T h e   I n s t i t u t e

Chapter Twelve

Hankyung’s morning didn’t truly begin until a wolf stuck its tongue in his ear. Prior to this, he’d been in a languid state of consciousness and slumped on a sofa in the common room with the mug of tea Leeteuk or possibly ZhouMi had given him. He had a vague recollection of rolling out of bed that morning and managing to put on some clothes before trudging down to the common room in order to find a comfortable spot in which to try and wake up properly. His efforts at grasping onto any kind of alertness were rendered completely insufficient when Kangin bounded into the room, jumped up onto the sofa and gave Hankyung’s auditory passage a thorough cleaning. Needless to say, drowsiness left the Chinaman as quickly as a bullet train.

‘What the hell?!!’ Hankyung leapt up from his seat and furiously swiped at his ear to get the doggy drool out of it. Kangin gave an unsympathetic whine. Everyone else who had also been lounging around the common room burst into laughter.

‘I’m his translator for the day.’ Kibum announced his presence and Hankyung turned to him instead though the scowl did not waver from his face.

‘Why can’t he just talk to me himself instead of being disgusting?’ He shot a pointed look at the wolf who tilted his head to the side and the puppy eyes.

‘The full moon is three days away so he’s lost control over his transformations but I can still hear his thoughts.’ Kibum explained. He didn’t look particularly enthused at the prospect of listening in to Kangin’s mind. ‘He wants me to ask you if you’ll go down to the medical bay because Heechul’s being discharged this morning and he wants someone to be there since he can’t really be much use at the moment.’

‘Wait, what? Why’s Heechul in the medical bay?’ Hankyung asked, suddenly panicked. Kibum paused to raise an eyebrow at Kangin.

‘He had a panic attack on his mission yesterday night. Yesung took him to the nurse.’ He relayed the information with such an indifferent demeanour that Hankyung briefly wondered if he should start believing Donghae when he told him Kibum was a robot.

‘Right, I better head down there there.’ He said. Kangin let his tongue hang out so it looked like he was smiling – a sign of approval.

Hankyung left the common room swiftly. It crossed his mind that Kangin could have asked anyone to go down and make sure that Heechul was alright but he was the chosen one. Had ZhouMi been talking to him? Thinking along the lines of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, Hankyung brushed the notion aside instead of searching for a hidden meaning. Heechul needed his help and that was the most important thing. He’d prove he was a much better comfort than Siwon would ever be.

Hankyung strode down to the medical bay with purpose, refusing to be deterred by getting lost twice on the way. He asked a passing nurse where he could find Heechul and she led him through the facility to a quiet ward that looked empty at a first glance. Upon closer inspection, Hankyung spotted his charge lying in a bed along the right hand wall and he moved towards him, heartbeat quickening. When he reached the bed he looked down at its occupant in a silent trance.

Heechul still looked as beautiful as always. The wavy, auburn hair that reminded Hankyung of autumn leaves. But he could see the purple shadows around Heechul’s eyes, the grey-white ghostly complexion, the ever so slight tremble of his hand… He sat down in the chair beside the bed and watched the steady rise and fall of Heechul’s chest. It was the first time he’d ever seen him look so peaceful so who cares if Hankyung spent a few hours down there by himself, Heechul needed sleep and he would wait all day if that’s how long was necessary.

He had just managed to find a semi-comfortable position on the ridiculously uninhabitable contraption known as the hospital chair when a nurse came into the ward from the office and approached him. He gave her a weak smile and wondered whether he was supposed to give an explanation as to why he was sat staring at a sleeping boy.

‘Did Kangin send you down here?’ She asked.

‘Err yes. He said Heechul’s getting discharged this morning.’

‘He is although, if it’s alright with you, I’d like to let him wake up on his own. It’s not often he gets a proper sleep these days so I’ve heard.’

‘That’s fine by me.’ Hankyung smiled again and the nurse departed, leaving him in the pleasant silence.

His eyes drifted back over Heechul’s slumbering form as if drawn by magnets; one way or another he’d always find himself enraptured by the shifter. His mind drifted to ZhouMi’s insistence that he needed Heechul’s presence in his life to keep himself from slipping into the darker state of mind that had hung over him for as long as he would allow himself to remember. He had yet to figure what it was about Heechul that seemed to make all the bad stuff float away. All he knew was that whenever Heechul was around, a blanket of calm swept over him and everything just became so much more uncomplicated.

He waited for ten minutes until he started to fall back asleep. Trying to fight it off soon became contemplation as to whether he’d get into trouble for making use of one of the hospital beds. His head nodded forwards as the lethargy seeped into his body. A persistent voice in the back of his head nagged at him to stay awake for the sake of Heechul and yet he couldn’t stop slipping in and out of awareness. He didn’t even know how long he’d been dozing until he came to and got a peek at the clock. The time trickled on. This was the last time he stayed up all night watching dramas.

‘Hankyung?’ He snorted out the beginnings of a snore and rocked forwards, widening his eyes at the sudden jump back to consciousness. He heard a small laugh. Heechul was sat upright, wide awake and clearly amused. He rubbed his hands over his face and shook the fatigue out of his system.

‘You’re awake.’ He said dumbly.

‘What are you doing here?’ Heechul asked him, looking slightly uneasy.

‘Um Kangin sent me down here since you’re being discharged. He’s lost control over the, err, wolf thing.’ For god’s sake Hankyung, articulate. It’s almost the middle of the day – wake up!

‘Oh right.’ Heechul began to pull back the covers. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and was suddenly sat right in front of Hankyung. ‘Will you pass me my things?’ There was no hesitation, Hankyung obediently got up and collected the pile of clothes sat at the end of the bed. As he did so, he saw the nurse from earlier returning.

‘I see you’re ready to go. Let me just give you a check over before I discharge you.’ She said, going round to Heechul and performing various health checks. Hankyung remained where he was, awkwardly waiting and inwardly grinning when he realised he was holding the catsuit. In a matter of moments, Heechul was free to go and he steadily stood up to join Hankyung. The latter started to leave until he noticed the despondent expression on Heechul’s face.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘I wanted to shift so I was wearing something other than these obscene hospital pyjamas but I’m too tired.’ He began walking along with Hankyung then.

‘Don’t worry. If anyone gives you a funny look on the way back to your room, I’ll set their pants on fire.’ He was only half-joking. Heechul’s laugh was like music and so they both left the medical bay with smiles on their faces.

The walk back to the sleeping quarters was spent in comfortable silence broken only by the occasional spell of conversation and when someone did give Heechul a strange look and Hankyung’s fist erupted into flame only for Heechul to then laugh so hard he snorted. The red cheeks from that mishap only intensified when Hankyung said it was cute. When they finally made it to a familiar bedroom door with a big wooden ‘H’ on the front, the atmosphere changed into a flurry of ‘what happens now’?

‘Thank you for coming with me.’ Heechul said, taking his bundle of clothes.

‘It’s no problem. I didn’t even know you were ill.’

‘Oh I just had a bad reaction to something, it wasn’t that serious.’ The shifter’s eyes darted about nervously.

‘Kibum, well, Kangin told me you had a panic attack.’ Hankyung recognised the worry in his own voice which surprised him. Heechul looked down, chewing on his bottom lip.

‘I’m fine now.’ He said softly. Hankyung didn’t get to form another sentence before Heechul went into his room. He did leave the door open however. He tossed his clothes onto the bed then turned back around to face the Chinaman.

‘Are you sure you’re alright? I wouldn’t want to leave you by yourself if you weren’t.’ Hankyung watched Heechul start to come towards him but as he began to speak, he promptly tripped and fell right into Hankyung’s arms. The shock of it made them speechless. The real shock came when Hankyung decided to move away and Heechul clung onto his t-shirt, nestling himself against the other boy. They stayed like that for what seemed like a blissful eternity; Hankyung tightening his hold and Heechul closing his eyes. Then they were suddenly apart.

‘Sorry.’

He’d been granted one of the bigger rooms to make sure he could fit all his computer tech inside. Half of it was stolen, a vast collection of his tendency to acquire things he wanted whether they belonged to him or not, the other half was Kyuhyun’s. The only thing that he had bought for himself was the laptop that sat proudly in the middle of his desk. It wasn’t the newest model, it wasn’t the shiniest, swankiest laptop that had ever been made but it was Kibum’s and he’d protect it with his life.

As soon as he entered his room, he went straight to it. Sitting down on the swivel chair and placing his coffee to the side, he opened up the computer and pressed the switch to bring it out of hibernation. After entering his password, he took a moment to lean back and look up at the shelf fixed above his desk. It was crammed with books of all shapes, sizes and states – another of his collections. His eyes flicked over the spines, identifying each one until he found what he was looking for. He reached up and brought it down, grimacing at the weight and the dust flying into his face.

Kibum examined the cover. It was old. Very old. There were no words on the front, instead was an embossed crescent moon in silver. He briefly ran his finger over the texture of it before opening up the book and flicking through it to the contents. His eyes expertly scanned the list of topics, with practised ease he spotted the section that might be of use and began flipping the pages to find it. When he came to the right number, he opened it and smoothed over the page, quickly reading the subheadings for anything useful. The words ‘Blue Eclipse’ immediately jumped out at him.

A natural Blue Moon is a rare occurrence but the amalgamation of both Blue Moon and total Solar Eclipse is an earthly phenomenon. This is why, if the event were to ever occur, the lines between realms would become blurred.

‘.’ Kibum muttered. He re-read the entire section just to make sure he wasn’t pulling things out of context but those two sentences remained unaffected. He sat back in his chair and clucked his tongue a few times as he reviewed the new information in his head. Eventually he spun around and placed the open book on his bed before turning back to his laptop and opening the search engine. His fingers fluttered over the keys, typing in ‘portal creation’. He became disgruntled when the results only brought up links to comic book sites and how to create a website.

The Netherworlds were by no means old fashioned or, for that matter, unequipped. Kibum pushed his chair over to the set of shelves beside his desk where he had his second computer set up. It was a kelpie creation, a thing of steampunk design and proof that there was more to Irish demons than drowning people. It was a computer like any other except for the fact that it ran on magical power and had a connection to the Netherworldian equivalent of the internet. Kibum repeated his previous search in the database and felt relief when he finally got some answers.

As soon as Master Chen put one foot on the stage, the entire room hushed. He strode purposefully to the podium and the lights dimmed even further than they had already been. Upon the screen behind him a security photo was brought up of the place in which a certain Moonstone should have been sitting. The leader took his glasses out of his jacket pocket, cleaned the lenses with the end of his sleeve and brought them up to rest on his nose. He cast his eyes out over the sea of faces, his vision coming to rest on Kangin sat at the front and he raised an eyebrow. In a split second, he seemed to realise why there was an enormous wolf sat in his briefing and carried on with his business.

‘The Blue Moonstone.’ He began; his voice clear and concise. ‘Extremely ancient, extremely rare… invaluable. It’s been taken and we have more than enough reason to believe that it was the Dark Elves, however no evidence can suggest this as of yet.’ There was a hum of troubled reactions. ‘As you all know, the certainty as to whether these foul creatures are truly a threat once again is still undetermined. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be vigilant.’ He paused for dramatic effect with a hard stare. ‘Taecyeon?’ He gestured to the Captain and Taecyeon took to the stage.

‘Thank you Sir.’ The young man said quietly. ‘At the moment, the situation with the curators of the Vaults is a delicate one. There is some loose evidence to suggest that their own security guards may have been involved in the theft. For example the security footage from that night has been wiped and we’ve been having trouble contacting the two men. It’s not looking good for them but obviously we will need more proof to target them as the assailants. It’s also hard to say if they were accomplices to the Dark Elves or not.’ He gave a quick nod and then returned to his seat. Master Chen took to the podium once again.

‘These are the two security guards.’ The screen switched to two ID photos. ‘I want all patrol units on high alert and Shindong, I’m going to need you to put out as much of a radar as you can whenever you’re out in the field.’ Shindong nodded. ‘Unfortunately, these two men aren’t the only ones I need you to search for.’ Master Chen took a breath. ‘It seems that, for reasons unknown, our own Agent Dongwoo and Special Agent Ryeowook have gone missing.’ A few gasps. ‘At the moment we’re still trying to figure out where and why they’ve gone.’

‘Have we tried phone tracking yet?’ Master Gong piped up.

‘Both led to the place where they were last seen – the club Faust – which is why I’m sending out Agents Sunggyu, Hoya and Sungyeol to investigate later today.’ There was an immediate noise of protest from a teleporter. ‘Yesung, I can’t let you get involved with the inquiry since you’re too personally connected to it. No buts.’ A huff and a scowl. ‘I hope to god that none of these disappearances are linked in any way and I’m counting on you all to remain calm, professional and level-headed in the weeks to come. Now, onto some other cases.’

As Master Chen began to outline the rest of the missions for the next few days, the special agents surreptitiously passed along a note to each other. They had been doing this for as many times as they’d had long briefings which was why every time they were called into the conference theatre, they all brought a pen and paper. The masters thought they were taking notes like good agents should. Yeah. Pull the other one.

If the Dark Elves took Wookie, I’ll lynch them all myself – Sungminnie

Not if I get to them first. – Ye

Have you ever noticed how the spotlights make MC’s forehead look like its glowing? – Hae

I have actually – Hyukkie

He could blind somebody, I’m concerned – Heenim

When have you ever been concerned about anyone? – Umma

Excuse me. That is extremely rude. I am a very loving, caring person I’ll have you know – Heenim

A seriously bad case of the giggles spread out across the line of special agents that were reading the note which they all did a poor job of stifling. Master Chen gave them a curious look but continued with what he was saying nonetheless.

Hey Rella actually loves to take care of a few things… maybe just the one big thing – Shisus

You’re disgusting – Minnie

Ew you tainted the message  – Hyukkie

This is sacred parchment and you made it all urgh – Mochi

No comment. – Heenim

Heechul was about to pass the note down to Sungmin again when suddenly Hankyung, who had been sat beside him, reading the exchange as he did, took the paper and ran his finger over Siwon’s handwriting. When he returned the message back to the shifter, the place where he’d touched it was scorched out. Heechul froze in shock and awe, barely registering when Donghae snatched the note from out of his hovering hand.

Hankyung, you’re awesome – Hae

Can you burn out Siwon’s libido now please? – Ye

Hey! – Shisus

You’re banned from this note, give me your pen – Umma

Oh my god Umma has spoken, Siwon is in troooooouuuuublleeeee – Hae

MC just mentioned your names – Shindong

Everyone’s attention snapped forwards once they got a look at Shindong’s addition to the note. Sure enough, Master Chen was addressing a few of them for a mission that evening. Great, something else to deal with when they weren’t already grappling with everything else going on. It looked like Eunhyuk, ZhouMi and the demons would be traveling south to tackle a bunch of unfriendly ghosts that night.

‘Masters? Is there anything else to add?’ There were no other messages to convey. ‘Meeting adjourned. Thank you everyone.’ Master Chen quickly left the stage and headed up the stairs in the middle of the room, leading the way for every else piling out of the briefing. The special agents hung back, slowly getting out of their seats but lingering to speak out loud to one another.

‘I might have found out what the Dark Elves want with the Blue Moonstone.’ Kibum suddenly announced. All heads turned to him in surprise.

‘What?’

‘Why didn’t you say so in the meeting?’ Leeteuk demanded.

‘I didn’t want to raise alarm in case I’m wrong.’ Kibum was unusually tense.

‘Well how certain are you about your theory?’ Leeteuk pressed on and the younger psychic swallowed noticeably.

‘Pretty sure.’ Before he could get another chastising, Heechul cut in.

‘How bad is it?’ He asked quietly. Again, Kibum took a pause to gather himself.

‘Really ing bad.’ Hankyung lunged to grab Heechul as he began to shake, he looked like he was about to faint. He helped the shifter to sit back down again and ran his eyes all over his face in worry. Donghae and Leeteuk both flurried to fuss over him and Kangin scrambled up the stairs, trying to push through the others though there was no room.

‘I’m ok. I’m fine.’ Heechul rambled.

‘You’re going green.’ Donghae pointed out unhelpfully.

‘Oh my god, he’s going to spew. Everybody run!’ Yesung cracked out of existence, black smoke billowing up in his wake. Only Eunhyuk sniggered at the dramatics. Five seconds later, Yesung was back and he had a glass in his hand. He passed it to Donghae who quickly held his hand over the rim to fill it up with water then offered it to Heechul but the older boy pushed it away.

‘Heechul, just take a sip, you’ll feel better.’ Leeteuk encouraged in a motherly tone.

‘It came from Donghae. It’s basically excretion.’ Heechul replied breathily. The others smiled; even when he was feeling ill, Heechul still managed to be sarcastic.

‘You need to get back to bed.’ Hankyung insisted and surprisingly, the shifter nodded.

‘I’ll go with you.’ Donghae said readily, making a move to help Heechul out of his seat but the other boy suddenly grabbed Hankyung’s arm. He didn’t say anything in way of an explanation so Hankyung could only shrug.

‘It’s alright, I’ve got this.’ He muttered to a stunned Donghae and after Heechul was on his feet again, followed the shifter out of the row of seating to the stairs.

‘You can tell me later, Kibum.’ Heechul said as they went. Kibum raised an eyebrow incredulously but nodded nonetheless. The group of special agents watched on in mild surprise as Hankyung helped Heechul up the stairs and out of the briefing room.

‘What was that about?’ Shindong wondered aloud as soon as the door closed behind them.

‘I don’t think he’s taking all this business about the Dark Elves stuff very well.’ Leeteuk replied. ‘But the Hankyung thing? Not a clue.’

‘I don’t know if he’d appreciate me saying this but,’ ZhouMi interjected. ‘He’s terrified. I could feel it coming off him in waves.’ Kangin let out a panicked whine.

‘We should all be scared.’ Kibum piped up and the focus returned to him sharply.

‘Why? What were you going to tell us?’ Yesung asked him. The psychic took a steadying breath.

‘If the Dark Elves got their hands on the Blue Moonstone, they could create a Blue Eclipse.’ Before anyone could ask, he elaborated. ‘It’s the combination of a blue moon and a total solar eclipse. When it happens, the boundaries between realms get weaker and if that happens, a portal can be created to bridge the gap across two separate worlds. Earth could be connected to Lemuria and anything could get through.’ Sungmin gasped loudly. Eunhyuk kicked a seat.

‘But how would the Elves create a portal?’ Siwon questioned. Kibum’s eyes flicked to Yesung in apprehension.

‘The most effective ways are through natural means. Like a whirlpool or a tornado.’ He paused and swallowed. ‘Who do we know that can create those?’

‘Are you saying-’ Leeteuk began but cut himself off in fear.

‘Wookie…’ Sungmin murmured in miffed tone.

Ryeowook could hardly believe his eyes but there was no mistaking him. His big eyes, dark hair and lean frame hadn’t changed at all. He was paler than normal, there were purple shadows around his eyes and his expression could only be describe as vacant but Ryeowook concluded that that was only a result of being enslaved by the Dark Elves. He must have been under enslavement because why else would he be there following Yunho’s commands?

‘Ryeowook?’ Jay blinked uncertainly at him.

‘Yes! It’s me! What are you doing here?’ Ryeowook shakily got to his feet, ignoring the stings of pain from his wounds.

‘I’m…’ Jay frowned for a moment. ‘They captured me.’

‘How long ago?’ Ryeowook suddenly gasped. ‘Is this why you left the Institute?!’ Jay considered the question and then slowly nodded.

‘Yes.’ He replied and Ryeowook abruptly gasped for a second time.

‘Does that mean Jungmo’s here as well?!’

‘Yes.’ Jay repeated. He seemed cagey.

‘Oh my god! I can’t believe it. All this time we thought you’d ditched us and it turns out it wasn’t your fault. Eunhyuk broke that statue for nothing.’ Ryeowook delighted in the revelation while Jay gave him a curious look. Then, suddenly, a thought occurred to the younger boy. ‘But, hang on. If the Dark Elves captured you, why did you break up with Heechul?’ Jay’s eyes widened and he tensed.

‘I…’

‘You really hurt him. He wouldn’t come out of his room for a week.’ Something seemed to click in the back of Jay’s mind and his face changed to shock as he became more aware of whatever it was he was remembering.

‘I left… I broke up with him because I was leaving but… why did I-’ His voice tailed off into a mutter as he tried to concentrate on the memory. Ryeowook’s brow knit together in confusion.

‘Wait, you don’t remember?’ What the hell was going on? Surely Jay remembered ending it with Heechul. There’d been yelling and crying and things being thrown for well over an hour. Everyone had been listening, whether purposefully or not. They’d seen Jay leave Heechul’s room and go into Jungmo’s. When morning came the following day, the pair of them were nowhere to be found. All they had to go on was Heechul’s miserable account of Jay telling him he wanted to leave.

‘I don’t-’ All of sudden, the door banged open and Yunho reappeared.

He noticed ZhouMi mouthing the words ‘are you ok?’ to Sungmin, casting furtive glances at Kyuhyun at the same time. Sungmin just gave him a smile and nodded which was hardly convincing. Eunhyuk wasn’t psychic like ZhouMi but he reckoned he could feel the battling emotions passing across Sungmin and Kyuhyun just as well as the Chinaman. It was impossible not to spot Kyuhyun’s clenching fist, Sungmin’s shadowed eyes and connect them together.

The (former?) best friends hadn’t been speaking to each other since the night where everything had seemed to go wrong simultaneously. Only Eunhyuk, Donghae and Shindong knew exactly what had happened whereas the others had either not noticed, not cared or just assumed the pair had had a fraternal-like falling out which occurred every so often. Eunhyuk didn’t care if they made up soppily or ended their friendship for good; at that point all he wanted was for the tension and hostility to end.

He decided to try and concentrate on the mission. The car was taking them to somewhere around Ansan, an old, run-down hotel the eventual destination. According to local sources, the place had been haunted for years but it was only a couple of days ago that The Institute got a call about some people going missing. The plan was to get there, figure out what they were dealing with, find the bodies – dead or alive – and then torch the ghosts straight back to hell. Ghosts were easy. Eunhyuk could deal with ghosts. But there were several things that led him to believe that this wasn’t just an in and out job.

Hankyung had stayed with him since he’d safely redelivered him to his bedroom after the mild relapse back in the briefing room. He’d insisted that Heechul get into bed and made sure he was comfortable with the various blankets and pillows that were arranged all over it in excess. Despite being a man of few words, he’d encouraged Heechul to talk to him in an effort to be therapeutically comforting but that backfired when the redhead got to the verge of actually opening up and had to rush to the toilet to spill his guts in the more literal sense. It wasn’t long after that when Hankyung heard Kangin pawing at the door and let him in, watching him make himself at home next to his old friend.

‘I can’t believe I’m letting you see me like this.’ Heechul abruptly murmured. Hankyung frowned.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I’m all sick and yucky. Surely you find me disgusting now.’ He said it so matter-of-factly that Hankyung had to take a moment to figure out what he meant by it.

‘You’re ill, not disgusting.’ He said at last. ‘If I only ever saw you dressed up with a smile on your face, I’d wonder what was wrong with you. You are human, Heechul.’

‘Am I? I hadn’t noticed.’ The way he kept his voice in that faraway, thoughtful tone was what made Hankyung laugh. Heechul smiled at the reaction.

‘I didn’t realise you cared what I thought of you.’ Hankyung said after a while.

‘Of course I do.’ Heechul blurted and then, with wide eyes, tried to amend his statement. ‘I mean, I care what everyone thinks of me.’ It was too late; Hankyung was already smiling to himself. Kangin let out a huff, tilting his head to find the shifter’s hand again in a needy manner. Heechul obliged him by continuing his petting and Hankyung briefly wondered why it always seemed like such an ordinary gesture yet he knew that the huge grey wolf was in fact a human man.

‘I don’t get why you chose me to look after you though.’ He confessed, keeping an eye on the boy next to him to gauge his reaction. ‘You picked me over Donghae… or Leeteuk or Siwon.’ Heechul didn’t reply straight away. He kept his eyes trained on the top of Kangin’s head where the downy fur curled around his pointed ears.

‘I don’t know why either.’ He eventually muttered and then he scoffed. ‘Why would I ever pick Siwon?’

‘You know why.’ Hankyung said. Then Heechul looked up and turned to him with an unreadable expression.

‘I don’t care about him. Not like that. He’s my friend and we… do things but I, I don’t have feelings for him.’

‘Why are you telling me this?’

‘Boo!’ Eunhyuk raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Sungmin who’d tried to sneak up on him while he was distracted.

‘Heard you coming.’ He said smugly.

‘Heard you coming.’ Sungmin mimicked in a ridiculous voice, sticking his tongue out.

‘Guys!’ The pair of them cast their eyes over to ZhouMi who was waving them over to where he, Kyuhyun and the regular agents that had accompanied them were grouping just outside the hotel entrance. Eunhyuk set off automatically towards them with Sungmin closely following.

‘We’re going to be out here as back up while you scout the place. We’ll keep you up to date on our research about the hotel through the comlinks.’ Yuri, one of the regular agents, explained. The others nodded in understanding.

‘I’ll go with ZhouMi along the west wing, you two go-’

‘No, I’m going with ZhouMi.’ Sungmin interrupted and Eunhyuk frowned, taken aback. It was a bit childish of Sungmin to refuse to work with Kyuhyun at a professional level. ‘It makes sense. A demon at each end of the building.’ It sort of made sense. It kept the teams equal. It was stupid.

‘Fine then. You and ZhouMi take the west wing; me and Kyu will take the east.’ He sighed.

‘Guns.’ Somebody announced behind him. He spun around and smiled at the sight of his break-action shotgun, barely noticing who was giving it to him. Eunhyuk picked up the gun from its case and ran his fingers along the wood with affection.

‘Thanks Nichkhun.’ Kyuhyun said as he took his own weapons from the regular agent. Eunhyuk refocused his attention on what he was supposed to be doing and soon enough, he and the demon were making their way into the dilapidated building and off to the east wing.

They wandered wordlessly through the maze of rooms and corridors that were in similar if not worse states than the outside of the hotel. The foyer was dirty and dusty, the hallways littered with debris, all the windows were either smashed or too thick with grime to see out of and any décor the place once had was now replaced by a portfolio of graffiti across the walls, most of it consisting of witchcraft symbols and warding. When Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun reached a ransacked conservatory, they just caught the last of the sun’s rays dipping below the horizon. It was dusk and time to hunt a ghost.

ZhouMi’s voice crackled through the comlinks. ‘It’s definitely here and its definitely pissed. I can feel how angry it is and I don’t think we’re even close to it yet.’

‘We’ve cleared the ground floor. Time to move up.’ Kyuhyun replied. He nodded at Eunhyuk and they moved off in search of a staircase.

The first floor was more of the same although it was mostly just lobbies, passages and bedrooms. Eunhyuk was beginning to grow bored; he wanted to play with his gun. He was even slightly relieved when his heightened senses picked up an unsettling presence in the corridor up ahead. He put a hand on Kyuhyun’s arm to stop him in his tracks and then guided him to a more shadowed patch of wall. He kept his eyes locked ahead and a firm grip on his shotgun.

‘Target ahead.’ He whispered.

‘Copy that.’ Sungmin responded in his ear.

‘The last room we passed was 128.’ Kyuhyun added softly.

‘On our way.’ The air was getting frosty and Eunhyuk shivered. His 20/20 vision remained fixed on the space in front of him, watching the way the window began to cloud over. Any minute now the spirit would show itself and he could blast it with a shell of rock salt once they’d got a good look at the bastard. He heard Kyuhyun pull out the iron poker he’d had strapped to his back and give it an experimental twirl around his fingers. They were ready.

What they were not ready for was the ground to start shaking as if an earthquake had just hit. The walls trembled and fixtures crashed to the floor, smashing glass and wood in all directions. The entire hallway was blasted with an ice cold gust of wind and suddenly a menacing spectre rose through the floorboards. Eunhyuk stood on the offence, trying to make out the phantom’s face in all the commotion, managing to keep his cool and his hold on the shotgun while fragments of the wreckage flew around him.

‘It’s too powerful!’ Kyuhyun cried over the rush of wind and the ghost snapped its head in their direction. Eunhyuk’s eyes flew open in horror, firing openly on instinct.

‘It’s a ing elf!!’ He yelled, pulling the trigger again and again, his shock hindering his ability to aim. Kyuhyun threw the poker to the ground and pulled out his own gun. Together they managed to subdue the spirit into disappearing with a whoosh of flame. The floor stopped rattling, the temperate returned to normal and the rubble stopped flinging itself about. Eunhyuk and Kyuhyun breathed heavily for several moments, trying to process what had just happened.

‘Why is there a dead elf haunting an abandoned hotel in the middle of nowhere?’ The demon eventually questioned apprehensively. Eunhyuk swallowed.

‘I have no ing clue.’ 

I've noticed I only seem to manage a chapter a month at the moment..... which is terrible and I apologise deeply, I'll try and fix that

in the meantime, please comment and tell what you think so far :) I hope that things are getting as exciting and intriguing as I'd like them to be

maybe I can try and write the next chapter from my sick bed this week as I have been doing, unless I've got ebola... 

regardless, I will work hard for you all because it'd be so awesome if my first proper chaptered fic on this site was a success :D

thank you for reading so far

~JC