Chapter 170 - 27 YEARS AGO - Horror in the Orchard

Nam Joo cried out, in despair, witnessing the grim horror the wraiths unfolded before her eyes. It was as if she could see through lenses with poor focus, as if she saw through somebody else's bad dreams.

A sharp pain ran through her body like lightning, Nam Joo stepped back and shook the closed umbrella in front of her, as defense, not knowing if this ridiculous expedient would keep her safe.

The spectral creatures were bending and stretching and shape-shifting, two of them quickly reaching their arms with long, icy fingers made of darkness. The light touch seemed to be able to penetrate her soul if it was prolonged, but she shook herself and realized she was capable of pulling away, which she did immediately.

Though Nam Joo couldn't understand what they were, how they acted or what they wanted, she was sure of one thing: she should run and escape.

Now.

Nam Joo turned on her heels, and realized she could see them distinctly now. The woman used the umbrella's sharp end to jab them back, or so she thought, when they come forward to reach her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a gap in their formation, and wondered if she could slip through it, even though she was feeling heavy and aching.

"Stand back, you! Hey!"

She did not even know if they understood what she was saying. She felt her heart as if it were going to explode. Nam Joo had never been so panicked in her whole life. But she decided to risk it.

She turned abruptly, opening and throwing the umbrella on them, on a single movement, and taking this little surprise move as an advantage to escape through the gap between them. She squirmed through the orchard, running as hard as she could.

Not only did the twilight blurred her vision, but after zigzagging from obstacles in her flight from the creatures behind her, only made the woman realize she was running out from energy without a plan of where to go. The panic was dizzying her out, her energies depleting faster.

Nam Joo, though she did not want to, had to stop, panting, resting her hands on her knees and trying to breathe. Her terror was palpable, she no longer knew where she was, she just felt she had no escape, she could not seem to be able to run or even walk anymore.

"Please, I just can't anymore... "

moment of lucidity came over her, realizing that she thought she had a coat with her, but that was not true, she had never come there wearing a coat. In horror Nam Joo glanced at her back, and saw the creature perched on her shoulders and swathing her arms.

"Ohhh!" She slammed her back against a tree, filled with disgust and irrational urgency. The creature melted in smoke, gliding over her head.

Nam Joo witnessed terror-stricken at the flight of the fluid, dark creature.

And her eyes landed on something worse.

In front of her, the wraiths that found her back, and surrounded her, started to gather together in a disgusting shred of ever-changing coiling shapes and movement, which loomed taller, blocking the way ahead. They seemed to form a new towering, grotesque and terrifying creature.

Nam Joo didn't know if she was pissing herself as she witnessed it, she just felt the liquid run down her legs.

She just thought there was no hope at all, and a sense of revulsion against this dark fate was even stronger than her fear. But what could she do now?

When the huge creature slowly leaned toward her, what could be the head opening his mouth, Nam Joo only instinctively closed her eyes and took both hands forward, trying to protect herself.

'No!'

A flash suddenly cut off her field of vision, causing her to open her eyes and crouch down, fearing the explosion.

Her hand ached a lot, she just glanced up to see that something was stuck in it. In the midst of the flares, fog and sparks, Nam Joo spotted without a shadow of a doubt, Myung Hee, standing in front of her, holding her feet between her and the shadow monster, and shielding Nam Joo with her own body.

"Nam Joo! Run! Come back home!" the fairy spoke imperiously, turning to face the monster once more.

Nam Joo knew that if she obeyed, she would let the other woman die in her place.

...

Jeong Geun was driving halfway down the semi-abandoned property, watching the distant stars in the clear sky, when a flashing light disrupted the nearby horizon, breaking the darkness for a brief moment.

He rubbed his eyes, but his instinct was telling him that something very wrong was happening at the place where Nam Joo was at the moment. He sped up, trying to get to the place as soon as possible.

...

"No! Let's run together!"

Nam Joo stood up, becoming aware at this very moment her baby's sac had burst. She barely felt the impact when she took it, barely understood that it was Myung Hee throwing herself at her body, this movement followed by a scary and grotesque sort of wail.

The two stumbled and fell to the floor, and even in heat of the moment, Nam Joo could see the blood stain on the other woman's chest.

Myung Hee struggled to her feet, staggering, keeping her stance to guard the human behind her, one hand outstretched in front as if she could do something to stop the next imminent attack.

"Run!"

This time Nam Joo regretfully obeyed, but she was feeling much pain after she felt on the floor. Stumbling, she slipped away, still looking back, seeing flash after flash as the creature repeatedly attacked the other woman.

Myung Hee staggered, and there seemed to be sparks and sparks coming from her as the monster repeatedly struck at her body. It was obscene to witness; its horrible hissing echoed loudly, as it seemed to not have success on whatever it was trying to do. The frail body of the pale woman seemed to barely endure it, grotesquely convulsing and popping sparks and light everywhere, as if about to crack from inside out.

Nam Joo at last sighted the barbed wire fence separating the property from the road, and while unsure how she could manage to, she sneaked her heavy body to pass through it, just thinking about getting on the road as soon as possible.