Noctura

sixty four

jinwoo

I RUN toward Minho, standing next to a girl lying on the ground, reaching out for someone in the distance.

In the exact moment I realize it's Seunghoon, I watch as Mariela slams a rock against his head.

Not even a moment later, a Noctura man grabs Seunghoon and runs off with him, Mariela close behind.

I get to Minho in time to force him not to go after Seunghoon.

"Minho!" I shout at him, trying to get his attention. "You can't go after him. You can't win that fight. Not right now."

He stares at me for a long moment before looking back down at the girl. "We have to get her somewhere safe."

Without any other words, Minho scoops the girl up and begins running with her. I follow him, keeping an eye out for anyone who might attack us as we're running.

But we make it away from the battlefield without any incidents.

Minho continues running toward the safe house.

Once we reach the safe house, I open the door for Minho and he steps through with the girl. I follow him inside and make sure the door is closed behind us, but not locked.

Minho lies the girl down on one of the couches in the front room.

"Who is she?" I ask. "What happened to her?"

"She's just unconscious," Minho answers. "But she's... she's the girl Seunghoon likes. His coworker. I needed to save her."

I don't say anything else. I don't know what else to say.

"Seunghoon didn't know I was a Noctura until just now," Minho tells me. "He saw me, he saw my eyes... I could see that it broke him. He probably hated me. In those last moments of his, he probably hated me, he—" His voice breaks.

I don't know how to respond because I know he's probably right.

"If he hadn't seen me, my eyes... if he hadn't figured out I was a Noctura... he would've been alert. He wouldn't have been attacked by Mariela. I'm the only reason she was able to get to him."

"I'm sorry, Minho," I respond quietly.

Minho's voice is shaking and cracking. "He's... he's probably gone, Jinwoo. Mariela probably... she probably... she..."

He can't even say the words.

"We don't know that," I try to encourage him. "She took him away. Maybe that was for a reason. Why would she have that guy take him away if he was dead?"

Minho doesn't respond to that, but I know he's thinking about my words.

He suddenly takes a deep breath, trying to pull himself together. "We can't think about it right now. We have to help Teagan."

Minho moves over to the girl lying on the couch. "We need to bandage her shoulder. And we need to get a splint or cast or something for her wrist."

"Where are we gonna find that stuff?" I question.

"Just search this house. I'll search down here, you search upstairs. Look for anything that could be used as a splint or bandage or something."

I do as Minho instructs and go up the stairs, heading for the bathroom first, to look for anything that could possibly help the girl, Teagan.

I find a supply closet and look through until I see a basket full of bandages and wraps and things like that.

Quickly, I make my way down the stairs and rush over to Minho, who's looking in the drawers in the kitchen.