Seeing his chance to be useful, Orion straightened his back and stepped forward.

“Hey,” he shouted, “What do you want?”

He now saw the two figures clearly; one was a messy-haired blond with a patchy beard and an easy smile, while the other man had clear-cut scars and wore a metal cap.

“What are you doing here? This is a crime scene we’re investigating,” the blond said.

“Seekers?” Orion replied.

The blond man frowned before realisation hit him.

“You guys as well? On our contract?”

Contrary to Orion’s expectations, his tone wasn’t bitter but instead… relieved?

“Yeah, hope you don’t mind the split pay,” Orion said, trying to milk information.

“Na na, not a worry, man. And lady. You guys are 3-stars, right?”

Kora nodded before Orion corrected him.

“Great. Truth be told, me and Rover went out of our le—” the blond said, only to be jabbed by Rover.

“This is a dangerous mission, and we’d appreciate your support,” Rover said.

Orion caught on but ultimately appreciated the social rules and overlooked it. Kora didn’t.

One side of her lips curled into a bent smile. “Our support? Then, I’m guessing you guys can do this alone? Aaron showed us other contracts we could do,”

Rover clenched his fists, but his friend gripped his shoulder and looked him in the eye. The blond whispered something, then righted his stern face.

“Na, sorry, boss-lady; we’re 2-stars risking it on this. But the more we’ve found, the more it seems the reward ain’t worth the price we’d pay.” He paused and appealed to Orion. “So, we’d like it if we could group up with you,”

Orion had watched Kora long enough to know her response.

“Yeah, sure. Support is always appreciated,” he said.

She scowled at him. “You owe me twice now,” she whispered.

“Great. I’m Wes, and this is Rover,” the blond said.

“Jax, and Kora,”

“I’m guessing you guys just got here? We’ve checked all the scenes but not sure what to do now,” Wes said.

Kora snorted and kneeled, surveying the surrounding filth. “I’m seventy percent sure it’s a Korshi, but the only way to be certain is by finding its lair. The last death Aaron attributed to this contract was almost a month ago, so the monster should be there and not punting the canals as a ferryman.”

She stood. “Take us to the latest scene. You’ve been there, right?”

Wes nodded and led the three Seekers onto a taxi. He started small talk with Orion but soon found his focus transferred to Kora as she firmly grasped the conversation. Rover stared into the sky and only gave short answers when asked. A few minutes later, the Seekers got off and crossed a bridge through which they entered a wealthier region. The houses were larger and made from bricks with tufts of grass at their fronts – it was where the emerging middle-classed lived.

Taking a moment to ponder the route, Wes led them in circles before eventually retracing his steps and arriving at the scene. Coincidently, or not, they were right next to the canals with stairs leading to the lower passage. When the water was low, you could walk along the lower passage, but today was not one of those times.

“Are all the sites besides a canal?” Kora asked.

“Yeah, we think the monster moved through the water or across the lower passage. We know it’s here somewhere since the sites are a few minutes to an hour walking distance of each other, but we didn't find a lead,” Rover answered.

“Do you know anyone related to the man who died here?” she asked.

“That house,” Wes said, pointing a few metres away, “was where he lived with his wife. I dunno about the kids though. We talked to her, but she was too troubled to give us any helpful details,”

The house was well-maintained, and there were small daisies strewn across the lawn. However, the dirt was clotted with footsteps, most likely from the council following up on this death – the only reason this case had received attention was due to the victim’s status and not because of the severity or implications.

Kora knocked on the house’s bright-yellow door.

Orion imagined how it must feel to have a loved one murdered metres away from you. He had endured worse, but he hadn’t seen split skin or heard any banshee screams. But, on the other hand, this lady still had her house, her wealth, and her kids. He had been left with nothing, nothing but hatred.

Noticing no signs of life from the house, Kora was about to leave when Wes stopped her.

“Sophie, it’s the Seekers. We’ve nearly got the monster, we just need to know one thing,” he shouted.

They waited. Then, the door clacked and creaked open, a fat lady with tanned, tear-stained skin eyeing them spiritlessly.

“Seekers? Again? What do you want?” she asked as if desperately searching for a reason to whine. She stood by the door and blocked the hallway, intent on keeping them outside.

“Your husband, tell me what happened and what his body looked like afterwards,” Kora said.

“Have I not retold the horror enough times? Why do you torment me!?” Sophie screeched. Her eyes spoke of sleepless nights.

“One last time, Sophie. Kora’s an expert tracker, she just needs to hear the facts first-hand to find the monster,” Wes said, plucking facts from thin air.

Kora stopped, then nodded.

“Fine, continue your torture! I was inside, making dinner when he went out for a smoke,”

Orion wondered what that meant? Did he make fires for fun? Nonetheless, he didn’t interrupt the shaking woman.

“Then, a scream. I ran out and saw some thing, its long and bony limbs holding my husband’s face. Its mouth, its mouth,” she sobbed, “it was slurping up his face and his brain. It looked like a human that had been stretched, with black eyes. Pure black.”

Kora placed a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. “That’s enough,”

Sophie backed away and nodded too many times while staring through the Seekers. Suddenly, her body collapsed and smashed against the wooden floorboards, blood leaking from her scalp. Orion rushed forward while the others momentarily froze.

Realising this was the perfect opportunity, Kora smiled and cracked her fingers against Wes’s face, making him fall and clamber back. Rover growled and charged at her, before being sidestepped and tripped.

“It’s a Korshi,” she said from above them. “It’ll suck your blood to regain energy, and you two are too slow to not get caught, let alone be any use,”

They stood and righted themselves, embarrassed at failing but angry at her way of testing.

“Or do you need more proof you’re too slow?” she asked.

Wes didn’t move but Rover did. Kora strode forward and propelled her foot up. He crossed his arms in time but still staggered back, his eyes wide at her strength.

“Stay here with Sophie. I’ll kill it with Jax,”

Orion stood once Wes came to Sophie, and he walked past Rover who clutched his forearms with a downcast gaze. The pale Seeker nodded at the other two and followed Kora who had ran ahead.

She wandered down the road, peeking down each sewer opening they came across. It was at the eighth one she stopped. “The Korshi must have felt safe in this city to assimilate so nearby,”

It looked like any other sewer opening with metal bars and a lever lock beside. It smelled of shit and vomit and had green stains across it. Kora pushed the lever and pinned it in its hold. She grinned at Orion and pointed down.

“In,”

Shit.