"Jake-" said Jay.
But Jake pushed on.

"BUT- DO YOU KNOW WHO ELSE YOU GAVE UP ON? HUH? YOU GAVE... YOU- YOU GAVE UP ON NIKI! HE COULD BE DEAD! DEAD!"

He broke down in tears.

Everything. Everything was ruined. They had just abandoned the other team. He thought they'd be comrades, but that dream had been cut short.
They hadn't found Niki.
They hadn't found Sunghoon.
And they lost the other team.

"Sunghoon, and Ni- Niki... They- They could be dead, Heesung... and... It's all your fault..."

...

Time: 22:17, October 22

A growl so clotted, so demonic, it would be anarchy to call it human.
His heart tightened in his chest. He wanted to scream with all he could, but no matter the amount of effort and willpower he had, it was like his body was detached from his mind, and he stood there, motionless.

Utterly petrified.

It was worse than being haunted by a ghost. Having to witness the pure sight of such an uncanny creature made him chill to the bone.

The eyes.
He stared into the eyes.

He had seen them before. But they were once not filled with the burning desire for death which he saw in front of him now.

Before, they were human. He'd seen them filled with hatred, but it was of a human kind.
This, what he was seeing, was no human.
Not anymore.

Eunchae.
Her eyes were full, yet there was no soul in it. All it was filled was, was with a deep longing for blood. A yearning so great that it surpassed human morale.

Eunchae was all but a puppet for destruction.
Sunghoon knew it, of course.

He had seen it.
That day, the day she ran away, he could see, feel, smell and taste the blood all at once. She had nearly killed him.
She had nearly killed all of them.

...

Her eyes scanned around the room. The lights were off, it was quiet and empty. Most of the others had already left to catch some rest in the dorms.

Kazuha blinked wearily.
She looked next to her. Yunjin was still there, leaning against the side of the sofa. The girl was sound asleep, yet her hand never left Kazuha's, still holding on.
Kazuha wiped a few beads of sweat off her face with her free hand. Her hand was still shaking, affected by the shock from earlier, and there were still sores which hadn't gone away yet. But, apart from that, her condition had gotten better since an hour ago.

Kazuha hadn't been able to sleep, as tired as she was. She felt restless.
She was pondering about a lot of things, and thoughts flooded her head. It was about Eunchae.
It had always been about Eunchae, ever since their encounter. The thing chilled her to the bone. Everything about it was petrifying.

Her burning hot skin, it felt like an inferno to touch. She had felt an aura of immeasurable rage radiating from Eunchae.
The girl wanted her dead. And Kazuha knew it.

When they were in Eunchae's room, when she first turned, she had seen the birth of a powerful creature.
But, back then, Eunchae had been able to fight against it. Once, she had stopped herself from killing Sakura.

That wasn't the case now.
Eunchae'd never be able to stop herself.
It wasn't even Eunchae anymore. All it was, was a soulless monster.
Whether or not Eunchae was still alive, she didn't know.

...

He didn't even know how long it'd been since they started walking back to the base.

Seconds had felt like minutes. Minutes had felt like hours. The three of them had been trudging along with each other for what felt like an eternity, in silence.
Jake stared down at the ground.

He felt gutted. Utterly gutted.
Like a failure, even.
The thought of kicking out the others just haunted him. How would they react?
Or even, how would he, himself, feel when he has to watch them leave, perhaps never to be seen again?

Heesung would've made them throw the others out, not caring about the grave danger he could have been putting them in. He didn't care. Not a single bit.
For one, Jake had just seen him throw two of them out, right in front of him.

There was no co-operating with what he wanted. Heesung would go through with it, with as much power as he held, being the eldest of their group.

Jay nudged Jake, pointing to a spot in front of them.
It was familiar, unmistakable.

The trapdoor.
After what felt like an eternity, they were finally back at base.

Heesung walked up first, and yanked the door open. Without a single look or even just a hesitation, he jumped down, leaving Jake and Jay to follow shortly behind him.

But, as Jake, the last one to follow, looked around, he heard the door to the dorms slam shut.
It hadn't even been half a minute after he had gone down, and Heesung had already left.

"Well... goodnight to you too, Heesung..." Jay muttered sarcastically.

"He can be damned..." Jake muttered, cursing Heesung in a voice just loud enough so it wouldn't be heard through the door.

He shrugged his shoulders, and brushed pieces of debris off his clothes.
Jake looked down at himself, squinting over the darkness.

"Look at the state of my shirt. He's completely ruined it, now. See, Jay? The sleeve's ripped." he huffed, showing his arm to Jay, where a section of the fabric was ripped away.

"Well... It's not as bad as it looks. Don't worry, we might be able to find someone who can repair it. It's better not to burden Sunoo with it for now, as he might have a lot on his mind, like all of us." Jay said.

He patted Jake on the shoulder, and added, "Don't worry, we'll get it fixed somehow. But for now, don't ask Sunoo to repair it, just for a little while."

"He normally does, though... and he's an expert at it, too." Jake said, his voice a tinge disappointed.

"I know, but-"

"There is someone who can do it, you know."

A small voice came from the far side of the room. It sounded slightly pushed, and half asleep, but it was loud enough that it grabbed the attention of the two of them, and they turned to face the person, whoever it was, in the darkness.

"Who are you? Wait, even- Where are you?" Jake asked, shocked.

They both searched for whoever it was in the darkness, looking left and right across the room, but it was hard to decipher their silhouette amongst the many other items around.

"Can you come closer to us? We can't really see you, it's dark in here." Jay said.

"Should I turn on the lights?" Jake added.

But the person was quick to respond.
"No, no... sorry, please don't turn on the lights."

"Can you come closer to us, then?"

"I- I can't."

"Why not? Who even are you, anyways?"

There came a slight pause.
"You don't recognise my voice? It's Kazuha. Oh, and don't turn on the lights, I'm not alone. Yunjin's asleep."

Jake put a hand to his head.
Of course. He should've been able to tell from her voice alone, for it was so distinct compared to everyone else. Yet, it was hard because her voice had sounded to strained and coarse, making it almost unidentifiable.

"Kazuha? That's a relief. But, why, why's your voice like that, though?" He asked.

She let out a few coughs before answering him, yet very briefly.
"It's a long story..." she said, almost apologetically.

"Are you alright, though? All safe, and everything?" Jay checked.

A small huff came from her.
It sounded almost like it had a hint of ironicalness in it.

Instead of answering, she decided to instead change the subject.
"Has everyone come back yet? Do you know?" she asked.

Jake shook his head, but then realised she wouldn't be able to see it, and answered her in an honest voice.
"I- We don't know. We just got back."

"What about-"

Kazuha was about to ask something once again, but was broken off by a loud noise.

A loud bang erupted against the door to the dorm rooms.
All heads turned towards it.

Yunjin woke in a sudden burst, pushed by the loud noise. Her head swivelled around the room, and they landed on Kazuha.
"What's happening-"

But another bang broke her off.
It was so loud, and so powerful. Jake feared that the door would be blasted off its hinges.

At first a muffle, but then distinct voices could be heard through the door. It then turned into shouts, and then rage-filled screams.
It sounded like war was going down within the room.
Jay rushed over, and opened the door, screaming words like 'What?' which then turned into 'Hey!' in the span of just a second.

But, without warning, he was blasted backwards, as a body slammed into his. Kazuha screamed.
The two people, including Jay, tumbled down on the floor in a messy sprawl.

Multiple people ran out of the dorms, and the light switch was slammed open.
And that, was when the whole situation was visible.
And it was not good.
Not good, at all.

"YOU DID WHAT?!?"

...