The next morning just as the sun was starting to rise, the two men started waking up to pack up their camp and continue on their way. After waking up Kyuhyun and getting their bags, the three started off after the men. Almost half of the day was gone by the time they were halfway within seeing distance of the temple. The white round temple was easily spotted sitting on the mountain top, the setting sun shining on it made it appear like it was glowing.

“Would you look at that,” Eunhyuk whistled quietly.

“It’s beautiful,” Donghae murmured in amazement at the sight. “So inside’s where the angel sleeps.”

“Could you imagine any other kind of home for an angel? It’s as close as he can probably get to heaven,” Kyuhyun chuckled; the hunter glanced ahead of them to see the two men stopping and laying down their bags. “Seriously, we’re this close and those two drunks are going to set up camp for the night already?”

Donghae shrugged, “Well, it makes sense. By the time we reach the temple, it’ll be nightfall, better to see things in the daylight than at night.”

Kyuhyun scoffed, “That means it’ll be another day before we get closer to getting the angel and returning with him.”

“If you want, we can go on ahead and scope the place out while we wait for morning to come and for those two to make their move,” the blonde hunter suggested.

“Good idea, Eunhyuk, if anything attacks those two while we’re gone, we won’t be too far away from them,” Kyuhyun replied, casting a glance at the two men and then starting out around the campsite of the two and trudging onward towards the temple.

Once they reached the pathway that led to the temple, they tapered off and headed up one of the cliff sides to get a better view into the temple. It was built like an old Roman coliseum so most of the inside was viewable all the way around, but it was large enough to still be completely dark in the center when the sun wasn’t shining on it.

Kyuhyun understood now why it would make sense for the two men to want daylight to be on their side when entering in. They’d have a better chance at seeing what was coming their way. But for the night, the hunters would have to rely on their night-vision binoculars to see anything inside the temple. Each pulled out their own pair after the sun had finally set and night greeted them, they observed the shadows of the inside of the temple.

“I can’t see anything, even with the night-vision,” Eunhyuk spoke up, trying to find a setting on his binoculars that would allow him a better view but he couldn’t seem to find one.

“I can’t either, it’s just too dark inside,” Donghae replied, setting his binoculars down and sitting down on the ground.

“Suppose it could be the angel’s doings? Make sure no one spies on him, or whatever it is that’s been setting fire to the people that enter?” Kyuhyun asked, putting away his binoculars since it was no use in trying to scope out the place if he couldn’t see anything.

Eunhyuk shrugged, “It could be, we still don’t know exactly what we’re up against.”

Kyuhyun sighed, rummaging through his bag to find a blanket to lie down on the ground, “Well, I guess we can crash here for the night until those two drunkards decide to wake up and continue on their way up here.”

The three set up their small pallets and laid down for the night, but each kept an ear out for any sounds of a wild animal. But unlike the other two, something began drawing Kyuhyun’s mind deeper into sleep. He was usually a light sleeper when he knew that the others needed their sleep too, yet he couldn’t stop sleep’s hold from taking him.

He was back in his parents’ house, but this time, he wasn’t back in his six year old self, his current self was there. His back still pressed against the wall, two hands still holding him, and the sounds of gulping was coming from the side of his head, a dull pain making itself known as he felt himself growing weaker and weaker. He tried to struggle, tried to break away, but his arms couldn’t do much until they were just hanging limp by his side.

The cloaked being, however, pulled back, almost as if to admire their work. He was released as the cloaked being’s hands came up to slip the hood off their head, revealing long black hair, white pale skin, and two piercing eyes that he’d know anywhere, a wicked grin overtook their face as small drips of blood made their way down their chin. It wasn’t the creature that killed his parents anymore, this being was something worse. This was the demon that haunted him the most, the demon that squeezed her way into every crease of him, the one that wrapped her hands around his heart and shattered it into a million pieces in the end.

“M-Mina…” he breathed. His stomach felt uneasy, he wanted to heave, he wanted to escape, he wanted to run away, and never have to face the demon ever again.

“Oh, Kyuhyun, looks like you’ve missed me,” she cooed as her grin disappeared into a small pout, her fingers coming up to brush against his cheek, enjoying the way he flinched and cowered down. “How long has it been since I’ve seen you last? Two years, three? A decade? I can’t keep track of time anymore.”

“You—you’re supposed to be dead… I killed you!” Kyuhyun screamed, wanting nothing more than for the wall to disappear so he could turn and escape the demon.

Mina clicked her tongue, brushing the hair out of Kyuhyun’s face, smiling, “You did… I can’t believe you actually had enough guts to drive that dagger through my heart, but you did. And after you claimed to love me so much, after you betrayed your first client because of my sob story… you even went as far as to kill him as well, but of course, your reputation would be on the line if he had lived.

It still amazes me what humans would do for something as silly as love,” she laughed, leaning forward, despite Kyuhyun’s efforts of retreating further back against the wall, her face close enough that her lips brushed against his as she spoke, “Do you still love me, Kyuhyun? Do you still burn for me?” She heard him whimper softly, “Are you still broken over my lies and your foolish trust? Do you still believe the lie I whispered when I said I loved—”

A blinding light coming from behind her cut her off. The two turned towards the direction of it, Kyuhyun’s mind clouded with confusion, while Mina’s filled with fear. The light was too bright to make out anything at first but then as footsteps started echoing throughout the house that was slowly fading to gray, they both saw a being dressed in all white, their blonde hair looked like sunshine, their robe almost blended in with the light, but their hands and face were the only things that could be seen. As the being stepped closer, Mina slowly started deteriorating into black dust, while Kyuhyun was left to regain his composure, his body didn’t feel as weak and his mind wasn’t overcome with memories of the past anymore.

“You have a rather interesting but cruel demon haunting you,” the being spoke, his voice husky and low. “As well as a vampire.”

Kyuhyun raised his hand to his face to try and block some of the brightness coming from the being, but the only thing he caught was the sight of a smile on the being’s face. He couldn’t see their eyes or nose or any other part of their face.

“Don’t worry, they won’t haunt you anymore.”

Kyuhyun was stirred awake by the stinging of a bug biting the side of his neck. He swatted it away, then noticed that the sun had already risen, the sky was cloudless expect for one white and fluffy looking one that hung over the temple. It was already morning. He threw the blanket off of him despite the sudden coolness he felt of the mountain’s winds but he paid no attention as he woke his two partners and they went back to the cliff to see if the two men had made it to the temple yet.

They saw no signs of anything smoking at the entrance of the temple nor did they smell anything burning, so they assumed the two men hadn’t reached the temple yet.

Almost ten minutes later, they finally heard footsteps against the fallen leaves of the trees, two voices mingled through the wind as they stepped out into the clearing around the temple. The hunters waited in anticipation with their binoculars zeroed in on the two men, waiting for one or both of the men to step up and go inside. Although Donghae noticed something as he moved his scopes from on the men to the entrance of the temple, something had moved inside the entrance, and unlike the rest of the temple that was lit by the sun, there was a dark shadow growing around the entrance.

“Guys, look,” Donghae stated, pointing towards the entrance, “Zoom in on the entrance, there’s a dark shadow right there while everywhere else is bright. It looks like it’s moving too.”

Kyuhyun and Eunhyuk followed Donghae’s directions and both were shocked at what they were seeing. Was there something in the shadow that was killing the intruders? Or was it the shadows themselves that were setting the people on fire? A shiver ran down Eunhyuk’s spine before he had to put his binoculars down and look away.

“If it’s a shadow, how the hell are we supposed to fight it?” He voiced, because despite the discovery, he knew that Kyuhyun was still going for the angel. “Our bullets will go right through it.”

The two were quiet for a moment, Kyuhyun was stumped at that, how would they kill a shadow or at least, get passed it to snatch up the angel? They’d never dealt with fighting shadows before, never heard of shadows being a problem, if in fact, that was what was guarding the angel.

Donghae spoke up, in a joking manner, “Well, if it’s just a shadow, wouldn’t our flashlights hurt it? Since shadows recede in the light?”

Kyuhyun shrugged, liking the theory, “It’s worth a shot.”

Eunhyuk scoffed, “But its daylight and the shadow hasn’t receded back against the sunlight.”

“Look again, Eunhyuk,” Donghae replied, looking back through his binoculars at the temple, “it’s behind one of the pillars of the temple, and the sun can’t reach it there…” the blonde hunter was about to respond until he was cut off by Donghae, “Hey, the two are finally walking up to it.”

They all picked up their binoculars and watched closely as one of the men started up to the steps of the temple. The other hesitantly followed after him, but not too close, he looked like he was rethinking his decision. The man in the front didn’t seem too scared, Kyuhyun recognized him as the one that wanted the angel to be a woman so he figured that he was thinking with his lust rather than his common sense.

Donghae kept his scopes on the shadow at the entrance, seeing how it shifted every few minutes, almost as if it were waiting for the men. They each held their breath when the first man’s foot landed on the top step and then just as he started to walk through the entrance of the temple, a flame shot out from the shadow, setting the man on fire. The other fell back, away from the temple as he screamed at the sight of the man burning to death, he was slightly singed from the outburst of fire but he was still intact.

“! Did you see that?” Kyuhyun exclaimed, his mouth dropping open as he stared at the sight. The fear that was seeping into his being was slowly being eaten away by adrenaline now.

Eunhyuk, however, was filled with fear at the sight of the man burning to death, he gulped and started breathing heavy as he turned away from, putting his binoculars down to try and keep himself from hyperventilating. Donghae kept his eyes on the shadow, he gasped when he saw the shadow receding after the burnt man had fallen to the floor of the entrance, completely burnt and dead. He believed that would be their opening.

“Kyuhyun, the shadow is receding now, that may be our opening there,” he stated, glancing back at their leader before returning his gaze to the temple.

“Really?” He moved his scopes up towards the area where the shadow was, only to find it gone, “Well if that’s the case, let’s head on down, I’ll grab the other guy and when I march him up those steps and into the entrance, I want you guys to follow closely after me,” Kyuhyun instructed. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get in and dodge the shadow long enough to snatch up the angel and run out.”

Donghae nodded while Eunhyuk paled, shakily, he pulled out his shotgun and flashlight as the other two took out their guns and flashlights as well and they started down the hill. The pit of Eunhyuk’s stomach was uneasy, he knew something bad was going to happen, he could just feel it, but he tried pushing it all down as they approach the second man that was still in shock.

“Get up!” Kyuhyun demanded, shoving his gun into the man’s back, forcing him to his feet.

“Wh-what’s going on? Who-who are y-you people? I-I didn’t know the dangers of the t-t-temple, I swear! D-Don’t arrest me!” The man cried, his body still shaking with fear, while his mind tried to keep up with the situation.

“We’re not the police, idiot,” Kyuhyun scoffed, “I just need you to march your up those steps and then I’ll be on my way. Got it?”

“Hell no! I’m not—you’re not making me—no!” The man exclaimed in protest but it didn’t stop Kyuhyun from grabbing his shirt collar and dragging him closer to the temple.

The hunters stopped when they saw the shadow gathering back up at the entrance. Kyuhyun glared at it and stepped closer to the temple steps, dragging the man with him, while Donghae and Eunhyuk followed closely behind. Eunhyuk was still terrified but Donghae kept his eye on the blonde hunter, he knew that he was scared out of his wits and he wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

“Alright,” Kyuhyun spoke, bracing himself to break out into a run, his grip on the man’s collar firm, as he moved the man in front of himself, “on the count of one, two, three, go!”

He broke out into a run up the steps, Donghae urging Eunhyuk onward as they saw the shadow start gathering a flame and just as Kyuhyun stepped on the top step, into the entrance, he threw the man into the line of fire as flames shot from the shadow, burning the man alive but Kyuhyun got passed, the shoulder of his jacket only slightly singed, and before the shadow could grasp what was happening, Donghae and Eunhyuk made it past the shadow as well.

They took off running through the temple; Kyuhyun was leading the way as they tried to find where the angel was located. The temple was a lot bigger on the inside than it appeared to be on the outside, several pillars stood throughout the temple to serve as bases, and the shaded area that they saw the night before in the center of the temple was still there.

Kyuhyun stopped, Donghae and Eunhyuk came to halt behind him, as their leader looked around the area to try and find where the angel could be located. He wondered if the angel was hidden inside the shaded area, or if the shaded area led to somewhere else. He couldn’t see around it from where they were, and couldn’t see through it to the other side of the temple so he figured that the shaded area had to lead to somewhere.

A sudden burst of flames hitting one of the pillars beside them, causing it to break and crash to the ground, caught him off guard. They turned to see the shadow coming closer to them, moving across the stone floor and appearing behind the other pillars to avoid the sunlight pouring in. It started shooting out more flames, narrowly missing the hunters but hitting more of the pillars throughout the temple. It was getting ready to shoot out another flame at the hunters when Donghae acted fast and flashed his flashlight towards the shadow. It quickly shrank back, the flame dispersing when the light hit it.

“So it does work, quick, Kyuhyun, figure out what’s either in that shaded area or what’s around it, I’ll hold him off!” Donghae shouted.

The leader didn’t waste any time, Eunhyuk stayed behind to help Donghae, while Kyuhyun ran up to the shaded area. As a precaution before he decided to stick his hand into the darkness, he pulled out a bullet and tossed it into the darkness, trying to listen close to see if he heard anything. When nothing came, he hesitantly stuck his hand into the darkness.

He felt nothing but coldness inside the darkness, he looked around and couldn’t see anything moving in the darkness like the shadow that Donghae and Eunhyuk was fighting off behind him, so he stepped closer, and just as he started to step foot into the darkness, he froze when he heard a gunshot ring out.