“AWW, MAN. HOW MANY NIGHTS HAS IT BEEN SINCE I’VE BEEN DOING THIS?” 

Clay walked as if no dead bodies were scattered around the abandoned warehouse he was in. It was almost midnight and he seemed bored while looking around dead bodies he just killed. He was checking if all the goons and the drug lords that gathered in that meeting place were dead.

No blood or any injuries can be seen in their bodies. They just lay there as if they were all sleeping in an awkward position. 

“And when will you stop giving me an easy kill?” Clay yelled to someone behind him. “This is so boring!”

“It’s not like there’s anything hard for you to kill, Clay,” his minion responded as he scanned the area using his invented drone. At first glance, Lock seemed like an eight year old kid. But he worked with death dealers for more than a hundred years already. So he knew how to deal with them. Right now he was making sure everyone in that place was dead. 

“Have you found Cassian yet?”

“Nope,” Lock responded casually as he scrolled the controller.

“Why?!” he yelled again while stomping his feet. Clay is acting like the kid while Lock was the adult one.

“He was not my priority.”

“He should be! It’s been four days since he was gone!”

Precisely. It was only four days and you’re acting like a baby, Lock would like to tell his boss.

Lock spotted a movement. A man was trying to be conscious. He was shot in his chest but it seemed their bullet only made him immobile and unconscious. Without a second look, Target looks at the holographic image on his screen, locks on the target and fires at the man who should have stayed dead. One shot in the head was all it took for him to kill the man. The blood and the cause of death of the humans around them can only be seen on his screen.

Clay only walked towards him as if Lock did not clean up his mess.

“Find him now, Lock. Or else I’ll go crazy!”

“Fine. I already asked Target to do that for me since we have this mission—”

Clay hugged Lock as if he was happy to find a younger brother. Lock was so used to it he no longer reacted and let Clay swing him like a doll.

“Yey! Yeeeyyy! Yeheyyy!!! I knew I could count on you. Now, where can we find him?”

“Can you please put me down first?”

SHE STARES AT THE TOP FLOOR OF THE PHILIPPINE MEDICAL CENTER. 

A girl, who looked like a twelve year old, with violet pigtails can be seen floating while analyzing the hospital building. She chews a pink gum and makes a balloon out of it. She wears a combination of black and violet clothes with minimal skulls and skeletons. Her black boots match her mismatched stockings. Target was her given name and the task given to him by Lock was to search for Cassian.

It leads her to that hospital building where the remaining power of Cassian can be felt. Few more days and it will completely fade. And they will have a hard time finding him. Target landed on the top floor, raised her hand in the air and gathered the power she was seeing. It became a solid purple thread that floats in the air. Rare beings can see or hold that thread. Like a girl lost in a cave, Target follows the thread and enters the building. It led her to a floor with private rooms. Like her, humans were busy doing their chores. Target was focused on following the thread until she reached the ground floor. It was where the thread ended.

When Target moved her hand the compiled thread vanished in her hand. She walked casually outside the hospital and saw a dark skinned boy and a beautiful woman entering the building. They seemed to be arguing.

“You don’t need to come with me, Johann. I’m the only one who should have gone to the office today. I’m the patient. Not you.”

“Come on, Mom. I’m no longer a child. I’m an adult who should be doing these things.”

“You just turned eighteen. And you still need supervision.”

The mother and child walked past Target without even looking at her. But Target sensed something on the two. When she turned around to look at them again they were at the Information booth and were confirming their appointment.

“Hey, Target! How was your search?” said a voice Target knew so well.

Clay was smiling as he stood behind her. He was taller than her so she could not help but tilt her head up a bit. In a formal manner, Target reported everything she sensed in the hospital building.

“He walked inside this hospital as if he was visiting a patient. But his presence was strongest at the top floor. Something happened there. He was attacked by demons and Cassian wiped them all. But after that he vanished.”

“Hmm… fifth day and counting then,” Clay said as if disappointed by her report. “Where could he be?” He seemed to lose his energy.

“I sensed him earlier.”

“What? Where?!” Clay was excited as he looked around again.

Target pointed at the dark skinned boy she noticed earlier.

“GEEZ… WHY IS MOM SO MAD? I WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP.” 

Johann was irritated while walking outside the hospital building.

 He was asked to step outside and eat lunch since her tests will take a while. 

“I want you to wait in the car as soon as you have your lunch. Do you understand?”

“Fine,” Johann said.

He knows what his mother really meant was to stay with Luz so someone could keep an eye on him. Johann intends to follow his mother’s wish. He would simply grab some food for him and Luz then wait for his mother. However, as he walked along the side road, Johann could not help but notice how random demons reacted to him. Some are like stray cats who were startled by his presence. A bigger one was watching him like an owl on a tree, except this one is at the corner of a building. They were afraid of him. And it felt awkward. Not that he could not handle any trouble by himself in broad daylight.

It’s been like this since yesterday. But I should not let my guard down.

When one demon started moving towards Johann it tried to hide its presence but Johann was already aware of it behind him. When he continued walking, the demon was preparing to pounce Johann on his back. Johann prepared his fists for that attack. But when Johann turned and was about to punch the demon that leaped towards him, a guy in a motorbike came crashing to it first. Johann was shocked to see how the motorbike crashed on the wall. Luckily, they are at the part where the entrance of the other commercial buildings are a few feet away from them.

“Are you okay?” Johann asked the guy who was lying on the ground. There was no blood or any injury. But Johann ran to him to check if the guy with a hoodie was still conscious. And he was. His arms are wide open while lying on the cemented floor. The guy was smiling as if he was only sunbathing.

“Hey, there!” 

The guy greeted him as he looked at him. He looked a few years older than Johann yet something in his face and gestures made Johann feel like he was talking to a child.

Unknown to Johann, he was looking at another death dealer. And Clay was analyzing Johann ever since he came out from the hospital building.