"They're following us." Akira looked through the rearview mirror, noticing a black car tailing them.
Anton, realizing things were about to get a bit exciting, pressed a button on the dashboard, deploying a computer screen. "Alright, let's get rid of them, but head to a separate location."
As he said this, Anton deployed two drones from the van, which would be responsible for following the Graham family and keeping them under observation throughout the journey, saving them the trouble of real-time location tracking.
Once done, Anton retrieved a pistol from under his seat and attached a silencer to it. Seeing that these same people were following them to a deserted alley, Anton looked at Akira and asked, "Do you have any problem killing someone who isn't a professional killer?"
"None; they're the bad guys in your world after all," Akira said, watching as the car's driver made no further moves.
When they saw there was nothing more to do, Anton and Akira wordlessly got out to begin shooting at the people in that car.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The bullets pierced the glass, easily breaking through and impacting the bodies of the people inside the car.
Once they emptied their magazines, Anton approached very slowly, ensuring there were no traps.
"Cover me; I'll check the interior."
Akira stayed back, huddling with the people who seemed to be dying, patiently waiting for Anton to check the inside of the vehicle.
The silenced shots, though still audible, didn't attract the attention of the surrounding people, allowing Anton to approach more calmly and inspect the car's interior.
"You're the demon..." The man driving looked at Anton while spitting blood.
He looked at Anton with fear, and deep within his eyes, another dark entity was looking. That thing hiding within the man showed some anxiety, knowing someone like Anton was here because it could ruin their plans.
Or should it be that it was scared?
"Why didn't you follow? Your companion may not survive, but I'll call an ambulance if you answer my question." Anton pointed at the driver, uncaring that he couldn't move.
"He's coming to avenge us."
"Who is coming?" Anton looked sternly at the man.
"He'll take your loved ones once he comes to this world."
But before he could continue speaking, a series of shots rang out over his head, surprising Anton, who looked at Akira, who had fired.
"Why bother listening to all that nonsense?" Akira changed her weapon's magazine and returned after they were all dead.
"This is the investigation."
"I was just spouting nonsense; obviously, they're from that ritual cult where the same old woman who died recently belongs. We've now taken all of them, so send them to the team that's on its way for disposal."
Anton sighed, surveyed the chaos, and called in the cleanup crew to take care of it without attracting attention.
A few minutes later, a black van pulled up on the other side of the alley, and a group of people in suits covering their bodies got out and started examining the cleanup area.
As they worked, Anton pondered what he had discovered so far, and for some reason, he believed things would be much bigger than just a resentful spirit.
Does the grandmother want to take over the girl's body to be reborn, or will she offer it as a tribute to something else?
All of this would be resolved with initial contact with that family, but it wouldn't be ideal to do it directly now, so planning to give them a day off first, he would observe the surroundings.
Approaching the van to gather data, Akira, who was reloading magazines with ammunition, looked at Anton and asked, "Were those people bad?"
"They're certainly influenced by a demon." Anton looked up and asked, "Do you think I'd crumble for killing innocents on missions? It happens all the time; we need to eliminate, in severe cases, subjects posing a threat of uncontrolled contamination. Other times there are collateral victims from the missions we're on; we just learn to live with the pain."
That answer made sense.
Akira knew that collateral damage in these types of missions was always bloody, and from what she had read, there were cases where entire villages were wiped out.
The things everyone was oblivious to were so immense that she felt foolish knowing that it would be better as her efforts grew for life.
She also understood that this was why the High Table had so much respect for the Light Association; no one could face the darkness better than they.
"The job is done; what do we do with the bodies?"
"Burn everything, including their clothes, as written in the protocol." Anton said as he walked back to the driver's seat of the van.
"Understood, Archbishop Guardian!"
Once everything was done, they got into the car and drove off. Anton wanted to get closer to Graham's house to get a better view of the overall situation.