Reaper

The first hunt

David was still in the dark about the present task at hand, but Ryder walked away without offering any more explanations. As David stepped out of the living room, he and Vanessa were led to a table by one of Ryder’s butlers. It was a teak wood table dating back at least a hundred years, with sturdy legs shaped like the paws of a lion. On it were neatly arranged the weapons Ryder had just mentioned.

Vanessa picked up the golden Beretta 92F and handed it to David along with a pair of extra magazines. “These are modified handguns blessed at the altar of God. Each magazine holds 17 rounds of silver bullets,” she said.

This was the first time David had ever held a gun made almost entirely out of gold. He knew it must have cost Ryder a fortune. During his time as a cop, he was only issued with a basic Glock pistol, one of the cheapest models around. He took his sweet time admiring the gun and trying to make out the Latin inscription engraved at the side of its barrel which read: ‘Transcende ac Tenebras.'

Following David’s eyes, Vanessa quickly understood that he had a hard time deciphering the meaning of the words. So she placed her thumb on the barrel and read out the words slowly and explained, “The words are written in Latin. It means ‘Transcend the Darkness’. It’s quite a meaningful lesson for someone like you.” She then handed him the next weapon on the table. “This is a silver bladed bowie knife for when things get too personal. Just remember to go for the head or the heart. Those are the weak spots for most monsters.”

After David had finished examining the dagger, his eyes quickly fell on the 3rd weapon. “Is that an actual crossbow? Why would I need that when I have a gun?”

“Guns are loud and can attract a lot of unnecessary attention. When you want to keep it quiet you have to use a crossbow. The crossbow has a longer range than a handgun and the bolts are stealthy,” Vanessa replied.

The last weapon on the table was a strange looking ammo belt holding glass spheres containing a sparkling blue dust. “And what are those?” David asked, pointing at the curious mystical objects.

Vanessa smiled and answered, “Those are your greatest friends when outnumbered. These are disabling grenades. They contain sapphire dust along with traces of sulfur. Throw this at a monster and it will become paralyzed and unable to use any abilities.”

After he had finished checking out his new weapons, he looked back up at her. “These are all for fighting monsters. But what if we encounter an evil spirit?” he asked.

“Incantations are your most powerful weapon when dealing with spirits. And since they were once human beings, they are afraid of divine retribution and will cower before any sign of God. I just hope you don’t run into a spirit all alone because vanquishing them can be a nightmare.”

When they had finished checking the different weapons, Marianne arrived with a new set of clothes. “Master David, these are for you. If you are to blend in with the shadows and fight the evil which lurks outside, you must look the part as well.”

David went back to his room and geared up in his new attire with the weapons strapped to the holsters. The man who stepped outside wasn’t the same old cop but a Reaper in full black leather jacket and jet black denims. With the golden Beretta at his side and the polymer crossbow slung on his back, David was ready to hunt.

Vanessa had brought her own ride. It was a gray SUV with a matte polish and cyan interiors. It wasn’t exactly meant for a stealthy approach but could handle rough terrain where other vehicles would fail.

“That’s a big car for just the two of us. Do you usually work with a team?” David asked, staring at the vehicle.

“Do I look like a person who needs a team?” Vanessa rolled her eyes at him. Opening the front door, she added, “A big car helps to carry special equipment for the hunts. Hunting monsters and spirits is a complicated business.”

It was almost evening by the time they were on the road. Vanessa had set the GPS for the local graveyard around St. Thomas Avenue. The graveyard had been built some 150 years ago on a grassy patch of land shaded by oak trees. As the clock was about to strike 5 pm, they reached their destination. Everything seemed normal. The graveyard was quite removed from the human settlements, with the nearest apartment complex about 2 miles away. There were only a couple of old abandoned vehicle repair shops nearby.

Before getting out of the car, David felt he should know a bit more about what they were hunting. And so he enquired with grim seriousness, “What kind of creature are we going to be dealing with?” He had heard the burly intruder mention the word ‘demons’ and he wasn’t too keen on encountering something so dangerous on his first hunt.

“We are here to exterminate a colony of ghouls. Should be easy enough if you don’t screw up,” she replied.

“I am a cop. I know how to handle myself. You need to stop behaving like a spoilt little brat, if we are going to work together!” he snapped back at her.

Vanessa stepped down from the car and instead of answering him, only cast a scornful sideways glance at David. It was clear from her demeanor that she did not need David’s help and only considered him a hindrance. She still felt that Ryder’s faith in him had been misplaced.

In any case, she simmered down for the present and focused on the hunt. From inside the glove compartment, she took out a shiny metal canister with a black lid. Once David had climbed out, she locked the doors. The car had been parked a hundred meters away from the graveyard.

David followed Vanessa as she casually strolled across the street and made her way towards the graveyard. He was surprised as to how she could behave so calmly even though they were about to hunt an entire colony of ghouls. As for him, he didn’t even know how many ghouls there were in a single colony.

Once they had reached the graveyard, David was about to step inside when Vanessa caught his arm and pulled him back. She looked into his face with intensity and spoke with grave seriousness. “What the hell do you think you are doing? Don’t make any moves unless I tell you to or you will get us both killed! Stay behind me and keep an eye out. I don’t want to carry your corpse back to Mr. Ryder.”

David was startled by her words and pulled back his lifted leg. He quietly stepped back and moved away from the grass. Vanessa looked at her watch to confirm the time and then began pouring a shiny powder from the metal canister. She was tracing a thick line along the perimeter of the graveyard.

“What is that?” David asked.

Vanessa replied without looking up, “It’s silver dust.” She continued tracing the line all along the boundary of the graveyard with David following her quietly. When she returned back to the starting point, she joined the ends together and checked to make sure there weren’t any gaps.

“It’s 5:30 now. Just a few more minutes to go,” she exclaimed, looking at her watch again. “Let’s head back to the car and wait.”

The pair returned to the car and waited impatiently for the clock to strike 6. As the sun set in the background, a change came over Vanessa. She grinned with a bloodthirsty look in her eyes. It was a strange kind of excitement, one all hunters felt as they waited on their prey.

“Help me carry this,” she said, opening the car’s cargo hold. She handed a large brown sack to him and instructed him to wait near the graveyard but a good few paces away from the silver line.

As advised, he hauled the heavy sack back to the graveyard with Vanessa following behind, carrying a large black bag in her hand. As the night fell in, David felt his heart beating rapidly against his chest and a weird restlessness took hold of him. He could hear clawing noises coming from deep within the earth and there was this horrible stench of burning flesh which choked his nostrils. It was almost as if he could sense the evil nearby.

“Ghouls only come out to hunt at night, unless they are desperate. Open the sack.” Vanessa’s voice temporarily distracted him from his thoughts. She put down her bag and helped David cut the ropes tied on the sack’s mouth. As the sack was emptied, a whole adult lamb fell out of it. The animal had been freshly killed and was still looking plump and juicy. “We need to toss it inside. When hunting monsters, bait is very important. You want to make sure that you draw out the entire colony so that you can finish them all at once.”

“I don’t think we can handle so many ghouls at once!” David protested, feeling unsure about this idea. He had already seen how deadly a single ghoul could be and he was not ready to lure an entire colony of these monsters.

“Just do as I say,” replied Vanessa. “The ghouls cannot cross the silver lining around the graveyard. It burns their flesh. All we need to do is kill them. It will be just like shooting fish in a barrel!”

David had no choice but to trust her knowledge. Taking in a deep breath of the night air, he pulled up the lamb by its hind legs. Vanessa grabbed the other 2 legs and lifted it clean off the ground.

“On the count of 3,” Vanessa looked in his direction and he confirmed with a slight nod.

“1..2...and 3!”

At the count of 3 they hurled the whole lamb over the silver line. As soon as it landed inside the graveyard, the ground erupted with a raucous cacophony of screeching noises. The ghouls clawed their way from their burrows and resurfaced on the ground snarling like rabid dogs. Over 30 adult ghouls and 10 younger ones pounced on the lamb all at once, fighting with each other to devour the fresh meat.

Vanessa unzipped her black bag and smiled menacingly. “Time to kill!”