❝ and all the kids cried out, please stop you're scaring me❞
familiar: the name of the dead

──

The morning wasn't particularly everyone's favorite aspect of the day, after all, it's dreadful to wake up from a peaceful slumber where you can let go of the rules of this mundane world and dream your imaginations; mold your own reality. For Blaze, on the contrary, mornings were her best friend. With a cup of coffee in her left hand and a ladle in another whipping the scrambled eggs scattered on the pan.

"Aren't you sick of the game you are playing? when you pry over a monster longer than you intended, it would reflect back stronger than you can sustain," A cursive figure standing right next to the kitchen counter spoke as if she was a part of  Blaze's unconsciousness. "Shut up Eliane, I'm not in the mood," barricading an invisible wall between her and Eliane, she barked through her teeth. "Just saying," she carefreely said spreading her hands on the counter and lied on it.

Eliane had gentle features like poetry and benign ductile eyes that could convince a criminal to hand himself over to the police. She had pale skin as white as the ghost and colorless eyes with a nonchalant shade of iris. "We always long for the lost ones," she whispered near Blaze's ears, screaming at her soul even though, her voice was feeble than the call of a mute siren. "I said shut up!" Blaze cried out loud slamming the ladle on the pan, making the egg scrambles bounce out of it.

"You're the one who is carrying me behind your back, Blaze," Eliane averted her vision to the photo frame hanging on the maroon-painted wall. Her voice was lenient but, Blaze felt like arrows were pricking her throats. In oblivion Blaze walked to the kitchen counter and grabbed an apple, biting onto the fruit, it tasted more like poison than sweet. "Eliane," Blaze hummed sitting on the marble grabbing her attention.

"Why do you always make me feel like the villain?"

Eliane strained her lips into an upturned smile, "because you are one, dear sister."

***

Everyone in the council room felt their body stiffen into a frozen statue, unlike the indifferent expression they always carried with them. "Eliane Asche," Jin muttered, slipping the syllables one by one from his lips. He felt a chill run over his spine when he spoke out loud, the others were no exception except Taehyung who was lukewarm. "T- Twins? Is this some kind of sick joke?" Lisa stuttered through her words as spoke with a mild tone.

"I am myself isn't sure of what is happening, Lisa. But, there is no way that Jeongguk's sources would lie. So yes, twins," Namjoon confronted the petrified woman next to him. It wasn't his job to do so, to neutralize a venom but, he had his own reasons. "R- Right," Jimin contributed to Namjoon's effort in hoisting the several doubts encircling all of their minds.

No matter how much these two preached raising self-doubts and marching into the problem straightforward would only create problems in the long run, the others couldn't help but, let their instinct give them solutions for the problems and yes, it had blood. "Taehyung," Jin called the one entangled inside this mess deeper with a solemn look and stern boldness. "You have a say in this. Care to explain?" Jin punctured his attention inside Taehyung's chimera eyes, glaring at him with a candid expression.

"Why should I? I have the right to keep my silence, Jin. I don't have the need to explain anything," Taehyung growled at him. "Taehyung! You have been meeting that woman behind our back for months, and never even gave us a detail. And that someone is related to you, and Blaze extensively. Are you a friend or a foe?" Jisoo had pure hatred and anger shining in her eyes when she yelled at him. "I'm none, Jisoo," he responded apathetic, lacking any emotion.

"Let him be," Lisa retorted, gritting her teeth. "I know this is all confusing. Like hell, confusing is an understatement. I don't know why this happening but, for devil's sake, this won't end well. Taehyung isn't cooperating with us either, given that he contributed to this mess the most. I'm sorry on his behalf," She added. Taehyung scowled at his sister, neither pleased with acting on his behalf and nor playing the role of a sweet sister.

Jin massaged the tip of his nose, closing his eyes and throwing his head back at his seat. "Jeongguk," he muttered, "Get to the root of this." The raven-haired nodded his head directly at him, taking his phone out and texting a few people he semi-trusted to run a background test at the suspect. "Why is this happening now? just at the time of the head election?" Jin cursed underneath his breath, breaking his perfect facade when he showed he was worried for the election rather than the matter at hand.

"Don't worry about the election, Jin. It's going perfectly fine and it's me who is running for it. You don't have to be stressed," Namjoon reassured with an unaccountable motive and smile, that churned Jin's inside. No one could connect the dots on how this happening, and why and this angered them. It angered them that nothing isn't in their control now.

Anger, it's a chain reaction. We pass it on to another when our anger is quenched and then it will become a train. Currently, none of them were in their normal state. Problems were piling up one by one, and not to mention Evette hawking on the council to keep their hands clean till the election ends made everything worse. 

"So Blaze, she always had an ace up her sleeve? Why is she doing this? What is her motive? What does she want from us? What is happening?" Hoseok gazed down at a loss.

Taehyung snickered; his smile inhuman. "I don't know," he closed his eyes and let his back hit the back of the chair, "But I am sure, we started a doomsday clock."

──

❝ i can't help this awful energy❞

+ the final arc started. I never thought I would live up to see this day lmao 😀 and there have been some changes added (and will be added or edited) in the past chapters to adapt to the ending because I changed the plot twists and stuff.