1 Dead

It's a cold night tonight. It's only gonna get worse if I don't find that refuge; I'll never survive the winter like this. I tightened the rope around my body and pressed myself closer to the tree.You can see the full moon much clearer from up in the tree canopy. I closed my eyes...

*A few months ago*

"Hey Jiwon! We should go out tonight, to celebrate passing our finals!"

"Yeah Jiwon! You hardly go out with us. It'll be fun!" Everyone seemed to agree eagerly. The last set of finals were finally over, and everyone was eager to get away from college and have summer fun. I hardly ever went out because my parents were so strict.

"Sorry guys, maybe next time. I have to go and help my mom with stuff!" I said sorrowfully. I didn't have to help her, she just wanted me home.

"Aish, you always say that! You never have time for us!" exclaimed Seoyeong. "You always leave us hanging!" My three friends, Seoyeong, Youngae, and Saeko all pouted in unision.

"Sorry, I really mean it, you guys know how strict my mom is. Next time for sure though!"

"Alright! But we better go clubbing, that's where all the cute guys go after school!" cheerfully exclaimed Youngae.

"All you think about are boys Youngae..." sighed Saeko. "Maybe that's why you always fail your exams."

"Hey! Well your just jealous you can't get guys with your grumpy old self," stated Youngae.

"Guys..." said Seoyeong.

"Bye guys!" I chuckled. I waved back at all three of them as I hopped onto my skateboard. I really wished I could go with them. I hated things back home. Mom and Dad fought a whole lot more nowadays, stuff about Dad's lab. But they always had to keep me under their strict supervision. Rule after rule nonstop, even during breaks like these. I wished I was free but I felt like chains hung around my whole body, keeping me down.

Once I reached my house, I quickly hid my skateboard inside a bush and with great care fixed my messy hair and patted my crumbled clothes. Mom always hated how "unladylike " I always acted. I reached for the doorknob, and walked inside.

"Eomma! I'm home!" I yelled enthusiastically.

"Look at the time Jiwon! I was about to send the guards looking for you! And look at the mess you're in! Have you no shame!" My mother nagged.

"I made it home, right? That's what counts."

"A lady should be punctual! You're dad has gotten crazy ideas in your head from all those camping trips and shooting lessons. After you get your career started you need to marry into a good family."

"Eomma!" I hated the idea of marrying someone I didn't love. It was like being tied down to a whole new set of chains.

"It's for your own good! I will not have a delinquent for a daughter! To your room! You're grounded!" As if on cue, there was a loud explosion outside that shook the entire mansion.

"What the hell..." I whispered under my breath. I quickly ran over to a window, to see that at least six cars had crashed at an intersection near my house. The whole place was burning in flames, people running from all directions. And out of the corner of my eye, a bright pale blue shadow, like a robin's egg, rushed by in a blur. And then more and more, as the distance overcrowded with deformed humans. As if dead...

A red car hastily pulled up in our driveway. It missed from crashing into our house by mere inches. Dad. I rushed over to the door, to find dad collapsed at the steps. Bleeding from his arm.

"Guards!!" I cried out as I tried to drag my dad inside.

"Oh my- what happened! Honey!" My mom desperately cried. The guards picked him up with ease and laid him on the sofa.

"Dad! Guard, get me the first aid kid in the kitchen. Eomma, hand me your scarf." As she hurriedly gave it to me, I hastily ripped his shirt open to reveal a large and bloody bite mark on the upper side of his arm. I quickly overlooked it and tightly wrapped the scarf around his arm to prevent further bleeding. The guard was not back yet.

"Go! Hurry up and check on him! Bring me the first aid kit!" I barked at the other guards. "Eomma, call the doctor, fast!" She stood there, in shock, looking at the bloody scene before her. "Eomma!" She quickly snapped out of it and reached for the phone.

"Jiwon..." I turned around to find my dad, breathing shakily and with eyes fluttering, struggling to stay conscious. "G-get out of here, i-it is no longer s-safe. T-take your mom with you. Here." He weakly reached inside his lab coat to reveal a small revolver, exactly six bullets inside. And a small notebook, it's pages filled to the brim with words. I shakily took them.

"Honey! How are you feeling? The doctor is on the way, it's alright, I'm here." My mom cried next to my father's side. "I'm right here!"

"Honey. M-my lovely and b-beautiful wife. I'm so sorry. You w-warned me, but I didn't listen. T-the experiments. It all went wrong. I'm so s-sorry. Take good care. I n-need you to take the passage I have installed in our room. I love y-you. Get away from here." He stated with pain.

"No! I won't leave you! It'll all be alright, you'll see!"

"Jiwon, my brave and p-powerful heroine." My father turned to me. A weak smile on his face. "I love you. All of our camping trips, have been in case of this moment, leave n-now. Before it's too late." He gave his final breath with a struggle, and passed away, in my mother's arms.

"No! NO!" My mother yelled.

"Eomma... let's go." I said sternly. She wouldn't budge. "LETS GO!"

"I can't leave your father... no," my mother softly wailed. Suddenly, screams could be heard coming from the hallway. As they neared the living room, I could see the bloody faces of the guards, as they desperately tried to claw their way away from the kitchen. The first guard I had sent was pale blue, blood oozing from his mouth.

"Let's go. Now." I pulled on my mom's curled body.

"I won't leave him... I was such an awful wife to him. No..." My father's body began to suddenly convulse and a blue and greenish tint began to spread up his body. Dark veins spread all across, and his eyes turned pale, almost white. His body suddenly raised itself from its laying position, and hurled itself at my mother, who laid helplessly on the floor. The screaming over flooded my ears. The guards. My mom.

"Jiwon!!! RUN!!!" Yelled my mom, as she tried to desperately block my dead father's teeth from sinking into her hand. "RUN!!!" I still remember the shock I felt at that moment. Everything seemed to stop, and everything went quiet. I looked down at my hands, covered now, in dried blood. The revolver, also bloodstained, sat comfortably in my hand…