Chapter Eight
Eun

Hesitantly, I stare up at the old, dusty clock at the top of the tower. It’s a miracle that the clock is still ticking even when four months of no cleaning and all kinds of rodents have made their home up there. I tear my eyes away from the ticking hands that are only half an hour away from striking twelve. Why did I have to look up there?

      I feel the guilt eating me from the inside out right now after looking at the time. Almost midnight. Damn Sehun and his unexplained emergency. I could be distracted doing uncalled for with him instead of waiting in the night.
“What do I do!?” I groan as my fingers run through my hair in an endless pattern. If I just sit here and let this happen then that little boy will pay the unthinkable cost, but if I do go then I’d be bringing the older brother to his own doom!

      “The abduction strikes at midnight. Wait an hour before appearing before the humans.” Councilman Jang’s voice echoes inside of my head like a haunting melody.
“Who says I’ll help you and Dr. Park with getting more lab rats?” I had shot back at the old Cruor.

      I rest my chin on my knees. I still can’t believe that rotten Cruor. What has he been telling the scientists who’ve made us into such rancorous brutes? A spy. Of all the Cruor in the country, how could a trustworthy council member be the one infiltrator that feeds information about us all to the enemy?

      “When you go don’t resist if they do anything that endangers you. Just go along with whatever they say or do and explain why you’re there.” Council member Jang’s instructions replay in my head. If only I could just forget that old man’s words and continue with my night, but I just can’t seem to do something as simple as that!

      “If I do go then I’ll definitely resist just to piss you off Jang!” I scream at the top of my lungs from the rooftop of an old hotel. I clench my fists tightly, letting the faint sizzle of pain from my wound come and go. Like a dropping pebble, my face collapses into my palms.

      “Don’t you want to know where your mom is at this moment Eun?” Jang had asked. I remember at that very moment I had been ready to plant a firm punch in the council member’s jaw.
“Don’t you worry how your little brother, Jong Min, will be affected by your decision tonight Eun?” Right at that very twinkling second I had stormed out of the meeting room, not looking over my shoulders once.

      What will happen to Jong Min if I don’t do as they say? I rub my temples over and over, but the headache and confusion just becomes worse.

      I come to a complete halt at the stop sign, wishing that everything could obey to what the sign says. Stop. Stop this period of time. Stop those wretched scientists. Stop the Cruor infestation. Stop the fear that runs in the human’s minds. Stop the evil things in society. Stop the abduction.

      Once again, I find myself glancing straight up at the clock tower and my heart tugs me in one direction when my brain wrenches me in another. Eleven fifty nine. I press my lips together. One more minute. Even though I don’t want to look at the moving hands on the clocks I have a difficult time trying to tear my eyes away from them.

      I slip onto a constricted, garbage besieged, area behind the abandoned museum and collapse onto my knees. I’m thankful that the clock tower’s bell doesn’t work anymore, because if I heard the toll then I’d be tempted to carry out their plans.

      Clink! By instinct, I jump to my feet and look straight in the direction the clatter came from. I grind my teeth together. If those worthless scientists were going to turn us into behemoths they should’ve given us night vision at the very least.
“Why are we on the surface?” a soft whisper that barely audible reaches my ears. The very instant I hear the words I know what’s occurring at this very moment. Why do I have to be so luckless!?

      Suddenly, a veiled face appears with a small boy on his shoulders, or at least that’s what it looks like in the darkness of night. This is it. The abduction. I can’t make out their faces, especially since one wears a ski mask and the other hides their face from my eyes. What to do? But as soon as I ask myself this I’ve already came to a decision.

      I only glance once at the kidnapper and the little boy who’ve already began to run toward the outskirts of the park. All I have to do is get the little boy right now and then I won’t have to worry about anything else to do with this anymore, right? Without another moment to spare, I’m on my feet and racing after the two. 

      The two silhouettes come to an abrupt halt at the entrance to a broken down hotel. I observe from behind a tree across the street as the little boy doesn’t even make an attempt to resist. Could it be that the kidnapper is a friend of his? Just as I step forward, they disappear through the revolving doors and into the shadowy lobby.
“Betrayal hurts the most.” I mutter scornfully.

      Whop! Whop! Whop! Somewhere in the back of my mind I know exactly what that sound is. Immediately, I tilt my head back and up in the midnight black sky is a blinking light. So this is how they’re going to escape?

      The elevator is broken down so the only way to out to the rooftop is the staircase.
“This is almost too easy.” I smirk as I push myself through the revolving hotel doors. I stumble into a dark and large room. I can make out a front desk and a few furnishings here and there from the moonlight that streams in through the large windows.

      My fingers clamp over my lips as soon as my eyes catch sight of it. I wish I could ask what it was, but I already know exactly what it is. I lift my left foot, cringing at the smell of raw and decayed meat. This hotel has been turn into a Cruor feeding restaurant. I close my eyes, hating the smell of the place almost enough to force me to step back out for some fresh air, but I can’t stop moving forward now. Not when they’re so close.

      My feet are nimble and swift as I sprint up the gore stained flight of steps. Every time I glance upwards, I catch a glimpse of their shadows as they hurry to reach the top.

      My hands press against the cold metal door that leads to the rooftop. With enough strength to snap someone’s neck with just two fingers, I the door open and throw myself onto the windy roof.
“It’s her!” I overhear a man exclaim from my left. The heavy sound of foots against concrete and the slight whistle of metal against wood reaches my ears and by instinct I send a roundhouse kick right into the man’s chest.

      So they knew I would do this then? How could I be so predictable? I focus on the helicopter pad and my eyes instantly glue to the kidnapper’s head.
“Tranquilize her!” A familiar voice commands the guards. I look beyond the kidnapper and at the man sitting inside. The patchy gray hair and old blue eyes are enough for me to realize who it is.

      Just as I’m about to move forward and grab the collar of the kidnapper, a gasp of anguish escapes my throat. I wince as my knees flop hard against the concrete rooftop. Out of nowhere, my vision goes blurry on me, making everything blurry and nothing more. Hazily, I stare down at my right shoulders where I can faintly recognize some kind of metal object. That’s when I feel the concrete against my head and my hands useless to me.

Then the world completely went black.