"He made a run for it! Officer Braun, you've got the most accuracy and range in terms of firearms. Take another officer with you for backup and see if you can track him down."
"Commander, I don't think that's a good idea considering where we are," Braun replied.
"You're a big man, Braun. Don't tell me you're afraid of some bugs and plant life. If anything dangerous is waiting out there, it would get him before it got you. Now go after him and either bring him back or confirm his death."
"Yes, sir," Braun complied, grabbing the arm of another officer to take along.
MEANWHILE, HIDDEN ON THE SECOND FLOOR, NOIR MEDITATED ON THE EVENTS UNFOLDING, his thoughts alternating between the intruding Dread Hunters and the police squad.
Who are all these people? he thought to himself. Where did they come from?
As Theo crept around the lowest deck, he discovered a flight of stairs that led to the second floor. While searching, he found himself in a ballroom, where chairs and tables were scattered across the room as if it were hit by a tornado. Broken glass and silverware covered the floor alongside deflated balloons and confetti.
Sensing that Noir was somewhere watching him, Theo began speaking aloud, "The Marketeer told my brother and I that there was some sort of demon that lived all the way out here. I didn't believe him, but I took the job anyway. So you can imagine my surprise when all we found was some kid on a boat. Yeah, surprised. That is, until I remembered something he told me before we shoved off. He said you demons possess people, killing them from the inside and taking their bodies for your own. I'm not the superstitious type, but hey, who am I to pass up easy money? So, why don't you quit the child act and come on out? Make this easy for the both of us. Because no matter what you are, you're coming with us."
As Noir snuck around, moving from shadow to shadow, he kept his presence hidden. In all his time in Mille Dan Swamp, he'd never seen another human, let alone had to fight one—so for the time, he chose to observe. After all, the roar from Theo's shotgun was still ringing in his ears; it was unlike anything he'd ever heard.
Tiny squeaks broke the eerie silence, causing Theo to turn and shoot in Noir's direction. But by the time he looked, nothing was there but an oversized swamp rat he'd just blown to pieces.