After they had agreed to help Mina, Euijin led the group back to his apartment. As Mina moved to the balcony, Euijin and Daehyun sat on the couch in the living room. Young Jae stood next to the couch’s armrest as his eyes landed on the side of Daehyun’s head.

“What made you change your mind?” Young Jae asked.

“About what?” Daehyun asked.

“About helping Mina,” Young Jae replied.

“I bet it’s cause she’s pretty,” Euijin said.

“That’s your reason, you ,” Daehyun said as he slightly pushed Euijin, “No, it’s cause of the she went through, that’s why I changed my mind.”

The three of them turned to Mina, whom currently sat on the edge of the balcony. Daehyun sighed as he rubbed the back of his head.

“So, what do you think we should do?” Young Jae asked.

“She was killed by a guy named Mark, but he’s not the problem. It’s whoever the hell sent the guy to kill her,” Daehyun said.

“You think she’ll know who it was?” Euijin asked.

Daehyun thought for a moment before he said, “She definitely does, but I think we’ll have to find her body first. She deserves a burial, at the very least.”

Euijin scratched his head as he said, “How’re we supposed to do that? You said she was swept away by the river’s currents, so her body could be anywhere now.”

Before Daehyun could reply, Young Jae said, “I can help with that, but I need to be where she was before I can track her down.”

Daehyun folded his arms and sighed as he said, “We’ll have to ask her. I don’t recognize the area she was in.”

“Leave it to me,” Euijin said.

With a grin and a quick fix of his hair, Euijin turned and made his way over to Mina. Daehyun pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

“You think he realizes that she’s dead and not available for a romantic relationship?” Daehyun asked.

Young Jae’s eyes widened as he suddenly turned to Daehyun and asked, “Euijin likes Mina that way?”

Daehyun stared at Young Jae with disbelief, but let out a sigh as he looked back at Euijin and Mina.

As Euijin approached Mina, he cleared his throat and said, “So, Mina.”

Mina turned and looked up at Euijin, who proceeded to take a seat next to her, or at least as close to her as possible without pressing against the railing. Euijin stared out at the city before he turned to make eye contact with Mina. He flashed a smile, but it seemed to not affect Mina at all.

“I know you’ve been through a lot, but we need to know where your death took place,” Euijin said.

Mina glanced downwards, lost in thought. She slowly turned towards the city, her eyes examining the outskirts. With their current position, the majority of their view consisted of the ocean or tall skyscrapers.

She shook her head and said, “I don’t know where. I was brought there, but,” she paused, “I can recognize the area if I see it.”

“That’s great! Can you describe the area?” Euijin asked.

_________________________________

An hour or so had passed and yet, they haven’t been able to make much progress with their search. Despite knowing the event had occurred by a river, finding the right bridge proved to be difficult with how the weather had been. While Mina and Young Jae waited in the back, Daehyun and Euijin were at a computer as they searched all rivers and bridges near New York City.

“How about this one? Do you recognize this area at all?” Euijin asked.

“For the last ing time, I’ll tell you when I ing see it, so stop ing asking every goddamn minute, alright?” Daehyun asked.

Euijin sat back in his seat and sighed. Daehyun pushed Euijin’s chair out of the way before he began to scroll through the images once more. His eyes darted from one picture to another, but so far, nothing seemed to click.

“This is impossible. There aren’t that many rivers or bridges in New York, so why can’t we find it?” Daehyun asked.

“It’s like it’s not even in New York City,” Euijin said.

“Wait a minute,” Daehyun said as he turned towards the two spirits, “Were you in or near New York City when it happened?”

Mina took a moment to think before she said, “I’m not sure. I just know that I couldn’t see the city.”

Daehyun turned back to the computer and paused for a moment. He closed his eyes and tapped the table a few times as he tried to remember what it was he was looking for.

“What’re you doing?” Young Jae asked.

“There’s a bridge that connects the state of New York and Canada. What’s the name of it?” Daehyun asked.

“Ah, the Thousand Island Bridge. One of my favorite bridges in the state of New York. This historic bridge was built in-” Euijin started.

“That ’s not important,” Daehyun said as he quickly typed in the bridge’s name.

As soon as the images loaded up, his eyes widened and he pointed at the computer screen. Young Jae and Mina moved over to the computer and leaned in. Mina gasped and covered as she stared at the images on the screen.

“This is it! This is the bridge!” Daehyun exclaimed.

“Good work. We should head over there before it gets dark,” Young Jae said.

As Euijin and Young Jae made their way out of the apartment, Mina remained in place. Daehyun had started for the door, but paused as he turned to Mina. He searched for Euijin or Young Jae, but when neither one of them were in sight, he sighed to himself and turned back to Mina.

“What’s wrong?” Daehyun asked, annoyed.

Mina attempted to respond, but no words left . Instead, her gaze remained affixed to the computer screen. Daehyun waited for a moment, but when Mina remained quiet, he ruffled his hair out of frustration as he let out a groan.

“Look, I get it. Not only do you have to go back to where you were killed, but you’re also going to have to see yourself, dead. You have to face reality and that thought alone is scary. You don’t want to, but eventually, you’re going to have to. Am I right?” Daehyun asked.

Mina nodded.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to face it now, but you can’t run away forever. When you’re ready, we can go. They,” Daehyun paused, sighed, then said, “We’re here to help you every step of the way.”

As Mina stood in silence, Daehyun dug his hands into his pockets and looked around the room aimlessly. He quietly tapped his foot, but still no response from Mina. Just as he was about to say something, Mina’s voice chimed in.

“I’m ready. I have to face it eventually and,” Mina paused,” And with you guys around, I think I can do it.”

“Good. Then let’s get going before those idiots think I’ve been bullying you,” Daehyun said.

_________________________________

Euijin's car slowed to a stop before he turned off his car and sat back in his seat. He turned to Daehyun first before he turned to Young Jar and Mina, who sat in the back.

"Are you ready?" Euijin asked.

Young Jae nodded as Mina replied with, "As ready as I'll ever be."

The four of them stepped out of the car before they started down the pathway.

“I’m not sure where it started. It was hard to see in the rain,” Mina said.

“Don’t worry. If we’re nearby, my abilities can pick up the trail for us,” Young Jae said.

As soon as he finished his sentence, Young Jae’s eyes glowed a soft, pale blue. He put a hand on Mina’s shoulders before he glanced around the immediate area. Nothing matched Mina’s aura, so they moved forward. Daehyun and Euijin followed closeby, unsure of what to do for the time being.

“Why’d we end up coming?” Daehyun asked.

“We’re the ones who have to not only retrieve Mina’s body, but also report it so that she can get her burial,” Euijin responded.

Daehyun scratched the top of his head as he mumbled quietly to himself. Euijin couldn’t help but grin as he kept an eye out for anything suspicious.

“Anything so far, Young Jae?” Euijin asked.

“So far, nothing. Is this the general area you were at?” Young Jae asked.

“I’m not sure. I just know that we’re too close to the bridge,” Mina said as she glanced up at the bridge behind them.

“Then let’s go farther down,” Young Jae said.

They walked down for another ten minutes before the sun had begun to set. Daehyun let out an annoyed groan as he sat down underneath one of the trees.

“We’re getting nowhere. We’re wasting our time,” Daehyun said.

“Not exactly. Just think of it as checking out this area and being done with it,” Euijin said.

“We already know we’re still too close to the bridge, so it’d be better if we just moved closer to the river without having to search the immediate area every four feet,” Daehyun said.

As Euijin was about to say something, Young Jae said, “That might not be a bad idea. Let’s go.”

Without another word, Young Jae started forward once again, but more towards the river. Daehyun’s eyebrow twitched as he pushed himself up to his feet.

“Really? You’re just now thinking about it?” Daehyun asked, annoyed.

Euijin simply pat Daehyun’s back as the group made their way along the river. Every now and then, Mina would gaze back to the bridge. Another five minutes had passed before Mina held a worried look on her face.

“I’m getting a bad feeling suddenly,” Mina said.

“There's demonic energy nearby,” Young Jae said.

“Really? I don’t feel anything,” Euijin said.

“You can’t really feel it unless they’re actively doing something nearby. Angels and spirits, however, are sensitive to both angelic and demonic presences,” Young Jae said.

“Why the hell is there a demon nearby?” Daehyun asked.

They emerged from the forest as Daehyun finished his question. Young Jae’s eyes glowed its pale blue aura once more as he rested a hand on Mina's shoulder. His gaze immediately focused on a dark red aura at the edge of the river.

“Because great demonic activity can leave a stain where heavy influence was used,” Young Jae said.

“What kind of influence was brought here?” Euijin asked.

Young Jae turned and stared at Mina, whom was staring at the bridge, as he said, “The kind that can lead to murder.”

His gaze traveled down where the river’s current flowed. He could see traces of Mina’s aura, although faint, flow downstream. Without another word, Young Jae followed the river with Daehyun, Mina, and Euijin following after him.

“Where the hell are you going so suddenly?” Daehyun asked.

“I can see the trail!” Young Jae exclaimed.

As Young Jae picked up speed, Daehyun and Euijin started running to keep up. A minute had passed and that running quickly transformed into sprinting as Young Jae became oblivious of the two mediums falling behind.

“Hey! Slow down, dammit!” Daehyun yelled.

By the time they finally came to a stop, the sun had already set. While Daehyun and Euijin took a moment to catch their breath, Young Jae and Mina were by the riverside.

“I don’t see my body,” Mina said.

“It’s deep down, around the middle area. We’ll have to call someone to retrieve it,” Young Jae said.

“So we ran all the way here for nothing?” Daehyun said in between breaths.

“Well, not exactly. We were able to find her exact location. Our job is done on this end,” Young Jae said.

“The hell with that. You can’t do something? Use your powers or just go down there yourself and get her body?” Daehyun asked.

“Wouldn’t that just cause problems for you when you bring her back?” Young Jae asked.

Daehyun opened his mouth, but found himself at a loss for words. He shook his head and took his phone out as he walked off to the side. Euijin made his way closer to the two spirits as his eyes followed the flow of the river.

Euijin sighed and said, “It’s a good thing she got stuck on something. Any further and she would’ve been carried out to the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Did you know that the Gulf of Saint Lawrence is actually the largest estuary in the world? I think it’s-”

“I don’t think now’s the time, Euijin,” Young Jae interrupted.

Young Jae and Euijin stared at one another for a brief moment before they turned to Mina. Her eyes remained glued on the water’s surface as she sat by the edge.

“You gonna be okay, Mina?” Euijin asked.

“Yes. I just, I just need a minute,” Mina said.

After signal had been found and the call had been made, Daehyun, Euijin, Young Jae, and Mina all left the scene. It took the police, their divers, and the paramedics an hour or so to arrive. With the sun set and the darkness reigning over the area, it took them a while to locate Mina’s exact location.

However, that wasn’t enough to stop them as they finally managed to retrieve Mina's body from the river. From there, they proceeded to transfer her body for further analysis.

_________________________________

“Our top story this morning is the discovery of, whom police have identified as Mina Myoui, the daughter of President Myoui of the M. Research Facility, has been found in the St. Lawrence River. Our resources state-”

The television screen was shut off as a man in an armchair tightened his grip on the television remote. He fished into his pocket before he produced his cell phone and unlocked it. He scrolled through his contacts and stopped on one specific name:

Mark Lee.

_________________________________

A/N:

Hey there. So, I have both good and bad news.

The bad news is that my laptop broke, so I lost two of the chapters from that, plus the depression from real life stuff, this altogether has caused me to delay on releasing the next chapter. The other part of it is that I have to do everything on my phone now, so typing it up and editing is going to be heavily slowed down since I'm not used to using my phone for anything other than games.

The good news is that not only have I gotten over my depression, I've started writing the story in notebooks so I wouldn't lose the chapters and thanks to this, I already have chapters 5-7 written as well. I'll be releasing one chapter every Sunday night/Monday morning depending on where you are. So I'm sorry for the delay and thank you very much for being as patient with me as possible.

And no, I can't change the font on my phone. Sorry TT