Hellfire Oasis

CHAPTER FOUR

ENCOUNTER

Colors swirled and blended with ethereal grace, painting a landscape reminiscent of a watercolor masterpiece. Amidst the abstract scenes, she caught glimpses of a beautiful girl. Her features danced between focus and blurriness, like fragments of a fading memory.

The girl smiled at her, her face radiant with an otherworldly charm. Yet, the dreamer couldn't quite discern her features clearly; they remained tantalizingly elusive, shrouded in a veil of uncertainty.

“So beautiful,” she heard herself say, her words escaping before she could fully comprehend them. She sensed the beauty girl's amusement, a gentle laughter that danced in the air, and couldn't help but smile in return. It was a moment suspended in time, a fleeting connection between two souls caught in the whims of a dream.

Despite the ambiguity, an undeniable pull stirred deep within the dreamer's soul, a sense of familiarity and connection that transcended the blurred lines of reality.

Lost in the mesmerizing beauty of the dream, she found herself reaching for her paintbrush, eager to capture the essence of the mysterious girl on canvas. With each stroke, she poured her heart and soul into the painting, as if trying to unravel the enigma of the girl's identity.

In the throes of her creative fervor, she felt a surge of emotion welling up inside her—a longing so profound it bordered on obsession. It was as if she were falling in love with the ethereal beauty she sought to recreate on canvas.

But just as the painting began to take shape, a sudden jolt ripped her from the dream world, yanking her back to reality with cruel abruptness.

“Seulgi... Seulgi, wake up!”

Blinking away the remnants of sleep, she found herself lying in bed, the memory of the dream fading like mist in the morning sun. Yet, the feelings lingered, swirling around her like wisps of smoke, leaving her heart heavy with a sense of longing and loss.

“Oh, I thought you were dead again,” a voice came from her side, jolting her fully awake.

“Wendy?” she groggily uttered.

“Are you okay?” Wendy asked, her face etched with worry.

“What happened?” she asked, her confusion evident.

“You passed out,” Wendy answered.

Suddenly, it all came rushing back to her—the scary creature resembled the Dementors from Harry Potter, with its long, flowing cloak and its skeletal hands. The terror, the pain she felt, like her soul was burning, tormented her. Then, she remembered the cries of pain from Yerim.

“Where is Y-Yerim?” she asked, fear engulfing her.

Wendy pointed at the other bed beside her, and Seulgi saw Joy looking at the sleeping Yerim with curiosity, as if expecting the latter to awaken at any moment.

“She's just sleeping, don't worry,” Wendy assured her.

“What is the scary creature that attacked us?” Seulgi shivered, remembering the terrifying encounter.

“That's a soul-sucking fiend. They usually appear when they sense you are feeling too happy or too sad, and then they attack you,” Wendy explained, her tone grave with caution.

“So, it's really like the Dementors from Harry Potter.” Seulgi concluded, drawing a parallel to the familiar magical creatures.

“Well, you can say that; they're essentially the same,” Wendy confirmed, nodding in agreement.