Time stood still for what seemed forever then, though Ren knew it couldn't have been more than a few seconds before the Lurkers knew they were fair game and began approaching.

They were in no particular hurry, drawing slowly near, but not yet near enough to be seen. Baekho might not have noticed them if it weren't for the shuffling sounds they made, but Ren could sense their presence for reasons he could not explain.

He wondered how many there were, he wondered what they looked like. Many stories had been going round, all indecisive and full of speculation. The simple fact of the matter was that no one who had seen them up close had ever lived -or even existed- to tell the tale.

Unseen in the new darkness he felt something brush past the back of his hand and then cling to him. He realised it was Baekho. The older boy protectively pulled Ren closer to his body, as if the proximity would make any difference, and whispered something in his ear.

"What do we do now?"

Nothing, Ren mused, immobilised with the soothing acceptance that there was nothing they could do. There was more than just that, though. There was also a creeping sense of morbid curiosity that drove him to remain inactive. I wonder what they'll do to us. They make people vanish without a trace, I wonder how they do that.

The Lurkers had stopped moving by now, remaining motionless just outside of the limited line of sight. They were all around; surrounding, trapping but not attacking. Instead they lay in wait, anticipating their prey's next move before they took action. As if they were expecting the boys to come to them.

At least, that's what Ren thought they were expecting, for that was what he knew he was about to do. He could not grasp why but he knew he was going to go over there and let them take him. As soon as Baekho would let go of him, that is.

But the other would do no such thing. He would not release Ren's arm no matter how much he pulled.

Why is he being like this? Why is he so obstructive? All I want to do is go and see what they'll do. I'm just curious.

"Ren what are you doing?!" Baekho yanked him back, making him lose his footing and stumble into his chest, only barely avoiding crushing Mouse. Ren turned towards his obstacle of a friend and looked up.

Baekho flinched when he saw his eyes; glazed over and unfocussed, as if under the influence.

"Can't you feel it, hyung?" Ren said in a meek whisper, not sounding like his usual self, but instead far too hollow. "They're beckoning us. They want us to join them." Baekho didn't know what he was hearing. What was going on? What was with that weird, ghostly smile on his face?

"Don't you want to come with them?"

"No," Baekho said firmly to Ren, or not Ren; to whomever or whatever was making him act like this. "No, I want to live."
Ren laughed. It was a cute, untroubled giggle and it was the single most terrifying thing Baekho had ever heard.

“Why would you want that?”

That was when Baekho snapped. He didn't know what was going on but he knew he wasn't just going to let it happen. Tightening his grip on Ren's arm, he pulled him along as he started running. He didn't know where he was going, where he could go, but he just ran with Ren like a dead weight on his arm. Whether the Lurkers took chase he had no way of knowing but he knew they had to get in the light somewhere, or find a place to hide. Taking his first time to look around properly, now that he had the least time to do so, his hopes for an easy escape were immediately crushed. There was nothing but darkness down the entire block, the only light coming from within the buildings, which he had no way of accessing without authorisation from the owners.

The floodlights were basked in a faint blue glow, strong enough for him to notice in the night but still too weak to reach down below and illuminate the streets. They're coming back on again, he thought with a flicker of hope rearing up in his chest, giving him a few minutes delay from running out of breath through sheer willpower.

How long would it take before the light could ward off his pursuers, though? They were always well an hour before the sunset, to be safe. Like an ominously powered reactor core, these lights would very slowly crawl towards full intensity with a dull hum.

That was the price paid for getting such high intensities from so little power; an agonisingly slow start-up. One that was now gambling with the two boys' lives.

No time to stop and worry about it.

Think, Baekho. Think. Where can you go?

Imagining the layout of the streets around him, he remembered the shopping street nearby. It too would certainly be deserted, but there was a chance of escape there, if he remembered correctly, just the slightest chance.

Mouse yowled miserably beneath his jacket as he turned a left and dashed over a deserted crossing without paying heed to the traffic lights, which flashed a continuous orange in all directions. Ren was neither complying nor fighting him all the while, he simply looked back with that weird smile at the monsters following them.

Feeling his breath starting to burn in his lungs, he wondered how on earth he even managed to outrun them. He wasn't in bad shape, far from it, but he was only human. The Lurkers were supposed to be fearsome nocturnal predators, he thought they'd be faster than this. But the distance between them never closed, nor expanded. With a despondence clenching within his chest, he realised this lay not in their inability to overtake him, but rather in their unwillingness. They weren't even trying, they were just playing with him. Enjoying the chase, watching him run, they wanted to give him the illusion he had a chance to get away. They wanted him to feel in control before snuffing him out. Nothing like predators, but more like sadists.

He nearly tripped with his own momentum when he skidded around a final corner and had to stop for a moment to think. Left or right? He couldn't remember.

He quickly shot a glance over the wide shopping street, normally a coursing river of people, that was now painfully desolate. The long deserted distances and graffiti stained roll-down shutters in front of the windows gave the street and almost post-apocalyptic air.

What's next? Zombies? He wouldn't even be too surprised.

But in the steadily strengthening light he could see what he had been looking for; the checkpoint. This one was different from the ones across the other streets in that it was solely for pedestrians and not for vehicles. Which meant there were no moveable barriers anyone could jump over or under and only the gates from wall to wall. If he could just get through, if he could just make it there on time before they caught up, he could put the gates between them, he would be safe.

He wasn't even thinking any more now, there was nothing to think about. There was only the distance he had to bridge, the goal he had to reach. The chocking awareness of his shortness of breath remained subdued, for he willed it to be so. He couldn't afford to get tired now.

As if delayed, he only became aware of the angered roars after they'd been uttered. He'd never heard Lurkers make sounds before. They must realise what he was planning, they must understand he and Ren were going to get away. They must be upset.

His head swimming with adrenaline, he finally reached the scanner, and slammed down on it, for a moment fearing he'd damage the mechanism and destroy all his chances.

The gate opened. He knew the Lurkers were speeding up now, really trying.

He raced through it. He realised fully how close this was going to be, how everything depended on how quickly the gates would manage to close again behind him.

He slumped down on the ground, he couldn't run any more, he was done with this, it would all come down to luck now.

A crash came as something -he didn't need to imagine long what- slammed into the fence. Into, but not through.

He panted heavily and turned his head to look back. There was nothing.

A deep dent in the gate left from the impact, but nothing beyond. Enough light now washed down for him to distinguish shapes clearly, and as such there was nothing left to distinguish. The Lurkers had fled.

He laughed involuntarily. What a lucky bastard I am.

Besides him on the ground, Ren gasped and scrambled up. Looking around him with panicked eyes he needed to come to term with his new environment.

"What the-? How the heck did we get here. What-?" He struggled to find his words, but Baekho on the other hand had never been more relieved. Ren was back to normal, whatever hold the Lurkers had had over him earlier, whatever hypnotism or mind-control they used to make him docile, it waned as soon as they disappeared.

He lunged towards the smaller boy and enclosed him in a hug, careful not to harm the still mortally wounded cat between them. The startled boy stopped his confused ramblings as soon as he felt the embrace and sighed relievedly, digging his face into Baekho's shoulder.

Baekho smiled. Everything was all right now.

Ren was back.

They were alive, and Ren was back.

…

Though his paper was still waiting for its completion, Minhyun stood in the kitchen, reluctantly drying off the last of his dishes from the night's dinner. In his opinion, the cleaning up afterwards almost made cooking not feel worthwhile any more. He thought he might manage without food altogether, if it meant no work either.

He had considered, like he did every time, to just leave the washing up for later, but he knew himself well enough to know that later means never and that putting it off could lead to a time where the filth has had enough opportunity to expand and develop into a state of sentience.

So once again, for survival and nothing else, he did his dishes. He did his cooking, he did his laundry and he applied exactly the right amount of order into the junk in his apartment to remain functional. No more and no less, he only cleaned as much as was absolutely necessary.
For he was a man and he was alone and these things had no importance to him.

He hadn't always been alone here. He had a room mate, at first, but one day -or rather, one night- the guy simply vanished. His deserted room still packed full of his untouched belongings a stark reminder of what dangers lurked outside.

But now there was no one else. No one to complain about him, no one to bother him to get himself in order. He was completely free to do as he pleased.

It was horrible.

He heaved a sigh when the doorbell rang. It wasn't that he didn't like unexpected visitors, but it tried his patience how they had this tendency to arrive the very moment he was done with all his chores and had just collapsed onto the couch for an evening of relaxation.

He got up again with a groan, realising there was no way he'd get around to finishing his paper at this rate, especially if this turned out to be those obnoxious but strangely endearing neighbours of his that felt the need to keep him company on days he seemed exceptionally cold. He hoped it wasn't them. He hated being alone, and he appreciated all of his friends' efforts to make him feel less so, but if these visitors came over with the sole purpose of lifting his spirits, he'd kill them.

This had better be good, he thought scornfully.

It was not.

When he opened the door he was met with Ren's wide-eyed frightened face, scratches and smudges of blood on his cheeks and a crumpled-looking Baekho behind him. His heart jumped into his throat. What had happened to them? What were they even doing here? Did they come all the way over here in the dark? Were they insane?

“Oh Minhyun, thank God. We need your help.”

“What- what's going on?” Recognising his cue, Baekho stepped forward at that question, holding the injured cat out in his arms.

“It's Mouse,” Ren explained. “The Lurkers got him, I think he's dying, Minhyun.”

“You came all the way out here for a stupid cat?!” Minhyun couldn't help himself. These idiots. They travelled all the way over here at night, risking their lives to see him, just for that stupid cat. People died at night, they should know that. Why didn't anyone know that?

Ren flinched and looked at Baekho for support, even though his reaction had initially been the same. Everyone seemed to be turning on him just for wanting to leave the house.

“You idiot, you could've been killed! Do you have any idea how much it freaked me out to see you guys on my doorstep all terrified and dishevelled? I thought you were in trouble.”

“I just wanted to help Mouse,” Ren said in a small voice. “Please Minhyun, you're the only person who can help him now. He needs someone to fix him up or he'll bleed to death.”

Minhyun sighed, reluctantly calming himself down. He hated admitting he was wrong, but he hated mistreating his friends even more. “I'm sorry I'm yelling at you.” His paranoia was making him say and do things he'd regret again. “You just scared me. Come inside already, you idiots.”

They didn't need to be told twice.

Author's Note: Ghehe, Minhyun's an in this fic. But I like him like that.

Took a while for me to update again, I blame my re-exams. XD I passed this year, by the way, if anyone cares.

In theory, I should be updating faster from now on with my free time, but it could also mean I just slack off more. We'll have to wait and see.

As a little game: who can spot the Richard Matheson plagiarism allusion?