My new story: Collison of the Star

On a dark autumn day, a baby girl was born. The palace stirred as cries echoed from the bedchambers, drawing everyone near. Though whispers along the maids traveled through the halls. Could this really be the heir to the bloodline? House of Aku's future is dependent on a girl? How could she possibly survive? Yet her parents, blind to the whispers, praised her birth. Little did they know, the child they celebrated would be the reign of hell itself.

“Byeol! Come inside dear, it's raining!” The clacking sound of the heels of her black shoes echoed through the hall as Byeol rushed inside. She was only five years old and already making her mother worry about her safety. But the real worry was what she brought inside the palace, coming in with her bloodied hands and the body of a bird. The neck was cracked and the feathers nearly plucked off. “Mother! Look at my new pet! I caught it outside!”, she shouted with mere excitement as she showed off the limp corpse. 

Reaching her mothers vision, a metal plate clattered on the tile of the floor. A shared gasp from her mother and the maid that was setting the table. “Byeol…”, kneeling down to place a hand on her daughter's face, “My star you can not do that..” With a soft smile that was hiding her afraid face, she took the bird out of her child's hands and wrapped it in a cloth. 

Byeol was confused, she didn't understand why her mother took her pet or was so horrified. “Mama….”, the soft voice of an ‘angel’,”Do you not like my pet?” She began to sniffle as if she got rejected from her own mother, yet not even showing the slightest sadness that the bird was dead. “No no no my sweet Byeol…I just want the pet to…be in a better place. We don't need pets in our home!”, she tried to make her daughter understand, but understand what? That killing a bird and making it stay in a home where it didn't even want to go is wrong? No, a 

mother could never admit that to her own child. Even if it's continuous. The Saturday before, Byeol returned with a rodent who was on their last breath, and the Thursday of that week she returned with a skinned snake.

The maid carried the cloth wrapped bird outside of the palace, placing it in the garden. Her mother settled Byeol at the dining table, calling out to her father who was in his office. “Myeong! Supper is ready!”, she shouted at the bottom of the stairs. 

Heavy footsteps rushed down, soon her father with a large smile on his face appeared. “My June made us a fine meal? Something I would never miss, even for work!” He leaned down to share a gentle kiss before taking his seat next to Byeol. She looked at her father with a small smile that made him squeeze her cheeks. 

Unaware of what had happened before he got there. “How was your day, my two peas in a pod?”, he asked as he took a bite of his steak. Her mother looked up without saying a word, Byeol traced the cut up steak with her fork before talking. “I got a new pet bird! But mother wont let me keep it!”, her mother smiled awkwardly before Byeol looked at her, a look she didn't expect. A blank stare. She dropped her fork and looked back at Byeol with concern. “Star…eat your food..”, her voice was laced with fear.

The rest of the meal passed in uneasy quiet. Her father filled the silence with small talk about trade and politics, his voice too loud, too cheerful, as if he could drown out what had just happened. Byeol ate slowly and quietly, but glanced at her mother every now and then. It made June unsettled. Then when supper was over, the maid took Byeol up the stairs to her room. Walking away, she looked back at her Mother who was cleaning the table. Catching her daughter’s gaze.

Behind closed doors, her parents discussed her odd behavior.