Sehun woke up with one of the worst hangovers he’d ever had. It didn’t really feel like a hangover, and he couldn’t remember having much to drink, but what else would give him such a bad headache? It was worse than a headache. More like a migraine.

Pushing himself out of bed, Sehun wobbled and almost lost his balance. He steadied himself against the wall as his bedroom spun around him. Closing his eyes, Sehun took a breath and waited for the dizziness to fade. When he felt up to it, he started trudging through his room, using the wall for support. He needed to take something for his headache. A couple of painkillers, maybe. Or a couple of bottles of painkillers.

After finally reaching the bathroom and raiding his medicine cabinet, Sehun braced himself against the sink, staring into the mirror. There were dark circles under his red-rimmed eyes, and his face looked drained, almost as white as the stone of the sink.

Sehun was about to push away when he noticed something in his reflection. Frowning, Sehun leaned in closer and examined the markings on his shoulder. It was a series of small red dots, forming a crescent shape. Hesitantly, Sehun reached up to touch one. He pulled his hand back with a hiss. It really stung.

As he looked for some antiseptic that he probably didn’t have, Sehun wondered how he’d gotten the mark. He honestly couldn’t remember anything beyond going to a club with Jongin, and receiving a brightly coloured drink from the bartender. None of that explained why he had a bite mark on his shoulder. Had Jongin come back to his place after and they’d been rougher than usual?

Sehun returned to his room and found his phone on the floor. It must have fallen out of his pocket when he stumbled in late last night. He couldn’t even remember getting home. That was never good.

Picking up his phone, Sehun found he already had a few texts from Jongin, asking what had happened to him. He’d sent them the night before.

Frowning, Sehun texted back: Wasn’t I with you?

While he waited for a reply, Sehun got in the shower. He felt grimy, probably from being in the club, and it hadn’t helped that he’d slept in his jeans. At least he’d had the sense to take his shirt off before getting into bed.

Sehun gritted his teeth as the hot water hit the mark on his shoulder, making it burn. He turned around, but the water still hit the other side of the mark. No matter how he stood he was still in pain.

Pain. Sehun’s eyes widened. Something about the pain was familiar. Something –

Suddenly the water turned cold. Sehun yelped, then glared at the showerhead, as if it were at fault. If he hadn’t been so preoccupied trying to find a comfortable position in which to shower, he wouldn’t have run out of hot water.

Getting out, Sehun dried himself off and changed. When he checked his phone he had a message from Jongin.

No. The last time I saw you was when me and Luhan went dancing.

Sehun replied: Who’s Luhan?

Are you kidding? I introduced you to him last night.

I don’t remember that at all. Did you put something in my drink?

No! You wouldn’t even take the drink I bought for you!

Sehun frowned. He didn’t remember that either. He was really starting to worry about what had happened. But he’d found his way home, and he hadn’t been robbed. That had to mean something.

As for the bite mark... Sehun shrugged it off. It didn’t matter. It would heal in a few days, maybe a week, and that would be the end of it. For now, he was hungry, and he wanted meat. He was pretty sure he didn’t have any, and was proven correct upon checking his fridge, so Sehun grabbed his wallet and jacket and left.

A few minutes later, Sehun stepped out of the apartment building. As soon as he did his gaze snapped across the street, to a crowd just rounding the corner. He wasn’t sure what had caught his attention. Maybe one of them was wearing bright clothing.

Sehun shook his head at himself – he was really out of it today – and kept walking.

It happened again, a couple of times. Something would catch Sehun’s attention, but when he turned to look at it nothing was there. Nothing unusual, at least.

The third time Sehun turned to glance behind him, someone walked into him. Surprised, Sehun took a step back to steady himself, facing the person with whom he’d collided. The guy was kind of short, with bright orange hair.

“Sorry.” The guy said. “Wasn’t watching where I was going.”

Before Sehun could say anything or get a good look at the guy’s face, he’d brushed past him and hurried down the street. Sehun frowned. He felt like there had been something off about the guy, but soon dismissed it. He was in a funny mood today anyway.

Sehun reached his destination. It was his favourite fast food place within walking distance of his apartment, and served fried chicken. Usually Sehun loved the chicken batter, and found the chicken itself bland. Today, however, he curled his lips at the taste of the skin and started peeling it off, eating the chicken on its own.

When he was done Sehun wiped off his hands so he could check his phone. He’d texted Jongin before leaving his apartment, asking if he was going back to the club. If he was, Sehun was considering joining him. Maybe going back to the club would spark a memory about what happened there.

Sehun reached into his pants pocket, and was surprised to find his phone missing. He checked his other pocket, then his jacket. It wasn’t anywhere. But he knew he’d taken it with him, and he would have noticed if it had fallen out.

Suddenly, Sehun remembered the guy he’d bumped into. The one who’d seemed kind of weird. Of course he’d seemed weird. He’d been a thief.

Sehun was furious, but there wasn’t anything he could do. No way he’d find the guy, and he couldn’t even remember what he looked like aside from his height and hair. His phone was gone.

The whole way home, Sehun had his hands balled into fists. He was just so mad. As if forgetting what had happened to him the night before wasn’t bad enough, but his phone had been stolen. That, on top of the bite mark which had started throbbing an hour ago and hadn’t let up, made for a very unhappy Sehun.

He’d have to call Jongin, or message him online or something. Let him know his phone was gone, so that he didn’t try to get in touch with him. Then he’d have to go through the trouble of buying another phone. That was an expense Sehun didn’t need, especially when his last cell had been brand new.

Sehun was still absorbed in his moody thoughts when he reached his apartment. Jamming his key in the lock, Sehun cursed when it stuck. After a moment he managed to get the door open. Hopefully it wouldn’t stick again. He didn’t want to go through the trouble of contacting his landlord, or pay for a new lock himself.

A weird sense of deja vu washed over Sehun. He paused for a moment, then shook it off and stepped into his apartment.

As soon as he did, it was like whatever was clouding his brain vanished. Suddenly he was alert and his headache was gone. Even the bite mark didn’t hurt as badly. He could barely feel it at all.

But he could feel...something. It was like an invisible force was pulling him forward, towards the closed door of his bedroom at the end of the hall. Warily, Sehun approached the door. He hesitated before opening it, but something in him said he shouldn’t be worried, that it was all going to be alright. He opened the door.

Luhan was crouching on his bed, staring out the window. He turned towards Sehun, who stood frozen in the doorway.

“Luhan.” Sehun whispered.

Luhan’s lips twitched into a smile. “Yeah. Hi.”

Sehun’s hand slowly went to the markings on his shoulder as his eyes widened. “You... you did this to me.”

Luhan’s gaze followed Sehun’s hand, and for a moment regret flitted across his features. “Yeah. I did.”

Sehun swallowed. He remembered everything now. The kisses, the bite, the unbearable pain.

“Why did I forget?” Sehun demanded. “What did you do to me?”

“Maybe I shouldn’t have come.” Luhan said, so softly Sehun shouldn’t have been able to hear him. But he could hear him. He could hear a lot of things. The crackle of the broken air conditioner in his living room. The hum of the fridge in his kitchen. If he focussed, he could even hear the buzz of the neighbour’s television. The neighbours that lived a floor above him.

“What’s going on?” Sehun asked, and this time his voice was shaky.

Luhan moved over, still in his odd crouching position. But it didn’t look odd on him. Anyone else, yes. On him it looked natural. Cat like.

No, not cat.

“You should sit down.” Luhan said.

“I’m fine.” Sehun snapped. He was still clutching his shoulder. “Just... just explain. And sit normally. You look like a freak.”

Luhan glanced down at himself, assessing his sitting position with surprise. After a moment he awkwardly bent his legs so that he was sitting cross-legged. This position should have been normal, but it looked wrong. Luhan didn’t seem to like it either, fidgeting and scrunching up the bed sheets between his fingers.

“So.” Sehun said. “Talk.”

“You’re sure you don’t want to sit –”

“No. Just tell me what you did. And how you got into my house. Actually, tell me that first.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Luhan nodded to the window. “I used the fire escape.”

“But my window’s locked.”

“Yeah. I sort of unlocked it. And by unlocked, I mean I broke your window.”

Sehun glared at Luhan, then he remembered something else. “The fire escape’s broken. It’s like twelve feet off the ground. How did you get up?”

Luhan looked uncomfortable with the question and didn’t answer right away. Sehun wasn’t in any mood to wait for an answer. 

“Well?” He snapped.

“I jumped.”

“You jumped? Are you ing kidding me? That’s twelve feet.”

“Yeah, it was kind of tricky, at least in this form-” Luhan clamped his mouth shut. He waited a moment before speaking again. “I can understand if you don’t believe me.”

“Oh, you understand? That’s good of you, since a human jumping twelve feet is obviously believable. You probably didn’t even come in that way, did you? I bet you stole my keys last night or something.”

“Check the window, if you want.”

Sehun scowled at Luhan, but walked over to the window anyway. It slid open easily. Sehun checked the lock. It was broken.

“That doesn’t prove anything.” Sehun slammed the window shut. “You could have broken it from in here.”

“Why would I do that?”

Sehun threw up his hands. “So that I’d believe your insane story? I don’t know, you’re obviously crazy! Breaking into my apartment, biting me, drugging me-”

“Drugging you?”

“How else would I have forgotten everything!” Sehun exclaimed. He started towards his bedroom door. “I’m calling the cops. If you’re really telling the truth, why don’t you jump back down before they get here –”

Before Sehun reached the door something slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. It took Sehun a moment to realize Luhan had pounced on him from the bed, and was now crouched above him, like an animal watching its prey.

“I need you to listen to me, Sehun.” Luhan said. “I’m sorry I dragged you into this, but if you want to survive you have to listen to what I have to say.”

Maybe it was his commanding tone, maybe it was his words themselves, but whatever the reason Luhan now had Sehun’s full attention.

Suddenly, Luhan’s expression turned sad, then frustrated. He raked a hand through his hair. “Damn it.”

Sehun just stared at Luhan, listening.

“I didn’t mean it.” Luhan said. “Sehun, only listen to me if that’s what you want. I just really, really hope you will.”

Sehun felt like he had when he first stepped into his apartment, like a fog had been cleared from his mind. Blinking up at Luhan, Sehun found his voice. “I’ll listen.”

Luhan’s shoulders sagged with relief. “Thank you.”

“First,” Sehun said, “Get off me.”

For a moment, Sehun thought Luhan looked hurt. Then he got up and turned his back to Sehun.

“You said something about humans being able to jump twelve feet.” Luhan said. “See, that’s the thing. I’m not human.”

Sehun stared at Luhan’s back. “Am I supposed to believe that?”

“Yes.” Luhan said, turning around. Sehun met his eyes and had to hold back a gasp when he realized Luhan’s were glowing red.

“You have to believe it,” Luhan added, “Because pretty soon you’re not going to be human either.”

Sehun could only stare into Luhan’s red eyes, horrified. This had to be a joke. It had to be some sort of joke.

“I have to go.” Luhan said. “There’s something I need to take care of. But I’ll be back tonight, to help you.”

“Help me?” Sehun echoed.

Luhan smiled sadly. “The first time’s always the hardest. I’m sorry this happened so close to the full moon. Maybe if it hadn’t been close, it wouldn’t have happened at all. Usually I can resist, but...” Luhan shook his head, as if shaking the thought. “Never mind.”

Luhan crossed to the window. Pushing it up he crouched on the sill, but paused before climbing on the fire escape. He met Sehun’s gaze again, his own still red.

“I’ll be back tonight.” He said. “I promise I’ll be here for you. You won’t go through it alone.”

Before Sehun could find his voice, Luhan was gone, disappearing down the fire escape. A split second later and Sehun was running to his window, climbing out like Luhan had. He reached the railing just in time to see Luhan crouch at the bottom platform, where the platform broke away.

Luhan jumped, landing nimbly in the alley over twelve feet below.



Sehun picked up the phone. Hung it up. Picked it up again. He did this ten times until he finally called Jongin.

Jongin didn’t pick up. Sehun left a message.

“I need to talk to you. This is important. Call me back. My house phone.”

Sehun hung up.

If Jongin actually called him back, he didn’t know what he would say. If he told him what Luhan had said, he’d call Sehun a crazy liar. Then he’d probably demand to know why he’d included Luhan in his lie, when not hours before Sehun had said he couldn’t remember who Luhan was.

Sehun lay on the couch in his living room, staring at bits of plaster missing in the ceiling. He could feel the springs pressing into his back, and what was more he could hear them creak whenever he shifted the tiniest amount. His bed would be more comfortable, but Luhan had been sitting there. Even if it had only been a couple of hours ago it felt like Luhan was still there, like his presence was stuck to everything in Sehun’s bedroom. He swore he could even still smell Luhan, a sweet but tangy scent that both intrigued and excited him. What didn’t excite him was the fact that he was now fabricating scents, along with hallucinating red-eyed boys jumping inhuman distances and standing up without a scratch.

Rolling on his side, Sehun cringed at the noisy instrumental the springs were practising inside his couch. That didn’t make sense either. Sehun blasted his ipod enough so that his hearing should be super dead, not super strong.

What had Luhan meant by not human? And what was supposed to happen tonight?

Sehun jolted up. Something was wrong. There had been a noise. Or a smell. Something. Sehun didn’t know what, but something had changed.

Slowly, Sehun padded into his bedroom. It was coming from here, he knew. It was a scent now. Definitely a scent. Not the scent he’d attributed to Luhan. Similar, but sharper. Not as sweet.

Sehun edged towards his window. Climbing out onto the fire-escape, Sehun winced as the metal platform creaked beneath him. Normally he’d barely notice the noise, but now it scraped against his ears.

In the alley below, Sehun caught a movement. It was almost night time, and the alley was full of shadows, but Sehun knew there was something there. Something even darker than the shadows.

Suddenly, a pair of red eyes locked on him.

Sehun was frozen. Those eyes. They looked just like Luhan’s. But they weren’t. He couldn’t explain how he knew, but he did.

The eyes disappeared, and the shadows moved in a way Sehun couldn’t follow. He didn’t understand what was happening until the smell got stronger.

Whoever – whatever – was down there, was coming up. And if Luhan could jump twelve feet, this thing probably could too.

Sehun turned to shove his window back open, but it stuck, leaving barely enough room for Sehun to get his hand through, let alone his entire body. Sehun cursed and cast a quick glance at the alley. He still couldn’t see anything, but then he heard a faint whoosh and knew the thing had made the jump. With no other options, Sehun started climbing up the fire escape.

As much as Sehun liked dancing, and as good as he was at it, he was generally clumsy in all other aspects of life. Because of this, Sehun kept expecting himself to trip up and fall down the stairs – or worse, over the railing. Remarkably, he didn’t once lose his balance. But Sehun didn’t exactly have time to marvel over that now.

He’d almost reached the top of the fire escape, and he still didn’t know what to do. The foreign scent was even stronger, and he could hear the faint swish of footsteps, so rapid he thought there was more than one person. Or maybe not a person at all.

Reaching the top, Sehun caught his breath when he saw the roof of the apartment stretched flat before him. He caught his breath again, even deeper, when he looked down and saw how far up he was.

Sehun wished he had his phone. He could call for help, however much help the police would be against this mysterious red-eyed shadow chasing him. Still, at least he wouldn’t feel absolutely helpless.

He didn’t have much time. Sehun knew that. He sprinted across the roof, hoping their might be a way down on the other side. Even though he’d been living in the apartment for a year, he couldn’t remember if it had fire escapes on both sides. Hopefully it did.

As it turns out, it didn’t. But the building next to it did. There was an alley in between the two buildings, however, and no way for Sehun to reach the fire escape.

Unless he jumped.

Sehun’s heart beat even faster. No, he couldn’t make the jump. It was one thing watching Luhan, another entirely to do it himself. Besides, the drop was well over fifty feet. If he missed, he’d die. Human or not.

Except the jump across... that couldn’t be much more than seven feet. Eight at most.

Twenty four hours ago, that kind of distance, with this kind of risk, would have seemed impossible for Sehun. But he’d seen Luhan jump more than that in his arc towards the alley. Easily more than eight horizontally. Plus, Sehun didn’t have to jump right across. If he aimed it right, he could land on the platform a few feet below where he was standing...

Who was he kidding? No way could he jump that far, let alone aim it properly. He’d officially gone insane.

A howl ripped through the air.

Sehun spun around. At the other end of the roof was the dark silhouette of a wolf. Sehun swore it was staring right at him. Then it broke into a sprint.

He was going to die. If he didn’t do something, Sehun knew he was going to die.

He ran towards the wolf.

They got closer alarmingly fast. Even for a wolf, that kind of speed seemed unreal. But maybe the wolf wasn’t the only one going fast.

Sehun was so close to the wolf now he could make out the different shades in its coat. Dark grey, some silver that caught the last rays of sunlight. The sunlight also happened to catch its super sharp fangs as it snapped its jaw at Sehun.

There was maybe a quarter of the roof left between them when Sehun did a one eighty degree turn. He kept running, even faster now that he couldn’t see the wolf. But he could hear it snarling behind him.

The edge of the roof came into sight. Sehun knew he had to jump. He had to do it, without hesitation, otherwise he’d fall short. He had to do it.

A couple of steps away from the edge, Sehun jumped.

A second too late he realized he should have crouched, like Luhan had. This kind of tactless jump, just throwing himself into the air, was completely unnatural. And useless. He was going to fall.

Then, suddenly, the fire escape was in front of him and he was slamming into the railing. Sehun gripped it with all his might, panic coursing through him as he started to tip backwards, gravity pulling him towards a fatal fall. Biting his lip so hard he tasted blood, Sehun pulled himself up so he was hanging over the railing, which cut painfully into his middle. With a grunt and final burst of effort, Sehun toppled onto the platform.

All Sehun could do for a moment was slouch there, panting. Remembering the wolf, Sehun jerked around, eyes snapping to the top of his apartment building. The creature was still there, perched on the edge, watching him. After a moment, it crouched.

A steady stream of curses flowed through Sehun’s head. Of course the wolf would be able to jump. It had made it onto his old fire escape, just like Luhan. Something like this would be easy, and Sehun didn’t have the energy to run anymore. He’d risked his life and still ended up trapped.

The wolf stayed crouched a moment and Sehun braced himself for it to pounce. But it didn’t happen. Instead, the wolf straightened up and shook itself. With one final look at Sehun, it turned and disappeared.

Sehun couldn’t believe it. He stared at the empty spot on the roof for a long moment. The wolf had him cornered, didn’t it? Why give up now?

Deciding not to push his luck, Sehun forced himself to his feet. He needed to get off this fire escape and somewhere safe as soon as possible, before the wolf came back for round two.

As he stumbled down the stairs, Sehun realized he could still pick up the wolf’s scent. It was no longer overwhelming, and seemed to be growing fainter by the second. When Sehun was a few flights above ground level, the scent got a bit stronger. Did that mean the wolf was coming back, trying for a ground attack?

The moment Sehun reached the bottom of the stairs, he hurried down the sidewalk, away from his apartment. And, what was more important, away from the scent. For now, getting as far from the scent as possible was his only plan.

Sehun felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end as he walked down the street. Glancing over his shoulder, Sehun was surprised to find his attention drawn to the now pitch black sky. Against the blaring lights of the city, Sehun couldn’t make out any stars. But he could make out the moon.

The full moon.

A shiver ran Sehun’s spine, and he felt his bite mark throb. He wasn’t sure why, but he suddenly had the feeling he was running out of time.



The pain was too much to bear.

Clutching his shoulder, Sehun stumbled down the sidewalk. The few pedestrians he passed gave him worried looks. Worried for him or for themselves, Sehun wasn’t sure. No one had offered him help since he’d snapped at a woman a few blocks back. She’d recoiled, horrified. Sehun wasn’t sure why she’d reacted that badly. Maybe his eyes had started glowing red too.

Sehun didn’t know where he was going but he didn’t care anymore. The foreign scent was gone, and so was any trace of Luhan. Luhan, who’d said he’d be there for him when night came. Luhan who’d said he wouldn’t go through it alone.

Sehun still wasn’t sure exactly what ‘it’ was, but it hurt. A lot.

Pain radiated from his bite mark. Sehun clamped his mouth shut to avoid crying out. Up ahead he saw an alley. When he reached it he hobbled down, away from the lights and the noise and the wide eyed civilians.

Sehun pressed his back against the alley wall, sliding down beside a garbage bin. It smelled disgusting, even more so than usual, but it hid him from the street. He pulled his legs up to his chest and smashed his head against his knees, over and over. He wanted it to hurt more than the pain in his shoulder, which was spreading through his body like it did the night before, just slower. Instead of feeling like he was on fire, Sehun felt like his body was gradually being torn apart from the inside.

With shaky fingers Sehun pulled at the neck of his shirt. He pulled so hard he actually ripped it, baring his shoulder against the cold of the alley. He didn’t care. It made it easier to get at his wound. He squeezed it, then fisted his hand and started hitting it, but nothing dulled the pain. Finally Sehun dug his nails into the marks.

He gasped as he tore his own flesh, but more in surprise than pain – everything was dulled compared to the pain inside his body. Sehun pulled back his hand and stared at it. Even though the alley should have been dark, since there weren’t any lights, Sehun could still clearly see the blood on the tips of his sharp, black nails. Sehun stared at his nails, stunned. Then an even stronger wave of pain coursed through his body and he curled in on himself, falling against the alley ground. It was wet and cold and revolting, but Sehun didn’t have the strength to get up. He didn’t have the strength to do anything but moan and hug himself, waiting for it to pass.

Why wasn’t Luhan here? Luhan should be here, gently rubbing Sehun’s back and apologizing.

This was all Luhan’s fault. Luhan did this to him. The next time he saw Luhan –

Sehun screamed as his bones started breaking and his flesh tore away. It was too much. He slammed his head against the concrete ground as hard as he could. His eyes snapped open from the impact, and for a moment the world was very bright and very unfocused. Then it was very dark.