“There’s no one here,” Min said pointedly, with as much tone in her voice as Jepp had ever heard her. “Are you sure the Taking is today?”

“The Taking happens everyday Min, what are you talking about?” He furrowed his eyebrows at her. She didn’t reply, her head bowed and her scythe – now back in it’s sealed form – clutched tightly in her hand. She traced the tip of her shoe delicately across the ground and mumbled something. Jepp raised an eyebrow. “What did we say about the bowing head and mumbling thing?”

“I still don’t know what a Snatcher looks like,” Min lifted her head, her eyes clear and hardened. Jepp visibly relaxed, a sloppy grin on his face. He reached out and ruffled her hair.

“Well, they look like human beings except that the only thing you’ll see in their face is one big scary red eye, and they were masks with spikes on them, which would hurt you if you touch them,” he explained placidly, bending over so he was face to face with her. “But don’t worry, if they try to hurt you just call for Jepp and I’ll beat up those bullies for you.” He smiled so hard that his eyes disappeared and patted her on the head. She simply blinked at him.

“Why are we killing them?” she asked distinctly, eyes narrowing on the word ‘kill’. “Aren’t they human beings too?” Jepp’s smile wavered, then dropped slightly.

“Because they steal kids,” he said shortly. “And don’t ever refer to them as human beings.” He looked like he was about to say more when a sudden scream echoed from the alleyway behind them. “Let’s go!” he ran forward, jacket billowing out behind him. Already Min could see the barrels of his combination gun protruding from his right sleeve. She swallowed hard and followed.

-

“GYU! GYU, HELP ME!”

“You lied to me. You lied to me.”

“No, I never - !”

bang.

Sungkyu awoke with a jolt, his heart beating so hard against his ribcage he was sure that it was bruised. He glanced around his surroundings, trying to catch his breath, his chest heaving. He realized that he was covered in cold sweat and stumbled to his feet, knocking over a vase as he crashed into the bathroom.

He stared at himself in the small, cracked mirror. His looked like a wreck, and what was even worse, he felt like a wreck. “You’re pathetic,” he spat at himself, then shoved a fist forcefully through the glass. “Man the up Kim Sungkyu.” The shards of glass tinkled to the ground as his knuckles bled into the sink.

-

“CL!” a female voice called out, and CL turned to see a figure in the distance, messy blonde hair glinting in the sun, a hand waving enthusiastically at her. She stopped in the middle of the street, waiting for Amber to catch up.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” the girl asked her without missing a beat. She had run about 100m from what CL could see and she wasn’t even breathing hard. She suppressed a smile. Amber really was something sometimes.

“Getting some supplies. It’s my day off and Jepp and Min are on the Taking today so I thought I might as well stock up. I sent Jepp here this morning but he didn’t get half the things on the list, the idiot.” CL stuck a hand into her pocket and pulled out a stick of gum. “Want one?”

“No, that’s okay, you’ll probably need it more than me,” Amber laughed a little sheepishly, waving her hands in front of her. She had witnessed one of CL’s sugar withdrawals before, and it wasn’t something she wanted to relive again. “And yeah, that sounds like Jepp. He doesn’t take things very seriously, does he?” CL shook her head. “By the way, have you seen Key around? I’ve been looking for that bastard, he stole one of my clients.”

“Oh, yeah, he was showing an outside reporter the church,” CL gave Amber a meaningful look, and the girl nodded. “What are you doing here in Valera?”

“Ahh, just chasing up a few people who owe me stuff.” Amber ran a hand through her hair and toyed with the tie around her neck. She was dressed in a shirt, tie and jacket but in usual Amber fashion everything was untucked and loosened, and her jacket was checkered black and white. “I’m done now, if you need help taking stuff back to the Precinct I can help. Might bump into Key on the way.”

“What client was it anyway?” CL continued her inspection of the wares of the stalls that lined both sides of the street. “Sounds like you really wanted it.”

“Oh, just someone who wanted some information about Deepground,” Amber replied breezily, her attention distracted by a bright purple fruit that was emitting steam. She didn’t notice CL freeze a little beside her. “Key always gets the Deepground people, and I really want to go down there one day. Holy crap, look at this fruit, it’s so weird!” The owner of the stall shot her a nasty look.

“Isn’t it dangerous though?” CL asked as unaffectedly as possible. She picked up a bright yellow fruit that looked like a cross between a lemon and a strawberry and sniffed it. Maybe she could make lemonade, the Precinct kids might like that.

“I’m a P.I., CL,” Amber straightened up and shot a dazzling smile at her. “I thrive on danger.”

-

“Ugh,” Jepp groaned, firing his gun at the Snatcher that was about to close in on him. He shot Min a quick look to see how she was doing, only to find her perched on a rooftop, clinging to her scythe. He shook his head. He should have known – she still wasn’t ready. “Min!” he beckoned to her as the last Snatcher dissipated into black smoke. She leapt gracefully from the roof, looking a little sullen. “Come on, let’s get you home, I’ll do this alone.” He ruffled her hair.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, looking at her feet.

“No, it’s okay,” he sighed. “I’ll bring you back out when you’re ready.” They set off down the street, Min looking wary and Jepp on guard for any sign on trouble. There appeared to be none, and he was just about to relax and compliment her on how she hadn’t screamed and taken off like the last time when a flurry of shadows in the corner of his eye made him pause. “Stay here,” he ordered, rushing off in the direction of the Snatcher. Min obeyed, partly because she didn’t want to see him kill another ‘person’ and partly because she didn’t feel like disobeying.

And then she saw the puffs of black smoke appearing on the roofs lining the alleyway. Four, no, five. Six. Her eyes were silver orbs in her face. Seven. The figures leapt into the alley.

Without a second thought she rushed forward, scythe in hand and heart pumping faster than it ever had in her life. The sight that greeted her was exactly what she didn’t want to see – Jepp firing a bullet straight into the glowing red eye of one Snatcher. But there were more, and they were surrounding him, even as more Snatchers fell, disappearing into black smoke. She relaxed a little, slumped against a wall. She didn’t need to worry; Jepp could take care of himself.

Until two Snatchers ducked under him and seized his by the arms. A third one drew a full black katana from its sheath on its back and pointed it at Jepp’s neck. The blade glinted, and Min saw her own terrified reflection in it.

“Min!” Jepp bellowed. “Kill it!”

The Snatcher whipped around and swung the weapon at her. She blocked it hastily, the force pushing her backwards. She gritted her teeth, digging her feet into the ground and leaping away, taking a swing at her assailant, who dodged. “Min!” Jepp let out a strangled yell and she watched as one of his captors held its own katana to his neck. Her assailant took the opportunity to shove the hilt of its sword into her abdomen.

The force of the blow had her spitting out blood-coated saliva and left her breathless as she fell backwards, clutching at her stomach and struggling to breath. She was aware of Jepp screaming her name as she raised a shaky hand to get back on her feet. Come on, you pathetic creature, you weren’t trained for nothing. But a shadow fell over her and the Snatcher’s katana was coming down…

There was a sudden flash of silver and her assailant fell. Her vision was blurry, but she could see a boy about her age slicing down Jepp’s captors. He was carrying a black katana with a silver handle and she could see that he was incredibly skilled with it, flying around in a graceful dance with the weapon. She had a feeling she had seen that style somewhere, but something in her mind registered that with fear, and she couldn’t quite remember anymore.

Jepp crouched down in front of her, extending a hand and helping her to her feet. “Are you okay?” he asked worriedly. She nodded, her abdomen aching, staring at the boy in front of her. His katana was pointed directly at her, the expression on his face unfathomable.

“I found you,” he said quietly. “Finally.”

Min swallowed, the metallic taste of her own blood making her shudder. “I don’t…” Recognition suddenly made her eyes flash silver. “L,” she breathed. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you think?” he asked dully, his eyes on her cold and expressionless. “I’m here to kill you.”