No Dogs Allowed

Steel Your Eyes To Hide Your Heart

(this chapter is v late—i was without internet for two days, and i also rewrote 1/2 of this chapter about 3 times—and for that, i do apologize. still, it finally is here, so ty for reading! i know that some of the korean romanized here is hard to translate, so if u r ever curious about what it says, let me know and i can tell you :3 )

"...Truong and Zoe Davenport from Avaldi's elite racing team, Corvus, progress to Class I status following the Padmore Eval from this morning. They announced their achievement on Instagram, and received quite the wave of support in response. Although it leaves many questioning their fellow rookie teammate..."

"Obviously they had to become Class I, they couldn't very well stay at the bottom, not with Red Diamond coming up. I say good riddance! That in itself is a proof to their status. But why the hell this other kid—Yun, yeah?—is content in Class III, let alone Stirling, you know, that's beyond me, I can't begin to think of..."

"...questioning Yun's intention, if 'Class III Stirling' is simply a publicity stunt of his or Corvus's, if it's a political protest of some kind, no one truly knows, I myself am very confused as to why..."

"...of the Eval, and they were perfectly fine in progressing from III to I, and they have not even made as many waves as Yun has. It's certainly a spark for controversy, definitely a question of the validity of the Eval. I'm doubting a lot just from this rookie college racer, he's really making people question lycan ranking..."

"I don't appreciate the disrespect. Stirlings are always at the bottom, and if his goal is to make some sort of political statement with it, then I'm not impressed, I think he's caused major issues for his team, for his pack, I mean, I think it's selfish to be honest..."

"As Red Diamond's next four rounds approach, tensions heat up between both packs and racing teams as the victory money is soon to be announced. There are rumors this will stand as the largest victory to be won yet, and it puts fans on the edge of their seats as the first match approaches..."

_______________

"Echo.

"Echo.

"Echo.

"Yun."

I open my eyes. I see eyes. Blue things, gaping things, silver at the center, green at the edges. Round at the top, sharp at the edges. Pupil. Iris. Sclera. Aqueous.

"It's an echo," I tell it.

There's a laugh. "Hey," it says. "There's an echo in here."

"Where?"

"Here."

A face appears with the eyes. It smiles. It opens its mouth, a wide jaw, fangs made for tearing, tongue made for licking bones clean. A wolf.

I close my eyes. I scream. There is no sound. There is a gurgle, a sputter, a wet cough. Teeth is in my throat. Teeth are going right through it. And—

I spit out my tongue, but it's pink water and blue algae. My hands are on tile, white as a corpse. There's pressure on my lungs, a hand inside my ribcage, wringing out the water soaking my insides. My knees bruise on the hard granite, the skin peeling off to reveal the patella, where black scratches appear on the bone. I wheeze out something even I cannot make out.

There's blood from my throat, a gash torn through my esophagus, veins spilling out, tendons ripped to shreds. I reach to hold it but I hold my stomach instead, gagging on the iron taste. Drops of it slide down into my bleeding insides. They taste like seawater. A hand finds my throat, wraps fingers around it to stem the blood.