Noctura

ten

"I just don't want you getting into trouble or getting hurt," I tell him. "I'm sorry, Jinwoo. I wish our situation was different."

"Me, too."

He sets the cracker box down on the coffee table.

"Can you tell me more about th-the Nocturas?" Jinwoo stutters.

I nod. "Yeah. What do you wanna know?"

"Why do their eyes look like that?" He asks.

"Oh." I think for a moment. "Well, I'm not really sure. But I think it has something to do with our blood. Once we sense food and begin to feed or we get aggravated enough, our blood rushes into our eyes and it changes the color of them. I don't know exactly why our blood turns into a black and violet color in our eyes, because if we bleed, it's red like any other human's. Our blood is disguised like human's blood."

"How do you know?"

"Every three months, every citizen is forced to go through a screening. During that screening, they test your saliva and blood to see if you're human or Noctura."

"What?" Jinwoo exclaims. "How do you not get caught?"

"It doesn't work," I say. "They can't tell the difference between our blood and a human's blood, yet. Those screenings are to take sample after sample of blood and try to find differences between the two."

"That's scary," Jinwoo whispers. "They could figure it out any minute and then everyone who's had their blood drawn that's a Noctura..."

"I don't know if they keep the samples," I say. "But they might. And then, yeah, you're right. If they figure it out, Nocturas will be hunted even more than we already are."

"When is the next screening?" Jinwoo asks. "Will I have to go?"

"The next screening..." I trail off. "I don't know, actually. We haven't had one for a while. I can look on the AAN website."

Jinwoo nods.

I walk over to the kitchen table and grab my phone. As I walk back over to the couch, I pull up the AAN website.

"What was your life like?" Jinwoo asks suddenly. "I mean, before you saved me."

I take a deep breath and sit down on the couch. I look over at Jinwoo. "Well, where do you want me to start?"

"Would you tell me your life story?"

I give a small smile. "Well, I was born and raised here, in the fourth sector. I went to school and my best friend lived next door to me. We hung out all the time. My parents always tried to warn me and my sister of the dangers in the world and that we should always be careful. But I became friends with Seunghoon anyway. He's a human, you see. At first, my parents were very concerned about the friendship. But then they decided that it should be okay. So, Seunghoon and I grew up together. And when I was seventeen, I finished school and moved out of the house. I bought this house with the help of my parents and started working at the flower shop. The boss there is really nice, and she's a Noctura too."

"What happened to your human best friend?" Jinwoo asks.

"Well, he's still my best friend, actually." I clear my throat. "He, uh, he lives next door."

Jinwoo's eyes widen. "He lives next door? Here?"

I nod.

He doesn't say anything.

"He doesn't know about me, obviously," I say. "And I can never tell him. But I can't stop being his friend, either. He means a lot to me, you know? We've grown up together. He's the only guy that's ever really stuck with me."

Jinwoo looks down at the couch and fiddles with his fingers.

"But, I have to go to work," I say quickly, standing up.

"You were going to check that website."

I nod. "Oh, yeah."

I bring my phone out of my pocket and look through the website. There are no dates for the next scheduled screening or home search—there never is—but there's a calendar that shows when the last screening was.

"The last screening was a little over three months ago," I tell him. "So, we should be having one soon. They don't ever give us an advanced warning, though. They just tell us the day of and we're all supposed to go to an AAN building and get a screening done."

"That's it?"

"Well... they do home searches every month, too," I tell him. I glance at the calendar on the website I pulled up. "It's been twenty-eight days since the last search, and we get searched every month."

Jinwoo's eyes widen. "What if they search your house soon? What if they find me here?"

"They won't find you," I assure him. "Don't worry about it, okay? They give us warning about the home searches. And I promise I'll protect you."

"What about the screenings?"

"You won't have to go," I tell him. "If you were on that train and then being taken around all those places... it means you're not documented. So they won't know if you don't take the screening."

Jinwoo nods silently.

"My workplace isn't too far away," I tell Jinwoo. I hand him my phone. "I'll leave this with you in case you need anything. If you do need something, just call this number." I point to Nikita's contact. "If a woman answers, tell her you're Minho's friend and need to speak with me."

Jinwoo nods again.

"Don't leave the house, okay?"

"I won't," Jinwoo answers.

I give him a small smile. "I'll be back as soon as I can. Expect me home around three, alright?"

Jinwoo nods again.

I take a deep breath and give Jinwoo a small nod before heading out the door to work.

As I walk, I worry about Jinwoo. And I'm sure I'll worry about him all throughout work, too.