FOLLOWING A TRAIL

Jungeun yanked the strip of blue cloth off of the piece of metal with a panicked fervor.

“Choerry. Yerim! This is...this is Jinsoul’s.” Jungeun turned to Choerry. Her eyes were damp. The older girl looked scared. “Where is she…” Jungeun the edge of the blue cloth, where a faint trace of red could be seen. “Is this blood?”

Choerry shrugged. She didn’t mean to come off as uncaring, but they didn’t have answers. Until they did, they had to keep calm. “I don’t know, Jungeun. You need to calm down. You’re scaring me...We need to stay calm until we know more. Just...Jinsoul is alive. We would know if she was dead. You would feel it.”

That seemed to calm her nerves slightly, but she was still jittery. There was nothing she could do about that. The two of them had been following the trail of their friends for about half an hour now. They were getting closer, but every new discovery seemed to set Jungeun on edge. Choerry could hardly believe it, but she was being the rational one in this situation.

They were near the edge of the village now, heading towards the mouth of a seemingly abandoned tunnel. Had they gone in there? Ominous much? Choerry felt butterflies wreak havoc in her belly. She didn’t really want to go down there, but if it was the only chance they had to find their friends...she had to take the chance.

Biting her lip, she held her hand out to Jungeun. In silence, the two girls held hands and stepped forth into the cavernous maw of the beast.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

Haseul and Vivi were in the middle of an argument. Jiwoo leaned against the side of a building, watching the two older girls go at it. She wanted no part of it. Neither did anyone else, it seemed.

The argument in question was about Yeojin and Olivia, naturally. They both wanted to find her, but they had different ideas about what direction to take.

“Just listen, okay? I saw Olivia dive into the water after Yeojin. Neither of them came up after that. I think we should spread out and search along the edge of the canal. See what we can see.”

Vivi shook her head. “That will take too long. The canal terminates in a tunnel near the edge of this town. We should start looking there. If they really did get carried all the way down, that’s where they’ll be.”

“It’s going to take us a while to get down there. It’d be better if we searched all the other possibilities  before jumping to the safest one. If they’re in that tunnel, they’re probably okay. If they aren’t...well…”

Vivi groaned. “Please, Haseul. We’ll have a chance to try your idea after, but if we can wrap this up quickly…” She hesitated here. “It would be better for everyone.” She had to force the words out, but she seemed earnest enough.

Haseul worked her jaw up and down very deliberately. “Okay. We’ll do your plan, but if it doesn’t work, I am seriously holding it against you.”

Vivi’s breath hitched in . “Okay. That’s all I wanted. Then I guess…just follow me.”

Jiwoo felt something in the air. She couldn’t quite tell what it was, but it felt a little like death.

WE TRUSTED YOU

That feeling only increased as they got closer to their goal. Chaewon refused to let go of Jiwoo’s hand, and Jiwoo was having trouble keeping away from Sooyoung herself. Sooyoung, Haseul and Vivi had formed a sort of impromptu leader’s club. They talked among themselves, deciding what to do if they encountered the killer inside. Heejin and Hyunjin held hands too. Hyunjin did her best to comfort Heejin, but the girl did not look comforted in the least. Jinsoul hung a couple of feet behind them, on her own. She looked wrecked. At least she had stopped crying.

They came to the mouth of the tunnel in far less time than Jiwoo was expecting. It had been the better part of half an hour, but it wasn’t the long slog Haseul had promised. Jiwoo’s heart pounded rapidly in her chest as they got closer. It really did look like a mouth. There had been an iron grid bracing the entrance, but it looked like someone had punched a hole through it, from the outside in. The effect was of a round opening, lined with teeth, like some enormous worm.

Jiwoo didn’t want to go in, but they really had no choice. Not if they ever wanted to see their friends again. She was still having a hard time thinking of Jungeun and Choerry, crushed underneath the falling roof. She glanced back at Jinsoul. Things could always be worse, though.

Sooyoung pointed at the sharp teeth of the tunnel. “These look sharp. Be very careful stepping over here, okay, guys?” Jiwoo nodded. Heejin and Hyunjin mumbled affirmatives under their breaths. Haseul went through first, followed by Vivi and then Sooyoung. Jiwoo let Heejin and Hyunjin go first, and then Chaewon.

She had to raise her legs quite high to clear the sharp iron spikes. She decided to speak up. “Hey, are we sure this is even a good idea? This place looks dangerous...we could get hurt for nothing.” Haseul glared at her. “It’s risky, yeah, but if Yeojin and Olivia are down here, we owe it to them to look for them, wherever they might be. They’d do the same for us.”

Jiwoo held up her hands in surrender. “I’m sorry, Haseul. I know, it’s just...I’m scared.”

Hyunjin shrugged. “We all are. Just...deal with it and help us look.”

Jiwoo looked back at the corrugated iron. She took a deep breath and stepped over, careful not to let herself slip on the slick stone that made up the inside of the tunnel. Once she was on the other side, she let herself slide down to join the rest of the girls.

Now they were just waiting on Jinsoul to come through. The girl wrapped her hand around one of the metal spikes. She buried her face against the wall and sobbed softly. “What’s the point?”’

Jiwoo stepped forward, hands outstretched. “Jinsoul, what are you talking about? We need to get going. Yeojin and Olivia could be seriously injured or worse.”

“I’m talking about Jungeun and Choerry. They’re...they’re dead. And I’m still here...why? What’s the point of any of this without them?” She turned distraught eyes on Jiwoo’s own. Jiwoo stumbled over herself at that look. There was something so hopeless...so dead, in her eyes. She wasn’t sure what to say.

Heejin stepped forward. “They are gone, Jinsoul, but you’re still here. It’s hard, but it’s true. But you’ve got a chance to make sure more people don’t die. That more of your friends don’t die. You’ve got to take it. It’s what they would want.”

“You’re...you’re right. I’ve got to try.” She nodded, mostly to herself, and then she stepped through. As soon as her foot hit the floor, she slipped and fell onto one of the spikes. The scream she let out was bloodcurdling. Jiwoo stood there, frozen in time, as Heejin and Hyunjin rushed forward to pull the girl off of the iron bar that had lodged itself in her thigh.

They made quick work of it, Hyunjin wrapping both hands against the spike to hold it in place. Heejin placed her hands on either side of Jinsoul’s thigh, and with a grunt, she pulled. Jinsoul screamed, of course. There was no way she wasn’t going to, considering the size of the metal spike.

Jiwoo squeezed her eyes shut, but the image didn’t leave her. There was blood, oh so much blood as she was pulled out of the grating. Heejin shouted something, and Jinsoul stopped screaming. So that was good.

When Jiwoo opened her eyes again, Heejin was pressing her jacket against Jinsoul’s thigh. Jinsoul was panting heavily, her face soaked in sweat. It hurt Jiwoo just to look at her. She knew this place was too dangerous. Way too dangerous. But they were already inside. They had to keep moving.

Vivi and Haseul helped Jinsoul into a sitting position a little deeper in the tunnel, against some ancient red piping that looked like it hadn’t been tended to in over a decade. Haseul put a hand against Jinsoul’s forehead. “No fever. How are you feeling?”

Jinsoul shook her head. “Not great. Can I just stay here? I don’t think I can make it very far like this…”

Haseul nodded. “Of course you can stay here. We’ll go on ahead, if Heejin’s okay with staying back to watch?”

Heejin shrugged her shoulders. “I’d rather go with you...Jiwoo.” Jiwoo looked up at Heejin, startled by the sudden call out. “Jiwoo, how about you? Would you like to stay here?”

Jiwoo nodded silently. She didn’t want to go a step further in this place. She sat down next to Jinsoul and held her hand. Vivi looked faintly horrified by the scene. “No, she can’t stay here. We have to…”she her lips. “We have to keep moving. All of us. It’ll go faster if we have more people.”

Haseul shook her head. “We have eight people. Losing two isn’t going to make that big of a difference in the search for Yeojin. I think you’re being a little unreasonable--”

“It is not unreasonable!” Vivi raised her voice so high it nearly broke. Haseul took a step back and held her hands up in front of her chest. “Hey, calm down. It’s not that serious. We’ll go with you, but Jinsoul has to stay here. She’s injured.”

Vivi looked down at the ground glumly. She seemed really distraught over the turn of events. Jiwoo turned to look at the entrance to the tunnel. Her hands rubbed a circle in Jinsoul’s back. The girl seemed to relax under her efforts.

Vivi let out a long, shuddering breath, and then she nodded. “Okay. Just...everybody else, come with me.”

There was that feeling again, the sense of impending doom. Chaewon crouched down next to her and poked her in the forehead. Jiwoo blinked. “What was that for?” Chaewon shrugged. “We’re going to be splitting up in a second, here. I just wanted to say goodbye.”

“You’re gonna be gone for like two seconds! What are you saying goodbye for? Sooyoung’s the one who should be extra worried about me. She’s my girlfriend, right?”

Sooyoung stuck her head out over Chaewon’s shoulder and winked. Jiwoo let a sly smile play out across her face. Her voice was warm and sweet when she spoke. “I love you, Jiwoo. In case I don’t get a chance to say it later.”

Jiwoo nodded, her face grim. The fact that that was a real possibility was disheartening.  Jiwoo looked up at her girlfriend and smiled. “I love you too. For real this time. Be careful.”

Sooyoung nodded, and then she was next to Haseul and Vivi, ready to depart into the tunnel. Heejin, Hyunjin and Chaewon brought up the rear of the search party.  Chaewon waved her goodbye.

Jiwoo waved back and then she closed her eyes, just for a second. She needed the rest. They all did, but if she could just get a moment…

She was jolted awake by the sudden sound of metal clattering on the floor. She opened her eyes just in time to see a figure in a wolf mask apparate not twelve feet in front of her. He was clutching a spear in his hands. Jiwoo didn’t even have time to scream before he tossed it right through the tunnel, straight into Chaewon’s back. Chaewon dropped to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Jiwoo’s scream died in .

It took Heejin and Hyunjin a moment to realize what had happened and to turn back around. The wolf turned around and hit them both with two stunning spells each. Jiwoo stood up and reached for her wand, only to realize that she had left it inside the house. The house that had been totally obliterated by fire.

Crap.

The Wolf was a little crueler with Jiwoo. He turned his wand on her. “Crucio!” Jiwoo fell onto her side and hit her head on the stone, hard enough to draw blood. But the pain of her head wound was nothing compared to the feeling running throughout the rest of her body. It felt like someone had torn out every bit of flesh and bone inside of her skin and replaced it with so many broken shards of glass. Her head was even worse. Someone was running a rotor-fan inside there...she could hardly think….

She was aware enough to see Haseul, Vivi and Sooyoung come back into the room. The wolf grabbed Sooyoung by the neck and tossed her headfirst into the wall of the tunnel. She impacted against the wall with a sickening crunch. Jiwoo whimpered.

Haseul managed to get her wand up before she was forced back against the wall by a binding spell. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get moving. Jiwoo tried to move forward, to sneak up on the Wolf, but the pain was too much for her.

Vivi walked back into the room last, arms at her side. The Wolf didn’t try to attack her. Instead, he took a step back and crossed his arms.

Vivi looked horrified. “Why did you do that? You didn’t need to do that! This wasn’t part of our deal!”

The Wolf shrugged. It was kind of funny, seeing such a murderous, terrifying acting so casual. On the other hand, he was a murderous , so it wasn’t really funny at all.

“You broke the deal the moment you came here missing two of your friends. And you let these two stay behind.” He a finger at Jiwoo and Jinsoul. “No no no. That just won’t do. So I have to show you the consequences of your actions.” He leaned back so he could see the ceiling. “And to be honest, it was never going to work out any other way. You were a willing participant in this as well. Betraying your friends doesn’t really change that.”

Vivi looked like she was about to say something in reply, but she was cut off by Haseul’s sharp interjection. “What? Vivi...tell me that’s not true... tell me you didn’t sell us out to this...this murderer!” Vivi turned her head so her face couldn’t be seen. “Vivi...Vivi! WE TRUSTED YOU!”

The Wolf clapped his hands together. “Oh, and your friends hate you. That’s just wonderful. Let’s start the discourse, shall we?”

The Wolf leaped forward and knocked Vivi out with a single punch to the face. Beyond that, Jiwoo saw no more. Her vision faded into red, ceaseless pain, and then into nothingness.

THE CIRCLE AT THE END

“Oh my god--oh my god! I can’t--I can’t move my legs!” Chaewon. That was Chaewon’s voice.

Jiwoo opened her eyes to a scene out of a horror movie. Every single one of her friends was in the room, all in various states of pain and injury. They were all in a massive antechamber, clustered in groups of three. Jiwoo could feel the distinct tug of rope against her wrists. The others weren’t much better. Sooyoung’s face was coated in blood. Chaewon's legs were splayed out beneath her, still as a stone statue. She was panicking, trying to will her legs into movement. Vivi’s nose was broken.

Jiwoo shook her head. She knew she should be angry at the older girl, and she was, but seeing her like this brought her no satisfaction. Well, it was more like despair.

The girls were gathered into groups of three. Jiwoo was kneeling next to Jinsoul and Sooyoung. Vivi sat next to Chaewon and….Yeojin? She was alive? Jiwoo let her breath slip away from her in a long, shuddering gasp. She had been so afraid...she was still afraid, actually. The last group was Heejin, Haseul and Hyunjin. Heejin looked as scared as she felt. Haseul was livid. Absolutely red-faced.

It only got worse when Olivia emerged from behind a door, wand in hand. It was very clear that she was a part of whatever scheme the Wolf had cooked up. Jiwoo clenched her hands into fists. They’d trusted her. Jiwoo had even called her a friend.

Olivia looked sullen and grim. What did she have to be angry about? She was the one with their lives in her hands. The Wolf followed close behind her, only this time he was maskless. With his mask off, she could see that he was Professor Quinlan. The Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher? But why? What did he have against them?

“Ah. You all look so nice like this. On your knees, unable to influence anyone with your...misguided intentions. It’s a shame two of you couldn’t be here to see this. Ah. Well, accidents do happen.” He stepped forward, a smile on his face. He looked happy. In this room, he was the only one.

“But that’s the past. This is the present. My name is Thomas Quinlan. You all know me as your DADA teacher, but the truth is I hate the job. I only took it to monitor potential threats. The next generations of witches and wizards...well, to be honest, you all leave much to be desired.”

He was walking around the room, taking careful looks at each of them in turn. Jiwoo had no taste for violence, but she wouldn’t have minded seeing Haseul knock him down a few pegs. Speaking of which…

“You bastard! Let us go, or I’ll--”

Quinlan snapped his fingers. “Or you’ll what? Attack me? With what? Your fists? Kill me? Most certainly not. You girls are too pure for that kind of action. I’ve faced killers before. That’s not you.”

She spat in his face. Quinlan wiped it off and looked at his hand, as if he couldn’t believe it. And then he kicked her in the stomach. She fell over, coughing and wheezing. He kicked her again, And again, And again. Until Vivi shouted for him to stop. He turned around, a -eating grin on his face. “It’s your fault, you know. If you’d just killed the mongrel when you had the chance, none of this would have happened. Instead, you spared her. More than that, you defended her. How disgusting. This blood is on your hands!” He spread his hands out to indicate the whole room. Vivi gasped and turned her gaze back down to the floor.

“Well, now that we’re through with introductions, we can start. This is a simple game. The rules are as follows. I will ask you to renounce your stance on werewolves and the mongrel. If you do, she will be the only one that dies, and that will be the end of it. You’ll be able to go free without further consequence. If you don’t, I will kill one of you. We’ll take a break, and then I’ll bring you back here to start the pain all over again. I will go on and on until either the wolf is dead or all of you are. Consider your options.”

He paused to give them all time to consider the position they were in. Jiwoo wasn’t giving Jinsoul up. Taking a look around the room, she could see that everybody else was of the same mind. Jinsoul herself looked pale and sickly, probably from losing so much blood through her thigh wound.

A few minutes later, he asked his question.

“Do you take back what you’ve said about werewolves and about your friend? Do you condemn the wolf to death?”

Haseul shook her head, and when she spoke, she spoke for all of them. “Hell no.”

Quinlan smiled unpleasantly at her answer. There were too many teeth in that grin. He looked more like a shark than a man. He clapped his hands together. The sound was like thunder in Jiwoo's ears.

“Alright! Now we can get started on the real fun.'