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“Seonbae!” Nara shouted in alarm.

“Don’t touch me.”

Miyoung’s ears buzzed. Her head spun. Her muscles twitched.

Nara scrambled to her feet. “Seonbae, your bead. Where is it?”

“Leave me alone!” she shouted at nothing, at everything.

Miyoung raced away. Branches scratched at her cheeks. Roots raised out of the ground to trip her. Through some miracle, she kept her footing and sprinted through the forest that had, for the first time, become terrifying to her.

She couldn’t see. What was in that talisman?

The shadows chased her. And she knew she couldn’t let them catch her.

Miyoung broke out of the trees, bursting into the glare of city lights. She swerved to avoid running into traffic. The garbled sounds of cars and people were making her head spin. So she stumbled until she found a side alley, not caring where she’d ended up. The buildings were cracked and stained, built so close that there was hardly space between the crumbling apartments. Rusted doors hanging on squeaking hinges and bars covering windows. The smell of human stink filled her nostrils and she almost gagged.

A door slammed open; a shouted argument rang into the street. Miyoung kept to the shadows, not wanting anyone to see her in this state. She had no idea what she looked like. What if her tails were visible?

And still as she stumbled along the road, shadowy figures followed her, she could sense them stalking her. They whispered to her. Taunted her as she hobbled with no sense of direction.

Killer.

Murderer.

Monster!

“No,” she said in a hoarse whisper. “Leave me alone!”

She stumbled over her own feet, slamming into a trash can and falling with a clatter.

She covered her head with her arms, hoping it would keep the shadows at bay, but a door opened and light slanted over the asphalt beside her. She scurried back, hoping whoever it was hadn’t seen her.

“Who’s there?” The voice was angry and gravelly, slurred with drink. “Boy! Come out here!”

“Yes, Abeoji?”

Miyoung squinted at the familiar voice.

“Didn’t I tell you to put the lid on the trash can securely, otherwise stray dogs would get in?”

“I did.” She recognized it now. Jung Jaegil. Which meant the man grabbing him by the collar was his father.

“Well, you obviously didn’t!” Athudand a grunt. Jaegil crashed into the door frame, his hand covering his cheek where his father’s fist had connected.

“Useless boy!” the man said. “I’ll do it myself. Need to go out for more beer anyway.”

The door slammed shut, taking the light with it. Shuffling steps approached Miyoung.

Here he comes. Ripe for the taking.

Was that her own thoughts? Or those shadow voices? She didn’t really care as she realized she was starving. Hunger overshadowed the fear and pain she’d been experiencing seconds earlier.

Boots crunched against gravel and Miyoung’s mouth watered.

Can you taste him?

She shifted onto her feet, crouched beside the toppled trash cans.