THEY KNOW HER

CHAPTER ONE

The Sound

The first rule was simple.

Don't make a sound.

Hana held her breath.

Something was moving outside.

She crouched behind the counter of the abandoned convenience store, one hand pressed against her mouth, the other wrapped tightly around the metal pipe she'd found near the stockroom.

Scrape.

She froze.

Scrape.

The sound came again.

Slow.

Heavy.

Hana glanced toward the shattered front windows.

The street outside was almost completely dark. Abandoned cars lined the road, some with their doors hanging open. A traffic light flickered weakly in the distance.

No people.

No movement.

Just the sound.

She checked her watch.

2:17 a.m.

“Perfect,” she whispered.

The sound stopped.

Hana immediately regretted speaking.

She lowered herself further behind the counter.

Nothing.

Maybe it had gone.

She waited.

Five seconds.

Ten.

Then—

Tap.

Hana's eyes widened.

The sound had come from inside the store.

She slowly turned her head.

One of the shelves near the back had shifted.

She tightened her grip on the pipe.

“No…”

Another tap.

Then silence.

Hana swallowed.

The back door was only twenty feet away.

If she could reach it, she'd be in the alley.

She'd run until she found somewhere safe.

She'd done it before.

She could do it again.

Hana slowly stood.

One step.

Nothing.

Another.

The floor creaked beneath her shoe.

She stopped.

Her heart pounded.

Silence.

She took another step.

Then—

CRASH.

The front window exploded inward.

Hana flinched.

A dark shape rushed through the broken glass.

She didn't wait to see what it was.

She ran.

Her pipe hit the floor behind her.

She didn't care.

She sprinted toward the back door as something slammed into the shelves.

Metal screamed against metal.

Hana grabbed the door handle.

Locked.

“No, no, no…”

She pulled harder.

Behind her came a horrible clicking sound.

She looked back.

The creature stepped into the aisle.

Hana's blood turned cold.

It was tall.

Too tall.

Its arms hung almost to its knees, its body twisted at strange angles beneath torn skin.

Its head snapped toward her.

Hana stumbled backward.

The creature opened its mouth.

A shriek ripped through the store.

“AH—!”

Hana turned and slammed her shoulder into the door.

Once.

Twice.

The lock cracked.

She hit it again.

The door flew open.

Hana stumbled into the alley.

She ran.

Behind her came another crash.

She didn't look back.

She couldn't.

The alley twisted between two buildings, narrow and littered with broken glass. Hana's shoes slipped on the wet pavement.

She pushed herself faster.

Her lungs burned.

Her legs hurt.

But she kept going.

A loud impact sounded behind her.

It was getting closer.

Hana turned the corner—

—and stopped.

A wall.

Dead end.

Her stomach dropped.

“You've got to be kidding me.”

She spun around.

The creature emerged from the darkness.

Hana backed away.

Her hand went to the knife strapped against her thigh.

The creature moved closer.

One step.

Then another.

Its fingers dragged against the wall as it approached.

Hana pulled the knife free.

“Stay back.”

The creature didn't stop.

“I'm warning you.”

It lunged.

Hana raised the knife—

BANG!

The creature jerked violently.

A dark hole appeared in its shoulder.

It stumbled sideways.

Hana froze.

BANG!

The second shot struck its head.

The creature collapsed at her feet.

For several seconds, Hana couldn't move.

She stared at the body.

Then slowly looked toward the entrance of the alley.

A man stood there.

Tall.

Black jacket.

A gun in his hand.

He didn't look at Hana.

His eyes remained on the creature.

He waited.

Watching.

Making sure it wouldn't move again.

Only then did he lower the gun.

Hana's breathing was still uneven.

“Who are you?”

The man finally looked at her.

His face was calm.

Almost expressionless.

“Are you hurt?”

Hana blinked.

“No.”

He looked down at her ankle.

“You're bleeding.”

She glanced down.

A thin line of blood ran from a cut near her knee.

“That's nothing.”

He didn't respond.

Instead, he looked toward the street.

Hana followed his gaze.

Nothing.

Just darkness.

“Was that thing alone?”

“No.”

Her stomach dropped.

“What?”

He looked at her.

“There are more.”

As if summoned by his words, a distant shriek echoed through the city.

Then another.

Hana tightened her grip on the knife.

“How many?”

“I don't know.”

“You don't know?”

“No.”

He started walking toward her.

Hana instinctively stepped back.

“Don't.”

He stopped.

For the first time, something flickered across his expression.

Not anger.

Something closer to impatience.

“Then stay here.”

He turned.

Hana stared at his back.

“You're just leaving me?”

He kept walking.

Another shriek sounded somewhere behind the buildings.

Hana looked toward the alley entrance.

Then at the dead creature.

Then back at the stranger.

“Wait!”

He stopped.

Hana hurried after him.

“I'm coming with you.”

“I didn't say you could.”

“I didn't ask.”

He looked at her.

She looked back.

Neither spoke.

Finally, he turned and continued walking.

Hana followed.

After a few steps, she asked,

“What's your name?”

A pause.

“Han Tae-jun.”

“Hana.”

“I know.”

She stopped walking.

He didn't.

Hana hurried after him.

“What?”

Tae-jun didn't look back.

“Nothing.”

Hana frowned.

She was certain she'd heard him correctly.

But before she could ask again, another sound rolled through the darkness.

Not a shriek this time.

A low, distant clicking.

Tae-jun stopped.

His shoulders stiffened.

Hana looked around.

“What is it?”

He stared toward the darkness ahead.

“Keep walking.”

“Why?”

His eyes remained fixed on the empty street.

“Because standing still gets people killed.”

Hana swallowed.

She followed him.

Neither of them noticed the creature lying several streets away.

It had stopped moving.

But its head had turned.

Not toward the nearest human.

Not toward the sound of Tae-jun's footsteps.

Toward something else.

Something farther away.

Something only it could sense.

And then it began to move again.