Chapter 39

She instantly reached her hand in front of her body, as a blast of blue energy was released, and a demonic shrill was heard behind me, causing me to jump in my seat.

"What the hell was that?!"

Cattelya's eyes narrowed as she exhaled.

"Those are what we call demonic spirits, entities that can latch onto Seekers and almost make them their host. Don't worry, it's normal but also very dangerous."

She stood up before walking over to a cabinet and opening it, and pulling out a small bottle filled with a viscous blue liquid, and placing it onto the table.

"What is that stuff?"

Cattleya looked at the bottle for a few seconds before speaking.

"This is a formula of medium, a powerful potion only few seekers can gain access to. It allows one to gain access to a whole nother plane of thought and or existence."

"Like dimensional travel?"

I asked, holding my hands, Cattleya nodded.

"Indeed, there are countless if not infinite dimensions in the cosmos, and us seekers could gain access to them if we grow."

My eyes widened, the thought of such a large scale of space and time made me feel so small all of a sudden, and made my gut sink.

"What would I use this potion for?"

"Well, multiple uses. If one needs to escape danger, they could retreat to another plane of existence, if one needs to conceal something, they could take it to another plane of existence."

I picked up the potion and held it close to my face, watching the blue formula swish around in the cup and glow dimly.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

Cattleya's eyes softened as she smiled. 

"Well, you're special in a way. Aaron's reports claimed that you had black blood, and that color of blood is different from the usual red that we have."

As she explained I couldn't help but look behind me, an expression of suspicion washed over my face as I looked at the closed wooden door.

"What is it?"

I didn't reply, I only continued to stare into the door.

"Away!"

A sharp pain flooded my mind as I turned back to Cattleya, whose face was now flooded with concern and worry. 

"Are you ok?"

She leaned in closer to me, placing her hand on my forehead, it didn't move away like Shinso's or Aizawa's, instead it seemed gravitated towards it, like a magnet.

"What's wrong with me?"

Before she could answer my question, the door swung open and Aizawa walked in, pulling out another chair before plopping down in it.

"We have a lead in our case."

Aizawa's tone had a small ring of optimism inside it, unlike his usual monotone, nonchalant one.

"Really?"

Me and Cattleya asked in unison, turning away from each other and towards Aizawa. He nodded and stood up, pushing in his chair before walking out the door, beckoning us with his fingers.

"Let's go."

We both walked out the door and into the main section of the headquarters, where Shinso, Aizawa, Aaron and the previous corpse were sitting at the table.

"What do you remember?"

Aaron asked the corpse, rubbing his temples. He didn't take long to reply, speaking up in a way for us all to hear.

"Well, I saw a man, with and...he could transform, h-he turned into a...uhm...monster of sorts, and uhm..."

As he spoke, my eyes narrowed. I noticed he seemed lost in thought, and unable to recall close to anything.

"Transform?"

The man nodded slowly.

"Yes, he turned into a large creature with a large body, scales and multiple eyes."

Aaron's green pearls narrowed after learning that information, he then gazed at the moon symbol on the man's lower forehead.

"Are you from the Nightshades?"

The man's eyes widened as he looked up at Aaron and nodded quickly.

"Y-yes..."

Aaron leaned back in his chair and stretched, before returning his gaze to the man, his voice now half a yawn.

"Well, why were you on a roof when we found you, I assume the group sent you on a bounty mission?"

Before the man could answer, Cattelya spoke up.

"How do you know about the Nightshades?"

She asked, taking a step towards Aaron. He simply paused for a bit, taking a small gulp before speaking.

"I was a part of the group once, but that's a part of me I don't talk about."

His voice gradually softened as he started to rub his temple again.

"How do you think we could find the Nightshades, they could aid us in our search for the shooter."

Aaron's voice then grew hesitant as Cattelya's request.

"Well, it's hard to do that, the last time I was in their group I was only 25 years old, now I'm almost 58, they've probably changed their basis on how to do things, and they've probably relocated, and I don't think Mr. Zombie here wants to tell us more."

He stated, turning towards the man while raising an eyebrow.

"What's your name by the way?"

The man covered his badge before Aaron or anyone of us could peer at his identity.

"Are they that concealed now, what a bunch of wimps."

He chuckled, leaning back in his chair, staring into the ceiling and watching the hanging gas light swing back and forth slowly.

Before anyone spoke up, the voices returned to my head as they all started to clamor again, ringing loudly in my head.

"Demetrius Hallow."

They stated in illusory unison.

"His name is Demetrius Hallow."

Everyone collectively turned to me, Cattleya and Aaron looked the most shocked, Demetruis's eyes widened in fear and puzzlement.

"H-how'd you know that?"

The man asked, Aaron spoke up.

"Spirit calling, an ability most Seekers can attain, I'm surprised mine hasn't rung out and told us who shot your friend yet."

"I think the Routeway nullifying bullets also affect Seekers around the individual they were used on, from what I heard...I think one can put certain laws and aspects on these bullets, so they probably implanted a law that hides their identity."

I nodded slowly, sitting back down on my chair, pulling a few books in my direction. I opened one to a random page, looking to ease my boredom when I saw one filled with strange symbols and incantations.

"Anyone know what these are?"

I asked, picking up the book and turning it to show the pages to everyone. Cattleya spoke up quickly, her tone filled with puzzlement.

"Where did you find those?"

I turned the book back around and looked into the pages for a few seconds before speaking slowly.

"I turned to a random page, and these symbols popped up."

She stood up after I said that and took the book from me gently, narrowing her eyes while pushing up her glasses.

"What is it?"

I asked, my tone now filled with puzzlement.

"Well..."

Cattleya froze for a few seconds.

"I think we need to find the Nightshades."