The blood moon hung above the sky of San Vicente, painting the clouds in red. The trees swayed by a strong gale, rocking to and fro like it was dancing in praise. A flock of bats flew around, their silent squeaking added a sense of dread to its surroundings.
After the long walk, Sao and Anton arrived outside Joey's house. They knocked on the door calling Joey and Lorian's names. Silence, not a single sound echoed. Anton banged the door harder intending to wreck it, yet no reaction whatsoever.
Sao furrowed his brows, his jovial self became serious. He pushed Anton aside, raised his foot, and stomped on the door, breaking it into pieces. They went inside checking the rooms, every corner, and the kitchen, but alas, the house was empty.
'What is he doing? He should be investigating Joey. Where is he?' Sao thought while trying to call him with his cellphone, but it was not connecting.
He turned to Anton, "Do you know where Joey's supposed to be right now?" Sao asked.
"I think I know where he is. He is quite close to an old lady called Hope. He might-." Before Anton could finish his answer, his jaw tightened.
A loud cry rang followed by the sound of massive wings flapping. It was deafening at first, but as time went on it became softer, like it was passing by. Anton was delirious when he heard the cry, then sighed in relief after it got quiet. Whatever it was, it was getting farther now. That horrifying cry sent shivers down his spine, his balls shrunk hearing the same cry he heard at the time of his wife's murder.
Anton's sweating head mechanically turned to look at Sao and grinned to hide his anxiety. However, Sao didn't have any ounce of relief painted on his face. His eyes looked around every corner of Joey's house. Pulling his bag in front of him, and checking its contents inside.
"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Anton asked in an uneasy tone.
"Sssh!" Sao hushed Anton.
Sao pulled a knife made of bronze and a dried tail of a stingray from his bag. On his chest, a bottle of enchanted oil started bubbling, getting warmer and warmer until it was scalding hot. All his hair stood up, but he forcefully shook it off while preparing his stance.
"Skreeeeeeeeeeek!"
A shadowy figure shrieked, blasting the walls of Joey's house. Its sharp nails were targeting Anton's eyes. Sao reacted rapidly, as he swung the stingray's tail, whipping it to the shadowy figure's body.
Upon contact with its body, the figure retreated, grabbing the burning gash on its arm. The clouds parted above, and the moon's bloody red light shone under the figure, revealing the same woman who stalked at them.
She stood there, catching her breath while her burning arm healed little by little. "How unfortunate." Sao complained.
Based on the reports, Ann speculated that the murder did by a ghoul variant of either the Bat ghoul or the Immortal ghoul. This woman who attacked them and her healing wounds like it was nothing, means that it was the latter.
Immortal ghouls, albeit, hurt by conventional means, will never kill them. They are as strong as Bat ghouls, plus with their crazy healing capabilities made them listed as a C+-tier threat.
Covering Anton, Sao stood in between them, taking his stance. The woman screamed at Sao, revealing her razor-sharp teeth. "Don't interfere boy. I'm here for this degenerate person." she hissed.
"Forgive me, but you are my target. I have the right to interfere." Sao replied.
The woman grabbed Joey's wooden table, lifted it, and threw it toward Sao and Anton. Rice and spices flew across the kitchen along with the table. Sao reacted by ducking flat below the ground. But Anton was too late to move, the heavy table flew in front blasting him to the wall.
Sao ignored what happened to Anton, as he rushed to the woman slashing her with the bronze knife. The woman looked at the knife, terrified and trying her best to dodge it. When her attention fully focused on the knife's swings, Sao whipped her again with the stingray's tail.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" the woman screamed, as her chest sizzled.
Sao pushed his knife straight into the woman's chest, who is agonizing in pain. Her eyes glinted, and as she was grabbing her chest, she spun and avoided Sao's stab. The woman kicked Sao's stomach, sending him flying. Anton, who just recovered from the pain, saw Sao flying towards him, and they both sandwiched to the wall.
Not missing the opportunity, the woman dashed and brandished her claws. Sao leaned his body, and as the woman got closer, he picked a whole piece of garlic on the floor, crushed it, and threw it to the woman. As the garlic flew, the rushing woman retreated, her face utterly disgusted by the garlic's smell. She hissed menacingly to Sao.
"Hey, -cough- have some respect. -cough, cough- Garlic is good for the heart." Sao said as he stood up patting the dust off his pants and aloha shirt. "Also, you don't dirt a tourist's clothes without their permission."
"Why are you protecting that monster?" The woman asked.
After checking if any dust was on his clothes, he looked back at the woman "Monster? Have you been looking in the mirror lately? I think you needed that." Sao mocked.
"Anyways, just die already." Sao again positioned himself, preparing to clash with this monster.
.
.
.
While Sao was busy fighting off the Immortal Ghoul. Lorian and Joey were walking in circles, unknown where they were. They went deeper into the banana trees, but still not a single trace of Hope.
"Oh no, there is no network here. How can I inform Sao that I'm going to be late." Lorian groaned.
"Grandma, grandma Hope, it's me, Joey." Joey kept on shouting but to no avail.
Joey stopped in his tracks, lowering his head as tears started streaming down his eyes. He went silent, quietly overthinking what could have happened to grandma Hope. Like they were unable to endure the depressing atmosphere, the crickets cried and the owls hooted, breaking the gloomy mood.
Lorian on the other hand didn't notice Joey breaking down. His attention focused on a warm feeling on his chest. He pulled a necklace hidden behind his shirt, and just like Sao's, it was also mildly bubbling. Recalling this enchanted oil's uses, Lorian swallowed his saliva.
"Give me the flashlight Joey and follow my lead." Although his knees were weak and shaking, Lorian stood straight as he led the way.
Using the enchanted oil, Lorian grabbed its bottle while waving his hands around. Wherever he pointed and the bottle started heating up, that's where he would go. They kept on walking slowly, if Lorian's guess was right, then he could find the clue to Hope's disappearance there.
Lorian stopped in his tracks, whatever it is, it is nearby. The bottle started to bubble intensely, its temperature getting hotter but still bearable. He illuminated the area using his flashlight, however, nothing special or eye-catching on sight. Batches of banana trees and a termite mound covered in dried banana leaves, but the enchanted oil says otherwise.
Lorian once again waved the bottle around, its temperature getting more intense than ever. When he directed it to the mound, the temperature went up a notch. He walked towards it and when he arrived in front of it, the bottle's heat spiked, surprising Lorian. The bottle fell to the ground and Lorian's hand had the bottle's shape imprinted on it.
The unassuming termite mound might not be one after all. Lorian grabbed the dried leaves and cleared them off the 'mound'. What they saw was the lower half of a human's body instead of a termite mound. This lower half's insides were pulsating like a beating heart, indicating that it was alive.
"Argh!" Joey screamed. "Gra-grandma's, Tha-that is grandma's clothes! Aaaargh!"