The Preying City

Vincent could see the surprise in Adam's eyes. He didn't know if it was because of his mask or his weapon, but he didn't care. Both the mask and pistol were formidable in both looks and performance anyways.

He stopped just a dozen feet away from the huge man. Looking at the lesser zombie that was feasting on the dead wolf in a messy fashion, he asked in a grim manner, "You can control that thing?"

"Yes." Adam answered in a servile manner. The fact that a werewolf hadn't even noticed the man before it got shot from point blank range could mean only one thing. The man was strong. Strong enough to take him down instantly. The best thing he could do now was to satisfy the man's curiosity.

"That's interesting. Did the creator relinquish his control over this thing?" Vincent grasped the man's thoughts instantly and questioned in an interested manner.

"Yes, other lower grade zombies can also control one that isn't under the control of the creator."

"What if the creator wants to control it once again?"

"The lesser zombie obeys the one who made contact with it last. I should still be in control even if the creator wants to take back control."

Nodding his head, Vincent looked at the man's mutilated arms. "You seem hurt."

"It's no big deal. It will heal before the tomorrow's sundown." Adam tried his best to smile and answered. He wanted nothing more than to get away from the masked man. Unfortunately, the other party seemed to have a lot more to ask him.

"Why are you fleeing from the city?"

"My boss put a bounty on my head." Adam answered dryly. He was way more tense than he was when two wolves were trying to rip him apart.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Vincent aimed his pistol at the lesser zombie's head and pulled the trigger. After a loud bang, the feasting corpse's head exploded like a overfilled water baloon.

Vincent aimed the gun at Adam and spoke while enunciating each word, "I DON'T LIKE LIES."

'F.u.c.k. This guy can even tell when I am lying. What's with his gun anyways. The head exploded instead of having a hole in it.'

Adam cursed silently in his mind and answered fearfully, "I slept with his mistress. I wasn't at fault. The vixen seduced me. I am not lying this time."

Vincent lowered his arm and continued, "What's in the other suitcase?"

"My clothes, a zombie potion, some extra bullets, a couple sticks of dynamite and my saving."

"A zombie potion? Not a grade 3 advancement potion?"

Adam's back was soaked with sweat. He didn't remember when was the last time he sweated this much. A zombie almost never perspired unless they were in extreme danger and he didn't dare to lie anymore.

"Yes, the guy who is waiting for me at the edge of the city promised to help me if I made him into a supernatural. I went and bought the lesser zombie and the potion just today."

"That's good." Vincent's words made the man relax and he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After ensuring that the man had his guard down, Vincent raised his gun and took aim once again. He pulled the trigger 5 times in a row, emptying the magazine. The zombie's head was full of holes and he was no longer breathing.

Vincent opened the suitcase and dumped out all its contents. He grabbed the 6 sticks of dynamite and 100 pound cash. Getting dynamite was hard inside the city even if you had money to throw and extra money never hurt anyone. He held the vial of red liquid gently and put it inside his inner pocket. Done with the task of looting the valuables in the suitcase, he walked away.

A couple of minutes after Vincent walked away, Adam woke up and took a deep breath. His head hurt like hell because of the bullets. A zombie's hardest body part was his skull and he had never been hurt this badly before. Cursing the man who robbed him of his belongings, he sat down on the ground and pinched out a bullet from his cheek. The process hurt like hell but he endured it.

"A zombie playing dead is really no different from a corpse. That was fascinating to watch."

Adam was startled by the voice and turned around. The same masked man was looking down at him with a gun pointed at his head.

Vincent pulled the trigger once again. The bullet went through the zombie's eye and destroyed the brain inside the skull. This time, he really was dead.

Vincent pulled out the syringe and drew the man's blood immediately. Storing the syringe back in his pocket, he unsheathed his knife and cut the man's thumb. The fat thumb had a ring firmly attached to it, probably because his thumb grew too big for the ring but he never took it off. Vincent put the thumb inside a sock he found inside the suitcase and extracted both the wolves' fangs as well.

He picked up the cartridge cases ejected from his pistol and left the scene. He didn't need to worry about being tracked using his smell or things like that anymore. He had the mask to hide him from such prying after all.

Soon, he was back in the Singing Siren bar and he approached the front bar. Having caught the bartender's attention, he took out Crazy Zombie Adam's handbill and the sock. The bartender put on a serious expression and his eyes turned white entirely. Soon, the other customers acted as if the front bar didn't exist and carried on with other things.

'So the bartender is a ghost. No wonder the bounty is to be collected here and not at the violet room. No normal person will pay attention to him if he uses his powers. I guess it makes sense. The violet room always has one or more supernatural in there after all. It would be bad for the organization if its bounty hunters went after each other because of greed. I should take note to only claim my bounty when no other bounty hunters are watching me in the future.'

The bartender confirmed the completion of the mission and paid Vincent 200 pounds. Giving the entire bar one last look, he swiftly exited the establishment and made for his room. He had work starting tomorrow and needed to get enough rest.

*****

Miss Mystique took a deep breath and held the jade hairpin in her hand. It had been two days since she bought it but couldn't bring herself to put it on. She had been craving the supernatural world for so long but now that it was finally within her reach, she felt a little scared.

'There are no downsides to using this artifact. Mr. Collector didn't mention any. Besides, this only harbors a weak female spirit. There is no need to be afraid. Come on Amelia, you can do this. Aren't you going to be Miss Mystique? Don't be scared of such a small thing. You have seen a key that can connect different places together and a mask with the freaking moon and clouds hanging over it. Pull yourself together.'

Encouraging herself, she slowly put on the hairpin. She peeked from a single eye and looked at the mirror. It was fascinating. The mirror had a figure who looked exactly like her and wore the same clothes. But it wasn't her reflection. The figure inside the mirror was observing her and she slowly composed herself.

"My name is Amelia. Amelia Pears. What about you?" Miss Mystic looked at the mirror and asked.

A voice rang directly in her mind. It was a weird sensation, almost as if someone was talking from inside her ears. "You can call me Luna."

"Are you a ghost?" Her fear disappeared as her excitement shot through the roof. Here she was, conversing with a figure inside a mirror. Wasn't this just like a fairy tale? She could barely contain her happiness. She couldn't remember how long she had dreamt of a moment like this.

"No, I am a spirit. I am what's left of a living being if you separate the consciousness from the body. A ghost on the other hand is a supernatural being that possesses a little similarity to a spirit."

Amelia didn't really get it but was happy all the same. Till now, all she had learned about the supernatural was what she had learnt in the gathering. On top of it, the knowledge she could get her hands on were fragmented and she couldn't make heads or tails out of it most of the time. Now, she had a servant spirit who could answer her questions.