Noctura

five

seunghoon

MY ALARM clock rings throughout my bedroom and I quickly press it, making it stop.

I finish tying my tie around my neck before grabbing my jacket and heading out the door.

I walk into the city from my house and head over toward Hinansho. I step inside two minutes until eight.

I don't see Teagan anywhere, so I order a regular coffee and sit down at a table near the window.

The clouds aren't as thick today, so it's a little brighter. It makes me smile as I bring my coffee up to my lips, considering it's usually way darker than this.

But as I'm looking across the sky, I see even darker clouds overhead, moving inward toward the center of the city. It looks like rain.

I hear the small bell chime on the door and look over to see Teagan walking into the shop.

She glances over at me and gives a quick wave before pointing toward the counter. I give her a thumbs up.

After she orders her coffee, she comes over and sits down across from me.

"Good morning," she says with a smile.

I study her face. She's got high cheekbones and a round face but I can definitely see the slight curvature of her jawline. When she smiles, the skin around the corners of her lips wrinkle, and she has a slight dimple on the left side of her lips.

"What?" She asks.

"Oh, sorry." I shake my head. "Good morning. I was lost in thought."

She smiles again. "How'd you sleep?"

"Pretty well, and you?"

"I slept alright," she admits. "I was a little nervous for today. I haven't really... told anyone this stuff before."

For a moment I'm confused.

"Oh!" I realize. "The stuff you were going to tell the director. Yes, gotcha."

She gives a small chuckle and takes a sip of her coffee. Then she lays out her manila folders onto the table in front of us. She takes a deep breath and then looks up into my eyes.

"I believe there is another, more dangerous group out there."

I lean back in my chair and nod. "I'm listening."

"The Cobras have been fairly silent for over a week, like I mentioned last night," Teagan continues. "There have obviously been many Noctura related deaths, but not in mass, like the Cobras tend to do. And back in the second division, I was starting to see some things that were different, but still important to the AAN and the safety of humans from Nocturas."

"Another gang?" I ask. "One that kills in mass?"

Teagan shakes her head. "No, they don't kill in mass. They don't really kill, actually."

I furrow my brows. "What?"

She opens one of her manila folders and takes out a piece of paper. Then she turns it around and hands it to me.

At the top of the page, there is an uppercase "A" with a circle around it. Beneath that, there is a short paragraph, titled "The Alliance".

"'The Alliance'?" I ask. "Is that the group?"

"That's what they call themselves," Teagan explains. "Go ahead. Read it."

The Alliance is not just a regular gang because it is not a gang of Nocturas only. This gang is mostly made up of humans who help the Nocturas. So far, we have studied that the Alliance will fight the AAN to protect the Nocturas. They leave their symbol as a sign of protest on buildings all throughout Kraephis. Any other information about the Alliance is unknown, but it is our best inference that they have either just started up or are very good at keeping hidden. They could have dozens of safe houses for Nocturas all around the city. There could be one main leader or multiple leaders. More research on this group is necessary.

"Who compiled this information?" I ask once I'm finished reading.

"I did." Teagan takes the paper back and tucks it into her manila folder. "I've been researching them ever since I found their symbol on buildings. I heard of fights between the senior officers and executive soldiers with humans and I wondered why humans were fighting humans. Then I realized the humans fighting the AAN were leaving that symbol everywhere. I found a tag in an alley and written beneath it were these words. Here."

Teagan takes another paper out of her folder and hands it to me. It's a printed picture of a bridge with the Alliance symbol spray-painted onto it. Beneath it, reads, We fight. We protect. We are the Alliance.

"The Alliance," I say, shaking my head. "So they're a group of humans who are fighting for the Nocturas? Why?"

"I don't know," Teagan sighs. "We haven't been able to capture anyone from the Alliance to gain any more information. No one really believes they're that big a threat, though. Everyone in the AAN just assumes it's a group entirely made up of humans and, therefore, they're harmless or not to be worried about like the other gangs."

"Are there Nocturas in the group too?"

Teagan nods. "Some. The AAN fought that same group and there were mostly humans, but also some Nocturas. They saw their eyes, even killed two of them."

"This is big," I whisper, looking down at the picture of the bridge again. "Humans standing up and fighting for Nocturas? That's unheard of."

"I've been trying to tell the director about it because I don't know what would happen if information of this group got out," Teagan tells me. "If the Nocturas heard about this group in mass..."

"The Alliance would grow," I finish her thought. "And the Nocturas would have more help than they need."

"The Nocturas kill humans to live, Seunghoon." Teagan gives me a worried look. "I don't understand how people could support these creatures."

"I don't either," I admit. "It doesn't make any sense."

"Shouldn't the humans in the Alliance understand that they could be killed by the very creatures they're trying to defend?"

I look at my watch and see that it's already almost forty-five past eight.

"Oh, you have to go to work soon, don't you?" Teagan asks.

"Yeah," I answer her. "But I've still got some time. Tell me, how are we supposed to find these Alliance members? How do we get one into custody to question them?"

"I don't know," Teagan says. "They fight well. They use guns, as good as ours. And they've got Nocturas on their side, which makes them even stronger and more powerful. We just have to... we have to figure out some kind of strategy."

I look down at the table and think for a long moment.

"I can't come up with anything right now," I tell Teagan, standing up out of my chair. "But I promise if I think of anything, you'll be the first to know."

She stays seated and gives me a small smile. "Thank you, Seunghoon. For listening to me."

I return her smile. "Of course, Teagan. I'm always here to listen."

We shake hands like coworkers would, but let the handshake linger a bit, like friends would.

"Hey, I'll catch you at the end of my shift when you start yours, alright?"

Teagan nods. "See you later, Seunghoon."

"See you, Teagan."

I head out the door, thoughts of this Alliance group swimming through my head.