Noctura

fifty nine

seunghoon

TEAGAN IS better than I thought she would be. I think she has a natural instinct for being a soldier, but just hasn't pursued it.

She's a little shaky in the beginning and gets "killed" a couple times, but eventually she gets it. She's able to shoot the Nocturas in their heads and slit their throats. She gets it.

I'm feeling a little better about it now.

Now, in the warehouse.

Teagan's training was over hours ago.

We've been in the warehouse for a while now. We're getting all our weapons set up around in the warehouse. Everyone is nervously waiting for something. They don't even know what they're waiting for.

I'm not even sure what we're waiting for.

But I know it's something.

Something that signals war.

"Hey, Seunghoon, come look at this."

I look over at Teagan, sitting on a small cushion, her tablet in her hand. I move over toward her, looking at the tablet over her shoulder.

She clicks on an article.

The article is titled War?

"When was that posted?" I ask her.

"Just a few minutes ago," she says.

Rumors have been flying that a war is coming. The Nocturas may be fighting back against the humans. We as humans must fight against the Nocturas, in this case. Everyone must do what is right and fight against the Nocturas.

Please, understand that you will be protected but you also need to protect yourselves. Fight against the Nocturas.

"Who allowed this?"

Teagan sighs. "I don't know. But the public might be in a bit of a panic after reading that. I know they were just trying to get people to help us in this war, but I don't think this was a good idea."

"Well, is there any way to take it down?"

"I could. Do you really want me to?"

I think about it for a moment. "I'm not sure, actually. Part of me thinks we should take it down... part of me thinks we should leave it up."

Teagan nods. "Yeah, that's how I feel to. It could help us. But it also could hurt us, as a species, fighting in this war."

"Take the chance," I decide. "Leave it up."

"Hey, Seunghoon, sir," an officer walks up to me. The name on his jacket he's wearing reads ENDAR. "How long do you think we'll have to stay here?"

I let out a sigh. "I'm not sure, Endar. We don't know when the Nocturas are going to attack, but we know they're going to attack soon. Hopefully, we'll hear or see something that signals war. Then we'll go out onto the streets and fight. Are you ready for that?"

Endar takes a shaky breath and nods. "Yeah. I'm ready. I can fight."

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Good. We're gonna need you out there. You and everybody else in here."

Endar nods. "Yeah. Okay. Thank you, sir."

I drop my hand from his shoulder and he walks away.

Letting out a sigh, I sit down next to Teagan. I put my arm around her shoulders and pull her close to me. I can smell her sweet perfume, a hint of coconut in it.

"What is it?" She asks.

"Nothing," I respond. "I just... I just want to hold you for a bit."

She lets me hold her as she continues researching on her tablet.

My fingers go into her auburn hair. I twist her hair around in my fingers and try to lock this moment away in my memory forever.

"Okay, Seunghoon, what is it really?" Teagan looks over at me, putting her tablet down in her lap. "What's going on?"

"Teagan..." I sigh. "A war is starting soon. We have no idea what's going to happen and I just wanted to hold you for—"

"Don't." Teagan looks me straight in the eye. "Don't even say it, Seunghoon. We're going to be alright."

"Teagan—"

"No. Seunghoon, please." Teagan pleads with me with her eyes. She takes my hand in hers. "Just don't say anything. We just need to promise each other we'll be okay."

I stare into her bright blue eyes for a long moment.

Then I give her a sad smile. "Okay, Teagan. I promise. I promise I'll be okay."

She gives me a sad smile back. "And I promise you I'll be okay."

"You better," I tell her playfully. "I trained you for a long time."

She lets out a small laugh.

I smile at her.

That laugh... I wish I could hear that laugh for the rest of my life.

I take my arm away from Teagan as she picks up her tablet again to do more research.

I don't think she'll find anything, though. Not at this point.

The air in this warehouse suddenly feels colder.

I look around. Everyone is standing around talking or using tablets to research. Some people are sitting down, waiting for something. Others are checking up on the weapons we moved here.

Why does it feel so cold in here?

Suddenly, there's a loud booming sound and the ground beneath us shakes.

It seems like everyone stops breathing simultaneously, looking around, making sure what they just heard and felt was real.

It was real. I think. This is it. That was the signal.

This is the beginning of the war.