Chapter Text
The air in the forest was heavy. The kind of heavy that pressed against lungs and skin, as if the night itself wanted to swallow the world whole.
Their flashlights cut through the dark like spears of gold, beams catching the mist that drifted between the trees. Leaves whispered underfoot, soft and wet from the storm earlier. No birds. No crickets. Nothing. Just the sound of their steps.
Rumi walked a few paces ahead, saingeom in hand, the faint hum of its power syncing with her heartbeat. Behind her, Mira's silhouette moved like a shadow in rhythm with each of her step was silent as she observed the area. Zoey brought up the rear, eyes darting through the trees with the kind of focus only she could maintain when she was nervous.
The missing-persons reports had all pointed here to the north of Seoul's forgotten trail, where the forest grew too thick for sound to escape. The perfect hunting ground if demons were involved.
"Creepy but quiet," Zoey muttered, lowering her flashlight to avoid blinding them. "You'd think with this many disappearances, we'd hear… something."
"You'd also think people would stop wandering into cursed forests," Mira said. Her tone was even, but Rumi caught the tension in it.
Rumi smiled faintly over her shoulder. "Since when have Hunters stopped doing stupid things for answers?"
"Since never," Zoey said, and Mira exhaled through her nose in reluctant agreement.
They pushed deeper into the woods. The air shifted. The earth smelled metallic, plus it smelled like blood, faint and old. Rumi slowed, senses stirring in a way that made her stomach knot. Her demon side always reacted first to danger, even when she didn't want it to.
"Something's here," she murmured.
The others froze. Mira's woldo shimmered into her hand with a familiar metallic hiss, starlight glinting off its edge. Zoey tightened her grip on her twin shin-kal, scanning the darkness.
Branches cracked somewhere ahead. A low growl echoed between the trees, which was too guttural to be human, too broken to be a demon's voice.
Rumi stepped forward. "Show yourself."
The thing lunged before the word finished leaving her lips.
It was fast, much faster than most demons they'd faced, a blur of black fur and golden eyes,. Rumi's grip on her saingeom tightened. "That's not a demon," she whispered.
"Then what the hell is it?" Zoey hissed, stepping closer, twin blades raised and ready.
No one answered.
The thing burst from the darkness like a shadow given flesh.
Rumi barely reacted in time. She swung her saingeom upward, catching the blur of motion mid-lunge. The impact jolted through her arms like she'd struck stone. The creature snarled, a flash of black fur and golden eyes visible before it slammed her into a tree trunk hard enough to knock the wind out of her lungs. It was very strong
"Rumi!" Mira shouted, already sprinting forward. Zoey's blades flared to life behind her. Rumi gasped, bringing her knee up and shoving the creature back. It stumbled, landing on all fours. For a heartbeat, the world froze around her, and she finally saw it clearly.
Its skin was pallid, stretched too tight over a human-shaped frame that was wrong in every proportion. The eyes were a luminous gold, animalistic and unblinking. Its mouth opened to reveal teeth that weren't human or demon. It was too long, too many, and glinting like wet glass in the dark.
The thing lunged again, impossibly fast. Rumi rolled aside, slashing upward, but it dodged her attack. It howled a raw, animal sound that made her ears ring and backhanded her with enough force to send her sprawling, but she was aware that it was going to jump on her.
Mira was there before it could attack Rumi. The creature reeled back with a snarl, clutching at the gash across its side. For the first time, they saw blood, thick, dark, and slow to fall, but undeniably blood. It splattered against the wet leaves, steaming faintly in the cold night air, and both Rumi and Mira noticed it.
Mira stepped forward cautiously, her woldo still raised. She pressed the flat of the blade against a leaf where the blood had dripped, expecting it to hiss, to burn, to vanish. It didn't. It stayed on it, thick, wet, and real.
"What the hell is that?" Zoey whispered.
"Not demon," Rumi rasped, Mira lent her hand to help Rumi up. "Not anything I've ever seen."
"It didn't vanish," Mira muttered.
Zoey's voice trembled. "So if it's not demon..."
Rumi inspected the blood, even touching it. "It's human," she muttered. "But it's not," Rumi said, voice low. The three of them exchanged a look, a look of uneasy silence. The forest around them seemed to lean in, listening. Then Rumi caught movement. A faint rustle in the underbrush, followed by the soft drag of something wounded trying to flee. "It's moving," she said sharply. "That way. Stay sharp." Mira and Zoey nodded.
Without another word, they followed the trail. The forest deepened as they went, where the tree trunks were getting taller, the fog was getting denser, and roots started to claw at their boots. The air grew colder, heavier with the smell of iron and damp earth.
Every so often, the trail split, where blood smears were on bark, claw marks dug deep into the wood, as though the creature had tried to steady itself. The sound of their breathing filled the gaps between the night's silence. When they reached a clearing, the blood trail ended. It pooled beneath a cluster of twisted roots, still fresh, still glistening. The ground was torn apart, clawed and churned. A few tufts of black fur clung to the bark.
It was silent for a few moments... then it came.
A blur of black fur burst out from the shadows with a snarl that shook the leaves loose from their branches. It slammed into Rumi before anyone could react, the force knocking her flat onto the ground. Her sword flew from her hand, disappearing as claws dug into her shoulders. "Rumi!" Mira shouted, her voice sharp enough to cut through the chaos.
Rumi gasped, struggling beneath the weight pressing down on her. The thing's face was inches from hers. Its breath was rancid with rot and iron, its eyes burning gold like twin moons in a corpse's skull. It wasn't a demon. This wasn't anything she'd seen before. Then it bit down. The teeth sank deep into her shoulder, tearing through fabric and flesh. The sound was wet and brutal. Rumi screamed a raw, guttural sound that ripped through the clearing.
"Mira! Zoey!" Her hand shot out blindly, clawing at the earth, reaching for anyone.
"Hold on!" Zoey's voice cracked, her blades flashing as she sprinted forward. Mira was already moving. "Get off her!" Mira roared, swinging her woldo through the air, blue light cutting a crescent across the darkness. Mira moved with one single, fluid motion, her woldo singing through the air. The creature's head separated cleanly from its shoulders, the body collapsing beside Rumi with a heavy thud.
The forest went silent again. No wind. No insects. Just Rumi's ragged breathing and the faint hum of Mira's weapon.
The forest went dead quiet again, there was no wind, no insects: only the low hum of Mira's woldo fading into silence and the sound of Rumi's uneven breathing.
Zoey stepped closer, flashlight trembling slightly in her grip. "It… It's not fading," she whispered.
The creature's body remained on the ground, bleeding, heavy, and solid. The head lay a few feet away, eyes open and glassy, mouth twisted in a frozen snarl. The demons they fought and killed never stayed like this. They always turned to vapor and ash within seconds. This one was too human. Too real.
Zoey crouched and studied it, the beam of her flashlight reflecting off the black veins that webbed across its black furred skin. "What the hell are you?"
"Zoey," Mira warned, tone sharp. "Don't touch it."
But Zoey ignored her, grabbing a loose scrap of cloth from her pack. She carefully wrapped the severed head in the cloth. "I'm not keeping the whole, just the head," she muttered, standing. "This is the first one we have seen this creature before. One non-demon. We can't ignore this. Whatever this is, I'm thinking we should know what this is. "
Mira sighed, lowering her woldo. "Fine. Just keep it away from Rumi."
Rumi was already kneeling nearby, one hand pressed to her arm where the creature's claws had struck. Blood seeped between her fingers, darker than normal. "I'm fine," she rasped when Mira knelt beside her. "It barely grazed me."
"You're bleeding through your sleeve," Mira countered. "Don't move." She ripped a strip from her shirt and tied it tightly around Rumi's shoulder, pressing down to slow the bleeding. "We're leaving. Now."
"Agreed," Zoey said quickly. "Before anything else decides to crawl out of the dark."
Rumi nodded, pushing herself upright. Her face was pale under the dim flashlight beams, sweat streaking the dirt and blood on her skin. She raised her hand, her saingeom flickering briefly before dissolving into starlight. "Hold on to me," she said softly. Her voice trembled in a way Mira didn't like.
Zoey grabbed her hand. Mira took the other, steadying her.
The air around them shifted, light bending, space collapsing in on itself. The sound of the forest vanished, replaced by a deep rushing hum as if they were being pulled through water. Then came the snap, light exploding outward, and they disappeared, leaving behind a pink smoke.
Huntrix Penthouse
They landed hard on the penthouse floor. The lights were dim, the city skyline stretching beyond the windows. For a moment, none of them moved.
Suddenly, Rumi fell, her knees hit the floor hard, the impact echoing through the room. The pink smoke of her teleport shimmered briefly around her, then vanished, leaving behind only the smell of rain, blood, and ozone. Her hands splayed against the cold marble, trembling.
"Rumi!" Mira dropped beside her, hands on her shoulders. "Hey, hey, look at me."
Rumi tried to lift her head, but the effort drained what little strength she had left. Sweat beaded at her temples, her breath were shallow and uneven. Then Zoey saw the dark red streak sliding from Rumi’s nose, cutting a line down to her lip.
Her heart skipped. “Mira...her nose. She’s bleeding.” Mira looked down and froze. “What the hell?” She reached for Rumi’s chin, tilting her face toward the light. The blood was real, not a cut from battle.
Rumi tried, but her eyelids fluttered. "I… I just need a second," she whispered.
Mira slipped her arm under Rumi's shoulders and lifted her carefully. "She's done for the night," she said. "Help me get her to her room."
Together, they half-carried her down the hall, Rumi barely conscious, her feet dragging. “Mira, she's never gotten a nosebleed after teleporting,” Zoey said quietly, worry taking over her voice. “She has never been drained like this. We need...”
"Let's take care of Rumi first," Mira said, as she looked over at Rumi, blood slowly dripping from her nose.
The lights of the penthouse flickered softly against the window glass, reflecting the sheen of sweat on Rumi's skin. When they reached her room, Mira placed her on the bed. The second her body met the sheets, she exhaled sharply, muscles going slack. Zoey rushed to the bathroom, grabbing the first aid kit, while Mira sat on the edge of the mattress, brushing the hair from Rumi’s forehead. Zoey ran back into the room, with the first aid kit from the bathroom, giving it to Mira.
“Hey,” Mira whispered, forcing calm into her voice. “You’re okay. Just breathe.”
Rumi’s lips parted, but only a faint sound escaped, a half-formed word swallowed by exhaustion. A drop of blood slipped from her nose to her collarbone. Mira wiped it away with the back of her wrist, her own pulse racing. She then focused on the creature's bite mark. When Mira peeled back the torn fabric around Rumi's shoulder, the wound came into view. The bite was deep, where it was angry crescents of torn flesh surrounded by bruised skin already darkening to purple. The edges pulsed faintly with a reddish glow, like embers buried beneath ash. Rumi winced when the air touched it.
"Don't move," Mira murmured.
She reached for the first-aid kit Zoey had dropped on the nightstand, snapping it open with hands that trembled only slightly. Alcohol, gauze, antiseptic. It was usual for them to have medkits, especially after they would fight demons. The wound didn't look like any demon mark she'd seen before. It looked alive.
Mira soaked a cotton pad in alcohol and pressed it gently against the bite. The hiss of the liquid meeting open flesh made Rumi flinch and suck in a breath through her teeth.
"Sorry," Mira whispered, voice tight. "I know it stings."
"It's fine," Rumi breathed, but her tone cracked halfway through. Her knuckles whitened where she gripped the sheets. Mira dabbed again, her movements precise but tender. The blood that welled up was darker than normal, almost black at its edges, clinging thickly to the gauze. She swapped pads quickly, refusing to let her mind dwell on it. When Mira wrapped the bandage around Rumi's shoulder, her hands lingered a moment longer than necessary, smoothing the fabric, making sure it was tight enough to hold. The smell of antiseptic hung between them, sharp and clean, but beneath it Mira could still smell the blood and what was left of the creature she had killed to save Rumi.
Zoey stood near the doorway, arms folded, her face pale in the dim light. "How bad is it?" she asked quietly. Mira didn't look up. "Bad enough I don't like it."
Zoey bit her lip as she stared at the bandaged shoulder. "Mira… maybe we should call Celine."
Mira's hands froze. Slowly, she looked up at her. "No."
Zoey frowned. "Mira. Whatever that creature was, it wasn't a demon. She has never gotten a nosebleed, and she never gets that tired and drained after teleporting. Until that thing bit her. Whatever that thing was… it's doing something to her."
"Zoey, remember what she did? She's the one who made Rumi hide her patterns from us," Mira snapped, voice low but sharp as steel. "She's the reason we didn't know what was happening before. She's the reason Rumi was alone in this."
Zoey hesitated, crossing her arms. "I know that, but, Mira, what if she's the only one who can help? She knows more about demons and… whatever this thing is than either of us."
Mira's voice rose, anger breaking through the worry. "And what, you think Celine's the answer? “Celine trained us to hate anything with patterns!” Mira’s voice rose now, the control slipping. “To kill first, ask never. She made Rumi believe that being herself meant being a threat! And now you want to hand her over to the same woman who taught us to fear her? Celine wasn't there, but we pointed our weapons at her because of what we were taught to do. Even when she pleaded with us, we still held them at her. Because of what Celine drilled into us! That anything with markings was dangerous. That demons can't be trusted, can't feel. She turned us into her soldiers and made Rumi hide what she was. You really think I'm letting her near her again?"
Zoey pressed on, quieter now. “We know everything to know about demons, because of Celine, but this is different. You know it. But, what if Celine knows what's happening to Rumi? She was a Hunter before us. What if she knows what that creature was? What if she knows how to help Rumi?”
The air between them went heavy. The only sound was Rumi's ragged breathing.
Finally, Rumi spoke; it was quiet, but clear. "Stop."
Both Mira and Zoey turned to her. Rumi's eyes were open now, tired but steady. "You're both right," she murmured. "Celine… she made me hide my patterns. She said you wouldn't understand. And for a long time, I believed her."
She paused, swallowing hard. "But I also know you're trying to protect me. I get it. I understand both sides. I'm just… not ready to talk to her yet."
Zoey took a hesitant step forward. "Rumi... Celine knows much more about demons than we do. Whatever that creature did, whatever's happening to you. We have to know."
Rumi shook her head. "I know Zoey... If it gets worse… if this doesn't go away… then call her." Her eyes flicked from one to the other, soft but firm. "Until then, please. Just...don't."
Mira's voice softened, her anger fading into weary resolve. "Alright. We won't. Not unless we have to."
Zoey exhaled, running a hand through her hair. "Okay. But if it gets bad, I'm dialing her myself."
Rumi gave a weak nod. "Deal."
Mira sat on the edge of the bed, hand brushing Rumi's hair away from her face. "Rest now. We'll figure this out in the morning." Rumi's breathing slowed, her eyes closing as exhaustion overtook her. Mira leaned forward and pressed a gentle kiss to Rumi’s forehead and whispered against her skin. “You’re safe. I’ve got you.” Mira and Zoey stayed a moment longer and were silent, watching over her like guardians, like knights of a king, as the moonlight through the window caught the faint shimmer of the markings beneath her bandages.
Mira continued to sit by Rumi's her hand still resting against Rumi’s. Zoey starts to walk away to go back to her room when Mira calls her, Zoey stops and looks at Mira, who was still looking at Rumi, but didn’t look up at Zoey. “If we do call Celine,” she said, her tone low, full of fire, “I’m staying by her side. The entire time. Celine doesn’t get to touch her. Doesn’t get to treat her like an object meant to be fixed again.” She looked down at Rumi’s sleeping face, her voice breaking as she added, “Whatever’s happening to her, I’m not losing her again.”