I don't quite remember how long it's been.
How many years have passed since the day I lost everything?
Some would say.
I should cherish life for my family.
That I should live the life they didn't.
Those people are ignorant.
A fist connected with Edward's jaw, his messy hair hanging in his face. Two members of the cult were interrogating him, trying to get information of the agency. He had no reason to budge.
He had to assume that they were doing this without permission. Based on how Hunter was behaving and what he said, he would have been the one here doing this.
What they were doing hurt. Sure. But his body would last longer than their fists could.
The cocky man leaned in close. "I expected more from you. The unkillable-" He was cut off when Edward moved his head forward, his forehead smashing into his nose.
If they were going to be interrogating him like this. Then they should keep their mouths shut. He was already pissed enough as was.
The man stumbled back, eyes watering with his hands over his face. "Motherfucker." His nose was broken horribly out of place, leaning far to the right, blood dripping from his nostrils in a steady flow.
"Oh, I'm going to make sure you regret that." He stomped forward, grabbing him by the neck and starting to hit him multiple times with no sign that he would stop.
Blood started to appear on Edward's face, covering his cheek bit by bloody bit. But it wasn't his. The man's knuckles were splitting open.
That didn't slow him.
He didn't stop until the metal door swung open, audibly coming to a thudding stop when it hit the concrete.
The man stopped, looking at the door with a worried expression. If they were found doing this, there would have been serious punishment.
He looked to his companion with a confused look, pointing at the door. "Who was that?" A hint of worry lined his voice. He got a shrug as a response.
The man's eyes held on the other, gesturing for him to go check.
"Fine." The second guy walked up the steps in a very exaggerated manner, stomping the entire way. He was only doing this to humour the other one. "Oh, would you look at that. Absolutely nothing." He turned, looking down at the prisoner. His companion was nowhere to be seen.
He started to walk back down, moving cautiously. He looked at the prisoner. "Hey. Where did he go?" Edward kept his head down, not responding. Though he did know what happened, he had no reason to say. "I asked you a question." He said again, less angry and more worried.
The moment his foot touched the bottom of the steps. He fell through an opening in the floor, thudding against the concrete hard.
He looked up as it closed and he was shrouded in darkness. The sounds of vicious monsters filled his ears.
"Can't have them hurting the merchandise." A female voice said, walking out from a cloud of shadow in the process of dispersing. "Though something like you." She paused, eyeing him over. "Might not even be able to get hurt."
She was wearing an open black jacket with an undone white dress shirt underneath, a gold necklace hanging on her neck and black sweats. Not exactly matching the rest of the attire.
"You've met Hunter, right? Cunt with a 'I'm so great' attitude." She stood right in front of Edward, planting her foot next to his head to get his attention.
Her eyes were a shrouded grey where once was white. Her irises are a deep blood orange.
"I'm his...Acquaintance." She said leaning in close. "It's so fascinating. Not a single bruise or cut. Just like she said." She took a step back, putting her foot on the floor.
Edward's eyes shifted so that he was looking up at her, keeping his thoughts to himself. The idea of asking who she meant to be was a waste of breath, so there was no point.
"How long were they at it? An hour? Two? Maybe less since I got here so quickly." She seemed to consider something, momentarily. Looking back to the spot on the floor the man fell through.
Which brought a question to light. Where did they go?
"Eh. They'd be killed either way." She said, more speaking to herself than to him.
"Hunter was going to come here." Her eyes drifted to Edward. "He likes you. His favourite prisoner." She said with air quotes. "Probably because he knows you could handle it."
Rae was back in his face, examining him. "I'm surprised." She grabbed him by the jaw, fingers digging into his cheek. "You should be showing more effects by now."
"You are a mystery, Edward Merritt." She let go of him and started to walk away before shadows swarmed her, vanishing into them.
She appeared in a large office, a window to her side that made up the entirety of the wall. Letting anyone look out at the gorgeous, vibrant city.
The office was at the highest point, the 75th floor. Which made the view all the better.
Her eyes drifted off the city and to the man who was sitting behind the desk in a leather swivel chair.
"You needed me for an assignment?" The man sitting in the chair wasn't the one she expected, Hunter spinning around and planting his feet on the desk.
"Kai has one for both of us. Luckily. He told me it before he left." He said, holding his hand out to examine his nails.
Rae let out a long, exhausted sigh. Already fed up with this. Though it might have been from the fact she'd been dealing with it for years now.
"I should throw you out this window for sitting in that chair." She said, giving the idea plenty of consideration.
Hunter looked at her with a cocky grin, pushing his glasses up his face, now right in front of her. "Try it, sweetheart. See what happens."
His aura had changed. Having gone from humorous to intimidating in mere moments.
Although she stared into his eyes with seemingly little fear. On the inside, however, she was worried. Just enough to feel it.
He moved back, making a foot between them. "You recall that new organization?" Rae gave him a nod. "Well. Kai thinks they are getting close to finding the book. Or might already have their hands on it."
He put a finger to her chest. "So that means. Me and you are heading out." She slapped his hand away. "Why with you? I can handle it by myself. Or better yet." She put a finger in his face. "Go by yourself and die."
Either one of them could handle this by themselves. So the idea of going together seemed like it was more for Hunter's amusement. She could just picture how the meeting went.
"You'll be going to handle this new threat."
"Let me take Rae with me."
"Fine."
That shitty Kai. He knows how much she despises Hunter and because of how highly ranked Hunter is. He held more leeway when making requests.
Hunter poked her cheek. "Go on. Open a portal to theeee...West end of the city?" Did he forget where they were going? What an idiot.
She put a hand to his chest, giving a sly grin before shoving him. His eyes went wide as a look of pure and utter betrayal coated his face to mask the unbridled anger. "You bi-" He went through a portal before he could say whatever insult was surely coming her way.
"Oops. Guess I misplaced that one." She took a step through it, hands in her pockets.
The process of getting from one place to another was anything but instant. The entire world around her warped and shifted. A tunnel of shadows completely shrouded what she could make out. Horrid echoes of screeches and voices on repeat.
Suddenly, there was a fast-approaching light. The shadows pushed out of sight, like monsters that were being shoved away.
And then she was at the destination, Hunter on the floor, rubbing his head, his glasses on the ground just to his side.
He looked up at her with resentment. He grabbed his glasses and got to his feet. "Do that again. And I drop you from a 30-foot story building." He said looking down at her with murderous intent.
But instead of being intimidated, she met his energy. Grinning as she leaned in closer, taunting him. "Just try it."
Hunter raised his hand next to her head, taking in a deep breath, clenching his hand into a fist. "Another time." He said releasing it, starting to walk away.
She watched him for a few moments, wondering if he would have done it. Then she wondered where he was going.
Only he knew the destination. Which meant even if she wanted to. She couldn't just ditch him. So she reluctantly followed.
They seemingly walked down random streets, taking turns that seemed to hold no rhyme or reason.
Until she came to the realization they were heading to the ports.
If that was true, then it was a pretty good place of operations. Not only would they be connected to ports that had coming and going ships. But they were hiding in plain sight. And no one would have questioned a thing since they would just seem like port workers.
There was still a bit of time before they would get there. So hopefully there was a plan cooking up in that thick skull of Hunter's.
* * * * *
Russell was inside an office of a building that was attached to train rails. It was a place where trains would come to pick up cargo and other small packages. Which was typically written down in ledgers.
Even trains transporting people would drop by here at times before picking up people.
He was in the middle of the room, papers laid out all around him.
The agency didn't have any way of confirming the possibility of a Necronomicon being on the train other than this. Although the chances of it having been listed were on the more unlikely side.
His eyes ran over the paper, scanning them with precision to see if there was anything out of place.
He heard the turning of the doorknob in the room he was in, not giving it a second thought as someone came in. A guard who was on the lookout to make sure no one was inside.
He looked over the empty room. He saw the papers all over the floor, heading in and looking around the room. "Is someone in here?" He said loudly, searching every crevice.
Russell simply continued his search, eventually finding what he was looking for. A spot on the ledger that was crossed out with a small red marking made at the side of it. Likely something that was paid to keep off record.
The guard eventually came back around the desk, starting to pick up the things around Russell, putting them away with no concern for the man who shouldn't have been there. As though he was invisible.
After he left the room, Russell folded the paper and put it in his pocket. He went over to the window, sliding it open, then climbing out.
He landed on the ground, moving at a steady pace toward the gates. A hole was cut in it. He ducked through it, leaving the restricted area.
He might have not typically been a fighter. But he was very useful when it came to these sorts of assignments. All because of his ability.
Some would say he even excelled more than the others ever could when it came to information retrieval and breaking in.
But sometimes. Sometimes he would make mistakes. Like letting his ability down before he was home free. "If you take another step. A bullet is going through that head."
He looked over his shoulder, just enough to where he could the guard that was standing there. His voice sounded, off. Like it wasn't his that he was talking with.
Then there was the question of why he was even here. He made sure to be careful, and avoid any alarms and cameras.
That was a downside to his ability. Although it implored a radius when it was activated. It wasn't a large one. Nor was he capable of extending it through technology. So he always needed to be mindful of his surroundings.
Russell started to raise his hands to the sky, moving slowly and with caution, keeping from imploring any sudden or fast movements. Not for his own sake. But because if the man's guard was up, his plan would fail.
"I'm just passing through." This was a test of sorts, to see if he was spotted inside or outside of the building's radius. But he didn't get a verbal response.
He could hear the shifting of feet, and boots digging into the dirt.
It was a surprise to hear him moving. He had a gun pointed to his head, there was no reason to be closing that distance on his own. Unless. This was something else.
He looked back one more time when he heard the sound of something dropping, the centre of the man's eyes was glowing. Little small white dots right in the middle that could only ever be seen in the middle of the night. This was a Skinwalker.
Russell made sure to avoid reacting, waiting for it to draw closer to him. Then he implored his ability, moving to the side as it lunged forth, claws shredding the false skin that covered its hands.
But he was gone. Nowhere in sight. The creature looked around as it snarled. This was its meal and it would not lose it without a fight.
Russell was hiding behind a tree, gun in hand down at the side of his waist, his fingers around the handle, one of them placed in front of the trigger.
He was lucky it was a Skinwalker. They didn't tend to travel in groups. Especially not when posing as a human. That was because they were commonly found in the wild. Taking on animalistic forms like deer for example.
That way they could be secluded enough to avoid groups of humans, but still have the possibility of coming across one.
Because of their nature, it was unlikely to ever see them try and take on the form of a predator. Since it would involve fighting which could damage the skin of their prey.
Since humans were much like predators themselves, this same rule applied. So to see one here, disguised as a human and attacking another, must have meant it was desperate.
The easy option would be to run, but it was his duty as a hunter to deal with paranormal creatures. He looked around the side. It wasn't there anymore.
His eyes darted to the side, the feeling of breath on his face, the Skinwalker right beside him bringing around a clawed hand.
Russell shifted his body weight back, his footing following to keep his balance and also make distance with the Skinwalker.
Managing to avoid it just enough to where the only damage was a scratch to the arm. It was using its sense of smell and sound to track him.
But if it couldn't see him. That meant this was still the perfect situation. He raised the gun to be levelled with the thing's head. Pulling the trigger, the shot rang out, smoke escaping the barrel.
He watched it fall to the ground, dead.
That was another thing about Skinwalkers. Although they were dangerous and could rip a human to shreds in mere seconds. They had around the same durability as whatever form they stole the form of. So just like a human, one bullet was more than enough.
He slid his pistol back into its holster that was strapped to his waist, starting to make his way through the forest to get back to the agency. This time making sure to keep up his guard.
* * * * *
Hunter and Rae stood at the entrance to the ports. A large structure had two roads, one leading in and the other out. In the middle section, the guard was stationed in a room on the smaller side, verifying who came and went.
To him, the two just seemed like passersby, until Hunter started to approach with Rae just behind.
He stopped at the window, tapping on it lightly. The guard looked at him, then down at his papers before he slid the glass to the left. "Yes?" He asked, not expecting anyone for another few hours
"Hello, I'm here looking for a book. One by the name of Purgatory. Do you happen to know where it is?" Hunter spoke with a lack of care, approaching the situation with a nonchalant attitude.
The man and he shared a long look between them. He could see that the man wanted to play dumb and act like this port was used for the type of things you would expect.
But he also knew that if Hunter was asking about such an item. He already knew about Black Mark. The organization that ran this place.
He took notice of the man's drifting eyes which Hunter assumed was looking at an alarm. Rae appeared behind the man with a hand over his mouth, driving his head into the edge of his desk to knock him unconscious.
Hunter started to walk further into the port, Rae appearing beside him. "Find the book." She rolled her eyes at the order, since it was him giving it and then disappeared, assuming the book would be in the boss's office.
As for him, he was set on patrolling the large warehouse buildings. Hundreds of containers and cargo all around the area.
There was a chance that the book could be elsewhere, which was the main part of him doing this. But there was another reason too. And it was just now getting to work as security was taking notice of him.
Soon enough, he was surrounded by people with guns aimed at him, a man in a suit watching with a woman to his left who had an aura of Magick coming off her. "Pleasure to meet you," Hunter said, about to take a step forward until a gun was put to his neck.
"Hunter Agency?" Was all he got in response from the man who had an unamused but inquisitive look on his face. "Harbingers of Old," Hunter said with a small bow, his hand at his stomach with his head lowered.
After the gesture was finished, he straightened his posture, his hands at his stomach, one in a fist with the other over it.
"Never heard of you." The man responded, now less interested than he was before. A dismissive tone tainting Hunter's ears.
"That's the point," Hunter said with irritation at the man's tone of voice. Glaring with murderous intent.
Not necessarily to his surprise, the woman moved in the way of the boss figure. She knew that he had an ability and so, therefore, she knew that he was a threat she would be required to handle.
"She understands the situation better than you." Hunter made it clear, more or less just giving his thoughts voice.
The man rose a brow, then had a snide smirk on his face. "I think it's you who doesn't understand the situation." He moved his hands into his pockets. "You can't take everyone here. Even with an ability. And we aren't letting you leave alive. So either way you die. The question is whether you go quiet and quick or slow and in pain."
Hunter liked the way the guy thought. He didn't just want to kill him for being here. He wanted to worse. Likely so he could send back a mutilated corpse to their leader. He was going to have some fun.
* * * * *
Rae was rummaging through the office of the man in charge, pulling out drawers, looking in every nook and cranny, even getting his computer open to see if there was anything that said where it might be. The last option was the safe.
Unfortunately, because it was electronic, she had to use her ability. She put her hand on the cold metal, focusing her mind.
When trying to make a portal in a place she couldn't see, many factors had to be considered. And when that space was small, there was more at risk.
Therefore, there was far more focus that went into it, since she had to be specific in all the details and placement. She had to feel where it was and what was around it before she opened it, which was anything but a fast process.
She bit the tip of her finger, drawing markings of blood on the edges of the safe. As her ability started to activate, the symbols began to glow, an aura of Magick spreading into the walls and relaying back a map.
It was a rush of information that came all at once. So figuring out what to focus on was difficult. Because of that she rarely ever used this, but with time and enough concentration, she could figure it out.
Hunter just needed to buy her time and avoid doing anything stupid.
* * * * *
Corpses surrounded the male, torn, ripped and shredded. Beautiful crimson staining his hair and clothes. It was a massacre. The carnage that was laid about to be admired and appreciated by only the most deranged of people.
The last person standing in his way was the female.
He started walking toward her, he stepped over the corpses, shoes sinking into pools of blood.
He was ready for a full-out fight. To clash ability vs ability. To show how superior he was. Until the sound of a bullet being fired rang out. A sudden burning pain in his shoulder.
He spun around, appearing over the guard stomping on their head, smashing it into the concrete exploding into gore, mixing in with the red splattered around. He let himself get carried away, and let his guard down. He could already hear the lecture from Kai and the teasing from Rae.
Hunter looked back in the direction of the two. They were gone. Damn it all to hell. Hopefully, Rae found that book by now.
* * * * *
The safe was finally opened from the inside. And what was inside it? Money and documents. Rae grabbed the documents and started to carefully look them over. It seemed like they just missed the transportation of the book and countless other items of great value.
From what she could tell, they were all being moved by truck deeper into the city. So that they could be processed and then sold to the highest bidders.
Of course, this was all about money. Black Mark would never know of the power they had in their hands.
They were just an organization that thrived for profit. An organization that would be left in the dust when the tide began to turn. When the Gods were let into the realm. When the earth was under the whim of the almighty.
The door to the office suddenly opened, Rae moments from teleporting away before she saw it was Hunter. Although he was practically covered head to toe in blood. She could see that his shoulder was injured. Mainly from the hole in it.
"You get shot?" Hunter took in a deep breath. "What does it look like?" He asked sarcastically. "It looks like you need a shower. And smells like it too." Rae commented, walking up to him.
"We just missed it. They sent it off to get sold."
"That's...Fantastic." Hunter responded to the surprise of Rae who thought he'd throw a fit. Maybe break a desk. "Kai can just buy it off their hands." He said with a half-shrug.
"And here I thought you'd be more for killing everyone and taking it," Rae said, opening a portal. "You mean miss the chance to see Kai spend a load of his money? Never."
The two of them went through the portal, appearing back in the building where they were stationed.
"I need to get this shit looked at." Hunter started to walk away. "Baby needs to get his stitches?" Rae got a middle finger in response, someone was feeling more generous in how he was acting compared to before they headed out. Maybe all that killing calmed him down.
Rae delivered the book to Kai while Hunter got his wound looked at. Plans being put into motion to learn where the auction was taking place.
And as for the Hunter Agency, Russell was just getting back to deliver what he found to Grace.