Noctura

twenty four

seungyoon

I BRING Jinwoo and Minho into a small room with a table and chairs. I make sure the door is shut and the blinds on the window are closed. I don't think anyone will walk by the window out in the hallway at this hour, but I just want to be cautious.

As we all sit around the table, I give Jinwoo and Minho a sharp look before I begin speaking.

"There are some things that no one knows about," I start. "There are things that are kept hidden from the entire population. Things that even the AAN doesn't know about."

Minho and Jinwoo don't say anything, so I continue.

"I happened to discover one of these things, something that was supposed to be hidden. I guess for you to be able to understand I should tell you the whole story."

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Then I open them, keeping them trained on my hands sitting on the table. "Before the Alliance was formed, when I was around sixteen years old, I didn't have much of an opinion on Nocturas. I didn't hate them, but I also didn't want to protect them, like I do now. My parents were always very open-minded about things and they didn't want me to hate people because of how they were created. I didn't have an opinion until I finally met a Noctura.

"I was walking through the streets one afternoon. It was starting to rain so I was trying to get back to my small apartment I was renting. But before that, I came upon an alleyway. I heard crying so I went in to see what was happening and I found a young girl sitting under a cardboard box, crying..."

. . .

I APPROACHED the young girl. She had her head in her hands, but I could hear her sniffling. Her thin, black hair was falling forward as she cried.

"Hey," I said quietly, keeping my voice as light as my footsteps.

She looked up at me and then I saw her eyes.

They were black and violet, like the eyes of Nocturas I had seen before. There was blood on her hands and around her mouth. She was wearing a white shirt and pants that had bloody stains on them. But she had no shoes.

She didn't look at me like she wanted to hurt me. And I didn't feel threatened by her.

"Who are you?" She asked.

I knelt down so I could be eye-level with her. "My name is Yoon. What's your name?"

She moved away from me a bit, but never took her eyes off me. "Eunmi."

"Eunmi," I said, greeting her. "Eunmi, why are you crying? Why are you in that box?"

She kept her eyes trained on mine. "Something bad happened to me. And I don't have anywhere else to go."

"How about you come with me?" I asked. "I can take you back to my apartment. I can help you get cleaned up and we can talk. I don't live far from here."

She stared into my eyes and questioned whether or not it was a good idea to go into a stranger's home.

"I know you don't know me at all," I told her. "But if you don't have anywhere else to go, I can help you."

"Are you a human?" She asked suddenly.

Slowly, I nodded.

"Aren't you supposed to be scared of me?" She whispered.

"No," I answered. "I don't have to be scared of you. I want to help you. Will you let me help you?"

She hesitated for a long moment, never once taking her eyes off of mine.