A/N: Hey guys, welcome to my new story! This one is set in an AU, but we may still see some of our other favorite characters. I'm trying something different and updates may be sporadic due to a busy schedule, but thanks for coming along for the ride! I hope you like this fic!

Also special shout out to InHwa, KLSoEul, and JodiMarie2910 for reviewing this chapter and encouraging me to write!

A piercing scream rent the air. Fire blanketed the earth. Cinders mixed with ash turning the world a dark swirl of gray and orange.

"Get the girl!"

"She's one of them."

"Monsters!"

The shouts of angry men mixed with the smoke filling the air. Arms and legs tangled as a frenzy of townspeople clambered past shuttered windows and closed doors, grasping furiously at the unfortunate victims they led. A young family this time, a couple and their two children. A girl no older than ten and a boy, younger still.

Victims of superstition, the little family could do nothing as their house burned to the ground and they were led to the river. There was but one fate for those accused of mixing in dark magic.

"Stop, stop this madness!" Someone pleaded from the crowd, but it was no use. The mob was past reason. Blamed for the failing crops or the bad weather, no one knew at this point, but no one cared. Fear was greater than reason and if purging the land required some bloodshed, so be it.

Yellow talismans thrown from the crowd draped the father's chest as he and his wife stumbled along in terrified silence. The girl, still grasping the wooden spoon she'd grabbed for protection, whimpered for her brother not far behind.

"We'll cleanse the land with fire and water!"

"Death to demon worshipers!"

The procession raged forward. Thick hatred fueling their movements. A rock cracked overhead, causing a small commotion at one end. Whoever had thrown it disappeared into the swelling crowd.

"Where's the boy!"

"Weren't there only three?"

"No, there were four!"

"It's alright he couldn't have gone far!" An emaciated man shook a fist, "Search the woods! We'll get the creature!"

A throng of villagers branched off from the procession, the young girl straggling behind her parents looked back in terror as she saw them disappearing through the mesh of people. Run, Yi Jeong, run!

Crawling over rock and dirt, an old farmer looked over at the young boy he'd just snatched from the fringes of the mob. The boy was heaving for breath and pale, but otherwise showed little sign of the weariness he would have expected. "Come on then, just a little further." The boy made no reply but stumbled forward, his eyes glossed over as if in a trance.

Hastily, they made their way through the dense backwoods of northern Joseon, the shouts of villagers and cries of victims ringing in their ears. Glancing back, the glow of fire could be seen in the distance. They were burning the forest! Birds and insects retreated into the sky as their homes were invaded. The old farmer and boy ran faster. There was no clear path in sight, just branches and thick darkness that was growing steadily brighter as the blaze burned behind them.

At last, the man dragged the boy into the shelter of an old shack. Closing the door behind, the older man rubbed a soot-streaked hand over his head. It wouldn't be long before they came.

"My sister." The boy asked weakly.

"I'm sorry lad, there's nothing we can do." he leaned heavily against the frame, watching as understanding flickered in the young child's eyes. Silence hung in the air as a few rats scurried from where they'd been sleeping-the world outside now burned a bright orange beaming through the cracks in the boards.

The old man shook himself, turning to ready a satchel of food from a table. "Why kill the whole family, it's not the children's fault their parents are cursed…" he muttered to himself grabbing rope from a nearby hook and a lantern from another. "It's what they deserved for condemning the land, but no need to burn the forest for a small child—"

A low growl interrupted his words. Turning, the man's face fell ashen at the creature before him. For it was a creature before him.

Gone was the innocent, childlike appearance, in its place stood a figure whose skin gleaned white, his dark eyes an unnatural umber. The dead body of a rat hung dripping from claw like hands.

"Dokkaebi."

The farmer stumbled back in fear, falling to the ground as a flash of razor white fangs glinted over him.

Piercing pain ripped into flesh.

All dimmed to black…

-few hundred years later-

Far removed from the noise of the city, a young girl stood on an ornate balcony overlooking the rolling grounds of one of South Korea's wealthy bureaucratic families.

Low candlelight sparkled off her gossamer dress as the wind whipped her hair, but Ga Eul felt neither the chill of the air nor her mother's words. All was silent except for the painful pounding in her chest. Her mind refused to listen, refused to understand what had just been said. The tears refused to fall, though the world was crashing around her.

"Really, Ga Eul." The stout lady beside her chided, placing an irritated hand on her shoulder. "He was just a boy."

Just a boy. Ga Eul turned on her mother, the words stinging through the careful stoicism she always held around the middle-aged woman. Her ears rang as the open french doors allowed fragments of music from the adjacent ballroom to flitter through. The tinkling of glass and low laughter alluding to the party within. This should have been a dream. A celebration of her most recent movie. But all was lost on the distraught figure clenching the railing for support.

"Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Because I knew you'd react like this!"

"How can you say that! How am I supposed to react?!"

"Ok, he's dead Ga Eul, dead. You happy?" The woman looked away, smoothing her dress with a contemptuous sniff. "You've always been too emotional. I can never get through to you-"

"I didn't even get to say goodbye." Ga Eul breathed, an unnatural calm taking over. "I'll never see him again."

The words hung unanswered.

Min Heon raised a delicately jeweled hand to her brow, eyeing her daughter coldly. "Pull yourself together. We don't have time for hysterics. "

The young girl turned away from her acidic mother, willing the piercing pain to leave, willing her heart to stop its suffocating pounding.

Yeoni was dead.

The only friend she had ever known, the only man she had ever loved.

"Oh, and Ga Eul?" She turned towards the woman halfway through the doors. Maybe she'd changed her mind. Maybe she really did have a heart.

"Gain 2 kilograms, you look like a stick."

The door slammed.

Ga Eul was alone.

Alone…

The irony of that word. Surrounded by people who loved her, or rather, the idea of her, but no one who really knew her. No one who really cared. A crushing weight sunk over her shoulders. The merry voices from the ballroom jarred on her nerves. She tightened her hold of the ivy branches wrapping themselves around the balcony, drawing blood with the force.

Maybe she should just run away. Away from everything. Somewhere no one knew her. Not one of the company's hundreds of employees, or her thousands of fans. Korea's fairy.

Ha! If they only knew.

If only they understood the nightmare that was her life. Careful perfection. Attention to every detail. Everything was dictated from her hair color, to her weight. As a child in a wealthy, well respected family, she had learned not to let a hair out of place or face the violent displeasure of her parents. To her mother, she was a doll. A perfect, caricature meant to fulfill a role. Devoid of any emotion or human expression besides compliance. To her father, the child needed after her mother's mental health decline. The child he could parade in front of his business partners and electoral party. The quiet, obedient daughter he could use for a strategic marriage alliance. An object meant for the glorification of its owners.

Till now, Yeoni had been everything her love parched soul had yearned for. Everything she had needed. The goofy, joking boy who cheered her up in her childhood troubles. The strong shoulder to cry on when her hopes as a young woman were crushed. He had been everything to her. And now, he was dead.

The tears that refused to fall earlier stained her cheeks.

Everything was lost.

A shadow glided over the moon, temporarily dimming its light. An ominous cool filled the air. Ga Eul looked up towards the sky, shaken slightly by the eerie feel.

It almost felt as if something was watching her…

"Ga Eul! Get inside! The press is here!" Min Heon's tart voice rang out.

Ga Eul hesitated, glancing once more towards the sky, had she imagined it?

"Ga Eul!" The demanding voice left no arguing.

As the girl's steps disappeared across the threshold, a tall figure drew in a breath from the shadows. His icy breath left no mark in the cold night air. Not even the birds seemed to feel his presence. Ivory fingers played with the discarded ivy Ga Eul had just held, snapping it in two.

Humans were always so complicated.

He brought it to his face.

But this one-

He licked the crimson drop.

was…interesting.

Dokkaebi-demonic/goblin like

Note: The farmer called the boy "dokkaebi" because he had no other word for the creature he found himself facing. As you likely found out, the boy was not, in fact, a dolkaebi. Can you guess what he is?

Also, the mythical creatures in this fic may not follow an already predetermined set of rules. There will be commonalities, but I may take creative liberties with the limits of power/abilities!