Chapter 4

Don't kill me!

The sight before him was real. Harrison Grant, the 775th target, was still alive. But how was this even possible? 

That was the question that tasked Zarek's perspicacity. However, he wouldn't want to find out in the most terrible way. 

With his pistol already pointing at the man, two deafening sounds rang out when Zarek pulled the trigger. 

The man only jostled a few inches backwards. To Zarek, the man had not moved an inch.

"You gotta be kidding me," Zarek blurted. 

The man's eyes became dim red and the contracted face did nothing but showed how angry he was. Of course Zarek had tested his patience with the last two shots, and Zarek could see some veiny hands with protruded fingernails about four inches in length. 

"Is that all you've got, young man?" The man growled.

Sure, Zarek was again stunned when he saw something contrary to anything he had ever seen or believed. 

On the man's forehead, exactly where Zarek had fired the last two shots, a hole popped open with the sign of a bullet. No blood, no pain, no nothing. Just a gold-colored metal oozing from a skull that had been pierced. The man's muscles had also contracted, and there was the slight appearance of fur around his face. 

A series of clanking sounds echoed as each bullet touched the tiled floor, and the hole from which they had emerged sealed back as if nothing had pierced the forehead. 

You gotta be kidding!

Contrary to what Zarek had believed, the man could heal faster than normal. How was this even possible? Except the man was a… 

At this point, Zarek ran a few calculations in his head. Then he realized that only a certain creature could do just that. 

Werewolves! 

But… 

Zarek had never thought himself a believer. Sure, he had read about the creatures. Werewolves were a popular genre in the online novels he read. He had read how the creatures could transform on a full moon and how their claws extended when threatened.

The last one he read, a book Zarek had failed to finish due to a system crash, had talked extensively about how the creatures had invaded Earth some five hundred years ago. The humans had fought on a united front in the Great Apocalypse, and the werewolves were effectively slaughtered and defeated.

No doubt Zarek had enjoyed the book, at least until the point where it foretold the coming of another great apocalypse in the next five hundred years, which corresponded to January 1st, 2025. 

Today's date.

But this time, the author had mentioned the coming of another species—the vampires—and the creation of a system that would enable humans to participate in various tasks. The completion of each task would bestow skills and powers to defeat the creatures. 

As Zarek could recall the details, each task was assigned to a respective class. On the successful completion of each task, participants would be given some skills and powers after which they would proceed to the next class. 

There were six classes in all, and the first was a preliminary class known as Necromancer. Only a selected few had the opportunity to be in this preparatory class.

The Awakened Humans. 

And for humans to be awakened, they had to show certain natural traits such as strength, agility, resilience, and precision in weaponry. 

Zarek Slade matched those abilities. However, he had missed the part that said the awakened individuals were the human commanders who had died in the last apocalypse. And Zarek had no memory of his previous life, except what he had read from the novel.

Varkon was the next class, the first in the class of five. To ascend to this class, the awakened human would have to kill supernatural creatures, after which they would have an expansion of muscles for increased strength. They would also have more speed, a sharp sense of smell, sight, and hearing, and would be presented with advanced weapons to aid in future missions. 

The second class was Thane, whose tasks were far more difficult than the first class, and so was the successive classes: Lyrien, Kaelos, and Xylara, with Xylara being the highest of all the classes and the most difficult of all.

At this point, Zarek recalled today's date: January 1st, 2025. The same date spelled out for the commencement of the next apocalypse. 

Could an author be this exact with predictions, or maybe there was more to this story? Or maybe it was just a dumb coincidence. 

But Zarek thought it felt too good to be true. How could he deny the facts before him? 

Today was the first day of the year, and a man matching the characteristics of a werewolf stood before him. No pain, no blood, even after several rounds of gunshots. 

Death was totally ruled out.

 Soon, Zarek began to wonder if the system had already been created. 

He couldn't tell. However, going by the date, the vampires may as well be hiding in shadows, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. But right now, Zarek was in no position to figure out the details. As a matter of fact, he had to figure out his next move if he was not to die on the supposed first day of the apocalypse.

Silver bullets! 

Zarek had not read this part in the novel, but his client had told him that he would need silver bullets for the mission. 

Was this a setup to get him killed? 

Sure, Zarek had come with silver bullets. They were in the left pocket of his black combat trousers. However, an unimaginable pain coursed through his body before he reached for the bullets. 

The other man had punched Zarek so hard that it sent him flying backwards, and Zarek finally came to a stop after colliding with the opposite glass wall. 

But Zarek's skills extended beyond guns and bullets. Besides, there wasn't time to grab the pistol that had fallen a few inches away. The man marching towards him would tear him apart if he was stupid enough to do just that. The only option was the silver dagger tucked around his belt. 

Zarek reached for his blade.

A fierce fight ensued over the next few minutes, with Zarek ducking and dodging a sharp pair of sharp claws. At this point, dark fur had sprouted on the naked upper half of the man's body, and he had become more dangerous as a result. 

Zarek got torn in his stomach and chest. The claws were too fast to be missed, but Zarek wasn't an amateur fighter. Years of fighting had taught him where and when to aim, and Zarek was wise to duck when the man made a swift kill move. 

Zarek got a perfect aim with his dagger, and it pierced the man who soon dropped to the ground in pain. He sighed and reached for his silver bullets. Holding his stomach in pain, the three-storey mansion echoed with gunshots as Zarek emptied the silver bullets. 

The 755th target was dead.

Zarek could take a sigh of relief, even though he still had the 776th target to kill.

A buzzing immediately came from his cellphone. Zarek could take the call since there was no imminent danger. 

"Congratulations! You just ascended to Class Varkon. Now proceed to the next task," a voice said at the other end of the line. The voice sounded mechanical, and Zarek thought it to be a voicemail number. 

Beep!

The call ended, and Zarek was thrown into confusion.

 What! Class Varkon? Was he playing a game or something?

 Zarek pondered as he stared at the anonymous number. Although mechanical, the voice had sounded familiar, and Zarek could only guess that it belonged to his client. The man who had given him the mission in the first place. But why the congratulations, and what was the Varkon class?

 Zarek had never heard anything of the sort, and now was not the time to think. Target 776 was still breathing, and he had a mission to finish.

Like an instinct, Zarek knew where to find the next target. As though an image had appeared before him, he imagined her hiding in a basement. Not only that, he could perceive her scent, the sweet fragrance of the perfume she had applied the previous evening. But most important was the fact that Zarek could hear the sound of a pounding heart as she awaited what was to become of her.

 In no time, Zarek got to the basement after descending through a series of stairs. The place got darker with each descent, but Zarek could see through the darkness. He didn't know how, but his vision seemed to have gotten sharper. There was a subtle white light that shone in his line of sight, and his pupils seemed to glow in the lingering darkness. 

Zarek pushed open the basement door, and the echo in his ear increased with each step he made. Just like he had imagined, target 776 came into sight.

 There she was. A light-skinned female of petite build, with green eyes and hair that was now ruffled. 

Zarek had not thought her to be this beautiful. She was different from the woman he had seen in the photograph. The trash underneath which she hid had dirtied the black gown, but from her glowing skin, Zarek could tell that she had lived a life of affluence. She squeezed her slim legs in an attempt to conceal her position.

Zarek would never have figured out her location without... 

Zarek did not know what it was. But the energy in him, the strength, his now-sharp sense of smell and hearing. Zarek felt himself to be a different person. 

And he was.

"Please don't kill me!" she cried out. 

The 776th target pleaded in the midst of the lingering danger. However, Zarek's fingers only tightened around the pistol. It was as if the pleading had given him more resolve. Moreover, he had had to put up a fight with her father, and he was angry that the mission had become more difficult. 

Not what he had expected.

The target trembled at the gun. A Glock 69 semi-automatic pistol with the ability to meet its target at various ranges. It was obvious that the man before her had only one goal. 

To take her life.

The air became still as the gun aimed at her forehead, and Zarek could see the rise and fall of her chest. Her heart wanted to explode at this point, but it wouldn't change a damn thing. 

As of right now, Zarek Slade had only one goal: to finish the mission. And the target was within his reach.