Hunting 3

Gripping her wand so tightly she felt the high relief leaves and flowers of her wand imprinting in her palms, Eun Ha turned.

But once again, there was nothing to be seem.

"..!"

Why her heart was pumping so fast?

Abruptly, she turned again, to face the mirror, but only with a glimpse she felt, more than saw, a shadow of a woman, nothing like her. The mirror only reflected her, though, looking scared as hell. 'Me? Myself? What the hell?!'

Eun Ha felt absolutely suffocated, breathless of pure dread, and reached for the door. She hurried out, thinking blank and feeling like the hounds of hell were chasing her.

Her legs were soft as jelly, it was like she couldn't move as fast as she wished. At the same time, she had the raw sensation of being observed, from the above… But she couldn't gather the courage to look to the ceiling.

Getting out of the bathroom was quite relieving, she realized. Even in the dim light of that corner, she saw something she instinctively understood to be important:

Confectioner Lee handed Mr. Kim a bunch of keys.

The fairy's attention went to their faces, drawn like a magnet. Mr. Kim grinned as he looked at the bunch of keys in his hands, as if satisfied with a deal. Confectioner Lee's gaze was on Mr. Kim's face, and his eyes only reflected a frightening expression of grudge and mischievous satisfaction.

Why was it so suspicious?

Eun Ha blinked as everyone's attention was drawn by the bickering couple: they wanted to check out and leave. The confectioner went to the cashier, and Mr. Kim turned his back and just left the cafe without saying goodbye.

The fairy knew she had seen something strange, and now she thought she knew where. 'Better warn the Hunter.' She walked quietly out the door as the Confectioner charged the couple, running across the street and covering her hair with her hands to protect them from the fine drizzle. She saw Mr. Kim get on a bicycle and set off in the freezing night.

"Mr. Shin, I mean, Professor Shin! You are right! There is something there. There's something in the restroom!"

He grinned. "Did you see anything?"

"And also… that man who left. He was blackmailing them! The Confectioner... Sounds pretty weird, but…"

"You did what you had to do? Can I get in there already?" It was clear from the Hunter's tone that he sensed that she had done nothing of what he demanded her to.She just shook her head, confirming his suspects.

"The couple just left. Is anyone else there with the owners?" Shin jerked his chin at the couple leaving the cafe.

Looking back over her shoulders, she followed their exit with a brief glance. Immediately afterwards, with a corner of her eye, she noticed that the confectioner appeared behind them, and stood in the doorway, clearly looking for the customer who left without paying. And then he spotted them there.

"I'm coming back, ajusshi! Just a moment!" She nodded before he called for her or came where she was. Then continuing to talk to her tutor, she nervously said: "What should I do? I thought about causing an accident in the bathroom, but I think the thing IS in the restroom. What to do, what to do?"

"Aigoo, how boring you are, Jung!" the Hunter suddenly gave a step ahead, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a strange object, which he held out for her. She took it, and examining it in her own hand, saw that it was a blue lens monocle.

"What's this?"

"An object for which you will lend a drop of magic. Therefore, try and do your best. Use your wand and transfer some magic to it."

"Is that all I should do?" she marveled, and he said.

"This object is made to receive magic. But it won't last long, just a few minutes, probably. Just leave the whys for another day, now we're in a hurry."

Eun Ha thought so too, and used her magic just as she did earlier. She felt the energy flow even stronger toward the tip of the wand and then into the object. The monocle gleamed slightly, but soon returned to normal.

"Did it work?" she asked, raising her hand to look if there was any noticeable difference in the object or if something had gone wrong.

"Use it and see if it worked. Now come," he just nodded for her to follow him, and strode across the street toward the cafe. Eun Ha blinked, stunned, and tried to balance the monocle on her nose. She looked up as soon as she could, and looked towards the coffee shop façade.

"Omo!"

The facade of the cafe seemed to have a dark slime that branched from the doorway out, spreading as a colony of bacteria fom a focus, that was inside. The depressing atmosphere seemed to fog the window panes with a strange vapor. It was the worst building for the decrepit street corner. More than it: it was taken by something to which Eun Ha wished to keep distance.

She jumped when something touched her hand, and looked away. It was the Hunter, who took her by the hand and led her toward the decrepit and terrifying place.

"No!" She tried to stall, but he gave her a jerk that made her to stumble and take two involuntary steps forward.

"I don't want to go in there!" she implored.

They stopped in the middle of the street, and the Hunter Shin looked into his eyes:

"But you will. Because I need you there." At the slightest hesitation of Eun Ha, he pulled her again, and they reached the sidewalk. At a glance through the window she saw with the monocle's eye the Confectioner's wife looking at her… Except she had no eyes or mouth.

But before she screamed, she was already being dragged into the cafe by the Hunter.