After the night Vincent had, there was no hope of sleep. He stared at the ceiling for hours until the sun rose, he exited his room and began to make himself breakfast. Looking down at the bowl of cereal, for a moment he debated whether or not to eat it, but simply left it on the counter. The phone rang and Vincent ran across the house to answer it.

  “Vincent, we have some things to discuss,” spoke the voice on the other end.

  “Save it, you owe me. I need a ship, now.”

  “Vincent-”

  Vincent interrupted, “Bring it to my house in five, full tank of gas. Have your surveillance team watch the house, make sure nothing happens.”

  The other end hung up and Vincent began waiting for the ship to arrive. A large metallic ship quietly landed about twenty yards away from his house. Vincent charged towards the ship, sure to close the door as quietly as possible.

  Arriving at the ship Vincent met a worker, “The surveillance team will be watching the house.”

  “Good, let me into the ship.”

  The worker led Vincent to the controls of the personal ship. It had a small lounge area behind the control area, almost similar to the void ship but larger and boxier. Vincent kicked the worker out of the ship and started it up, shooting his way up into space. He began to make his way toward the coordinates of where Target Eight was supposed to be located before they’d kidnapped Tod.

  * * *

  Roughly three hours after Vincent left, Eiliesh woke up, she made her way around the house and noticed nobody was awake. She cracked open Vincent’s door and shouted his name to no response. She crept into his claustrophobic office, shelves coating the walls filled with various trinkets and tools. She moved the cloth between the dividers and shouted Vincent’s name louder into the room, but again, no response.

  Her curiosity took the best of her, and she moved into the room. It was similar to the cramped office, with shelves coating the walls, but some shelves were hanging from the ceiling. Including one shelf just above eye level containing a flower bed, the contents of which illuminated the room just barely enough to be noticed. Upon standing on her tippy toes and peering into the flower bed Eiliesh rushed out of the room, ducking under the cloth, and sliding over Vincent’s desk, before slamming the door behind her.

  Upon closing the door her eyes met with Tod’s “What were you doing in there?”

  “I was looking for Vincent, he isn’t here still.”

  “He has a bowl of cereal here, and he left some kind of burnt cloth in the bathroom,” said Tod.

  “The car is still here,” Eiliesh noted.

  “So, he was here, but where did he go? The door is unlocked, what if he was kidnapped?” Tod asked.

  “He did say there were people after him for some reason.”

  “We need to go find him,” Tod said before they ran out the door and hopped in the car. Eiliesh followed closely behind but grabbed a pistol from the trunk, then got in the passenger seat.

  * * *

  After roughly five hours of flying Vincent landed in a desert. He crept out from the driver's seat and planted his foot in the sand. As he looked up all that was visible was a desert that stretched as far as the eye could see. Looking down at the tracker he saw that the specific coordinates were directly west, so he set off in that direction.

  Three hours of walking later he was almost at the coordinates when he stepped down and the ground under him felt hard and hollow. He stopped in his tracks and knelt down, wiping sand away to reveal a wooden trapdoor below him. Opening the door, he was met with an old dirt tunnel leading downwards, cobwebs coating the entrance and walls of the tunnel. He climbed down the nearby ladder and dropped into the concrete room at the bottom.

  The room was barren except for a desk with a button, left unlocked from the last time it was pressed. Vincent approached the desk and pressed the button, hearing the sound of stone grinding behind him. He turned around to see a small tunnel just big enough for him to crawl through. He kneeled down yet again and began to make his way through the tunnel.

  It, however, wasn’t just a tunnel, but a large system of winding confined corridors, a maze. Wandering through the tunnels reaching several rooms, all empty, recently cleared out due to the lack of dust that would’ve been kicked up from the raggedy unfinished halls. Target eight clearly left in a hurry and removed anything they owned. Vincent finally found a room glowing down at the end of the path. As he got closer, he heard a noise of rustling coming from ahead, causing him to unholster his gun.

  Vincent stood up from the tunnel, aiming his gun around the office he’d just found himself in. There was nothing alive or dead in the room. His gaze moved to the other end of the surrounding area; pages of newspapers pinned to a bulletin board. “Two universal protectors killed, one paralyzed for life, supposed traitor suspected,” read one of the headlines. Target Eight had been keeping track of Vincent for years and years. He knew more about Vincent than maybe anyone else; every bit of Vincent’s life was pinned with pieces of newspapers and printed documents.

  Vincent turned to Target Eight’s wooden office desk, on the desk was a note, “I am being followed, they know what I'm doing. Vincent, you're the only person who could be reading this who I need to tell something. Target Twelve knows you're here. I have connected details, I know something. Kane is alive. You need to find him and get answers. Vincent, Target Twelve is capable of killing you whenever he pleases. He will toy with you, follow you, make you constantly look over your shoulder. He’ll kill your family, your friends, everyone you ever talked to. Whatever you’re being paid isn’t worth it, trust me. Find Kane, get answers. I need to talk to you face to face before he finds out what I know. I wish I could tell you more, but I must go.”

  A loud scrape echoed from the tunnel as Vincent looked up from the note. He looked around the room and retreated into a closet to hide. Two loud clacks echoed through the room as someone exited the tunnel. Bone-like clacking echoed through the hall every step they took. A tall figure blocked some of the light entering through the crack of the closet. The color of the figure was the only thing visible to Vincent, a dark, cyan-colored flesh, the same species as Tod, a Belvod. Vincent thought to himself, the clacking sounds reminded him, it wasn’t just a Belvod, it was the king.

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  Suddenly Target Eight’s office desk set ablaze, burning anything Vincent could’ve investigated. The clacks returned through the tunnel, scraping against the edges of it off into the distance. The fire sprinklers triggered, killing the flame. After about five minutes of silence, Vincent exited the closet to see the damage. Everything was gone, either ashes or wet mush.

  Immediately the lights went off, shrouding Vincent in darkness. A scrape and clack came from the tunnel yet again. Before Vincent could react, he was sent flying back into the closet, cracking the louvre blades and sending the wood shards into his back. He climbed to his feet and immediately as he levelled the ground, he was shoved from the side into the concrete wall next to him. The force shattered his shoulder bone and created a small crack in the wall.

  Vincent aimed his gun upwards and began firing into the darkness. Each shot lit up the room just enough for him to see a tall silhouette getting closer to him, moving faster every shot. Eventually, Vincent paused his fire and it fell silent. Suddenly Vincent flew into the charred remains of the table and was dragged up against a wall with someone behind him and an arm wrapped around his neck.

  “Vincent.” A deep raspy voice echoed through the room, “You know who I am, I know who you are. You are afraid of me; I am not afraid of you.”

  “You should be,” Vincent muttered, attempting to intimidate him.

  “Do you feel that metal circle on the side of your head? That is a gun. That is the item you're trying to retrieve. I can kill you right now. Thus, my lack of fear, one sudden move and everything you’ve worked for is gone.” They sat there for a few seconds before Target Twelve spoke up again, “Vincent, do your job, don’t look for answers, don’t look for any deeper meaning, just do what you’re being paid for, and everything will go well for you, if you are as capable as it is said.”

  The arm unhooked from Vincent, and he crumpled to the floor, letting out a sigh of relief. The lights flickered back on, and the room was empty yet again. Vincent breathed deeply for a few minutes before returning to his feet. After looking around the room once more he saw that there was nothing he could use for answers. He had to follow the only lead he had, Kane, The Diamond Council Leader.

  Vincent crouched down back into the maze. Roughly 5 minutes into the tunnel Vincent heard a tapping noise, he drew his gun and pointed to the corridors next to him. With his gun still drawn he made his way deeper into the tunnel system, hoping he was getting closer to the exit. He heard yet another tapping, this time turning and moving towards it, pointing his gun into the empty tunnel ahead.

  Suddenly there was the sound of fast heavy footprints approaching from behind him, sending him spinning backwards to see. His eyes met a creature, similar to a human but with horse legs and a large hook it was dragging against the wall. The creature was entirely hairless, and its mouth unhinged to reveal two rows of sharp teeth. The creature lunged at Vincent and its sharp talons ripped his shirt as it sent him onto his back.

  He aimed his gun towards the creature’s face as it pried into Vincent’s stomach with its claw. He fired, leading the creature to yelp and run off into the tunnel system. The click from its throat came from behind him again, tackling him, he fired at the creature and hit its stomach but it seemed to have no effect on it. The wound on its eye where Vincent fired was almost healed over already. He aimed for the head again this time and as he pulled the trigger, all he heard was a *click*.

  Vincent bucked his knee up into the creature’s torso sending it over him. Vincent ducked through the tunnels away from it as fast as he could. He then heard more heavy footsteps from behind and his ankle was grabbed causing him to crumple to the ground. Vincent felt a sharp pain from his back, the creature had dug its claw into Vincent as it’s scream echoed through the tunnels.

  With the creature’s claw still lodged in his back he swung around sending the creature into the wall next to them. Unlodging himself he booked it through the tunnels and finally saw the exit. He jumped in extreme pain for the ladder, grappling on three steps up. He climbed as fast as he could but near the top, he saw the creature climbing behind and about to grab him when he sent his foot into the creature’s face. The creature hit the ground and sent out a loud growl, it jumped to its feet and began climbing the ladder just as Vincent stepped out. The creature leaped and its claw landed in the sand as Vincent swung the trapdoor down on the creature’s claw, shattering it and revealing a fleshy red substance inside.

  “What… What was that?” Vincent said, incredibly out of breath, before crumpling to the ground. He had several large multiple inch deep gashes in his stomach and his back had a giant piece of flesh torn out from the scuffle. He looked up into the sky as his eyes slowly shut.

  * * *

  Target Three sharpened her blade. She gazed around the abandoned tavern she’d set up refuge in. Climbing to her feet and shoving the knife in her pocket, she stepped out into the sparse town. Target Three made her way to the large castle overlooking the city, upon opening the doors, she was greeted by a large hall. She walked through the hall approaching the main large archway at the end. Through the arch, there was a room, where the Mayor of the town sat, whom she approached.

  “What is your business here?” The Mayor inquired, getting no response.

  “What are you- what are you doing?” He questioned yet again, with no response.

  Target Three’s pace simply got faster the closer she got.

  “Guard, help this person out of the establishment,” The Mayor commanded.

  The guard approached Target Three and grabbed her arm, causing her to swing out the knife and slash the guard’s shoulder. He jumped back and unholstered his gun, telling her to drop the knife, again with no response. She got closer to him, step by step, finally before she could reach him again, he fired his gun, and it plunged into her stomach. She continued towards the man without even slowing down or seeming to notice the wound.

  Each step she took blood spurt out of the wound. He fired again, nothing. After firing for a third time, he aimed for the head. As she noticed where he was pointing, she lunged forward with the knife, screaming. He pulled the trigger and a bullet sunk into her head causing her to collapse on the guard, and the knife to sink into his upper arm, causing him to faint. The simple slash on his shoulder had grown three inches deep already.

  Three other officers entered the office, getting the body off of the guard. They grabbed the fallen guard, who was for some reason unable to stand. As they lifted his back, the guard’s left arm melted off and hit the ground. It had a blue glowing substance coating both the stub where his arm once was and the area of the arm that’d been separated. The guard lifting him dropped him and shrieked. The wound lower down in the arm with the knife still in it started growing. The wound had grown to be five inches wide in that short time and the upper arm melted a separation from it and the forearm. The substance continued eating away at the man’s body and the remains of his arm.

  The knife clattered to the ground as all the flesh around it melted, leaving it unsupported. They got a gurney from the office’s nurse to lift the guard. They lifted the guard out to the ambulance and placed the knife in a plastic bag. Another gurney came to lift Target Three, but halfway out Target Three rolled off the bed. Target Three stood up, the large entrance wound in her head still very present. The workers stepped back as she lunged towards one of them and started clawing their face while she screamed.

  She had revealed the skull of the head when she turned to the other worker. The worker ran as fast as they could but Target Three caught up to them in a matter of seconds, tackling them, and plunging her fist into their stomach. She climbed to her feet and spun around slowly with her eyes closed. When she suddenly stopped, and charged back into the mayor’s office where her knife was still in the bag. She tackled the worker with her knife and plunged both her hands into their skull, prying the two halves of the head away from each other. She reached over and grabbed the knife and collapsed with it still in her hand.