Chương 197: 186. First case together

We drove for a while before stopping at a large house in the suburbs. From the outside, there wasn't much that stood out about the place. It was a classic two-story house with a small front yard and a sizable backyard partially visible from the front. The porch was all white, with a few withered flowers left in their pots.

"Marvin and I will go from the front. Filip and Rey, see if there's a back entrance," Sarah proposed once we were out of the cars.

"Shouldn't we get some backup?" Filip asked.

"They're busy," Sarah said, to which Rey nodded slightly.

"The assault teams have their hands full, and we can't wait for them if there is a victim there." The four looked at one another.

"Are you sure you want to go in without any intel?" Filip asked Sarah. The woman hesitated for a few seconds, her muscles tense as she looked ahead.

"I won't drag you into danger. You can stay if you want, but I'm going in." Filip gave Rey a questioning look.

"We can go, but—" the policeman nodded at me—"he goes in with us." I was slightly surprised, and clearly wasn't the only one, as Sarah looked at him with anger, glancing nervously toward the house.

"We're not bringing in a civilian, and I don't have a separate vest. Out of the question."

"A consultant can follow behind," Filip pointed out.

"I don't think we have time to argue. Your decision." He turned to me.

"Well, how could I say no?" I said with a smile.

"You stay in the car," Filip commanded Josh, and, after a nod of confirmation, the team separated with Marvin and Sarah going to the front and the three of us to the back. I followed Filip and Rey, swearing in my head that I hadn't brought my robe. I really should have stopped dressing like a civilian. Once we were out of the other two's sight, I let the staff unravel into my hand.

"What the—" Filip began, to which I gave him a smile.

"Magic," I whispered. Before we could discuss the strange phenomenon, we caught movement in the window on the side we were approaching, prompting us to keep close to the white wall as we passed under it.

"Did they knock already?" Filip whispered, and Rey shook his head. I, on the other hand, tilted my head upward and sniffed lightly around the frame. And there it was—a faint smell of decay. We began moving again as I cast Armor and prepared an empowered Pierce. We finally made it around the house where a backyard door greeted us, to the relief of the two men. They told me to move back—or rather, Filip did, as Rey seemed content with me standing closer—and we waited.

After a few more seconds, the front bell rang, and footsteps could be heard inside. I extended my senses toward the door and then grabbed Filip's shoulder as he slowly tried to open it.

"What?" he hissed. I pushed past him and, casting Muffle, opened the door and then slowly moved a doormat, only to see a magic circle under it, written in blood. One step inside would earn someone a face full of poison. A nasty spell, that one. But the circle put me on edge. I was expecting some beginner magic, something a possessed person might scribble in their mania. But this was stellar work. Most of all, the spell seemed to be above the first tier.

"Shit," I swore, and without giving much explanation, fired Pierce at the center, into one of the nodes, dragging a pissed-off Filip back by his shirt. The trap sprang, and a green flame suddenly erupted from the center, to the older man's shock and Rey's irritated groan. We walked in, and I spread my senses as far as possible. It took us only a few steps before we heard gunshots from the front. Filip pushed forward as shouts of "Stay down!" and "Get back!" reached our ears.

The two men ran into the corridor leading to the front, and I followed slightly behind, making sure there weren't any more traps around. Finally, as I walked into the hall, I saw a rather nasty scene. A woman was on top of Sarah as Marvin tried to pull her off. There were two holes in the creature's shoulder, bleeding, but it didn't seem to bother it. It had died long ago. The zombie sat on the FBI agent, her long, dirty blond hair obscuring her features, leaving only pale gray skin visible.

"Move, or we'll shoot!" Filip shouted. Before anyone could react, the thing gave a gurgling hiss and vomited out a black tar-like substance right onto Sarah's face. Finally, Rey put down his gun and simply grabbed the woman by the neck and shirt and threw her off in one brutal yank. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"Miss!" Marvin shouted.

"Get down on the ground, hands behind your head, or we'll shoot to kill!" The creature sat on all fours like a gargoyle, the long hair still obscuring her face, making me wonder if it was simply glued like that. Now, from the front, I realized why they didn't just put a bullet in the head. It simply looked like an emaciated woman, and coming here looking for a victim, they must have been pretty sure they had found one.

"Miss," Marvin repeated as he slowly approached.

"You are wounded. We can get you the help you need. We are from the FBI." Marvin began to regain his composure as Sarah picked herself up, coughing and spitting out the substance. The tar was some kind of carrier for a spell, like a cursed artifact, but I didn't have the time to check in detail, as I watched the show with interest.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I said, looking at Marvin slowly approach the zombie. He stopped, freezing in place. His survival instincts weren't the best, but at least he didn't turn to look at me with the enemy right in front of him.

"She's a scared victim, most likely on drugs. She suffered God knows what, and we are here to help, not hurt," he spoke in a calm, even voice, half to me, half to her.

"So if she calms down and lies down, we can—""You shot her in the shoulder," I said, looking at the wound visible through the strands of hair.

"Yes, she did attack suddenly, and we didn't know if she was armed. But we didn't come here to hurt—""Shouldn't a wound like that bleed more?" I asked, prompting the others to look at the wound, their eyebrows knitting closer together as I continued.

"Because I think that's an ambush predator, and you are almost in its range. So I wouldn't approach any further if I were you. Not unless that gun is pointed at its head. That's my professional opinion, at least," I said. The man listened as he raised his gun slightly, pointing at the chest. But to my surprise, the thing must have been quite intelligent, as a weak "Help me" came from its mouth.

"Oh, come on. You're not going to fall for that?" I asked, looking at Marvin.

"It's going to be fine."

"Oh boy." I chuckled, preparing a Force spell. And the moment the man stepped closer, the creature sprang into action. As it shot forward, I could see white milky eyes and a wide mouth opening so far that the sides of it tore, showing a blackened throat and jagged teeth inside. Marvin didn't even have a second to react as the creature lunged at his throat, but before its mouth closed on his flesh, my spell hit it, flinging the enemy to the side.

It landed on all fours in a spider-like fashion, dragging its fingers through the ground. Once it came to a stop, it let out a loud screech and jumped again. I caught, from the corner of my eye, Rey and Filip switching their magazines before they fired at it. The stopping power of the guns was surprising, as I could feel some magic radiate off the bullets. But the thing wasn't a normal zombie, as the bullets sank into the flesh without doing anything to injure it aside from stopping the charge.

"What the fuck?" Marvin shouted, fumbling with his gun.

"Well, this is gonna cost you extra," I said, firing another Force spell to throw the creature off course, away from Sarah's throat, while the woman sat on her ass, frozen on the ground. Filip shot once again, but his bullet missed. The enemy hissed, setting up for another charge, only for Rey's bullet to hit it square in the eye. The head snapped back as the body finally fell.

Not fully dead—whatever was possessing it was still attached—but it clearly needed the brain to move the body, as the spirit dissipated slowly. Silence descended over the scene, with everyone's eyes glued to the woman.

"W-what was that?" Marvin asked, finally managing to get his gun up, now pointing at the body.

"One of those demons," I informed him in a matter-of-fact voice.

"You could have killed that thing," Rey said, approaching me from behind.

"Maybe. So could you, had you loaded whatever those bullets were loaded with from the start instead of hiding them," I answered.

"We weren't hiding them," Filip said.

"They aren't easy to produce. We can't carry them loaded."

"Fine, fine." I nodded, approaching the thing. I was about to take a closer look at what it was, but before I could get any closer, Filip stopped me.

"It's evidence. DNA, fingerprints. You can't touch it." I was considering ignoring the man, but if the zombie was as good as the circle I saw by the door, I doubted the caster would leave any clear evidence. I was sure of one thing—the man I saw in that interrogation room couldn't have done that.

"We should wait for proper backup before we clear the house," Rey said, looking toward the building.

"And some FBI IT people," Filip added after a second, with a deep frown.

"It's not a robot, if that's what you think," I said, then nodded at Sarah, covered in black goo, being helped up by Marvin.

"And that's not oil," I added.

"I know," Filip said, his eyes on the house before he pointed at something in the corner of the porch.

"But I'm pretty sure that's a security camera." I followed his finger and froze. The mana concentration here wasn't that high. The security should work uninterrupted.

"I hate technology."

"Yes, yes, yesss. Oh, how beautiful. Have you seen that?" The man sitting beside a couple of monitors winced as the strange man wearing a dirty doctor's uniform pushed past him, almost gluing his face to one of the screens. The footage there was fascinating—or would have been until a few weeks ago, when occurrences like that became more common in his life. It showed a group of FBI agents standing around a downed body. Zombie? Creature? He didn't know how to describe the doc's creations.

"Such grace, such speed. Even I would have trouble casting like that. And did you see how he dodged the circle? He must have sensed it from the door. Ah, I know, I should have had it activate when the door opened, not by placing it in front. Oh, so fucking stupid."

"Mhm," the man agreed.

"So my payment?" he asked.

"Sure, sure. All in good time, all in good time," the doctor responded, still looking at the footage.

"Can't you make it better? I want to see more. I want to see him up close. Ooooh, but the master says he would kill me. Oh, but I really, really want to." The technician just sat there, letting the other man ramble, by now used to the way he talked and not trying to interrupt.

"I can't. It's a miracle we have footage this good. Ask that magic of yours to stop fucking with my equipment," he grumbled.

"Fine, fine, I won't ask more. Just continue your work."

"You think that black shit will actually help?" the technician asked skeptically.

"Oh no. He will sense it, no doubt. No, no, no, no. But we have a better disciple, a younger disciple. Worry not. You just wait and help us monitor the situation."

"And my money."

"Through disease you will be gifted with—""None of that bullshit. I want cash," the man snapped.

"You'll get your payment," the doctor said, his rotting, crooked smile still plastered on his face as his eyes stayed glued to the grainy footage, fixed on the mage holding a strange, tentacled staff.

"You'll receive riches beyond comprehension. A lord in the new world, as promised."