[A/N:-
Characters are taken from:- Island (web series)
Starting:- Lee Da-hee as Won Mi Ho/ Wonjeong; Sung Joon as Gungtan; Kim Nam-gil as Van; Cha Eun-woo as Priest Johan.

The story is written for 'Glory of Villains'  contest organized by WattpadKDramas
]

After Van buries his dagger in my heart and I in his, his primordial body disintegrates. I watch him ebb away from my grasp as the ground opens under my feet and swallows me; I can't sense his presence anymore. 

I don't know how long I have been here. Trapped. Nonetheless, even in the dark, Van's accusations keep me company.

"Gungtan, stop this madness. Though demon blood flows within us, we are not demons. We are demon slayers. Why are you trying to hurt Wonjeong? She didn't know what the monk was planning! She has promised to save us!"

"Gungtan, we were partners once. Friends, even. It's not too late. Abandon insanity. You don't need to kill them. They were merely following orders!"

"Gungtan, it is clear to me now. There is no good left in you. I will never join you. Even in death, I won't follow you!"

Golden strings tormenting every fiber of my being, keeping me from escaping, fade slowly. Thanks to Van, I am awake, else I might have missed it.

In what feels like forever, my body vibrates with demonic energy seeping into me now that the strings are gone.

Oh, how I have missed it.

No sooner do the gold vines vanish than my sanity returns. Embracing myself, I glance around. My eyes search for someone who has abandoned me long ago: Van.

Van, why did you side with that witch!?

Van. My brother. My comrade. My friend. My...

Would he have turned against me if I had told him how I felt? Probably not. Van never saw me. Not really. Not since he laid eyes on Wonjeong.

Above me, the cage holding me in the dark abyss cracks and floods me with light. I wonder who has the guts and resources to free me.

The dark force already owns my soul, so when it comes to take charge of my body, I let it ravage me. A punishment I deserve for failing to kill Wonjeong the first time around.

Tears run down my cheeks. They mean nothing now that Van is gone…forever.

I wait till the last of the iridescent whips get bored of slashing my back and leave me. Giving me a few more minutes to heal, the weapon returns; wrapping around me again, it fuels me with raw strength.

Power thumps in my veins.

A smile tugs at the corner of my lips as my body ascends. Soon, Jeju's clear skies are looking down on me.

I plant my feet firmly on the ground and breathe the fresh morning air.

Van, we could have been here together. Maybe, just maybe, if you had held me instead of her, my soul would have clung to yours, but now, nothing can stop me from hunting down the priest and the lying whore who snatched you from me. Nothing except the barrier the witch has cast on the island, that is.

"Uncle?"

A familiar voice, Boo Yeom-ji's, begs my attention, making me turn.

"I am sorry." The child's words crack. I can smell her betrayal still; I should have killed her then. I can do it now, but I don't.

I reign in my anger. The child is not worth wasting my strength on. I need to save my rage for Wonjeong or Won Mi Ho, which is what the witch goes by in this life.

Images of Van caressing Boo Yeom-ji's hair and bantering with her as he visits the ancient woman guarding Jeju with her life force assaults me. The old hag had raised Wonjeong: the woman prophesied to create a barrier between the demon and mortal realm, preventing the lust demons from entering the human world.

What's left of my humanity hurts. It was a bad idea to spy on Van then.

I breathe out, trying to clear my head, but Van's soft smile as he crouches next to the ancient woman, talking about everything and nothing, remains like a wound festering in my heart.

Van, how could you stay by her side, showering her with affection when she was the ruthless monk's accomplice.

Agreed, she never hurt us, but she watched as the monk took us captive, held us against our will, and stole our humanity. He made us into the monsters who had slaughtered our kin.

You even shed tears when the hag- who was trying to resurrect Wonjeong's memories- died at my hands. Van, how could you blame me for taking our revenge!?

I slept next to you on the cold ground of the prison where they held us, treating us worse than animals. Me, not the hag,  and certainly not Wonjeong!

I held you close as you screamed and thrashed around in your sleep till you didn't anymore. Me, Van, it was me.

I was the one who flanked you as we ran headlong towards the lust demons like racehorses groomed to keep their eye on nothing but their target till we drew blood. Do you remember? It has always been me, Van.

Yet, it was Wonjeong you let into your heart.

To think that I actually believed that making you the reason for her end would somehow liberate you from your forbidden bond. I was so wrong.

Van, did you mourn for me at all? When I was dragged to hell and locked there for eternity by that witch, were all the tears you shed with her bleeding out in your arms only for her?

Still, I offered you a chance to join me as soon as the spell Wonjeong had cast on me broke despite you having sided with her to trap me!

I lock eyes with the child. I had saved her from her own personal hell: an abusive father, but she had chosen to side with the ancient woman who had taken her in. How could she forget that I was the one who had sent her there to spy on the hag?

Smirking, I enquire, "Are you? Really?"

The child nods.

"You betrayed me for your newfound friends and your conscience, which is still in its infancy. Why should I believe you?"

The girl steps closer, "I know where Won Mi Ho is." with her eyes cast low, she adds, "I can take you to her…I can take you to Won Mi Ho."

Van, do you hear her? She is ready to side with me once again. See, you can't trust humans. They turn on you like the dog that bites the hand that feeds it.

Unbridled joy blankets me. The witch had escaped me last time. It was my fault for playing with my food for longer than necessary. It cost me Van's life.

I close my eyes and smile. The power of a thousand lust demons and more roars inside me. After all, they share my goal. We want freedom. True freedom: to leave Jeju and take over the world.

Van, now that you are no more, how long do you think that puny priest will be able to protect your precious Mi Ho from my wrath?

"Boo Yeom-ji, I suppose you have something for me, don't you?" I close the distance between us and hold my hand out, eyeing the item cradled in her arms. A rag covers the object, keeping it from my sight.

The girl kneels and places it on my palm. "The White Cloaks said that it's immune to Mi Ho's magic."

The information takes me by surprise. "Only something that has tasted the witch's blood can do that." I think aloud and begin unwrapping the object that would be my salvation;
my ticket out of Jeju: my prison.

I glance at the golden web covering the island's skies. The spell the reincarnated witch had cast surrounded the whole island. The five pillars that held her magic in place mocked me. This was the humans' and Wonjeong's first and last defense. Nothing could stop me from taking the witch's life if I could leave Jeju.

My fingers gloss over the cold surface of the blade, engulfing me in its heat, transporting me back to when Van and I were children, clinging to our mothers' hanboks…smiling. Memories, both good and bad flutter across my eyes. They end with a fight where I face off with Van for the first time. Just as Van's dagger closes in,  aiming for my heart, I push Wonjeong in front of me. He misses, burying the weapon in her heart instead of mine.

I pick up the dagger. The one weapon that can undo the magic holding me in this God-forsaken place.

Van's dagger catches the sun and glints. It's even more beautiful with my fingers wrapped around it. You belong here...with me, I coo and bring the hilt to my lips.

It's our way out, Van. I knew we could make it out of here with you by my side. Let's never part again, alright? Let's stay together forever.

For the first time in ages, I feel like myself again. Making haste, I dash towards the first pillar that anchors the spell; stabbing the structure, I watch it crumble.

I caress the dagger. Four more to go, Van. Then we will be free.

Turning my sight towards the horizon and then at the darkening sky, I tighten my grip around the dagger and announce, "Wait for me, Wonjeong. It won't be long before Van takes you out again."

*****
Word Count:- 1579