Noctura

thirty six

seungyoon

AT EXACTLY ten thirty in the morning, I press the button next to the name Evans.

It's a little early to expect Teagan to have any information, but I couldn't sleep last night because of this feeling in my gut that I need to speak with Teagan.

"Hello?" Her voice comes through the scratchy speaker.

"It's Yoon," I say quietly.

A hesitant moment later, I hear a buzzing sound and open the front door.

I go up to the second floor and knock on the door with 2c written on it.

Teagan opens the door.

The first thing I notice is how exhausted she looks. There are bags under her eyes and her eyes themselves look tired. She's wearing sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, and her hair looks messy.

"Did you just wake up?" I ask.

She gestures for me to come inside and once I do, she closes the door tightly.

There's a cup of coffee on her table, along with a computer and a large file.

"I haven't slept." Teagan sighs.

"Did you find something?" I ask.

Teagan nods. "Last night... I found a lab. I downloaded everything from them and I printed everything out here for you. It's in the file on the table."

I walk over toward the table and she follows me. We sit down together and I see a flash drive sticking out of Teagan's computer.

She looks across the table at me and lets out a small sigh. "I went into the lab last night. It was the only way I could get everything downloaded. And then I stayed up trying to sort through everything and print it all out. Everything's in this file here."

Teagan slowly slides the file over to me.

I slowly open it up and see a piece of paper with the words classified written across the top.

I move the paper and see multiple large packets.

At the top of the first page in the first packet, it reads: Human to Noctura Experiments

I bring my eyes up to Teagan's. "This is the lab?"

"Stanek Lab," Teagan responds. "They experimented on humans, turned them into Nocturas. And I think they're still doing it."

I look back down at the packet. My eyes start scanning through the names. There are tons of names, all of them failing the experiments and dying in the process.

"The last page of this packet," Teagan says quietly.

I go to the last page and my eyes quickly scan the names.

Six names. Six successful experiments.

Gazali Sekibo: Successful.

Maja Nilsson: Successful.

Yu-wen Li: Successful.

Kaila Hale: Successful.

Idal Sousa: Successful.

Jinwoo Kim: Successful.

My heart sinks as I read the words.

Jinwoo Kim.

"Is your friend on there?" Teagan asks quietly. "Did I find what you asked me to?"

I look up at her. "What else is in here?"

"There's detailed descriptions of what happened to each patient. Future plans for experiments and the lab altogether. That's mostly all the important stuff I found."

I suddenly stand up, the file still in my hands. I'm looking down at it, realizing the truth.

Jinwoo used to be human. He really was turned into a Noctura.

But how?

"Does it say how?" I ask. Teagan looks confused. "Does it say how they did it? How they turned people?"

Teagan nods. "Yes, there's everything in there. Yoon, I think—"

"I have to go," I tell her.

She stands up, her eyes looking a little more awake now. I see she has something in her hand. Her phone.

"I trust you and the AAN will do what is necessary to stop this lab." I give Teagan a stern look. "Thank you for getting this information for me, Teagan. But I have to leave now."

"Yoon—"

A second later, I hear the door opening.

I whip around just as the door slams shut.

Someone stands there in front of the door, pointing a gun at me.

My eyes travel up his body until I meet his eyes.

Dark brown eyes.

"Yoon," he speaks evenly.

I narrow my eyes. "Who are you?"

"Lee Seunghoon," he responds. "Rank one senior officer of the AAN."

A small grin forms on my lips. "I've heard of you. You know Teagan?"

"Leave her alone," he demands. "She doesn't want anything more to do with any of this. Put the file down on the table."

I let out a small sigh. "I'm sorry, Seunghoon, but that's not going to happen. You see, Teagan got this information for me and I need to use it."

"Stop playing games," he spits. "The Alliance helps Nocturas and the AAN is trying to eradicate them. We're taking the Alliance down."

I look directly into Seunghoon's eyes.

In a split second, I reach behind me and rip Teagan's flash drive out of her computer. Holding onto it and the file tightly, I dive toward Seunghoon and shove him against the wall.

His gun clatters to the floor but he reaches out for me, ripping my arm back.

The file slams onto the ground.

Seunghoon reaches for it but I block his arm and twist it slightly.

He lets out a loud cry and I kick him away from me.

"Stop!" Teagan shouts as Seunghoon slams into a cabinet behind him.

I grab the file and move toward the door.

I trust you, Teagan. I trust you'll shut down this lab for good.

Before Seunghoon can do anything else, I'm out of the apartment and moving down the stairs.

As I'm running through the streets, I put the file and the flash drive into my backpack.

Then I continue running, knowing exactly where I'm going to go.

I need to speak with Jinwoo.