Remember The Monster Stories You Heard When You Were A Kid?

Ever since his seemingly endless nightmares weeks prior, Payne began conducting his investigation about the Phantom Hunters. The intel that he gathered led him to a run-down neighborhood of the nearby city of Assis. It was a poor area and poverty is very evident with the structures of the houses.

Payne asked each resident he encountered if they ever heard about the Phantom Hunters. Based from the information he got days ago, it is believed that the members of the group originated from this poverty ridden hell. Payne seeks to find a lead from the birth place of the Hunters.

Hours have passed yet Payne couldn't get a decent answer. All the walking and asking made him very hungry. He went to a local eatery there.

"Give me the best thing you could offer" Payne challenged the owner.

"Suit for yourself" the store owner accepted the challenge.

He gave Payne the specialty of the shop. Having his hunger satisfied, he asked the owner of the store.

"Hey look, ever heard of the Phantom Hunters?"

"Never heard of them" the store owner answered.

A guy sitting beside Payne overheard their conversation. He was wearing a hat and was eating the same specialty as well.

"Phantom Hunters huh? Haven't heard of that name for a very long time" the mysterious man said.

Payne was overjoyed when finally, someone knew what he was talking about. He asked immediately with an excited voice.

"You know them?"

"Yeah kinda" the man replied.

The man finished his food first before speaking again.

"Come, follow me outside"

The man led Payne to an alleyway in the back of the eatery. Having secured that no one will listen to them, they continued their conversation.

"So what do you want to know about them?" the man asked.

"Everything" Payne answered.

"That's a very broad answer" the man replied.

"Yeah right" Payne replied.

The man's face suddenly became serious. He began encouraging Payne.

"You should give it up"

"What do you mean?" a confused Payne asked.

"Give up trying to look for them" the man answered.

"But why?" Payne asked.

"Danger only awaits.." the man replied.

Convinced that Payne's determination won't waver, he slowly removed his cap. Payne's face went from excited to terrified. The man had a huge scar in his right eye.

"What the hell happened?" Payne asked.

"You see this. This is what you will get if you ever try to mess with them" the man answered.

Payne paused for a brief moment to process what he just saw. He began thinking deeply until he was able to say his next words.

"Wait.. So you're not a human?" Payne asked.

"What do you mean?" the man counter asked.

"I mean why would they attack you in the first place?" Payne replied.

The man removed the necklace he was wearing. He quickly assaulted Payne, choking and grabbing him to the ground. His nails became sharp all of a sudden and he pointed it towards to Payne's neck.

"I HAVE LEFT IT ALL IN THE PAST, WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME!" He angrily asked Payne.

"I'M NOT WITH THEM, I'M JUST LOOKING FOR ANSWERS. WAIT WAIT WAIT, I CAN EXPLAIN" Payne replied while trying to breathe.

"You better have a good explanation or else you're dead" the man threatened.

"My clan.. The Phantom Hunters.. killed them all.." Payne said.

As soon as the man heard it, he let Payne go. He wore his necklace again, thus returning to his human form.

"You're the orphaned kid of the Rupus Clan?" the man asked.

"How did you know" Payne asked.

"Let's talk somewhere else" the man said.

The two of them went to the residential area of the city. They pulled up in one of the apartments.

"We're here" the man said.

He knocked on the door. The door opened and they were greeted by a woman.

"You have a visitor?" the woman asked.

"Yeah, he's an old friend" the man said.

They went inside and headed to the living room. There, another person was in the house. It was a kid playing with his toys.

"Daddy you're home! Let's play" the kid said while he hugged the man.

"Daddy's kinda busy right now, let's play another day son" the man said while smiling.

He then told the kid to go the room to which the kid does.

"He is a great kid. Academically gifted, a bright potential" the man said.

Payne nodded as a response.

"Who are you exactly?" he asked.

"My name is Von, at least that's what I use these days"

"Right. I'm Payne then but that's not the answer I'm looking for. A while ago, what was that?"

Suddenly, the woman came in. She brought some coffee to the table.

"Would you like anything else?" she asked.

"It's fine. Thank you" Payne answered.

The woman left and Von took a sip. Payne went for a sip as well before proceeding.

"You're right, I am not a human. This necklace, it is the seal that I'm using. I believe the bracelet that you're wearing is yours" Von said.

"Do they know? Are they not humans as well?" Payne asked.

"No no no, they're normal human beings. My son didn't inherited my genes" Von explained.

Von continued his explanation.

"You see my wife right there, she's very lovely. She accepted me for who I am. My past, I left it all. I've done some terrible deeds which is hard to atone, but I'm trying alright. I'm just at peace right now and I'll do everything to maintain it. If my past ever haunted me back, I'll protect my family"

Hearing Von's explanation, Payne finished drinking his coffee.

"You said you knew the Phantom Hunters. I presume, they're the ones who gave you that scar?" Payne asked.

Von went silent. He stared at nowhere as if he's having a PTSD flashback.

"Yeah you're right... I've barely managed escaped them" he replied.

He started to breathe heavily. Payne noticed this.

"Hey are you alright?" Payne asked Von.

"Yeah yeah... You know what? Let's just continue it tomorrow" Von said.

"What do you mean? I still have a lot of questions" Payne iterated.

"I'm sorry, I still need to teach my son some Mathematics" Von said while he continued breathing heavily.

His wife came to the room.

"My husband deals with this stuff very often. If you have anything to discuss further more, just do it tomorrow please" Von's wife said.

"Sure sure thank you for your time. I apologize for being pushy. I'll come back tomorrow" a disappointed yet understanding Payne replied.

He left the house and went on his way home. The following day, he did what he said. He went back to the family's house.

"Von?!" he said loudly as he knocked on the door.

No one answered. He figured they might be sleeping so Payne waited for a while. 5 minutes have passed, he was about to give up. He tried reaching for the knob but he was surprised. The door was actually open.

"Anyone home? Your front door is open. Sorry for intruding" Payne said while he was entering the house.

Payne opened the lights. He saw the room was all messy. As if a typhoon just hit inside the house.

"What the hell happened here?" he thought.

He continued his search until he reached the bedroom. He opened the lights. His eyes widened up and his jaw dropped on what he saw.

Von's wife and son was lying on the ground dead. They're bathing on their own blood. There's a huge cut in the neck of the kid while the mother had a hole in her chest. A portion of Payne's memory came back to him. As if the scenery was so familiar.

The window was broken as if someone escaped through it. Payne jumped out of it and found a trail of blood. He tried to follow it but unfortunately, the trail ended at some point. Using his depleted Wolfgang genes power, he tracked the smell of it. It led him to a bridge that was ghosted and hidden. He sneakily went there to see if someone was there. What he saw was a group of people circling a person.

"You made me ran all the way up to here just to catch you up huh, gotta say I'm not very pleased about it, Baron the Manslayer. Cool alias though" one of the person said.

"Can we just get over with it? I wanna go back and sleep already" another person said.

"After this, we're not even done yet. We still got to clean the house back there" said by another person with a girl voice.

Payne, still hidden, went for a closer look. What he saw was horrible. It was Von and he was about to get executed.

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO KILL THEM? YOU COULD'VE AT LEAST SPARED THEM.. I'M THE ONE YOU NEEDED NOT THEM! I AM THE MONSTER, NOT MY FAMILY!! THEY'RE JUST REGULAR HUMAN BEINGS.." Von shouted while breaking down.

"Sorry about this. Nothing personal, just gotta do our jobs" the oldest person there said while smiling.

With a snap of a finger, the person grabbed Von's head and detached if from his body. Payne's eyes went dark. He was about go all out. He knew instantly the identity of these people.

"THESE BASTARDS, PHANTOM HUNTERS, THEY WILL PAY" he thought.

Upon taking a last second look before launching an attack, he noticed something. He noticed someone. It was none other than his brother, Zaqiel. He was in disbelief and began thinking.

"How could this be? For what reason is he with the hunters?" he thought.

He held himself and continued listening to the conversation.

"Shaun, Floyd, you take care of the cleaning of this body. Me, Kylee and Zee will take care of the mother and son" Al said.

Payne observed Zaqiel's face. He wasn't happy either of what just happened.

"Yes" Zaqiel replied to Al.

Payne began theorizing everything. For what reason his brother would hangout with his family's killer? He came up with a conclusion.

"He must be going undercover. I'll observe him back home" Payne thought.

Payne then stood up and flee the scene. While he was running, he was looking at his bracelet.

"Zaqiel is up to something. Whatever his plan is, I don't want to interfere. Besides, knowing he's working undercover, that is a big lead that's enough for me" Payne thought.

Thus Payne's path to revenge is becoming closer than ever.