Chapter 17: A quite little town

Sunny, Luna, and Jamal arrive in the quiet little town known as Hinder Town. It's a small, unassuming place, but as they pull in, an uneasy tension seems to hang in the air. The recent murders have made the townspeople more guarded and cautious, their glances lingering longer than necessary. Luna notices a few people glaring at her and offers a nervous smile, while Sunny's expression remains unwavering. Jamal sighs as he catches similar looks.

"I feel like getting information might be hard," Jamal mutters under his breath.

Sunny turns to Luna and Jamal with a decisive nod. "Alright, I can tell just by the vibe of this place—we're sleeping in the RV tonight."

The group soon finds themselves at a quaint little café sitting on a street corner. The café, aptly named Relax and Sip, looks inviting enough. When they step inside, they're greeted by a mostly empty space, save for two customers sitting in a booth near the back.

A woman with black hair and warm brown eyes welcomes them with a smile. "Hiya! Welcome, welcome. Make yourselves at home."

The group chooses a corner booth, and the woman promptly brings over three menus.

"So, what's the plan?" Luna asks, glancing at her menu.

"Well, gather information first," Sunny replies. Her expression lightens as she looks over the menu. "Oh, nice! They serve meals here, not just snacks!"

Jamal rolls his eyes. "The music here's alright... but I could do better."

Sunny smirks. "Then go tell her that!"

Jamal glares at her. "Shit, I just might!"

Before the banter can escalate, Luna speaks up, her voice lowering. "Hey, that guy over there in the suit and fedora... he's been staring at us since we walked in."

Sunny and Jamal glance at each other before discreetly looking toward the man Luna mentioned.

"Maybe we're being too loud?" Jamal raises an eyebrow.

Sunny shakes her head, her gaze narrowing slightly. "We'll keep an eye on him."

Luna and Jamal nod in agreement.

"Well, I'm ready to order," Luna says, trying to shift the mood, her eyes scanning the menu one last time before closing it. "I'll have the pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream, and a hot chocolate, please."

"Same here," Jamal mutters, though his choice is simpler. "Just eggs, bacon, and some toast. Oh, and coffee—black."

"Yep, me too," Sunny adds, setting her menu down with a confident thud. "I'll take the breakfast burrito with extra salsa, and a latte."

The waitress soon returns, notepad in hand, and the group places their orders. About ten minutes later, she brings over their food and drinks, balancing the plates and mugs with practiced ease.

"Thank you!" Luna says warmly as the woman walks away, her cheerful tone a stark contrast to the earlier tension.

Sunny sneaks another glance at the man in the suit. "He's still staring at us," she mutters.

Jamal exhales sharply. "Mind your own business, man. What the hell."

Luna smiles awkwardly, stirring her coffee. "Yeah... it is awkward."

The man places some money on the table, gets up, and leaves. Sunny flicks something in his general direction without anyone noticing. She smiles.

"Alrighty, I stuck a small little talisman on him," Sunny says with a grin.

Luna looks at Sunny curiously. "So, these talismans—what can they do?"

Sunny glances at Luna, smirking. "They track, notify me, and can also ward things. Well, at least the ones I make can. I learned how to make them when I was in China and Korea for over a year."

Luna tilts her head. "You went to Asia?"

Sunny nods. "Yep. Not the best time, though. I was doing a string of hunts. Not my finest hour, but some of my best fights."

Luna smiles. "So, how will this fight go with this monster?"

Sunny pauses to think before replying. "Hmm. Either a total wash or a difficult fight, but we should be fine, so don't worry."

Jamal raises an eyebrow. "So, are we going after that guy?"

Sunny nods. "If he's a threat, yes. If not, then no."

Luna takes a sip of her coffee. "Welp, uh, I don't know what to say!"

Sunny and Jamal laugh before finishing their food. They tip, and Jamal stays behind to talk with the woman working the counter. After ten minutes, he's seen putting a piece of paper with a number into his pocket.

Sunny smiles. "Well, look at you. Yeah, you're not coming back to the RV, are you?"

Jamal nods with a grin. "Yep!"

Luna tilts her head. "I see..."

Suddenly, they hear a few gunshots in the distance and quickly rush to investigate. Following the sound, they find themselves in an alleyway where they see a woman on the ground, bleeding out.

Sunny sprints to the woman and checks her pulse. "She's alive! Jamal or Luna, one of you call 911!"

Jamal already has his phone out, dialing. Luna hurries over to help. Seeing the woman has been shot twice in the midsection, Luna applies pressure to the wounds as the woman spits up blood.

Luna looks at Sunny, panicked. "C-can't you heal her?"

Sunny nods, focusing. "Working on it, but these bullets are preventing me—anti-holy, it seems."

Luna raises an eyebrow. "Anti-holy!?"

Sunny sighs. "Yep. Anti-holy bullets are designed to stop monsters that use healing magic."

Luna's eyes widen as the realization hits—this could easily be her if she ever messed up royally.

Two paramedics suddenly appear, rushing toward them. "Move out of the way!" they shout as they quickly secure the woman onto a stretcher and load her into the ambulance.

After the ordeal, Sunny wipes her hands, now stained with blood. "Let's head back to the RV to wash off."

As the three make their way back to the RV, Sunny's eye begins to twitch violently as she sees her RV has been vandalized with spray paint. Luna slowly looks at Sunny and notices the snow at her feet melting from the heat of Sunny's power swelling up.

Sunny walks over to the door of her RV and notices that someone keyed it. Unlocking the door, she steps inside to find that nothing has been stolen. However, her anger doesn't subside.

Then she hears the sound of someone approaching. Turning toward the noise, she sees a figure wearing a hoodie and mask, carrying a tool kit and several cans of spray paint strapped to their hip.

Sunny's voice booms, filled with rage. "WHO FUCKING DID THIS?!"

The person freezes for a second, then bolts, attempting to flee the scene.

But before they can get far, Sunny has already grabbed them. She slams them to the ground, pinning them with ease.

"Listen here," Sunny growls, tightening her grip on the person's shirt collar, "what possessed you to give my baby a paint job?"

"I-I'm s-s-sorry!" the person stammers, trembling under her grip.

Sunny doesn't ease up. She grabs the person's face, lifting them with one hand before shoving their face against the RV.

"Oh, no," she snarls, her voice dripping with menace. "Sorry ain't gonna cut it. What will cut it is why you did it."

The man trembled under the weight of Sunny's presence, her sheer strength palpable as she tightened her grip on his collar. His words tumbled out in a panicked mess, "I-I like spray painting, okay?! A-a guy in a fedora told me to do this! He said he'd pay me, I swear!"

Sunny's glare sharpened, her voice dangerously calm. "Anything else?" she asked, forcing a strained smile that was anything but kind.

The man frantically shook his head, too terrified to speak.

"I'm going to give you one minute to haul ass out of here. If I ever see you again..." Her smile vanished, replaced by a cold, piercing stare. "I. Will. Kill. You. Got it?"

With that, she shoved him to the ground. "RUN!"

The man didn't need to be told twice. Scrambling to his feet, he sprinted away as fast as his legs would carry him.

Sunny exhaled heavily, finally regaining her composure. From behind a car, Luna cautiously peeked out, her voice teasing but with a tinge of nervousness. "Jamal, I think she's done being angry!"

Jamal slowly revealed himself from behind a tree, his voice wavering. "I-I think you're right!"

Sunny turned to them, her forced smile reappearing. "Luna. Jamal. I need you two to go pick up some paint remover, okay?"

The pair began nodding furiously, not daring to argue.

"Good," Sunny said, her tone softening slightly.

Without wasting another moment, Luna and Jamal darted off, heading to the nearest hardware store on their impromptu errand.