The ensuing storm silenced Grey's footsteps.
It began as a drizzle and crescendoed into a pour that clouded all other noise besides her wispy breaths. She jogged down a residential street, doing her best in her heeled shoes. By loosening the ankle straps she'd lose time, lose distance between her and that person stalking her only a block behind. Luca maintained pace at her side, every now and then checking behind for a silhouette.
The wet streets were empty, dark apartment buildings passing by at their sides. Dim streetlights marked a clear path to the next street, but she couldn't run straight forever. The chase would never end. Staying under the lamplight proved useless too unless someone were to actually look outside their window and call for help.
Water coated her foot as she splashed through a puddle, the drops reaching her knees. An uneven piece of sidewalk followed, her ankle almost rolling out of place. There wasn't a choice. She had to stop.
Grey kept her voice low. "Luca, wait."
The cat paused, shaking water from her black coat and watching Grey kneel to undo the straps. Her green orbs glowed in the dark like two lightbulbs. The girl wiggled one shoe off and started the next one. She didn't know how close he was, the phantom caress of claws around her neck making hot tears well in her eyelids. She needed to hurry. If she wasn't careful...
The second shoe slipped from her foot.
Hope blossomed in her chest as her legs stretched into a sprint, bare feet slapping against pavement. Luca positioned herself ahead, running with an intensity Grey had never seen.
The kitten barreled forward, taking a sharp right turn before a busy intersection. Grey was confused, but followed suit, slowing just a little when she realized how dark it had become. Pale rays from the moon helped her see more than an arm's distance away, stars giving her a bit more distance than that. Luca's bell acted as a navigator.
Knots tensed in Grey's shoulders, physical discomfort raking down her body for a brief second. Instinctively, she checked the mouth of the alley. A dark man jogged through the entrance. She was going to be sick.
The bell came to an abrupt stop.
"Luca?"
Grey squinted through the dark, worry piercing the few shreds of clear thinking she had left. It subsided a bit when she discovered four slick, white paws staying still in the rain. Except, the figure striding towards their place did not slow and they were not progressing.
Her voice broke. "What's wrong, girl? We have to go!"
Grey lunged forward, meeting an iron fence to the cheek instead of space. Her hands slid down the sides of the gate, the bottom, the top. To her left and right, two lengthier walls boxed her and the kitten in.
It was a dead-end.
"No. No, no no."
She searched for another way out.
Garbage cans lined the walls, open and spilling over. Cardboard boxes and old, disposed pieces of furniture stuck out from their mouths. The bins were too heavy to push, too loaded to climb. She would have used them as a stepping stool had she thought there was a possibility of neither of them getting hurt.
Luca focused on the gate, tail curling furiously. Grey gripped the bars until her knuckles turned white, gritting her teeth as she tried to make her hands stick, as she tried to push up on the smooth surface with her soaked foot. The rain would not cease, and the sky released a streak of lightning as though it was mocking her.
She couldn't climb over. None of it was working. A single tear fell down her cheek.
Luca broke her trance with the fence to stare at Grey, who had gone still, staring at the scene beyond the obstacle. Grey noticed her new kitten, and gave her a wry smile.
"It's going to be okay, Luca. I'm right here. Nothing bad will happen to you, okay? I promise."
A choked meow escaped the cat's throat.
Grey let her back fall against the gate, with Amelia being the first thing she thought about. Hopefully, a quick prayer would make sure her friend prospered and grew into the butterfly she would become. Whether Grey was at her side or not, she wanted nothing more than her happiness. After murmuring her amen, she imagined her parents. Their smiles, their laughter, the sound of their voices when they called her name. Maybe tonight, she'd see them again.
She breathed in the rain, the sweet tang of petrichor and foreign wind, and faced her attacker.
His skin was the color of parchment, liquid the color of ink dripping from his bared jaws. Dark purple veins bulged from his skin, a labyrinth of shadow and evil. All black, soulless eyes pinned her in place. The rain pushed the last bit of hood clinging to his head to the side, revealing a bald head. His claws stuck to his jacket as he took it off, showing her the wiry body underneath.
Luca unleashed a growl from the depths of her little body, taking a stiff step forward. Grey's lip parted, shock numbing her limbs as Luca crawled before the monster. Again, she snarled. A small, black baby lion.
The creatures wrinkled hands raised in defense, fingernails gleaming.
"Luca, no!"
Tiny white paws soared into the air, tiny silver claws landing on papery skin. Over the rain, Grey heard the tearing flesh, heard the monster's hellbent shriek, heard her own screams.
The monster shook his head back and forth, Luca's flexible form clinging to him. Before she could blink, an iron hand slashed the kitten's back. Crimson blood stained his fingertips, washed away by the rain as Luca screeched to the night sky and went limp. Her black form crumpled into a ball on the floor, a puddle of scarlet pooling around her white paws.
A fist squeezed Grey's heart. She dropped to her knees, tears blinding her vision. Crawling, she sidled next to the cat, covering the small body with her own.
"Why? Why would you do that?"
Luca's breaths were shallow, eyelids closed as she groaned.
Razor sharp nails snatched a fistful of Grey's hair and craned her neck so that she looked at the moon. Wordlessly, she sniffled, forcing her eyes to stay open.
"Let her go!"
Metal crunched against bone. The length of a sword erupted from the front side of the creature's rib cage, black blood spraying over Grey. She covered her face, spitting on asphalt when it landed on her tongue. She couldn't describe the taste. Something like a mix between mud and tar. Her stomach roiled as the beast dropped to it's knees, revealing a panting Jungkook.
His black eyes locked on hers, bloodlust rampant in his gaze. "Go," he said, his voice straining like he was holding down weight.
"Luca! She's hurt!" Grey scooped the kitten into her arms.
"It'll be fine. Take it to Seokjin's." He grunted, using his other hand to reinforce the grip on his weapon. A vein bulged near his temple. "Now, run!"
She raised to her feet. "Leave you?"
"I said run!" The monster howled from it's spot, one metallic hand pushing off the ground to stand shakily on two feet.
She sprinted from the alley. Thunder shook the clouds, shook her core. Luca cried in her arms.
"A few more blocks. Hang in there." She retraced her steps, recalling the turns she took to lose the beast in the first place. When The Parlour zoomed by, she kicked in another gear. The air in her lungs felt like glass shards as she rounded the final corner.
KSJ was an obsidian pillar at night. The hope she'd harbored faltered. There weren't any lights save for at the very top. There weren't even any doormen. The empty street lingered ahead, desolate and abandoned.
Steeling her resolve, Grey ran to the front doors anyway.
As she reached for the handle, it opened on its own. Jin stepped from the building, his coat hanging over his elbow and umbrella in hand.
"Jin!" She lifted Luca a bit so that he could see. "You have to help me! Something's out there. It came after me!"
He stared at her, dumbfounded. She went on, "I-I don't know what it was or what it wanted, but it got Luca. Please, I need to get inside. She's hurt badly and I was told to come here."
Watching him slowly connect the dots was painstaking. Grey considered how quickly she could push past him, where she would go. If there was a cafeteria in there then there had to be an infirmary.
His charcoal eyes were glued onto the cat. Something lurked in his gaze. Reproach, pain, rage? She couldn't put her finger on it. She only knew there was a meaning behind it. Next, he examined her, focusing from her eyes to her nose to her lips.
Was he weighing letting her in?
"I see," said Jin. Breathlessly, he stepped to the side so that she could enter. "Come with me."
What was going on with him?
Frustrated, Grey barreled into the skyscraper and followed his every move. Her toes were numb as they padded against the freezing marble floors. He pressed the call button for the elevator and cut her a sidelong glance.
"Tell me everything that happened." She nodded while slipping through the chrome doors.
"I stopped on my way home for tea and to talk to my friend. Luca started acting funny, and she pointed out this man that was crossing the street to get to our block..."
The memories were fresh, raw. Luca warned her, hurt her with those tiny paws so that she could flee. Her heart swelled for a second time at the lightweight bundled in her arms. Luca protected her from the monster... threw herself at Death so she wouldn't have to. Moreover, Luca knew. What the creature was, what was off about him. She knew.
She realized she was spacing out when Jin crossed his arms. "I'm sorry," she muttered, "I'm just lost."
"You were telling me what happened."
Oh... right. "The man that was following us... he had nails made of iron. His skin was thinner than paper. With purple veins and these dripping teeth. He wasn't human."
Jin left the elevator on the 40th floor. She rushed to stand in front of him. "My cat is hurt, Jin. She needs medical attention."
That annoyance eclipsed his expression again. He sidestepped her, striding to his office. "Luca needs sleep."
She used one hand to push his shoulder. He didn't budge, and it infuriated her more. "Sleep? For a wound like this? Is this a joke to you?"
He tensed as though he'd been struck. Jin whirled on her, voice rising. "Of course not! I need you to trust me, Grey."
"But she's lost so much blood--,"
"Do you trust me?" Cold conviction paralyzed her in place. Truthfully, she wasn't sure about the answer to that, but she nodded anyway. "Good. Understand that she's much safer now. You've described your attacker as some otherworldly thing. Are you sure that is what you saw?"
She stomped into his office after he unlocked the door. "I can't make that up! I need you to trust me now. It's hard to believe, I know, but--,"
"It was going to rip her throat out." Jungkook sauntered in after them, hair clinging to his temples and chin dripping water onto the floor. His white business shirt, damp with rain and splotches of black liquid, revealed glimpses of his torso. He loosened his tie, noticeably slowing down when he observed Luca in Grey's arms.
"I cut it down before he touched her."
Jin sighed, shaking his head and leaning his back on the front of his desk.
Grey peered at Jungkook again, who immediately looked back. "How did you find me?"
Jungkook surveyed Jin warily, then swallowed. "I was patrolling the area."
Grey's head swirled. "Patrol?"
"For a few hours in the night, I hunt down every last one I can find of the thing that attacked you."
Grey was keenly aware of rainwater dripping from her hair, from her sleeves, from her ears. So, when she shivered she wasn't sure if it was due to the newfound knowledge or the air conditioned room. "You're telling me there are more of them?"
He nodded, untucking the buttoned portion of his dress shirt and wringing the water from it. Scars marred his chiseled stomach. He brought the fabric back down when he saw her looking.
"They creep primarily in the dark. It's when they think no one is looking."
"What are they creeping around for? Are they searching for something?"
"Well..."
Jin crossed his arms. "Jungkook, that's enough."
"If there are zombie vampire skeletons roaming downtown Seoul, I just became qualified to learn all about it." Jin winced at her choice of words, Jungkook made a face.
Jin threw his hands up in surrender. "Grey, there's nothing more we can tell you. The only thing that can help now is getting you to a safe place and helping you recover."
"Jin, please--,"
Room temperature plummeted, Jin's concern icing into disinterest. Through clenched teeth, he growled. "No more questions."
She blinked, unsure if she was imagining the growing shadows slithering up the wall in her peripheral. Plumes of black smoke twisted and churned, lengthening as they climbed.
"Seokjin," Jungkook warned.
Jin regarded his bodyguard like he'd snapped out of a daydream. But she'd seen it. It was impossible to miss. Jin straightened out his blazer and tread to the door. Without turning around to acknowledge her, he spoke solely to Grey.
"Tonight, your apartment is unsafe. Though, it should be clear in a few hours. So should your current job. Until you can get back on two feet, you can stay here for the night."
She defiantly eyed the chairs in the waiting area, the lack of blankets and pillows. Though the offer was kind, KSJ Industries was an office skyscraper. Did they even have toothbrushes here?
"Jungkook," Jin called. The bodyguard's chin raised. "Take her to the guest suite."
Jungkook leveled an uncertain stare at the back of Jin's head, then he gestured for Grey to follow him with a jerk of his neck. "On which floor, sir?"
"Forty-one."
Jungkook grimaced as though he were mentally fighting himself and led her to the elevators. Jin watched them board, didn't question the way she clearly navigated to the opposite side of the chamber.
"Return to this floor when you're finished," said Jin.
"Yes, sir." The doors closed, whirring gears of the elevator filling the hostile silence. He selected 41. She stumbled as the chamber smoothly lifted into action.
"My cat--,"
"Will be fine." Jungkook marched through the doors, hands clasped behind his back like a soldier. Except, when she saw beyond the opening, her legs turned to lead.
Dark red carpet lined the corridor over checkered tile floors. Grand, soaring walls arched into what seemed to be gothic cathedral spires at the ceiling. Wall sconces in the shape of beasts clung to marble pillars, holding wax candles that dimly lit the walkway. Hanging crystal chandeliers alight with more candles drooped from the ceiling, a pretty lavender glow spreading over the ceiling's rafters.
Jungkook frowned, displeasure staining his usually handsome face. "Are you coming?"
"What is this place?" From the elevator, her voice was small. It echoed off pillars, off walls, off the exquisite windows at the point of the spires. Every nerve in her body was anxious, every fiber of her being questioning where the hell she was.
Because wherever it was, it was not home. She could feel it in the air, feel it in her heart.
"Somewhere you shouldn't be," he said. She was unsure if she wanted to snap back at him or nod. He wasn't exactly lying.
Luca cried again, her little body curling and then wincing when the cuts on her back moved. Grey looked to the kitten, then to the bodyguard.
She stepped out of the elevator, an invisible mist running down her back and pulling her into this mansion. The temporary hold was familiar. The same sensation she'd received at the lake. A summoning of some kind. Except this time, her determination outweighed her fear.
After tonight, her pet was more than just... a pet. Luca was a friend. Her little warrior. And for the sacrifice she made, charging at a monster from God knows where to keep Grey from having to do it, it was clear what the girl had to do. For Luca, she would travel to Hell and back. For Luca, she would trust.
Jungkook, unimpressed by her dramatic entrance, tensed and pivoted on his heel. His sour mood came from something, but what Grey couldn't discern. The only difference from the interview to now... was everything. But between them, Grey didn't understand what she did to cross him.
So, she kept her head down as she tailed him. He brought her through a couple more corridors, none of them the same as the first. At one point, they climbed steps and at another they strode down a bend for so long that Grey believed they were walking in circles. She didn't comment, but checked on Luca who squirmed every now and then.
At last, they arrived at an ornate set of dark wood doors carved with flowers and ivy.
"This it it." Jungkook wrapped his hands around the handle. "When this door closes, do not open it again."
Behind the doors was a bedroom, an explosion of cobalt blue. The walls, the enormous bed and canopy curtains. A gold plated mirror hung above a roaring fireplace of white wood, golden accents embedded in certain wall panels. Her feet instantly warmed against the ivory carpet. Above the couch at the far end, three long windows revealed a raining Seoul.
"Bathroom is over there," Jungkook pointed to a white door to the left, "in case you want to freshen up." He then motioned to the couch. "Leave your clothes there, and they'll be returned in the morning nice and dry."
"Jungkook," Grey said. He didn't look at her. "Talk to me."
His fists balled at his sides. She tentatively stepped forward, "You saw it. You stabbed it."
"Don't," he snapped. Cold fury burned his black gaze. In seconds, he was by the door again, practically squirming out of his skin to get out. How could she make him this uncomfortable?
Her voice cracked. "Don't what?"
"Don't ask questions you aren't prepared to hear the answer to. Don't get yourself involved."
She wanted to cry, but no tears would come. Jungkook excused himself, leaving her alone.
:::
Jin paced back and forth, relaxing only when he saw his dear friend close the door behind him. He wasn't sure what to do next, what to say. One thousand thoughts churned in his head, so did one thousand questions. All he understood now, was that the next move was his. And every move mattered in this game.
The two of them sat in silence, thunder working as a substitution for noise. It was the best they could do for a moment. Absorb every sweet breath, digest the shift in the earth as the world pressed in on them from all sides; forced them to make a decision.
"She can't stay here." It was Jungkook.
Jin drummed his fingers against his desk, needing anything to keep him from standing still.
Then, he said, "What do you want to do with her?"
Jungkook shrugged, itching to reach for his blade. Patrol now was more important than ever. They'd flock to downtown with her scent infiltrating the city. Moths to a flame.
"Send her somewhere. Give her an ultimatum. Money, a new house, a new job in another country. She needs to leave."
Jin rolled his eyes. "Doesn't take a genius to see that she's stubborn. Would she accept that?"
"They never pass up money." Jungkook said it with such finality that Jin raised an eyebrow.
"But..." Jin shoved his hands in his pockets. "This is the last one. She's our last chance."
It pained Jin to see the conflict warring on Jungkook's face. But still, they were running out of time, all of them. Jungkook said, "You remember what happened to every other one we let in. She won't be any different."
It was a reasonable statement. Why waste any more precious time investing hope in something futile? When he woke, the shadows spoke to him. When he slept, they raged through his dreams in layers of voices. There wasn't a passing moment when the darkness slowed down. Wasn't a second when he didn't feel it caressing the remnants of his soul.
Time was already up.
Jin said, "I'll take care of it in the morning."
:::
(A/N) Fascinating reader,
I'm writing this while it rains, and I couldn't have asked for a better view of the storm. I know this is a long chapter, but I hope you were able to finish and enjoy.
For my artistic readers, if someone could please help me make banners I could place at the beginning of chapters, that would really help. PM me if you'd be willing to help! (EDIT 6/10/18 - To those of you that offered to make art for this story, thank you from the bottom of my heart; just because I have banners doesn't mean your work still can't be featured in here if you're just getting to this part of the A/N late and you'd like to be seen by readers!)
(EDIT 6/16/20 - Turns out that since this day, I've met a great number of editors and artistically-inclined individuals. All of you guys are special, and it has been a pleasure receiving your submissions. And of course, I'll never say no to more if you find it in you to come forward hehe) CHECK OUT THE ART GALLERY IN THE BACK OF THIS BOOK TO SEE WHAT I MEAN!
With love,
M