Jonathan kept up his striking posture, withstanding the painful licks of the hungering flame as it ate up the unholy creature in a manner of seconds. He kept grinning at the beast as it howled, shrieked in pain all the way until there was nothing left but a large pile of gray ash.
"I told you that you will lose your chance, but you just didn't listen." He muttered, straightening his pose and flicking his left wrist. As the blade snapped back to its position, he kept looking at it.
His eyes carried much more appreciation than before as he inspected the metallic bracelet. This little gadget did actually save his life this time after all.
"At least there was one thing amongst that bastard's inventory that wasn't a complete waste of my time and money. This thing is actually pretty incredible!"
Turning his attention towards his flailing right arm, he could only sigh. Using that flashy attack was ultimately a mistake as it failed to hurt the target he wanted to, and not mentioning the drowsiness he felt now as his energy reserves were tanked, it also caused him to lose half of his firepower in the process as well.
"Well… I should have 2 or maybe 3 more shots… or an additional three if I swap these bracelets…" He mumbled, taking hold and looking at his left wrist again. "Let's hope it will be enough, I really don't want to turn back now."
With a sigh, he turned towards the looming darkness ahead and resumed his steps. His earlier eagerness was now tanked, he had a weary look after spending a huge chunk of his own internal energy.
Seeing that he failed to cause any substantial damage on these stronger versions, his confidence lowered quite a bit. Still, he couldn't turn back, he needed to push forward and hope that he would find some clues that would help him continue his investigation in finding his missing daughter.
Stepping over the piles of ash, Jonathan reached to his breast pocket, giving a gentle rub to the black and white picture of the teenage-looking, smiling girl. He heaved a heavy sigh, filled with sorrow and pain, as he reached ever-so closer to the central region, where the supposed nest of these beasts were expected to be.
As he kept his alertness up, his thoughts raced back to approximately one month ago, just before when he boarded the first available plane, rushed to the states, and stepped foot in this land for the first time in his life.
He came to the states for an emergency, he came to find his daughter who went missing!
He was alone, sitting in his office, working on a case, compiling the evidence against a homewrecker husband, so that his client, the wife, could file for divorce and claim his wealth.
Working as a Private Investigator was mostly about doing jobs like this, with the occasional company espionage mixed in. Despite this, Jonathan Kane didn't mind this line of work. Being retired from society, he enjoyed this easy, normal, mortal style of life. No demons or other, ungodly, horrific monstrosities to hunt in the name of 'God', no risks to his life. He could enjoy his remaining years with his daughter, Amelia.
They were both happy and enjoyed their lives in happiness.
Like before this upcoming summer was also planning to be the same as before. Amelia planned to travel to the US to spend her vacation with her mother Clarice. He and Clarice have divorced a couple of years ago, partly due to her accepting an offer to work overseas as a research scientist to a well-known firm, and also due to the fact that flame was just simply no longer there between them.
Maybe due to his special line of work that he always had to keep hidden from his family, or maybe for some other reasons, the flames of passion and love that flickered vehemently for over two decades, has slowly died down, at least from her side, and turned cold. Slowly, they grew distant, and whilst his feelings never truly changed, his outlook did.
Over the course of the years, they turned from lovers into nothing more than strangers playing house and forced to keep living together just so that their little princess wouldn't suffer.
However, once she turned 15, they decided that she was old enough now and finally separated. The opportunity that Clarice received was a heaven-sent gift, she used that chance to calmly and peacefully divorce. Although she really wanted to, she understood that it wouldn't be wise to force Amelia to leave behind his friends and current life and go live with them. She left and traveled back to her homeland.
In the end, they agreed that Amelia will stay for the school year in London for the time being, and spend her summers with her overseas. Although not the easiest of setup, to either of the three parties, they ultimately all accepted it and agreed to it.
The following two years were spent this way, without any significant issues. In the meantime, Clarice found new love and re-married, while Jonathan stayed alone. He retired from his original 'profession', and said his farewells to the church, turning his previously fake front, the PI business, into his real job.
Anyway, the school year finished for the fourth and last time. The graduating girl, Amelia was eager to travel to her mother for the summer and also look around for options in terms of her upcoming university life.
There was a faint feeling, a premonition lingering in his heart, Jonathan felt that something tragic would transpire. He tried talking to Amelia and to Clarice as well, only to be told to keep his grumpiness to himself. He was told off, he had no right to intervene in how she would spend her summer vacation.
In the end, he could do nothing, his daughter was in the height of her rebellious phase, blaming him for everything that happened, and was eager to finally leave him behind and spend the upcoming months with her mother in the land of dreams. She also hid the fact that this time she wouldn't be visiting alone, but with her friends, and that their true goal wasn't just to look around the universities but to also enjoy life for once.
Eventually, she boarded the plane, despite her father's warnings, and left without even saying goodbye.
Jonathan sighed but could do nothing but return to his work and hope that everything would be alright.
Unfortunately, just as he dreaded, the moment he feared had come. During the night, his phone rang, and on the other side the desperate voice of her ex-wife, Clarice could be heard.
Her voice was faltering, she was tired and spent, probably cried through the day or maybe even more. She spoke all around, not making any sense at first, not until Jonathan asked clearly.
"Does something terrible happened to Amelia? Did what I warned you both had come true?"
She couldn't answer, she didn't have the power. After almost a minute of silent sobbing, she ended the call by asking him to come as soon as possible.
The very next day, Jonathan's plane landed, using his old connections he arrived with the first available flight without issue. Taking a car from the airport's car rental he swiftly arrived at her ex's new home.
It turned out that Clarice, whilst wasn't completely in the know, wasn't clueless of him either. She was aware that his PI agency was just a fake and that he was doing some other type of work. After all, she was aware of his eventful past, his years of service in the Special Forces before his sudden discharge.
She could never find out what happened, no matter how hard she looked into it. His files were still to this day, top-secret after all.
Still, she was aware that despite what they went through, he was probably the only person that could get to the bottom of this tragic disaster and find their missing daughter.
—
Strange clicking sounds pulled Jonathan back from his memories, bringing him back to reality. Shaking his head to clear the clouding thoughts and memories, Jonathan halted his steps and looked ahead, towards the direction where the sound was coming from.
He listened for brief moments, trying to make out more from what he could listen to. A moment later, the previous smirk re-emerged on his face, as a look of relief replaced the previously tired expression.
His adrenaline steadily rose, his eagerness slowly started to return, as he clenched his left hand expectantly.
"Finally… Their nest…" He muttered. "From what I can hear, there's something different there… This sound… It's definitely not a Garkain."
With slow-paced, careful steps, making sure he wasn't making any unnecessary noise, Jonathan slowly sneaked closer to the end of the corridor. Slowly, using a hand mirror he peeked through the corner, only to almost drop it in mere shock and surprise!
What he saw, made him turn confused… It made no sense!