Purple Scent

Ch. 4: Possibility

I had Yul pinned in a corner with one hand on one side of his head and covered his mouth with the other. We just squatted there in awkwardness. It was quite awkward, but I shrugged that off; there's no time for that.

Few heavy steps were heard from outside, which told me to be more alert and prepared for whatever things to happen.

They're nocturnal, why are they awake at this time? As far as I knew, Violet Harpies were sensitive to the sunlight, the best time for them to wander was during sunset, when the sun’s in the midst of hiding on the horizon.

I heard another set of stomps, this time, I know it's towards the stall. I bit my lip and let go of Yul, who’s just watching me. I just needed him to be still; it’s already helpful for me. I carefully took my cross bow, loading a crossbow bolt. I couldn't see what's behind me because I was just facing Yul, so I placed my index finger against my lips with a soft hush, told Yul to keep silent. He just nodded while carrying the bag full of clothes we collected.

"Let's switch.", I whispered quietly, and he just nodded again and we slowly switched our positions so I could see if the Violet Harpy is coming towards us. But, being a clumsy fairy, Yul stepped on a broken hanger laid on the floor that made him slip.

I pulled him towards me and pulled a blanket over us. It was the same position we had earlier. I covered his mouth again with one hand and my right hand was holding tightly at the crossbow, ready to shoot at any chance given. I rolled my eyes at him.

The cloying smell of Violet Harpies lingered through my nostrils, it had me gagging a bit. I looked at Yul who had closed his eyes still. We tried not to move a single inch, more like, I was preventing him to move.

Then I heard a flapping sound, and as soon as the sound was gone, so as the annoying smell. It might’ve ran away and flew away. I removed my hand away from his face and removed the blanket over us, the grip of my hand hadn’t left the handle of the crossbow.

The Violet Harpy that was covered with blanket was gone, too. The other harpy must've took the other one. "I thought they were nocturnal?", Yul asked before he continued to randomly take some clothes and stuffed into the bag.

I dropped my hand still holding onto the crossbow, while the other were busy collecting random clothes from everywhere.

"Yeah, that's true.", I said and stood up, helping him put the miscellaneous clothes on another bag.

"What does that mean, then? Why are they wandering at this hour?", he asked, his eyebrows creased with confusion and bewilderment.

It’s few years that passed, they must’ve evolved? Or they became immune to the sunlight. Either way, I still don’t know. I must’ve missed something.

I shrugged with a sigh, "I would've told you if I know. I'm curious, too."

---

"We got a lot of things, which was great. It's an advantage to have a lot of people to gather a lot of things. This will last us for quite long days.", I said as I sat on a small bed I own, where Doyun had been sleeping on ever since we came. "This kid is still sleeping.", I pointed at Doyun, the other boys walked around the basement as if there was an exhibition going on.

Although they were a bunch, there was still enough space left. All those time, I was alone in this big and wide fallout shelter.

I took a look at the sleeping log, Doyun. He was curled, resting his head on his arm toppled on the other. He looked like an innocent kid while sleeping, slightly snoring and gritting his teeth. He suddenly stopped gritting teeth and heaved a deep breath.

I was startled when he spoke, "It's rude to stare at someone, especially if they are sleeping.", he suddenly smiled and opened one of his eyes looking up at me.

My hand made its way towards his arm to hit him, "That scared me!", I yelled at him. He chuckled and rubbed his eyes with his knuckle. I was surprised when he suddenly spoke. I thought he was having a nightmare or something. He soon sat up and stretched his arms with a grunt.

I ignored him and stood up. "I'm going to take a quick shower. Be alert all the time.", I reminded them as I watch them laid on the. Well, they looked tired.

I took my clothes and a towel from my drawer and walked towards the bathroom. I locked the door before turning the shower knob, the cold water touched my bare skin, which made me jolt a bit. Fortunately, there's still clean water to use, even after the outbreak. But as time had gone by, the water that comes out of the shower head became less than how much it usually release two years ago.

I let the water flow through me from the shower head, the thought of the Violet Harpies roaming at a broad daylight bugged, intrigued and worried me at the same time. There's something that I still don't know about them.

While I pondered, I let the water wash through me, as if it would help me a bit to think.

After a few minutes, someone knocked on the wooden bathroom door, "Babe, what's taking you so long? Should I join you?", Yul said rather teasingly. Laughter from outside were heard after his stupid and quite annoying remark. I rolled my eyes, my focus had lost its track out of me.

"Just wait until I finish here, Yul. I'll kill you after!", I yelled and rolled my eyes once more, ever so harshly. Just when I finished taking a shower and got dressed, I opened the door. Right after I stepped out of the door, Yul ran as fast as he could as if his life relied on how fast he could escape. He better escape before I could kill him. I ran and took my crossbow from where I last left it and shot a crossbow bolt at him without hesitation. The others were watching me, entertained at whatever was happening.

"Woah!", he exclaimed and shrieked when the arrow had struck through on the wall few inches near his back, the others watching and gasped. Heeshik was laughing, his guard down. I’ll do the same to anyone if ever they decided to annoy me, no exception.

"Next time, I won't miss.", I glared at him with my sharp warning. He looked paler than his normal complexion, staring at the crossbow bolt.

I sat on my bed as Doyun was still lying there, watching me absentmindedly. That sounds creepy, though. But I admit, he looked like a kid who just woke up, few clusters of his hair stuck everywhere.

He smiled at me, which made me raise an eyebrow. "This kid is a lazy lad.", I concluded, putting my crossbow on my lap to clean it.

"Anyways, Yul and I saw a Violet Harpy roaming around outside when we're at the city proper earlier.", I muttered and glanced at their confused faces. I added, "It’s actually two. The other one was covered with a blanket inside a stall where we took the clothes. It was gone soon after; I presumed it was taken by the other one."

I looked at the other guys busy playing along with Coco as they listened to what I said, while the furball was cutely barking at them while wagging his tail playfully.

“I thought they were nocturnal? You said ‘they should be’.”, Doyun interrupted, quoting his fingers in the air.

“I know. That’s what I believed and thought based on their behaviors and pattern of time when they appear. They show up every after sunset, when there’s only faint sunlight. They also appeared to be sensitive to sunlight, because I saw them react to it.” I explained and added, “But after seeing that, I don’t know anymore.” I said while I wipe my hair carelessly with the towel.

"Wait, so there's a high chance that they could roam on a broad daylight?", Soljun asked. I looked at him and thought for a second.

"I still don't know. But we should be careful starting today. That one incident is a heads up; a red flag. If you saw one, don't hesitate to kill it.", they just nodded. I added, "Because if you hesitate, they'll never do the same. They'll kill you without hesitation.", I warned them as I aim my crossbow on an empty bottle above the water dispenser far on the corner of the basement.

I shot and didn't miss.