Eunchae was scared. But not just for herself.
She was scared for everyone else.

And what impending doom they had on them.

...

Time: 20:36, October 19

The door hatch opened, and Sunghoon, Yunjin and Sakura entered.

"Finally, you're here..."
Chaewon breathed a sigh of relief, swinging up from her chair and walking over to them.

"How'd it go?" She asked.

Sunghoon opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. He thought Sakura should do the talking.
"Fine. How were you guys? Did you get on well?"

Chaewon rubbed the back of her neck.
"Yeah..."

She stood awkwardly for a second, unsure of what to say next.
So Sunghoon butted in.

"Have you guys seen Eunchae yet?" He asked.

"No. Not yet. We were waiting for you guys to come back." Chaewon answered.

Kazuha stood up and came over to them, with the huge duck plushie in her hands.
"Should we go over and see her now?" She asked.

Sakura shifted her coat behind her, hiding the blood patches on the black fabric.
"I just need to change first. I'll be quick." She said.

"Same here." Yunjin added.

The two made their way to their rooms, shutting the doors behind them. Sakura was more careful, making sure that that others didn't catch a sight of her coat as she left.

"Hm... should I wrap the gift?" Kazuha said, pondering.

"We don't even have any wrapping paper, Kazuha. Either way, wrapped or not, Eunchae's going to like it. It's fine, honestly. We already spent a lot of money." Yunjin said.

Kazuha pursed her lips.
"I guess so."

After just a little bit of waiting, Sakura returned from her room, with fresh uniform on. Yet, Sunghoon saw she still moved her right arm gingerly, like it was aching or sensitive.

"Are we ready?" Kazuha asked, a hint of excitement in her voice.

Everyone looked at Sakura for an answer.
She nodded.
"Yeah. Let's do it, then."

They went to the red door, crowding around it. Kazuha had seemed to be buzzing with excitement as she gripped the huge duck with one hand and used the other to knock on the door.

"Eunchae?" She called.

There was no reply.
She knocked again, much louder this time.

"Eunchae, let us in, please..." Kazuha repeated.
But, like last time, there was still no luck.

She let out a deep sigh, trying one last time.
"Eunchae? Please? Just give us a little bit of time. You might be hungry... we can get you some food if you want."

Kazuha was practically pleading with a door at this point. Eunchae wasn't responding.
She hadn't for the past day or two.

And Sakura, it seemed, wasn't having it.
"Hong Eunchae, open the door, now." She demanded.

There was still no reply.

But then, Kazuha's face went pale, and she let out a gasp of shock. She tossed the toy aside, and covered he mouth with her hands.
She was looking through the keyhole of the door.

"EUNCHAE- OH MY GOD-"
She started banging on the door, the hinges creaking noisily, threatening to break.

Yunjin noticed, and pulled Kazuha aside for a moment to look through in for herself. She too, let out a big gasp.
"Eunchae- she- something's wrong!" She shouted.

Sakura sprang immediately into action, rushing back to her room to retrieve her kit. Chaewon started tinkering with the door knob, trying to get it open. But Kazuha pushed her aside, making everyone back off.

"MOVE-"
With a huge kick, she sent the door crashing inwards, breaking the hinges right off. She ran into the room, tossing the wooden remnants away from her path.

Eunchae was on the floor.
To Sunghoon, she looked completely dead. Her whole body was immensely pale, and her face was starting to sink in.

"EUNCHAE-"
Kazuha kneeled next to her, propping the youngest on her leg, cupping her face.
There was a pool of blood below her, which had seeped out of her shoulder wound when she was laying there.

Sakura bursted in behind Kazuha, immediately taking out the glass vial filled with the honey liquid.
She dropped some on Eunchae's wound.
And it subsided, her skin healed together, and the bleeding stopped.

"Let me take a look at her." Sakura said, kneeling closer to Eunchae's face.

She tapped the her face, trying to get her to wake up.
"Eunchae... Eunchae- wake up... Can you hear me?"

Sakura checked for her pulse, placing her hand on Eunchae's wrist.

"Is she okay?" Kazuha asked worriedly.

"She's alive. But she needs food. Urgently." Sakura said.

"I'll go." Said Yunjin.

"I'm coming." Chaewon added.

They both went out of the room to retrieve food from the kitchen, leaving Sakura, Sunghoon and Kazuha to tend to the youngest for a bit.

"Eunchae... wake up..." Kazuha mumbled, hugging Eunchae on the floor.

She grasped Eunchae's hands in hers, nervously squeezing the other one.
Kazuha started to cry.
"Eunchae... I'm s- so sorry... I- why didn't we check up earlier... you must've been in so much discomfort..." she said, her hands shaking in Eunchae's.

But she felt something off.
Something about Eunchae's hand was off. She could feel it.

Her hand was getting warmer and warmer. So much so, her temperature was burning, like she had a sudden fever attack.
Sakura also noticed, as she felt around Eunchae's face, as the change in heat also concerned her.

Kazuha spoke in a rushed and worried tone.
"What's happening... Ah-"

She quickly retracted her hand.
Eunchae's skin literally felt like hot iron. She moved away, pacing back just so that she was out of the heat radius. Sakura also backed away quickly, patting off her hands.

"She's burning up... Where's the cold compress-"
Sakura stood up, and tried leaving the room.

But something stopped her in her tracks. It was felt by everyone in the room; a very, very pulling, outgoing force.
It was so strong.
Their hearts started beating faster, the adrenaline pumping. They were drawn to their spot, Kazuha literally shaking.

Something was wrong.
Very, very wrong.

"Hell... is not the place of the devils..." hissed a voice.

Sakura turned around slowly.
It was a coarse, scraping voice, like a mixture of phlegm, blood and grating metal. They all wanted to cover their ears, but their bodies were fully drawn to it, they were frozen on the spot. It sent chills down their spine like never before.
And it was coming from Eunchae.

"Devils... are... we. And we reside here."
Eunchae sat up from the ground.

Kazuha went up to her.
"Eunchae-"

In a swift movement, Eunchae grasped her hand around Kazuha's neck, lifting her up from the floor. She flailed her legs around, choking under her grip.
Eunchae's grip was strong. Much stronger than they had ever experienced.

But that was because it was no longer Eunchae; her eyes were a pure red, and she had bulging, black veins shooting up her neck and around her temple. Her innocent face was no more, and instead replaced with that of a monster's.

"Kazuha!" Sakura shouted in terror.
She ran forwards, taking out her Damascus blade.

She brought it up high above her head, ready to strike down.
But she didn't.
She hesitated. It was Eunchae, someone whom she raised for nearly a year as a mother figure. Someone who fought alongside her nearly every day.

Sakura stopped herself, the knife still raised in mid air.

The monster turned to face her, the red eyes looking straight at her.
Sakura felt fear.
She backed away slowly.

"You..." Eunchae hissed.
Kazuha was still struggling in her arm, but Eunchae took no notice of her. It was like she was lifting a light weight.
But Kazuha was fighting for her life. Her face was turning blue, and her neck felt like it was going to snap any second.
She wasn't even able to get any words out.

"YOU-"
Eunchae stormed towards Sakura, leaving Kazuha to drop to the ground, coughing and spluttering blood.

"SAKURA, NO-"
Sunghoon stood in between them, pushing Eunchae back with all his might. His shoes dug into the ground, tearing up the carpet below.

Eunchae didn't even lay an eye on him. She sent a hard punch to his face. It landed with a sickening crunch. Sunghoon saw white for a second, he even thought he was dead.
She sent him into the wall with a kick. He flew across the room, and hit his head on the plaster. Sunghoon fell to the ground, clutching his head and barely able to move from pain.

Eunchae advanced on Sakura.
"Eunchae, please-"

"DIE!"
She picked Sakura up with both of her arms, driving her against the wall in a neckhold. Sakura dropped her Damascus dagger, and it clattered to the ground, far out of reach.

Within just half a second, nearly all the air from Sakura's lungs was gone. The pain around her neck was unbearable, like a metal clamp crushing her neck.

"DIE- JUST DIE!!!" Eunchae screeched.

Sakura let out a scream of pain. She could feel her vertebrae stretching to its limit, and her jaw slowly starting to dislocate.
She thought it would've been better to just die on the spot, to skip all the pain.

Kazuha and Sunghoon were in no condition to help. They laid on the ground, too tired to stand up.

"THIS..." Eunchae hissed.
She dug into Sakura's bag, and extracted the small vial of the healing substance.

And held it up to Sakura's face, and crushed it in her hand, letting it's contents fall to the ground.

Sakura wanted to scream.
That thing was vital for their protection. It was her specialty.
But now, they had nothing to use if they got injured.

Sakura closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
She was going to die.

"DIE- JUST-... Sakura? What-"
Eunchae let go of Sakura, letting her tumble to the floor.
She was in shock, looking at her hands, which were now more like claws. And she gasped in shock as she looked around the room.

Her eyes turned back to her normal dark brown, changing away from the blood red.

"Ka- Kazuha- Sunghoon-... What have I done?"
She screamed.
It was all the spirit.

And she could feel it trying to take back control.
But she willed not to.

Yunjin and Chaewon returned, with shocked faces.
"EUNCHAE-"

"OH MY GOD, HOLY-"

"SOMETHING'S WRONG WITH ME!!! SOMETHING'S WRONG!!! RUN- BOTH OF YOU- LEAVE ME- SAVE YOURSELF!! DON'T TRY TO SAVE ME!!!"
Eunchae pushed past the two, sprinting out the room for the exit.
She could already feel her vision getting blurry, her heart starting to contract and grow hot.

She was losing control again.
And she didn't know if she'd ever get it back.

"Eunchae..." Sakura mumbled.
She scrambled up as fast as she could in her groggy state, and helped up the other two.

They followed her on her tail, Sakura still feeling the pain on her neck but swatting it away, and Kazuha wiping the blood from her mouth.

Eunchae opened the hatch, and sprinted out, down the pathway.
All six of them followed her in pursuit, Sakura leading forwards.

She ran down into the night, loudly rustling the trees as she sprinted down the hill. All the time still trying not to lose control to the spirit.

Eunchae bursted through the trees, and ran into a dark alleyway down the street.
She would try and lose them in there.

They stayed on her tail.
"EUNCHAE!!!" Yunjin screamed.

But Eunchae wasn't going to stop.
She didn't want to hurt anybody anymore. She wanted them all to be safe.
Even if that meant she would have to live in torment for the rest of her life. With the spirit.

"GO AWAY!!! LEAVE!" She screamed.

She was losing. Eunchae knew it. Her sight was completely obscured by a heavy, blood red tint. And her head was throbbing.
The monster was pushing her back, taking control once again.

She pushed on forwards, but soon, her body wouldn't listen to her anymore.
Eunchae came to a stop.

And her eyes turned red.

The others came to a stop behind her, panting. Sakura was nearly going to collapse onto the floor, but she held onto Chaewon for some support.

"... the Damascus. Use your Damascus, Sunghoon... quickly..." Sakura panted.

He knew what he needed to do.
He needed to stab Eunchae in the heart with the special blade. Then she'd be free.

He ran up to her, his blade poised in the air.

But someone got to her first.
From the side alley, someone lunged out, taking Eunchae to the ground just a second before he reached her.

Sunghoon felt like he was familiar. Or his clothes did, anyways. It was the same uniform he saw at the coffee shop.
The same as the two people whom he followed.

Eunchae tumbled to the ground, taken by surprise. Sunghoon could see she was still fighting, her eyes glinting from brown to red at different periods.

"Spirits should- die-" the other guy said, swinging up from the floor, going in for another attack.

"STOP!" Sunghoon shouted.
He began running to the man, but someone else took him down, and they tussled on the ground.
"WHO ARE YOU-" he shouted, as they exchanged blows on the floor.

Sunghoon was trapped, and his Damascus slipped out of his hands. Yunjin tried coming to his aid, but someone came up to her, pulling a blade against her neck.
"Don't try." He warned.

More of them emerged out of the side way, running towards the members, surrounding them, as Eunchae and Sunghoon tussled with different ones.
There were about seven in total, including the ones fighting.

"WEAPONS DOWN, NOW! PUT THEM DOWN!" one of them ordered.
They all had their blades to a different member's neck.

Sakura was still struggling to stand, but her eyes were alert. But she was trying to shield the other members, standing in the latter.
Kazuha was the first to place her blade down, and stood with her hands up, showing no threat.

"Listen- it's an emergency-" she started, but was quickly silenced by one of the blades, which inched dangerously close to her neck.
All she could do was look at Eunchae worriedly, begging that the girl would have enough strength to get away and save herself for now.

But Eunchae was fighting two battles; one against the spirit, and another against the man.
It was too much for her.

With a leg sweep, he took her down, and raised his blade up to stab her.

It glinted in the moonlight, showcasing its polished glow.
But the blade wasn't Damascus.

If he stabbed her, he would kill the spirit.
But also take Eunchae down with it.

...