Her Misery

“No!” She reacted negatively and exclaimed, “I'm not a witch; stop calling me that." "I'm just a human.”

Everyone quietly eyed her since she seemed so adorable saying that, but as they realized what she had said, they began to doubt their sanity. Everyone regarded her "joke" as a joke and laughed at it.

She said plainly, with a straight expression, "I am not joking," to make them believe her.

Even though she was supposed to appear scary, or so she thought, they all thought this was the cutest thing they had ever seen.

She came to the realization that, even if she tried to convince everyone, they wouldn't believe her.

"You people don't have to believe in me; I'm fine, so stop doing that." "I'M OK! GOODBYE!" She made an angry expression, but it seemed more like an adorable one.

When she was about to turn and leave since she didn't think it was worth remaining—after all, they weren't believing her and couldn't help her find her family—Seola suddenly grabbed her hands and stopped her.

"I trust you!" Seola said with a smile, "So please don't leave."

When Maya saw this, she felt her heart swell with love, her expression soften, and her eyes well up with tears, but they did not fall at that time.

Even if they couldn't confirm whether what she was saying was genuine or not, everyone sensed that she needed someone to believe in her.

And the tears in her eyes made them feel bad for not believing her earlier, but what she was saying made it really hard for a sane person to process her claim quickly.

Anyway, they wanted to believe in her now.

After realizing that these people were still humans and that it would not be wise to blindly trust them since she had grown used to being hurt by them,

"Can I trust you guys too?" "Surely you won't hurt me in the same way that they did?" "Am I safe with you all?" Maya started questioning the facts.

The tears in her eyes made them all feel terrible, as if they had seriously injured the infant animal.

Seola approached Maya, staring into her eyes, and replied softly, "Yes, Maya, you can trust us."

Maya said with determination as she asked for a phone after recognizing the sincerity in Seola's tone and eyes. "You don't have to believe me because I can show you one proof."

Seola handed Maya her phone and said, "Yes, take this."

Maya started looking for her social media account on Seola's phone because she knew she had one.

However, she found that her Facebook account had been deleted when she went to log in.

"Who deleted that, what happened?" "I'm sure I don't remember doing it; probably... my sister did," Maya stated that all her determination was gone.

"I'm sorry. "I'm unable to give you the only evidence I had," she said in a tone of shame.

"No, Maya, it is undeniable evidence that you are a human because we all saw you can use a phone as effectively as anyone," Jaena reassured.

When Maya heard this, her expression softened again.

They all then sat down, and she was questioned by them with hundreds of questions like what had happened and how she had come to be that way.

They also inquired about her origins; if she was human, then how was her life?

She responded to all of their inquiries, and they returned the favor by answering her questions.

"I'm from the north of Pakistan. My family and I lived in a village close to the mountains." "I'm the oldest daughter, and I'm pretty sure that now I'm 21 years old according to my own calendar, but I was 18 when I arrived here."

She had strange feelings when talking about herself to someone she didn't know, but she was nevertheless happy that some people had listened carefully and believed her; after being rejected so many times.

It was hard for her to accept that what she had wanted for so long was finally actually happening right now.

Anyone could believe her after hearing about her human life. Her story had the same level of realism as any other human life.

And as they all began to understand more of what she was saying, they came to know how difficult it would be for a typical teenager to grow into a young adult with no one by her side in this dark forest.

"What came to mind as your last memory as a human?" Daehyun enquired.

"I don't remember anything clearly, but it was the 27th of June, a cloudy day, it was drizzling, and I was at a mountain for a small picnic with my Rani—I mean, my horse—and the last thing I remember is that something was stuck on my Rani's legs, so I pulled it out. After that," she took a deep breath.

"I drank some water, and then I started packing my bags to go back home, but suddenly I felt extreme stomach pain, I was sweating heavily, but my body was extremely cold; then I fell on the ground... and that was the last thing I remembered." She spoke nonstop while looking up to recall everything.

"That was so much of your last moment that you recall," Minho said, feeling himself out of breath. The sheer volume of events that occurred in a short amount of time stunned Minho.

Seola replied sternly, "Can you just be quiet?"

Maya rolled her eyes at Minho as she pointed to the ocean on the left and continued, "But one thing was quite confusing—when I opened my eyes, I was in the water." She was experiencing a great deal of emotion as her recollections flooded her thoughts. She began to glow again, albeit a little less intensely.

Everyone was affected by her misery and emotions, and while her story made them bawl, it also left them perplexed. They had just as many questions as Maya did.

What changed her, and how? Why does she have so many abilities? Why was she in the water? Why did she come to this country?

She also explained how the factory workers' response had wounded her physically and mentally, making her fear of people even worse.

She explained while holding back tears, "They threw stuff at me that injured me and gave me many scars on my body."

Everyone was enraged by this because they all resented the factory worker's response.

"Oh, Maya! My friend, you are safe with us; we will never let anyone hurt you, pinky promise," Jaena said sorrowfully.

She just wanted to hug and comfort her tightly, so she stood up, went towards Maya, and tightly hugged her.

It was all too much for Maya to handle, and she burst into tears. Seeing her cry so hard made everyone's eyes wet.

They couldn't imagine themselves at her place or alone without family and friends in this dark, deep forest; they also couldn't imagine the pain her family was in, so they wanted to help her at any cost.

They noticed Maya's tears dropping continuously to the ground as she sobbed.

At first, they weren't aware of it, but all of a sudden, they felt something creeping on their legs.

As they looked down at what was there, they noticed some weird and potentially harmful white little things.

The majority of the group began to jump in fear.

When Maya saw this, she regained her composure and ordered them to stop jumping, fearing that if they didn't, her young Miniz would be hurt.