Hunter had left his apartment with two intentions in mind. First, to meet Naomi and discuss their next mission. Second, to search Mia's house for clues. He had been stalling it for a few days, unwilling to step inside the place that would remind him of his good friend.
Eventually, his desire to find Mia overpowered his weakness, forcing him to make his way to the house he had only visited once before she went missing.
Hunter looked at the independent house before him and pursed his lips, recalling the small party they had in there to celebrate Mia's achievement. Although it was just him and Ryan who had celebrated with her, Mia had been the happiest that day.
Hunter frowned in dismay when he stared at the locked door. He did not have a key, making it impossible to enter without breaking in.
Mia had newly bought the house and had yet to arrange her place and sort out her belongings before she went missing. Only Ryan had a spare key and asking him for it was the last thing he had in mind.
And getting a search warrant was next to impossible. Moreover, the police had already done their job once in Ryan's presence when they had filed Mia's missing complaint. And it had ended up in failure. They found nothing substantial.
'Huey, is there any way I can get inside the house? I really need your help this time. Please.' Hunter begged, surprising her with his tone. He had never sounded so desolate before.
'You may ask for any compensation from me. Just help me get inside the house.'
'Fine.' Huey relented. 'I will see what I can do.' Hunter's plead had melted her resolve. So, she agreed to help him immediately.
Hunter waited for her patiently while he tried to find ways of entering the place without her help. However, the house was completely locked, including all the windows. It was impossible for him to enter without breaking in.
Hunter dawdled around the area, not knowing what else to do. To any curious eyes, he resembled nothing less than a trespasser or even a burglar. And to his fortune, not many people were out on the streets at that time of day, making it easy for him to carry out his task.
'Hunter.' After a long time, he heard Huey's voice and he stiffened in his place. 'Check if the house has a pin lock or a door lock.'
Hunter climbed the steps that led to the patio and looked behind, his mind and body alert and prepared to run in case of any threat. The coast was still clear and he relaxed as he inspected the lock.
'It has a door lock, Huey. What's wrong?'
'That makes it easy for us. The system has a bunch of universal keys you can use to open any lock. Do you want to give it a try?"
"Umm...sure. Why not?" Hunter was thrilled, and he forgot about the compensation for the offer until Huey reminded him about it.
'This would have been added to your list of rewards if you had 1800 XP. But now...'
'Now, what do I do?' His expression fell and he pouted in dejection. 'Is there no way for me to get the bunch of keys?'
'There is. But you will have a loan of XP. Is that fine with you?'
'I am fine with it, Huey. Just please help me.' Hunter was desperate and he did not give a damn about anything else.
'Cool then. Hold out your hand.'
Hunter did as he was told and a bunch of keys appeared on his palm out of thin air, astonishing him with the miraculous scene.
'You now have an XP of -1700.' Huey reminded him. 'Also, I do not guarantee that the keys will work for sure. Just a warning.'
'It's fine, Huey. I won't blame you if we are unsuccessful in opening the door.'
Huey remained silent and Hunter tried the keys one by one, matching them with the lock. He was not optimistic about it. But to his surprise and luck, one of the keys fit the lock perfectly, and the door opened with a click.
Hunter's eyes widened in joy and he teetered in shock. 'Huey, the door opened.' He exclaimed, still unable to believe that he was able to open the door. If Huey were a person and were before him at that moment, he would have embraced her tightly to express his delight and gratitude.
'That's great, Hunter. Be careful when you enter the house.' Huey alerted him and Hunter became vigilant at once.
He opened the door carefully, the musty scent and the hot air slapping his face harshly. Hunter frowned in disgust and opened the door further, making space for him to go in.
There was barely any sunlight entering the place due to the thick dark curtains. Hunter was prepared to keep the door open but decided against it when he realized that the nosy neighbors, if any, would surely have a panic attack if they were to find the house unlocked.
And that was the last thing he wanted, to bring any attention to himself.
Hunter tried the switch nearest to him. But in vain. Nothing operated. He tried another switch, only to meet the same result. The power connection for the house was disconnected.
Using his phone torch, Hunter closed the door after him, suppressing the pungent odor in the air and opened the nearest window half, allowing the fresh air and sunlight to enter.
He opened all the windows one by one, barely enough for the sunlight to peek in but not enough to alert other people.
The place was carpeted with dust and the corners were adorned with spider webs. With all the unopened boxes and luggage, it resembled nothing less than any storeroom depicted in movies.
And to Hunter, it was nothing less than a hellhole. Given a choice, he wouldn't stay even for a minute more.
'Let me just start searching before my OCD is triggered and I start cleaning Mia's place instead.' He thought and suppressed the repugnance in his heart, ignoring the strange feeling in his body.
Focusing his attention more on finding clues rather than the dirty place, Hunter started searching the place thoroughly and slowly.