The train journey lasted five minutes as was advertised. Carmen stepped off the platform first.
They could hear her talking to someone but could not make out the words. Theon and the other's could see some people near that were previously minding their business, turn in their direction and point, they were close enough for Theon to see that they didn't like them.
Carmen returned and everyone gave her a stare waiting for response.
"Quick heads up before our journey into the town." The population was at twenty thousand, that's what was said in writing underneath the map on the wall in front of them. "People in this town don't really like paladins. They're used to more peace and just don't like the trouble that people like us can bring."
She paused and sighed, trying to bring herself back down to earth.
"Be on your best behaviour. You will be working closely with local authorities, so follow what they say if you are not stuck with me or Robyn." she gazed across the group who all nodded, her eyes lingered a while longer on Jon.
Then she looked to Bell, "You will not fly off on your own." To Jon, "You will not antagonize the people in your surroundings."
She was being dead serious for once, acting like a real teacher.
"You will now follow along and get your rooms then once you know your assigned rooms you come back outside and we go over the plans for today." She gave another quick look to the students in a circle. "Am I clear?"
"Yes Miss!" everyone said.
"Then let's go." She turned around and walked off with the students following in an orderly fashion.
The place they were staying in was a B&B, white painted stone walls outside and double frame doors for the entrance. The teacher's would not be staying here.
He heard Jon quietly mutter out 'Run down...'
The rookie paladin's would be sharing rooms, Theon was with Jon, and Robin was with Chloe, leaving Elena and Bell together.
Two quiet people that probably wouldn't mutter a word to each other. It would probably be a change with the students already getting used to such big spaces for themselves back on campus.
"At least we got a bathroom," Jon said as he twisted his body to let out small cracking sounds.
They left their stuff in their room's and then walked back outside.
Theon and Jon were the first two to come outside as the teachers as well as some policemen and detectives were with them. The police were dressed in full swat gear hiding their faces and other features with their guns in hand standing completely still, a little intimidating to the casual onlooker.
The detective's, they were dressed in formal attire and wearing long trench coats, it was like the most basic image of a detective. Although Theon noticed the way the one on the left's OD circled his body.
'He's an awakened.' Jon heard him mutter and nodded.
And another man was with them, he was also in formal attire which was a navy blue suit with a light blue coloured dress shirt underneath, he looked stressed out and was talking intently to both the detectives and the teachers.
The other students walked out too in their uniforms behind Theon and Jon which caused a turn of heads of the adults by the outside area decorated by wooden tables and chairs.
"You're finally out!" Carmen said looking ever so happy to be seeing her students.
The man in blue was first to walk over and greet them all.
"I thank you all for coming to my town to aid me in this matter." Oh, he was the mayor, they all thought.
"My name is Benjamin Miller. I hope we can all work together to quickly resolve this issue." He gave a short bow to show his respect which Theon certainly was not expecting.
One of the detectives behind him kissed his teeth and was very vocal about his thoughts on Theon and the other five being there.
"I get that they're paladin's and all but they're kids first. Won't they just get in the way? Aren't they first year? They would have just started, so can they even handle something like this?"
He just went on and on, he was not the awakened but just some standard looking man with short black hair styled to the side with an alarming amount of gel that Theon could smell from where he was standing.
The awakened detective beside him pressed his glasses against the bridge of his nose and sighed.
"They were brought here for a reason and I'm sure that their mentors have full belief in their ability to take this on, so we should too." His speech was highly refined which matched his still youthful appearance.
Unlike his partner he did not look so standard, he was tanned and had green eyes with blonde hair that was combed to the sides with very little amounts of gel from what Theon's nose was telling him.
"Thank you!" Robin spoke out from behind him accepting the man's grace. "We will make sure try our hardest out there..."
"Brian." he said.
"Right thank you Brian."
"Now lets get all the facts together. Sam you do the talking." he pointed to his colleague.
The plain looking man, Sam scratched the back of his head before the group circled around him with the six members of swat standing around them in a protective grid.
"So three weeks ago, September 15. The mayor's son, Jackson Miller disappeared." he started with the mayor holding back the grief in his eyes trying to look stern. "He supposedly went out on a date that night with his girlfriend but we have confirmed that she had no recollection of this being in the calendar."
He then pulled in a computer and placed it on the desk, it had holographic features and displayed itself so that not everyone had to be so closely huddled to see one screen.
"We have been able to log into his phone account to see if there were any messages on where he could have went." There were folders which once opened shown messages, and without even gaining the full context the people huddled together knew that Jackson was someone to abuse power and try to downplay it in some sort of weird fashion.
The mayor was looking sickly but he stayed quiet but his eyes glistened. And Theon noticed Robin tense beside him, he subtly stepped in her direction and let her feel the warmth of his arm beside her.
"The messages with his friends indicate that he was supposed to be going out with a girl named Renata." Sam looked on to the mayor and way was given to him as he walked through to stand in his position.
"The girls full name is Renata Kalim. She was born in this town and lived here for twelve years before her parents said they sent her off to a boarding school." He started, he kept his tone as still as he could. "It was only a month ago that she returned, recently we had police check her home, but no one was there. The place was spotless but there was some dust build-up in some of the rooms, specifically the one where her parents lay."
So she had met up with the mayor's son and disappeared when he did?
"Since she is also missing at this moment in time, we have to presume they are both alive and hopefully well." He sounded heartfelt at that.
It made sense though, he just seen the type of awful person he was housing under his roof. How he so causally manipulated girls and got them to reveal every part of themselves to him and then expose it or at least threaten to.
Mayor Benjamin Miller must have been ashamed but in the end of the day, that was still his son.
"We think that maybe the girl could have found this out and confronted him, he may have went crazy and attacked her and is hiding for fear." Brian said.
'So we're not assuming them both alive and well anymore?' Theon thought.
Mayor Benjamin gave the detective a sharp look.
"Or she knew she was his next target and took matter's into her own hands." And how bad could that turn out, none of them wanted to say in front of the emotional Mayor.
Carmen then stood up to explain what would be going on next.
"There is still the chance that this Renata is dangerous and may come for the mayor next. So I will be staying here along with some of the swat team and detectives while you six will be following Robyn and some other police members that are further up ahead looking for any tracks that could lead us to her."
Robyn stepped forward, waving for the two teams to follow her. Three swat members also trailed along.
"You guys will be split into three groups." she said in her usual dry tone. "Theon and Elena, you'll be covering the west to the outskirts near the woods. Jon and Chloe- you're covering the east side near the industrial zone. And Elena and Bell, you're south towards the residential zones."
The three swat members split into three and stood by one team.
"They will be following you, make sure they do not hold you back." Now how were they supposed to do that? "Stay alert, and stay together."
She then gave the three teams six electronic bracelets for a purpose they do not know.
"I will be able to sense your heartrate with these and notice if something's wrong, I will rush over if that is the case." The group nodded as they put on the bracelets. They all looked stern and ready to go, even Jon in his own way.
"Now off you go." Robyn gave a curt nod as she sent them off to their respective locations.
___
"So you guy's don't speak?" Theon asked the swat member who was walking a few feet behind him and Robin.
It had been complete silence from him since they left, it was beginning to get weird but that at least made Theon feel comfortable to speak to Robin as if it were just the two of them.
"Hey are you alright?" he still spoke quietly so that he couldn't be overheard. Robin turned to him with a smile on her face.
"Yeah, I'm fine, Why?"
"I just thought I should ask considering the specifics of this mission." He didn't know how someone who went through what Robin had went through would feel putting in so much effort in finding someone like Jackson Miller.
She made a weird sound while holding her hands together.
"I think we have a duty to find him and I don't want my own past experiences to impede in that and potentially cause more grief for someone." she said speaking about the mayor.
That was... kind. But Theon didn't think he could be like that if he had been in her shoes, it caused him to look at Robin in another new light.
"I mean, it still feel's weird and on the off chance that he is... gone, then that may bring some peace to those he has tormented. He won't be there to put them through hell again."
She spoke in a low tone to make sure she wasn't overheard. But her tone had a lot more bass as she said that, it sounded like she was letting her thoughts out forgetting that she was speaking to someone.
Well she would certainly know. She probably feels much better now that Eli is locked away in prison.
They were coming up to a more forested area now and could see an office.
"I think that's an outpost." Theon said.
"It's where some of our other team is." From behind them the swat member finally decided to speak up. It made Robin jump and weirded out Theon but they nodded in affirmation.
The officers voice was scrambled by some radio most likely built-in to his helmet. All Swat wore similar devices so that all their voices sounded the exact same. Making them all seem like one single unit that couldn't be identified.
As they got closer to the cabin a new smell hit Theon's sharp nose. It was a wave of a putrid, rotting stink that made him wince. It felt familiar.
And as they were only a few feet away they could see damage, through the large bush near the entrance they could all the windows in the front cracked and the door opened slightly.
But what caused them all to stop in movement was what had kept the door from closing.
A man clearly in swat gear on the floor with half his head seemingly gouged out leaving brain matter and blood to spill out and his main body caught in between the door with a pool of dried blood underneath him.
He was dead.
Theon didn't react, not until he heard Robin.
Robin stumbled back with a petrified look on her face with both her hands touching the side of her head while she stopped and tried to crumble into herself while muttering.
Her eyes widened and Theon could see tears forming, he didn't think it was from fear though as he thought it was from the rancid smell of a dead body.
The swat member spoke into his radio signalling a disturbance in the area, detailing what they were seeing in cold apathy, Theon kind of hoped that the emotionless tone was just because of the scrambler built in to his suit.
He ignored him and walked over to Robin crouching down, unsure of what to say but understood that he needed to get her back on track. 'Whoever killed that man could still be near.'
"Robin," he gently hovered his hands over her shoulder mirroring how he had acted toward her earlier on in the year. He looked at how she was acting more closely now-shallow breathing, wide eyes that looked clouded over and violently clamping her hands over her ears while muttering incoherently in a quiet voice.
He then clasped onto her hands at her ears, her eyes immediately changed and finally took recognition of him. Theon slowly he began removing her hands from her ears and brought them down, still softly holding onto them as he looked at her and gave a small smile for reassurance.
"Keep focused on me," His voice was steady as he was thinking of ways to cut her off of the panic. He then tightened the feeling of his hands grasping hers, her eyes briefly faded from his and tears were streaming from them, his thumbs were softly sliding across her knuckles as he stared at her. "Just breathe, slowly."
Theon refused to look away, "You don't have to say anything, just breathe while staying focused on me."
Slowly, she took a breath, shaky but deliberate. Theon's grip on her hands softened just slightly as her breathing was evening out.
"There you go," he said, almost too quiet to hear but Robin caught it.
After a few beats her hand relaxed in his. Theon gave a small nod, holding her gaze. "We're okay," he repeated keeping his voice level. "You're okay."
Robin blinked again, her breathing almost normal now. She let out a shaky exhale, her hands on his hands now barely a hold.
"I-" she started, her voice hoarse, but Theon cut her off, shaking his head slightly.
"You don't have to explain," he said. "Take it easy. We'll move when you're ready."
For a long moment she stayed like that, her hands resting on his, the silence between them holding more than words could at this moment. Finally, Robin nodded, her fingers slightly curling into his palms.
"Thank you," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Theon gave a small, almost imperceptible nod. "Anytime."
Theon lost his sense of time during that whole moment but as he turned around he could see team four's leader, Robyn Wilson.
'Right. The bracelets.'
Theon wondered how long she had been there.
What did she think of it all? The violent way the SWAT officer had been killed, the angle of the wounds, the placement of the body for just anyone scrolling through to find.
Theon didn't feel like this attack was random.
"We need to leave." The gold rank said.
"It would be best to-!" Both her and Theon instantly turned their heads to a heavy sound of something dropping to the ground of the cabin in the distance.
Theon strained his ears but not even the usual hum of insects crawling around in the leaves was heard. It was unnaturally quiet.
Suddenly, a harsh static burst from the SWAT officers radio, the same one that had gone in. Theon only now realized he had never come out yet.
"There's Something...!"
The transmission cut out. Theon's pulse spiked as his senses begun to pick up on something - 'Chimera.'
"Brace yourselves."
Coming out of the cabin was the bottom half of the SWAT officer that had just gone in, it was in the mouth of an insect, an overgrown beetle it looked like.
A beetle-like chimera came out hovering in the air, its cracked and uneven, oozing out a dark, tar-like substance from fissures that came out of their armoured backs. Along with that were smaller beetle's, none as small as an actual beetle which told them all that it was a plain chimera.
Each of them had far too many legs, jointed limbs like those of a spider, but elongated and bent at unnatural angles, allowing them to move in quick, erratic bursts. But the eyes, they took up most of the face, big and spherical bug-eyes with antenna like structures sticking out of them.
The chimera had just finished chomping down the SWAT officer and gave the group of three a clear look at its bloody sharp, razor like teeth. The chittering sound the other bugs around it were making was jarring...
Robyn Wilson immediately acted, just like Theon remembered in a breath of air a sword materialized in her hand and she rushed off to split the creature in two.
She moved faster than the eye could see, but just as she was about to strike... 'HAND'
A dethatched yellowish hand the size of a school-kids backpack appeared out of nowhere and grabbed her shirt only to disappear again in a swirling motion.
Silence. Only the chittering of the insect-like chimera was heard as well as Robin's shocked gasp.
Theon was left alone with a girl who just had a panic attack.
'Then we fight!'