I'm excited for this chapter! I hope you are all too. We have another SKZ member for this week's mission. It's been a while since one has popped up. Also, if someone can, please let me know if you are seeing or not seeing my updates. Wattpad is glitching on me lately and I can't tell if it's just on my side and everything publishes properly or there really is some issue. Anyway, with that said, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Then: Yongin

"He went down that way," Changbin calls out as he runs alongside Wonpil. The brown haired hunter has black frame glasses over his eyes and a silver blade clenched in his hands. Wonpil looks in the direction Changbin pointed and nods his head as he spots a shadowy tail moving past a tree. He charges after the monster. Wonpil jumps above a fallen log and darts around a bush. He comes up into this clearing where there is just grass. There's a large black dog with huge canines circling the area almost like he's about to attack his prey. Wonpil eyes narrow and he tightens his grip on his blade. He bends down a bit and starts to circle as well, waiting for the dog to pounce. The dog bares its teeth and snaps at the air, trying to threaten Wonpil and make him leave. The hunter doesn't even flinch. Instead, he slides closer to the animal. "Come on," Wonpil shouts. The dog growls again before charging forward. He collides with the hunter and they both go tumbling towards the ground. The animal uses its massive paws to scratch at the hunter's shoulder. Wonpil grits his teeth as deep gashes appear on his body and blood drips from the wounds. He pushes back the pain though and repositions his hand so that he can swing the angel blade into the hound's side. He yanks the blade out and the dog yelps in pain. He staggers off of Wonpil and scampers over to the side. The dog begins to whimper in pain and the hunter smirks a bit, finding the monster's apparent fear and pain amusing. "You're nothing more than a little pet...aren't you?" Wonpil murmurs, "I don't know why Changbin was so worried. You're not one of the hotshot hellhounds. You're just a little puppy. It's too bad, if things were different I would have let you go back home with your master, but they're not." With that said, Wonpil throws the angel blade. It hits the hellhound right in the middle of its forehead and the animal falls to the ground. Wonpil lets out a breath and walks over to the creature. He bends down to pull the blade out and slowly stands again. He looks down at the dead creature who has blood dripping from its head. He stares at it for a second more before pursing his lips and looking to his angel blade. He grips the weapon tighter before slamming it into the creature's body. He continues to do this again and again. Blood spurts from the hellhound and splatters all over Wonpil's face and clothes. This doesn't seem to faze the hunter as he proceeds to stab the monster. "You got him!" Changbin says in a pleased tone as he comes into the clearing, "Thank goodness...that is the last time I let Seonghwa hyung take care of the hellhounds. I'll make sure this guy stays locked up. Thanks for helping me catch him again." He has yet to notice what Wonpil is doing, but it doesn't take him long as he sees a spurt of blood shoot into the air. Changbin's eyes widen and he blinks in surprise. Wonpil slowly rises and turns around. He flashes a smile at his friend, blood covering every inch of his body, "Sorry, I know we said we would get him alive, but he wouldn't settle. I did what I had to do." Changbin purses his lips together and nods his head even though the scene before his eyes is very unsettling.

──────●◎●──────

Now

"I read about a wild animal attack in Yongin," Felix reads from Wonpil's journal as Chan pays the man at the front desk of the motel, "It wasn't the first attack either. There had been about two more just that week."

"Thanks," Chan says as the man hands him the key to the room. He starts walking down the hallway and Felix follows, his eyes still on the leather-bound book. "I went into town expecting a werewolf or kitsune or something along those lines," Felix continues, "Instead, it turns out that hell had lost one of its beloved puppies."

"Hellhounds," Chan states.

Felix nods, "Since when do hellhounds get loose? Don't they just follow what their master tells them to do?"

"It's the first time I've ever heard of it," Chan says, "Usually, hellhounds are used to finish off a demon deal. You make a deal with a demon and after ten years you get dragged into hell by a hellhound. Invisible to anyone except to the one who made the deal. Hellhounds are obedient. They go after who they're told to."

"This one didn't," Felix says, looking up from the journal, "Apparently, Wonpil ran into a demon named Changbin, who just so happened to be a close friend of his. Is this the demon that you're friends with?" Chan coughs and shifts uncomfortably. Felix's eyebrows raise and he gives his cousin a judging expression. "Don't look at me like that," Chan states.

Felix shakes his head, "This is the look you give someone when they tell you that you're friends with a demon."

"He's a good guy," Chan says.

Felix frowns, "He's a demon."

"Not all monsters are bad and that includes demons," Chan says.

"C'mon, Chris, even you can't stoop as low to become buddies with dark creatures like that," Felix huffs, "Demons are the literal worst monster out there."

"Changbin is a huge softy," Chan states, "Can we not argue about this? What was Changbin doing here?" They come to a stop in front of a room and Chan uses the key to open it up. The two file into the room, looking around as they do. Felix goes over to the bed and plops onto it. He sighs and looks back down at the book, "Changbin told Wonpil about how one of the other demons took over his job of tending to the hellhounds for a day and in the process lost one of them," Felix says, "He had been tracking him all the way to Yongin."

"So, Changbin and Wonpil worked together on this case?" Chan asks.

Felix nods his head, "The mission was to find the hellhound and capture it so it could be brought back to hell before hurting anyone else."

"What happened?" Chan asks.

"Wonpil ended up killing it," Felix says, "The dog wouldn't settle and he had no choice." Chan nods his head and tosses the bag over his shoulder onto the floor. He lets out a breath and looks at his cousin. He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it a second after. He shakes his head and makes his way into the bathroom. Felix frowns and closes up the journal before placing it to the side. "What?" Felix questions.

"What do you mean what?" Chan asks.

"You looked at me like you were going to say something," Felix says.

"No," Chan says.

Felix shakes his head, "You only do that when you're going to suggest something that I won't like. So? What is it?"

"You know you're not going to like it," Chan says.

"Yeah, but you'll always convince me otherwise," Felix says, "So, let's have it."

Chan sighs, "Fine. I was thinking that we should summon Changbin."

"Your demon friend?" You want us to summon a demon?" Felix questions.

Chan nods, "He was with Wonpil. He'll know first-hand what happened."

"I don't know, Chris," Felix says.

"We've done it before when we needed info. This is no different except we won't be doing any torturing," Chan says, "If it makes you feel better, we can summon him into a demon trap." Felix crosses his arms over his chest and frowns in thought. He doesn't say anything for a minute before slowly nodding his head. "Okay, but only cause we want to find out what Wonpil was doing here. Let's go get the ingredients," Felix says.

──────●◎●──────

"Why does your friend's summoning ritual include both pig's blood and a rabbit's skull?" Felix questions.

"Don't ask," Chan sighs, "Did you get everything?" The two make their way back to the motel with bags full of ingredients they need for the summoning ritual. "I think so," Felix says. Chan nods and the two head inside. As they do, they are met by a group of people huddled by the front desk. They are all watching a TV screen that hangs from the ceiling. "What's going on?" Chan asks as they approach the group.

"There's been an animal attack in town," A woman says, "The person who died was only twenty-one." Chan and Felix exchange a look before gazing up at the TV. Sure enough, there's a reporter standing in front of caution tapes near the local camping site. The new station changed to show b-roll footage of the camper's set up torn to bits by an apparent wild animal. "The next footage you're about to see is graphic," The reporter states, "Please be advised of viewer discretion." The shot changes to show the mauled body of a young man with scratches all along his chests and legs. Chan and Felix both grimace at the image. They shake their heads and exchange glances. "Another hellhound?" Chan whispers.

"Maybe," Felix says, "Think it's something we should be worried about? I mean last time Wonpil was here he dealt with a hellhound too."

"It could've been just a normal deal," Chan says, "And if that's true...there's nothing we could have done to stop what happened."

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to check it out," Felix says.

Chan sighs, "Are you just saying this cause you don't want to summon Changbin?"

"No," Felix shakes his head, "I promise we'll summon him after checking this out."

"Alright," Chan says, "Let's put this stuff back into our room and then we can go to the campsite."

──────●◎●──────

The two flash their fake NIS badges simultaneously as they come to the area of the camp site that has been blocked off. They are let in without any questions after that. The two make their way over to where a man garbed in a park ranger outfit stands surveying the remains of the campground. "Excuse me," Chan calls out. The ranger turns around as the two approach him and nods his head. "We're with the NIS," Felix says, "And we just go where we're told, so can you please let us know more about this, so we can report to the higher ups. I'm sure it's just some random animal attack, but the big bosses think it's a bit weird because it's happened before a couple of months back."

The ranger sticks his hands into his pocket, "It most likely is an animal attack. We're still trying to identify exactly what, but the witness hasn't given us a clear picture on what it was. We are leaning towards a wolf, although they don't usually frequent these parts."

"I didn't know there was a witness," Felix says, "Is he still here?"

"Yes," The ranger says, looking in the direction of a cop car which has its door open. There's a figure garbed in a light blue blanket sitting inside, his head is tilted down but you can still spot the red tips of his dark black hair. The ranger sighs, "He's a bit of a mess at the moment. He says the animal was invisible and it tore his hyung to pieces."

"What's his name?" Chan questions.

"Choi Jongho. He was Choi San's younger cousin. They were like brothers. His death hit him hard," The ranger answers, "You two are more than welcome to go chat with him, but I don't know if you'll get anything more than we did from the kid." The two nod their heads and make their way over to the cop car. Jongho glances up at them for just a second as they near before his gaze shifts back to the floor. "Hello, Jongho-ssi," Chan says. The young man doesn't answer, remaining silent and stoic. The cousins exchange a quick glance, knowing how Jongho must be feeling. If San and his relationship was anything like their own, Jongho must be extremely heartbroken. "Can you tell us what happened here?" Felix asks.

Jongho scoffs and shifts a bit in his seat, "You'll just say I'm mentally traumatized just like the cops."

"We won't," Chan says, "The ranger said that you saw an invisible animal go after your cousin. Well, we've dealt with animal attacks like this before..."

"Really?" Jongho questions.

Felix nods, "You have no idea."

"I went to go gather wood for a fire," Jongho explains, "I heard a howl and San hyung shout. I rushed over and I saw my cousin on the ground being ripped apart. The thing is that there wasn't anything there. There was no animal, no person, nothing. I don't understand how he could've gotten injured when there wasn't anything doing the deed, but he did and he died..."

"I'm sorry," Felix says.

Jongho sighs, "I just don't know what to make of it....I know what I saw...but it was just unbelievable."

"Your cousin, Choi San, did he ever tell you about making a deal to get something?" Chan asks, "Did he suddenly gain something that he hadn't before?"

Jongho shakes his head, "Not that I know of..."

"What about losing someone? Has he ever lost someone and then the next thing you know they're back as if nothing happened?" Felix asks.

"Um...no," Jongho says, his brows furrowing at the rather weird questions. Chan sighs and nods his head. He flashes Jongho a small smile, "Thank you for answering our questions. We'll do our best to help the rangers and the local police locate this animal and ensure that no one else gets hurt." The young man nods his head and the two hunters walk away. They make their way away from the scene of the attack and towards their car. "So, maybe it wasn't a demon deal," Felix says.

"I don't know," Chan says, "I mean...hellhounds don't just attack."

"They did when Wonpil was here," Felix says.

"That was a different situation," Chan says.

Felix shrugs, "Maybe, it happened again."

"Changbin wouldn't let an incident like that repeat," Chan says, "Trust me."

Felix sighs, "I don't know, Chris. Jongho doesn't seem to recall any deal being made. Maybe, San didn't even make one. He was young. If you do the math, it would mean he did the deal when he was eleven."

"Just cause Jongho doesn't remember a deal being made doesn't mean one wasn't," Chan says. The two slip underneath the yellow caution tapes and make their way down a path with trees on both sides. "Choi Jongho doesn't recall the deal being made because it had to do with him," A voice says. A figure garbed in all black steps out from behind a tree. His hair is pitch black and parted to the side. He has a serious look on his face, but appears relaxed as his hands are stuck in his pockets. Felix reaches for his gun within his pocket, but stops when his cousin walks closer to the young man. "Changbin," Chan says as he lifts his arms up to hug the person in front of him, "I haven't seen you in so long."

"Hi, Chan," Changbin says with a soft smile. He pats the hunter on the back and Felix's eyes narrow. "This is Changbin? The demon?" Felix questions.

Chan nods and gestures to his freckled cousin, "This is Seo Changbin. Changbin, this is my cousin, Felix."

"Nice to meet you," Changbin says with a curt nod of his head.

Felix scowls, "You really are friends with a demon." The freckled hunter starts to grumble under his breath about how demons are the darkest and most evil of all creatures. Changbin watches him with intrigue and shakes his head. "He has that monster bias, doesn't he?" Changbin asks as he looks over at Chan.

The blonde nods, "Sorry, Jisungie was changing his mind, but demons are...um..."

"A whole other story?" Changbin questions.

"Yeah," Chan states, "Hey, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Oh, work," Changbin says, "Had to send a hellhound after Choi San. I wanted to do it personally cause he made the deal with me."

"Since when do you strike deals?" Chan questions.

Changbin sighs, "Since I got extremely drunk and took pity on two boys."

"What happened ten years ago?" Chan asks.

Changbin sighs, "They were biking around and they both decided to race down a hill. San made it. Jongho didn't. He fell off his bike and cracked his head on a rock. I came over to San and offered to save his cousin. You know how the rest of it goes..."

"Wow," Chan says, "I guess investigating all of this wasn't necessary. San made a deal after all."

Changbin nods, "What about you? You came all the way here to just check up on a case that was definitely just a hellhound going after someone whose time was up."

"Eh, not exactly," Chan says, "My cousin and I are on a bit of a journey."

"In Korea?" Changbin questions.

"We even went through all that trouble of searching for a rabbit head for nothing," Felix mutters under his breath. Changbin's eyebrows raise in surprise and he looks over to his friend. "You were trying to summon me?" Changbin questions, "Why?"

"Part of the journey," Chan says, "I don't know if you heard, but Wonpil hyung is dead. In his will, he gave me his journal. My cousin and I are retracing his steps in hopes of finding exactly what hyung was doing that led to his death."

Changbin nods in understanding, "And you were summoning me cause I met up with Wonpil here for a hunt."

"Exactly," Chan says.

"You know you could've just called me," Changbin says, "I would have answered. You didn't need to go through all that work of trying to summon me."

"Right," Chan says with a chuckle, "It totally flew my mind to just give you a call."

"You have a phone?" Felix questions.

"Of course, I have a phone," Changbin states, "Just cause I'm a demon doesn't mean that I am out of touch with the world."

Felix shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest, "I don't like you."

"Okay," Changbin says, "Anyway, you want to know more about what happened that time I met up with Wonpil...let's go somewhere we can talk in private."

"We can go back to the motel room," Chan says.

"Great," Changbin says, lifting his hand up, "I can teleport us there."

"Wait!" Felix exclaims, "What about the car?"

"I can bring it," Changbin says, "Don't worry."

"Don't worry!" Felix exclaims, "I'm about to be transported to another place by a freaking demon." Chan sighs and walks over to his cousin. He pats him on the back and offers him a smile. "Don't worry," Chan says, "Changbin has done this many time before. He won't accidentally bring us to hell or something."

"Great," Felix says in a dry tone as Changbin snaps his fingers.

──────●◎●──────

"So, what do you know about what went down during that day?" Changbin asks. The three are sitting inside the hunter's motel room which is decorated with ugly striped wallpaper and a theme that fits that of a middle-aged man. Felix sits on the edge of his bed, glancing occasionally at Changbin almost as if he's waiting for the demon to slip up and try to kill them both. Chan sits on a swivel chair besides the small desk where they have Wonpil's journal and a bunch of other books. The blonde fumbles with the corner of his old friend's journal almost as if it's some nervous tick. His anxiety stemmed from the last time he found out about Wonpil's escapades with Han Jisung. Changbin is the only one that appears calm. He leans against the countertop of the mini kitchen area with his arms crossed over his chest. "Wonpil heard a report about frequent animal attacks here and came to check it out. He found out that it was a hellhound behind it and that it had escaped from hell," Chan answers, "He teamed up with you to capture it alive and bring it back home, but when you had him he was being out of hand and Wonpil had no choice but to kill him."

Changbin slowly nods his head and sighs, "That's basically what happened."

"That's good," Felix says, glancing over at his cousin. Chan looks back at him, knowing exactly what the freckled hunter is alluding to. There's a witness this time. Someone who knows for a fact that Wonpil was here and can give a first-hand account of what happened here tonight. "I guess," Changbin says.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Chan questions.

Changbin shrugs, "I don't know. I've been thinking about what happened that day for a while. It was weird."

"Weird? How?" Chan asks.

Changbin sighs, "The hellhound that got loose was one of the calmer ones. The only reason he was killing humans was cause he was scared and it was the only thing he knew how to do. Wonpil knew this yet he still killed him."

"Wonpil said that he didn't have a choice," Felix states.

"I know. He said the same thing to me," Changbin murmurs, "But, he ran ahead of me in the woods where we had tracked the hound down to. I didn't actually get to see he was being as fussy as Wonpil said. I know the hellhounds. I take care of them and that dog has never been one to bite back. He had to have smelled me off of Wonpil and would've known to stand down."

"Well, he clearly didn't," Chan states, not liking where Changbin is going with this. The demon was supposed to just confirm that Wonpil was telling the truth and that's it. Nothing more, nothing less. Changbin shakes his head, "Wonpil was acting different, Chan. I'm only telling you this cause you wanted to find out what he was up to here and I don't want to leave anything out."

"Tell me," Chan huffs, knowing that even if he doesn't like it. He will have to find out what happened here in its entirety. He already missed out on what went down in Anyang, but he won't go through the same thing in this town. "When I found him in the woods over my hellhound's dead body, he was covered in blood," Changbin says, "And I mean covered. His hair soaked, his clothes drenched. There wasn't a spot free of blood. There's no way that he could've gotten that much blood on him unless he butchered my hellhound. If he was acting up, one stab would've done the trick. How do you explain the multiple stab wounds along his body!?"

"I'm sure the mutt deserved it," Felix mutters. Changbin scowls and shakes his head. He looks over to Chan, who has a conflicted look of his own on his face. "Was it really that bad?" Chan asks.

Changbin nods, "I saw it with my own eyes."

"Well, maybe, you saw wrong," Felix states.

Changbin frowns, "If this has something to do with the fact that I'm a demon-,"

"It isn't. Surprisingly," Felix says, "You went after the hellhound at night and you clearly care for the dog. Maybe, you just imagined what you saw. Maybe, you were just being too emotional." He eyes Chan, who takes in his words and starts to appear a bit brighter. Changbin sighs, "Whatever, but that still doesn't explain his endless questions."

"What questions?" Chan asks.

"About hell," Changbin says, "He kept asking about how to get in and if there was a way to close the doors to it. He wanted to know what would happen to the souls and the demons if they were stuck inside. I told him as it is. The locations of the doorways should remain a secret. As far as I know, there's no way of closing the door and it should stay that way. There's a balance to life and there needs to be hell for heaven to exist. There would be disaster if hell would be to be shut. Evil souls would be running rampant on Earth, but that's beside the point. He kept saying that those types of things won't matter soon and how he's found a way to close hell."

"Impressive," Felix says.

Changbin scoffs, "I'm sure it is for you, but not for someone like me. A literal demon."

"I think you're taking it the wrong way," Chan says, "I'm sure that Wonpil wasn't trying to offend you and was just trying to make talk."

Changbin chuckles, "That was not talk. What you and I are doing is making talk. Heck, what Felix and I are doing is talk, but not what Wonpil was saying to me. You don't go around talking about shutting down hell or entering hell for laughs."

"Then, why did he ask those questions?" Felix asks.

Changbin shrugs, "I don't know. That's for you to find out, isn't it?" Chan opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off by a loud ringing of his phone. The blonde reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He taps at the screen before pressing the phone to his ear. "Hello?" Chan says. He nods his head as the person on the other line speaks. Felix and Changbin watch as Chan's eyes slowly widen in shock. The hunter nods, "We'll be right there. Okay, thanks, bye." He pulls the phone away and ends the call before sticking the device back into his pocket. "Who was it?" Felix asks.

"The cops," Chan says, "There's been another animal attack. An invisible animal attack. And get this...the animal specifically targeted Jongho."

Dun dun dun, this is one of my favorite chapters so far. We're getting deeper into the main story a bit with the introduction of Changbin. What do you think is going on in this town? What happened all those years ago? Let me know in the comments below. While you're at it, I would appreciate it if you could vote, follow me, add this story to your library and check out my other SKZ fanfic, Collision Course. I hope you have a great rest of your day! Bye!