Wonsik and Sanghyuk opened the door to the roof of the school to find Hongbin and Taekwoon waiting for them.

"Took you long enough," Taekwoon muttered.

"Sorry," Wonsik apologized. "We had to help out the teacher with something."

"Why did you call us out here anyway?" Sanghyuk asked.

Taekwoon gestured with his head towards Hongbin. "I'll let him explain," he said.

Wonsik and Sanghyuk looked at Hongbin with an expectant expression.

"I had a strange dream," Hongbin said.

Sanghyuk then scoffed. "A bad dream?" he mocked. "That's what you were so worried about?"

Hongbin threw a cold look at the youngest, silencing him at once. Taekwoon raised an eyebrow and Wonsik elbowed him deeply, mouthing "just let him say."

"What was it about?" Wonsik asked Hongbin.

Hongbin then proceeded to describe his dream in its full entirety, noting the darkness, the loss of sense, the screams, the kills, the photo frame and finally the white stag.

Wonsik held his chin, furrowing his brows in thought. "That sounds way too strange to just be a regular nightmare," he noticed. He then looked up. "Is there anything else?"

Hongbin nodded. "Earlier today, in class, we met Kang Minhyuk."

"Kang Minhyuk?" Sanghyuk asked, the name seeming familiar. "Isn't he the second in school? Just below you?" He pointed at Taekwoon, who silently nodded.

"I realized that I had seen him in my dream," Hongbin explained. He then turned to Wonsik. "What does this mean?"

Wonsik paused for a moment, thinking deeply. "I...I'm not sure," he admitted. "I've never heard of anything like this before."

"So what do we do?" Taekwoon asked, looking at Hongbin.

Hongbin took a deep breath. "We keep our eyes and ears open," he said, his voice sounding helpless. "That's all we can do."

On the side, Taekwoon noticed Hongbin's palm clenching into a fist tightly, trembling.

Hongbin twisted and turned in the mattress, unable to fall asleep.

Taekwoon sighed, leaning over the bed. "Can't sleep?" he asked.

Hongbin shook his head. "I can't," he admitted.

"Might want to try being more silent," Taekwoon said, stifling a yawn. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

Hongbin exhaled. "Sorry, Taekwoon-ah," he said. "I guess it's hard for me to fall asleep that easily."

"Still thinking about it?" Taekwoon asked.

Hongbin hummed. "I can't get it out of my head," he said. "I can't shake the feeling that there was something there." 

"If you're so hung up on it, you should just go and check it out," Taekwoon suggested, yawning.

Hongbin turned his head. "You actually mean that?" he asked.

"Of course not," Taekwoon said. "Because if you ever checked something out, you'd wake me up too."

"Alright, alright, I won't wake you up," Hongbin said.

Taekwoon turned over and all Hongbin could see was the shape of his silhouette under the blanket which he had pulled up to his chin. Hongbin lay back down against the pillow with his arms behind his head. Silence descended over the two teens, with slow breathing being the only sound his enhanced senses could pick up.

"Can't sleep either?" He asked after a while.

Taekwoon leaned over the bed again. "How did you know?" he asked.

Hongbin let out a light chuckle. "Because we're both going through the same thing," he reminded.

Taekwoon hummed lightly. "Still doesn't feel real," he admitted.

"How do you expect us to sleep after something like that?" Hongbin asked.

"It feels unreal," Taekwoon muttered. "I feel unsafe, like I have a massive target on my back."

"What if we hadn't gone to get the juice that night?" Hongbin suddenly asked.

Taekwoon turned slightly so he could see his friend better. "What do you mean?"

"We should have never left the house that day, Taekwoon-ah," Hongbin said, a small lump forming in his throat. "If we had only stayed in and enjoyed the party, none of this would be happening."

"I don't completely agree," Taekwoon said.

Hongbin raised an eyebrow at him. "One way or another, I have this feeling that we'd be dealing with the hellhounds. If not us, then our parents would."

"If only they were here," Hongbin said.

"If only they were here," Taekwoon agreed.

The two fell back into silence once more, staring up at the ceiling of Taekwoon's room. In the dark night, the moonlight came in through the glass window and reflected on the ceiling, making striped patterns on the roof.

A faint sound then caught Hongbin's attention, making him sit up.

"What's wrong?" Taekwoon asked.

"Did you hear that?" Hongbin asked.

"Hear what?" Taekwoon asked. "Seriously, don't tell me this is another-" Then he stopped as the sound repeated, and even he had heard it.

He lowered his eyes to meet Hongbin's. "Is that...?"

"Call Wonsik and tell him to be on standby," Hongbin commanded. "If need be, we may need to rely on them to pull us out of a mess."

Taekwoon paused, raising an eyebrow. "We're actually going to rely on a hunter to save us?" 

"You have a better backup plan?" Hongbin asked.

Taekwoon shook his head. "Let's go."

It took no less than two minutes for the two of them to get dressed. Within ten, the two were in their wolf forms, taking the route out back to reach Kang Minhyuk's house.

As they approached the house, they paused and quickly shifted.

"Smell anything?" Hongbin asked slowly.

"No," Taekwoon answered.

"Me neither," Hongbin said.

The two moved forward to the extremely quiet house with the lights all off. Hongbin placed his palm on the door before taking in a deep breath and giving it a slight push. The two were surprised when the door sleekly slid open, with not so much as a creak.

Hongbin turned and shared a look with Taekwoon before the two stepped into the house. 

They came upon a warzone.

Furniture was overturned, the TV lay broken, glass and ceramic covered nearly every inch of the carpet. The scent of blood was overpowering, and on the floor they found three bodies; one a man, the second a woman and the third a young boy a few years into his teens, all with their throats ripped out ans covered in blood, their eyes open and as glassy as the wolves' parents.

in a breath, Taekwoon turned to Hongbin. "Do you see Minhyuk?" he asked.

"Go find him," Hongbin instructed. "I'll see what I can find around here."

The other nodded and moved around to the edge of the room to try and find the body of his classmate. Hongbin, in the meantime, leaned down and inspected the wounds on the corpses, finding them to be the same pattern and shape as what he found on his parents. 

He then got up and his eye caught something on the wooden mantelpiece; a photograph.

He moved closer to it and picked it up.

It was the photo of a man and a woman, accompanied by two teenage boys, one being Kang Minhyuk. 

There was also a splash of blood right across the photograph.

"I found Kang Minhyuk!" Taekwoon called.

He placed the photograph back on the mantelpiece and walked over to where Taekwoon was kneeling beside another body hidden behind the overturned couch; the body of a boy with his flesh ripped out, deep gashes on his skin, doused in crimson fluids. 

Kang Minhyuk.

Hongbin raised his head to meet Taekwoon's eyes, neither daring to say a word because one thing stood out. The bodies were still warm, the blood still gushing freely. Rigor mortis hadn't set in yet.

Which meant it wasn't long since this all had happened.

It could also mean that the killer was still in the vicinity.

At that moment, a deep growl, a sound neither of them recognized, sounded from behind them, and they turned to find three massive creatures doused in black smoke slowly walking into the same room as them.

They were massive, nearly double the size of normal wolves. They were black, canine-like creatures that resembled something between a dog, a wolf and a bear. They had a significant dark aura surrounding them, black smoke coming off them in small waves, and their blood red eyes shined through the darkness.

Hongbin silently moved his fingers behind him to signal Taekwoon to get ready as the two stayed in a frozen position, neither daring to move or break eye contact with the hellhounds. 

The one at the head then pulled its lips back, showing a row of large, sharp, white fangs.