ADRIAN HUNTER
Go time. The day of the mission was here and Adrian couldn’t possibly be any more ready. He was marching his way towards the address in the report Mr. Harrows gave them, with Isabelle and Alex lagging slightly behind him. It wasn’t the city centre, so there weren't many people around, but he noticed that the few people he did pass by always seemed to stop what they were doing to look at him briefly. Spirit hunters could be considered celebrities depending on who you asked, but he didn’t truly realise just how recognisable a simple black jacket with the initials “S.H.A” would be to others until he put it on for himself.
Walking down the street some more, he noticed two younger kids, walking out of a corner store. The one wearing his cap sideways looked stunned and tapped his friend as he made eye contact with Adrian. “Dude, go up to him!” he whispered loudly to his friend, “Get his autograph or something!”
“You first!” His friend shoved him back.
Adrian wanted to get to the Winchester family’s house ASAP, but decided he could spare a few seconds to say something. Heroics and the like. It definitely wasn't a big deal for him at all. “Hey, you guys good? I don’t have a pen for an autograph, sorry.”
“That’s fine, that’s fine!” the sideways cap kid said, bouncing up and down, “You guys are so cool, though!”
“I appreciate it!" Adrian chuckled, "Make sure you get home safe, alright?”
“For sure, for sure!”
He watched as they ran off in laughter, even waving at the other two as they passed them. Isabelle was nice enough to wave back, but Alex seemed mostly disinterested. He was carrying a sword he got from the school’s weapon shed in an unassuming black carrying case strapped over his shoulder. “Yo, Adrian," he called, "You’ve been ahead of us this whole time, what’s the rush?”
“I’m not rushing. You guys are just slow.”
“No, dumbass," he said sarcastically, "We’re tired. Don't you remember? There was some idiot making noise out in the training grounds at three in the morning."
Adrian felt his face twitch and scrunch up. He was the idiot that did that. But for good reason. Just in case they’d end up having to fight something today, he was warming himself up. He had an ugly screaming match with Alex when he opened his window to tell him to go back inside, but that was par for the course, like, every other day at this point.
“Well, maybe I wanted to-”
“Guys. Nuh uh. We’re outdoors,” said Isabelle, casually stepping between them, “How much longer till we get to the house?”
Adrian pulled out his phone and quickly glanced at his maps app. “Eight minutes, ma’am.”
“Okie dokie. Let’s carry on walking, then. Civilised.”
Adrian silently watched and followed as she took the lead. Just the week before, she might have done something once he and Alex started arguing, but it definitely wouldn’t have been as assertive as she was just now. It was a small change, of course. She probably didn't even notice it herself, but he did, and couldn’t help but smile for her.
Eight more minutes of walking brought them to their destination. The curtain on the front window was open slightly, allowing them to peek through to the dining room. Old cans and piles of dirty plates were piled up on the table. Adrian made a mental note of the poor condition before knocking on the door. It took a while, but someone eventually came to answer. There was a chain lock, so it didn't open fully, but it was just enough for him to see the lady who was peeking out at them.
“You kids are…spirit hunters?” Her voice lacked any sort of energy, putting Adrian on edge.
“Um, yeah," he replied, "We're here to talk to your son, Ray.”
Without a word, she shut the door. The clanging of the lock being undone could be heard before it opened again. "You can come in,” she said, ushering them inside, “I’m sorry about the state of the house.”
“D-don’t worry,” Isabelle said, “We understand the circumstances.”
Mrs. Winchester had a pair of heavy looking bags hanging underneath her eyes, and a cardigan that was sloppily draped over her shoulders. There was a shakiness to each of her mannerisms too. Nothing too crazy, but enough to notice since Adrian was paying attention. He tried to smile at her when he walked past, but she couldn’t even bring herself to look him in the eye, let alone return the smile. His chest tightened seeing the condition she was in. Even beginning to fathom how she must have felt, not knowing her daughter's condition, felt like an impossible task.
He made sure to take his shoes off and leave them by the door with all the others before stepping onto the carpet. Even though she apologised for it earlier, he didn’t find the house to be all that messy. As she led them to the living room, she quickly kicked a few pieces of paper out of their way, but apart from that and the dining room, there was nothing else out of order. A testament to the quality that she must have usually held herself to.
“Adrian,” Alex whispered, pulling him back, “You ask the kid the questions for the interview.”
“I was already gonna do that,” he whispered back, “But why are you telling me?”
“She’s hanging by a thread,” He said, nodding towards Mrs. Winchester, “I’ve kind of had experience with this sort of thing before… Kind of... I feel like the slightest trigger might set her off in the mental state she’s in, so I’ll keep an eye on her with Isabelle.”
Adrian turned back to Mrs. Winchester as she stood outside the living room door. She was looking in their direction, sure, but her gaze was hollow. An integral piece of what made a person was missing. “In here,” She said, “Ray is sitting in here for the…questioning?” She chuckled a bit as she had to remind herself why they were there to begin with. “Yes, the questioning… My mistake.”
After a row of awkward smiles, everyone entered the living room. Sat on the sofa and clutching a yellow teddy bear with a purple top hat, was Ray. His father, who was by his side, pointed towards the door with a smile as soon as everyone walked in.
The moment Adrian met eyes with the kid, the melancholy mood of the room began to fade, ever so slightly. “Spirit hunters,” he said in astonishment.
“There you are champ,” said his dad, playfully shaking him, “You didn’t know that spirit hunters were gonna be showing up, did ya?”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Alex lightly nudged Adrian, prompting him to start what they came here for. “Hey buddy,” he said, kneeling down in front of Ray, “Are you a big spirit hunter fan?”
Ray clutched his teddy bear tighter and nodded his head. “Super big.”
“Well, do you wanna know what the number one rule is for a spirit hunter? You’ve always gotta be brave! No matter what!”
“...I’m not brave,” Ray said, “I get freaked out a lot. That’s why some of the kids at school make fun of me.”
“Hmm, well, you agreed to have the interview today, even though it’s hard for you, right? I think that’s one of the bravest things in the world.” Ray didn’t say anything in response, but the hint of a smile on his face was enough to let Adrian know that he was already feeling more comfortable. “...I’ve got a few questions to ask, okay? Do you think you can be brave and try answer them for me?”
Ray looked up at his dad, and got a confident nod back in response, promoting him to turn back to Adrian with a reignited look in his eyes. “'Kay. I’ll try super hard.”
After that, his mother came and sat down on the other side next to him. Out of the corner of his eye, Adrian saw Alex and Isabelle move a bit closer to the couch, discreetly keeping their eyes on her. Everything was set.
“Alrighty, Ray, first question. Can I get a brief description of what happened on the day?”
“...On the day.” He twiddled his thumbs and took a deep breath before answering. “Kaya said that being inside too much is bad for me, so she took me to play basketball with her friends, Charlie and Ali. We were supposed to go to the park, but people were already using the courts, so we went to a different place instead.”
“A different place?”
“Yeah. The parking lot outside Grilber’s diner was empty, so we went there. We were dribbling the ball around for a while but there was a forest-y bit behind a wall, and Kaya accidentally threw the ball over. It went really far.” He stopped talking as his lips began to quiver. “She climbed the wall, but…she didn’t come back for ages. Then Charlie and Ali went too. I was all alone-”
The waterworks had fully started. He was rubbing his eyes trying to get them to stop, but to no avail. “Hey, hey,” Adrian said, placing his hand on Ray’s arm, “We’ve gotta be brave, right?” He took some time to gather himself with the help of his father, but the situation next to him wasn’t getting any better.
Seeing her son’s crying face, Mrs. Winchester had grown more agitated, her leg bouncing as she bit away at her nails. Adrian felt a drop of sweat fall down from his forehead. Her eyes, displaying no specific emotion that he could identify, locked on to him. “Is there a need?” she asked.
“...Pardon?”
“I’ve changed my mind. You shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be making my son cry.” Adrian tensed as she attempted to stand up, but her husband held onto her arm to stop her. Alex and Isabelle stepped forwards too, ready to help with whatever she was planning.
“Eliza,” Mr. Winchester said calmly, “Ray hasn’t said what he wants yet.”
An uncomfortable silence filled the room. The only sounds filling the void were the ticking of the clock hung up on the wall, and Adrian’s own heartbeat.
Then, for the first time, the woman’s eyes began to soften, a tiny hint of the light returning to them. She sat back down and held her son as a solitary tear trickled down her cheek. “I... I’m…,” She wiped her eyes and looked at Adrian, paining him with the desperation her face was reflecting. “I-I lost my mother in a rogue spirit attack just last year," she said in between shaky breaths, "Ever since I got the news that this case was being handed off to the spirit hunter association, I’ve been terrified. The thought that… Kaya might have been taken from me in the same way… That’d be too much.”
It was already a given that Adrian was going to help the family as much as he could, but now? It felt weirdly personal, even though they’d only met a few minutes ago. He could see a similar concern in Isabelle and Alex’s faces too.
By this point, The tears flowing down Ray’s face had stopped, but there was less of a fire in his eyes than before. For a moment, Adrian thought that Mrs. Winchester may have been right about making Ray recount this obviously traumatic experience, but the kid spoke up with his own opinion. “I-i’m ready to carry on now…”
Subjecting Ray to more torture; it felt like torture for himself, but at the very least, he found solace in the fact that they only needed one other piece of info. "...Did you go into the forest, Ray? And if you did, was there anything weird or out of the ordinary you saw in there?”
“I waited for a bit before I went in. I-I was walking for a while and then... There was something there, but I didn’t see it. I felt it.”
“You felt something?”
Ray slowly nodded his head. “Something strong. I don’t know how else to describe it. After that all I remember... All I remember was running all the way back home.”
He must have felt something’s spirit energy in there, Adrian thought, If the source is strong enough, even people who still have their spirit abilities sealed can feel it to some degree. No sixth sense needed. But it was likely just a trail and not an actual spirit. If it were, then it would have concealed it's presence on the approach... That's likely how Kaya, Charlie and Ali got taken too.
He looked up at Alex and Isabelle and nodded before getting up onto his feet. They both relaxed their shoulders a little, knowing that it was all over.
“Ah, is that everything you need?” Mr. Winchester asked.
“Yeah. Thanks for letting us be here.” Mrs. Winchester held her head down in dejection as Adrian spoke. He wanted to let her know that he had no hard feelings about her actions, but something inside of him told him to leave her be. “Um, now… Now we’re-”
“We’ll investigate,” said Isabelle, abruptly, “We’ll do our best to find any new info.”
Saved by Isabelle. A quick goodbye later, and they were out, her and Alex leading the way as Adrian followed suit. His mind lingered back there for a little while and didn’t catch up to him until they were already outside and the cold morning air was slapping against his face.
“Hey,” said Isabelle, tugging his jacket, “You’ve been silent the whole time, are you ok?”
Adrian smacked himself a few times and entered back into his usual frame. “No problem.”
“S-sorry, I blurted out that we were gonna investigate, but didn't even give you guys a say in it.”
“You’re fine,” Alex said, turning back to them, “I will admit, I didn't expect it from you though. You're usually much quieter.”
“Well,” she said, looking off into the distance, “I just think that…family's important, Y’know? So naturally, I want to help them be happy in any way I can.”
“Same here,” said Adrian, rolling up his sleeves, “Let’s go to Grillber's and get busy.”
“Don't get too hasty though, Alex sighed, “This all happened weeks ago. We're probably not gonna find anything major.”
----------------------------------------
“Yo, take a wild guess at who was wrong,” Adrian said, “His name starts with ‘A’ and ends with ‘lex’.”
“Shut the fuck up, man.”
Grillber’s diner was a popular food spot in Northern Tralis, just off one of the major roads. Its red and blue striped roof was more than iconic. Anyone who happened to drive by it on their way out of the city was almost guaranteed to stop and grab a bite. There was nobody inside today, though.
Some people had already left, due to the uncertain nature of the situation, but the curious ones who stayed were gathered together in the parking lot next to a certain brick wall, with a peculiar and eerie purple mist seeping over from the forest situated behind it.
From the crowd, a large, bearded man with a Grillber's branded apron started running up to them as they approached. “Spirit hunters!” He called, wheezing heavily, “This all started suddenly, You've gotta do something! Business will get ruined if this misty stuff reaches the diner!”
Alex and Isabelle began calling for everyone to clear the area while Adrian spoke to the anxious manager. “Don’t worry. We had a class on these things on Monday, so we know how to deal with them kinda, sorta. It’s called a nest.”
“Monday?" He replied, squinting his eyes, "That don’t sound as reassuring as you think it does, kid. On second thought, shouldn’t you call-”
“A-adrian!” Isabelle called, “Are you coming?”
He gave the man a quick, reassuring tap on the shoulder, before rushing off to catch up with his friends, mounting the wall with ease and staring into the deep purple void ahead of them.
"Two objectives,” Alex said, sitting on top of the wall, “Destroy the core of the nest, then collect info for the cluster case.”
“Let's get it!"