Exorcist Servant: Demon Hunter

Through the chaos of blinding flashing lights, yellow strips, and armed guards, John parked at the end of the alley.This alley is very narrow and long, with bars and shops on one side and historical buildings on the other.It might be a welcome shortcut during the day, but at night very little light escapes from the main road.

Caleb sat nervously in the back row, staring out the window with an expression that made John wonder if he was talking to Ash.John put a hand on Caleb's thin knee and said, "Ready?"

Caleb looked up, and John caught the flicker of tension in his eyes before he covered it up. "You really don't want to spend money on men, can't we go to other places except the crime scene?"

"Not at public expense." As much as he enjoyed bickering, he did need to give Caleb a warning. "Seriously, what follows is not a very pleasant scene. Even a detective with 20 years of experience would be uncomfortable with some scenes." Of course, talking about the bloody scenes.

Caleb shrugged and looked away. "I have to go, whether they are happy or not."

John blinked and said, "I'm sorry, I don't want you to feel like you're being pushed to do anything."

"Sorry for making you think this was about you," Caleb replied. "It's for Ben, and for myself."

In that case, all right.John opened the door, "Let's go."

They walked down the alley, Caleb walking behind.The brick walls on both sides became narrower and narrower, so that the thick bloody smell could not be blown away by the wind, and John could even taste the iron in the blood.

John showed his badge to the detectives guarding the scene. "He's with me," he said, tilting his head in Caleb's direction.Curiosity flickered in the agent's eyes, but he just nodded and lifted the cordon to let them slip through.

Searchlights cast a grim white light down the center of the alley, a photographer takes pictures from every angle, and the forensic examiner takes samples.Kania stood aside and watched, even though it was late, she didn't even have a single hair messed up - did the woman sleep or not?

"Special Agent Starkweather," she nodded dryly. "Mr. Johnson, thank you for joining us."

"Of course." The searchlights stole what little blood was left of Caleb's face, his eyes flicked nervously in the direction of the crime scene, but the forensics blocked his view.

"Starkweather told me that you can trace the inhuman beings involved in this case," she said, as if challenging him.

Caleb swallowed, but his eyes met the other's. "I can, I can smell it."

"Hmm." Her eyes narrowed, but she didn't say much. "Why don't you look at the scene and locate the direction in which the criminal escaped?"

John quietly put a hand on Caleb's arm as Kania turned and shouted orders at the forensics team. "Just relax."

"You're unwarranted optimism, aren't you?" Caleb whispered back. "There is nothing to relax in the future, Hui... wants to intervene in this matter."

It's the good spirit that doesn't work and the bad spirit—let Hui take control of the situation, and then get out of control and screw it up in front of Kania. "Be patient and let the chief know that she can trust you."

"Starkweather!" Kania called, and seeing the technicians had cleared the field, John took his hands off Caleb's arms and led the way to the body.

In that alley, between a converted warehouse and the brick walls that surrounded the overgrown garden of the private residence, only a small part of the body remained.With his upper body still intact, he was lying face up with his arms spread out, a look of horror frozen on his face.

The rest of him is... less complete, to put it mildly.Blood spattered the walls on both sides and pooled on the uneven bricks beneath him.His clothes were bloody rags, torn from his assailants trying to get hold of the delicate flesh underneath, leaving only a bitten mess under the sternum, blood mixed with bone fragments.

The personality part of the werewolf was spiraling out of control, and before long it would become a force of rage and hunger, and all intelligence and personality would be gone.It must be caught before it wreaks havoc on many more people.

Caleb let out a low groan, turned his head away, and fell to his knees.John blinked at the sound of retching.Well, at least Caleb was still sane enough not to spit it out at the crime scene.

Crouching down beside him, John stroked his back in slow circles.Caleb forgot to put on his coat, but outside on a winter night, he didn't even shiver.

Doesn't he have much time?

He's still mostly human at the moment, and his back is still warm to the touch through the thin fabric of his T-shirt. "It's all right," John said.

"It's okay shit! What's that called okay?" Caleb staggered to his feet, and John steadied him with one hand to help him stand.

"I can't argue with you about this," John said, looking back at the body. "We need to catch this thing before it kills any more."

Caleb rubbed his face with his wrist, as if impatient with his own brief display of weakness. "No. I mean, it's...not clear to you, I mean, I knew the victim."

***

Caleb puts his arms around himself, resisting the trembling inside.God, what a mess of all kinds.His heightened senses could smell everything in the alley: blood, bile, and feces.His stomach turned slowly.

"Who is he?" Starkweather asked while waiting for Kania's instructions. "Do you know the victim?"

He didn't want to look at Kania, she scared the shit out of him.If she thought he was hiding something, she could throw him in jail and let him sit there to rot, and the hard look in her eyes made him think she wouldn't even take a second to make a decision.

"He's—well, the dead man's name is Dave," he said to Starkweather. "He's a friend of Melanie's. I don't know his last name, I've never met him before the House of Destruction. He drives a van."

Kania and Starkweather exchanged a meaningful look. "Let's talk about it later." The director said decisively, "Now, let's focus on finding that inhuman spirit body. Mr. Johnson?"

"I can do it." Let him do anything as long as he can get out of this slaughterhouse-like alley.

"Finally." Hui Hui's premonition filled his whole body, rushing along his nerves.The demon's trail was like a black line drawn in the air, and on the ground there was a trail of rotten smell that made them gape.They need to move and run—

Do not!

Caleb staggered, trying to control his speed from a gallop beyond human limits - so Gray thought - to a trot.We can't go so fast.

"It will run away!"

We'll catch it, but I don't like the way Kania looks at us, if she sees you as a threat, you're left with your demon hunt in SPECTR's prison.

Hui growled, but in the end he was honest.Let's be honest.He seemed to settle down, and Caleb felt himself grabbing a tiger by the scruff with both hands, struggling to keep it under control.

The trace points to Donghai Bay Street and turns south.Caleb gave in to Ash's impatience and began to trot, but neither Starkweather nor Kania told him to slow down.

A premonition arises. "The demon is nearby."

They turned a side road, and the dark shape of a park against a breakwater loomed before them.A huge cruise ship looms on the left, its lights shining on the dark sea ahead.Is that werewolf hiding in the park?Or - god forbid - on a cruise ship?

They ran suddenly, the thick demon miasma filling their nostrils like a cloud of burning musk.It must be nearby—

Just before they ran into the park, the smell disappeared by the side of the road.Hui circled around a few times, and trotted back to the previous path, forcing two SPECTR agents to jump aside, and the smell disappeared again.

"no no!"

An involuntary hiss escaped his mouth.Kania's eyes narrowed, and Caleb cursed angrily.Damn it, what would they—yuck, he, not them—seem to the exorcist?How much can Kania feel?If she thinks Ash is out of control...

"Caleb?" Starkweather asked, sounding worried but not worried, for now.

"It escaped." His voice sounded strange to his own ears: too deep, too forceful.He felt a strong sense of defeat - if they hadn't wasted time on that dead human, they could have grabbed it!

No.He took a deep breath.This anger was not his.But, hell, he wanted to catch it too, catch the damn thing that killed his brother.His anger melted into Gray's, and its anger fed back to him, accumulating...

Starkweather's hand held his wrist, but his fingers were gentle: "Did you lose track?"

Caleb focused his attention on the warmth of Starkweather's hand on his skin. "I didn't lose it, did I? That's where the traces disappear."

"That inhuman spirit must have left in a van," Kania said.

"Dave's got a van, maybe the demon stole it." But it's not capable of that, is it? "I thought this thing was going to be a mindless killer that just slaughtered everything in sight, like a ghoul."

"Ghouls are definitely at the bottom of the list for IQ," Starkweather said. "And the irrational rage you speak of is common among shapeshifters. But it can be commanded, at least temporarily. Norse warriors sometimes make deals to be possessed as bearshape in battle. Their enemies fear them ...but their companions are also afraid. They will slaughter their enemies at first, but most of them will eventually start killing their friends and relatives until they are finished."

"Based on the condition of the body, the human host still had some kind of control when your brother was killed," added Kania, standing with her gun raised, scanning the street as if she was hoping the demon would decide to come back Same. "The host's control is disappearing, that's obvious. But if the person tries to force it back, to anyone who isn't an exorcist or a love reader, that person will look completely normal."

What will be his fate?As Ash became more stable, was slowly pushed aside until he was completely gone, leaving only a creature of blood and thunderstorms?

Caleb slid down against the trunk of a tree that shaded the street. "To die."

Kania holstered her weapon. "I sympathize, Mr. Johnson."