Contractbound

The bell to apartment number 24 was rung. Valentine was waiting at the door for Luuk van der Meer patiently. He was looking at his clock. Ten p.m., still early, he thought. The sound of footsteps getting closer could be heard and shortly after, Luuk opened the door and looked at his guest, which he had kind of guessed because he wasn"t expecting anyone, and only the detective next door had always visited him at this hour.

"Yes?" asked Luuk shortly, but expectantly.

"I have a mission. I"ll pay you and Jacco," said Valentine straightforwardly.

A mission? What could it be? He sounds serious. In fact, he always looks and sounds very serious at night, he thought to himself.

"What mission? And why do you also need Jacco?" asked Luuk curiously.

"There might be some fighting involved. I"ll pay you each ten guilders but I"ll keep the battle loot." Valentine said matter-of-factly.

Another fight? Why does this man like fighting so much? Ten guilders is not bad, and I have nothing to do anyway. As long as it is not too dangerous, it should be fine. I can also use it as a battle practice.

"Are we fighting another Contractbound again?" Luuk asked.

"Most likely," said Valentine vaguely. He didn"t know if there would be more there, and Graham had used up all his attempts, so he couldn"t divine it. "If you"re in, get ready and we"ll go right away."

"Okay, give me a minute," Luuk closed his door and came back into his apartment to get ready. He got changed to dark-colored clothes and wore a pair of gloves. He brought his newly bought commando knife that was inspired by Valentine"s, but his was shorter, only 24 cm in overall length. Once he was ready, he came back out to the waiting Valentine.

"Nice knife," Valentine said when he saw the knife that Luuk was carrying before he hid it under his black sweater.

"Thanks," he said proudly. Luuk had carried it out in the open on purpose for his partner to notice his new knife. He liked to show off from time to time, after all.

Valentine had also brought his own knife. He was thinking of bringing the gun with him, but in the end, he decided against it. He knew how to use a gun and could use it well because of his past life, but Graham was the better shooter. He was more proficient in hand-to-hand combat with sharp weapons, or anything he could find.

The two men went out of the building and strode down the street towards Oosteinde South, where Jacco van Wert usually hung around with his gang members. He had told them that his gang was called "Fiery Skull", just like the logo on their jackets. It was a very clichéd name, to say the least.

Since they were both fast, they arrived less than forty-five minutes later. Jacco and the gang were hanging around the quiet street, making it not so empty anymore. They were really there just to cause trouble to pa.s.sersby, but since the gang didn"t bother him anymore, he didn"t care about what they were doing.

"Yo! Are you two here looking for me?" Jacco asked with his usual loud voice. The t.i.tle of War Marcher seemed very fitting for him.

"I have a job for you," said Valentine straight to the point, "But this time, don"t bring your men. They"ll only be a hindrance."

Jacco"s expression turned sour. Although he understood that his men were just normal people, it still didn"t sit right with him for his men to be called a hindrance. However, he controlled his emotion and asked with a slightly higher voice, "What job? Why can"t I take them?"

"Contractbound related. Might involve a battle. I can only tell you that it is dangerous." Valentine stated the fact. Even he didn"t know how dangerous it would be. He only knew that at least he wouldn"t die from it based on Graham"s earlier divination.

"What"s in it for me?" asked Jacco without hesitation.

"Ten guilders. Your role is to provide support with your power. I"ll keep the battle loot." said Valentine with his deep voice without batting an eye.

This guy is very straightforward, Luuk thought.

Jacco went into thinking. Ten guilders was a decent amount of money, and he only had to provide support. It seemed like a good chance to make easy money, especially since he had seen Valentine and Luuk fight before. The two of them made a good team. With him in the rear, their power would be formidable.

"Okay. I"m in!" he said in full spirit.

"Then let"s go," said Valentine shortly.

"Guys, I"m heading out! You motherf.u.c.kers can do whatever you want, but don"t cause me trouble!" said Jacco to his men loudly.

Valentine, Luuk, and Jacco started heading towards the part of Oosteinde where there were a lot of abandoned factories, which wasn"t that far from where they were. They just needed to go to the Amstel River and head north-east from there. The three men walked quickly in the cold windy night, with Jacco at the back because he was the slowest of the bunch. Valentine used this chance to brief his team members about the operation, telling them who the target was and why he was looking for her. However, he didn"t tell them about the name Pravitatem, only about the involvement of a hidden organization in the murder.

There were not a lot of people in that area that night, except for the slums and Oosteindestraat which will be busier the later it got. The unlikely trio arrived at their destination twenty minutes later. It took longer than it should have because they had to wait for Jacco who was not blessed with speed, to begin with. Valentine was physically fast because of his past training, while Luuk got his agility from his slender build and his Deity"s contract.

The three men walked carefully in the dark street between abandoned buildings. If there was any pa.s.serby, they would certainly stay away because the trio looked dangerous. Valentine"s cold eyes pierced through the dark night, with its yellow glow hidden under his contact lenses, while Luuk"s eyes were glowing red in the moonless street. And behind them, there was Jacco, a big, muscular man whose appearance screamed that he was a gang leader.

Valentine couldn"t use divination to pinpoint the exact location of Marieke, so he could only rely on his memory of the image from the divination. She was standing in a large, empty s.p.a.ce, so the building must be a big one. There were a lot of big, abandoned buildings, however, so it didn"t narrow it down by much. The area around her was dark, so there should be no lights in the building, but considering the area was full of unused buildings, their lights wouldn"t be switched on.

"G, you need to improve your divination," Valentine complained inwardly.

"Where do we go now?" asked Luuk while looking around.

"Our target should be in one of these buildings, but I have no idea which. We should search carefully for any signs of activity like footprints and such." Valentine explained.

"Should we split?" asked Jacco eagerly.

"No. Although it would be faster, there is unknown danger lurking here. Stick together," Valentine commanded.

Valentine and Luuk could see well in the dark thanks to their night visions, while Jacco had difficulty because of the lack of both moonlight and streetlight. He had to use a flashlight to see. It was a small flashlight that he strapped around his head, so both his hands could be freely used for battle.

"Come here," said Valentine with a hand beckoning his members, and once they were there, he said, "These footprints look fresh. We"ll follow them," he said decisively.

They walked quietly following the footprints, except for Jacco who was wearing heavy boots with thick soles which made loud stepping noises, especially in the quiet night. They gave up being sneaky and just rushed quickly to the building where the footprints led them and stopped in front of a doorless abandoned factory. There was a woman standing motionless in the middle of the dark, empty s.p.a.ce. It was Marieke Odekirk!

"Is that our target?" asked Luuk whisperingly.

Valentine nodded without saying anything. The condition of Marieke looked abnormal, which made him suspicious. She was just standing there like a statue without moving an inch. He would have probably guessed that she had been petrified if not for the slight movement in her chest because of breathing. She was holding a dagger in her right hand and there was dried blood all over it, and all over her clothes, in fact. Her face was covered by her messy, curly long red hair.

The trio entered the building cautiously while looking around, being on guard for a possible trap or ambush. There didn"t seem to be anyone else besides the woman standing in the middle, but there were a lot of things scattered around on the concrete floor: a crystal ball, an iron plate with a short stick nearby, and a backpack. There were also traces of ashes around the floor, but the find had probably blown them all over the place.

"You"re Marieke Odekirk, right?" said Valentine gently while gesturing at Luuk secretly.

Luuk understood the meaning of Valentine"s gesture; he had to get close enough to steal the dagger from the woman"s hand, so he approached the target slowly and cautiously while Valentine was speaking to her.

"..." Marieke didn"t respond.

"We"re not going to hurt you. We"re only here to ask questions about Nora," Valentine spoke as gently as he could, although his deep voice still made his speech sounded rather cold.

The moment she heard the name, she raised her head and looked at the person speaking. Her eyes were fully red, not just the pupils, but the whole eyes. They emitted strong hatred and regret. The moment they made eye contact, she darted at Valentine with her dagger ready to stab him.

"I, in the name of the Deity of Theft, declare Marieke Odekirk"s dagger mine!"

Whoosh!

She failed to hit Valentine because he had narrowly dodged, but her speed was very fast. She would have hit her if she still had the range of her dagger.

"Jacco!" shouted Valentine.

Jacco, who had previously picked up two iron trashcan lids, started chanting.

"I, in the name of the Deity of War, play this War Drum!"

Bang! Bang!

The loud sound of metals. .h.i.tting each other resounded in the quiet building. Valentine and Luuk felt magically invigorated. They felt their body much lighter and their stamina replenished. They launched an attack from two directions.

Thump!

She guarded against their attack with both arms. Their daggers. .h.i.t her skin, but it only caused a scratch; her skin was as hard as iron.

"Your weapons are mine!" she roared loudly with a broken voice and made a swiping motion with both hands. Valentine"s and Luuk"s daggers disappeared from their hands and reappeared in her hands.

"No chanting?!" Luuk was surprised. He kept a close distance with her in order to steal the knife back.

"I order you to stay back!" she said with a monstrous voice while pointing at Luuk.

Luuk felt restrained and his feet moved against his will away from the woman with a gruesome expression. He was now out of range to steal his weapon back. It took him a while to regain control of his feet, but she had already launched an attack against Valentine.

Clank!

The sound of daggers making contact with iron echoed in the empty building. Valentine had picked up the iron plate and quickly used it as a shield. However, because of her attack, the iron plate was dented beyond recognition and Valentine was thrown back several meters. He wasn"t badly injured because of the effect of Jacco"s war drum.

"What kind of bulls.h.i.t monster is she?!" Jacco exclaimed.