I was once told by my predecessor and mentor that if you exposed all the things that went bump in the night, humanity wouldn't have a reason to fear the dark anymore. After all, if you could see for yourself that all the secrets behind the veil were logical, then theoretically, you should be able to rationalize away all of the fear. I didn't believe her, practically laughed at her till my eyes went blurry with tears. In response, she gave my back a solid pat and told me to think about it.
Today though? As I stared upwards at the possessed remains of some poor bastard pinning me to the floor, I came to a singular, damning realization. My mentor was completely off her rocker. It didn't matter if I knew exactly how or why this poor sod got created, it was still terrifying to see it trying to tear the eyes out of my skull!
"GET OFF ME!" I yelled out in panic. Kicking my legs out, I desperately tried to regain some distance between us. Through sheer luck, my panicked kick hit the ghoul square on its chest, pushing it across the cramped sewer tunnels. I dusted myself off the ground quickly, and I quickly pulled out my self-defense baton. I didn't dare to go for the pistol that had been knocked out of my hands.
The baton's weight was familiar to me, its use had been drilled into me at the bureau's training academy since day one. Yet, the practice didn't stop my hands and knees from shaking a little. I had been quite close to joining their ghoulush ranks if not for my partner.
I kept my eyes on the ghoul slowly getting up across me, and I gulped as it looked no worse for wear. "Anna?" I called out over my shoulder. "You still alive over there?"
The squelching sound of a sword piercing flesh reached my ears before her voice did, "I'm a little busy here, Alex. That one is all yours~"
"You sure? Can't the rising star of our department please help out a lil' small-time wizard out of his depth?" I quipped while trying to soothe my nerves enough to safely channel my magic.
In response, I heard a long drawn out sigh, followed by a rather grim symphony of the last gaps of a group of ghouls, their severed heads thumping dully against the floor in quick succession. Before I could say anything else though, the sharp edge of my partner's elbow dug into my side mercilessly.
"Small-time wizard, my ass..." I winced as she dug her elbow deeper. "You caused irrepearable collateral damage on our last call! And you expect me to believe that you can't handle a single ghoul?!"
"In my defense... Fireballs aren't meant to be precise." I argued weakly, finally regaining enough of my senses to push against her elbow with my own.
"Wizards... you're all walking disasters." Anna grumbled before pulling her elbow away. A shiver went down my spine though when she locked eyes with me and began to grin. In one swift motion, she then sheathed her sword and proceeded to lean against a nearby railing. "Think fast, Alex."
I moved instinctively at her words, dodging the outstretched arm of the ghoul I had kicked away earlier. I swore and slammed the baton into its stomach before kicking it away once more.
"AREN'T YOU GOING TO HELP?"
"I did. Killed the other three. If you don't start contributing, I'll have to report you to the chief, and he'll deduct your pay~" Anna replied nonchalantly while pretending to look at her nails. "This is your opportunity to contribute."
I felt my eye twitch in frustration at her response. The worst jabs were always the truthful ones. I sighed, and I turned away from her to face the ghoul once more. Drawing on that long familiar well of power within me, I pointed my baton and channelled the raw energy into it. Lightning shot out, hitting the ghoul in an instant.
It spasmed helplessly in place. The smell of burning flesh assaulted my nose as I closed the distance between us slowly. Once in arm's length, I let out an apology under my breath, and I simply swung the baton at its head. I released the spell, and the ghoul dropped to the ground unceremoniously.
"Happy?" I asked my partner.
"No." She replied petulantly now beside me. "But, I'm no longer annoyed at least."
"That's a first." I grumbled.
Anna scoffed and pulled my ear. "Yeah, yeah. So, did your hunch pay off then?"
I nodded after taking a closer looking at the remnants of the ghoul before us. I kneeled down and pulled the chain around its neck off, my hand wrapped around an insignia of two intertwined hearts. "These are our group of four missing johns... All of them all wearing the same necklace."
"Then, we got ourselves a case?"
"Unfortunately so..."