I woke up and looked out the window.

The sun is bright and blinding at the same time.

I sit up and slide out of bed and go to the door where Mother and Father are.

Mother is in the kitchen making ramen for breakfast, as she usually does.

Upong came in with eggs that we got the last time we went shopping.

I made my way to the living room where Aelin and my other brothers are.

I grabbed Aelin's arm and dragged her outside.

She yanked and pulled trying to get out of my grip, but I still had a tight grip, I knew she wanted to get out of my grip but that didn't make me stop holding on to her arm because I don't like to let go of her, mainly because she's my younger sister, and I don't listen to those who are younger than me.

***

Two years later I have to climb this Mountain are I won't be able to help her she's in danger.

Please be safe! Please be safe! Please be safe!

I grabbed a rock and pulled myself up.

I groaned. "Ugh! This is so hard!"

"Sorry for making you climb so fast. Did I by chance frighten you with the way I worded that?" Uncle Jin Lin asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. But it's fine. As long as she's fine. Right?"

Sister hummed from behind Uncle Jin Lin.

"Hm," I hummed with her.

I grabbed her arm. Yanked her and went to the shrine to see if Brother was good. He should be okay, but you never know am I right? Oh whatever, I need to make sure. Even if he's dead. I always come here but things are changing. The seasons are changing it'll be winter soon, so I'll have to come here every day to make sure that the shrine is good looking.

I looked over at Aelin."Are you fine? I need to know if you can help me tomorrow.

She nodded.

***

I walked down the street to the lake.

I washed the clothes and hung them up.

Then walked up to my dad's ramen shop and got some ramen. "Can I get some ramen? I won't be able to go home to night."

"Here, have it for free. You're my child so you get it for free," he said, and wiped the table.

***

after I got done eating, I handed dad the bowl and headed outside.

I went to the local hotel and went to the front desk.

"Can I book a room?" I asked the man at the desk.

"No."

"Okay, thank you for letting me know that you are full of people," I said, turning around.

But before I could he shoved a key in my hand. "No."

"Uh?"

"Sorry, my father only knows how to say no," a girl said, grabbing my hands. "Here, I'll take you to your room."

"Uh, thank you," I said.

"Oh, by the way, my name's Nonomi. Yours?" she said.

"Aejin."

"Oh, what a pretty name. And here's your room," Nonomi said. "See you around?"

"See you around," I said, stepping into the room.

***

I grabbed my blanket and pull it over my head.

No! Get up! Stop being lazy! You have work to do today! So, stop being lazy! Get up! Geeeettt uuuuuuuuuuuppppppppppp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Their gone."

"Huh?"

"We suffered because of you! We suffered! Not you!"

"Aelin," I said. "Since when did you talk?"

"I always knew. and you know what I'm gonna make you pay for this."

"Ahh! What are you doing?!" I yelled.

"Stop! Stop all this none since!"

"Aelin! Let her go you freak!"

"She's a demon," a man said. "Come with me and you can have a family member."

"Fine, but where?"

"Training," and so he was off.

***

It's been a few days since then.

(Oh, by the way, my dear readers, she is training to become a demon hunter.)

And I've been training alright. Even though I have no clue about what I'm training for.

***

It's been three years and I'm a demon hunter now.

The sun had barely begun to crest over the jagged peaks when I strapped the katana to my hip. Three years. Three years of calloused hands, frozen mornings, and the smell of ozone and pine. I wasn't the girl who dragged her sister out the door anymore; I was a weapon forged in the fires of loss.

"Aejin," a voice rasped.

I turned to see Uncle Jin Lin standing by the edge of the training grounds. He looked older, his hair silvering like the frost on the grass. He held a small, folded piece of parchment.

"The reports are coming in from the northern villages," he said, his eyes heavy. "There have been sightings. A girl with eyes like winter and a grip that breaks bone. She doesn't speak. She only hunts."

My heart hammered against my ribs—a frantic, trapped bird. Aelin. "Where?"

"The Frozen Shrine," he replied. "The place where you used to go to check on your brother’s memory. It seems she’s returned to the only home she remembers, even if the 'home' inside her is gone."

I didn't wait for a blessing. I didn't even grab a travel pack. I just started running.

The path up the mountain was different now. Three years ago, I had groaned and complained that it was 'so hard.' Now, my lungs didn't even burn. The rock face felt like an old friend under my fingers as I scaled the shortcut toward the summit.

As I reached the plateau where the shrine sat, the air turned unnaturally cold. My breath came out in thick, white plumes. The shrine, which I had promised to keep 'good looking,' was in ruins. The wood was splintered, and a dark, oily frost covered the stone lanterns.

And there she was.

She was standing with her back to me, her hair long and matted with ice. She was taller, but the way she stood—hunched and defensive—was exactly how she looked when I used to pull her arm too hard.

"Aelin?" I called out, my voice trembling. "I’m here. I’m here to take you home."

She turned slowly. Her eyes weren’t the eyes of my little sister. They were slit like a cat's, glowing with a sickly violet light. She didn't say a word, but the air around her began to vibrate with a low, menacing hum.

In one blurred motion, she lunged. She didn't use a sword; she used her claws, reaching for my throat with the same hand I used to hold so tightly.

I drew my blade, the steel singing as it met her strike. Clang!

"Aelin, stop! It's me!" I yelled, skidding back on the ice.

She tilted her head, a flicker of something—pain? recognition?—crossing her face before it vanished into a mask of rage. She opened her mouth, and for the first time in years, she spoke. But it wasn't her voice. It was a hollow, echoing rasp.

"You... let... go..."

"I'll never let go again," I whispered, tightening my grip on my sword. "Even if I have to beat the demon out of you to stay."