"Souls have a very strong connection or bond as may say. No matter the reincarnation the soul will recognize the soul", said the old shaman. Yuna wanted to argue but her phone vibrated and the voice from the other side was none other than Mi-Rae's. "Aunty please hurry up. Ji=Soo is getting seizures", said Mi-Rae. Yuna ran out as if her life depended on it. "Who is the victim here and who is the evil one, one a soul who couldn't get what she wanted and the other who had no choice but to get entangled. Fate is really funny sometimes but is scarier in this case. Whom should I help after all both of them are the result of situations", uttered the old man to himself.
When she reached the ward, she was stupefied by what she saw. The body of her daughter was twisted, and her eyes looked straight up at the door but the creepiest thing among all was that she had a smile on her face. The doctor was also horrified but injected some sedatives. Her condition stabilized after an hour.
"Are you the guardian of the patient?", inquired her doctor. Yuna, who was horrified by what she had just witnessed, could only nod. "Please follow me madam, I need to have a word with you", said the doctor. "Ji-Soo's case is very complicated. It looks like she is suffering from a mental disease. After her condition improves, we advise her to get enrolled in a mental institute for a few years", advised the doctor. Yuna who had just seen her daughter's state could not argue with the expert but somewhere in the corner of her heart she knew that the doctor was wrong in this case. "Thank you for your care doctor but as her mother I know what is best for her. As soon as her health improves, I will take her with me. Ji-Soo was under medication for a while, but her condition only took a turn for the worst", said Yuna. The doctor had handled many of these cases, but he could not argue about this one as he could also feel that Ji-Soo could not be cured by science. "I understand", whispered the doctor.
Yuna went home and started looking over the old photographs of her daughter. She vaguely remembered the time when her mother had told her that she was taking Ji-Soo to Jeju Island to recuperate. At that time, she was very busy focusing on her career and finances that she dismissed this news as the kid suffering from some minor disease. She regretted leaving her daughter alone and not taking care of her for even once. "I'm really sorry", cried Yuna, who didn't really know what to do in order to help her daughter.
Dream
She found herself in front of an old house where the ashes of burnt clothes piled up in front of the house. "Finally, the bitch is gone, I was really getting a headache tolerating this one. Now my husband will only have me again", said the voice of a woman who had her back turned towards her. She went near to see and was utterly surprised when she found out that the face of this lady looked exactly like her daughter. She looked straight at Yuna and said, "help throw these things away, I can't tolerate this woman's things here even for a moment. She turned around and gasped in shock when she saw a woman who looked just like her. She turned her eyes to see that a shadow which looked like it belonged to a woman came straight to her and choked her.
She woke up gasping for air and found herself sweating profusely. She panted as she could still feel the fingers around her neck. She rushed to the washroom and found the imprint of two fingers. She got scared and ran outside the living area where she had dozed off. As she was about to get her keys, she heard some noises coming from her room. There were two voices inside her mind, one asked her to see who was inside while the other wanted her to leave. She chose to look closer and found herself inside the mirror laughing at her.
Reality
She woke up to the sound of her phone vibrating. She looked at her screen and it was her colleague, Jenny. "Hey girl, where have you been? Anyways the company is opening a new branch in New Jersey and guess what they have voted for you to be the General Manager", said the excited voice from the other end. The previous Yuna who was ambitious would have been glad to hear this, but this Yuna who is on the brink of losing her child broke down. "Hey, is everything alright? Calm down for a bit and tell me what is wrong", asked Jenny who had never seen her crying. Yuna started slowly and explained the situation. "Girl believes me when I say this, but my sister was also inflicted by a vengeful spirit. My parents, who are Americans through and through, thought she was suffering from a mental disease, so they took her to many doctors, but her condition only got worse. At the end they took her to Romania which is where my mother belongs from. My granny is what they call "whisperer" in Romania or shaman in regular language. She performed certain rituals and by the time I remember my sister was all better. Yuna, if you want, shall I talk to her once?", asked Jenny.
She felt as if the heavens took mercy on her condition and had sent Jenny to her. She not only gave her ear but also was ready to extend a helping hand. She was so grateful that she could not help but agree. The next day she went to visit the old man. "Taking her away? Do you think you can save her?", inquired the old man. "If I believe I definitely can", replied Yuna. The old shaman knew how difficult it was when he had cured the child back then. "Your daughter was born on the leap year and the soul had also put the curse on the 13th moon", said the old man. Yuna could not understand what he meant but this time she chose to listen quietly.
"Leap year only comes once in four years. A year has twelve months which means it has twelve new moons, but a leap year has thirteen moons. This moon is special for those who practice witchcraft as it is said that whatever you do on this day neither the God nor the spirits can see it. Do you understand what it means? That your actions are gone unnoticed by the heavens, in short you are not punished for your evil actions''. Hearing these words Yuna got confused as she could not understand the connection of what he said to her daughter's condition. "Try with all your might I will not stop you but before you go visit your ancestors once '', advised the old man. She had planned to leave immediately after visiting the old man but after listening to him she thought of visiting the burial ground.
"Who the hell did this?", exclaimed Yuna when she saw that the burial mounds had rods everywhere. She went looking for the one in charge of taking care of the burial ground. "What is this? It was not here a week before I came here, this is a bad omen, Madam", warned the man. She demanded to take the rods off from the mounds, but the man suggested otherwise, "Madam, let us first get a shaman. If we take it out without proper ritual, who knows what will happen? Yuna decided to call the only shaman she knew but the reaction she got from him was very different. "Before the sun sets, take your child and be gone from this place by tomorrow", said the old man. Those words sounded more like a warning than just a mere advice. Mr. Park started the ritual and took out the rod one by one while singing some hymns. The rods had an awful smell and the whole place was cleansed by burning certain herbs and food and alcohol were offered to quell the spirits whose rest was disturbed by them. "I had always thought that the soul was trying to get revenge, but it looks like it is a misguided soul", murmured the old man.
The next day she discharged her daughter and took her to Romania.