"-lain. Alain!"

Groggily, Alain cracked both eyes open, a groan escaping from him as he did so. As he opened his eyes, he realized that he was lying in a field, staring up at the night sky. He blinked to clear his vision, then sat up, wincing when he felt pain lance through his head. Casting a glance around, he found Az and Sable standing nearby.

Then the memories came flooding back, and he rocketed to his feet, ripping his Colt from its holster in the process and leveling it towards them both.

"Take it easy," Az implored.

"Fuck off," Alain snapped. "What the hell happened back there? The sheriff and his deputies attacked, then went after you! Where did you two even come from, anyway? What happened to the sheriff?"

"One question at a time," Sable said. "Put the gun down."

"Fuck you. I want answers, now."

"And you'll get them," Az assured him. "But first, you need to lower your weapon."

Alain turned towards him, aiming the revolver at him in the process. Before he even knew what was happening, Sable launched herself towards him almost faster than he could even imagine it. He was on the ground in the blink of an eye, his gun ripped from his grasp. Sable stood over him as he winced, and glared down at him.

"Never point a weapon at me again," she said with a snarl.

Then, surprising him even more, she took him by the hand and pulled him to his feet. Alain stumbled for a moment, his footing uncertain thanks to the pain in his head, but was able to maintain his balance. He eyed her with curiosity.

"What the hell are you?" he bluntly asked. "Whatever you are, it's clear to me that you're not a normal person."

Az looked over to her. "My lady, shall we tell him?"

Sable crossed her arms. "The Veil was lifted the moment the sheriff and his deputies attacked him. At this point, there's no harm in it. The Tribunal will take their pound of flesh how they see fit, anyway."

"What are you two-"

"Stop," Sable commanded, silencing him. "Be quiet and listen. Can you do that?" Alain nodded, and she took a breath before continuing.

"If you thought there was something odd going on around town involving those missing girls, then you were right," she said. "Az and I don't know for sure what it is, but we suspect they were kidnapped and sacrificed to fuel a ritual of some kind."

Alain's eyes bugged out of his skull. "What the fuck…? What is this, witchcraft? Devil worshiping?"

"Not quite. The thing you need to understand is that there is an entire other world out there, full of mystical creatures that most humans have only read about in fiction. The Veil exists to protect the two worlds from each other – the mystical is meant to stay separate from the ordinary, for the good of both worlds. The two have intersected before throughout the world's history and whatever good comes from it never lasts."

Alain brought a hand up to rub at his face. "...Okay. Let's assume that I actually believe this, because no matter how you look at it, it's crazy to even suggest. But let's just assume you're telling the truth… how does that explain what's going on in Los Banos?"

"Someone in town found out something they shouldn't have," Az interjected. "They found a way to sacrifice human souls to fuel a ritual of some sort. To what ends, we don't know yet. But that's why we were headed over to the cemetery."

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"The cemetery…? What, were you going to try speaking to the dead or something?"

"Yes, in fact," Sable said with a nod. "The dead tend to be quite talkative, if only mortals would take the time to listen to them."

Alain stared at her. "You can't be serious," he said. "That ghost story… it's true?"

"Well, we wouldn't know," Az explained. "We were attempting to get her to fully manifest and speak with us, but were unable to before the sheriff showed up."

"And what happened to him?"

Sable didn't answer immediately. Instead, she snapped her fingers; Az withdrew something from his pocket and tossed it to her – Alain recognized it as a shotgun shell. She handed it to him and motioned for him to inspect it. Alain turned it over in his hand, confusion filling his mind at what he saw.

"What is this?"

"It's a specialized shotgun shell," Sable told him. "The projectile has been replaced with a piece of reinforced, sharpened wood. A very short-range projectile, but lethal to its intended target."

"And what would that intended target be?"

"A vampire."

Alain suddenly fumbled the shotgun shell, dropping it onto the ground as he whipped around to face her in shock.

"...Holy shit, you're not kidding," he said. He brought a shaking hand up to rub at his face. "My God…"

"I'm surprised you're not more skeptical about it," Sable remarked.

"It's just… suddenly, it makes sense – the blonde hair, pale skin, red eyes, aversion to sunlight…" A thought crossed his mind, and he turned to her. "...Did you drink my blood a few nights ago, when I was drunk and asleep?"

Sable hesitated, then nodded. "Vampires need to eat too, you know."

"...That's why you hired me, isn't it?" Alain asked. "You fully intended to use me as a source for meals."

"That's a crude way of putting it, but yes," Sable confirmed with a nod. "Like I said, I need to eat, too."

"Then… does this mean I'm going to turn into a vampire, too?"

"Only if she willed it to happen while drinking your blood," Az hurriedly explained. "Trust me, if you were going to turn, it would have happened by now."

Alain nodded, numb. "This is too much to take," he admitted. "I just… all this shit's real? Ghosts, vampires… what next? Werewolves?"

"And more," Sable told him. "All kept hidden from the public and covered up, thanks to the Veil. Your own world governments and the Tribunal work hard to keep it all a secret, for all the good that's doing now."

"What makes you say that?"

"Simply put, incidents such as what's happening in Los Banos are becoming more common," Az explained. "Since the turn of the century, we've seen a large increase in instances of the ordinary world crossing over with the mystical world. It's becoming extremely difficult to cover up. In due time, it will become impossible, and then the Veil will truly have been broken."

"But we can worry about that later," Sable added. "For now, we need to focus on what's going on in Los Banos. Whatever that ritual is, it can't be good for anyone, mortal or mystical. We're going to have to put a stop to it."

"And we will," Az said. "With Alain's help, of course."

Alain's heart just about skipped a beat. "Me…? You want my help?"

"We're going to need all the assistance we can get, and you've proven to be quite capable already," Sable assured him. "Are you in?"

"I just… I don't even know what's going on."

"Neither do we. That's why we need to find out."

"But the deputies I shot-"

"Are likely fine, if what happened to the sheriff is any indication," Az said.

"And… what would that be?" Alain couldn't help but ask.

Sable motioned to the shotgun shell lying abandoned on the ground. "Crazy fool thought he was dealing with two vampires. He wasn't ready for Az. Of course, being completely torn limb from limb can only stop someone like that for so long."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that whatever ritual they're trying to cast was already tested on at least those three," Sable specified. "Because, while they can be killed, it won't last forever unless you take care of them in a very specific way. Az was able to completely rip the sheriff apart, but he'll be back. It generally takes fire to completely kill a wight."

"A what?"

"A type of undead," Sable explained. "That's what the sheriff and his deputies are now. They willingly sacrificed three souls and their own humanity to turn themselves into pseudo-immortals who can't age or be killed via conventional means. The only ways to put a wight down for good are to remove the head, destroy the brain, or burn it to a crisp. Anything else is just temporary."

Again, Alain stared at her for several seconds, mouth agape, before shaking his head. "...This can't be happening," he muttered. "This is insane. All of this is completely insane."

"Call it whatever you want to call it, that won't change the fact that it's all very real," Az said, crossing his arms.

"What do we do, then? If the sheriff and his men are behind all of this, who do we go to?"

"For something like this?" Sable asked. "This is a large-scale incident – several hundred people at risk, with potential to spread out beyond just this town. Generally, something like that would require intervention by a small group of specialized monster hunters, or a Tribunal unit. Unfortunately, we don't have time for either of those. Monster hunters definitely wouldn't get here before things got worse, and while a Tribunal unit would probably get here faster, they still wouldn't be fast enough. No matter how you look at it, we're the only ones who can stop whatever's about to happen to this town."

"So what do we need to do?" Alain asked.

"First step is going to be getting more information," Az offered. "Much as I hate to say it, we can't just march into town – the sheriff and his men have undoubtedly already started speaking to the townspeople, giving them their side of events. There's no way we'd be able to get back into town without violence in the first place. Even if we could, we'd still have no idea what we're facing down there."

"Then we should head to the cemetery when night falls," Sable added. "We can use the cover of darkness to sneak in and see if we can't get that ghost to talk. Alain, what do you think?"

"Why the hell are you asking me?" he demanded. "I'm still not entirely sure if this is a bad dream or not. Frankly, I'm the very last person who should be making any kind of plan about what to do next."

"True. At the very least, you can handle yourself in a fight. Just remember – when it comes to undead, the only way to stop them is to remove the head, destroy the brain, or set them ablaze. Keep that in mind and you'll be alright."

Alain opened his mouth to complain again, but Sable ignored him, instead turning back to Az.

"Alright," she said. "Let's go."