It was currently seven-thirty in the evening, the sky a deep shade of navy, dotted with glimmering lights that twinkled and glittered against the dark background. Daehyun and I exited the main office after having collected our student passes and filled out all the necessary forms we weren’t able to do the first time we stepped foot into the school.

“What powers do you think you’ll have?” I asked my brother as we made our way back to our dorms.

He looked at me with a deadpanned expression. “Do I look like I know the answer to that?”

“I have a good feeling what it’ll be,” I said, and he gave me a questioning gaze. “Stupidity. And maybe the power to make someone feel like killing you.”

Daehyun rolled his eyes. “Grow up, would you?”

I pulled my bag to the front and ped it, rummaging through it for my wallet to put my student card in when I noticed something was amiss. I frowned and looked around my bag a little more.

“What’s wrong?” Daehyun asked, noticing my worried expression.

“My wallet isn’t here,” I told him, still going through my things.

“What?” He frowned, glancing into my bag which was by this time, zipped all the way open. The contents inside was threatening to spill out at any moment now.

Just then, a sign of recognition flashed through my eyes as I recalled something. I stopped rummaging through my bag and lifted my eyes to look at Daehyun.”I think I left it in the biology lab.”

He looked back at me cautiously. “Are you sure?”

I nodded. I remembered I had taken out every single thing in my bag during the start of biology lessons just to find the stationeries that had fallen out of my ped pencil box. I must have placed everything back in except for my wallet.

“Can you go back to get it with me?” I asked him.

Daehyun scowled. “No way. Go take it yourself.”

I grabbed his arm and pulled him along with me, heading towards the direction of the East Wing. “Let me rephrase that. Come with me to go get back my wallet.”

“Why must I have such a foolish and careless girl as my sister,” He groaned, getting dragged along with me towards the dimly lit hallways.

“At least the feeling’s mutual,” I told him. “Don’t think I don’t feel the same way as you do.”

There were hardly anyone in the East Wing at this point of time, everyone already done with dinner and were probably on their way back to the dorms. The only students lingering around here were either because of after school activities or that they have projects that were overdue and had to stay back to finish them. The biology lab was located on the second floor, the room all the way right at the end of the hallway. The only source of light then came from the moon, filtering and cascading its warm glow through the translucent windows. The metal lockers reflected the moonlight, making them look as if they were covered in a coat of silver. As Daehyun and I walked through the vacant hallway, the only sound that could be heard was the squeaking of our shoes and the weird, unexplainable sounds coming from places we probably would never think to look in.

“This place is really creepy,” I mumbled, trying to ease the tension and filling the silence hanging between us and the hallway.

“It is creepy,” Daehyun muttered back, his eyes wider than usual to accommodate himself to the darkness.

Just then, we heard the crashing of wood against the linoleum floor. The two of us swivelled our heads to look behind our shoulders, trying to make out just who or what had created that noise. After several seconds of holding our breath and looking all around us, the sound that we had heard just seconds ago failed to make its reappearance. I looked at Daehyun, who in turn shrugged and pushed me lightly on my shoulders.

“Hurry up and get your wallet so we can get out of here,” He said, and for once, I listened to him without much of a complaint.

However, not after I had taken five steps, the same sound could be heard. This time though, we were very sure it wasn’t just our ears playing a trick on us. We were also very sure that whoever or whatever had created that noise was causing this uncomfortable and thick atmosphere around us that we can’t help but feel.

“You heard that right?” I asked Daehyun, my voice subconsciously lowered to no more than a whisper.

Without answering, Daehyun just nodded his head.

“And that couldn’t have been made by a strong wind, right?” I asked again, and Daehyun looked at me with a really serious expression on his face.

“Do you think it’s a theft?” He suggested.

I frowned. ”But Mr. Shin said the security here is really strong. And come on Dae, it’s a school filled with magical creatures. Who in their right mind will dare to sneak into monster territory?”

Daehyun scoffed. “Oh, I don’t know. Someone who is much stronger than all the students here combined?”

As if to prove his theory right, the noise could be heard again, except this time, it seemed to be knocking against a door. Or to be exact, the door of the biology lab. The two of us stared right at the wooden frame, our gazes narrowing down so that we were slowly blocking out whatever that were in our peripherals and focusing only on that rectangular piece of wooden wall standing between us and whatever was on the other side.

“Danbi,” Daehyun whispered, his hand grasping onto my forearm and tugging me backwards. “I think we should leave.”

Trust me, I really did want to. I wanted to leave that place so badly, or even better, wished that I never came here in the first place. But somehow, my legs were betraying my thoughts, frozen as if glued to the ground that I was standing on. Daehyun tugged at my arms, and yet I couldn’t move an inch, my eyes still trained on the door.

“Danbi,” Daehyun hissed, glaring at me with urgent eyes. “Let’s go.”

The noise came again, and this time I can see the door that was being knocked by whoever behind it shake. The doorknob shook in protest, the hinges that were so deeply drilled into the wood threatening to come loose. However, unlike before, it kept banging against the door one after the other. My heart hammered in time with each bang, and just like the knocking that came out louder and stronger than the previous ones, so did my heart. My breath hitched in my throat, and a feeling of dread climbed its way up my nerves, filling my brain with horrid images of whatever my imaginations could fabricate just by the sounds coming from behind that door.

“Danbi, come on!” Daehyun shouted, his voice far from a whisper and coming out desperate and dire, his tug on my arm strong enough this time to knock me off my frozen state and cause me to stumble along with him. He dragged me towards the direction we came from, and now completely shaken off of my previous shock, I willed my legs to carry me faster and further away from the noise that was still persisting behind us.

I knew I had the tendency to make the worst decisions ever. And I knew I was a sign of bad luck, as what my friends had always jokingly deemed me as, a black hole. This just wasn’t the right time for my luck to be a busybody and try to be helpful. But as always, things can’t go the way you plan it to, and in fact, when it comes down to me, things always has a way of turning its back against me and do the exact opposite of what I want. And for this particular situation, it was no different. Because right at that moment, the door to the biology lab burst, and I mean literally burst open and out rushed a…a...

“What is that?” I managed to say, and Daehyun turned around to look at what I had seen only to halt in his footsteps, resulting in me bumping into his back. His eyes widened at the sight presented in front of us, and my jaws went slacked at the creature standing just a good hundred metres away from us.

Because right there in the middle of the hallway was a monster that stood at least three feet tall and two arms wide. Its skin, or might I say, scales glimmered a revolting green, with silver streaks that reflected the moonlight casted onto it. It stood on all four of its legs, resembling the body of a dog and yet had the horrid face of a hyena-monkey hybrid. It was breathing so loudly we could hear it from where we were standing, and it flared its razor-sharp teeth for all to see, its eyes scanning the entirety of the hallway.

I held my breath, the only thing running through my mind at that point of time was simply for it to overlook the two figure standing just right in front of him. I had a feeling he wasn’t a big fan of humans. Or in fact, he could be a huge fan of humans, the satisfaction that comes from ripping us into shreds and then slowly savouring us. Just one bite, and I’m sure those canine teeth would be able to pierce right through the core of our bones.

But like I said, with me around, things always turn out the complete opposite of what I had planned. The monster scanned his surroundings with a slow precision, and as if in slow motion, his green eyes slowly befell upon us. It took him a moment to recognize us, and I could even see him lift his head to sniff out our scent before a sign of recognition passed through those cruel eyes of his. It tilted his head, surveying us, inspecting us, and I felt Daehyun’s hand around my arm tighten.

“Danbi,” He said, his voice so soft I could barely hear him. But I didn’t need him to say anything else, because even if he didn’t it would have been a natural human instinct even for such a foolish person as I. As if someone had given us a cue, Daehyun and I our heels and fled the place, rushing towards the staircase that was our only ticket to safety. However, our sudden movement must have activated the monster’s beastly instinct too because below us, the ground rumbled with each step the monster took, causing it to shake unstably beneath us. I can feel the vibrations, each step it took getting louder and stronger as he approaches us. It let out a frightening growl, and I felt my insides turn inside out at that sound. That noise could only be produced by something inhumane, and that was what it was. Inhumane, and completely oblivious to anything except the two kids running away from him.

“What the hell is that?” I managed to scream out, fear and dread quickly settling down into every single corners of my mind and body.

“I don’t know,” Daehyun shouted back. “And I’m not staying to find out.”

It was a wrong choice for me to look behind my shoulder, because when I did, it only caused my insides to lurch and I felt like throwing up everything I had ate for dinner. Because the horrid thing was catching up with us, though it doesn’t surprise me with its large body and strong, powerful legs. If a normal dog can outrun a human, of course this monster that was five times as big as a dog can catch up with us in just four strides.

All I could make out then was its face, how his mouth seeming to be tilted up into a sinister smile, as if he knew that however much we run, he’d still be able to catch us. It was as if he knew we were a lost cause, and he will have the upper hand in the end. His green eyes showed it all, and that was the last thing I saw before that monster made a huge leap to close the twenty metre distance between us and landing just right in front of us.

Daehyun and I came to a halt, and we both tumbled back in shock. I mimicked my brother’s footsteps, slowly shuffling our way backwards to increase the distance between us and the monster. However, the monster followed our movements too, taking small and taunting steps forward, closing whatever distance we had placed between us.

“Danbi,” Daehyun said, his lips hardly moving as his eyes was focused only on the thing in front of us. “I need you to run and go get help.”

His words shocked me, so much that I tore my gaze away from the monster to look at him. “What?”

“I’ll try to hold it back,” Daehyun said.

I was flabbergasted. Is my brother out of his mind? “No. You’re coming with me.”

A look of desperation flashed through my brother’s eyes. “Both of us won’t be able to make it out safely. One of us have to stay here.”

“Oh, so you’re playing the hero card now, huh?” I scoffed.

The look in Daehyun’s eyes hardened. “It’s not the time to joke around now, Danbi. This is serious.”

“I know it is! That’s why I can’t just leave you here. You’re going to get killed!” I snapped.

I don’t understand why my brother can’t see through this. Yes, one of us might be able to get out unharmed. But that meant one of us would have to get hurt in the process. No, scratch that. One of us will get killed. And my brother is sacrificing himself to be in that position. How can a sister let her brother do such a thing?

“Go,” Daehyun said with a firm voice, letting go of my arm for the first time since we saw the monster. The warmth that encircled my wrist was dissapeared and vapourized almost immediately, and I took note of the fear and uncertainty that crept up my heart without my brother’s safe and firm touch. Daehyun used his arms to push me backwards as he took a stand in front of me.”Go!”

However, as if the monster has had enough of the show we were presenting in front of him, he made a lunge towards my brother. I let out a scream against my own will as I saw my brother fall to the ground with the monster just above him, it’s paw holding him down by the shoulders. Daehyun writhed around on the ground, his hands in front of him to try to hold back the monster.

“Danbi, go get help!” 

I felt my heart stop beating for a second, my eyes wide in shock as all I could do was stare at Daehyun vulnerably lying below the monster who had his frenzy and hungry green eyes trained on him, his sharp teeth dangerously close to Daehyun’s face.

He’s going to die. That was the only thing that ran through my mind at that point of time. He’s going to die, and neither of us can do anything about it.

The monster emitted a low growl, and at the sight of Daehyun still struggling below him, I felt something snap inside of me.

No. Daehyun can’t do anything. But I can.

My eyes scanned the dim hallway, trying to find something, anything that I can use against the beast. And as if luck was on my side – finally – I caught sight of a broomstick lying at the corner of the hallway, leaning comfortably against the side of a locker. It’s not sharp and it probably won’t be enough, but it was all we had now. And so I ran towards it, grabbing on firmly to the wooden stick and rushing back to the monster. Without even thinking twice, I struck the broom against the side of the monster.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your size?” I screamed, hitting it repetitively.

The monster switched his attention from my brother to I, and I noticed the hunger in his green eyes turn into one of fury and rage. I felt my blood run cold under my skin when his gaze lingered on me.

“Danbi,” Daehyun said, his voice and eyes filled to the brim with fear. I realized a little too late that it wasn’t fear for what was about to happen to us. It was fear solely for what was going to happen to me.

I must have looked really useless to the monster, because instead of pouncing on me to gobble me up whole, all it did was raise its paw and swipe it down against me. I felt myself get thrown back a good three metres, and I skidded to a stop on the linoleum floor with a loud screech, letting out another cry of pain. My hands burned not only because of the friction, but because of the scratch mark the beast had left on my right arm. It burned so badly I felt as if my hands were stuck into a boiling pot of lava, my skin slowly melting away and my flesh rotting under the heat of the liquid. I didn’t even dare to look it, my breathing coming out shallow and ragged at the intensity of the pain coursing through me.

Daehyun’s groan brought me back to the real world, and when I opened my once tightly-closed eyes, I saw Daehyun still in his position below the beast. The monster had paid no attention to me, as if I was not even worthy of his precious time, and instead was back to looking at my brother with ravenous eyes. Daehyun was doing surprisingly well, or maybe it was because the beast had yet to sink its teeth into his flesh, because all he was suffering right now was the pain that was coming from his shoulders in which the beast is putting all his weight on.

Despite the pain throbbing through my arm, I knew I had to help him. I willed my perfectly unharmed legs to stand up, and I stifled down a groan that was threatening to escape my mouth due to my injury. I caught sight of the broomstick lying on the ground and used my left hand to pick it up. I wasn’t a leftie, which meant that that side of my arm had never had much strength to begin with. And to add on to it, the pain on my right arm seem to be draining off whatever energy I had left in me. My body felt as heavy as lead, and the pain that had been coursing through my nerves seem to be making its way to all other parts of my body, making me feel as sore as I had back then when I did a five kilometre run for my school’s marathon.

“You can’t be that weak, Danbi,” I mumbled to myself, giving myself my own form of encouragement. Everything in sight looked fuzzy to me, as if they were blending with each other to form a single shape I couldn’t quite make out. “Your brother needs you.”

And so, with whatever strength I had left, I staggered towards the monster, all the while trying to figure out just which place would hurt him the most. Its scales glinted like metal, as if it was donning on its very own armour. The only place I knew which did not gleam under the light the moon provided was his-

“Eyes,” I muttered, and with this new found spot of weakness, I made my way to its side, looking solely at that round circle that was currently blinded by its own hunger and greed. While it has yet to take notice of my presence, I managed to swing the broom stick right down the middle of its eyes, not able to pierce it but still successfully catching it off guard. The monster jerked back in surprise, letting out a noise that sounded close to a yelp and a whimper. It stumbled back, lifting its paws of my brother and hence freeing him from his position on the ground. Daehyun scrambled up to his legs, wincing due to the pain in both his shoulders and yet not stopping to do anything. His eyes found mine and quickly descended to my arm.

“Danbi,” He said, his eyes scanning my wound and I saw pain flash across it. His hands reach out, as if wanting to touch it, as if his touch might be able to cure my injury, but I stopped him.

“We need to leave,” I said, my voice coming out softer and weaker than I expected it to. My energy level was draining dangerously close to zero.

Instead of Daehyun nodding his head and grabbing my arm to drag me out of the hallway which was the reaction I had expected, his eyes widened in despair as his mouth opened to shout something to me. However, before he could, I felt something really strong hit me with such sheer force I felt the air get knocked out of my my lungs. I was thrown back by the impact, and I didn’t know how far I flew or how high I was lifted off the ground, for all I can feel then was the rush of air in my ears and on my skin. Before I could regain my regular breathing and open my eyes to see my surroundings, I felt another impact hit me, even more powerful than the other. Or maybe it was because I was already too weak and tired to withstand such a force.

I couldn’t think of anything anymore. I couldn't hear anymore. I couldn't feel anymore. All that greeted me then was darkness.

EXO’s POV

“The girl…” Jongin trailed, his eyes gazing at nothing in particular.

It was slightly chilly tonight as compared to previous nights, and instead of choosing to reside in the warmth and comfort the school provided for their students, twelve boys were seated among the benches outside in the trackfield, the cold weather seemingly not bothering them the slightest. In fact, the weather tonight was most ideal, and they basked in the opulence of it all. For half is warm enough to brace even the coldest winters, while the other half is cold enough to withstand a desert’s tenacious heat.

“She doesn’t resemble Luna at all,” Minseok mumbled, playing with the decorative bracelet he had around his wrist.

Kyungsoo gave the oldest in the group a look. “Luna isn’t her mother.”

Minseok’s gaze flickered over to him. “But she’s her descendant, and also the next Sibyl after her.”

Baekhyun nodded in agreement. “All the Sibyls we’ve had, they…they…”

Eleven pair of eyes trained itself on him, anticipating what he was about to say. However, the puppy looking guy seem to be having a hard time letting loose the truth from his very own lips.

“They have a different aura around them,” Chanyeol finished for him, putting what he wanted to say in good and kinder words. Baekhyun’s eyes lit up in gratefulness for his friend's help.

“Yes, that’s it. They have a different aura, and emitted a stronger sense of power. But her-,“ Baekhyun paused in his words yet again.

“You all seem to be very against her,” Joonmyeon said matter-of-factly, looking at all of them, inspecting their expressions and what is beneath all the façade they had placed up.

None of them said anything. The truth was obvious, and yet none  is willing to be the one to confirm it. And though there was that small flame of guilt coming from judging the poor, innocent girl who did no wrong and had no say in her affirmed fate, they still couldn’t help it. After all, it was one of human’s natural instincts to judge, and it was no different for beings who were not so human too.

Joonmyeon sighed when no one spoke up after his query. “The girl is different, I have to admit. One look and you know she’s not as responsible as the others. One look and you know she’s not as mature as the others.”

“Not the prettiest either,” Sehun grumbled.

“But I don’t think its right to be judging her so quickly,” Joonmyeon said.

“You just did,” Yifan pointed out.

Right after Yifan mentioned the obvious, a spurt of water arrowed itself against his face, causing the tall man to flinch back in surprise when the cold liquid made contact with his skin and eyes. His fringe was drenched by the end of it, and Yifan was very pissed off indeed.

“Kim. Joon. Myeon,” He let out an inhumane growl, about to stand up and move over to pummel up the younger one when Yixing placed a hand on his shoulder, pushing him back down to his seat.

“Control your emotions, Yifan,” Joonmyeon said, giving him an eyeroll. This, however, made Yifan all the more angrier.

He stood back up, only to get pushed down by Yixing again. He glared at the kindred soul, his irises now a fiery orange instead of the usual black.

“Let go of me,” Yifan hissed.

“Fighting is not the solution to a problem,” Yixing calmly explained.

Yifan let out a frustrated growl, moving his large hands up to ruffel his hair. “Why are you always such a peacemaker, Xing?”

“If I wasn’t, do you think the both of you would still be in one piece?” Yixing said, and the others - excluding the two leaders of course -  chuckled at his remark. Because it was anything but the complete truth. If Yixing wasn’t there to hold back the boys during their little arguments and quarrels, which mind you is actually much nastier and serious than you’d think it is, who knows what would have happened to them by now?

Suddenly, in the middle of Yifan and Joonmyeon’s little debate and the boy’s amusement at the scene unfolding in front of them, Luhan sat upright in his seat, his doe-like eyes wide and alarmed.

“Did you guys hear that?” He said, causing the others to stop whatever they were doing and focus on him.

Jongdae gave the older male a frown. “Hear what?”

Tao shook his head. “I didn’t hear anything.”

Luhan’s eyes met with his friend’s clueless ones. “I swore I heard a scream.”

This caused Baekhyun to laugh, though it sounded more like a scoff. “And you’d think we wouldn’t be able to hear that? It’s probably just your imagination.”

Luhan’s eyebrows tilted downwards, and he shook his head slowly as if he wasn’t able to accept the fact that it was just a figment of his imagination. “I swore I heard something though.”

Minseok laughed beside him, patting Luhan on the back. “You’re probably just ti-“

Before he can finish his sentence though, a scream coming from inside the building made its way into the sensitive ears of the twelve boys. Their eyes shot up in alarm, and Luhan looked at all of them smugly.

“I told you I heard something!” He said, excited over the fact that he was right while the others were wrong.

“Is it just me, or did that sound like Danbi?” Chanyeol said, looking at the others warily.

However, just the look on everyone’s faces confirmed Chanyeol’s suspicion. Though they have only heard Danbi speaking just today, and it wasn’t much either, that scream did sound very much like hers. They didn’t know how they knew, but it was just a feeling deep down in their gut, the same kind of feeling they get in the past whenever their Sibyl’s were in danger.

The first person to shoot out of his seat was surprisingly not the leader, but the petite-sized boy whose actions speaks more than his word does. He rushed down the benches, and the others stood up right after him and followed after his trail, hot on his heels. When they entered the school building, all their faces scrunched up to show an expression of distaste and maybe, worry.

“That smell,” Kyungsoo mumbled, his legs propelling him in the direction the horrid scent was at.

Joonmyeon, who was right beside him, nodded in confirmation. “It’s a Mongrel.”

Mongrels are names used to call animals, most specifically dogs, who are of no particular breed. More commonly known as hybrids, they usually take up the figure of a dog but the face of another animal. They were supposed to be an extinct species, until one of the Dark Forces found one living in the deepest, darkest parts of the Forbidden Woods. From then on, these hybrids just kept multiplying in number, causing a threat to others who lived in this alternate dimension. They usually feed on living flesh, and had a really good sense of smell. They were also really large creatures, and would have been easily spotted if they tried to sneak into the school vicinity. And yet, why was one here in Tokwan Academy?

Tao lifted his nose higher in the air, taking in a deep whiff before turning to look at the other boys. His eyes had turned a crimson shade. “I smell blood.”

Yixing nodded. “I smell it too.”

Jongin turned towards them, concern laced in his eyes. “Blood?”

With this, the twelve of them fastened their pace and was quick to arrive at the hallway the monster was located. Their eyes widened in shock at what they were seeing. Daehyun was held captive by the Mongrel, the only thing between him and that monster was simply a measly broomstick that amazingly had not yet broken into two. He held it between the Mongrel’s mouth, preventing the razor-sharp teeth to sink itself into his flesh and rip him into shreds. However, from the expression on his face and the trembling coming from his arms, they all knew Daehyun was close to giving up. And as they had all predicted, the broomstick suddenly snapped into half. If it wasn’t for Jongdae’s quick reflexes – so his snappy and witty comebacks really do come in handy at times -, Daehyun’s head would probably have been dislocated and separated from his body by now.

A shot of spark zipped across the length of the hallways at inhumane speed, hitting the Mongrel right off of Daehyun and sending him flying all the way to the other end of the hallway. It hit and skidded on the ground, coming to a stop with a low growl.

“Chanyeol,” Joonmyeon said, nodding towards the boy standing beside him.

Understanding his signal, Chanyeol lifted his hands and set the Mongrel ablaze with almost no effort at all. The beast whimpered under the burn of the fire, and it writhed and stumbled around in pain and agony. It wasn’t the first time EXO had done this. A Mongrel to them was nothing more than a cockroach. They were easy to find, and even easier to deal with. What troubled them the most was how it managed to get in. Tokwan Academy was a safe paradise for students with special abilities, and their securities were top-notch. So why in the world was there a Mongrel here in the hallways of the school?

After another few seconds of scrambling around in wasted efforts and wailing out in pain, the burning figure in the distance came to a stop right there in the middle of the hall. No other movement was made by the Mongrel, and it was safe to say the monster had been defeated.

The other boys rushed toward Daehyun, who looked as if all his energy had been drained out of him. His face was worn out and pale, and his hair and uniform had been dishelved in the process of fighting off the Mongrel.

“Daehyun, it’s gone now. We killed it,” Kyungsoo said, trying to reassure the male leaning limply on the wall."You're safe now."

However, instead of relief and happiness, all they saw in Daehyun’s eyes were despair and anguish.

“Danbi,” He mumbled, pushing himself off the wall and casting the others aside. He made his way to the middle of the hallway and looked left and right before his eyes focused on something the other twelve boys have yet to come to see.

They all looked at one another, unable to understand what was happening to Daehyun. They were just as clueless as they were the other.

"Daehyun," Joonmyeon started, reaching out to grab Daehyun by his shoulders to stop him when Minseok reached out a hand to stop the leader from doing so. Joonmyeon looked up at Minseok in surprise, only to realise that the eldest was not looking at him. Instead, Minseok seem to be looking in the direction Daehyun was heading to, and following his friend's gaze, his eyes finally managed to settle on the limp figure lying just a few metres away from them. 

In the darkness, it was hard to see just what it was. Anyone would have glimpsed past it if they weren't looking at it closely, and that was probably what the twelve boys had done when they were rushing in to help Daehyun. But now that all of them were finally noticing the person on the ground, now that they were finally able to see what Daehyun had been looking at and thinking about all the this time, they finally understood why he had been looking so out of it even after the monster had been defeated. Because to him, the defeat of the monster meant nothing to him. Because to Daehyun, nothing in the world right now mattered. 

Not when his little sister whom he loves so much was lying so peacefully, almost too peacefully on the ground, surrounded by a pool of her own blood.