Chương 74: Conflict

"You have three seconds!" Lucas's eyes dropped slightly, fixating his gaze on the man's hand.

"What the fu…" Before the man could continue, Lucas grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"Ahhgg!" The man's fingers felt like they were breaking apart under Lucas's strength. The moment the man screamed, a couple of people loaded their guns and pointed them at Lucas. Lucas turned around and got up. He saw 3 people not far away pointing their guns straight at him. There were more than 20 people present, so their numbers didn't seem like much.

"I guess that rats and dogs can be called hunters nowadays!" His voice was loud enough to be heard by everyone present. The 3 men in question trembled in rage, but even some of the people not involved frowned at his remarks. A middle-aged man in the back suddenly walked over, then stared at Lucas with contempt.

"What do you know about being a hunter, kid? You're barely a baby!" Mary the bartender quivered slightly but interjected and spoke:"He's an Ashford!" At her revelation, the room suddenly became silent. All eyes were now constantly on Lucas. There were all kinds of emotions in them, from curiosity to hatred and more. The skinny man's eyes shrank, but he still gathered his courage to speak.

"So what? You're just a kid! Now this place is under the Calavera Family!" The man then turned towards Mary.

"Aren't you going to do something about this?" Now all eyes shifted to her, curious about what the Calavera Family would do. This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Suddenly, a door opened in the back, and a man walked straight in front of Lucas.

"Of course we will do something about this!" Lucas's eyes focused on this man, Severo Calavera, son of Araya, matriarch of the Calavera Family.

"Let him go!" Severo pointed his gun straight at Lucas's head, his eyes staring at him coldly. Lucas narrowed his eyes. He started getting irritated by them.

'It seems that only bloodshed can awaken some fools.'

"Severo, wait!" Just before Lucas could act, Mary the bartender walked in the middle of them.

"Don't forget the rules!" Mary stared straight into Severo's eyes. Severo glanced at her, then coldly at Lucas, and lowered his weapon. This place was still far from their home. If a conflict happened here, some hunters might decide it wasn't safe anymore. Lucas observed his reaction and smiled. He pushed the skinny man from his grasp, then patted his hand in disgust. Then he glanced back at Mary.

"Give me the info." Mary nodded, then went back behind the bar and came out with a sealed envelope in her hand. Lucas's hand reached into his pocket, and he gave her a little piece of gold. Without giving her a chance to react, he snatched the envelope. Mary looked in a daze at the gold. It was an unusual way to pay for information.

"Wait…" She wanted to first see its worth, but Lucas ignored her and started walking away. Just before getting out, Lucas turned his head towards Severo.

"I will take back what's mine… you can choose to walk away now… or never leave this land!" Severo's eyes remained unwavering in the face of his threat. Only he knew if it affected him. Lucas then turned his gaze towards the people in the room. Some lowered their eyes involuntarily, and some looked at him with disdain.

"If you stay out of this, you can still enjoy your life!" Then he turned around and walked away. Lucas didn't care if the Calavera Family thought of themselves as hunters when they were more like a criminal organization. Some families treat the code like it is shit, sometimes ignoring it, and sometimes pretending it is sacred. The Ashford Family was a bridge between supernatural beings and hunters. But this only accomplished getting hated and feared by both worlds.

The conflict with the Calavera Family was inevitable anyway. Once his identity as a shapeshifter was discovered, they would target him anyway. As he stepped outside, Lucas took a deep breath. He knew that he might need to kill a human for the first time, maybe even more than one. His gaze hardened, then he drove away from the bar. Lucas first went and rented a black SUV. His Porsche looked like that of a world traveler, all packed with stuff.

Once he moved all his belongings to the SUV, he nodded happily at the sight. He decided that when he got back home, he would buy one. Lucas then drove an hour from that town to another one. It was where the Wendigo was supposedly located. Lucas arrived on a residential street. He looked at the information written down, then at one particular house not far away. The house was old, and the outside area didn't seem to be really taken care of. Lucas looked at the sky. The sun was slowly disappearing on the horizon.