Contractbound

After he had told Jacco about the information related to wraiths and spirits, he felt like he was very close to pleasing his Deity. It was an abstract feeling; something that he couldn"t really put into an explanation. He just knew it on a spiritual level. He was sure that after uncovering one more big secret he would have pleased his Deity.

He didn"t know where he could find a big secret to uncover, so he was just walking around looking for some inspiration, while people watching. There were many people in the street at that time, wearing various kinds of warm clothing because at that time it was already getting colder. They were all looking content with their lives, but at the same time minding their own businesses. It was rare to see people coming up to a stranger just to chat. However, when in need, strangers were willing to help each other. Life in the Republic was mostly good on the surface.

While he was observing the people in the street, Valentine suddenly felt a nagging feeling in his heart. He had the urge to take a public motor carriage to the Concrete. It was another inexplicable feeling he got, like the warm voice of someone dear to him calling out to Valentine. He chose to trust his instinct since it had never betrayed him before. He stopped a pa.s.sing motor carriage and got into it swiftly. He told the driver his destination and the driver started driving away.

To drive from Grotemarktstraat to the Concrete in Noordeinde, it would normally take them around one hour; however, since it was the time that workers finished work, the traffic was abnormally bad. They couldn"t drive fast even if they wanted to because all the lanes were packed with vehicles. They waited for a very long time at the traffic intersection whose green light lasted for only twenty seconds because of the number of vehicles in front of them.

From the first intersection at Grotemarktstraat, the driver turned right to the east. He crossed the Vecht River bridge and made a left at the intersection near Tuinstraat, heading northward. From there, they only needed to drive straight, but since there were many people driving the same direction, most likely also going to the biggest residential area in Sloten, the Concrete, they had to drive slowly.

Valentine reached his destination in two hours; twice the usual time because of all that traffic. He got out and paid the driver. Noordeinde at that hour was overflowing with people and motor carriages and bicycles. They were mostly people coming home from work, who were also trapped in the same traffic as Valentine. It was already seven in the evening, and those people looked very tired. Still, they needed to traverse the manmade jungle to reach their home.

He followed his gut feeling and entered the Concrete north. It was also the place where the third victim of Pravitatem was found, so he was sure there would be something he could find. The lights were already on in the buildings, illuminating the narrow alley that he needed to walk in. He welcomed the street light because it meant he didn"t have to activate his night vision. He was wearing his contact lenses that Graham had prepared, which he put on while still in the motor carriage. Although Graham had decided not to wear them initially, he still carried the lenses just in case.

Valentine walked down the windy and narrow alley that was crowded with people of different smells, not to mention the smell and stench coming from the various establishments there. It could feel suffocating for someone not used to being in a cramped s.p.a.ce like that. However, it didn"t bother him at all. He walked nimbly, swiftly avoiding b.u.mping into other people, while still following his intuition. He kept on walking deeper into the Concrete, ignoring all the doors and shops that were open all around him. He felt like he had walked for hours, but he was still surrounded by buildings all around him.

The deeper he went into the manmade jungle, the more deserted it became. The people who were walking down the alley just now were suddenly no more. Only a couple of humans were seen in that part of the Concrete, and they didn"t look sober or normal. One person was definitely drunk while the other seemed to be a homeless person. The building around him also seemed different; it looked older than the ones he had pa.s.sed. The walls were moldy and the paint had peeled off. All the windows to the apartments there were closed with no exception as if they didn"t want anything to come into their homes.

There were fewer streetlights around Valentine, so he had to activate his night vision to see better. The alley was getting wider, but with no one there, it served no purpose whatsoever. His surroundings were definitely darker because of the few streetlights, and strangely silent. There was the sound of a baby crying, but there was no sound of family chattering or even the sound of a television in the background. It was definitely not normal.

"G, I think we might have entered the part that people avoid," he concluded, seeing that there was now no one around but himself.

Valentine slowed down his pace and readied his knife. Where he was walking now couldn"t be called an alley anymore; it was more like a small street, wide enough for two motor carriages to drive side by side. His spiritual intuition had led him there, so there must be something he needed to find. He paid close attention to his surroundings, observing every small detail with his night vision.

It was an empty street with tall residential blocks surrounding it. There were black trash bags scattered about, and fliers on the ground. The buildings all had their outdoor lights turned off, and the apartments" heavy blinds blocked the inside lights from getting out. It was impossible to see inside from there. The residents seemed to be avoiding being seen from where Valentine was in.

Another strange thing was the fact that he had not seen any single animal around there. He saw a lot of stray cats at the more crowded area of the Concrete, but none here; there weren"t even any rats or insects. They seemed to have all disappeared, or avoided the area in the first place. Valentine walked deeper cautiously with his knife in his hand when he heard a very faint sound in the distance.

Munch... munch...

He walked towards the source of the sound very quietly, without making any sudden movements. He could see a figure in the distance, but he couldn"t make out what it was doing. The figure looked dark, most likely because of the lack of lighting in the area. It was taller than a normal adult male and had a slender body, or even thin. He could only see the figure"s back because it was facing the other direction. It seemed to be standing near a giant trash bag.

Munch... munch...

The sound was getting louder the closer he got to the figure. It was clear enough for him to deduce that it was the sound of the figure eating. Valentine was on high alert because anyone who was eating in the dark in a place where not even stray animals could be seen could not be normal. The closer he got, the cleared the figure"s body was to him.

It was a very skinny humanlike figure, whose spines were highly visible on his back. Its skin, however, was all black and rotten, with wounds here and there and blood patches all over. It was definitely not a human, especially with its two hooves that should belong to a donkey, instead of feet. Valentine could also see what it was eating; it was a chopped up corpse of a human! The thing was devouring the body parts esuriently.

Suddenly, the thing started sniffing around and turned back. It seemed to have smelled Valentine who was still standing some more than twenty meters away from it. He could clearly see its face at that moment. It was like a dead human that had rotted away, but with an elongated mouth instead of a normal one. Its teeth were extremely long and sharp, much like its claws. Its jaws looked very strong despite the weird shape of its mouth. The eyes that were staring at Valentine was devoid of all lights; they were only reflecting malicious desires.

"Aaaooooooouu!!"

The thing howled. It sounded like a dying cow and bear hybrid that had pieces of gla.s.s stuck in its throat. It bore its fangs at Valentine, who had got into a position to attack.

Bam!

Suddenly, it lunged at him from its spot which was still some distance away. Its speed was terrifying! Valentine deflected its claw attack with his knife. The thing then tried to bite him with its elongated jaws, but he easily dodged its subsequent attack. He didn"t dare to even let the thing injure him for fear of an unknown curse that the creature might bring. He now understood why the people had all their windows closed; they were trying not to get the attention of this creature.

Valentine backed away while observing the movement of the humanoid thing in front of him. Despite its slender body, its attack packed some power, and its sharp claws weren"t just for show. It launched another attack at him but he managed to narrowly dodge it.

Slash! Slash!

Valentine used the split-second moment after it failed to attack him to counter-attack. He managed to slash the creature on its back twice, creating a deep wound that would surely be able to kill a normal human, if not for the blood loss. Strange black goo flowed from the wound that he had inflicted, but it quickly flowed back in and healed the wound. Valentine retreated but not stupefied. He had seen a wraith with similar characteristics to this new creature.

Although he had injured it, the creature didn"t show any change in expression or movement. Unlike a wraith, this one didn"t seem to be able to get angry. It only acted solely based on instinct. Valentine slit his palm and smeared the blood all over his blade. He then stood on guard, waiting for the thing to charge at him again.

Clash!

Valentine blocked its claw attack. Although it looked sluggish, the thing was actually very fast. It was lucky for him that he could keep up with the thing"s speed; otherwise, he wouldn"t have been able to block its attacks.

Stab!

Valentine"s dagger penetrated the thing"s head. He quickly pulled back his knife and the same black goo poured from the creature"s wound. However, Valentine"s blood appeared to have been mixed in and it couldn"t heal as fast as before because of it. Yet, the creature was still alive; it only healed its wound at a slower rate.

Since he had no more tricks he could try to kill the horrific thing in front of him, Valentine planned his escape right away. His goal there was only to uncover a secret, after all, not to exterminate an unknown monster. And he felt that after knowing more about that thing from his previous attacks, he had accomplished his goal. There was no point in staying now.

He kept his eyes on the creature while slowly backed away. The thing slowly approached him, so he got ready to block an attack anytime. He kept backing away, slowly increasing his pace until he reached a safe distance. He took out the cheap lighter that Graham had bought and threw it with all his strength to the back of the creature. While the creature was distracted by the object flying past him, Valentine turned around and ran as fast as he could.

"Aaaooooooouuuu!!"

The creature let out a horrible howl again and started chasing after Valentine with all its speed. However, after some distance, it stopped chasing. Valentine kept running without looking back because it would only impede his speed, so he didn"t know that the creature stopped chasing him. He only found out when he realized shortly later that there were no sounds of the creature"s footsteps behind him.

Valentine turned around carefully but swiftly to see behind him. There was nothing chasing after him there. It was as if the creature had vanished into thin air; there were not even the traces of its hoofprints on the ground. It appeared that the thing couldn"t go farther than some distance from its original spot.

"G, can you divine what that creature was later?" he muttered under his breath while still carefully observing his surroundings.

It was still the quiet part of the Concrete without anyone around, but there were more streetlights there, so it was brighter than where he had met the creature. The surrounding buildings still had their lights off, and the apartments were still heavily covered by blinds, not allowing anyone or anything to see the inside of them. But the sense of danger had gone away.

He had his own guesses of what creature that was, but Graham"s divination would give a more definite answer. He thought the thing looked like some zombie that he used to read about in fiction books, but the one he had just fought was definitely scarier than the depiction in the book.

He had entered the part of the Concrete that had a lot of people again, so he felt safe. The crowd didn"t seem to be aware at all of what had just happened in the other area of their residences. They were still doing about their own businesses. Some were chattering by the alley side, some were eating in the small restaurants available there; most were walking towards their own destinations with tired looks in their faces.

Suddenly, something inside Valentine was telling him to go home. It was the same spiritual feeling that had led him there. There must be someone or something waiting for him at home.