“A ghoul is a folkloric monster or spirit associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh, often classified as undead.” –Wikipedia

Sehun’s nightmare came true.

When he came home, the furniture was broken; the door was torn from the frame. And worst of all, Hana was nowhere to be seen. She disappeared without trace.

There was a foul smell the moment Sehun entered. And he knew very well where the stinky stench came from. He didn’t think they would have the nerve to enter Sehun’s house, with or without the protection spell. He groaned in frustration. Some sort of guilt and sadness built up inside his chest.

Luhan came in seconds after. The house was a complete mess, and then he saw Sehun. The younger one had a blank face, and he stood completely immobile. The girl, what was her name-Hana- was nowhere to be seen. Luhan didn’t know how to react.

“She’s taken,” Luhan whispered, and Sehun nodded. His face was still blank, and he picked up one piece of broken glass and smelt it. There was a foul smell to it, like the dark, dirty water from the pipes. “It’s the ghouls. They must have taken her to the underground tunnels. There were at least five of them here.”

“I will ask the others for help,” Luhan said, referring to the other Fallens he’d known. Defeating the ghouls weren’t easy at all. They needed at least a few more of the Fallens to go.

***

“If it isn’t you, Sehun.”

Sehun didn’t have to look up and saw who it was, because he recognized the familiar mocking voice.

“I thought that when you become the Fallen, you would at least shut your foul mouth up,” Sehun commented. He was wearing the complete fighting gear, with the blades and arm protector. His hands were in front of his chest, and somehow, Sehun managed to look calm and composed, even though Luhan knew he wasn’t.

“Same goes to you,” A man with the deep voice sloppily grinned. His eyes held no emotion whatsoever. Yongguk was the last man Sehun would invite tonight, but Luhan thought that Yongguk was one of the best fighters out there, and so he was here, much to Sehun’s disappointment. “Still a spoilt vampire brat.”

“I wouldn’t say that if I were you, wolfie,” Luhan warned. “We are not here to fight each other.”

Yongguk was a werewolf, and a very important one, before he dropped everything and turned to the Fallen. Still, the bad bloods between Sehun and Yongguk ran way too deep, that if any feelings left from their previous life would be the hatred between the two.

“Don’t talk, Yongguk, you’re ruining the mood,” Another werewolf-turned-Fallen, Himchan snapped at him. Yongguk glared at Himchan and folded his hands in front of his chest. “Who else are coming with us?”

“There he comes,” Luhan pointed out to the last male that just came. He was taller than all of them, and he carried a very mysterious and intimidating aura around him. Kris was the oldest out of the five to become the Fallen. He had lived the life longer than the others.

As usual, Kris was dressed in black, from head to toe, with the top revealing half of his well-defined chest. His expression was cold, nothing would show what he was thinking at the moment. Kris’ face was dark, and somehow, gloomy, but Sehun understood why. They were going on a hunt tonight, and they had to kill.

Yongguk, Himchan and Luhan nodded their heads in respect to Kris. Sehun just stared, without caring about respecting the others or not. Out of all five that were standing on Sehun’s apartment rooftop, Kris was the only one that came from the elves race. This made him noticeably quicker, lighter, and swift in killing. Compared to the hardheaded werewolves and the calculative yet sly vampires, Kris could kill more in numbers within the same amount of time.

“What is this, Luhan? You’re calling me in the middle of the night,” Kris spoke, his voice sounded like an echo on the walls. “I have other matters to finish.”

“The ghouls in the southern town has kidnapped a girl tonight,” Luhan said, careful not to mention that the girl was in Sehun’s care. Kris raised one of his perfectly shaped eyebrows, “And so? I thought you’d be smart enough to call the others. Not me.”

It was well known amongst the Fallen that Kris didn’t like to work in groups. He preferred to do everything by himself because it was easier and faster.

“The girl is a Marked one, Kris. She’s been Marked,” Luhan replied, and almost immediately, Sehun’s gaze shifted to him. Luhan didn’t stop there, though, “The girl’s Mark is no ordinary mark, Kris. She bears the one and only mark…”

“I see,” Kris suddenly smirked, but it wasn’t a teasing, playful smirk. No, the Fallen wasn’t capable of that sort of feeling. The smirk displayed on Kris’ lips was cruel and taunting, “The Heiress, eh? Surely your brother will be happy, Sehun. I’m wondering why he hasn’t been searching the whole town for it.”

“My brother doesn’t know,” Sehun firmly retorted, “And he doesn’t need to.”

“Your brother will know soon, I hope you realize that, Sehun, and it isn’t in our duty to stop him from finding his Queen. This isn’t against the rule, and we have no say in it,” Kris talked back in what seemed to be a careless tone, but Sehun could hear the warning behind it. Kris was telling him to not be involved in the matter of the girl.

“I know, but right now we have to save her,” Sehun said nonchalantly. But deep down inside, he cared. Even if he acted like he didn’t, he cared about her well-being.

It was hard enough to defeat ghouls in large numbers, which was why Luhan had called Kris. The tall giant male would be helpful during this situation. Yongguk and Himchan, who were watching Kris and Sehun talking back to each other, looked at Luhan. The time was ticking out. The ghouls were known to be very, very impatient in devouring their foods. The girl could be gone soon.

“Let’s go now,” Luhan interrupted the staring contest between Kris and Sehun, both males too determined and prideful to lose. “Yongguk and Himchan can trace down the scent since they have the best… sense of smell out of all of us.”

Sehun snickered, “Clearly they do… That’s what dogs are for.”

Yongguk growled, but he still snatched away the piece of glass Sehun picked up from his house. With his enhanced sensory, Yongguk would be able to locate exactly where the ghouls came from.

“Where is it, Dog?” Sehun asked, and Luhan shot him a look, telling the younger one to at least ask nicely. But nice wasn’t in his dictionary, unfortunately. Yongguk hummed for a moment, taking in the foul smell of graves and dirty waters. “It’s in an abandoned underground station. It’s near the graves.”

***

Hana remembered that when she watched horror movies, the main character shouldn’t speak up so he would survive. And that was exactly what she was doing, trying to be mute. Hana’s lips were clamped tightly against each other when the boney hooded things dragged her to God-knows-where.

The closer it was to their ‘homes’, the stronger the smell was. Hana was pretty sure she would vomit soon enough.

“Junho, where do you put the last girl we took home?” The first hooded thing, which seemed to be the leader, asked the second hooded thing. Hana could see no difference between all of them, but they seemed to identify each other quite clearly by names.

“Ah, the tramp? I cut her in half,” The Junho one replied, as if it didn’t matter at all, “I think I left her arms inside the fridge, try to check it yourself.”

Another hooded male, not the leader and not Junho separated himself from the line that surrounded Hana and went to the fridge with a frightening speed. Hana scoffed mentally. “Ah, it’s here, Soo… See?”

And he picked up what was supposed to be the leftover of someone’s arms. Hana’s eyes widened almost instantly, and she felt how her stomach suddenly flipped over when she saw the dried blood and the ripped part of the arms. The girl had seen countless of gore horrors, but seeing it in real life was something… unexplainable.

“Is that real human’s arms?” Hana whispered, her expression filled with terror. The leader chuckled, the sound inhumane and the expression was cruel and brutal. “Yes, of course it is, and soon you’ll be like that.”

“I doubt that, Soo,” Her left one, the one called Junho suddenly replied ever-so-eagerly, “She’ll be left to nothing tonight. We’ll eat her straightaway, won’t we, Taec?”

And then everyone laughed like maniacs while Hana struggled and kicked and screamed. They were treating humans as jokes. She didn’t want to die, nor did she want to be eaten. She was terrified, if that could describe the real horror she felt right now.

“So, Taec, deep fried like Junsu said, or barbequed like my preference?”

Hana suddenly turned silence.

The psycho hooded leader grinned like a maniac, showing a perfect set of teeth that contained… canine teeth. Hana whimpered. Just perfect. Her life would be ending soon at the end of these cannibals… if they were even human to begin with.

“I like steamed human. The raw smell is still there. Now, Junho, why don’t you prepare the steamed pot for our guest? Wouldn’t want to keep her waiting, would we?”