Only the quiet dripping of water broke the silence that enveloped him while he drifted in and out of consciousness. His limbs were stiff, the biting coldness had long since settled into them.

With difficulty, Jisoo opened his tired eyes to glimpse at the hole above him. It was almost impossible to make out by now. His lips stretched into a self-deprecating smile: Of course, nobody had bothered to look for him. It was way past the time they had set to meet again, the last time he had dared to turn on the phone it had been almost six pm, and he refused to believe that a bunch of Beings would be unable to find a single Human - unless they didn't want to. Because unlike Dokyeom, he had no way to conceal himself.

His hand, limply resting on the cold ground, curled into a fist. But what use was it to blame them? It had been his own carelessness that had lead to this unfavourable situation and they weren't close after all, despite being part of the same unit. They would probably be happy to get rid of him.

He once again rested his cheek on the knee of his healthy leg, his body curled up as much as his injury allowed.

After surviving all those encounters with dangerous Beings, would he really die from falling into a hole? The situation was so stupid, it was almost funny.

His lifeless chuckle sounded hollow in the width of the cave.

All of a sudden, something crawled down his back.

A shrill scream escaped him while he spun around to hit whatever had touched him - but the darkness was too impenetrable to make out anything and his hands met no resistance.

An insect? Soil? Water?

What was going on?!

A shudder ran through him and everything seemed to waver, the pain in his leg almost unbearable after the involuntary movement. His fingers dug into the hard soil of the ground in an attempt to keep him from toppling over as the world spun around him and cold sweat formed on his forehead.

"You're hurt."

The faint voice was muffled and distorted; it seemed to come from everywhere at once, surrounding him just like the darkness.

The monk blanched even more; his body stiffened while fear held his heart in a vice-like grip. Despite the quietness of his surroundings, he hadn't heard anyone getting closer.

A Being. There was no doubt. Would this be his end?

His voice left him in a strangled whisper. "Who-? Where-?"

Without warning, something cold and wet wrapped around his broken leg, forcing it straight against the ground. The pain was excruciating, blinding, and Jisoo couldn't stop his screams. Tears began to trickle down his cheeks while he writhed in agony. He reached for whatever was holding onto him but his hands only met a hard, clay-like substance that seemed to cover his whole leg. All of his frantic attempts to remove it failed.

"It hurts! Please! Stop!" he begged whoever was torturing him as he clawed helplessly at his leg but the pressure on it remained unchanged.

"You're human," the distorted voice interrupted his pleading before it suddenly grew in volume. "Why are you here? Are you following me? What do you WANT?!" The last word was almost a scream.

Terrified, Jisoo pressed his hands over his ears, his whole body shaking uncontrollably while tears kept running down his face.

"Are you here to hurt me again?!"

"No! No, please! I don't know-" The monk choked on his frantic sobs.

What did that thing want from him?! Why did it hate Humans so much? It was almost as if- A sudden thought popped up, almost smothered by the terror creeping through his body.

"Dokyeom?" he whispered, doubtful and scared, his heart beating double-time as his voice shook with fear.

Please. Please let it be him. He had no strength to deal with anyone who was out to kill him right now. If it was a feral Being, he'd be done for.

Silence filled the cave until-

"You know my name?"

The golden sunrays twinkling on the surface of the river next to Seungcheol weren't enough to lift his mood. On the contrary. He was fighting the constant urge to curse because that idiot was in trouble again.

Jisoo had joined Aegis only three weeks ago but it seemed like misfortune was his constant companion wherever he went.

Cold wind whipped the vampire's face and ruffled his hair but he ignored it for the sake of speeding up. Seungcheol preferred cars – they were comfortable and usually more convenient - but during rush hour it was much faster to run.

It had been exactly seven minutes since he had gotten the call from Soonyoung. The call that had informed him that not only Dokyeom was missing but Jisoo as well.

He clenched his teeth as he sped along the Han river, through parks which were teeming with Humans and Beings alike. It was a sunny and cloudless spring day; perfect weather for a stroll outside, apparently.

Seungcheol didn't share the sentiment. The evening sun wasn't as strong but it was still strong enough to burn on his skin and if he had to choose, he could think of a myriad of things he'd rather do than walk around in a park.

Saving Jisoo was not one of these things.

He dodged a bicycle, the female Human riding it not even noticing his presence while Seungcheol only registered her appetizing smell. Although the sun was blinding him, it was easy enough to avoid collisions - but it was still a nuisance that his body weakened throughout the day. Not substantially but enough to be bothersome.

He squinted into the sun, opting to follow a street lined with cherry trees to get out of the burning light. It was even more crowded than the other walkway. In front of him, a small human girl was playing with a young nymph, both dressed in matching green shirts. Without slowing down, Seungcheol leapt over them. One of the girl's knees was scratched up; the fragrant smell of her blood faintly reminded Seungcheol of his partner.

Soonyoung had said that Jisoo had gone out to search for Dokyeom and that they weren't able to locate either of the two now. If it was Dokyeom who had gotten his hands on the Human, it would be almost impossible to find Jisoo, even for someone as experienced as Seungcheol himself. Usually, the vampire wouldn't worry too much about it since the Being was quite friendly and placid but he had acted up a few times in front of Humans and he was currently still recovering from his head wound. Dokyeom's behaviour throughout the past few days had been somewhat unsettling.

The trees whizzed past Seungcheol as he sped up even more. Fifteen more minutes, he estimated, until he arrived.

He couldn't let his partner die. Not again. And especially not at the hands of a unit member.

He had finally found him: His colleague, the Being they had been searching for. But, for some reason, Dokyeom didn't seem to recognize him.

"I'm Jisoo!" he screamed into the silence left behind by another bout of anger, deathly afraid that the Being would hurt him again in his rage. "Hong Jisoo, your teammate! I'm helping Soonyoung and Seungkwan search for you! Your partners, don't you remember?!"

"Soonyoung... Seungkwan..."

Hope began to swell in Jisoo's chest once the Being grew silent. Everything was better than another outburst.

If Dokyeom was here, there had to be an exit. And even if there wasn't, maybe the Being could tell the others of his broken leg. He just needed to calm him down somehow.

"Yes. Soonyoung and Seungkwan. They're searching for you because they're really worried," Jisoo emphasized in an attempt to pacify the Being. His heart was still beating out of his chest. "And they'll worry even more if they don't hear from us... Hey, do you think you could help me get out of here, Doky-"

"No! Don't call me that! DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

The monk jumped in fright and pain shot through the leg that was still stuck to the ground. His hands once again dug into the cold soil while he bit his lip to suppress a groan. Dokyeom had sounded absolutely mental just now and he had no idea what the Being was capable of. His injury was rendering him utterly helpless; he was completely at Dokyeom's mercy. Closing his eyes, he hastily reassured him, "Okay! Okay, it's alright! Don't worry, I won't."

His priority was to get out of the cave alive and if he had to play along with the Being to do so, so be it. His fists tightened in determination.

"I hate it. I hate it so much." Dokyeom's voice was an erratic mumble somewhere in the darkness.

"Okay. Deep breaths, alright?"

The Being seemed completely trapped in his own thoughts and if the mention of his partners had not managed to get through, would any of his words even matter? Jisoo's brain was working frantically to come up with a plan. Outright asking for help hadn't worked but maybe if he humoured the Being...

"Let's think of another name then, okay? A nice one that you like. Do you have a name you like?" he coaxed, his voice as soothing as he could manage given the dire situation while his hands were still curled into tight fists, nails biting into his palms.

"I- I don't know... I never thought about it..." Dokyeom sounded unsure but at least he wasn't screaming again.

The monk released a quiet breath. "Okay. You need a last name first, right? Like Kim or Park or Lee."

Silence filled the darkness and Jisoo grew more and more concerned the longer it lasted. The Being wouldn't just leave without him, would he? Should he turn on his phone to check?

"I like Lee. It sounds nice."

Slumping against the floor, Jisoo suppressed a relieved groan before he forced himself to speak once again. "Ah. Right... uh. What about a first name? Do you have one that sounds nice? Or how about a character from a book or a series?"

What kind of ed up conversation was that?! His leg was killing him while he was busy renaming his colleague who would or would not end up wiping him out anyway. Inwardly, the monk was screaming bloody murder.

This time, the response came a lot faster: "There's an artist that I like... Ko Seokmin."

"Lee Seokmin sounds like a great name!" the monk blurted with as much enthusiasm as he could muster - which, admittedly, wasn't all that much. But now came the most crucial part. Jisoo's voice turned soft, gentle, every word a warm caress. "I think you should leave Dokyeom buried here and leave this cave as Lee Seokmin. A fresh start, you know. What do you think, mh?"

He held his breath, waiting for an answer. If this attempt failed as well, he was completely out of ideas. The only thing he had left then was begging.

Dokyeom's reluctant reply came after several excruciating seconds: "But my master gave me that name..."

Jisoo almost rolled his eyes. Why was he worried about it now, after freaking out earlier? It wasn't like he held any sort of fondness towards it. And what master? Where was that ty master when Dokyeom had gone missing, huh?

"I see... Do you miss your master?" he probed carefully, unsure why the Being was still hesitating. Maybe his master had died or something and that was why he was reluctant to let go of his name?

"No! I hate him."

Uh, well. That was a different scenario from what the monk had imagined. "Isn't it okay then?" Jisoo coaxed him further. "At least you won't get reminded of him every time someone calls your name."

"Seungcheol! Over here!" Soonyoung, Mingyu and Wonwoo were standing in the long shadow of one of the dilapidated houses. The sun was close to setting, casting everything in a golden glow.

Nimbly, Seungcheol moved from shadow to shadow until he arrived at the trio.

Soonyoung looked distressed, he noted, an unusual expression for someone as easy-going as the fae. It was hard enough to keep him focused on his assignments usually but now he was pouring his everything into finding Dokyeom - and Jisoo?

It was difficult to tell who Soonyoung really was concerned about.

Mingyu, i