Hoya slowly opened his eyes. He turned to Seo In, and his heart stopped. He was crumpled in a heap on the ground. “Seo In, are you okay?” he crawled over to him.

Seo In’s face was swollen, tears running down his cheeks. “Seo In,” Hoya reached for him, but Seo In’s hand flew up and grabbed his wrist.

“Leave me alone, Hoya.”

“I was just-”

“I said, LEAVE ME ALONE!” Hoya bit his lip as he tried not to cry. He didn’t like being yelled at, nor was he used to it. He took a deep breath, and stood up.

“Fine, wallow in your self-pity, or whatever your wallowing in. Find me when you’ve decided to act mature.” He stomped off in a huff.

Seo In just laid there, mentally exhausted and depressed. The Undertaker had killed his mother, and for all he knew, defiled him. What was he playing at? Why didn’t he just come right after them? It didn’t make sense.

He rolled over, looking at the dark sky, or what he could see past the canopy. Small whisps of lights fluttered past, softly illuminating the darkness he hoped would swallow him.

He said he was weak, yet he was able to force him into a fixed position. He had been vulnerable, why wait? Why not kill him at that point in time?

What was he after?

*****

Hoya found himself by a lake. He threw himself onto the forest floor, and closed his eyes. His head was spinning. He didn’t know what was wrong with Seo In, but he needed to get over it, fast. They didn’t know exactly what they were up against, or how to fight him.

What were they going to do? He looked over at the lake. The waves softly lapped at the shore. The lake was slightly curved on the other side, where a tall tree stood. It towered over the lake, it’s branches standing out proudly, boasting its leaves as they housed the floating lights.

One light softly floated over the lake, and made its way to his face. It was small and warm. As he took a closer look, he put a finger out to touch it.

“Don’t disturb them, boy.” A gruff voice called out to him. Hoya turned, and his eyes grew wide.

A tall figure in black, tattered robes stood over him. The brim of his hat was too low to see his eyes, but Hoya didn’t need to see his face to take a guess at who this was.

“You’re the Undertaker, aren’t you?” he asked. The man stepped forward, smiling wide enough that Hoya thought his face would crack. He looked absolutely ancient.

“Yes, yes I am. You’re quite a smart fellow, aren’t you, Hoya?” Hoya looked up at him, puzzled.

“How do you know my name?” The man laughed. It was harsh, almost a scratching cough.

“I know many things, but mostly, because I know your father.” Hoya looked back at the lake.

“What are those things, anyway?” he asked, looking out at the lake. The soft tufts of light floated lightly on the breeze. Some strayed into the lake, leaving small ripples in the water as they grazed the surface.

He reached out his hand and softly poking one. It felt like cotton, and shot off as she pulled away.

 ”These are souls.” He explained, taking a cane from beneath his cloak and softly putting his hand down. Hoya shrank back from his touch.

 “Oh, really?” she asked, making a mental note not to poke any more of them. “They seem so delicate.”

   “Indeed.” The Undertaker lifted his head and watched them pass by. “Some of the most important parts of ourselves are the most delicate.” He explained. “Such as our souls or our hearts.” He looked down at Hoya, putting his hand on his shoulder.

Hoya’s muscles became immobile. “Don’t worry, boy. It’s not you I’m after.” He laughed. “If it was, I’d have killed you last night when I had my little chat with your pet.” Hoya blushed. His eyes shot upward towards the Undertaker.

“Yes, I was there last night. I had the chance to kill you, but I didn’t.” he looked back at Hoya once more. “Like I said, boy. It’s not you I’m after.” He looked off. “They’ll come. And then I’ll have what I want. That is, if Tony doesn’t this up like Heejun did.”

He grabbed onto Hoya by his arm. “Don’t worry, Hoya. This won’t hurt, too much.” He snapped his fingers, and they disappeared. The sudden ‘pop!’ made the lights jump, but other than the imprints in the grass, there was no sign that anyone had been there just moments before.

*****

Tony stood over Seo In, who had fallen back into a fitful sleep. He smirked, looking down on the young Lycan.

“So young and naïve, how quaint.” He stood over him, and promptly kicked him.

Seo In jolted awake, looking around, and finally looking up. There was a tall man standing above him. His ears stuck out a little bit, which almost made him laugh. Almost. Perhaps if the man wasn’t looking at him so menacingly, he would have.

“So, you’re the Lycan prince, are you?” an evil smile played across his lips. "The Undertaker has a message for you to take back to the others.” He closed in on him.

Seo In shot up and tried to run, but Tony blocked him off, grabbing him by the throat. He ran, Seo In’s neck in his hands, and slammed him up against a tree so hard it began to splinter.

Seo In groaned in pain.

“Listen and listen well, Lycan, I’ll only say this once,” he whispered to him. “The Undertaker has taken Hoya. If the wolves have any wish to have him back, then they must give us the Pure Soul, or else his body will be the next that they find.” He smiled cruelly. “Besides yours,”

Seo In’s eyes grew wide.

*****

Taemin and Kangta looked out from their window. Taemin looked up at Kangta. “Honey, we have to do something, we can’t just sit here. If Heejun has stolen Hoya, then we need to go and tell the wolves about it.” Kangta shook his head.

“I’m sure they already know, besides,” he said, seeming to strain to hear something. “I fear we have bigger matters to deal with.” He took Taemin by the hand.

“What are you doing, Kangta?” he asked. Kangta turned to him.

“They may not be our people anymore, but you have a point, we have to contact them somehow. Hoya is on the outside of the barrier, right?”

Taemin slowly nodded. “As far as I know,” he said. Kangta nodded.

“That means we can get back in. Come on, we need to get started.”

“But wait!” Taemin pulled back on his arm. “Where would we even start?” Kangta sighed as he thought to himself.

“Ah,” he exclaimed, letting go of Taemin’s hand.

“Kangta? What are you doing?” he asked.

Kangta emerged from their bedroom a few moments later, carrying a duffel bag. “This probably isn’t going to be a quick in-and-out thing, we might be there for quite some time.”

“Where are we going?” Taemin asked.

“Mieda. Come on, let’s go.” He grabbed onto his arm, and they rushed out of their house.

‘Back into the woods, why does it always come back to Kyungsoo?’ Taemin asked himself, he knew that’s where they needed to go first.

*****

Seo In lied there in a daze. How had Tony found them? He was certain that he had chosen correctly when they had hidden in Macalania.

His head was still spinning when he opened his eyes. His heart began beating faster. They had Hoya, and they wanted the Pure Soul. Problem was, he didn’t know where to get that.

Tony had told him to tell the wolves. Seo In sighed. He struggled to get up.

Seo In doubled over as he clutched his stomach. He looked down. Blood was seeping out of a deep cut wound.

He didn’t remember how he got it, but he knew Tony had something to do with it. He looked around.

The clearing he was in was familiar.

Too familiar…

“No,” Seo In gasped, looking around. There it was, the entrance to the wolf tribe’s territory. Right across the bridge. He had no choice. It was face Kai, or let Hoya die.

He slowly stood up, steadying himself against the nearest tree.

He carefully made his way across the log, slipping twice. He caught himself and crawled the remaining length of the log.

He fell over, clutching his side, trying to stifle his cry of pain. He struggled to his feet, and kept going.

As he went on, he could hear whispers through the trees. His feet dragged along the dirt path as he made his way to the opening. His vision was blurry.

He reached out his hand as he reached the clearing. He could see Kai, his braids down his broad shoulders as his back was turned to him.

As he tried to call out, his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he fell forward.

*****

Kai turned around, his eyes wide. There was someone there, crumpled on the forest floor. He rushed forward, and stopped.

‘Oh,’ he thought, ‘It’s just Seo In, and lucky me, he’s lost my son. Again.’ Before he went off to fetch Kyungsoo and the others, yet again, he caught a scent of something. He turned back.

He bent down, and gasped, trying to hold down his lunch. Seo In’s skin was slowly starting to split open. There was a small wound next to the gash in his stomach. It looked, like it was breathing.

Kai’s eyes widened. “Kris,” he whispered. He whipped around. “KRIS!”

Kris ran out of his cave and sprinted over to Kai. He nearly fell over when he saw Seo In.

“What the hell happened?” he asked, looking at the gash in his stomach.

“Never mind that one, look here,” he pointed to the smaller one, right next to it. Kris examined it more closely.

He gently took a finger, and poked it. The skin split apart just a little more, and settled back down. As if it had taken a breath. Kris turned to Kai.

“I’ve, I’ve never seen this before,” he said. “I’m, I’m scared Kai,” he whispered. “What do we do?” he asked. Kai stood up, at a loss for words. Kris didn’t know, and Kyungsoo would just worry. He looked back down.

“Get him to your cave, I’ll watch over him. Then go fetch Minho and Siwon, but alert no one else.” Kris nodded, and carefully picking up Seo In, shot off towards his cave.

A few minutes later, he came back, his face placid. “I told Tao to leave him be, but make sure to check on him every once in a while.” He explained.

“Good, go get them then,” Kai instructed, looking around. Kris nodded, and ran out of the clearing as fast as he could.

*****

Kai was standing outside Kris’s cave, anxiously awaiting their arrival. It wasn’t long before he heard them in the distance. He slowly walked over to the entrance of the clearing, as to not alert anyone that anything had been wrong.

‘Not that Kris running about and Seo In coming here covered in blood helped.’ He thought to himself. As he came to the opening, he could see Minho, Siwon and Kris running. Kai came forward and held out his hands.

He looked over his shoulder and ran towards them. “Don’t look like anything is wrong,” he panted. “If you look like that, Kyungsoo will worry and try to get involved. It’s best not to, especially since Hoya didn’t come back with him.”

Siwon’s eyes widened. “Where is he then?” Kai shook his head.

“I don’t know, Siwon.”

“Kai, my son would never just let anyone take him,” Kai held his hand up.

“I know, I know, Siwon.” He looked back. “We need to hurry. Come on.”

*****

Inside the cave, Kris told Tao to leave, to which he looked at the others suspiciously, and nodded.

Siwon ran over to where is son lie sleeping. He looked over at Kai. “What, what exactly is wrong with him?” he asked. Kai and Kris looked at each other.

Kris came forward and removed the fur cover. He pointed to his stomach, ushering Minho over. “Take a look, and tell me if you’ve seen this before.”

Minho came over and gasped, holding one hand over his mouth, and one over his stomach. The hold had grown in size by half an inch, and the ‘breathing’ effect was more evident.

“Oh, God! What happened?” Kai and Kris shook their heads.

“I don’t know, I just found him like this, but it was a bit smaller when I found him,” Kai said, looking over at Siwon and back at Minho. “You’ve never seen this?” he asked.

Minho shook his head. “But I don’t need medicine to know who did this,” he said, his eyes welling up with tears.

Siwon shot up and grabbed Minho by his shoulders. “Who, who has done this to my son?” Tears ran down Minho’s face.

“One of the clan elders from our old clan, my teacher, Tony.” Kris’s eyes widened.

“What exactly are we dealing with?” he asked.

“Voodoo.” Kris looked at the skin again. Seo In cringed in his sleep as Kris heard a small tear, like leather. The hole was ‘breathing’ deeper now.

“How do we stop it?” he asked. Minho shook his head.

“I don’t know, he never taught me, he just showed me,” Siwon turned to Kai.

“Did he tell you anything, Seo In, I mean?” Kai shook his head.

“He was out when I found him.”

“We have to wake him up then, maybe, maybe he knows something,” Siwon became panicked. Minho gently reeled Siwon away from Seo In.

“Calm down, don’t scare him. Chances are, this happened after Tony injured him. He might not know what’s happening.”

“Ah!” Kris fell backwards, and began kicking his legs back as he crawled away from Seo In.” Kai grabbed his shoulders.

“Kris, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“It, it, it talked to me, Kai.” His eyes were wide with fear. “It ing talked to me!” Kai went over to Seo In.

The hole’s ‘breathing’ was louder now, a small raspy voice emanated from his abdomen. “Bring the Pure Soul to the Undertaker, or the sons die,” it whispered. Kai’s eyes grew wide. He slowly backed away.

“Kai, what’s wrong?” Kai ran his hands through his hair.

“They aren’t after the children,” he whispered. “They’re after Kyungsoo.”

Just then, Kyungsoo entered the cave, Tao was closing in on his heels.

“What’s going on here?” he demanded. Tao and Kyungsoo rushed forward, seeing the men’s faces, and Kris on the floor.

“I told you, Kyungsoo, I heard whispering coming from him, but he’s asleep.” Kyungsoo moved Kai out of the way as he headed over to Seo In.

“Kyungsoo, I-” Kyungsoo held up his hand.

“I can handle this, Kai.” He bent over Seo In.

“You!” His eyes traveled to Seo In’s abdomen There was a good sized hole, moving. “The Pure Soul! Come to me,” Kyungsoo stood up, and took a deep breath.

It took everything he had not to jump backwards and scream. “What do you want?” he asked.

“You,” it whispered. “The Pure Soul, for them.” It shuddered as the skin settled.

“You’ll give them back, will you?” he asked.

“Kyungsoo, no!” Kai tried to interject, but Kyungsoo held up his hand to silence him.

“Yes,” the hole hissed back. “They will be returned, unharmed, if the Pure Soul comes to me,” The hole closed, only to open once more. But this time, a sunken eye appeared.

Kyungsoo wanted to vomit. He took a deep breath to settle himself. “Leave him, or you get  nothing.”

“Not until I know that the Pure Soul comes,” it whispered harshly.

“How?”

“A small sacrifice,” it whispered, looking at his wrist.

“Kyungsoo, what are you doing?” Siwon asked. Kyungsoo turned to Kris’s table, and took a hunting knife.

“Kyungsoo, Kyungsoo, no!” Minho, tried to go forward, but Tao held him back.

Kyungsoo slit his wrist, and held it over Seo In’s stomach. The hold began to slide along the ridges of his abdomen, and drank the blood that trickled downward.

Seo In’s skin began to ripple. The gash slowly faded. “Tomorrow, at sunset. Come to lake. I will bring your son, wolf.” The hole slowly dissipated into itself, and there wasn’t a trace left as it disappeared.

Kyungsoo turned to the others.

“What have you done?” Minho whispered. “What have you DONE?!” Siwon held Minho back, his arms flexing with the force of him pulling away as hard as he could.

“Minho, I-”

“He’ll kill you, Kyungsoo. He’ll kill you, and then there is no guarantee that anyone will live.” Kyungsoo looked over to Minho. Tears fell down his cheeks. “He’ll kill you, and then he’ll destroy us all!”

“I’m no fool, Minho. I know what he wants. Heejun’s deadline is past. We’re not talking about immortality anymore. But he has my son, and I won’t let him hurt him, or anyone else.” He turned to Kai.

“I’m sorry, Kai.” He grabbed his wrist.

“I won’t let you, you can’t do this.” Kyungsoo held onto his hand, and kissed it. “He has our son, Kai, and he would have taken Siwon’s. I don’t want anyone else getting hurt.” He gently touched his face.

“You’ll be alright, I have faith in you.” He slowly let go of his hand, and left the cave.

Kris turned to Tao. “What have you done?”  Tao’s eyes filled with tears.

“How was I supposed to know? There was something wrong with him, and you wouldn’t tell me! Besides, Hoya didn’t come back! There was obviously something wrong that you weren’t telling me!” Kris shook his head.

“Well, now we’re all dead.”

“Don’t count your eggs before they hatch,” said Tao.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“We’ll all have to wait and see, won’t we?” he asked, turning away and following Kyungsoo. Kris turned to Kai, who was on the verge of dissolving into tears.

‘First his son, now Kyungsoo, I don’t know how much longer until he breaks,’ Kris thought to himself, walking over and wrapping his arm around his friend.

He couldn’t even tell him that everything would be alright, because to be honest, he didn’t know.

END OF CHAPTER 10