When Kyungsoo went to make lunch for three of us, I and Minseok began to watch Bambi. I was never the person to cry when watching movies, but this time, when Bambi’s mother died, I felt tears flowing down my cheeks.“Hey, kid, why are you crying?” Minseok asked when he noticed. I shook my head as I tried to wipe the tears away.“I don’t know. This doesn’t usually happen; I guess I’m still kind of emotional from yesterday. Wait, did you just call me ‘kid’? Why?” Minseok smiled softly and ruffled my hair.“Because that’s what you are, silly.”“Minseok, how old are you?” I studied his facial features, realizing that in this lighting, without his usual uniform and serious look, he could’ve easily passed as someone my age.“I’m 25, why?” he simply answered, showing some popcorn into his mouth. I stared at him blankly.“25? But you look so much younger than that.” Minseok turned his face to me. His mouth was full of popcorn, making him look like a little chipmunk. He had the widest grin on his face.“Aw, thank you, Annie. Some of my friends and family call me ‘Baozi’ because they say my cheeks look like buns and make me look like a kid” he mumbled through the popcorn. I giggled at him quietly.“Is that a smile I see? Fantastic!” Minseok squealed and pulled me into a hug.