Bridging Destinies

Chapter 45: Calculated Offensive

(Some aspects of this chapter will have violence and may be difficult for more sensitive readers.)

Namjoon was deeply disturbed by the idea of the threat that lingered outside his door. He was even more disturbed by the idea that Felina had gone out into the hallway alone. With his heart in his throat, he'd watched her disappear into the hallway, and felt helpless.

He knew that he had to be careful with what Felina was, because she wasn't human, yet he was conditioned to want to contact the police when a problem arose. Of course, he also knew that she would not want to involve the authorities, if she could help it. He didn't like it, but for now he waited, standing at the door with his hand on the knob. He looked down at his phone and opened up the chat function, hoping for anything that would make him feel less alone and scared and sent a quick message to Yoongi, 'You awake?' He looked down at the phone for what felt like several long moments and did not see a response. He frowned deeply at his phone, feeling the unease grow, moving deeply into his gut, joining the lump in his throat as his heart seemed to pound against his skin. Moving his head back to the door knob, he turned and began to crack the door open a hair's breadth when he felt the phone silently vibrate in his hand.

'What's up.' Came the response as he looked down at his phone. He opened the message and read the rest of it, 'I thought your friend would be keeping you busy?'

Namjoon almost rolled his eyes at Yoongi's message, but was too nervous to appreciate the attempt at teasing or even to fire back a witty response, 'She's not with me.' He texted back, 'Someone broke into the apartment!'

There was no response again and Namjoon carefully opened the door once more, looking out with one eye. He could not see anything and grew frustrated. He began to open the door more, to step out and follow behind Felina, but his phone vibrated again, and he quietly closed the door, looking at the message, 'What!? What the fuck! Call the police. Don't be texting me!'

Squinting in frustration down at his phone, Namjoon moved back to the middle of the room and threw it onto the bed. It lit up as messages came through his phone in quick succession. He picked it up one more time and responded, 'Wait. Just wait. I can't do that yet. She's not human! Remember?' He sent the text and threw it back on the bed, moving quickly back to the door. Carefully opening it, he edged into the hallway and tried to find the tell tale shadow that was Felina.

~~~

Yoongi sent message after message, but received no response. Minutes seemed to crawl by, and he was scared for his friend. He was well aware that Felina wasn't human, and he suspected that it was dangerous for her to involve the authorities, but he did not want something happening to his dongsaeng. He kept sending messages to Namjoon, but when there was no response, he said, "Fuck this!" Out loud and dialed 112 to connect with the police.

~~~

As the men moved around the living room, Felina watched them carefully. She could see the two men well enough and with her ability to see well in the dark, it would give her an advantage. She could not deduce much from their energies or their minds, but she knew they carried guns and maybe other weapons she could not see. As one of the men moved past the hallway entrance that led into the rest of the house, she carefully moved back further into the shadows. The man had briefly looked into the dark of the hall, but could not see her, as he ignored the space and paced away from it.

From her vantage point, Felina planned her attack, meticulously noting their movements, how they balanced on their feet, to gauge their gate and potential fighting skill, and determine her odds of winning against them. She could tell that they had some experience with fighting as they had the stance and carriage of persons trained in it.

The man who had passed by the entrance to the hallway moved closer again and stopped trying to see into it. She moved further into the shadows as she heard the faint click of the bedroom door Namjoon was supposed to be hiding behind, opening. She knew that she needed to act fast before anything could happen to him. The man was not as well equipped as she was to fight and protect against this threat.

Eying the other man at the far side of the room, Felina waited seconds for the right moment and pounced on the man closest to her. Her movement caught him in the throat with a quick jab before he could react to the advance he felt coming from her direction, and he dropped his gun, grasping his throat as he wheezed. Felina kicked the gun away from the man, and sent another jab to his temple, hard enough to stun him, but not hard enough to kill him. The other man, alerted by the sounds of attack and his companion's attempts to bring in air, turned suddenly towards the sound. He couldn't see well and turned on a flashlight already in his hand, pointing the light in the direction of the wheezing sounds.

The man noted the shape of his partner and attempted to see into the rest of the room. Before he could flash the light around the room, he felt a kick to the side of his knee, caving it in with a snap, and he screamed in pain. The flashlight was then kicked out of his hand and he madly swung around, balanced on his good leg and began to fire into the room. The sound was muted, as the gun he held showed the outline of a silencer. Felina dodged his attack and shifted to kick at the man again. This time, she disabled the gun from the man's hand, aiming her offensive so that his hand became numb and the weapon fell from his hand. Felina displaced the weapon out of reach from the man and aimed another kick into his face, but he managed to scramble back before her blow could land.

The flashlight the man had dropped lit part of the room, but not the whole of it, and he could see better, but not well. He pulled a knife out from a belt at his waist and pulled himself up into a semi-crouched position, keeping his balance on the leg that was not wounded, as an attempt to defend himself. As he pulled the knife, he realized that his attacker was distracted as she half turned towards the dark of what appeared to be a hallway. The man realized he could have an advantage of attack, but they had been instructed to simply break in, steal a few things and leave. The house would be vulnerable and the occupants would have to find other shelter, which would make the enemy an even easier target. The goal was not the idol that the female was staying with. He was an innocent human, duped, as far as they were concerned. The goal was his companion and the ultimate goal was to separate them, and once separated, they would take her.