NARRATOR'S POV

Crap.

Sooyeon kicked the door of the closet open and dived out of the small space, cursing as her elbows grazed the ground. The axe clattered uselessly as it flew out of her hands, falling far from her reach. She heard a growl from behind her and her skin prickled in fear, adrenaline pushing her to her feet. Her vision was obscured, panic settling on her features. Her eyes flitted across the room for a weapon while her legs propelled her forward, and instead of finding something remotely useful her eyes found something trivial.

On the desk, a home-made name plate read; Kim Jongin.

Before she could get any further, the being tackled her from the back and she screamed on impulse, landing on the floor in a heap. All she could see were the eyes of the rabid dog, it's angry breaths hitting her face.

It stared at her, its red orbs threatening, and for a moment she couldn't breathe. And then out of nowhere, an idea struck her and she gasped out.

"Kim Jongin!"

It growled in her face, and all her hopes nearly died in . Despite that, she forced herself to speak again.

"KIM JONGIN!"

She nearly cried when it recoiled. Yes. It's working!

Tentatively, she called out the name again, and she swore its red eyes flashed to familiar, brown ones. It jumped off of her and retreated as if she stung it, and Sooyeon barely breathed, anticipating its next move.

All of a sudden, it bounded out the door.

Sooyeon breathed out.

Footsteps faded out of hearing, and she knew it was gone.

----

For a long while, Sooyeon just sat at the same spot the animal attacked her.

Her hand lay on her chest, trying to calm her heartbeat. That encounter had- to put it frankly- scared her less. In that span of time, she wished Daehyun was there with her. It came as a puzzlement to her that she actually wanted another person's company, much less his. But he was a friend, and after that entire ordeal, she was sure she'd be better off with someone with her. She'd nearly died, for crying out loud.

She shut her eyes and leaned back against the walls of Kai's room, knowing she should be up on her feet and securing the house, or better yet she should have just get the hell out of there. When she attempted to stand, though, her legs failed her. Sooyeon tried to reassure herself, doubting it would come back.

Those eyes. She thought to herself, furrowing her brows in thought. She had a good idea of what was happening at that moment.

I'm Red Riding Hood, and Kim Jongin is the big, bad wolf.

----

Over on Daehyun's side...

"Do you have something of hers, perchance?" one of the men, who introduced himself as Sehun, asked. It had been a few minutes since Daehyun had first met them. The former blinked and the piece of ribbon in his hand.

"May I ask why you're finding her?" he asked instead, and Sehun's eyes narrowed. The latter was about to refute but his brother's hand laid on his shoulder, signalling him to acquiese.

The latter tried to smile at Daehyun reassuringly. "You don't have to worry. We're just...scoping the scene, you see. We have our own agenda, no harm will come to her."

Daehyun smiled, his expression betraying nothing. He somehow felt that these people could be trusted, and they had their own agenda. Daehyun was not one who trusted others easily, but his gut told him to let it go, for some strange reason. Hesitantly, he handed Sooyeon's ribbon to Sehun, and the latter nodded in appreciation.

Daehyun watched as Sehun handed the cloth over to Chanyeol and D.O, and noticed the silent exchange between them.

"That's sweet of you to make me do all the work," D.O remarked dryly, and unconsciously stretched his muscles. Intrigued, Daehyun kept his eyes on them - only for them to widen in shock.

Because the two men had immediately morphed into wolves.

----

Daehyun nearly tripped over nothing at the sight that presented itself before him. He inwardly cringed at the transformation, seeing their bones bend and pop at an odd angle, watching as fur encased their skin. The two wolves sniffed the ribbon and got to work, while Daehyun was still frozen stiff.

Suho glanced back at Daehyun, examining his expression. "Ah. We forgot to mention, we're wolves. Are you coming?"

He snapped out of his daze when he heard Suho's words, meeting the latter's gaze. "Right. Wolves. Yeah, I'm coming," he muttered, slowly catching up to the rest of the pack. A smirk graced Sehun's features. He turned away to catch up to Chanyeol, and Suho stayed behind with Daehyun politely.

"Have you heard about the Pied Piper Resistance?" Suho spoke suddenly, and Daehyun turned to him in interest.

Pied Piper..? 

"The children of EXO Planet are disappearing. There is a strange melody that plays every night, but somehow the adults do not take notice of it. The children just get up in a daze, and then they vanish," he continued somberly, a frown gracing his features.

This is new information, Daehyun noted and tried to remember it. He quickly ran the events of the Pied Piper in his mind.

"That's terrible," Daehyun stated, waiting for Suho's words.

The latter nodded grimly. "Our pack's goals are to return the children to where they belong. One reason why we want to find the girl in the poster," he explained. "is because she is from Mato. We need to find out how she crossed over secretly between our two kingdoms."

Daehyun nodded in understanding. He was about to respond, when Suho spoke again.

"How do you know her anyway?"

Daehyun kept his expression neutral. "I was shopping for apples when she ran into me and dropped that ribbon your friend holds."

"Ah. I see," Suho muttered, but said nothing more.

Smooth, Daehyun. Smooth.

----

Over on Sooyeon's side...

Sooyeon woke up, realising she was still propped up against the wall. Her eyes blinked open, noticing the wreckage done in Kai's room. Last night's events replayed in her mind and she shuddered. It was a miracle she was still alive and breathing.

For a moment she just lay there, not wanting to get up. But then a nagging feeling egged her mind and she slowly stood up, blinking away the lights in her vision. She was slightly worried about Kai, he did not seem to be home - he would have woken her up.

She hesitantly looked around in case something else attacked her again, surveying the damage done to the house. Sooyeon found 'her' cloak on the floor and picked it up carefully, bringing it with her. Eventually she brought herself to the front of the house, only to gasp in shock.