It was a full moon that night and Jisoo thought it was pretty with the stars adorning the night sky. Even though she was walking alone on the silent eerie street towards her home and that the streetlights were too dim to let her clearly see what's in front of her, she thought it was peaceful.
She was queer that way. She wasn't afraid of the dark and rather felt at home with it. Maybe it had something to do with her being a daughter of the moon. Although, she wasn't the kind of witch people usually portray in books and movies.
She has never cursed someone or used her magic to do evil things. Maybe she'll suddenly make objects float or the lights flicker to scare people here and there but it was only for those who really deserved it. Light pranks as witches like her call it.
She was harmless. A "white witch" as what they say in movies.
Sadly, ordinary people are easily scared by things they can't explain so her parents told her to only use her abilities in dire situations.
She's actually doing well living like an ordinary person. In fact, they probably wouldn't have to move to Seoul from the last village they were living in if that kid she saved from falling down the rooftop just listened to her about keeping her abilities a secret.
Jisoo's eyes went to the plastic bag containing the take-out food she ordered. Her father ended up not coming home after all. She had planned to cook dinner for the two of them but he called her as soon as she got home and told her he wasn't going to be there for a couple of days because of a business trip.
She didn't feel like cooking after that news. She was alone again.
A flicker of light caught Jisoo's attention. It was the light of the lamp hanged on the entrance of an old building. "Peaches & Cream Antique Shop," it said on the signboard in italicized words.
She had always thought of the building as abandoned but now that she looked at it again the poster on the wall says its opening hours are from 8pm to 12 midnight.
"Weird opening hours..." she uttered. Why would someone open their shop for only four hours?
She peeked from the door's glass window out of curiosity and saw someone slumped on the cashier table, snoring. That must be the owner. He must be really busy in the morning if he only opens his shop at night.
"Wow. He isn't afraid of being robbed at all-oh fuck!" A startled cry came out of her when the bell connected to the door rang as the door suddenly opened letting her fall face forward. She must have leaned on it too hard.
The owner's spectacled eyes fluttered open as he stood up on alert, his gaze landing on Jisoo. A wide smile spread on his face at the sight of her.
"A customer!" He cried happily as she frantically helped herself up, dusting off the dirt that got on her clothes. She glanced at the plastic bag which she dropped on the floor, sighing in relief as she picked it up. Thankfully her dinner didn't leave its container.
"How may I help you?" The owner asked smiling warmly. He looked younger than she thought he was when she was peeking from the door. He looked like a college student.
Her eyes went to the nametag pinned on his shirt. 'Hi! I am Hyun.' It said.
"You think I'm too young to own an Antique Shop, do you?"
"How did you-"
"Nah, customers tell me that all the time." He said waving his hands off with a grin "Can't help it though, I'm already in my 30's but I still look hot, don't you think?" he winked.
Jisoo's brow rose weirdly at his statement. 'Okay... Jisoo, this guy could be a pervert so you better run-'
"I was just jesting, I'm not a pervert. Geez, kid's these days can't take a joke!" He uttered making her gape at him.
"Can you read my mind?!" She asked, eyes wide in shock.
"No. I don't have to read minds to know what you're thinking. It's pretty obvious from your facial expression." The man said dryly.
"Anyway," He said grabbing her arms and pushing her further inside the store "If you're not going to buy then at least have a look around will you? You might see something you want and end up buying once you saved up." He chuckled.
"Oh and by the way, don't go opening any doors."
"What? Wait-"She turned around to face the store owner but he was already gone.
Jisoo sighed at his disappearance, maybe he had just gone back to the counter to sleep, but seriously, he shouldn't be taking a nap in his shop, what if it was a thief that got inside instead of her? He will be closing his business in no time.
A smile tugged on her lips as she stared at the shelves littered with different kinds of trinkets. Maybe it wasn't bad to look around for a little bit. She was taking a look at some of the bracelets on the shelf when she heard a whisper.
"Relinquish..." It said softly making her turn around to see if anyone else was there.
A wooden door caught her eyes, it looked very old and out of place to be in a super clean antique shop. She curiously approached the door the sight of it suddenly making her curious. The word 'Relinquish' was carved on the wood in golden letters.
Jisoo bit her lower lip as her heart raced at the thrill, eyes glinting with excitement as she touched the rusty old knob. She cautiously turned around to see if the owner was there before slowly opening the door.
'Just a peek wouldn't hurt.' She thought. 'I'll be out in a minute and he wouldn't even notice I went in.'
The candles inside the room lit up on its own as soon as she entered startling her, it provided just enough light for her to make up its features. It looked like a library of some sort.
Her eyes scanned the place from the cobwebs on the ceilings and empty shelves to those filled with books. Books she was very much familiar with.
'A witch! The store owner is a witch too!' Jisoo almost jumped in thrill at her realization, she has never met a witch other than her parents before. It was so hard to find witches nowadays since they were all good at hiding.
An already opened book was resting on a table with an old lamp beside it providing enough light for anyone to read. She walked towards it in puzzlement reading the words written on top of the opened page.
Septem Peccatis Mortalibus. It said in Italic letters. It was Latin for The Seven Deadly Sins.
She froze. It was the forbidden summoning book, even dark witches were afraid to use it. Jisoo chuckled lightly trying to calm herself. Her parents had told her the old witches have burned it already, so it couldn't possibly be the real one. It's not supposed to exist.
She licked her dry lips as her hands cautiously flipped through the pages. 'No witch is crazy enough to keep this kind of book in their lair.' She thought.
She silently stopped on a page, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. Part of her wanted to run, but the other wanted to stay to prove the book wasn't real.
Her eyes scanned the spell written on black ink. It was a chant to summon The Demons of the Seven Deadly Sins.
It was an unwritten rule for witches-evil or good- never to read loudly spells they are unfamiliar of but--'It isn't real' she said convincing herself, and her lips unconsciously moved to chant the spell.
"Hear thy voice of a casters decree,
Open thy gates of deviltry,
Unleash the Seven Demons of immorality,
And Let their quintessence roam this earth free..."
Jisoo shut her eyes tight after the incantation, her body tense as she waited for something to happen. The seconds passed into a minute and not a sound was heard, the room was as peaceful as it was when she entered.
She sighed in relief, a chuckle making its way out of her lips mocking herself for being scared of nothing.
"I knew it wasn't real-Aww!"
Jisoo winced at the searing pain on her left hand, creasing her forehead in confusion as she brought it up to see what was wrong. She paled, her eyes wide in horror at the sight of a fresh cut on her palm, her blood trickling down to her wrist and dropping on the floor.
"The offering has been accepted..." A voice whispered making her turn back only to find no one.
A startled gasp came out of Jisoo's mouth when the ground shook fervently against her feet, her eyes wide in horror at the sudden earthquake.
She ran towards the door in fear, her knuckles white as she struggled to turn the knob. It was no use. The door was locked from the outside.
"Help! Mister?! Are you there?" She cried frantically, her fists banging on the door "Someone! I'm still inside! Please! Open the door!"
A glowing grey circle formed on the black tiled floor as it cracked, seven circles appeared inside of it, each having a different color and symbol.
An eerie silence occurred when the circles were completely formed. The earthquake had stopped but Jisoo's heart was still drumming nervously. It wasn't finished, whatever was happening wasn't done yet.
And she was right...
The only light coming from the lamp suddenly died together with the candles shrouding the room in complete darkness. It wasn't the dark Jisoo felt at ease with, the pitch-black surrounding gave her an ominous feel. It was sinister enough to make the ends of her hair stand up.
Pillars of fiery colored light came out of the seven circles almost blinding her as it shot out of the roof towards the sky.
She dropped on the floor, heart hammering in fright as maniacal laughter escaped from the portals. She scampered frantically towards the corner of the room hoping the darkness was enough to hide her from the shadows that came out of the circles.
She shivered, hugging herself as she watched the scene in front of her with horror.
"W-what have I done?"
____________
"Miss?"
"Miss, wake up. Are you okay?"
Jisoo's eyes slowly opened meeting the store owner's gaze. The man was kneeling by her side as he gave her a look of concern.
A sudden gasp came out of her mouth as she remembered the shadows that came out of the fiery pillars of light. She sat up from the floor she was laying on, her eyes wide as she frantically scanned the place she was in. She was back at the store.
She turned her head looking for the door that led to the room she was in a while ago but nothing was there but a wall where the door should have been. She opened her palms to see if there was any bloody cut but she found none.
"W-what happened?" She asked giving the store owner a look of confusion.
"You suddenly fainted while looking through the trinkets." He said "Are you okay? You were muttering words while you were unconscious a while ago, did you have a bad dream?"
"A bad dream..." She uttered, the anxious look in her eyes slowly disappeared into relief.
Just a dream.
It was already ten in the evening when Jisoo came out of the antique shop. The night wind that touched her skin was colder and the silent street she once found comfortable now induced an eerie feel.
She gripped tightly on the plastic bag which carried her dinner, warily taking every step towards her house. Her trembling hands were already on the metal gate's handle when the sky suddenly crackled causing her to yelp in shock.
She turned around lifting her head up into the dark sky that was currently producing angry flashes of light after every thunderous sound. The sky suddenly parted and rays of blinding white light escaped from it making her shut her eyes. She retreated causing her back to collide with the metal gate.
The sound of flapping wings was heard after a few seconds and her eyes opened out of curiosity. She first saw the silhouette of a girl with wings materialize from the white rays. The sight of it hovering above her made her jaw drop in astonishment.
The winged creature's foot touched the ground landing gracefully in front of her. Its stunning white wings dissolved into colorful bubbles of light that floated around its body. 'It' the creature in front of her was actually a girl.
She wore a long-sleeved white dress made from silk paired with a simple silver doll shoes. A white hairpin the shape of a dove rested on her waist-length, curly, black hair putting it in place. Her crystal blue eyes with specks of silver stared at her as her red lips tugged into a comforting smile.
She was beautiful.
"Greetings Miss" The girl beamed before doing a small bow at her. Her voice snapped her out of her thoughts and that's when she realized what was in front of her.
"Oh, fuck!"