He disappeared down the street, turning around a corner down the far lane.

Sunoo turned back to Yunjin, Sunghoon on his back.
"Come on. Let's go."

...

Time: 14:17, October 22

Eunchae's eyes flickered open, her neck shifting side to side as she stirred awake.
The senses came to her all at once; she could smell the murk of the air in the storage room where she had resided for the night, a very soggy and worn down feeling of the rotting tiles below her, and the sight of everything was all so different to what it had been before.

No more red.
There were colours.
The spirit could see colours again.
For once in a long, long time. The spirit could see it.
The spirit could finally see. There was no more red haze to the vision.

So this is what it's like... I've missed this.
The spirit thought to itself, amused.

Eunchae had been enjoying her luxurious time being possessed for much longer than what had seemed desirable.
But now, Eunchae's body was no longer in her control.
The spirit took a deep breath in. What had it to worry about? Now that Eunchae was out of the way, what was to fear? The girl could no longer restrict it's powers.

It wasn't any longer Eunchae's consciousness, it was the spirit's.
There was nothing to stop the spirit.

It felt invincible. It felt like a god.

Slowly and steadily, the spirit stood up. Eunchae dusted off her arms and legs from the gunk that had accumulated overnight. A sly smirk appeared on her face, stretching slowly from ear to ear.

Whatever havoc she could wreak, she would wreak. Whoever she wanted to kill, she could and would kill.
But it would start with the hunters.

They were the only things keeping the spirit from total anarchy. From the blood, from all the killable mortals.

She'd have to get rid of them first.
Starting from that moment.

Eunchae flung the storage door open and walked out of the building, a burning fury in her veins. Every single one of them. She'd kill every single hunter.
But there were two the spirit had in mind the most. One due to vengeance, and the other due to their capabilities.

Eunchae had made her a target.
Sakura.

If the spirit could lay its hands on Sakura and consume her powers, that would truly make Eunchae unstoppable.
Sakura was a leader, almost.

Once a leader is eliminated, the weak have nobody and nothing to follow.
That's when they all drop, one by one, until they are all dead.

That was why, if the spirit would have to go for someone, it'd be her.
But she wouldn't be an easy target.

The other target, however, despite their extremely brief but impactful encounter, had become one up on the killing list.
It felt almost disgraceful to the spirit that it had been outdone in a fight by him.
By Niki.

When he had fought Eunchae in the factory, while she had been so close to killing Yunjin, by some unknown miracle he had been able to catch the spirit off guard. Niki had pushed Eunchae out the window, down a double story factory.

It was hard enough to think about. A spirit, losing to one singular hunter? He didn't look old either, perhaps barely passing as a veteran.
The spirit would kill him first in spite of it.

Shoulders tensed up in fury, Eunchae stormed through the street, which was lit by the ever dimming afternoon luminescence. The sun was already turning gloomy, and she could feel the prickling cold slowly piercing into her skin.
Yet still, she was burning to the core.

The spirit was a creature from Hell, after all.

She wiped her bloodstained mouth with her sleeve, still able to taste the remnants of the iron-filled hints from yesterday, while she bent around an intersection, joining the small streets closest to the town centre.
To her surprise, there weren't people bustling about, it felt almost deserted.

Except for one person.
One lonely, unguarded, vulnerable human.
A child, even.

The child was crying, calling out for her parents, tears flowing down her face and onto her small hands which went up to wipe her eyes.
Her small plush tiger hung loosely in her hand, and the girl was walking around aimlessly.
Perhaps she was lost.

But that wasn't what Eunchae had her focus upon.
It was the scent.
Such a strong, vibrant scent.

Not the musty smell from the storage room. It was something that caused an overwhelming wave of hunger over her. This was stronger, more prominent than anything else. It drowned out everything.
Eunchae let out an audible cough. It was like he could no longer breathe, for every breath of the scent tempted her, more and more.

It was tempting.
So tempting.

The scent of the mortals, of the humans.
Suddenly she could hear everything. The sounds of the girl's steps was magnified, the sound of their skin stretching with every movement. She could hear the child's hands brushing against her eyes.
The sound of their heart beating rung deep within Eunchae's head.

Hunger.
Hunger.
Hunger.

The child was on the other end of the street.
Now was the chance, or she'd miss it.

Eunchae sprinted at her, fangs bared and teeth gritted.
And it seemed like the child had understood the danger; with one glance back, she ran to the corner, taking as many steps as her legs could bring her, screaming bloody murder out of her lungs.

Eunchae let out a yell, jumping at the girl, but she was just out of reach, retreating around the brick corner of the street, Eunchae's fingers mere inches away.

The girl ran and screamed, her arms flailing about. She could see blood pouring from Eunchae's mouth and fingers, a monster unlike any other. Eunchae stared right back at her, with hunger in her eyes which needed to be quenched.

"Hungry..." Eunchae snarled, showing off two gloriously red eyes, wide and open.

A large grin appeared on her face, and she watched as the girl ran away with her eyes bulging in fear, down another intersection.

She caught up once again, but once she turned the corner the girl was gone.
There were six smaller paths off to the sides. The girl had gone down one of them.

It was nearly dead silent.
There was no more pitter patter of the girl's shoes. No breathing.
Just the heartbeat.

It was neither getting fainter nor stronger.

"Come out from where you're hiding, girl..." Eunchae said.

Slowly, she took some paces down the path, looking down each way.
The first one. Nothing.
The second one. Nothing.

She went to check the third one.
But then there came a sound.

One she'd become very familiar with.
The heavy breathing of a mortal faced with danger.

It was coming from behind her.
She turned around.
And scoffed.

She knew that face all too well.
Niki.

"Stay back. Don't you dare touch her." He ordered, shielding the small girl behind him, his hand poised in front of him, almost like it would have some sort of menacing effect on her.

Eunchae stretched her neck.
It was like fate was working for her.
"You're alone, aren't you? Just what I needed." She snarled, licking her teeth and smiling.

Niki edged back, and told a cold order to the girl, his eyes unmoving from Eunchae's.

Eunchae didn't know it, but he was completely unarmed. He did not have his sword with him.

He turned to the child beside him.
"Run. Go, get back to your parents." He said, carefully nudging her with his hand.

The girl ran away crying, and disappeared a long way down the street, out of harm's way.

Eunchae set her eyes back upon Niki, who balled his fists, his hands shaking in fear.
"It's a jolly seeing you again, don't you think?" She said, smirking.

"This time I'll make sure you're done for good." He shot back.

Eunchae shrugged.
"We're making promises to ourselves now? If that's the case, then I promise to... kill you this time around."

She reared back her shoulders.
"And it's not going to be a quick death either. I'll make sure you feel every second of it. Just you see."

Niki gulped.
For him, there were two endings to this.
It would either be him living.
Or dying.
His life was on the line, all for the sake of a little girl.

...

"Niki, Sunghoon... where are you..." Kazuha mumbled.

She had been peering inside the nearby stores, in which all of them looked awfully old, rickety and abandoned for a good amount of years. She had already looked inside and behind some of the nearby building blocks as well, which were old stay-in suites with crumbling terraces.
But, either way, wherever she had looked, there had been no sign of anything really, nothing.
Not even a single piece of trash.

But that all changed.
Kazuha stopped, and looked down at her shoes. The ground below her was wet, almost some half-tar like feeling beneath her boots. It was curdling and clumping in a way, but yet it looked newly spilled.

She couldn't really see it, either as the alleyway was dark with low luminescence; lower visibility. Still she could make out the shapes and walls around her, but making out the colours was a different story.

Kazuha let out a small disgusted puff.
She reached down and tried to slowly pry her shoe away from the substance with her hand.

It was a foul, foul smell. Almost like rotting milk and rusted iron.
It smelt bad.

But familiar.
It smelt like-

"Blood..." Kazuha gasped.

She did not know why it hadn't come to her senses sooner. Kazuha had known that smell since a long time, but it always seemed like to her that she'd never recognise it until after long.
Kazuha swabbed a little bit on her finger.
Sure enough, it was thick, clumpy blood.

But there was one thing she was uncertain of.
Whether it was from a human,
Or a spirit.

Either one was not favourable.

BANG

A loud metal clash sent Kazuha's arms up to her ears in shock.
It had come from the alleyway just next to hers.

Then, shortly after, she heard a shrill, inhuman scream. It screamed bloody murder, a cry that sent chills down her spine.
Kazuha got back up, looking around in alarm.

She could hear the patter of shoes hitting against the ground, and it was slowly edging closer to the end of her pathway.

A dark silhouette of a figure shot past the end of her street, tall and all but a blur.

"Hey!" Kazuha shouted.

She ran after them, going right to the end of her alleyway and rounding the corner, squinting against the darkness.

But, just then, the worst happened.

Something else collided with her like a ram.
Kazuha was blasted sideways, rolling and sprawling on the floor. The grit scraped against her hands and arms, and her uniform ripped at the arm seams.
There was an enraged growl next to her, and the person, whoever they were, turned to face Kazuha, still on the floor.

It let out an unearthly yell, and stood back up, its face contorted into a hideously angry snarl.
Kazuha looked up, and they met eyes.

They stared into her fearful, dark brown eyes.
She stared into its hating, fiery red eyes.

It was eyes she'd seen before. She knew them all too well.
Eunchae's.

"Eun- Eunchae..." Kazuha stammered, staring at the other girl, terror in her eyes.

"You..." The spirit growled back.
They both recognised her.
"Hunters... must perish..."

Eunchae rushed up to Kazuha, and she braced for impact, her arms held out in front of her.

Kazuha knew the extent of Eunchae's powers. She had first-hand experience.

Eunchae drove her back into the brick wall with her hands.
Kazuha felt a snap near her shoulders, and then a wave of insufferable pain. She slinked down onto the ground, her collarbone broken.

It was an injury worse than breaking an arm or a leg. It was almost ten times worse, the burning sensation so bad that she broke out in shaky sweats.

The spirit stood in front of her, amused.
She crouched down, staring at Kazuha's face which was now filled with blood, sweat and tears.
"Not so strong now, aren't you? Mortals are all the same. Your rash decisions lead you to drop one by one, until you are all dead." Eunchae sneered.

Kazuha begged to her, broken by sobs.
"Eun- Eunchae- don't do this... don't do this, please-"

Eunchae shook her head.
"Who are you begging to? This? This isn't Eunchae. That girl is gone. Her body belongs to me." the spirit said, grinning from ear to ear.

Kazuha shook her head, desperate tears flowing down her face.
"Eunchae- please, I know- I know you're still in there somewhere-"

Eunchae sliced Kazuha's cheek with her talon, leaving the girl wincing.
The wound burned, as her sweat poured down under her skin.

"I said, that this... is not... Eunchae."

Kazuha stared into the spirit's eyes.
She saw no soul.
No Eunchae.
The girl really wasn't there. It was all the spirit.

The blood ran down from Kazuha's cheek down to the side of her neck, a thick, cherry ooze.
Eunchae swatched the girl's blood onto her hands, and placed it into her mouth, relishing the taste.

Eunchae tilted her head to the side.
"I don't know... should I kill you first? Or play a little bit?" She said, tracing a small heart shape on Kazuha's shirt over her heart in a mocking manner.

"Go... back... to Hell." Kazuha growled through gritted teeth.
She reached for a broken bottle next to her, and pointed it at Eunchae to stab. Kazuha swung with full force, aiming for Eunchae's face.

But it was like swatting a fly.
Eunchae grabbed Kazuha's hand with a terribly strong grip, and stared at her in the eyes angrily.
"You bastard..."

With one movement, she snapped Kazuha's wrist, and the glass in her hand fell away and clattered uselessly on the ground.

Kazuha's wrist fell down to her side, as she cried out loud, screeching bloody murder so loud that Eunchae briefly covered her ears with her hands from the noise.

"BE QUIET!!!" Eunchae shouted.

She brought her hand to Kazuha's neck, silencing her. Kazuha tried to claw at Eunchae's arm with her good hand, slapping and punching blows that never seemed to affect Eunchae one bit.

As a last resort effort, Kazuha tried reaching for her blade with her broken hand, but Eunchae swatted her hand away.

"Give me that." She said.

Eunchae reached for the blade herself, but quickly retracted, as her hand started burning, like a hot metal had been pressed against it.
She cursed loudly, realising that it was a Damascus blade.

"You-" she said in a rageful snarl.

Eunchae lifted Kazuha up by the neck. She struggled under Eunchae's grip, kicking and flailing.

She poised her hand back, brandishing the long and sharp talons.
The spirit reared back, ready to kill Kazuha.

All Kazuha was do was kick and flail.
Otherwise, she'd accepted her fate.

SWISH

STAB

There came a shrill scream, blood dripping to the floor.
Kazuha fell to the ground.

"KAZUHA!!!" Came a voice.

Eunchae snarled, turning to the new figure, her shoulder impaled by a dim yellow blade. She yanked it out, letting it drop to the floor.
The figure ran up to her with great haste, and sent her backwards with one big kick.

Eunchae was blasted tens of meters away, and the figure landed right back on his feet, shielding Kazuha with his body.
There was also another one.

Kazuha recognised his silhouette. The same one she had seen earlier.
His tall physique was undeniable.
Niki.

The other one was Jungwon. He had saved Kazuha from Eunchae. Niki bent down to Kazuha, looking briefly into her eyes, but saying nothing. With one bloodstained hand, he took Kazuha's Damascus blade and handed it to Jungwon, who had an unwavering glare at Eunchae, who returned it with the same energy.

Eunchae's eyes stared at them menacingly, but then they set upon the Damascus, and her jaw wavered in worry.

With one last snarl, she scaled up the wall, up onto the roof and out of sight in retreat. Eunchae disappeared, out of range, enraged and seeking vengeance.

Jungwon breathed a sigh of relief, but Niki went straight to Kazuha, worried.
"Kazuha-" he stammered.

The girl tried to respond, but Jungwon stopped her, noticing the state of her neck.
"Don't talk, Kazuha. Your neck. It's not okay."

"It's not- not Eun- Eunchae..." Kazuha mumbled, despite Jungwon's warnings.

Jungwon helped her up by her good arm, shaking his head.
"No. Not now. Eunchae isn't your worry. Worry about yourself." He told her.

But something was obviously wrong, and Kazuha would not shake it off.
She started to hyperventilate, and Niki looked at her, concerned.

"Hey, hey-" he stammered.
He sat her back down on the ground.

Floods of tears were flowing down her face, and she sobbed loudly. Kazuha's quavering mouth kept repeating the same words in a heartbroken tone.

"Eun- Eunchae... where are you... come- come back to- to u- us... please..."

...