"What's a Banshee?" Taemin asked confused.

"An angel of death."

Jessica watched the young boy in front of her as he cupped the cup of coffee on the table with his hands.

He was taking everything surprisingly well, considering he had just found out death was after him.

"Don't you have any questions?" Jessica asked, starting to feel uncomfortable with the heavy atmosphere between them.

"I can't think of anything," Taemin answered shaking his head. "I'm still a little dazed."

Jessica's hazelnut eyes observed him closer. He was tall but rather skinny and weak looking, definitely in the need of a warm soup to make him stop shaking. Too bad Jessica didn't know how to cook.

She shifted in her place, looking nervously around her. She didn't know the basics about communicating with people... How was she supposed to handle such a situation?

"Why me?" Taemin's shy voice broke the silence.

Jessica turned slowly towards him with her loose curls dancing softly from the movement. "I don't know. All I know is that I have to protect you."

"Why?"

"Because, despite what most people think, banshees are not... eeer... evil," she explained trying to keep in mind that Taemin knew nothing of the magical world. "Though they predict death, they are not the cause of it. Their warning has even saved a few men from certain doom."

"You think I still have hope?" he asked, big pleading eyes searching Jessica's pale face.

"I think that everything happens for a reason. If the banshee appeared to both of us, then maybe it's because I have to protect you."

"I still don't get it. Am I so important that you have to protect me?"

Jessica smiled softly. He was so cute and innocent. Unspoiled by all the evil in the world. Sometimes she wished she was like that too, but she had long since accepted her life. It wasn't glamorous or even peaceful, but somebody had to do it.

"You never know. Banshees usually are attached to brave warriors."

A dry sound resembling laughter escaped Taemin. "I am not brave and I am certainly no warrior."

"Banshees get attached to families as well,, so maybe someone in your family was."

Taemin shook his head releasing a sigh. He brought his knees towards his chest, wrapping his arms around them. "I don't think that's the case. Everyone in my family are farmers. Hell, I am the first one to go to university or even leave our village."

Jessica thought what he had told her. She really doubted that was the case but for now there was not much she could do. She rose from the arm of the lovechair she was sitting. "Alright, enough with worrying for tonight. Get in the shower to wash up and relax. I'll get the bed ready for you."

Taemin looked at her wide-eyed. "I can't take your bed-" he started but Jessica interrupted him with a quick gesture.

"Nonsense. You need to rest and either way if I hadn't found you I would still be out."

Taemin wanted to protest, but truthfully, the beautiful brownhead was a little intimidating and he could barely keep his eyes open anymore. In the end he just gave up and did exactly as Jessica had told him.

Jessica watched as the young boy dragged his legs to the bathroom. Maybe this whole people thing isn't so hard after all, she thought while grabbing some clean sheets from her closet and prepared the bed.

Jonghyun was walking through the trees with his wolf ears up, listening for any suspicious noises. It had been a good night, with plenty of food and no annoying interruptions by either of the two women following him. Unfortunately, the night was still far from over.

He caught her scent in the air before seeing her or hearing her steps. By the moment his nose had recognised the scent of tangerines mixed with flowers it was too late to escape. He arched his back taking a few steps back and putting his tail between his legs. He growled as she appeared among the thick bushes and illuminated the night with the soft glow that always accompanied her.

"Hello Jonghyun," she said with her melodic voice that made humans obedient like little puppies. But it didn't work on him.

"It was quite the task catching up with you tonight," she pointed out with only a suspicion of irony hidden in her words. She laced her fingers together in front of her porcelain face in a silent prayer.

Again Jonghyun's only response was a threatening growl.

Her dark eyes were fixed on him through long eyelashes. "Quite the frightening answer," she mused and lowered her hands to fix her white dress. "Now, if you would please turn back to human. Wolfs tend to have a very unpleasant smell after all."

"You think you smell better?" Jonghyun hissed at her returning to his normal form.

"Well that's what I've been told." She laughed but it sounded cold and empty.

"Then why don't you bother one of your petty little men? Surely they will find your bothering them satisfying," he said trying and succeeding in provoking her.

"Jonghyun," she warned.

"Tiffany," he mocked her.

She squinted her eyes and tilted her head to the side. "You have no choice. You have already proven you are strong enough."

"That's not what I was trying to do," he complained feeling the poison running through his veins rushing to his head.

Tiffany raised an eyebrow. "And what were you trying to do?"

"Strength! I was after the ultimate strength, the demon Yuri's blood!"

Tiffany smiled in that mocking tone she so often used with him. "Keep telling that to yourself."

Jonghyun turned around to leave. "Just leave me alone."

"I'm afraid I can't do that. We need you. We need both of you."

He stopped but didn't turn to face her. "Leave her out of this."

"I thought you didn't care."

Jonghyun's fingers curled up into a clenched fist. "I don't."

Tiffany grabbed a strand of hair and brought it close to her face to examine it. "If you say so."

And then Jonghyun snapped. The next second he had turned back to a wolf and was jumping towards , sharp teeth bared.

Tiffany shook her head in disappointment. He should have known better.

He crushed midair on an invisible wall between him and Tiffany.

"Silly, silly puppy," Tiffany sang with a sigh, bringing her hands to her waist. "You should have learned your lesson by now." And with those words she disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Jonghyun to gather his wounded pride.

Jessica was sitting by the window, observing the people passing by. The sky was hidden behind dark clouds. Despite her experience and her job, Jessica didn't consider herself superstitious, but these clouds made her feel uneasy. The fact that she hadn't slept at all last night to keep an eye on Taemin wasn't helping much either.

She used her hand to cover as she yawned. Normally she would be preparing to go to bed at such an hour, but not today.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the apartment. Taemin must have had woken up. She turned her tired eyes to meet his equally pale and exhausted face.

Jessica had accepted the possibility of death long ago, right after her first hunt, but she could understand that for everyone else, realising how fragile life is must be quite a shock.

She smiled in an attempt to make him feel safer. "You are up, good. I'm sorry but we don't have time for breakfast. We have to leave right now."

Taemin scratched his head yawning. "Where are we going?" His voice was hoarse but Jessica couldn't tell if it was from the sleep or his nervousness.

"I want you to meet someone. He might help us understand why the death angel is following you."

Taemin nodded his head and then left to change back to his clothes.

20 minutes later they were rushing through the crowd. They were passing in front of the Cathedral pushing through the busy crowd. Taemin bumped on almost every person in his way but Jessica's grip on him was firm and she easily guided him towards their destination.

Jessica suddenly stopped causing Taemin to fall on her. It was a pretty awkward situation. Jessica was shorter but she was stronger after all this years of training and fighting. Taemin was standing on his toes swinging his arms around trying to keep his balance and not fall on her but Jessica barely noticed.

"We're almost there," she announced.

Taemin stood straight up finally and looked around him. They were standing outside the Cathedral looking straight at its gigantic opened doors. The golden domes shined underneath the bright sun in complete contrast with its dark walls made out of stone. When the church had been built it was the biggest building in the city. Now it was one of the oldest. It took Taemin seven seconds exactly to realise that Jessica was already heading inside it.

"This is where we are going?"

"In a way."

As they entered the building through its central entrance Taemin felt his breath getting caught in his throat. He always considered himself to be a religious person - the rosary bracelet he always wore was a proof of that - but he had never felt so little in the presence of God.

He had been in the city for quite a while but somehow it had slipped his mind to visit the cathedral. It wasn't close to his university or his small apartment so he had never really explored the area either. But now, standing on the cold marble floor, feeling the eyes of all the saints painted on the walls on him, and the empty look of the statues judging him he felt so little and weak that he suddenly had the urge to hide in a corner in fetal position. Any entity living in such a grand place must see him and any other human as nothing more than a small ant. Taemin didn't want to mess with that.

Jessica tapped his arm lightly and whispered to him pointing towards the south corner of the church. "What we are looking for is over there."

Taemin nodded and together they walked slowly towards a small nook, hidden from the eyes of the rest of the people visiting the church.

Jessica could hear their voices and their steps on the floor. Children yelling, old women praying, tourists taking pictures. She hated the crowd but this was the quickest way. She stood above a stone and smiled softly. It had five silver keys stuck on it, positioned in a circle. They had been there for so long that they had become part of the stone after being stepped on so many times. She crouched down and traced a pattern on the floor with her finger. From the top key to the bottom left, to middle right, middle left and finally to the bottom right key and back to the top. A perfect pentalpha.

She took a couple of steps back and turned her head around to make sure they were alone. Taemin's almost silent gasp confirmed that the doorway was open. She turned towards the stone again to see it had sunk in the floor to reveal a marble staircase spiraling into the darkness.

Taemin gulped. "Are we going down there?"

"Afraid of the dark?"

Taemin cleared his throat and she wondered if she had offended him. "I'll go and get some candles," he offered turning towards the central part of the church.

Jessica rolled her eyes and started down the stairs. His steps could be heard close behind her almost immediately.

She placed her left hand on the wall next to her to make sure she was going the right way. Taemin had his hands on her shoulders, walking right behind her.

167

168

Jessica counted the steps inside her head. They should be there soon. She felt the wet ground underneath her feet as the stairs finally came to an end. There was a dim light coming from a corner about 200 meters from where they were standing. Jessica could feel Taemin's breath behind her. He was nervous but didn't seem scared. That was a good sign.

With her hand still on the wall they walked towards the corner and when they reached it they both had to lift their hand and cover their eyes to protect them from the light. Jessica had been there before so she knew what to expect. Taemin on the other hand was left speechless by her side. The petite woman watched as his eyes grew in wonder and she smiled in understanding. The cathedral was really a fascinating and beautiful building but what was beneath it was purely magical, with every meaning of the word.

They had arrived at what looked like a subway station. It was pretty spacious, with two platforms on each side of the tracks. The granite floor looked shiny and new, almost as if someone had just cleaned it and the stony walls were decorated with many geometrical shapes which all came together around the middle of the walls where two huge lions were curved on them, facing each other. On the edge of the platforms were street lamps, placed neatly in a line almost as if they were standing in an old English train station.

“Welcome to Lion’s Bridge,” Jessica told him.

The station was almost empty but for two figures standing at the platform across from them, dressed in dark clothes and leather jackets. Jessica glanced at them and her eyes quickly registered the guns in their belts and the scars on their necks. Hunters, she decided and gestured for Taemin to follow her towards a bench.

She sat on it and crossed her legs, resting her chin on her hand. Meanwhile Taemin examined the papyrus hanged on the wall next to them. "Is this a map?"

"Yes," Jessica answered slightly amused.

"Is it a map of the subway route?"

"Yes."

Taemin's jaw dropped a little. "But this... I have never seen this before. The subway map I have is completely different."

Jessica brushed her hair with her fingers while with her eyes she followed the two hunters. She could easily smell their cigarettes, even from that distance. From the way one of them walked she guessed that if she could get closer she would also be able to smell the alcohol they had been drinking all night. "This is not the human subway. This is a subway for the people of my world." She didn't explain further who the people of her world were but she figured Taemin would understand anyway.

"You mean monsters?"

Okay, so he didn't. "No. I mean humans who co-exist with monsters. I mean mercenaries and hunters and warlocks and some kind of monsters that are generally nicer. Usually elves or fairies."

Taemin nodded and went back to examining the map. "This thing must cover the whole city."

"This is the only entrance from above," Jessica said.

"Is there a train coming?"

Jessica checked the large clock hanging above the tunnel to their right. "In a few minutes."

"Where are we going?"

"The underworld."

A.N.

It's up you guys T-T 

After all this time the second chapter is ready. I'm sorry it took so long. Really there is nothing I can say as an excuse. I just hope that you remember what happened at the first chapter so it's not very confusing. I hope you enjoyed it. Show me your love with a comment~ (even though I don't deserve it *hides in a dark corner*)