Exorcist Servant: Demon Hunter

"You want to see me, sir?" John asked from the door of Kania's office.

The district chief raised his eyes from a pile of papers when he asked a question. "Come in. Starkweather, sit down."

Like the director himself, that office is the epitome of strict rules.There are no random piles of documents, no backlog of letters in her in-basket, and the books and certificates of commendation on the shelves are neat and spotless.There were no cartoons, newspaper articles, or family photos, just a minimalist abstract painting hanging on the wall behind her: a few rays of the setting sun breaking through a vast expanse of whiteness.

He sat down in an uncomfortable chair at the side of the desk and waited—the only chair to sit on.After completing the paperwork, she neatly put it aside and looked at him across the almost empty desk.

"There's a leak," he blurted out before she could. "Ward came into my office and laughed at my failure to expel a common non-human spirit."

"Really?" There was no thought in the director's voice. "Did she say who told her?"

"No." His face was hot, although he tried his best to control his expression. "She said it's spread all over the office. At least they don't know about vampires yet, but..."

"I see, I'll talk to her." Called to talk in this situation, the person can only wish for luck. "In the meantime, let me worry about the leaks, you're in charge of Caleb Jansen."

Every word Kania said was always true. "It's Caleb, not Ash?"

"Congratulations: your hearing is excellent. I applied for a thorough background check on Caleb's late brother and his widow."

"As part of the investigation, I also did a background check on Ben Jensen." Damn, Kania doesn't think he's up to the job, too?

"You may not believe it, Special Agent, but I do have more access than you do, don't I?" she said, raising an eyebrow.

oh. "Excuse me. So what's the result of the investigation."

Kania leans forward, her fingertips lined up under her chin, looking a bit like a James Bond villain. "Ben and Melanie Jensen may be connected to 'Fist of God'."

John caught his breath. "No," he said aloud, "Caleb isn't with them."

"From the point that he's an unregistered psychic, I'm also inclined to think he's not. While extreme self-hatred can make people hate their own race, gender, and sexuality, if that's the case, Pittman is interviewing him Will definitely notice."

Does Caleb know about this?He's been bitter about SPECTR's failure to investigate Ben's disappearance.Maybe if Ben's killer was caught, he'd feel a lot better.Perhaps he wouldn't be so desperate to accept any help he could get, even if the giver was a band of zealots.

If so, these are all John's faults.He had worked on the Ben Jensen case, though Caleb didn't know it.As for why John didn't take the initiative to bring this up to his tenants...he had his reasons.Good enough reason, he just hasn't figured out how to say it yet.

"If an organized 'Fist of God' branch shows up in Charleston, we've got to know something about it." Clearly oblivious to John's inner turmoil, Kania continued: "Anything about his sister-in-law or dead brother The information, as long as Mr. Johnson provides us, is extremely important."

"I'll do what I can. I should get my affairs in order first and then—"

A sharp and low alarm bell rang into his ears.Startled, he gave a cry of surprise and moved his hand to the Glock under his arm as he scanned the office.

①Glock, a popular pistol brand produced in Austria, is extremely popular in the United States.

Nothing happened.To make matters worse, Kania stared at him like a psycho.

Hold.The bell didn't ring in his ears—it sounded in his head, it was a warning tone.

The barrier in his apartment was broken.

***

Caleb closed the door of the apartment, staring dreamily at the old piece of wood in front of him.Damn, Melanie looked terrified, she was terrified... by him.

She was his last family member, but the other party didn't even dare to look at him.

Gray moved restlessly. "Family," he—it—speaks as if savoring the concept. "It's as important a thing as a human being."

"Yeah," he said out loud. "But it's fucking important. And now, thanks to you, I have nothing left."

An avalanche of memory fragments flowed through my mind so fast that it was too fast for people to react: from the purest love of a mother to her child, to the malicious violation between siblings, and all the in-between. kind of thing.He died in childbirth, and died to protect his parents.Weddings, funerals, and baptisms, but all are colorless and dark, unremarkable, emptied by death.It's all just the communication between neurons dying away.

God, no wonder the monster in his head couldn't understand anything.

"I hate you." He whispered, pressing his forehead against the door and closing his eyes. "You did this to me. You didn't let Ben rest in peace, and now you're driving Melanie away. I want you to fucking die, and if I could put you in the bottle with my own hands, I'd do it. "

"I have no choice. That human is afraid of us, how stupid."

"Less 'us'."

"There are only us here, you must accept."

"Fuck you!" Caleb yelled, so loud that his throat ached.Violently wiping the tears from his eyes, he rushed into the kitchen and began fumbling open cabinets until he found what he needed - Starkweather's stock of spirits.

The first thing he saw was a bottle of vodka.It wasn't something he would normally drink, but whatever, anything that made him forget about his messed up life.

He threw the bottle cap on the floor, turned the bottle upside down and drank a big gulp directly from the mouth of the bottle.Alcohol slid down his throat—a fine wine.Maybe he shouldn't, after all, Starkweather probably paid a lot of money for the bottle.

Starkweather.Fuck Special Agent Starkweather.A govt freak with nice eyes and a good figure, he's got Caleb locked up here with a broken ward.He flirts and smiles at Caleb by turns, promises to get him out of Ashes, but doesn't.

So let him die.

When Caleb finished a quarter of the bottle, a pleasant giddiness began to run through his veins.Just a little more and he wouldn't bother with ashes, or Starkweather, or anything.

The dizziness is gone.

The bottles were all empty, but he wasn't drunk at all.Shouldn't he be passed out on the floor by now?

Maybe that's the secret to this fine wine - no wonder it drank so smoothly, since it's basically water.Who knows?Caleb never could afford it anyway.

He put the empty bottle on the counter and started picking through the cabinets again until he found a low-end brand of gin.Maybe it was from a party, or an ex, or God knows who stayed, because Starkweather seems to prefer more premium brands.Wherever it came from, Caleb knew it could come in handy.

He blew directly on the bottle again.After a while, he hovered on the verge of a pleasant vertigo.Then, again, that feeling went away.

"What the hell?" he said.

Gray shifted uneasily, sweeping like a big, strong head, and their shared brain was like a small dark room that trapped him. "You are alive. This body will heal itself."

"Cure?" Caleb repeated foolishly, staring at the empty bottle.

"Yes. But it takes energy, so stop hurting the body."

This...means...he'll never get drunk again?

"You're drinking poison," exasperated. "You shouldn't be doing this. I won't allow our bodies to be damaged."

see hell.

With a muffled yell, he flung the bottle against the wall.It shattered into gleaming shards, and the remaining liquor dripped to the floor, but he didn't care.The last person he could call family feared him, he was under house arrest, possessed by a demon—

"I've told you: demons are food."

——And he can't even get drunk?

Caleb started laughing, it wasn't funny, and he wanted to stop, but he kept laughing until he bent over.Ash was warning in his body, but Caleb didn't bother to care.

"I have to get out of here." He gasped, his chest heaving with hysterical laughter. "I just...I can't...I need to get out!"

"it is good."

Ash agreed with him, which might be a bad omen, but he didn't care.He ran to the door, flung it open--then stopped, stood still, hesitating.The barrier wouldn't let him go through it - at least Starkweather said so.

What would happen if he tried it?Will it be attacked?Burn him to ashes?Throw him back?

"It won't stop us."

This is no consolation, he should probably sit on the couch and cool off.But he's had enough, enough of the apartment, enough of the voices in his head, enough of losing everything he loved.

Before he could think any more, he walked through the door.His eardrums twitched as he crossed the threshold, sparks flickered on his skin, but nothing else.

He came outside and was free.

"it is good."

Caleb started to run.