Int. Graveyard (Morning) — October 29, 2025, 8:30 A.M.
Blake didn't want to admit it, but Rook's car drove way better than his. He should look into trading his old girl in soon. Getting out of the parking lot, he began making his way across the bright green grass. He could admit that this graveyard had been well taken care of compared to some he'd been to. It might've been a few years since his last visit, but like muscle memory, Blake followed the path he was accustomed to walking. He was thankful Gabriel had left him a decent set of clothes, saving him a trip to his apartment. Blake wistfully kept walking; despite the sun being out, the early morning was still nippy. After about three minutes, he finally stopped in front of a grave situated below a tall tree. Blake knelt down in front of the gravestone, his lips frowning in annoyance as he saw the grave overgrown with leaves and plants. Disappointed in himself for not coming sooner to keep it clean, he noticed nothing was around the grave; the plants he had last brought had long since withered away. Blake began to remove the overgrown plants.
Once that task was done, he took out a rag from his right pants pocket and started wiping dirt off the front of the stone. Soon, the name Benjamin Corson was legible. A tear welled in Blake's eye as his hand touched the stone. "You know, Ben, I did the best I could since you guys have been gone. I hid your kids like you asked and made sure they went to decent families. I know one went into the army before I lost track of him. The other followed in your footsteps and joined the police force," Blake said softly, his tone low.He paused for a second, taking a deep breath as he tried to push down painful memories. "I know it sounds stupid, but some days I blame myself for why you died. You came to me worried about your child, and I dismissed it, so I'm sorry. I also have to apologize for what I'm about to do," Blake finished.
The dirt was soft as Blake plunged his hand into the ground in front of the gravestone, doing his best not to disturb the area. For a couple of minutes, he clawed deeper, his hands hurting, but he persisted until he formed a small hole. Finally, his hands reached a plastic bag. He gripped it and dragged it to the surface, the smell of dirt wafting into his nose. Deciding not to look at it now, he quickly filled the hole before standing. "Thanks, Ben, for everything," Blake whispered one last time, turning and walking away.
Blake made his way back to the car, the file in hand. He shook the dirt from the plastic. Once back in the car, he opened the door and quickly sat down in the passenger seat. Ripping open the plastic, he tossed it aside (he'd remember to clean it later), holding the folder that, ironically, still felt fresh after so many years. Blake cracked it open and looked at the various pictures inside multiple sets of photos showing a kid growing up, from a baby all the way to high school graduation. "Maybe he should've fought harder for him to have a better life," Blake whispered as he flipped through the pictures.
At graduation, the kid had long blond hair and pale skin. His name was Cain Corson, Benjamin Corson's adopted son. After Ben's death, Blake was forced to find him a home, since he wasn't allowed custody. Letting out a sigh, he started the car to head back to Gabriel's house to come clean about more information that might help the case.
Int. Gabriel's House (Morning) — October 29, 2025, 9:41 A.M.
Nadia's eyes were practically still closed, her body swaying slightly as she sat at the table."Do we have to be up so early?" she complained and had been complaining to Gabriel for the past hour.
Gabriel just let her rant to her heart's content, not really caring what she said. After Blake left, Gabriel had been working on creating and controlling multiple constructs at once. While doing that, he started thinking more about the dates, which led him to take the laptop from Nadia who had been asleep at the time. Thankfully, he'd used a small robot to fetch and clean it for him. "I wonder if I can ever make them fully automated," he mused while a robot made him eggs and bacon.
He sat at the table, thinking about the first victim, Jacob Ryder, who had been reported missing around March 14th and found two months later, on May 12th, without his head. Both dates coincided with full moons. Safe to assume almost every single victim was kidnapped or found around a full moon, though he'd need to double-check the rest.
"Ugh, hello? Are you even listening to me?" Nadia whined, snapping her fingers in front of Gabriel's face. "I demand rest or at least food!" Her last word came out as a happy shout. Gabriel had a construct to bring her a plate of eggs and bacon. He watched as she greedily stuffed her face, pausing only to sip from a cup of water beside her. After a few minutes, she leaned back with a satisfied smile. "All is forgiven for waking me up early now, Mr. Grumpy-pants," she chirped, rubbing her stomach.
Gabriel sweatdropped at her antics. If you looked closely, his hands glowed bright pink for a second before the color disappeared. "You know, next time you could just sleep in the room upstairs that's what it's there for."
Nadia shrugged, a cracking sound filling the air as she stretched. "Honestly, the table wouldn't be so bad if the back didn't hurt from this stupid chair," she growled.
"And that's why I have a bed for you upstairs," Gabriel countered, still scrolling through dates.
Nadia sucked her teeth in annoyance, leaning over to see his screen. "What's so important about dates on a calendar that you had to wake me up anyway?"
The front door opened and closed, followed by hurried footsteps. "Good, you guys are still awake. I was hoping you were," Blake said quickly, then paused to eye Nadia's hair. "You look like shit."
"Up yours, old man," she shot back, flipping him off.
Blake opened his mouth, but Gabriel interrupted before they both could start arguing. "I think I might have a lead on the case. Don't know if it'll help, but it's better than nothing."
Blake took one last look at Nadia before turning to Gabriel "I've got some information too at least on the group's name, who we're fighting, and maybe who the leader is."
Nadia and Gabriel exchanged a look. "You go first," they said in unison.
Blake sat down."First, before I explain what's in this folder, I just have to explain what happened in my fight before I got knocked out."
"More like got your ass kicked," Nadia muttered.
"Can we not interrupt without a good reason, please, Nadia?" Gabriel sighed, grabbing his noise in frustration. He could feel a small headache form, though that might be because he still has a construct standing in the corner.
"Ugh, fine. But only because you asked me, Mr. Grumps," she replied, crossing her arms.
Blake took a deep breath, using the extra time to gather his thoughts "Now that people are done interrupting…" he shot Nadia a glare, in return she stuck her tongue out at him. Gabriel just sighed at the two of them using his hand to indicate for Blake to keep talking. "When I went to confront Mark, he admitted to hiring vampires to protect him, which I already knew. What I didn't know was that Mark was working with a demonic group called the Seven Deadly Sins. Actually, you and I fought one back at the warehouse, Rook."
For once, Nadia was quiet, her brows furrowed. Gabriel shuddered at the memory that guy had tossed him around with no effort. Being held upside down with just pure strength is something he would not want to experience. Even now with powers Gabierl wouldn't want to challenge that person to a fight again. Gabriel had forced himself to tune back into what Blake is saying, doing his best to not let his fear consume him. He felt Nadia's eyes on him but forced himself to stare at Blake.
"The guy who killed Mark was another member sent to protect him, I think. Mark must've had information they didn't want getting out. This member's name was Evan, also known as Envy from the Seven Deadly Sins," Blake continued,tone lowering, his face hardening.
"That explains why his head was so far from his body," Gabriel mused, with Nadia nodding in agreement.
"Before I passed out, Evan said he'd attack me on Halloween, though I don't know why. And before Mark died, he told me someone from my past has it out for me," Blake added.
Nadia's head snapped up, as if an idea came to her head."Wait so you're saying all these killings could be because you pissed someone off in the past? That's bullshit Old man!"
Unlike Nadia, Gabriel was more calculating with his words."While I agree with what Nadia said, not with the exact wording," Gabriel said calmly. "Do you at least have an idea on who might be after you?"
Blake rubbed his eyes in frustration, then tossed the folder he had on his hand onto the table. "The kid's name was Cain, the child of Chloe Thomas and my partner, Benjamin Corson. Before Ben died, he asked me to take care of him, but I wasn't allowed to."
Nadia looked ready to rant, but Gabriel silenced her with a glance. Waving his hand, he made a glowing construct in the corner vanish, startling Blake. Gabriel smiled faintly at the reaction before focusing on the pictures. The pictures showed a boy at various stages of his ending at high school graduation. There were around twenty or thirty photos total, even pictures of him as a baby."After graduation, were you able to stay in contact with Abel?"
"No," Blake admitted, shaking his head sadly "Last I heard, he joined the military and got deployed to Iraq. After that, nothing. My contacts said he went missing after he came back from deployment at that point he was honorably discharged by then."
"I see," Gabriel nodded, wondering if this guy could have something to do with the case they are working on.
"So what, we just hunt down a kid you did wrong on a hunch that he's behind a murder case ten years later? Isn't that a bit far-fetched, even for you?" Nadia asked.
Blake leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table, then resting his head on his hands. "I know it sounds crazy, but those were Mark's last words. Before he died he said a boy from the past was back. There's only two, and this one was the most troublesome. At least we know one of the group members will be active Friday, so maybe we can try and capture him before working this angle?"
Gabriel turned the laptop around to show Blake his notes."Maybe this ties into it," Gabriel suggested. "I matched some of the kidnapping dates with dates of when the moon is full and found they lapped over. Even when finding the bodies it was always to a full moon as well. I thought since we are dealing with demons maybe they're planning some type of ritual that only works under one."
"Who knows," Blake shrugged. "I'll reach out to the Church again, see if they've noticed any demon activity recently, and maybe have them send over information on demonic rituals."
"Cool. Great," Nadia said, her voice straining as she slammed her hands on the table before standing up. "We have a plan now, I'm going back to sleep because I'm exhausted. I'll look into this Cain fella once I wake up and see if he connects to the warehouse. If so, we've got probable cause to detain him."As she marched out of the kitchen. Gabriel watched her go, a faint pink aura glowing around him before fading.
After she left the room Gabriel turned back towards Blake. "Be honest," Gabriel asked. "Why didn't you take the kid in?"
Blake face turned dark, lips turning into a frown, he quickly stood up, pushing back his chair with a sharp scrape as he stood "The Church didn't want anyone with ties to the secret world, said it could trigger a prophecy about Cain being the anchor that breaks the lock holding the underworld back,", He explained as he walked out the room stopping to look over his shoulder. "While you think on that, I've got calls to make."He finished leaving the kitchen quickly, wiping away a single tear from his face. Gabriel sat in silence, thinking. With all the information stacking up, he grabbed a notepad and started writing, determined not to forget a single thing.