Chapter 10

First Meeting

When Reid pointed his gun with his index on the trigger, ready to shoot if his safety was threatened…he paused…maybe even froze was the right word for the wrong environment. For a second his worries disappeared. He expected to be met with a monster of a smaller size whether it was an adult monster or a youngling…or a person trying to find loots here, maybe even another hunter from the other agencies. But instead…his gun pointed at a woman…

A breathtaking woman.

At first, Reid was concerned if a woman was trapped here by the monsters or maybe she didn’t know her way out as he wasn’t used to finding other hunters or those have the skills of a hunter. He was used to finding others to assist and then killing the following monster while praying it wouldn’t be too late to prove help. However, this time it was different. Sure, she didn’t have any weapons on her but…there was something about her that screamed to him she didn’t need his help.

Instead, he needed hers. Well Reid was one to admit that he would need help. Especially in this state, all the help was needed and appreciated…the only thing he had to do was to convince their worth and what could they gain from him and his agency. Sure, he could offer reassurance but those were merely words…he needed someone trustworthy enough to be the first lead for him. And he felt the woman in front gave that…strong resemblance of just who he needed.

She wasn’t a damsel in distress. Her stance showed she was ready to take down whomever threatened her safety too and he assumed that she shouldn’t be underestimated. It was either that or she might be suicidal to come here…though he can speak for himself.

Oh, is this the time where he should feel a little guilty for pointing a gun at a lovely woman? He didn’t know if it was even the right situation for this…but he couldn’t pull his eyes away from her.

Despite the dark without his flashlight, he noticed how her black hair glimmered and how it gently framed her tanned face. Reid may not know much about how other women love to keep their skinned tan through from the tanning bed or tanning spray, but he knew the woman in front of him was a natural. Looking at her height through a quick glance, she wasn’t too tall nor too short. No matter it was her sight that captivated him. His eyes met her sharp dark eyes that he swore he felt a shiver from her stare. Nonetheless, she indirectly caught his throat in a hitch. He wondered how she endured this place in a casual wear while he was covered nearly from head to toe aside from his hair.

Of course, while Reid was admiring her, he noticed how her eyebrows were furrowed and her body gesture was tensed towards him in a mix of defensive yet offensive. But she seemed…familiar to him. Like he had seen her somewhere? He wondered if she was from the previous agency or something, but it doesn’t seem like it? Sure, he didn’t know everyone there, but he would remember most of the faces and their mannerism. This woman had none of what he remembered from that agency so that’s a cross. He felt like he saw her…in some sort of…photo…picture…wait!

That’s it!

“That’s right! Isn’t that Vanessa Alvarez!? One of the previous hunters from the first!? What is she doing here? I thought she…well since she’s here…doesn’t that mean she still has the urge to continue? The world we live in will never be safe until these monsters disappear so that must be it!”

Despite Reid’s inner thoughts, the two of them were naturally shocked that someone else was here and were instead prepared to face a monster no matter the possibilities, so to see another who isn’t injured and one covered with armor and necessities to murder a monster halted their thoughts and movements. Thankfully there wasn’t a monster nearby otherwise they wouldn’t have the time to process this information.

Vanessa too became cautious earlier on when she heard the faint footsteps. Even though she has not been in the field for a while, she knew that those weren’t the steps of a monsters so it’s possible that someone wandered here no, not anyone can just enter this place. Maybe they could but only around the entrance or at most less than a quarter inside of the dungeon before half point of the various tunnels. No sane human would merely enter without experience unless they had other plans but nonetheless, it wasn’t a random stranger. It was surely someone experienced. The way the footsteps became careful and not hearing someone breathing or even complaining about the stench either meant they had a horrible sense of smell…or they were an experienced hunter. At first, she wondered if someone was tailing her, but she made sure there weren’t any visible tracks left that screamed someone was here. She wasn’t sure if it was counted as trespassing since there weren’t any signs that stopped them from doing so. The monsters owned the place not the humans. Although it would be funny if they created a messy ‘do not enter or be eaten’ sign. But back to the…another human in the cave with her? They were alone. She didn’t hear any commotion or others, so she was assuming it was a single person. She was slightly amused that they managed to enter that far. Hopefully they left a track for themselves otherwise they may be stuck in this cave for who knows how long. Possibly be an accidental snack stored for the monster. Speaking of those monsters, she still mentally prepared herself in case it was indeed a monster mimicking a human’s footsteps to bait them into their stomach. So, she too, stance herself if she needed to strike.

And well she kind of did.

She was already furious enough from before and this only sprinkled the fuel to her burning rage. It was a good thing then that her abilities weren’t anything related to pyro. When he first pointed the gun at her, her breath halted and she froze, not wanting to create any sudden movements in case he thought it was a monster and shot without a warning or looking carefully. But what she didn’t expect was how he too, froze at the sight of her and there they were now, staring at each other.

“Well, if only the monsters could act that way when they were caught…it would have given us a few spare seconds to spare whether it was to study its weakness or think of an escape route or even blind it.”

Vanessa was still prepared to attack and defend herself in case he was hostile. But since there were no other or faint signs of any movements from Reid, Vanessa let out a silent scowl and sprinted towards Reid, grabbing his wrist that held the gin and twisted it upwards to move the barrel away from her sight and pointed towards the ceiling instead so if he accidentally pulled the trigger, it would be towards the ceiling. But that too would mean that they have alerted their presence and would have to vacate the dungeon as soon as possible. But seeing that Reid removed his index finger from the trigger, she didn’t need to worry about that. Not yet at least. That still, didn’t mean that it was a green light to release his wrist that she squeezes and unintentionally ignored the wince from Reid when her glaring eyes were met his. She genuinely didn’t realize the strength she was using when she wrapped her palm around that wrist since she too was more concerned of her own safety for a split second. Thankfully for Reid’s poor wrist she was snapped back to reality when Reid finally voiced out his pain where she slightly loosened her grip, but it was still strong enough for him to feel the pressure.

“O-Ow! Ow! Hey uh-! I’m sorry for scaring you but please let go of me!? I’ll keep- keep the gun away! Look at my side there’s an empty pocket! And I wouldn’t waste the bullets on OW! A human since this is meant to kill monsters and its vital!” Reid pleaded with a whisper, again to not alert anything us…if there were anything else besides them in the dungeon.

Vanessa merely glared at him, unsure if he was telling the truth because a gun was a gun. No matter what it was used for, it could always penetrate a human by its force and speed before one can even blink at the sound of the bullet going off. She looked at the gun, seeing how its structure seemed like a regular gun but then again, he wouldn’t be lying if he was this deep in the dungeon and if he were to bring a gun that kills humans instead of monsters then he would have been an idiot which she doubted that. There was no way he was going to hunt humans…unless he was a cannibal which was highly unlikely based on the way he was dressed. Even if it was for a disguise, either way, his hand above the wrist that she grabbed was gradually turning while, but aside that, she needed to know his intentions. Her gaze never left his, as if she was looking for a sign of lie or manipulation. But there were none in Reid’s eyes. It was just shock, confusion…and more? Something she couldn’t explain what he was feeling. She was about to interrogate him when Reid opened his mouth to continue speaking while rapidly tapping her hand with his free one.

“You’re- Ow! You’re Alvarez right!? Vanessa Alvarez?”

“Of course, he knows me.” Vanessa held herself from rolling her eyes Infront of him.

“My name is Reid Larkin, and well as you figured maybe, I ow! Know about your super ability. I may be a hunter, but I don’t just hunt and bring back dead monsters to be cleared! I study these abilities too and who knows if it may be the answer to our safety and freedom…that’s what I can assure and like many others, I know you have trouble controlling it!”

As smart as Reid was, he’d admit to himself that this was quite the poor planning of him to spill that while she has a more than firm grip on his wrists that she could crush it at any instances if she felt like it. And now that he was brining all of these up, it surely wasn’t helping his situation. On the bright side, Reid was empathetic enough to not bring up about her deceased teammates. Maybe a rookie would but Reid too, knew how it was to lose someone even if they were neither close nor friends. It was a devastating thing to experience, and he would never bring them up to someone unless it was a situation like Chris. But the state of a panic and a slight hope mixed with desperation, he internally hoped that he wouldn’t slip up and annoy her or so. Indeed, it was a good choice of Reid to not bring that up right now since it would surely tick her off and it wasn’t a good sight when she her glare only darkened.

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Vanessa let out a scoff and released his wrist harshly. She surely expected that but not so much about the abilities part. Whatever it was, how could someone who didn’t have any would ever understand her no matter how much he studied about it. At least he didn’t seem to press, and she hoped he wouldn’t press any further otherwise that growing bruise on his wrist wouldn’t be the only gift from her. Vanessa turned away from Reid while crossing her arms and keeping her distance from him while he rubbed his wrist to ease the blood flow.

“You know nothing about me.” Her voice, soft yet hoarse finally came out to him. Now she wished it was a monster instead. On the bright side for her, Reid was another hunter and there should be some things he could relate to have a better understanding that she did not want to be disturbed or questioned unless he was a rookie. But looking at Reid’s…uniform? She wondered what agency was he from? Surely it wasn’t the common and top agency otherwise there would be a few others. She tried changing the subject at the thought.

“Are they anyone else?”

That question caught Reid aback for some reason. Well, he figured it was a reasonable question since he was all geared up but alone.

“No there’s no one else if that concerns you. It’s just me alone. Just like you I suppose. Are you here to beat the monsters or train or something for your ability? Or trying to get back to being a hunter and-” Vanessa interrupted him before he could go further.

“So, it’s just you…and as I said, you know nothing about me so stop assuming things.”

“Well…I mean based on the papers and relevant sources I’ve studied. I do know about you. But I’ll admit I only know who you are and what you’ve been through since the monsters came out. I don’t know you personally but that doesn’t mean I can’t have an idea of who you are as a person and your reaction from earlier sort of proved my assumptions.” Reid stated till Vanessa’s glare met his eyes again and he realized how his last sentence may have been a little…off putting? It made it seemed like he had a negative thought of her.

Now the silence in the dungeon became louder other than the sound of Reid switching on his flashlight for better sight. Vanessa flinched lightly at the sudden light without warning and that was once again adding to her fury aside from what he just said. As much as the dungeon reeked, she took a deep breath to ease herself. Surely, she didn’t want him to end up like the poor punching bag. She assumed he was merely doing his job and became an accidental fan or something. There was no way a hunter would go deep into that research other than mercilessly killing those monsters as they should. As of now, Vanessa crossed her arms as she stared at Reid who was fumbling slightly at his word choices, assuming that he was internally nagging at himself. Another sigh escaped her lips when he shook his head and hands.

“I, I didn’t mean it that way! I meant the strength! Oh, it’ll sound wrong either way but trust me it’s not that bad. I neither think of you too lowly nor too highly if that’s better?”

“Neither.”

Well that certainly was making things more awkward between them that even a monster would retreat into its slumber.

“Look I don’t want to invade but at least there’s no one else here so nothing would cause a commotion or so.”

He wasn’t sure if that was enough to convince Vanessa but through her body language the way her shoulders dropped and she crossed her arms while leaning against the wall gave Reid a little, tiny faint green light that he can continue speaking. Well either way, he would probably just blurt his point across because it was now or never because he had nothing to lose other than his life.

“Do I even want to ask why?”

“Well, I just happen to prefer studying about both the monsters and those with abilities rather than just going on a mindless hunt. Having an eidetic memory helps me to recognize you and others.”

From the tone and the sentence that came out of Reid’s mouth, Vanessa was starting to feel her gut loosing is ties. She knew where this was going to be directed to, but she internally hoped and prayed he wouldn’t bring up what she hated to hear…what she tried avoiding for who knew how long that she drowned herself in all sorts of booze. She wouldn’t be surprised if her bloodstream turned into alcohol now.

“Ever since the first monsters appeared, I kept those papers and studied them. And from that if I’m not wrong, you were the only survivor. I mean, at that time we had barely any knowledge about the monsters. It’s a good thing that there’s at least someone who had…” And that wasn’t the best topic to talk about since Reid noticed how Vanessa was clenching her fists till it was turning pale.

“Right…she was the only survivor…if I already felt that way to one teammate’s death let alone seeing you whole team die in front of you and being called out about it publicly. It must have been... hard for her no matter how hard she hid…no I don’t think she is hiding it. It’s more of she received too many of this sort of reaction or question that she turned to rage or silence.”

As what Reid thought, Vanessa’s whole body visibly tensed. She never wanted to ever bring that topic up…maybe it was fine if she initiated or something since it was up to her. But it was uncomfortable if someone else did, especially if it was someone she just met. She was about to turn her heel when Reid said something else instead.

“Forget about that I’m sorry…So…uh…So…what are you doing here anyways?” Reid asked, relaxing himself as much as possible to not make Vanessa anymore uncomfortable than she already seems to be and he hoped that the question wasn’t that awful this time. It was a general question and she could always push it off as if she was taking a walk or something? He already sort of messed up the past few times so he didn’t need again. It might just be his last chance before he can even share to her about his private agency. Not invite yet, just share, and he had yet to reach that level with her. He needed to predict these kind of events with others in future for a better first impression.

Vanessa eyes Reid, her arms crossed once again as she let out another sigh. “Why don’t you answer that first?”

“I think it’s better if you answer it first so I don’t…piss you off any more than I need to. Besides looking at the situation now, I think our responses are going to be quite… questionable? I guess?”

Oh why was she not surprised at this. Vanessa simply shook her head but decided to go first since it was nothing interesting…or so it wasn’t for her but it might be for Reid.

“Fine. I’m here to…well…just see if there was anything I could have known…if there were any changes in this place. I couldn’t remember much but…I want to, I suppose I wanted to know if there were still any traffic here but…I guess it’s kind of pointless. I just wanted to relieve myself, my brain and my soul but coming here was a mistake then.” Vanessa admitted. She herself didn’t know why she came by in the first place. Was it just to throw off her life or…did something brought her here. It can always be a natural mistake…a mistake that cost lives. Vanessa took a deep breath to ease her racing and aching heart that she turned her face away from Reid in case her tears decided to frame her fast. The last thing she needed was for him to see her at her weakest and who knew if he might just take advantage of it…it’s not as if she couldn’t use her physical abilities but one can always play with another’s mind.

While it was a dark choice and news for Vanessa, it was as bright as day, it was a whole parade for Reid but he had to prevent himself from looking too happy as he didn’t want to seem as if he was mocking her or something. He knew that deep down she was hurting, it was never easy to loose anyone whether you know them or not in a personal level. He felt her sorrows and her grief…but he also felt something he assumed Vanessa didn’t notice. She didn’t notice the hunger she had…the anger towards those monsters. It was buried deep down by her agony that it was begging to be resurfaced. And he knew just the way to help that and help her. Now he knew it sounded as if he making use of her, but if he could convince her well enough, she could get her revenge on those monsters. Sure it wouldn’t bring the dead back…but he was sure that it could bring her some closure. Maybe not the full closure but a slight prompt of it. She had skills, she had the ability…what better than to use it against those monsters? Of course before that, he would help her to help herself. Ensure she is slightly more stable than before. It was all for a good cause.

For herself…

For her deceased teammates…

For her sanity…

For the world…

For humanity…

“I see…well I’m here to record this place, observations and all you know. I’m…well” Reid tried figuring out the proper words to relay his message to her. “I’m opening my own Agency, I didn’t like it how my previous one was handled so I decided to take matters into my own hands…they, they easily sacrificed others. I know it’s probably normal but you and I can agree that’s cruel. It would make us no different from those monsters other than the fact we don’t eat humans so you don’t have to worry about me being a cannibal if you were from before.”

Vanessa rolled her eyes again while Reid was chuckling softly and shrugging when he looked at her. As humorous as it was and Reid did had a point, Vanessa once again didn’t like where this was going. Her gut was beating at her about what he might say next. Sure he sounds like a genuine guy but…no it’s not right for her.

“So…” Reid continued. “I’d like you to join me. Please? It’ll be beneficial for both you and me. Or forget me, it’ll be good for you.”

And there it was, the offer. Reid had his hand out to her. This time his gun was snug safely in the pocket where it belong so it was only his gloved hand. It was…it was tempting but…but Vanessa couldn’t go through the same thing again. He may say as of now that he would treat his people different but what if it change later on especially if he managed to hire quite some people, maybe more with different abilities and ended up using them as tools…and they were the ones who would suffer it all…Vanessa would be the one to suffer it all again and she never wanted to experience that pain…that heartache… that sorrow again. She was already drowning herself, she doesn’t need and doesn’t want more of it to repeat.

“Thanks for the offer…” Vanessa trailed.

Reid knew from her tone that he may get an answer he wasn’t looking forward too. To be fair he wasn’t exactly prepared to hire someone today since his agenda was to collect some recordings to make his agency more trustworthy so naturally he had to keep up on the spot with this. Usually he would let someone go if they didn’t want to…but he saw the urge deep in Vanessa’s eyes and she was refusing to allow it to unleash itself. She was stopping herself from healing.

“Thanks for the offer I…Yeah no. I’m just going to straight up tell you that I’m not up for it. No…I, I’m not doing it. I hope you the best to find someone else better than me. Don’t hurt yourself while exploring…nice meeting you Reid Larkin.” Vanessa bided farewell without looking at him in the eyes and made her way past him to leave the dungeon and resume her sorrowful life.