Sally kept Jenny steady as they moved down the hallway. Jenny leaned most of her weight on Sally's shoulder.
"Sorry," Jenny mumbled. "Shouldn't have had that last one."
"It's okay," Sally said. "The bathroom's just down here."
They found it near the dining area. Sally got Jenny to the sink and held her hair back while she splashed water on her face.
Jenny groaned at her own reflection. "I'm a mess."
"You're fine. Take your time."
Warren was already in the hallway when Sally stepped out to wait. He stood against the wall opposite the door with his arms crossed.
Jenny was taking longer than expected. Sally knocked lightly. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Just give me a minute."
Warren stayed still and watched the corridor. Then a guy came around the corner, moving unsteadily, heading straight toward the women's restroom. He had bright blue hair, spiky and wild, and his eyes had a loose, unfocused quality that made Warren go rigid.
Warren stepped into his path. "Wrong bathroom. Keep moving."
The guy stopped and smiled. It didn't reach his eyes. "I was just looking for the bathroom."
"Men's room is back the way you came," Warren said.
The guy tilted his head. He didn't move. His eyes tracked slowly down Warren's arms and came back up. "You've been in fights," he said. It wasn't a question.
Warren said nothing.
The guy took one step closer. "I can tell by the way you stand." He exhaled slowly through his nose. "And the smell. People who fight a lot smell different."
Warren pushed off the wall and squared up. "Walk away."
The guy looked at the bathroom door. Then back at Warren. Something behind his eyes shifted. His fingers curled.
Warren crossed his arms to guard.
The guy's hand shot forward and raked across Warren's forearm. The claws tore through skin and Warren hissed as blood welled up immediately.
No time to think. The guy was already moving for another pass.
Warren ducked under the swipe and drove his fist into the guy's stomach. The guy wheezed but barely moved. Then he looked down at Warren's bleeding arm and his smile stretched wider.
"It's flowing!" he rasped. "There's so much blood flowing!"
Warren feinted left and drove his knee up hard. The guy twisted and took it on the thigh instead of the groin, then lashed out with both hands, claws going for Warren's face. Warren snapped his head back. The tips grazed his cheek. He brought his elbow down hard on the guy's extended wrist. The guy yelped and yanked his arm free.
Blood dripped from Warren's forearm onto the floor. Warren looked at the guy and thought, he's like Eli.
"Let's spill it all out!" the guy shouted, rushing forward, slashing in wide arcs. Warren twisted and weaved through most of it but the guy's arms kept moving like he had no intention of stopping. Warren caught him with an overhand right that smashed him into the floor.
Warren stood over him. "I've fought people who fight like beasts before."
The guy flipped upright and snapped a kick into Warren's jaw, sending him stumbling back. He laughed. "I want to meet them! I wonder what their blood smells like!"
The lights flickered. Warren was gone from where he'd been standing. The guy spun around, searching.
Warren's punch came from nowhere and hit him straight in the face. The guy crossed his arms to block but the force drove him hard into the wall. Cracks split out from the point of impact.
The guy looked at his own shaking arms. "How did I not avoid that?" he muttered.
Warren walked toward him. "I don't know who you are or why you're here. But until I find the person I'm looking for, I won't lose. I can't."
The guy rose slowly. "You're a beast."
Warren's eyes went cold. "You're the one acting like a beast."
The guy's face twisted. "I am a HUMAN!"
He lunged, claws leading. Warren leaned back and the tips missed his face by nothing. The guy kept slashing. Warren raised his arms to cover up. His sleeves shredded. Blood sprayed from cuts opening across his hands, chest, face, and thighs. He kept backing up, taking the damage, waiting.
Then he grabbed both of the guy's wrists and forced him down to his knees. The guy hit the floor involuntarily.
Warren drove his knee into the guy's face. "Why have you been talking nonsense this whole time?!"
The guy's head rocked back. He spit blood and spoke slowly. "Beasts feel fear and hunger because of blood. That's survival. But humans are different. They feel emotions because of blood. Inspiration. Desire. Only humans are beings that want blood. Blood is what separates us from animals."
He pushed back to his feet. Warren couldn't stop him from rising no matter how hard he pushed.
Warren let go and hit him square in the face. The guy skidded backward across the floor.
He laughed. "That's it! MORE! MORE! LET'S SPILL SOME MORE BLOOD!"
He launched himself at Warren. Warren's arms were already torn up. He raised them anyway. The guy bit down and tore flesh with his teeth. Warren felt the chunk come away and his jaw tightened.
The guy clawed at full speed. Warren dodged most of it, catching only grazes, but his body was adding up damage fast. He thought, does this guy get stronger the more blood he sees?
Warren found the opening. He put everything into one punch to the stomach. The guy folded forward.
Warren spoke through his teeth. "What is it that makes you so obsessed with being human?"
The guy straightened up, grinning through the blood on his face. "Humans put names on everything. I threw mine away. I just want to be called Human. I just want to keep living as one."
He locked both fists together and brought them down like a hammer.
Warren's punch caught him in the jaw first.
The guy laughed. "It's no use! The more blood that comes out, the stronger I—"
Another punch to the jaw cut him off. He stared at Warren with something close to disbelief. "Stronger I become..."
Warren didn't stop. He kept going, punch after punch, until the guy had nowhere left to go.
"Live as a human? Fine. Do that." Warren's voice was tight and hard. "But you don't get to mess with me. People in Gangdong know my name. I am Gandong's Mighty Warren Chae."
He put the last punch into the guy's face with his full weight behind it. The floor cracked on impact and the guy went down into it, still.
He twitched once. Then stopped moving.
Warren stood over him, blood running down both arms and dripping from his hands onto the cracked floor.
Sally stood in the hallway, completely still, staring.
Jenny's voice came through the bathroom door, muffled and confused. "Sally? What's happening out there?"