As Shane made his way through the forest, the first flake fell onto his cheek, melting his against his skin.
Big things always happen on the first snow. Jihoon's grandmother's words rang in his head. But they sounded like a warning to Shane now.
Shane ran his hands over the rough bark of trees as she walked. It wasn't to help with balance. He was light on his feet on the craggy terrain. But he liked the physical connection with the flora around her. It gave him comfort, anchored him when he felt like she was wavering. And he needed all the support she could get tonight.
His phantoms swung through the trees, dancing from branch to branch, trying to break his resolve.
Shane ran his fingers through his tangled hair. It stuck to his temple with dried sweat despite the cool winter air.
Minjae stepped into Miyoung's path, stopping her short. The young man wore a colorful graphic tee, the bright colors a sharp contrast to the grays and browns of the bare trees around them.
"Oh, half brother," he murmured, pity saturating his eyes as they shifted around Miyoung, taking in the spirits. "Come, the moon is rising." he grabbed Shane's arm, her fingers digging into the skin.
"Your instructions weren't very clear."
"We needed a place with the right energy." Shane pulled so hard on his arm, Shane almost stumbled after him.
There was a space of earth cleared out below a great oak tree that still held on to a smattering of leaves. A long altar sat beside the thick trunk, littered with trays of fruit, chestnuts, and rice. Copper bowls held sand and incense. Candles flickered, lighting the faces of a dozen paintings, each staring at Shane with dark eyes.
"Light an incense." Minjae held out a long stem.
Shane obeyed.
Minjae held a silver cup
Shane looked at the glass, it contained wine. Blood red wine.
"It's to help cleanse you,"
"I hate to break it to you, I am in a really bad mood."
"I know that."
"This is my life we're messing with," Shane said.
"I can't make promises, half brother. And I don't think this will work if you don't trust me. My powers are not as powerful as you or Eamon. I couldn't find that dude, it is the only way left"
Shane hesitated. Considered turning around and walking away. But the hunger in his gut made his whole body ache. If he couldn't take Jihoon's life, maybe he could take the life of the person who had seen him. At least, to satisfy his hunger. So he took a sip, letting the bitter alcohol sit on his tongue before swallowing.
"I need this to work" Shane dismissed, handing Minjae back the cup.
"I've fucked up and my hunger is something I cannot control."
"What about Jihoon?"
"I wish not to speak about him." Shane insisted. "Can you do this or not?"
Minjae's face smoothed and he straightened his shoulders. "I can do this."
"What're you going to do now?" Shane stuttered, his voice weak, "I just . . . I need reassurances,"
"There are no guarantees when it comes to this kind of practice. But I can get rid of your ghosts, I assume you'd like that."
Shane nodded.
"And we need to find out who was the man you saw that night."
Shane nodded again. A shiver went down Shane's spine. He began to feel cold. Suddenly ice cold.
"Sit," Minjae commanded and Shane obeyed.
As the kut progressed, the moon rose.
The air became heavy. The smell of incense thickened.
Shane coughed to clear his throat, but it didn't quite work. Minjae Caught his eyes and mouthed, Open yourself.
Shane stilled and tried to release the tension in his shoulders.
he didn't know how to open herself, but he figured part of it was to relax.
The smoke of the incense wove in the wind. Wisps breaking off to become ghostly shapes. It coalesced, becoming the face of one of Shane's past victims. A man he'd caught killing dogs in an alley on a full moon.
Then another, the face of a man who'd used his money to buy his freedom after driving drunk and plowing into a family of four; the whole family had died. And Shane sent the man to meet them in the afterlife.
More faces formed in the smoke, breaking free to swim around him.
A macabre montage of his victims. Vengeful eyes of the dead spinning and spinning around him in a crowd of accusation.
Shane yanked at her collar, trying to pull in the air.
Release the unclean spirits. The voice wasn't his own, but that of MInjae, whose eyes never left his.
'I can't breathe,' Shane thought. It felt like the hands of the dead were clamped against his skin, their cold fingers holding her throat closed.
Death holds you. It covers you.
Shane clawed at his own neck. Trying to tear a path for oxygen to enter his body again. A twin of the flames that shot through his veins. he could barely sit up.
Shane tensed against the pain until his back arched in reply. Heat enveloped him, fireworks trailing through her bloodstream. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, he tried to say, but couldn't get the words out as he twisted in torment.
And in his wavering vision, a darkness seemed to spread, like a black hole opening in the forest. It pulled at the ghosts that surrounded him, devouring them. Their protests became a piercing wail.
Then the darkness pulled at him as it sucked at his very soul. Like it sought to pull that piece of him free from his body. When Shane opened his mouth to scream, no sound would come.
Smoke appeared in front of him as his vision clouded.
Shane could never have expected who it was.
Park Jihoon.
Something burst through the trees, a large shape that looked clumsy.
Again, Park Jihoon.
Minjae had disappeared, along with all the smoke.
However, the lightning shooting through Shane didn't cease. he lurched up. His legs threatened to buckle. His heart ached.
Shane craned her neck, gasping for air, and saw the full moon bright in the sky.
Using the last of his strength, he ran.