Noctura

sixty two

minho

I RIP Mariela off of Teagan and throw her to the ground.

"Minho!" Mariela screams up at me from her stance on the ground. "What the hell are you doing?"

"What are you doing?" I ask her, standing in front of Teagan to guard her. "Why are you killing people for fun? Why are you helping the Malums?"

Mariela glares up at me. "I'm trying to overrule these filthy beings. They've been slaughtering us for years. It's time the tables turned."

"You're insane!" I charge forward toward her, but she moves out of my way.

"You're going to regret this, Minho!" Mariela calls as she sprints off.

I quickly turn to Teagan.

She's got her eyes closed. Her left shoulder is bleeding. She's holding her left wrist in her right arm.

I move over toward her and kneel down. "Teagan? Teagan, are you okay?"

Her eyes snap open. Once they find mine, they widen in fear.

"No, get away from me!" She screams while trying to move back. It's hard for her, though, since she has a broken wrist.

"Teagan, wait, stop!" I tell her. I change my eyes back to their normal color. "Teagan, it's Minho. It's Seunghoon's best friend. I'm not going to hurt you."

She stops moving away from me, but her eyes widen even more now.

"Seunghoon's... friend? A Noctura?" Her voice is barely above a whisper.

I swallow. "Teagan... I'm with the Alliance. We're fighting with you guys. We're helping you guys. We're going up against the gangs because we don't believe in the senseless killing of humans. The Alliance is close to finding an alternative way for Nocturas to eat."

Teagan shakes her head.

She's probably not processing any of this. She probably has a concussion.

"We're... we found out how to determine whether someone is a Noctura or human through their blood," Teagan says quickly. "We can know. We can know who's who."

"Teagan..." I shake my head. "Please. Let us help you. I know we can do this. But we have to fight together."

"No..." She almost whispers. "No, I can't, no..."

"Please. Let me help you, Teagan. You broke your wrist, didn't you? And your shoulder is bleeding."

"I..." She looks up into my eyes and I can see that they're faded.

They're fading.

I quickly move to catch her before she falls back and slams her head against the concrete. I'm successful, but Teagan is now unconscious in the middle of a war.

I can't do anything else after that because I hear a scream on my right and see a Noctura charging toward me.

My eyes immediately change and I stand up, slamming the Noctura onto the ground. My teeth rip into the Noctura's throat. They squirm a bit until they finally still, too much blood leaving their throat.

I turn back to Teagan.

I'm about to scoop her up to take her somewhere safe when I hear a familiar voice, shouting my name somewhere on my left.

"Minho! Minho?"

I look up and see Seunghoon standing a few yards away from me, eyes full of shock.

That's when it hits me.

He didn't know I was a Noctura.