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Bloodbound: Chapter 3

This is a work of fiction involving lingering hypnosis between a vampire and a human with some elements of dubious consent. If this bothers you, please do not read further.

This chapter contains less sex than the others, but is necessary to get some of the story going. Without further ado, let's get to the story.

---

Nathan never imagined he'd go to jail. In the incredibly rare chance he did go to jail, he'd always imagined it would be for something epic, like burning down his workplace, not for streaking. Or, if it WAS streaking, it would at least be INTENTIONAL streaking, and not accidentally running out into the street naked in a blind panic.

Now, the police station seemed to loom ahead of him like some ravenous beast ready to devour him. Devour him and send him away to somewhere he'd never see his friends or family again.

The police officer driving the car, by contrast, seemed much more blasé about the whole thing. He pulling up into a spot around the back of the station and turned the car off.

"Wait here while I get you some clothes to put on," the officer said gruffly.

With that, he shuffled off inside, leaving Nate alone and naked in the back of the police car.

The first thing Nate did once he was gone was try the door handle. It wouldn't open, but that wasn't exactly unexpected. There wasn't anything in the back seat Nate could really use to get free either. Well, nothing other than himself.

He WAS significantly more lupine than before his strange little adventure. Maybe it came with some perks? Werewolves in movies seemed to have no problems ripping up a door or a car, and he DID feel a little bit stronger than before.

Nate reeled back, balled up a fist, and slammed it directly into the grating between himself and the front seat!

"SHITFUCKG-" Nate screamed, yanking his bleeding hand back and cradling it. He'd managed to scrape the skin off his knuckles, but done very little to the obstinate grate. Apparently his new condition hadn't given him super strength.

"... Son, are you SURE you're not on drugs?"

While Nate had been distracted cradling his injured hand, the police officer had returned, holding a set of grey linens that looked not unlike scrubs... or a prison outfit. He opened the door of the car and tossed the clothes inside, shaking his head.

"Just put those on and follow me inside."

Nate shimmied into the clothes as best he could while staying out of sight of the windows, mostly just glad to have some modesty again. Unfortunately, he had one waggy, fuzzy complication sticking out of his backside that prevented him from getting the pants totally up over his butt. Nate pulled the rim of the linen clothes up under his tail as far as he could and tied them in the front before sliding out of the car.

The officer was already waiting for Nate by the door to the station, and, upon seeing him, hiked one of his eyebrows about as far up as it could go.

"Boy, after getting brought in like this, do you REALLY think wearin' your pants below your ass is the best move?"

Nate knew the officer couldn't see his fur or the other changes, but it seemed somehow unfair to him that the man couldn't see his tail but COULD see it pushing his pants down.

"Well... No but I uh... I can't get them any further up..."

"Are you tryin' to fucking mess with me son? Is that what you want to do?" the cop practically barked at Nathan.

"N-no sir!" Nathan yelped, reaching back to try to pull his pants up. After several unsuccessful attempts, he finally grabbed his tail and simply shoved it down his pants before pulling the rim up over it and tying them around his waist again. It wasn't comfortable. Nate could feel his tail thrashing the leg of his pants, but thankfully the officer didn't seem to notice. He did, however, seem to notice Nathan's general erratic behavior.

"Alright, no more funny business, just come inside and follow me."

The officer led Nate to a room with nothing but a table and two chairs in it. If it had a mirror on the wall Nate would've sworn he was in an old-fashioned investigation room from a TV show. Thankfully, what it DID have on the wall was a clear window out to the rest of the station. It gave Nate at least a little reassurance that nothing too untoward would happen to him.

"Wait here. I'll send someone in to talk to you shortly."

Left alone with his thoughts, the wait felt like a small eternity to Nate. Was streaking a felony? Was this going to fuck up his life even more than it already had?

...Had this even fucked up his life at all? The cop that arrested him, and the others in the station, didn't seem to be able to see any of his strange animalistic features, so presumably no one else could either. Nate could potentially just go back to his normal life and ignore this ever happened! Besides the streaking charge, at least.

Nathan had been so lost in thought he hadn't noticed another man come into the room and sit down. At least until the man actually spoke.

"Hello there. Nathaniel Potts, was it?"

"Uh, y-yeah! That's me," Nathan stuttered, off guard.

"Nice to meet you, Nathan. I'm Detective Thomas. I specialize in handling cases like yours."

Nathan glanced up at the detective... and immediately fell out of his chair in a wild panic.

Something about the man was just wrong. His skin looked almost slimy in the humming florescent lights, and his sunken eyes looked like hollow holes boring into his skull. Below those eerie holes was a smiling mouth that was far too wide, and filled with dozens of tiny, razor sharp fangs.

Nate scrambled back away as quickly as he could, immediately trying to put as much space between himself the monstrous man as possible. Once he looked up again, though... the monstrous countenance was gone.

The detective in front of him looked fairly unassuming now. He had normal looking (if baby smooth) arms, short blonde hair, and was dressed in the same sort of outfit as the other officers. A small pair of glasses rested at the end of his nose, partially obscuring dark blue eyes. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, though whether it was to comfort Nathan or due to his amusement at Nathan's reaction was entirely up for debate.

"Problem, Nathan?"

"I uh... Just startled, that's all. Was kind of lost in my own head." Nathan kept his gaze on the man's face, as though expecting it to turn back into the monstrous visage at any moment. Maybe it had just been a trick of the light.

"Come on, sit back down."

Despite his misgivings, Nate didn't really see another option at the moment. He returned to his chair, keeping a wary eye on the officer.

"You uh. You have a specialization in... handling streakers?" Nate asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Detective Thomas chuckled pleasantly. At least, it was probably intended to be pleasant. Nathan just found something cynical and unsettling about it.

"Not exactly. I specialize in handling unusual cases. I'm sure you'll agree, that someone who was missing for 3 days and then appeared running around in the nude with no explanation... Well, that is quite unusual."

Right. Nate had been so distracted by the whole streaking thing and his life being upended, he'd forgotten he had been missing for so long. In all likelihood he'd been unconscious for most of it...

"Ahh... Y-yeah... That is a bit unusual."

"So... Do you want to tell me what happened? It sounded like you were a bit hesitant to tell the officer that brought you in," the detective said, pulling out a simple notebook and a pen. "Don't spare any details."

If Nate had been clearheaded, he probably would've been preparing a more official story. Something believable. Something that didn't involve vampires and demons. But, clearheaded wasn't a word Nate would use to describe himself after the ordeal he had been through.

"I uh... Well. I was at the movies! Bound to the Moon II. Not as good as the first ones, but still an ok flick."

"Alright. Maybe I shouldn't have said not spare ANY details. Let's get on to what this has to do with your disappearance."

"I... I was getting to that! After the movie I went out into an alleyway, and I uh... I met someone there."

"Mhmm. Someone. And this someone did... what, exactly? Kidnapped you? Blackmailed you?" The detective leaned over toward Nathan, his countenance somehow seeming much more sinister. "Something stranger still?"

Killed me. Saved me. Changed me. Nate's brain spun for an answer that didn't involve the strange creature that he'd slept with. His mind knew one thing and only one thing - do not tell him anything.

"We uh... Well, he had some... some really good drugs! Something I'd never used before. And I uh... Well. I might've indulged a little too much."

"Uh huh, and then?"

"I blacked out. Next thing I know, I'm waking up somewhere unfamiliar without any clothes on. I was just trying to get home."

Detective Thomas scribbled something in his notebook, then shot Nate a disapproving glare. The panicking Nate could swear the man's eyes sunk back into holes of shadow for just a moment, but, the look lasted for just a moment.

"Right. Just drugs, that's all. And drugs like that... Those would probably illegal, right?"

Nate froze in his chair. He was suddenly painfully aware of his new tail desperately trying to tuck between his legs and the hair rising up on his neck. Shit, he'd lied himself right into a catch 22 hadn't he?

"I uh... I mean... not... always... It could uh..."

"Nathan." The other man lowered his glasses and leaned in, eyeing him seriously and taking a very parental tone. "You realize you could be in a LOT of trouble if that's true, right? Far more trouble than you would get into for streaking. Are you SURE that's what happened? Why don't you just tell me the truth? Go on. You can trust me."

Nathan felt a little itch in the back of his head. He probably should trust this guy. After all, he was a cop, right? And cops were here to help you...

Do not betray your master.

The little itch intensified into a droning buzz that made Nate's head ache. Nate had never been comfortable with the police before, why did he suddenly feel the urge to trust this guy?

DO NOT. BETRAY. YOUR MASTER.

The buzz intensified into a roar growing ever louder then... It was as though some kind of spider web had been unspun in his mind. Nate felt like himself again.

"Nate?" The officer asked, seeming perplexed.

"Oh, oh yeah... You're right. That's not what happened. I uh... I got attacked."

Detective Thomas's face broke into a wide, wicked grin.

"And what exactly attacked you, Nate?"

Nate's mind was working full speed now, and he found a lovely story in the truth. Or at least in half of the truth.

"A mugger attacked me. He took my money... took my phone. I just... I couldn't handle it. How close I came to dying... I went to a friend's house and I just... shut down. Didn't go to work. Didn't have my phone, so I didn't know if anyone called me... I guess that's why it seemed like I vanished. Sorry to have worried people."

Detective Thomas scowled and tapped his pen on the page a few times.

"That's all there is to it? Did you get a good look at the mugger?"

"Nah, didn't get a good view. It was too dark, I don't know what happened to him afterwards."

It was mostly true. Nate had an idea, but... he'd honestly rather not dwell on the sickening sounds he had heard too much.

"What about the friend you stayed with?"

"Not related. I'd prefer to not get them involved, if that's ok with you."

The detective tapped his pen again.

"You know, that does sound a bit more like you than the drugs story. You've never been arrested for anything, according to your profile. Hell, you've never even had a speeding ticket. You're such a good boy."

The little itch in Nate's brain came back. This time he was more ready. He pushed back against it... and as if to escape him, the itch ran down his spine like a shiver. Nate felt his tail spring forth from the rim of his pants again and start wagging back and forth unbidden, bapping into the legs of his chair. Nate almost froze up in panic, before he started tapping his hands on the table to try to mask the sound.

"Haha, y-yeah, that's me, I guess! Though the speeding ticket thing is probably because I mostly take the bus from place to place..."

"That just leaves one question for me, Nate."

"Y-Yeah what's that?"

"Why were you sprinting down the street in your birthday suit like a demon was after you? Tell me."

Though spoken like anything else, the words slammed into Nate like a tidal wave, battering his mental defenses and demanding his compliance. However, this time, Nate was not unprepared. He gritted his teeth and pushed back against it. He would not cave to this man!

TELL ME! TELL ME! TELL ME! TELL ME!

Nate felt a surge of determination. He wouldn't betray his friend. He wouldn't be ordered around like this. He was a good boy!

TELL ME! TELL ME! TELL ME! TELL ME!

QUUIIIEEETTT!!!

"Excuse me, Mr. Potts?!"

The detective's voice broke through Nate's inner struggle and made him realize he hadn't only said those words in his head.

"Sorry, it's just uh... Trauma."

"...Trauma?" The officer asked incredulously.

Nate's mind was running again, and this would give him a great excuse.

"I mean, it's... a lot to relive again. And the answer to your question."

"You're going to need to give me a bit more than that." Officer Thomas growled irritably, tapping his pen again.

"See, I sleep walk. And the mugging gave me terrible nightmares. Terrifying ones. They set me off, sent me running in my sleep. And I uh... well. I like to sleep naked. Sooo..."

He scratched behind one of his ears with a hand, trying to look sheepish and give a little more credit to the lie. Not that he had to try hard. He did enjoy sleeping naked, and getting caught had embarrassed him more than a little bit.

The detective looked less than amused.

"That's all there is to it?"

"That's all," Nathan nodded.

"Very well, Mr. Potts. I guess there really is no need to treat this as a crime. At least, the streaking part. But, if we do find your mugger or your stuff, we'll give you a call."

Nate froze again, an icy chill filling him to the core. What if they did find the mugger? He didn't know what had happened for sure, but he felt fairly confident his new chiropteran friend had put an end to him. The real question, was what had he done with the body?

The detective continued, apparently not noticing Nate's state, or not caring.

"I understand trauma, Nathan. We all have demons. Things in our past we aren't strong enough to handle. Things we need help to escape."

Nathan's stomach squeezed into a tight a knot. Did... Did the man know something about his rescuer? The lupine face of his new "master" flashed through his mind, wearing a warm smile. Nate could almost hear the beautiful growly voice in his head. It made him both yearn for the beast but uneasy in a way he couldn't really articulate.

"If you ever want help shaking those demons off, or getting away from something that's got a hold on you, give me a call. We've got the sort of resources that can help you with that."

The officer reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a small white business card, sliding it across the table towards Nate.

The card was simple enough. It had the man's name - Roger Thomas, senior detective, and a phone number. Also a little symbol Nate didn't recognize - a perfect circle of little triangles all face towards a center point, almost like a business logo.

Nate took the card and slipped it into one of the pockets on the scrubs they'd given him.

"Thanks, I'll uh... I'll keep that in mind, Roger. So that means I'm... free to go?"

Roger just smiled and nodded. "Free as a bird, Nate. Oh, one more thing... You said you use public transportation, so. Here. I imagine you'll need help getting home at least, and I've got a spare."

The detective pulled out another slim card and sat it in front of Nate. It looked to be a bus pass - one that had seen its fair share of love, including a couple of faded ketchup stains. Nate nodded quietly and took the pass.

"Uh, thanks... detective."

"No problem. Don't be a stranger now."

---

Nate's trip home was largely uneventful, except for the side-eye he was getting from onlookers. Given his disposable clothing, and the direction he was coming from, it wasn't terribly surprising that people might be a little wary of him. He hardly noticed. He was too tired from his day already, and too distracted by... other things.

He could smell the bus. Not just the exhaust, but all the little elements that made up the bus. Food under the seats, spilled drinks. The sweat of all of the passengers. Stains of old piss on some of the cushions from drunken nights, along with some... other bodily fluids. Even with just a proto-muzzle, the whole thing was a sensory overload.

It wasn't JUST smells either. Nathan could hear every conversation on the bus, even seats away and spoken in low voices. It almost seemed like the quieter people were trying to be, the more his ears wanted to pick them up.

The distracting daze of smells and sounds followed Nate around all the way up until he punched in the code and to his apartment.

Even Nate's apartment, the place he spent every day of his life, felt strange to him now. He could hear the gentle hum of electricity in the walls. He could smell the rot of week-old garbage even through the closed trash can. He could feel the gentle breeze of the heater ruffling the fur of his tail.

At least here, the scents were more familiar. They were comforting, if stronger than usual.

Realizing he was still hungry, Nate fished through his fridge for something quick to microwave. He ruffled through pre-packaged dinners, pizza rolls, and the like but... none of them seemed appealing. If anything, the thought of eating some of them seemed nauseating.

One thing did catch Nathan's eye. A package of rather high quality burgers he'd been saving for later. Though he hadn't really wanted to cook, it seemed worth it to bust out the pan for those.

He got to work heating the stove, buttering it, searing the burgers... And drooling. The scent of the sizzling meat was heavenly. Though normally Nate would cook the burger pretty thoroughly, he felt like he couldn't wait any longer today. He pulled the burgers off the pan barely more than rare and wolfed them down as soon as they were cool enough to touch.

Something about the taste of blood still on the meat, the freshness of it, the rawness of it, was exquisite. Nate practically growled as he ate, teeth subtly sharpening with each bite. Before he knew it, all of the meat was gone.

Finally feeling sated for the moment, Nate retired upstairs to his bedroom and computer. He'd been missing for 3 days, so he at least wanted to hop on and let his friends know what had been up.

Nate scrolled down his friends list in various messengers, sending out a handful of heartfelt apologies for people who had been trying to get in contact with him. Though he got a few "glad you're ok"s from his roleplaying group and other friends, it seemed like most people hadn't even noticed he was gone. He couldn't really blame them. Though a multi-day disappearance was a big deal to work or family, it didn't really mean much on the internet.

He also found quite a few emails from his restaurant. Apparently they couldn't find a replacement for him on the days he'd been missing and were heavily considering firing him. Nothing new there. With a heavy sigh, he typed up a reply about being in the hospital, hit send, and just... hoped they bought it.

As Nate sank back into his computer chair, exhausted from the day's events, a new smell wafting by caught his nose. This one wasn't food, but it still made his mouth water a bit... He just couldn't place quite what it was.

The puzzled man fished around under the bed with one hand, searching for the source of the smell. Eventually his hand bumped what he thought it was and yanked it out.

Nate's face immediately blushed beet red when he realized exactly what he had grabbed: a t-shirt, and one he'd jerked off into more than a couple times. Even before his change he could smell the cum soaked into this shirt when he held it close to his nose, and now the potent scent was almost overpowering.

"Oh ffuucccck," Nate whined.

He shoved the t-shirt right up against his snout, drinking deep of his own masculine scent. He felt his cock spring to life immediately, tenting the makeshift pants he'd been given. Nate wasted no time stripping the prisoner garb off, collapsing on the bed and reaching one paw down to squeeze at his new sheath and swelling pride.

In Nate's mind, it wasn't _his_scent he was smelling. It was the musky, potent creature he'd been with the night before. In his mind, the bat-like wolf was pinning him down against the bed, growling, and grinding its hefty junk right against Nate's face. And he wanted nothing more than to press back as eagerly, to service that length again. To be a good boy.

"Yes, yes..."

A canine whimper bubbled up from Nate's throat as he wrapped his paw around his junk and started to tug. His length was already leaking pre freely, letting his hand slip quickly along his length. The motions felt incredible, like his dick was more sensitive than usual, and... maybe just a little bit smaller. As was only proper for a toy. He wasn't the one fucking, so it wasn't like he needed it.

Nate's fantasies were growing raunchier by the minute. He raised his legs up by his head, imagining his vampiric lover pressing him into the bed, legs over their shoulders, while they absolutely ravaged him. While those deadly fangs wandered over every inch of his body...

He imagined himself bent over the couch, the kitchen table. Taken against the wall. His lover demolishing that spot deep inside him he'd only learned even existed recently that made him moan like his previous girlfriend. All he wanted was to be used and loved by this beast. To bring his master pleasure.

One of Nate's hands moved to his chest, tweaking his tender nips, imagining his hands as his lover's tongue working them. The feeling was practically electric, almost as good as teasing the tip of his shaft. Nate could feel himself getting closer... and something else unusual.

As the proto-wolf's hand neared the base of his shaft, he encountered something he'd never encountered before. A swell of flesh growing ever larger just outside his sheath. He ran his fingers along it and gasped hotly. The sensation was even more intense around the swollen bulb. Somehow, he instinctively knew what to do, wrapping his hand around the base of it and squeezing tight before...

"A-AHH, MASTER!"

Nate tossed back his head and howled in bliss (as best a human could) as he blew his load all over his chest. A few powerful, errant spurts even went far enough to splatter all over his face, which he eagerly lapped up. In his mind, his lover was filling him to the brim, fangs barred into his neck in an animalistic growl as he drank deep of him...

It was only when Nate started to come down to a state of post-nut clarity that he realized exactly what he'd said, what he'd been fantasizing about... And that he had wrapped one of his hands around his neck and was pressing his fingernails against it to simulate the fantasy of the vampire's bite.

The idea of what he'd done made him shiver. Did he really want that badly to be a fuck-toy for that strange beast?

Even with his thoughts freed in post-nut clarity, Nate still felt a deep desire to be near the beast he'd met the night before. Not even on a purely sexual level. It was a soul-deep longing, a feeling he couldn't quite describe, but was intimately aware of. A longing that was made all the stranger by the fact he felt quite sure he'd woken up next the corpse of the creature that morning...

Maybe there was something wrong with Nate. This wasn't just a little infatuation, it bordered on obsession.

We all have demons. Things in our past we aren't strong enough to handle.

Things we need help to escape

The detective's voice echoed in Nate's head. Nate didn't exactly trust Detective Thomas, but... Maybe he should still talk to him. If nothing else, there might be some answers Nate could weasel out of him.

Nate reached into his pocket for his phone. Nada. He looked to his bedside table. Nothing. Where could he have possibly left his...

Oh no.

Even if Nate had been lying about a mugger stealing his wallet and phone, he certainly didn't have them. They were still likely back in the strange vampire's house, along with his master lovernew friend... and the demon that had caused his trouble with the police in the first place.

Nate just lay there on the bed, dread settling in the pit of his stomach. Was he actually debating going back to that house and facing the demon again? He could probably re-order his credit cards... if he had a phone. That was fine, he could always get a new phone... if he had a credit card. ...Fuck.

With a heavy sigh, Nate got up and headed to shower and clean up. At least he'd be able to wear real clothes on this trip.

---

The sun was just going down as Nate made his way up to the ominous, ivy-covered lakeside house again. Without his phone, he'd had to find the approximate location on Gooble's street view, print off the instructions and bus routes, and make his own way there. Given the last time Nate had gone anywhere without a phone GPS was shortly after high school, the trip had taken far, far longer than it should have. At least he still had the free bus pass - he couldn't imagine having to walk it.

The image of the thing Nate had seen in the house earlier kept gnawing at the edges of his mind. The entire way through his trip he couldn't shake the feeling something was watching him. Something that was eagerly awaiting his return.

"If I'm lucky that demon will just be gone... Who knows, maybe it can't even hurt me... all it did before was scare me... Maybe that's all it can do, like a ghost..."

Nate muttered to himself, realizing he had already arrived and was simply standing on the sidewalk near the house, trying to work up the courage to actually approach it. He didn't want to admit it, but the thought of running into the demon again chilled him to the bone.

Cautiously, he crept up to the front door and tried the handle. Locked. He was... actually a little surprised. Why would a demon bother to lock the door? What could even hurt a demon?

Nate wasn't exactly a master thief, or a thief of any kind for that matter. There was no way he'd be able to pick the locks on the door, even if he had tools for it. That left plan B.

The nervous man stepped off of the porch and into the flower beds, moving over to one of the windows. He tried to peer inside, but it was pitch black except for the little bit of star light and street light illuminating the kitchen floor. Still, it looked like he could get inside, so he started trying to get the window open.

As preoccupied as Nate was with the window, he hadn't noticed any of the slow, subtle movements around him. He also hadn't noticed the quiet rustling of leaves that wasn't being caused by the wind. It was only when he felt the thick tendrils of ivy wrap around his limbs that Nate realized something was wrong - and he had realized it far, far too late.

"What THE F-"

Nate started to cry out before he suddenly found a mass of vines and ivy from the house wrapped around his face, holding his mouth shut so he couldn't scream. Other vines had wrapped around his wrists and ankles, pulling him up against the house with a strength he couldn't imagine from a mass of foliage. Though Nate struggled as hard as he could, he couldn't make any headway at actually getting himself free.

Though being bound by the vines was alarming, what came next was terrifying. Nate felt one of the thicker vines curling around his neck... and squeezing. His eyes bulged out, his tugging and flailing becoming more wild and frantic. He could feel the pressure crushing his windpipe, his vision starting to swim as breathing become more and more difficult.

Finally with one surge of adrenaline, Nate managed to thrash his head enough to slip his mouth free of the vines. It was only for a second or two, but that was all he needed.

"HELP! SOMEONE H-" Nate managed to rasp out with what air he had left in his lungs.

The vines snapped back into place. As his sight and hearing began to fade, Nate could vaguely make out the sound of something pounding towards him. There was a loud crash as the window slammed open, then...

"AUDREY! LET GO!"

A pair of strong hands grabbed Nate's arms just as the vines let him go and he started to fall limp. With a deep gasp Nate realized he could breathe again... and that he was rapidly being pulled up through the window.

It took Nate a second to right himself and steady his feet as his senses returned. It took another second to realize who the wall of brown fuzz he was pressed against belonged to. He immediately buried his face into the soft ruff of chest fur, nuzzling into it and breathing in the familiar musky scent. He almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of how he felt.

"ED! YOU'RE ALIVE!"

The vampire chuckled a little, resting his paws on the small of his friend's back and squeezing him gently up against his chest.

"Well, of course I'm alive. I was more worried about you. I wrote in my note for you to not leave until we had another chance to discuss y-"

Nate pulled his head out of Edmund's chest fur and squinted up at him.

"Wait, what note?"

---

On the sidewalk near Edmund's house a slick black car rolled up behind the man who had been casually waiting and watching the house from the shadows. One window rolled down with a mechanical whirr, an older man with blonde hair leaning out. A man that would have been very familiar to Nathan, had he been present.

"... I don't see shit, do you?"

The bearded man in the shadows nodded slowly, keeping his gaze firmly fixed on the house.

"I sort of can, but it's more like a blurry outline. Even then, it's getting harder and harder to keep my eyes focused on it. You were spot on about following the kid there. Good job with the blood-marked bus pass. I guess that magic stuff really does work."

"Of course it does. Right, lets get this done quick then."

The man in the car briefly disappeared inside again, fishing around for something in the back seat before presenting it to his partner. Careful not to break his gaze on the building, the bearded man lifted the bulky green box up onto his shoulder, steadied his aim at the blurry object, and squeezed the trigger...

---

"The note I left on the door for you." Ed explained as the pair moved towards the living room. "I figured you'd see it when you woke up and went out. I was honestly pretty baffled when you just disappeared like that."

Nate snorted indignantly.

"Yeah, maybe I would have seen it if you hadn't sic'd some kind of weird skull demon on me."

Ed's brow furrowed a bit.

"A demon? I didn't sic any... Oh! You mean the-"

The sound of shattering glass interrupted the pair's conversation as the kitchen window erupted. The pair barely had time to glance back and see the rocket as it crashed into the other side of the kitchen... and the explosion that rushed towards them.

To be continued.