Karla was taking a rest next to the gate leading to the elevator. Surgit saw her sleeping and she heard his footstep, she stood up and unsheathed her sword. “Oh it’s you. You scared the hell out of me. I didn’t hear you coming till you got close.” Karla had no idea that he’d just resuscitated right next to her. All the best for him, he didn’t want her to know that. “So what did you find?” she asked. “An old graveyard and a closed metallic gate, I’ll look around here to find a key or another way in. There has to be something we could use to open it. You should take more rest. I’ll be back before you know it.” He was too ashamed to tell her of what happened to him against the old man. And he didn’t know how to explain to her that he can’t technically die. “Alright, thanks for this, I owe you one.” She said and she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes.

She was in no condition to help him either. That hunter was fast and deadly. One attack from him could finish her in no time. What’s more, her clothes were all in tatters. She couldn’t be expected to move around the city while most of her body was exposed. He thought about doing something about but he decided to leave the matter for later. He suddenly remembered a fact and woke her up.

“There is a clinic not too far from here. There are no beasts in there so you can rest there without fearing any ambush.” “That sounds better than this cold floor. Where should I go?” she asked. “I’ll lead you there myself. Your body is still recovering, your reflexes might fail you on the way there and there are beasts on the way.” He tried not to sound too chivalrous. He knew that would annoy her and he also dreaded the reaction of the voices inside his head. “That would be helpful yes.” That was so out of character that it took him aback. “Well, I’ll head down the ladder first and take care of one patrol there.”

When Karla reached the bottom of the ladder, he had already taken care of the axe wielding man-beast. He led her towards the clinic and advised her to rest in the anteroom next to the door where he usually meets Iosefka. “I will leave you now. I will close the door to the clinic as I leave. Stay on your guard though, the beasts here are unpredictable.” She nodded and lied down on the wooden floor.

Surgit went back towards the lantern then took the elevator down and went through the bridge. He saw half a dozen men-beasts standing in front of him, barring his passage. He marched forward and got ready to dispose of them. They ran towards him in an organized manner. They attacked in group and synchronized their movement. They didn’t leave him any opening to strike at. ‘It’s as if they too learned from our previous encounter,’ thought Surgit.

He was just dancing around their attacks, waiting for the opportunity to obliterate them. It was crucial that he’d lead them in a straight line. Then with the corner of his eyes he saw a light coming towards them. It grew larger and it was heading their way. A gigantic fireball was rolling at top speed, he rolled to the side but the other men-beasts didn’t have enough time to dodge it. It hit them all on the back and killed them instantly.

‘Now to the bastard who organized this ambush’ He looked up and saw a troll standing at the top of the stairs. If it weren’t for his enhanced vision and quick reflexes he would have been back next to the lantern again. He disposed of the troll easily and proceeded back to the graveyard.

That man transformed into a beast right in front of him, he was really afraid of becoming like him. He wondered at the hunter’s first words before he attacked him. ‘I’ll become a beast too? Is that what he hinted at?’ he thought. ‘Possibly..’ answered a lone voice in his head while others chuckled.

As he entered the graveyard, he was ready to move faster and dispose of that beast as fast as possible. Lingering around for long will only make the beast deadlier. What he found in there was not a beast though but the old man, standing in front of him, looking at him with murderous intent. The man released a shot from his shotgun and as Surgit dodged it, he took the axe swing right in the chest. He was sloppy again and let the man hit him first. His feet felt weak and he struggled to stand up and regain his form.

The old man didn’t leave him any moment’s respite, he struck him again with his axe and Surgit watched with horror as his left arm lay in the ground motionless. He received a blow to the jugular with the pommel of the hunter’s axe and as he staggered back, the weapon sliced his throat open. He gasped for air as the man watched him lose consciousness. He then heard him say “Afraid to show your true face eh… But a sporting hunt it was.”

****

Francis was glad that whatever was in the dark, killing those poor men-beasts hadn’t noticed him. His fear from death was driving him forward. He didn’t want to meet the morbid end Karla did. He saw the gigantic closed metallic gate. He tried to open it to no avail. He made some noise trying to force it open and he heard that the thing downstairs had stopped hacking and slashing.

‘Maybe he’d noticed me. I need to move fast or I’m minced meat.’ He climbed the gate and dropped on the other side. He didn’t know he managed to climb those metallic bars, without anything to grab onto but he was on the other side. His desire to survive had won. He found himself in front of a tall building. Three or maybe four floors; he couldn’t tell as he was clearly standing in front of the back door at the bottom floor.

The door was open so he went through. It looked like a basement and storage facility. Barrels and sacs were scattered all around. He saw a ladder leading to the upper floor. ‘Yes this is definitely the basement.’ He climbed up and opened a trap door, revealing a library.

“Oh, you’re not a hunter, yet you’re sane. How did you worm your way up here?” He turned right and saw a woman, fully clothed in white from neck to toe. She had long dark blonde hair, a thin nose and small lips. Her chin was pointy and her exposed neck looked long and pale. She looked like one of the ladies he’d met during the numerous balls he used to host in his mansion, aristocratic and pretentious. The kind he hated but the ones he could easily manipulate. He climbed from the ladder and closed the trap door.