Turned out Kris had been on a major killing spree that included almost all of Evil's known clones or horcruxes along with several criminals. Suho had found out about it when he'd seen the newspaper at Angel's house, reporting a mysterious fire in cell in Heifercourt's prison, killing the notorious homeless guy who'd killed those teenagers a few months back.

The authorities weren't sure what had caused the fire but they were working on it. The writer had gone on to relate how this fire was the latest in the series of infernos that had started a few weeks back – coinciding with the time Kris had taken off – and had invariably killed only hardened criminals so far and speculations about a vigilante were being thrown about. One famous amateur detective, El, had offered his services to the authorities.  

In addition, Matt had shared the news – after sending Angel away – that her stalker, the guy they'd put away a few months back was out on parole.

'Just a head's up.' Matt told him, leaning back in his chair. 'I don't think he'll come after her but they thought we should be careful, just in case.'

So naturally, Suho was worried and hadn't wanted to leave Angel's side but for D.O's dramatic return. In addition, from what Lay had told them, Evil had shown up in Oulphesden so they needed to be extra vigilant.

Plus their performance in dealing with this scenario – their first practical group exercise, so to speak – had like a hoover.

'I thought you were improving, Tao.' Suho reprimanded the cub. 'We really can't have you blowing wind when we need to stop time. And you…' he barked at Sehun, who was hiding behind Luhan, 'how long do you plan to stay powerless? Hmm? Tao is going to learn how to push your powers back but I want you to try and get them back, alright? If I find you're slacking off…'

'Okay, okay, I got it. Get off my case, will ya?' Sehun muttered, low enough that only Luhan heard him. Suho turned to Xiumin. 'I hope you'll spend more time with him?' He asked, 'We really can't afford any weaknesses at this point.'

'What about Lay?' Baekhyun asked in the silence, then smacked a hand across his mouth. Lay was depressed enough without him rubbing it in. Thankfully, Lay was lost in his own thoughts again didn't react.

'And me?' Chanyeol added. 'We don't have our powers either…'

'You guys are different. Kris took yours. Lay's burnt out, there's nothing we can do – he'll get back on his own. But Sehunnie needs take his powers back so Tao can mature too.'

The others nodded in agreement, then Suho started discussing the schedule for night duty. Like Lay and Chanyeol, there was nothing they could do about D.O's fever – and the guy was obviously more than capable of using his powers.

After settling the terms, dividing the work so no one would be overtasked, he dismissed them all. Then closed himself inside his room to talk to Angel.

……………………….

One week later…

Angel didn't know what her father had told Suho but it had made her boyfriend increasingly overprotective. Not that she minded – any excuse to spend more time with him was okay with her. But she didn't like it that he was so worried.

On the plus side, though, he was showing up to spend the night with her without fail. She suspected she was getting spoiled because she couldn't fall asleep until she felt him beside her, serving as her warm, rather hard pillow as she snuggled against him. And without his comforting presence, she would just lie awake until the familiar plink plink against the window alerted her that he was coming up.

His fantasy of climbing into her room through the window had been fulfilled too and more often than not, they ended up making out, their sessions getting hotter with every encounter.

Like last night. She suspected they'd almost gotten to third base – the second had been crossed a while ago – and if her father hadn't interrupted them, bumping into her door on his way to the toilet, who knew how far things would've progressed.

The encounter had left her more than frustrated – she couldn't stop thinking about him.

Not that she usually thought about anything else – and here, she admitted she was a bit of an obsessed girlfriend because he permeated into every aspect of her life, from her song lyrics, to the music she composed to the topic she discussed with her best friend and even with her parents. Her studies were ending this semester and she couldn't wait to plan the rest of her life with him.

Point being, her mind was currently preoccupied with her boyfriend and his perfection and she was waxing poetic about it to her new best friend, Raina, since Lay was, once again, ill. He'd injured his waist and needed to rest, sitting hours in front of the piano not at all suitable in his condition. She felt bad for him too – he'd been upset ever since they'd come back, his songs bluer than ever, and now, he was sick again. He would probably need to do some extra credit to make up for his attendance.

'Yeah, I guess you're right.' Raina nodded, offering her chocolate to Angel. Angel took a bite, then sighed. 'It's been a bad semester for him, so far.' She pouted. 'For their entire family. Poor Lay. Poor Suho.'

Raina grinned at Angel's tendency to direct everything back to her boyfriend. 'Yeah, poor Lay. You seem to know him quite well.'

'Of course I do.' Angel told her proudly, sitting up straighter. 'We're best friends.'

'Great, then you can help me!' Raina exclaimed, grabbing her hands. 'I really, really need to know how to impress him!'

Angel blinked. 'Huh?'

'I mean, I try to talk to him and everything and he's really nice to me.' Raina pouted, cupping her chin. 'But he's nice to everyone. He's so nice…' she sighed wistfully.

'Aw, you have a crush on him!' Angel gushed, pinching her cheek.

'I do.' Raina nodded pathetically. 'So tell me – what's his ideal type?'

Angel opened enthusiastically but she stopped as a couple of scenes flashed before her eyes. Crap, she'd forgotten he swung that way.

'I'm so sorry.' Angel mumbled, feeling for Raina. 'But he's into guys.'

Raina choked on the bite of chocolate she'd taken. 'What?' she gasped out, hitting her chest to stop the coughing.

Angel nodded empathically. 'He was with Sehun, last I know…'

'Aren't they brothers?' Raina gasped, shocked.

'Oh no. They just say it because it's difficult to explain the exact nature of their relationship. They're not related by blood.'

'Oh.' Raina's face fell dramatically. Just then the bell rang, signaling the end of their break and Angel stood up. Raina was still in shock and she looked up at Angel with huge, puppy dog eyes. 'Are you really, really sure?'

'Well…' Angel tucked her hair behind her ear, pushing her glasses up her nose. 'I mean, I never asked him but… I saw them kissing.'

'Oh… okay.' Raina's shoulder slumped dejectedly. Just then, the door to the common room smacked open and Sehun peeked inside. 'Oi, you're having a class with us today. Hurry up, tell the others and gather in Studio 7. Ten minutes.'

Raina gave a death-glare to his retreating figure, then sighed again before getting up. 'I guess I should get going.'

'I'm really sorry.' Angel felt apologetic, like Lay's orientation was her fault. Raina shook her head, picking her gym bag and leaving. And here she'd thought they'd gotten closer over her rescue.

After Lay had run outside with her, holding her hand and giving her butterflies the entire way, he'd collapsed halfway, his waist giving up on him. And he'd pouted adorably, telling her he had no idea where they were headed. Good for them, Raina had a good sense of direction and she'd half carried, half walked him back to the coffee shop, trying not to feel guilty about feeling up his abs.

And now, she was finding out he wasn't even into girls. Could her luck get any worse? And Kyra had to go and confuse her, telling her she was going to meet the love of her life. Lay had been the first person she'd seen right afterwards and she'd been so, so sure…

Maybe he'll turn for you. Raina thought about that less than a second. She couldn't attract straight guys, what chance did she have with gay ones? Tch, this was terrible.

And it had to be Sehun, a person she would have to take classes with. Argh! Angrily, she tied her scarf around her head, so her hair would stay in place and marched over to Studio 7 – she would show that brat what she was made of, see if she didn't!

……………………….

Kyra wouldn't stop laughing at her predicament.

'Will you shut up???' Raina whined. She wasn't prone to crushing over anyone but when she did, she fell in completely and right now, she was feeling terrible.

'How come you didn't notice it?' Kyra finally shut up, her laugh turning into a cough before she asked seriously.

'I don't know – maybe because I was too busy trying to get over my butterflies.' Raina mumbled, feeling thoroughly dejected.

'Aw cheer up!' Kyra told her, encouragingly. 'I'm sure you'll find him – you've met him already, I'm sure of that.'

Raina closed her eyes and tried not to feel too disappointed. It was breaking her heart, though. He was so perfect in every way and this was the first time she was feeling this attracted to someone. 'It's him…' she muttered. Kyra had said she would meet the love of her life, not that they would end up together. If you thought about it, they were two different things.

'Stop spouting nonsense.' Kyra giggled, then coughed again but she still sounded better than before. Her voice was stronger now. She had chosen to share her condition with her parents as well and though they had been shocked, like Raina, they were doing their best to find out any way they could help their daughter.

'While we're on the topic,' Raina began, 'I… met him too.'

Kyra's laugh cut off midway. 'Who?' She feigned ignorance but Raina knew Kyra had figured out who she was talking about. She ignored the question, continuing. 'Or rather, he found me. He's kind of scary but in a sweet way, you know.'

'Raina…' her voice held warning.

'D.O…' Raina plodded ahead, ignoring it as well. 'That's his name.'

D.O hadn't shown up at the university after kidnapping her and she wondered where he was or what he did. But she'd convinced Baekhyun to share a picture and he'd done so, after getting his kiss.

'Usually I won't share personal information but since it's you…' he'd told her. She still wasn't sure if he was flirting with her or just being his usual charming self. He could be so confusing at times but that was beside the point. She spoke into the phone. 'I'm sending you his picture – trust me, he's even better than that hot doctor.'

Kyra coughed into the phone. 'You're doing what??? No, don't you dare…'

'Sent.' Raina told her smugly, ignoring her sputter. 'Look at him and then tell me you don't want to see him.'

'Raina!!!' Kyra whined, obviously knowing she couldn’t say no. 'How can you do this to me?'

'Easy. I want you to fight to live.'

'Raina.'

'Kyra.' Raina copied her tone.

'I won't look at the picture.' Kyra told her stubbornly.

'Sure you won't.' Raina snorted.

'I won't!! I'll delete it soon as I get…' A beep alerted them the picture had been received.

'You were saying?' Raina prodded. Kyra let out a sigh. 'I hate you.'

'Of course.' Raina agreed pleasantly. 'I'll leave you to stare at him in peace.'

'I'm NOT…' Kyra protested but Raina hung up. Let her stew over it in peace. Hopefully, actually seeing the man of her dreams – in Kyra's case, it was quite literal since some of her visions came in her dreams, especially lately – would motivate her enough to fight for her survival. Maybe it was foolish of her but Raina didn't believe in giving up until putting in your very best. And Kyra's best was not staying passively in the hospital, waiting for the inevitable. She sometimes thought Kyra forgot she was merely human too, that just because she'd foreseen meant it had to happen. She wasn't God, neither was Lay and it would do them both good to understand that.

I'm like Angel, aren't I? She thought sardonically. She, too, had the tendency to revert everything back to her love interest… who happened to be gay. Seriously, she was messed up.

……………………….

D.O stood in front of the last of the four places where that name existed… Kyra. Bless his mate for having a name like that, it made his task that much easier and he'd easily narrowed the possibilities to the places in Oulphesden's immediate surroundings. After spending the last couple of days ruling out all other possibilities, he stood at the only other place where she could be.

The --- Hospital, Cabalix.

He stared at the huge building in front of him and wondered how to handle this situation. The odor of disease and sickness mingled with the innately fresher scent of healthy people and all of these were overlaid with the individual smells of human traffic in the area – a heavy traffic, if his nose was to be believed and he had no reason to doubt it – and he felt a bit overwhelmed.

The fever had receded a little bit – only a little, mind you – allowing him to function while still engaging his higher brain functions and they were telling him to back away. The scents were rubbing against his nerves the wrong way, arousing him to an irritability and his predominant urge was to flee from the place. Sickness, death… he'd seen too much of it. Chen's room smelled of it and it was just slapping in the fact that his Shadow was gone in his face. He hated that feeling.

And it raised the more disturbing question as to why she was here but he could address that at a later point. When his brain didn't feel overwhelmed with sensory overload and after his Shadow had woken up. He shouldn't forget his primary objective – he was doing this for Chen.

He gritted his teeth and forced his step over the threshold, feeling like he was entering into the embrace of death. It hung heavy over the trees surrounding the gravel drive, the crunch underneath his feet an ominous toll. All his senses went on high alert, his ears peeled for the lightest sound, his body primed for fight.

Maybe that's why the faint whiff affected him like it did.

Or maybe his fever hadn't really receded at all; maybe he'd just pushed it back to function temporarily.

Or simply because it was that delicious that it made him lose sense. Like he'd done before, the only time he'd smelled her before.

Whatever the reason, the moment that tantalizing odor entered his nostrils, a shiver went down his spine as the overwhelming urge to attack, to take and mark overtook him. His lips curved into a beatific, heart-shaped smile that would've looked sweet but for his eyes, which were flashing a brilliant red, reflecting his killing intent.

Like a beast of prey, a wolf, he raised his nose in the air and sniffed. Inhaled more of that intoxicating smell and swallowed. In his mouth, he could already taste her, feel her sweet, yielding flesh between his teeth…

As if the scent itself wasn't enough, the sweetest voice he'd ever heard – like honey poured straight down his throat – floated across the ground, pinpointing her location.

He turned his head, spying her hunched figure a little distance away and anticipation built up inside him.

She wouldn't be able to get away this time because he was ready.

But maybe he'd let her run around first. Made the final catch more fun.

His teeth bared in a predatory grin.

Let the hunt begin.

………………………….