“Behold!”

Both Seungcheol and Jisoo stared at the black card that Jay proudly set in front of them.

“Um, it’s nice?” Jisoo politely said, not sure why it was so special.

Seungcheol was more blunt. “It’s a credit card.”

She wagged her finger at them.

“It’s not just any credit card.” She paused for more emphasis. “It’s a credit card for High Ground, spelled HIGHGRND.”

Jisoo’s eyes widened. “Oh, I heard of them. It’s that really famous brand known worldwide.”

Seungcheol’s own eyes narrowed. “They had credit cards?”

“Well, not really,” she explained. “I know the CEO. He gave it to me a long time ago, but I hardly use it.”

“You know the CEO?” Jisoo gasped audibly.

She shrugged. “You guys will probably meet him eventually. He’s the leader of the Vermillion Birds.”

Both boys sat there in mild shock, but it quickly passed.

“Does it have a limit?” Seungcheol asked.

“No, I don’t think so?” she said slowly. “I mean, Tablo doesn’t really care cause I don’t use it a lot anyways. Actually, let me check.” She quickly pulled out her phone and texted someone. And within a few seconds, she threw them a thumbs up. “He said it’s fine. He said that I just shouldn’t go over five thousand dollars. Not that I would anyways. So then, shall we go?”

It was a somewhat a long drive to the city since they were situated somewhere close to the edge of rural area. However, they arrived to the city soon enough and went shopping.

The store itself was extravagant. Something that definitely had Tablo’s flair.

She told the boys that they should try on some clothes and she would wait for them.

It took them almost two hours to buy all the clothes.

Seungcheol picked more comfortable but stylish clothes. Most of them were in monochrome colors. Jisoo, on the other hand, picked more of a variety. He had some clean button down shirts as well as some T-shirts and jeans.

With shopping exhausting them all, they all simply wanted to go back.

As they were walking, someone screamed.

They all turned around to look at a woman looking terrified and running towards them. She tripped, staring back with wide eyes before promptly fainting. Whatever it was she saw was behind the buildings in the dark alleys.

Already were people beginning to get curious as they peered with apprehension at the location the woman ran from. But just as quickly were people forcing them to stay back.

Jay recognized some of them and knew what was going on.  

Jay frowned and murmured, “Stay back, guys.”

“Is it a nibra?” Seungcheol asked.

She pursed her lips. “I think so.” She ran towards the area where they saw the woman run out of it and stopped right before the opening of the alley. She knew that the people would not stop her.

Seungcheol and Jisoo were right behind her, both clutching their bags but were stopped by the group who were holding people back.

“Thought I told you to stay back?”

They looked at each other and then back at her.

“Where you go, we’ll go too,” Jisoo answered simply.

She looked at them and sighed. “They’re with me,” she relented. With a nod, the man let Jisoo and Seungcheol pass through and they caught up with her.

“Watch yourselves. And stay hidden. I can’t save you both if you get into trouble,” she ordered.

Jay peeked behind the corner, trying to pinpoint where the nibra was. She heard a low growl. She slowly inched through the dark alleyway, still unable to see the nibra.

She turned around to look back towards the opening of the main street where the boys were standing.

She noticed that their eyes widened with surprise and fear.

“Jay!” they both yelled, about to rush towards her.

She whipped around to see the nibra hovering behind her. She clicked her tongue at her mistake. She had forgotten that there were some nibras that could turn invisible. She let her guard down due to her slip-up.

The nibra was large, almost seven feet tall with scales running down its body. Large arms that reminded her of a crocodile was now swinging down at her.

She moved fast, but she knew it wasn’t going to be fast enough. It was going to clip her slightly.

Or at least that was what she thought.

Just as she crouched down and jumped back, the nibra fell on its knees, howling in what could only be pain. Viscous black fluid pooled around its feet, and Jay knew that it was wounded.

In a blur, she saw something dark jump and latch on the nibra’s back. It brought its arm across the nibra’s neck, slicing it open. The nibra fell backwards and whatever had jumped on its back, hopped off in a swift motion.

But the nibra wasn’t defeated just yet. It could still move, bringing its arm and swinging it backwards in a way no human could possibly have.

Jay had quickly materialized her gun during the time the other was taking the nirba. She shot the nibra in the arm, causing it disintegrate. She knew it wasn’t going to do much because in most cases, they could regenerate it, especially the stronger ones. And she could now see the slow formation of an arm.

She wasn’t able to get a clear shot from her position, so she stood up, aiming carefully.

But the dark object, which she now could see was a male human, jumped on top of the nibra, stabbing it repeatedly in its heart. It took about four stabs before the nibra stopped thrashing and one more for it to turn into black ash. The small male landed with a short thud.

He whipped around with an angry glare in his eyes.

“Who the hell are you?”

She blinked at him. “I could ask you the same thing.” She heard the running footsteps of Seungcheol and Jisoo, stopping right behind her. She looked at where the nibra used to be. “You killed it. And you knew how to do it.”

The small boy scowled. “Why is that a surprise? If you live on the streets, you’re bound to meet one of those monsters. If you want to survive, you gotta kill ‘em.”

She observed, looking from head to toe. He was shorter than the average male but still a bit taller than her. Wispy black hair that was matted with dirt and grime. Clothes that were tattered and frayed on the edges. Combat boots that were roughed and scuffed and on the verge of falling apart.

But the one thing that struck Jay the most about his appearance was his eyes. Fierce, dark, and unforgiving.

An atmosphere that forced you to submit.

Jay wondered what he had gone through to have such hardened eyes, eyes that obviously seen too much.

“You live on the streets?”

He scoffed and spat at the ground right in front of her. “Course I ing do. Does it look like I live in some fancy mansion? You gotta be a moron or some privileged rich girl to think that.”

Seungcheol stepped forward, an aggravated look on his face. Even Jisoo looked peeved on the comment.

Jay put her arm out, stopping the boy and gave him a look to calm down.

Seungcheol relented, but his sharp gaze was still on the smaller male. Jisoo clenched his fists.

He scoffed at the sight. “What? So, your boy toys ain't good enough to protect you? Go on, let ‘em loose. I’ll even take on the prissy one along with this angry one. I’ll ‘em up so bad that you’re regret even talking to me.”

As soon as the last word left his sentence, he felt the air in his throat disappear. He gagged, staring at the woman who had pinned him by the throat on the brick wall faster than he could blink. Her expression was neutral, but it obvious that she was furious.

“I’m sorry,” she said with a smile that was anything but friendly. “What did you say? I didn’t hear you the first time. Go on, say it one more time.”

The male struggled, clawing at her hand. He smirked as he let out in gasping breaths, “How…. about…. ...you…”

Jay’s smiled dropped and immediately released her grip, causing the boy to drop down with crash.

She crouched down so that she was looking at him at eye level and sighed. She was silent until her rubbed her temples.

“Sorry about that. I let my emotions get the better of me. Looks like I care about the guys more than I realized.”

The black-haired boy didn’t say anything, only rubbing his throat and coughing violently.

“You like living on the streets?” she continued.

He coughed roughly, clearing his throat, and glared at her with a side glance.

“Who the hell would like living on the streets? You only live on streets cause you have to.”

“Then would you like to not anymore?”

“What the are you trying to say?”

She glanced at the boy and then back at Seungcheol and Jisoo. “Would you like to join my team?”

He stared at her, eyes looking at her like she was crazy. “What?”

The two males in the back made disgruntled noises but otherwise did not say anything else. 

“Join my team. Work with me and the those guys.”

He was silent before bursting out in crude laughter.

“You must be ing joking.”

“Does it look like I am? I’m offering you a chance to get off the streets.”

“What’s the catch?” he asked suspiciously.

She shrugged. “Depends on how you see it. I say this to everyone, but you would have to leave the life you lived previously behind. Once you join me, you’ll start another life. You’ll have to fight those creatures again in return. Put yourself in danger. And you’ll have to live me and those guys behind me. What do you think? Honestly, don’t you think it’s a pretty good deal?”

He grinned at her with detest.

“Do you know what I think? How about a you? And a pretty no.”

Sorry for the crude language but this new character cusses like no other.