Chương 9: The Story

The porch light suddenly turned on, breaking the quiet moment between them. Both of them froze for a second, closer than they probably should have been, before the front door finally opened.

"Alison." A calm voice came from inside the house, and Lucas's attention shifted immediately as a man stepped out, relaxed posture, controlled movements, a smile already on his face that didn't quite match his eyes. His gaze went first to Alison, then slowly settled on Lucas.

"You're home late," Chris Argent said casually, like it was just an ordinary observation, but his eyes stayed a little longer on Lucas than necessary.

"And you brought company." Lucas didn't react to the tone, didn't shift his expression, just observed him the same way he was being observed, calm and steady. Allison stepped slightly forward, sensing the pause.

"This is Lucas," she said.

"He's my classmate."

"Classmate," Chris repeated, still smiling, but there was a brief silence after it, like he was weighing the word before letting it go.

"I see." Lucas could feel it now, it was not pressure exactly, just attention, controlled and measured, the kind that tried to read him without asking. But it didn't land as threatening. Just… there. Chris adjusted his stance slightly, still blocking part of the doorway without really making it obvious.

"Well, Lucas," he said in the same calm tone, "I hope you're not the type of boy who keeps my daughter out too late." Lucas gave a small shrug, unfazed.

"We just stopped to help someone." Simple. No extra detail, no justification. A short silence followed again. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Chris nodded once, as if that was enough.

"Right." The smile remained, but the interest faded slightly, like the moment stopped being important.

"Try not to make it a habit," he added casually before turning his attention back to Allison.

"Inside. Now." Allison sighed softly, clearly used to that tone.

"Dad…" But she didn't argue much, just looked at Lucas for a brief moment.

"Good night, Lucas." Lucas nodded once.

"I will see you at school." No change in posture, no rush in his voice. Just calm. As she walked inside, Chris gave Lucas one last look over his shoulder, still polite, still smiling in that controlled way, only his eyes were squinting like sending a warning. Then the door closed. This guy… was trying to intimidate me? thought Lucas slightly amused as he remembered the fake smile on Chris's face. Then he briefly recalled Chris's character.

"Hm… although he always talks about the code, I need to be careful of him and his family. Their so-called code seems not to exist when it is convenient. As he walked away towards his home, another thought popped in his head: could Chris have knowledge of his family's former status as hunters? Then he shook his head.

"I will see his reaction another day when I tell him my family name, now let's just get home and test some things." Soon he arrived at his house, as Lucas entered he realized how much time was wasted when he could've just walked here from school.

"Teenage hormones," he thought in amusement. He then went to take a shower. After he was finished, he sat down on the sofa as he started reading from his grandfather's notebook filled with hunting experiences on supernatural beings. Soon he fixed his sight on a particular story.

"We identified it correctly on the second night. Not a wolf. Not a shapeshifter we were familiar with. The bodies confirmed it. Paralysis. Not fear. Venom. Clean punctures. Consistent placement. It strikes with purpose. We adjusted immediately. No exposed skin. No close contact without protection. One of my men ignored that. He lasted less than a minute. The venom works fast. Muscle lock first. Then collapse. You stay conscious long enough to understand what's happening. Unfortunate. We changed strategy.

Creatures like this don't act alone. Not truly. We started looking for patterns instead of tracks. Territory overlap. Repeated locations. People connected in ways that weren't obvious at first. That's when we found the anchor. A master. It didn't act on instinct. It acted on command. Remove the master… and the creature becomes unstable. Easier to predict. Easier to kill. We didn't eliminate it that night. We cornered it instead. Electric traps worked better than expected. High voltage disrupts it. Slows movement.

Breaks its rhythm. That was the first time it hesitated. That was enough. We marked it. Next encounter won't be a hunt. It will be an execution."

"I wonder if the hunt succeeded…" Lucas looked at the notebook in silence. The words stayed in his mind longer than expected. It's not weak. That thing wasn't weak.

"It seems my grandfather wasn't a weak hunter." He closed the notebook. A quiet sound remained throughout the room. Lucas stood up. Something inside him shifted. A slow pressure. Building. Not pain. Not yet. Just… there. He felt it rising in his body. Like something trying to come out.

"I need to try…" A pause.

"…control it."