Had he not been paying attention, he wouldâve kept running and fallen down the steps, but instead, he took them three at a time, basically jumping down to land on his hands and knees. The pain jolted up his limbs, but he could care less. It felt like he had fire burning him alive from the inside. And things felt⊠wrong. There was a metallic tinge in his mouth as he bit down on his tongue to stop any sounds from escaping. Instead, he found his vision darkening until there was nothing but murky darkness all around him. The pain faded away, as did his consciousness.
His bones lengthened and his skin stretched. Fur covered his body and then there stood in his place, a hound, pitch black with searing red eyes.
Fridays were always a personal favourite for Changgu. Fridays typically meant less work, which you wouldnât expect for a hotel business. For whatever reason it was always the Saturday that brought people to the hotel, perhaps seeking a place to stay for the weekend whilst they travel around Incheon. Like most days, his mother had left him in charge whilst she ran some errands. Probably picking up those potted plants that she had talked about so frequently. And his father was⊠well, being his father. At this point it was pretty much him and his mothers business, his father didnât seem to be that into it anymore. Though he didnât mind, his father had other things to do anyway.
âOkay, so youâll be staying in room 7. Itâs on the second floor and the stairs are over there,â Changgu states, pointing across the hotel lobby towards the staircase. âFor breakfast we have a variety of options, youâll find a menu within your room. If you could be so kind, please ring a little bit later on with your order and time with which you would like to have your breakfast and we will sort it out.â Pulling his best receptionist smile he handed the couple he was checking in their keys and begged them a pleasant stay. An interaction like that had pretty much become the norm for him and his mother, it never got old though, to his surprise.
He watched them depart up the stairs, giving them a small smile and quick wave when they looked back for a second. Alone again. At this time it wasnât anything shocking, to be the only one in the lobby. Giving a huff he made his way towards the kitchen, a sandwich was on the cards, he hadnât eaten in what must of been several hours. He deserved it.
About to take a bite of the recently made sandwich he was stopped by what sounded like heavy footsteps, someone was running in the lobby it seemed. But who? Placing the plate back onto the kitchen counter he made his way to the lobby, noting not a soul was around. âUmm, hello?â he questioned, looking around only to be met with silence. It wasnât until his eyes hit an open door that he started feel slightly panicked. The basement, the door to the basement was open. It was explicitly restricted to only a few people, ones Changgu trusted.
Walking through the open door he called out, âHello?â. He was sure the room was locked, or did he forget again? Whatever happened someone was in the basement, that much was certain. Taking small strides down the steps into the open he looked around, for any sign of life. He quickly turned around, stopping dead in his tracks when he laid his eyes on whatever it was. It was horrifying, the only way to describe it was demon-like. It was too big to be a dog and a wolf? In Incheon? No way was that a thing. Luckily for him, whatever the thing before him was hadnât noticed him yet. Gulping for what little breath he left he took a few steps backwards, slowly. Itching his way towards the stairs, attempting not to make any unnecessary noise.
Dashing for the stairs he ran back through the open door and closed it, locking it in the process. Whatever that thing was, it was stuck down there for now. What do I do? What do I do? he echoed in his head, quite a few times. It was potentially dangerous, but what could he do? Ring the police? That wasnât a good choice right now, he mother would be furious. Involvement with the police was not what his family needed right now. There was no one around and it wasnât exactly like he could ask that couple he just checked in for help, they were guests after all. The only thing he could think of was to try and entice it, lure it out maybe.
Running to the kitchen he grabbed whatever meat he could find, it had to eat meat, right? Maybe he could distract it with meat and then throw a bag over itâs head and get it out, but itâs size would be a problem. Four raw steaks in hand he found himself back at the door to the basement, unlocking it again. Closing the door behind him he followed the steps down and quickly saw the âbeastâ again, it had moved. It was closer to the stairs this time. He placed three of the steaks onto the ground, opening one of them. Hopefully this wasnât gonna be such a bad idea, one could only hope, right?
âHeyâŠ. buddy. I got this for you,â he spoke with shaky breath, his arm slightly trembling. Reaching out his arm towards the âbeastâ in front of him. The worst that could happen would be him losing an arm.