Chapter LXXIX – It’s Just A Dream

As an omen of things to come, the blood moon illuminated Arthur’s beach house bedroom, the light from which woke him up. Hearing no sound, Arthur slowly got out of bed, rubbing his eyes as his vision blurred. Getting out of bed, his eyes went wide at the sight of red, reminding him of the cursed fate of awakening in the pool of blood of those he knew.

Looking back to the bed, he noticed that Irene wasn’t there. Anxiety quickly took hold as he rushed to the door. It was locked. He started to panic, searching for the key they always kept in the keyhole but it wasn’t there. Flipping the light switch didn’t do anything either.

That’s when he heard a scream coming from the other side.

Without a second thought, he tried kicking the door, but it proved too sturdy. With no time to waste, he channeled his Qi and shattered the door with a powerful open palm strike. However, he wasn’t ready for what awaited. A trail of blood covered the floor as if someone’s body was dragged along the ground. Stepping out was his only choice. The hallway never felt longer as the only source of light within the house was the ominous blood moon. As for the screams, they stopped the second the door busted open. Complete silence surrounded him.

Arthur couldn’t avert his gaze from the blood that led into Sophie’s room which had its door open. He could hear his heart pounding heavily and his breathing intensifying. Approaching the room slowly he glanced inside consumed by fear of what he assumed would be Sophie’s corpse waiting for him. It wasn’t but that didn’t make the horrifying scene he witnessed any less shocking.

The first victim Arthur laid his eyes on was Ari, who had been mutilated in the middle of the room. Had it not been for her head which cried blood, he wouldn’t even be able to identify the body. Bloody footsteps led toward the wall from her pool of blood from which writing was made.

‘CURSE OF THE BLOOD MOON’

His chest felt like it was tearing apart while gasping for air and his mind filled him with ideas of what tragedy struck. Arthur’s eyes darted around the room. They were looking for Sophie, but she was nowhere to be seen. Hoping that if he acted quickly there’d still be a chance of saving her, he rushed back into the hallway.

The silence that surrounded him was broken after he exited the room by a loud banging noise coming from down the hall. His gaze fixated on Yeona’s and Iseul’s bedroom door that kept budging with every loud slamming noise. It was enough to get him to move.

Arthur almost slipped on the blood which he assumed belonged to Ari, but as soon as he reached the door, the once rhythmic banging stopped. Without even touching the doorknob, it crept open with no light inside. Anxious, Arthur pushed the door open.

‘ALL YOUR FAULT!’

Blood painted the walls once more as Arthur dropped to his knees upon seeing Max’s body resting against the wall, covered in blood with his throat slit while holding Iseul’s lifeless body tightly. It was the first time he truly wanted to scream but failed as his voice struggled to come out. He was being choked by the pressure.

Slamming his hands onto the ground, he mustered up the strength to stand up. Tragically, it wasn’t the first time he had to witness such a scene.

Why?

Frustrating questions filled his mind as his fear of the promised fate followed him. He couldn’t understand what he did to deserve such horrors following him. Turning around, he wobbled to the hallway.

Lost in his thoughts as he stepped out of the room, Arthur suddenly bumped into someone. Slowly turning toward the person, his eyes went wide with shock as Yeona stood seemingly alright. Maybe it was because of the otherworldly experience he was having, but the first thing that came to mind was that she did it. It made sense. She was hurt by the truth and now stood in front of him alive and well.

“You promised you’d protect me if you reincarnated,” she whispered with a dead and pained voice before collapsing on her knees and falling face first into the trail of blood.

Her back was pierced by three kitchen knives, making Arthur consumed by guilt upon realizing how wrong he was. The smell made him feel nauseated. Looking down the hallway the only room he hadn’t visited was Nabi’s, but his guts told him he shouldn’t dare look inside. Intuitively he knew that neither Sophie nor Irene were inside. The only path left down the dark corridor was the stairs.

Leaning against the wall with one hand, Arthur covered his mouth and dragged his way toward the stairs. They were completely covered by darkness as the only source of light that was ahead originated from the beachside glass wall illuminating crimson.

Dragging his foot along the edge of each step while holding on to the railing, he descended slowly. His hand touched a thick liquid that smelled metallic. Filled with nothing but the desire for the nightmare to end, he coldly laid eyes on Tjay’s dead body laying on the ground, impaled by a metal rod broken from the railing. Don’s corpse hung from the ceiling above him, strangled by a metal chain.

Stepping over Tjay’s corpse, Arthur slowly became numb as his heart adapted. It was as if he had accepted that everything he cared for was gone and was focused solely on what waited ahead.

Looking ahead, Arthur who previously thought he could endure any horror realized how spoiled he got upon reincarnating. It was as if he had forgotten who he was. Nothing he did could prepare him for the sight he laid his eyes on.

‘CHOOSE’

Hanging from the ceiling wrapped in chains, covered in blood while in an unconscious state were both Sophie and Irene. His mind froze as tears finally graced his cheeks, making even a second feel like hours. Not giving him time to think, the silence was broken by a spark that engulfed the entire house with flames.

Sophie or Irene, an impossible choice needed to be made. However, Arthur wasn’t a simple man who’d play by someone else’s rules. If there was a way to fight a tragic fate, he took it. Releasing his inner Qi was his only chance, a chance of saving both from being devoured by fire.

Why?

He asked himself again voicelessly as he looked at his hands that failed to gather any Qi for the first time. When he needed it the most, he couldn’t find his strength. The thought of how weak he was, unable to do anything, freaked him out.

WHY?!

He kept yelling in his mind as he tried to speak but no sound came out. It made no sense. That’s when he finally realized that everything he saw couldn’t be real. It must’ve been yet another nightmare that haunted him. Fear of his past.

It wasn’t a simple dream that he’d wake up from by simply realizing he was asleep. No. It required him to calm down.

“Save me!” Sophie yelled out, shaking awake as the nightmare tried to keep him there.

“Don’t save her! It’s me who you love. . . You couldn’t even tell her the truth!” Irene screamed.

“She’s just a whore! I’m your blood!”

Deafening himself, Arthur closed his eyes and focused on rattling his Qi. Certain that it was all a dream, he exhaled deeply before the sound of fire subsided into the empty void.

Arthur woke up covered in sweat while heavily panting, desperate for a breath of fresh air. It was still nighttime as the moonlight peered through the window.

“Art?” Irene mumbled, rubbing her eyes as his sudden movement woke her up. “You okay?”

“Yeah. . .” he whispered, letting out a soundless sigh. “Sorry for waking you. Just go back to sleep.”

Arthur took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Irene sat up next to him, dragging her hands across her face before pushing her hair back. She yawned cutely and licked her lips before leaning her head on his shoulder. “Had a nightmare?”

“Yeah. . .” he let out another sigh before placing his hand on her blanket-covered thigh. “Doesn’t matter though.”

“Talk to me. . .” she spoke softly, struggling to stay awake.

“It was just a dream. . .”

“Yeah?” she looked down at his hand. “You’re right, but I can feel you trembling. . .”

Irene wasn’t the type of person to easily get up after falling asleep. However, once she decided something, there was no point in trying to convince her otherwise. It was futile to deny it.

“It was horrible. . .”

She reached for his hand, cupping it with her own before turning her head to his neck and planting a gentle kiss.

“It’s okay,” she whispered below his ear.

“You’ll have a hard time falling asleep if I keep you up any longer.”

“If it’s for you, I’ll survive,” she chuckled. “Art, don’t hold things in. . . It never works.”

After that Arthur took the time to explain the dream but wanted to leave out some of the gruesome details. Irene knew he was hiding things but didn’t wish to push him to remember. She was aware that if something managed to spook him, it was bound to be traumatizing. It took a bit for him to manage to explain the blood moon and its correlation to the awakening of his powers. Something that had been prophesized every time and followed up with great misfortune. The first two tragedies had been completely erased from his memory apart from the one he dreamt about a few months back. In the end, he told her about having to choose between them, saying that it was the reason he managed to realize something was off.

“I hate choices like that. . .” Irene sighed after listening to the whole dream. “I always found it to be lazy writing when authors or films forced such situations. Like, why choose? You’re just adding unnecessary drama to force a certain type of emotion. . .”

“I know right. . .” Arthur chuckled knowing that Irene wasn’t bothered by what she heard. “I don’t ever want to choose.”

“You won’t have to nor should you. . .” she smiled.

She made him laugh again, both understanding that it was a dream and nothing more. However, as Arthur started thinking about it he realized he didn’t have an answer.

“But what if I was truly forced to choose?”

“Just save us both, silly. . .” she chuckled, refusing to amuse the idea of being in such a situation.

“But-”

“Stop. . .” she sighed. “Don’t even think of it. You shouldn’t live a life worrying about things like that. If anything, the better question would be. . . If you had to give up porn or Ice cream, which would you choose?”

“W-what?” Arthur burst into laughter. “Why would you assume I watch porn?”

She raised an eyebrow and looked him straight in the eyes, baffled that he’d deny it.

“Really?” she asked.

“What?” he awkwardly smiled, not knowing how to defend himself against such accusations. The bigger problem was that she was right. “Do you?”

His only hope was to counterattack.

“Sometimes,” she answered without a hint of hesitation. “What? Everyone does it. . .”

Arthur was left speechless, not expecting her to be so bold as to admit it. He couldn’t help but imagine things.

“Okay. . . I wasn’t expecting to have this conversation,” he exhaled deeply, trying to regain control of his thoughts.

“But you’re not stressing over the dream any more now, are you?” she chuckled.

While he was flustered, she did have a point. The ability to shift off topic and turn it into something funny was her forte.

“You’re right. . .”

Irene suddenly pulled the blanket off them and got out of bed. He had no idea what she was thinking when she approached the wardrobe, sliding the wooden door to the side. She took out a loose black shirt that once she put on reached up to the middle of her thighs.

“What are you doing?” Arthur asked confused.

“As much as I love being in cute and sexy underwear around you, I don’t want the other guys to accidentally see me. It’s for your eyes only. . .” she gave him a playful smile before pulling out a blanket. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Huh?”

“Come on. Let’s get some fresh air,” she extended her hand.

“Irene. . .” he felt guilty keeping her up.

“Oi, tough guy,” she paused with a teasing smirk on her face. “Get up and let’s go.”

“Fine. . .” he sighed, slowly getting up and grabbing her hand.

Sneaking through the house which was moments ago painted with blood made Arthur feel uncomfortable, but upon noticing his hesitation, Irene pulled him closer. She made sure that he couldn’t escape her grasp.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” she whispered, smiling charmingly.

Irene opened the door wanting to walk out of the bedroom but felt her hand being pulled back. Arthur couldn’t put it into words how thankful he was for everything she was doing. From accepting him, listening, and not to mention treating him all the same while blessing him with her affection. While he couldn’t express himself through words, he decided that he’d at least always make sure to show it through actions.

Arthur brought her hand closer to his mouth before leaning down to give it a tender kiss, pressing it a moment later against his forehead as if making a promise that he didn’t wish to say out loud. He couldn’t see it, but she helplessly blushed and when he stood back up properly, she averted her gaze.

“I’m in your care,” he whispered, noticing her nervously brushing her cheek against her shoulder before playing with her hair.

What at first felt uncomfortable suddenly turned into a desperate attempt not to wake everyone up by bursting into laughter as they heard Tjay’s loud snoring. It was so bad that they were certain it would keep both up all night.

“Oh god. . . I’ve never been more thankful that you don’t snore as I am now,” Irene finally started snickering, trying to keep it down.

“I should be the one thankful that you invited me over to your room. Otherwise, that’d be me inside,” he smirked, looking at his gorgeous girlfriend skipping around the deck.

Irene finally unfolded the blanket and laid it down next to the wooden railing, right before the steps leading to the beach. She sat on the ground, leaning against the wood before slapping her bare thighs twice.

“Come here,” she said smilingly.

“What do you mean?” he looked confused.

“What do you mean what do I mean? Lay down on the blanket and place your head on my lap.”

“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“Are you saying my thighs aren’t good enough to be your pillow?” she squinted her eyes teasingly.

“No-”

“Stop mumbling and just relax. . .’ she sighed, tilting her head back while smiling excitedly.

“I’m gonna start thinking that I’m a pushover. . .” he exhaled exaggeratedly.

Listening to her, he laid down on the blanket before resting his head on her lap.

“Comfortable?” she asked, brushing her hand through his hair.

He nodded, staring into her eyes.

“You’re not a pushover just because you comply with my silly requests,” she whispered, playing with his hair while the other hand cupped his cheek.

“I was just joking. . .” he closed his eyes, tilting his head to the side.

Her soft thighs pressed against his cheek while her gentle hands soothed any leftover anxiety. Sitting in silence, Arthur inevitably drifted off to sleep as exhaustion caught up to him. Covering him up with the blanket while he slept on her lap, Irene spent the rest of the night looking over him peacefully sleeping.

Chapter End.

Thank you for reading.