Chapter 16: Going North

It's a chilly afternoon, and Luna and Sunny are heading to the center of town to meet Jamal. Luna looks up at the falling snow and smiles. "You know, Sunny, where I grew up, it was always sunny. Heh." She chuckles at her own joke, but Sunny just rolls her eyes.

As they reach the center of town, they find a bench to sit on while waiting. Luna gazes at the overcast sky and asks, "Sooo, Sunny, what's the job all about?"

Sunny thinks for a moment, then shrugs. "No clue."

Luna whips her head toward Sunny, her voice rising. "W-wait, you don't know?!"

"Nope," Sunny replies with a smirk. "Half the fun of being a hunter is finding out what you're hunting!"

Luna's smile fades into a look of dismay. "Great, mystery hunting. Let me guess, we're going to encounter a flying werepire that shoots lasers!"

Sunny bursts out laughing. "Werepire?! That's the greatest thing I've heard in a while!"

After roughly thirty minutes, Jamal approaches the center of town. "Sooo, finished your business?" Luna asks.

Jamal simply nods. "Let's get this show on the road. By the way, where's HQ? I'll be setting up shop there."

Sunny gives him a thumbs up. "Sounds good to me!"

After a ten-minute walk, they reach Sunny's RV. She drives everyone to the place where Jamal has been staying: a warehouse. "Alright, let's get your stuff loaded. Y'all head in there while I make space for your things!" Sunny says.

Inside, to Luna's surprise, the warehouse is immaculate. "Wow, it's really clean in here!" she exclaims.

A slight smile crosses Jamal's face. "Thanks. My mom was a clean freak, so everything had to be spotless growing up. I guess it stuck with me."

Luna notices several instruments and music equipment scattered around. "Wow, you've got a lot of instruments!" she says, her eyes wide.

"Yep," Jamal replies as he unhooks a few amps. "I've been collecting them since I was a kid. My mom was a singer, and my sister joined a band. Musical talent runs deep in my family."

While Luna fills empty boxes with various items, she comes across a family album. It's open to a photo of a younger Jamal with five women—most likely his sisters and mother—alongside a tall man in military attire and another in a police uniform, probably his father and an older brother.

Luna smiles warmly at the sight of the loving family but quickly closes the album, not wanting to pry into Jamal's past. She places it carefully in a box and labels it Family Album. "At least some of us had an alright childhood," she murmurs softly.

"Little help!" Jamal's shout snaps her out of her thoughts. He's struggling to load an amplifier onto a trolley. Luna hurries over to assist.

After about an hour, Sunny joins them to help finish loading everything into the RV. She surveys the packed interior and nods. "Well, it's gonna be a little cramped, but it should all fit!"

Several hours later, everything is loaded up into the RV, and they begin the drive back to HQ. As they pull up to the house, Jamal raises an eyebrow. "Damn, how long have y'all been here? This place is already well protected—with what I'm guessing are talismans."

Sunny nods. "Good eye. Oh, and ignore the weretiger and the goblin."

Jamal smirks at the remark, but his expression shifts when he sees a small goblin emerge from the house to help unload. The goblin effortlessly picks up several heavy boxes with one hand while balancing more in the other.

Jamal stares at the creature in disbelief. "What the...?"

The goblin pays him no mind, continuing its work as though hauling heavy loads is a casual chore. After everything is unloaded into Jamal's new room, he collapses onto a chair with a long sigh. "Alright. From living in a warehouse to a house."

Luna raises an eyebrow. "Why did you agree to move in with us, anyway?"

Jamal looks at her and shrugs. "Because hunter teams tend to live together. Plus, it's not like Sunny's a stranger. I also hate living in cities. Places like this? Much better. I'll take it over a nasty warehouse any day."

Luna smiles warmly. "Yeah, and Sunny's cooking is really good!"

Jamal smirks. "Not better than my mama's, and definitely not better than my grandma's. She can take third place, I suppose."

He leans back and then frowns slightly. "That goblin... how'd y'all find him?"

Luna shrugs. "He kinda just showed up here, and we took him in!"

Jamal raises an eyebrow but doesn't press further, shaking his head with a smirk. 

After a few minutes Luna mouth begins watering as she can smell Sunny is cooking and Jamal watches as Luna almost floats out of the room "jeez she must really like her cooking."

Jamal sits down and starts tuning one of his guitars, strumming a few notes to make sure everything is in working order. After about thirty minutes, he heads downstairs for dinner and notices Sunny has made nachos for everyone. Following the delicious meal, the group begins discussing their first mission.

"All righty," Sunny starts, leaning back in her chair, "this hunt's gonna be a bit tricky. It's up north past Aspen, near a small town. People have been going missing lately, and the worst part? A corpse was found, mangled and ripped to shreds. The face was unrecognizable. As for what we're dealing with... I have no clue. It's definitely not a demon or a devil, but it's probably some kind of monster. My guess is an A or AA rank, maybe even A+ if you will."

Luna's face pales slightly. "That's... not comforting."

Sunny continues, "What's bugging me is that its attacks seem planned. That means it's probably intelligent. So, we'll have to be extra careful. Make sure your stuff's packed and ready to go because we're heading out tomorrow!"

Luna sighs. "Okay..."

Jamal shrugs. "No rest for the wicked, huh? So, we don't know much about this thing we're hunting?"

Sunny shakes her head. "Nope. Just that it's intelligent and not demonic in nature."

Jamal rolls his eyes. "Great. By the way, make sure to knock before coming into my room. I value my privacy."

Sunny and Luna both give him exaggerated thumbs-ups, making him smirk.

Later, Luna can be seen outside, training with her weapon while Jamal practices more instruments, this time playing a trumpet. Sunny sharpens one of her blades, focusing intently, while Sronk—the goblin—hand-carves a bed frame for Jamal's room with surprising skill. Meanwhile, Billy the cat lounges lazily on a windowsill, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his fur.

During dinner, Sunny's phone starts ringing. She pulls it out of her pocket and answers. "Hello? Sunny speaking!"

A woman's voice comes through on the other end, hurried and tense. Sunny's expression shifts as she listens. "I see... Wait, it did what?" Her voice rises slightly. More frantic chatter comes from the phone. "Are you sure? Positive, right? Right?" Sunny's tone grows sharp, and she presses the phone closer to her ear.

After a long pause, Sunny exhales heavily. "Okay, we'll head out now. First thing in the morning isn't going to cut it."

She hangs up and looks at Jamal and Luna, her expression grim. "Change of plans. Grab your stuff—we're leaving tonight. Apparently, this thing is capable of magic. Not only that, but the corpse they found? It put itself back together and killed the people at the morgue."

Luna and Jamal's eyes widen in alarm. They exchange a brief, panicked glance before rushing to grab their gear, fully aware that whatever this creature is, it's going to be a nightmare to deal with.

After loading up the RV, they begin their journey up north, ready for the terrifying confrontation that awaits them.