Klaus raised his brows, a flicker of interest crossing his otherwise stoic face, "And where's that?"
Xavier's lips curled into a light smile but it didn't reach his eyes. He turned to Klaus, his voice subtle and quiet. "Tulane University."
For a moment there, Klaus's vacant gaze sparkened, a spark of recognition lighting up his eyes. "The one founded in the Medical College of Louisiana?"
Xavier gave a curt nod. "Yeah. That one."
"How'd you know?" Klaus's brow furrowed, but there was a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Vision again."
Xavier rolled his eyes, lightly shaking his head.
"No, not this time. I saw an old photo...group of teenagers standing in front of the university's dark steel door. One of them looked like the shape-shifter. Plus, with the woman's story, of them going to the same university. It wasn't hard to connect the dots."
Klaus chuckled lightly, a brief break from the tension that hung onto the air, akin to a waterfall that refused to stop falling.
"Makes sense."
"Yeah." It does. Xavier's voice was soft, the weight of their task gnawing against his mind. He turned away from Klaus, staring blankly out of the window, as the world outside sped in a blue of gray and crimson.
The silence between them thickened, as the car roared through the streets, its tires screeching as Klaus's leg hit harder. Buildings flashed by, mere illusions in their line of sight and before long, the towering gates of Tulane University loomed ahead, rusted and desolate.
Xavier's eyes narrowed as they approached. "Did it get shut down?" His voice barely above a whisper, his gaze lingering on the heavy, iron barrier that stood as a gigantic barricade, blocking all those who dared to enter.
"Looks like it," Klaus muttered, his face unreadable. "Doesn't matter. We've got work to do."
Knowing that the chances of them encountering cursed spirits or spirits-related creatures were rather high. Not to talk of the fact that as hunters, they had to enter a fight fully prepared.
Klaus exited the car, his movements precise and methodical. Popping thw trunk, he rummaged through their carefully conceakrd cache of weapons and tools- guns, salt bullets, a flask of holy water and so much more.
Xavier joined him, his expression unreadable as Klaus began loading the firearms.
"Hope you aren't thinking of doing, what I think you're actually trying to do?"
"Oh," Klaus displayed a confused look, "And what's that."
Xavier's brows got increasingly narrowed, "Stop playing dumb, Klaus," His voice grew louder, "We could get caught!"
He paused for a second, glancing at the metal barricade before his eyes moved towards his brother.
"It obviously states that all sorts of entries are prohibited."
Klaus paused, his hands momentarily still as he looked up at his brother. His expression hardened.
"Kiddo, it seems the long break has softened you.
Do I need to remind you that we've done worse. This is just another job that has to be done. We have got no other choice."
Xavier's gaze dropped to the ground. For a long moment, he said nothing, tension and desolation brewing in the space between them. Finally, he let out a deep sigh, nodding.
"Guess you're right."
"I always am," Klaus smirked, handung him a gun. "Now fucking load your gun with the salt bullets. And let's get to investigating."
"We haven't gotten all day."
"Yeah," Xavier nods before grabbing onto a gun. A light laughter, a soft brief break on the silent tension that weighed upon the air to the very atmosphere.
"It would probably be crazy to try to break into such an open place in broad daylight."
A few seconds later, after they were done imbuing the guns with salt bullets and carrying some equipment they might need.
They could be seen on the other side of the barricade, landing on the ground with a light thud, before dashing forward.
As they moved deeper into the depths of the isolated building, the stillness pressed down onto them, like a suffocating blanket. Every creak of the floor, every flicker of the din hallway lights sent a shiver down Xavier's spine.
They appeared before a large door. Klaus had a light smirk spreading across his face, he brought out a pin before placing it in the keyhole.
Xavier slowly closed the door after they had both entered; the entire room was completely dim and eerie silent.
Luckily, they came prepared. Making use of the torch lights, the rays of the torch brightened up the path before them. From the surrounding chairs and tables, it was safe to assume that they were in a hall.
Xavier's eyes caught a glimpse of the switch. He moved towards it before tapping on it.
CLIICK!!
Rays of light immediately enveloped the entire hallway. Everywhere appeared to be eerie warm, and strangely cozy. Stacks of cobwebs running down from the ceilings showed that this place had long been abandoned.
"Seems the lights are still working," Xavier muttered, a light smile adorning his face.
"Guess little brother is now scared of the darkness which he hunts." Klaus teased, though there was a tensed edge to his voice.
Xavier simply rolled his eyes at his brother's remarks.
Letting out a cold snort, "Since the lights are okay, why not make use of them?" He defended himself, a smug expression slowly settling onto his face.
Klaus shook his head, a light, inaudible chuckle escaping his lips. With a serious expression on their faces, they both reached a silent tacit understanding to spread out in search of clues. They both approached different rooms.
The eerie silence threatened to shatter their mind, with the only source of warmth being their heavy footsteps and the rapid pace at which their heart was beating. Xavier in particular, felt as though his heart could jump out of his chest at any point in time.
He suddenly thought that he saw a shadow. Causing his heart to cease thumping for a short second. He immediately glanced back, grabbing tightly onto his gun, only to realize that it was simply the shadow of a broomstick.
He let out a sigh of relief before proceeding onwards. The corner of his eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of an opened door.
Hmm… This place has been abandoned for a long time. So how come there's an opened door. He took in a gulp of saliva.
His brows tightly furrowed, while his heart rapidly thumped, blood flowing at an incredulous pace. His footsteps grew more heavy, his hand subconsciously gripped tightly onto the gun, whilst his trembling right hand held on to the torchlight.
He slowly opened the door completely, his footsteps slow and calculated as he scanned the entire room.
From the papers on the table and a few compiled books that looked like files. He was able to come to the conclusion that it was probably the headmaster's office. He dropped his gun onto the table, glancing around him for a while, not noticing any strange thing or reaction. He breathed a sigh of relief before holding on to a file.
A few minutes later, he heard rapid footstep; his heart skipped a beat, prompting him to immediately grip the gun, the rays of the torch reflecting outward. His heart thumped violently as the figure passed by after glancing at him. Realizing that it was Klaus, he breathed a sigh of relief before dropping his gun.
He suddenly caught sight of something within a file, opening the file. He had a light smile on his face, "Hey Klaus. Come check this out."
Klaus, who was already growing tired of, walking about, had a light smile on his face. Before moving towards the room.
"Did you find anything?" He questioned, dropping his gun onto the table before walking towards Xavier.
"Check this file," Xavier said before handing over the file to Klaus who had a slightly narrowed brow. The sound of pages being flipped open reverberated through the air. A few seconds easily passed by, with his gaze lingering on the file.
"So a girl was raped to death by some set of students. While a guy who appears to be her boyfriend reported the case to the school authorities." Klaus dropped the file onto the brown table, his gaze shifting towards his brother.
"But unluckily for the guy and the poor girl's soul, the bastards who performed such a heinous act happened to have one of them being a descendant of the University's Founder.
"Hence, they went Scott free."
"Yeah," Xavier nod his head. "Which explains why the shape-shifter is killing some set of men and torturing their wives in the process."
Xavier let out a deep sigh before he added,
"It's because those set of men were all accomplices."
To be honest, if he was in the shape-shifter's shoes, he might have probably done worse. But as an hunter, it's my job to ensure the safety of the society as a whole. Hence as inhuman as it might seem to be, we still have to put down the shape-shifter. Xavier tightly gripped onto his gun subconsciously, before letting out a sharp exhalation.
"So...it's safe to assume that the shape-shifter's next target will be the descendant of Tulane Derimi." Klaus muttered whilst rubbing his temples.
"Yeah," Xavier nods in reply.
Realizing that he was suddenly feeling uncomfortable, almost as though the room had gone darker. An even more eerie silence had enveloped the room, and a slightly dreadful foreboding gripped onto heart. He warily assessed the room. He didn't find anything yet something was telling him to leave here... Now!
"We should probably get going," Xavier said before he added with a forced smile.
"We have gotten what we wanted anyway."
Klaus nodded, grabbing onto his gun before both brothers proceeded to leave. Immediately after they left the room, the entire lights suddenly started flickering crazily, and a terrifying chilling coldness spread across the entire enclosed space; it felt as though some set of invisible hands were grabbing onto their legs whilst illusory ants gnawed against their skin. The strange coldness, the rapid flickering of lights, and the illusory 'hold' on their bodies were more than enough to understand what was going on.
"A cursed spirit!" Both brother's voices tore through the eerie silence and dreadful darkness almost at the same time.
A figure suddenly appeared at the far end of the hall. Messy long hair, bloodshot eyes, fangs glistening with a chilling coldness, and the middle of her leg had blood flowing down unceasingly; a proof of the unjust that she had gone through. She flickered in and out of reality, almost as though she wasn't actually in the mortal world, and is only able to anchor herself to the mortal world through a wondrous yet dreadful nature of life.
"She's the one," Xavier muttered, receiving a nod from Klaus.
The blood flowing out of her private part truly disgusted him, making him feel disgusted with the men and feel that their deaths were worth it. Yet ironically, as a hunter, I still have to save their pathetic lives. Xavier grabbed tightly onto the gun, yet he wasn't able to press onto the trigger.
The cursed spirit continuously phased in and out of reality, just some mere feet away from both brothers before three consecutive gunshots tore through the air.
BAAANG!!!
BAAANG!!!
BAAAANG!!!
Klaus shot out consecutively, the salt bullets piercing right through the cursed spirits, the first two slowing her down before the last one turned her into a pile of dark smoke.
"Go go go," Knowing that she would reappear again, Klaus's voice tore through the air. Xavier seemed to have instantly recovered from his stupor, immediately following behind his brother as they both ran towards the door.
BAAANG!!!
BAAAANG!!!
Each time she reappeared, the sound of gunshots reverberated through the endless darkness, which would, in turn repel her, giving the brothers more time to advance towards the door.
After all, salt bullets can't actually kill cursed spirits, though they can repel and hold them back for a while. This isn't a long-lasting solution. The best and simplest way to deal with a cursed spirit is to burn the corpse or remains of the cursed spirits with salt.
And without knowing her burial ground, nor having the needed resources to gank her. The only thing they could do is to make a run for their lives!