Contractbound

"Val, since we"ve both powered up, I think it"s time we go to Oostelijk Bos to get our hands on that ancient book," he said thoughtfully.

His right hand, which was holding the cup, moved closer to his face to allow him to take another sip on his beverage.

"But before that, I need to do more divination. And there is also one thing that I"ve completely forgotten to divine about."

Graham put down the cup of hot chocolate on the saucer that he was holding with his left hand and placed them gently on his desk. After that, he took out a lighter that looked cla.s.sy and started the fire.

"What is the dangerous creature that Valentine encountered deep in the Concrete?"

The flame burned brighter and slowly, an image appeared from the center. It showed him another page of an ancient-looking book that looked very similar to the one appearing in his previous divination. There was a picture of a hideous creature that looked just like the one Valentine had encountered and there was also the explanation.

"Ghouls are monstrous undead creatures that are extremely dangerous. They eat corpses of both humans and animals alike. Although somewhat humanoid, they are easily recognizable by their donkey hooves instead of feet. Ghouls can be cla.s.sified into two genders: the males, which are called Ghul, and the females, which are called Ghulah. Both genders of Ghouls possess sharp teeth and claws, and extreme speed. The difference is that Ghulahs can sometimes evolve into Umm Ghulahs, or Mother Ghouls, when the conditions are met. The only way to kill a Ghoul permanently is by a strong blood attack or purification, otherwise, it will just come back to life. If you encounter an Umm Ghulah, however, just run and pray for your dear life."

The entry ended there, and not long after, the image also disappeared little by little.

"So, besides Lingering Spirits and Wraiths, Undeads also exist in this world. No wonder it counted as a big secret," he rubbed his chin in revelation, "We were lucky we could escape from that ghoul. As we are now, we don"t have any means to destroy any of those creatures."

"Now I"m more convinced that we should get our hands on that book. The information in there is just simply too valuable," he spoke with conviction.

Graham got ready for his next question. He concentrated on the flame that was still burning from the lighter in his hand.

"How dangerous is it to get the ancient book from the previous divination?"

The room then became pitch black, and the flame burned brightly and shook violently. Graham"s spirituality told him that the danger was extreme and it could kill him, but it should still be doable as long as he took the utmost precautions. Then, from the convulsing blaze, an image gradually formed. It showed a very blurry ornamental mask with giant eyes and an elongated tongue. The mask gave him a great sense of doom when looking at it. Since the image was not clear, it meant that the danger was strong enough to interfere with his divination to some extent.

The image slowly disappeared, leaving Graham in deep thought. The danger exceeded his expectation. That mask he had just seen made him very uncomfortable, and it was only through divination. Seeing one in real life would have a much more devastating effect.

He needed to ask another question in divination. He stared at the now calmly burning flame and repeated the question in his heart.

"Where can I get talismans to protect me from evil spirits?"

The flame created an image looking down from a bird"s eye point of view. It showed the forest east of Sloten, Oostelijk Bos. It then zoomed in to a small town located at the edge of the forest, right next to the highway. The image ended there and vanished into the flame.

The house where the ancient book was located should also be somewhere in the forest near that small town. Graham had initially expected to see the black market in his divination, but apparently it showed the easiest path toward his goal since he was going that way anyway. He also could somehow see how the town would have protection talismans since it was located near the vast woods.

"Out of town we go, I guess," he let go of the trigger mechanism and the flame went out.

Graham got up from his chair and went back to his bedroom. He was still shirtless, only wearing his pajama pants. He put on a shirt and changed his pajama pants into something more action-ready. He also took another spare shirt and pants and stuffed them inside his briefcase. Since the location was out of town, he might have to stay the night there in the worst-case scenario. Besides spare clothes, he also brought all the leftover essential oil vials that he still had and candles, not forgetting spare lighters and matchsticks.

Graham really wanted to take the gun with him, but as of now, it was useless. There had only been one bullet remaining, and he had used it to finish of Daan Holsten, so now there was none at all. However, he still took it, hiding it under his spare clothes, although he didn"t know how effective the gun would be during his mission. He then stopped what he was doing and lit his lighter to ask a question to confirm his guesses.

"Can I buy bullets at the small town near Oostelijk Bos?"

The flame burned brighter and then showed a building in a small town. His spirituality told him it was the same town that he had seen before. He memorized the detail of the building carefully in his mind. Since his divination showed him that, it meant that he could probably buy bullets there. The image then disappeared.

Now Graham was more convinced to bring the gun with him. If there was a bullet seller in that small town, they must be there for a reason. Probably guns were effective to protect themselves from wild beast roaming the forest, and he would always welcome the extra protection.

He continued stuffing his briefcase with things he might need, including Valentine"s leather jacket. Once he was done, he got up and put on his favorite dark brown trench coat that was hanging from the coat hanger in his office. He went out and locked his apartment door firmly.

In the street, Graham stopped a public motor carriage that was driving by. It pulled over closer to the side next to parked carriages that were lining down the streetside. He walked over to the driver"s seat and saw the middle-aged man behind the wheel.

"Good morning," the driver greeted him politely.

"Good morning. Say, would you mind if I rent you and your motor carriage for a whole day, maybe two, to take me to Oostelijk Bos?" asked Graham, stating his business.

The driver appeared to be thinking. The forest was out of town, right on the east of Sloten, but the driver knew that Graham wasn"t just going to the forest since he said it would take the whole day. He must be going to the small town near the forest which would take at least four hours of driving.

"I don"t think I can, Sir. That is too far away. I"m really sorry," said the driver apologetically.

"It"s fine. I can understand that. Good day," Graham replied, without any anger in his tone. He knew it would not be easy to find someone willing to take him there.

The driver switched to the first gear and drove away from his spot, leaving Graham alone on the side of the street. He was already busy waving at the next public motor carriage that was driving by, and when he asked the driver the same question, his request was rejected again. He was rejected two more times before finally another public motor carriage drove by. With his Supersight, he could see the driver"s familiar face.

"Good morning, mister detective," said Egon the driver with a friendly smile.

"Good morning, Egon." Graham smiled back.

"Where do you want to go today?"

"Actually, I have a request," Graham said seriously and then stated what he needed.

"Hmm..." Egon was thinking for a while, and then finally said, "Alright. I can do it."

Graham"s lips curled into a smile. He was glad he didn"t have to resort to using his power to make people take him there.

"I"ll pay you one guilder and ten stuivers for the whole trip and also for your hotel stay so you can rest while I finish my business there," he said. He was being generous because he didn"t want the driver to change his mind. Besides, he still had a lot of money from his past missions.

Egon"s eyes opened wide. That was much more money than what he usually made after driving the whole day.

"Thank you! But I need to go home first to get ready. I also need to tell my wife and kid where I"m going, or they"ll be worried, you see? And lastly, I need a refuel first." Egon said enthusiastically.

"I understand. You can go first. I"ll be at Don"s Pancake House nearby. Come pick me up there once you"re ready,"

"Roger that. I"ll be going now," said Egon as he started driving away.

Finally getting his transport, Graham walked leisurely to the small diner for breakfast. The street that morning was very chilly and windy. His coat was blown away by the wind, making it rather difficult to walk. He saw that other people also had the same problem as him. He reached the diner not long after.

"Morning, Graham!" greeted a friendly voice that was very familiar to him.

"h.e.l.lo, Mirjam," he greeted back and went to sit at his favorite spot.

Mirjam walked closer to his table with a tray and a note in her hands. Her face radiated cheerfulness in that gloomy morning. Her freckles and her flaxen hair complemented her beautiful face, and her blue eyes were glimmering with enthusiasm.

"Where are you going?" she asked curiously after seeing Graham"s full briefcase.

"Out of town for some business,"

"What business? Are you meeting with a woman?" she said with a playful tone.

"Of course not. It"s just the usual detective business," he said vaguely.

"Are you going to be gone for long? We will miss you here," she started her usual teasing.

"No, you won"t. You have a lot of other customers to tease. And I will be gone for two days max," he said nonchalantly.

"Don"t put it like I like teasing customers," she pouted.

"Well, at least you like teasing me, and I"m a customer, so you like teasing a customer," he shrugged.

"It"s because you are always single," she said jokingly.

"What does that have to do with anything? And I"m not always single. You are always single." Graham said in self-defense.

"Because I"m still waiting for the man that you said would come to my life. When is he coming anyway? I"ll grow old and wrinkled if he doesn"t appear soon."

Graham shrugged. He could probably divine it, but he would just rather let her wait in antic.i.p.ation. It would be more interesting that way.

Then, in that moment, he felt something strange. It wasn"t like him at all to let things remain unknown. He usually wanted to know everything that might be related to him, and since the vision came from his palmistry, it must have something to do with himself as well. He would try to divine it when he had the time later.

"So, what do you want to have today?" asked Mirjam suddenly after seeing Graham in deep thought.

"I feel like eating something sweet. Give me your fruit and chocolate waffle. And a cup of hazelnut hot chocolate."

Mirjam wrote his order on her note slip very quickly, and then turned to him, "Anything else?"

"That should be all," he said shortly.

After that, Mirjam smiled again at Graham and left his table to pa.s.s his order to the chef in the kitchen. She then went to another table to chat with other customers.

Graham waited for his food to come while doing his favorite activity there: people-watching. There were a lot of customers at that time in that small diner, and most of them were older men and women. They looked genuinely happy, chatting and eating there, which in turn made Graham"s heart warm. He then looked at the people walking out in the street. Unlike the warm diner, the street outside was cold, so the people also showed a cold expression on their faces. Most of them walked quickly to reach their destination sooner, because it was windy out there; not a nice place to be.

Not long after, Mirjam came back with his order. She placed his plate of food and his cup of hot chocolate gently on the table and smiled warmly.

"Enjoy!" she said.

"Thanks."

Graham nodded and smiled back at her. Mirjam then left his table again because another customer called for her. It gave him time to savor every bite of his delicious-looking food. On the plate in front of him, there was a warm waffle with strawberries, bananas, blueberries, and chocolate toppings. He took a bite and the combination of the warm waffle and the cold fruit tasted heavenly. The sweet chocolate balanced out the slight tanginess of the strawberries, and the warm, soft waffle melted in his mouth. With the food still inside his mouth, he sipped his hot chocolate and the rich, nutty hot liquid combined with the food inside and created an entirely new, delicious flavor.

He finished his food quickly while enjoying every bite of it. However, he didn"t finish his drink right away because he still needed it while waiting for Egon to come pick him up.