It was a quiet night at Cerberus HQ, Eric lied flat on his bed with a leg crossed on top of the other—indulging in some late-night reading. He ignored the crickets chirping outside of his window, keeping his eyes fixed on the small novel he held high in both hands.
Suddenly, a strange noise coming from the hallway caught his attention—prompting him to lower the book and his head towards the door. The room was kept tidy with a wooden desk next to his bed, which was placed at the end of the room—facing the door.
“What was that?” the noble whispered, lifting himself from the bed to sit at the edge of it. “…!” a snapping sound from the hallway surprised him once more, drawing a quick gasp from his lips.
Curious about the strange noises, Eric put on his slippers and cautiously approached the door on his pajamas—leaning in closely with his ear resting on the wooden door. The strange snapping sound echoed suddenly in the hallway once again, and with no hesitation, Eric pulled the door open in a hasty motion—but what he found on the other side…
“What?”
“What?”
In the middle of the hallway, he found Scott, who roamed the place on his tippy-toes while wearing his pajamas. The men stared at each other for a couple of seconds, eyes wide open in surprise.
“What the hell are you doing, Foley?” Eric snapped at him—trying to keep his voice low.
“It wasn’t me!” Scott whispered somewhat loudly. “You heard those sounds too, right?”
“The snapping noises…”
“Yes, those!”
The sounds continued down the hallway, abruptly interrupting the pair’s conversation. Having been caught off guard, both Scott and Eric jumped in surprise at the sudden snaps down the hall—taking a quick breath to calm their nerves. They both looked at each other once again, nodding with confidence before returning to their rooms.
Only a minute later, the pair walked back into the hallway, ready for adventure and ghost hunting. Scott carried a small pistol on his hip, while Eric brought his sword for the occasion.
“As if specters weren’t enough, now we have ghosts?” Scott complained.
“You don’t believe in those things, do you?” Eric queried. “I was told only psychopaths and travel agents believe in ghosts.”
“Oh so, I’m the psychopath?” Scott retorted. “You are the one who placed his bed facing the door… with the window behind it what the f—”
“It’s normal, Foley!”
“Not it’s not!”
“Yes, it is!”
“Wait, did you say travel agents? What does that have to do with anything.”
“I don’t know, that’s just what I was told.” Eric shrugged. “Either way, do you really believe in ghosts?”
“Of course I do!” Scott stated. “What else could explain this strange phenomenon?”
“I see,” Eric nodded. “I am not one to believe in such things without evidence, but your argument is quite sound I must admit. I think you may be right, Foley.”
“Good, let’s continue.”
The pair eventually left the barracks into the obscure outdoors, the silvery light of the moon illuminated the grounds from above, and the crickets wouldn’t keep quiet about it—chirping loudly and continuously.
“Over there!” Eric whispered loudly—pointing his finger towards the training grounds.
Both Cerberus officers sprinted their way into a tiny cabin, which—even at such late hours in the night, was kept unlocked for unknown reasons. With a quick nod before proceeding, they both agreed to enter the room at the same time—busting the door open and rushing in blind with their fists raised.
“Stop!”
“You are under arrest, ghost!”
“…!”
To their shocking surprise, what they found inside the cabin instead was a woman. She was also dressed in her pajamas, with a white and black headband wrapped around her forehead. In one hand near her face, she held a half-eaten rice ball, which she has been wolfing down by herself inside the tiny room—packed with sports equipment like footballs, basketballs, bats, among others.
“…”
“…”
“…”
“What the hell!” Scott was the first to break the silence. “She’s alive!”
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“What’s that supposed to mean?” the woman retorted.
Eric chimed in the conversation, asking about the woman’s purpose in the room. “You don’t look like patrol, are you perhaps the ghost we’ve been hunting?”
Devouring the rest of her meal, the woman shook her head before introducing herself. “Ghost? Of course not. My name is Aria Baker, member of the Heretic unit!” she pointed at herself with her thumb, holding a cocky smile.
“Heretic?” Both Eric and Scott looked at each other with raised eyebrows.
“That’s right, if you thin—”
A sudden whistling sound from outside stopped Aria in her sentence, freezing cold at the creepy noises of the night. Bloodhound’s members turned rapidly to face the door, rushing into the open outdoors—quickly followed by Aria. The trio stood out in the open, illuminated by the silver light of the moon, keeping their senses sharp in case of supernatural activity.
“W-w-w-what was that!” Aria whispered somewhat loudly—pulling a gun from inside the shirt of her pajamas.
“It must be the ghost!” Scott claimed. “We should follow the noise and its ghostly traces.”
Eric turned to Aria. “Miss Baker, can you provide us with your aid?”
Aria breathed deeply to calm her nerves, twirling the pistol in her hand with a smirk. “You got it.”
“Wait!” Scott suddenly stopped the pair, stretching his arm to block their path. “We don’t have the equipment for ghost hunting…”
A quick gasp escaped Aria’s lips, figuring out the solution to their problems. “The cabin, there must be something there!”
The trio then proceeded to ransack the place in search for ghost hunting gear, and it only took them a few minutes to finally equip themselves properly. Scott was the first one to exit the cabin, armed with a baseball bat. Behind him followed Eric, who carried a skateboard under his arm for protection. Last but not least, Aria strode her way out of the room with a fishing rod—prepared for any challenge.
“Why does your company need all these equipment again?” Eric asked.
Aria hummed with a smile, reassuring the noble that Cerberus’ budget has never been misused in any or form. “Don’t worry blondie, we know what we are doing.”
“Alright, we should be good with these.” Scott stated. He grabbed the tip of his bat and pulled it down with force, which revealed a hidden chamber inside—loading it with a projectile before pulling the bat together. “Let’s move.”
“Right behind you,” Eric said—engulfing his skateboard in powerful flames. “Ouch, it’s hot…”
“Let’s stick together, who knows what this ghost might have in store for us.” Aria suggested—flipping a switch in her rod to activate its laser form, turning into a saber that radiated a bright purple light.
The trio scouted the grounds carefully, but found nothing in return. Their persistence would be rewarded shortly after however, as strange movements from a nearby bush caught their attention. They moved in closer with careful consideration, trying not to scare the ghost away while keeping their weapons at the ready.
Scott halted the team for a moment, devising a plan of attack. “Alright hear me out, on my mark, we jump it.” he ordered. “One… two… three… four… five… six… seven…”
“How long will you be counting for!” Eric snapped—keeping his voice low.
“It’s up to ten!”
“Since when!”
“Shh!” Aria shushed the pair, pointing her finger in the bush’s direction. “Look!”
Their faces went pale and their blood ran cold at the sight in front of them, staring in shock with mouths and eyes wide open. A strange red liquid suddenly began to flow from inside the bush, closely resembling blood—which traveled through the dirt into Scott’s feet.
“My flipflops!”
“D-do we attack?” Aria asked.
“I-I-I don’t know!” Scott replied. “What if its peaceful?”
“It just ate somebody!” Eric claimed. “Look at the blood dripping from this thing!”
Aria stepped forward, willing to lead the charge. “Alright here’s the plan, we all jump it on my mark, got it?”
“Yes!” the pair replied.
“Good, here go! One… two… three… four… five… six… six and a half…”
“Not this again!” Eric snapped.
“Jump it!” Aria suddenly ordered.
With no hesitation, both Scott and Eric responded to Aria’s command and leaped at the bush—landing on top of it. They squirmed around at a strange cold feeling in their bodies, screaming with panic as they started to be absorbed by the strange bush.
“Eric, I think it’s trying to eat me alive!”
“I feel it too, the cold embrace of death!”
“What are you idiots doing?” A familiar feminine voice called to the pair.
“Uh?” Both Scott and Eric stopped their squirming, coming face to face with Claire—who wore her black and gold uniform—as always.
She stared at her subordinates with a raised eyebrow and a half open mouth—crossing her arms in absolute confusion. “Why did you leave the barracks? And why in the world are you rubbing yourselves against that bush?”
“There’s a ghost!” Scott claimed standing back on his feet.
Eric followed right after, crossing his arms and nodding in agreement. “You’ve heard the sounds as well I’m sure, that’s why you came here.”
Claire grunted as her blood began to boil, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I came here because of the noise you idiots were making…”
“But it’s true, ask Aria!” Scott turned his head towards Aria’s last known location—spotting nothing but a fishing rod lying on the floor. “Huh!”
“Return to your rooms immediately,” Claire said with gritted teeth. “Or you’ll be running extra laps tomorrow.”
“Ma’am, yes ma’am!” the pair saluted before scurrying away—dropping their gear on the floor.
A sudden shake from the bush caught the lieutenant’s attention immediately, prompting her to approach with caution. Without any warning, under the dark sky and the silver moonlight above, from within the blood-stained leaves of the bush, a small girl hopped out from inside with a cheerful smile—carrying a bottle of fruit punch in hand.
“Lucy?” Claire said in surprise—recognizing the girl.
The brown-haired girl hugged her leg immediately, looking up at the lieutenant with a smile. Claire returned the gesture and picked the girl in her arms, causing her to spill some of the red juice in her clothes.
“Ah…”
Lucy giggled at the sight of the lieutenant’s dirty clothes, drinking what little fruit punch she had left in the bottle.
With a defeated sigh, Claire simply huffed a quick laugh before pulling Lucy closer into her. “You’ve caused a lot of trouble tonight. Should I make you run extra laps too, Lucy?” she said jokingly.
The girl shook her head rapidly while shutting her eyes closed, shrinking herself into Claire’s arms. “No,” she replied.
A quick chuckle escaped the lieutenant’s lips at Lucy’s response, walking away from the scene towards HQ’s main building. “Let’s go back to Sovereign then. You should be in bed at this hour.”
END OF CHAPTER