Thoughts of childhood trips to the beach always return to Seungwan.

She remembers losing her feet to the wet sand every time she walked along the shore, treading slowly to let each foot sink in and sink out. Her dad would watch with a squint as she spent hours clambering over the rocky embellishments to each span of sea with her childhood friend Sooyoung, as if they were explorers. Sometimes they’d let random elven toddlers join in as they were always helpful storytellers. Together they re-enacted her human ancestors and elven folk devising a new perfect kingdom, and with every grab and jump her soft feet would scratch and bleed against the harsh rocks, which proved far less comforting than the squishy sand. But the pain was never harsh enough to distract her from her play.

Near the end of this summer, there was a day when her Sooyoung snapped at her whenever she asked to explore the beach. She knew whining and pleading would only irritate her more and with this thought, a sickly weight of loss burbled in her stomach. Perhaps Seungwan was supposed to be too mature now to play. Seungwan decided then on that she should imitate adult-like independence, and approached the rocky sides with more seriousness. She moved along the wet store quickly this time, and took each rock quickly too, her knees thoroughly scratched once she made it to a flatter expanse on top. She stood oblivious to the shouts of Sooyoung and father, lost to the sounds of clashing waves and blithering breezes.

Swallowing back this sickly sense of loneliness, she looked around to find any young elves willing to explore the rocks with her. But this led to the realisation that few people actually occupied the beach at that moment. She the sand off her bottom lip and felt herself trembling against the wind.

She only remembers it in episodes. Running, running, screaming, calling. Seungwan suddenly felt very young and vulnerable again and froze as she witnessed a chaos across the shore she didn’t understand. Sand from the wet wind was being swept up into her eyes and hair was sticking to her face. Something took her, dragged her, and by the time she’d rubbed her eyes clean she was on her father’s strong back.

She only found out later that a sickly, old, human woman on the beach had begun convulsing, and then became limp. Many individuals approached her with concern, however she was somehow reborn only a moment later. Her appearance was frightening. Sooyoung described her skin as sallow and bluish, crisply cold, with a mouth gaping with rot. Her aching body had managed to lunge into the woman unfortunately crouched next to her and then she retracted, looking upwards with a conscious grimace.

Two sharp fangs had replaced the elderly woman’s canines. The whole population of the beach fled in panic, leaving the woman on the beach with her neck torn in two.