The Blood They Touched (Chapter 1)
I looked outside; the snow was falling from the sky. I wondered if I could even go back and go to where my real home is. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a harmless cat running down the snow-covered path outside. The wind blew furiously, snow pelting the cat in the face. It’s not going to survive for long if the weather keeps up like this. I slipped my shoes on, exited through the window, and shut them behind me. My hair turned a light brown, my eyes turned crystal blue, wolf-like ears appeared on my head, and my boned dragon like tail appeared behind me. The ears would always match my hair colour so they blend in easily. My dark brown scales glistened bronze as the snow melted on my tail.
The smaller spikes in my tail stuck upwards and into the roof tiling to balance me out. I steadied myself before I jumped off the roof and landed on the ground. I ran over to the cat, picked it up, and held it close. The cat immediately sought my body heat, curling up in my arms. My tail and ears disappeared, my eyes turning back to brown as I noticed Dong-Sun and Chanwook looking out our bedroom window. I pulled the cat closer to my chest as it shivered violently. Right, time to head inside. I went into the house and up the stairs to my room. I placed the cat on my bed and allowed it to snuggle up in my blankets.
“WHO BROKE THE ROOF!?” Dae-Ho bellowed, “IT’S SNOWING IN THE BATHROOM!”!”
The twenty small spikes on my tail were for balance. The four large spikes were used for defense and hunting weapons. Four large spikes between every five spikes and grow back after I shot one out.
“Korain, what did you do to the roof?” Dae-Ho asked; his arms crossed over his chest with a glare on his face.
“I needed to keep my balance,” I replied, “It’s not as easy as you think when there’s patches of ice on the roof.”
Dae-Ho sighed and walked away. He’s probably gone to contact someone to fix the roof. I backed up as I noticed Dong-Sun glaring at me. My tail flicked into appearance as he pushed me to the floor and in one fluid motion a large spike went flying at him. It flew, and it suddenly stopped millimeters in front of his face. I glanced over to the top of the staircase to see Heng, his gaze fixated on the spike. The spike then faces me, and my eyes widened. I scrambled to the side and swung my tail to block it as it flew toward me. It clattered to the ground, venom oozing out the tip of the spike. Dong-Sun gulped while Heng looked down at his hands with wide eyes. He ran downstairs and out the door.
“Hyung, I swear, I didn’t mean to-,” Dong-Sun started to say, but I cut him off with a glare before I ran out after him.
I sensed someone chasing me. My tail spikes raised, and I swung my tail as I ran. A smaller spike flew out and hit them in the arm. I glanced behind me as they stopped running. They’ll heal and I can’t allow them to follow me.
I stopped as I reached the forest. I must focus if I’m to find Heng. My wolf ears perked up from atop my head, the left one swiveling at a pained cry from afar. I focused on the sound before I pinpointed the location and followed it. Once I approached, I hid behind a tree to quietly observe the situation ahead. I saw Heng blocking attacks from this mysterious man. All my spikes raised on my tail as I went on the offense. I swiftly swung my tail, and a large spike hit the tree above the guy’s head, venom oozing out angrily.
“Trying to protect your friend, are you?” the man sneered.
“It’d be nice if you left him alone,” I snarled as I stepped out from behind the tree, ears pinned against the top of my head aggressively.
I noticed Heng’s human ears were starting to be replaced by deer ears, antlers growing through the base of his skull. I flinched and jumped back as he rammed his antlers into the man’s thigh. Blood gushed out the wound, and crimson splatters against the white snow as Heng rammed his antlers into the man’s leg again. The man howled and yanked himself back, limping off into this sort of run before Heng could do anymore damage. He looked over at me and his eyes widened. His deer features disappeared, and he stumbled back before he ran off. No! He’s headed toward his childhood home! My tail spikes folded down, and I hid my tail, running after him. I ran through the trees, following his scent. I caught up to him, grabbing his wrist and stopped him in his tracks.
“What choice do I have!?” Heng cried, “They don’t understand what we are! No one will! We don’t belong!”
He twisted his wrist out of my grasp and kicked me to the ground. As I was getting up, he ran into the trees again. I brushed the snow off me and frowned. Snow fell from the sky peacefully like cherry blossom petals in the spring. The others need to know.
I ran back to the dorms, heading into the house. Seems Dae-Ho got someone to start fixing the roof. I went upstairs and into Heng’s room. I went to turn the light switch on, but it's been severed from the wall. Weird. I grabbed a flashlight and turned it on. What a disaster. Why is his room such a mess and who caused it? I walked in, being careful not to trip on anything as I searched around. Maybe there’s some clue here as to what is going on with Heng.
I noticed a drawer slightly ajar on his desk. I walked over and opened it to see a larger folder with a piece of deer fur attached to it with Heng’s name underneath it. I carefully took it out of the drawer, opened it up, and scanned the pages. All his personal information is here. I flipped through a few more pages to find information on all of us who live here and an uneasy feeling pool in the pit of my stomach. What was he doing? I flipped through a few more pages, and a bulky but smaller file fell out and onto the ground.
I placed the larger file on the desk and picked up the smaller one. I turned it over and saw a patch of wolf fur on it with a name underneath that I knew. Dong-Sun. I opened the file and studied it. His personal information is here. Wait, there’s fresh blood on this page. What is going on here?
I spun around and pointed my flashlight at the doorway to see Dong-Sun standing there. How long has he been watching me? He turned on the hallway light so there was some light in here. He walked in and hugged me. I saw a wolf tail sticking out from his pants which was wagging. I carefully pulled away from the hug. He looked so happy to see me, yet there was something in his eyes I couldn’t quite define.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
Dong-Sun looked down at the ground, the wolf ears atop his head flattening in his Mahagony red hair.
Just by his posture, I could tell he was hiding something.
“They forced me to make Heng run back home,” he muttered, “He’s in so much danger.”
“Who is they?” I questioned.
Dong-Sun shook his head. I guess I can find out later. I then remembered the files and picked them both up.
“What is this?” I asked, gesturing the files in my hands.
“They did so many things to us,” Dong-Sun said.
I gave him a sympathetic look, and I noticed him take his shirt off. What did he want to show me? I hesitantly pointed at the flashlight at Dong-Sun, and my eyes widened. Scars littered his chest and stomach. I walked behind him, and I swallowed hard. These two large gashes that form an ‘X’ look fresh. I gently traced my fingers down the wounds which caused him to wince. I frowned. I raised my tail and a curved spike raised out the end. As I raised the spike toward Dong-sun’s back, he turned to look at me and growled lowly.
“The spike at the end is for healing,” I reassured him, “I have no intention of hurting you.”
He looked at me, eyes golden yellow. He lets out a hesitant breath before he nodded and looks back toward Heng’s desk. I pushed the spike into his back, frowning as he tensed.
“Sun, it’s okay,” I reassured him once more, “I just need to get the healing substance into your body.”
He barely nodded as the gash on his left diagonal started to heal. He winced as I pushed the spike into the right side of his shoulder where the other gash started which caused me to frown. I hated seeing him in pain because of me. I took the curved spike out of his back and wiped it off, allowing it to fold into my tail. I watched as he put his shirt back on before he faced me.
“Where’s Heng now?” Dong-sun asked.
“He’s ran off toward that old town we used to live in,” I replied, “I tried to get him to come back, but we fought and he got away.”
“We have to get him back!”
“Even if we could, how do we stop him or the people who hurt both of you?”
“Aren’t you from another world?”
“Yeah, but only Dravara are allowed.”
“You have to hide your wolf tail,” I explained, “If anyone were to ask you to show your tail, you tell them it hasn’t grown in yet.”
As Dong-Sun tucked his tail comfortably into his pants, I messed up the fur on his ears to make the fur a bit more unruly. I noticed him frown a little.
“It’s how our ears are,” I said, letting my own ears appear on top of my head.
He nodded as he saw my wolf-like ears. We exited Heng’s bedroom and snuck out the hallway window. No one can know what we’re doing. As we walked, the first thing Dong-Sun did was let out a whine. He hugged his arms around himself, rubbing his arms as if to warm up and stop shivering.
“It’s cold,” he mumbled, “You could’ve gotten me a sweater.”
I flicked him in the forehead which earned me a glare and a pout.
“You can shift into a wolf, remember?” I reminded.
“Oh right,” he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck.
Dong-Sun got on all fours and shifted into a Mahagony red furred wolf that matched the colour of his hair. He looked up at me with amber eyes before we continued our way. We walked Northeast through the snow, going through the forested trees. Snow continued to fall from the sky the last time I was outside. I stopped as I noticed Dong-Sun had tumbled through a small rift. Looks like I wouldn’t have to open the rift, but that left me uneasy. Was it left open like this the entire time, or did someone open it? I slid into the rift, welcomed by a long dirt path with dimly lit flames on torches going down the path. Dong-Sun kept close to my side as we moved forward. I then saw a curtain of vines hanging from the dirt ceiling as we neared the end of the path.
I pulled the vines back and we walked through the open passage, eyes adjusting to the light. A familiar smell hit my nostrils— the smell of freshly cut wood. I nodded at Dong-Sun, and he shifted back to humans as the temperature warmed up. I slipped the files into a bag I didn’t realize I was wearing until now. I messed up the fur on his ears again which made him pout. I smiled softly to reassure him.
“Hyung, where do we go now?” Dong-Sun asked, staring at the landscape in front of us in awe.
There was a meadow that expanded out for kilometers before we reached the town. Green grass with different kinds of flowers and trees scattered about. I walked through the meadow with him and in a bit, we reached the town of Dallood, the place I grew up. The streets were busy, crowded with people full of marketing shops. I grabbed his hand as people stared at him. Everyone around us including myself had a tail present, but he had to hide his. My tail appeared and I led him to my place which was on the outskirts of the town by the forest beside it.
“Where are we?” Dong-Sun asked.
“Where I used to live,” I replied, heading inside with him.
The whole house was made of wood with vines hanging over the door. The inside walls were made of stone and the floors of wood. I ran up the wooden stairs and into the room where I used to reside. The blankets and bed sheets were a mess on my bed. Scattered across my desk was a laptop, various papers and books too. It’s the same as when I left it. With hurried steps, I made my bed and organized my desk. I looked around and organized the shelf on the other side of the room. Much better. I looked at the smallest drawer, and I opened it up. Okay, it’s still there. I grabbed the file on myself and slipped it into my bag.
I closed the small drawer and went downstairs. I looked around but Dong-Sun wasn’t in sight. Where is he? I searched around until I came across him in the living room, and I let out a sigh of relief. I followed his gaze to see what he was looking at, and I immediately looked away from the frame on the wall. It was a photo of me, my sister, and my mom together.
“What happened to them?” Dong-Sun asked.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I murmured, my ears flattened, “Let’s just get to our next destination.”
He slowly nodded and we left the house in silence. I looked back at the house one more final time before I walked toward the forest behind the place.
“Where are we heading now?” Dong-Sun asked me.
“Toward the library,” I replied.
We continued our way into the woods and toward the library. His tail wagged back and forth as we made our way through the dense trees. As we started getting further from town, the atmosphere suddenly grew tense.
“I hear something,” Dong-Sun replied.
The spikes on my tail bristled.
“Where is it coming from?”
I opened a passage to the underground passages, and we both went inside to see what was going on. I gasped as I saw a tall brown-haired boy covered in blood. I kneeled beside them, turning them over carefully, my eyes widening. The spike at the end of my tail lifted, pressing it into each wound to heal him. What the hell happened!?
“Shik...” I murmured under my breath.
I watched as his wounds healed, and the spike folded into my tail. Shik’s eyes snapped open. He bolted upright, looking at me and then at Dong-Sun. I quickly let my tail spikes relax.
“You... You’re one of them...,” Shik sputtered.
I looked at the ground, my wolf ears flattening.
“I would never kill anyone!” I shouted, “Why would you think I would after everything we’ve been through!?”
Shik stared at the ground.
“I got to go,” he mumbled, running through the passage and back into the forests of Dallood.
Dong-Sun gave me a look and I nodded. Why would he react like this? Shik is like a brother to me. Is it because he knows what I am now? I sniffed the air, and the smell of smoke hit my nostrils. I ran up into the forests of Dallood and he followed. We both ran toward the source.
I stopped, putting my arm out to stop Dong-Sun. Shik as on his hands and his knees, flames engulfing his body. Screams of agony rip through the air as bone protrudes from his shoulder blades in the shape of wings. Firey feathers grew from the boned wing outline. The fire doesn’t burn anything around him, like he’s in complete control of it. The fire swirled and died down, leaving embers floating toward the sky. Sehun turned around and stared at both of us.
“Shik... whatever it is, we can solve this,” I started carefully, “Are you okay?”
“No...,” he replied, “I was attacked while trying to find you.”
“Shit, are the others okay?” Dong-Sun questioned worriedly.
“Yeah, they’re okay,” Shik replied.
I opened my mouth to speak.
“We off to the library then?” Dong-Sun interrupted.
We back tracked the way we came toward the shack in the woods.
“How is this a library?” Shik asked.
I shot a small spike from my tail it flew into the lock. The door swung open. Dong-Sun's eyes widened and Shik’s face paled.
“Are you sure you’re, okay?” I asked him.
“Huh? Yeah, I’m okay,” He replied.
I decided not to push it for now, and I guided both boys into the shack. Once we entered, the shack door shut behind us. We walked inside, coming into a more open space.
“This is beautiful,” Dong-Sun muttered.
The library was tall and stretched up for miles. The whole place was made of birch wood; the rails of the spiraling staircases had intricate designs. Each of the twenty levels had books on various topics.
“Where are we headed?” Shik asked.
I smiled and led him and Dong-Sun to the ninth level. I walked toward the back, placing my bag onto the empty desk I found familiar. I placed all the files on the desk.
“I wonder why they were both in Heng’s room,” He pondered.
I opened Heng’s file, going through various papers inside. I handed Dong-Sun his own file to go through. I handed Shik the file in the Ziplock bag to go through. I saw his eyes widen. I looked at him.
“There isn’t just information on me in here,” Dong-Sun replied, “There’s information on Chanwook.”
“There’s info on Yong here too,” Shik added, gesturing to the file he was holding.
“Chanwook is... I’m not so sure,” Dong-Sun said, “I’ve never seen this species name before. What is a Kruxali?”
I froze in my spot. Those creatures...
“Are you okay Ko?” Shik asked, “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I shook my head and cleared my throat, getting back on track.
“Oh, nothing,” I lied, “I thought it was familiar is all.”
Shik raised an eyebrow, but he let it go.
“Anyway, what does it say for Yong?”
Shik placed the file back in Ziplock and handed it to me. Dong-Sun passed me the other file, and I placed all three back into my bag.
“We need to get back to Chanwook and Yong before they do,” He chimed in.
“Who is they?” I asked, “You’ve said that to me before.”
“It’s an organization located in Seoul,” Dong-Sun started, “E.C.H.O. is their name, stands for Experimental Cellular Hybridization Organization. They capture humans and turn them into hybrids.”
“That’s horrible,” Shik said.
“Now I understand why Heng is in danger,” I said.
“It’s my fault,” Dong-Sun mumbled.
He shook his head and ran; my eyes widened as he ran through one of the underground portals to the land above. Shit, I forgot to close it when we chased after Shik earlier. We ran after him and through the underground door. This time, I closed the rift, sealing it off.
“Where are we?” Shik asked as we took in our surroundings.
“I don’t know,” I replied, “We should be home, no?”
“Yeah, we are,” Shik said, “We’re in the city though.”
My ears and tail disappeared, and Shik’s wings burned into embers.
“We need to find Dong-Sun.”
“We have to get back to the dorms now!”
