The Black Saint is My StalkerCh140 - The disappearances are connected

Edited by dreamandwonder

“You believe that the disappearances are connected,” Graham reiterated what he heard. On his laptop, he already had several missing persons cases opened up. NmuWUd

“I know they’re connected, Eternity. Miasma traces, black feathers, heck even the smell. I was there. I know what I saw with my own two eyes,” Jayden’s voice hinted at a slight sliver of panic. Graham could hear him pacing on the other side. He could hear the hushed murmurs of a different voice as well, female, likely Jayden’s wife. “The M.O.’s the exact same. Demon approaches state-sanctioned supernatural and then that supernatural proceeds to—“

“Either go insane or disappear,” Graham finished for him.

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“Precisely.”

“…” The similarities lined up. And if Graham had been honest then he would have let Jayden know that Saint Miguel already had him investigating the case— or rather, investigating why it wasn’t being investigated in the first place. TWJrR8

It was as Jayden said, the similarities were as broad as daylight, anyone and their mother could have seen the connections from a mile away.

And yet, these disappearances have been happening continuously for months now, without any thorough explanation as to why, or rather, why no one was being dispatched to take care of the situation. Only a scant few hunts have been issued, and each of them ranked between D to C rank, which underestimated the scope of the case by alarming amounts.

Miguel had said that it was almost as though someone from the inside was meddling.

And Graham, begrudgingly, was inclined to agree. But the question came down to who and why. Those things remained unclear.

“So what precisely do you want me to do?” Graham said carefully to the person on the other side. He had some suspicions, but Graham did not want to jump to conclusions, and knowing that both Jayden and Magnolia might not be in the soundest of states, he did not wish to share a half-baked theory with them and watched as they put themselves in danger from afar.

He heard more shuffling on the other side, hushed speaking. It took a moment before Jayden responded. He sounded tired. “Graham. Listen. I’m not asking for much. Fuck, I can’t ask for much. But a kid is missing and there ain’t many people on this earth who gives half a crap about an orphaned werepup so please—“

“I understand.” Graham disliked how his reply sounded cold. But while a part of him understood the Jones’ plight, another part was frigid. Calloused and without neither hope nor despair. “I shall keep an eye out for Luca’s whereabouts. If there’s anything I shall report to you. I understand that it might be difficult but do try to go through legal channels.”

“…” A tired indignant scoff came through on the other side. “Of course.” d3zrsb

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

The line went silent.

“…” Xgjtjw rajgfv ja tlr qtbcf obg j wbwfca, xcbklcu atja tlr kbgvr tjv wjvf Ajsvfc eqrfa. Helfais, tf kbcvfgfv lo atfgf kjr jcs wfgla ab yflcu xlcvfg, ab rxlga jgbecv atf ageat ilxf Zluefi kbeiv tjnf.

Vmboolcu ja tlr bkc atbeutar, Xgjtjw qea tlr qtbcf jrlvf.

Ycis ab qlmx la eq bcmf wbgf. tEcjWP

“…” Still no message from Han Li. Brows furrowed, he tried to turn his attention back to the mystery behind the disappearance of state-sanctioned supernatural beings.

Graham did in fact have one lead. Perhaps far fetched, however…if he thought about it, it made sense. The supernatural beings that didn’t disappear went insane. And what happened to them after going insane? They would be apprehended by the DASR.

He wondered if it was time to try to get in contact with Emilia Rose. In the past, it was easy to get information from her, all he had to do was offer to share a bed for the night. But the more he contemplated the thought, the more it left a bad taste in his mouth. Maybe not.

It was then that his phone finally buzzed and Graham perhaps would have been a little embarrassed if someone saw how quickly he reached for it. XSpgkl

Finally, he received a message from Han Li…!

However, it wasn’t the message that he expected. Graham couldn’t help but frown at the contents of the text message. He reread it at least three times, ensuring that he wasn’t missing any crucial details, or if there were parts he misunderstood.

Chrysanthemum Garden.

[ Hey Graham! Sorry, something really urgent came up. John came to me with an A-rank mission. It’s super urgent so I’ll be out of town for a bit. I know it’s a bit short notice, but surely you know how it’s been with missions lately. I’ll talk to you soon. ]

What on earth was this? Did Han Li feel so ashamed of his situation with Graham that he had a friend send a message for him? This was obviously not written by Han Li’s own hand. And did Han Li honestly want Graham to believe that he was off on a mission when all his gear was still back at the penthouse? No matter how urgent a mission might be, he should have had the time to make a trip back home to get his equipment. DlskMy

Oddly disgruntled, Graham put his phone aside. And instead threw himself into his other work.

Somewhere along the night, he completely forgot about the steaks he cooked and left in the oven.

When Graham woke, his body was extremely sluggish, head throbbing something awful. Sunlight filtered through the tall floor-to-ceiling windows and somehow he had fallen asleep in the living room instead of in the bedroom like a normal human being.

Annoyed, Graham hauled himself into a seated position, running a hand over his face to feel the inevitable growth of new whiskers. A14DpP

He needed a wash. And he needed to style his bird’s nest hair before allowing anyone to see him in this sorry state.

Graham rose from the couch and stretched. The sluggishness refused to ebb and the muddled thoughts only proliferated in his mind. His recollections of the prior few days came in a jumbled mess. From Han Li’s pained expression, his subsequent outburst, and the marks he wore on his neck that trailed down to his collarbone.

Graham tried not to think of it. He tried to focus on the investigation. The talks of strange demons with the scent of sea salt and caramel; of black-feathered beings and traces of miasma that marked people for disappearance, or worse, insanity.

What kind of demon would be able to cause insanity? OpY9V

Graham’s first thought fell onto incubi and succubi—

Han Li’s voice returned to his thoughts, like a bolt of thunder. “I— Shit. There was an incubus.”

Graham suddenly froze. His entire body was doused in ice.

No, he was overthinking it. Surely… wjx78Z

Graham absently reached up to the earring that hung from his right ear, feeling the cold metal between his fingertips. He didn’t understand why he was so anxious. He didn’t understand that bone-deep fright that he felt.

The awkward tension that existed between them be damned. Graham activated the communication spell that was embedded within the artifact.

‘Han Li.’ He didn’t have anything else to really say.

But it didn’t matter. ZJD4cy

Because there was no one on the other side to receive his call in the first place.

Graham cleaned himself up in record time. When he left the penthouse, his hair was still damp. The artifact did also include a tracking spell on it and Graham might be a creep or a stalker to use it, but when did he care about the nuances of what was proper and what wasn’t— He didn’t. Not when there were more important things at hand.

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The magical signal that the earring gave off, did in fact lead him outside of the city bounds, into the wooded area just outside of the city.

… ZMXdtE

(The night prior.)

Sally had fallen asleep by a tree.

What she didn’t know was that she wouldn’t be able to wake again.

“Did you think that you’d be able to run away from me, silly pig?” And ominous laughter sounded from the skies. “I could smell your stench from miles away, my dear.” aZFnDt

A dark cloud of crimson wove through the canopy of trees. Instead of gathering into the form of a man, the floating mass of blood found the succubus’s orifices.

Her ears, her nostrils, the slight part in her lips. It slipped inside her meat suit.

Within seconds, her body convulsed, spasming and twitching uncontrollably. Her plump skin turned ashen before it began to dry and shrivel. Her lips parted but no cry could be sounded.

A lesser succubus was remarkably human-like. At least their temporary bodies were, which made things simple for Iszak, basking in the joy of tearing the stupid demon apart from the inside out, devouring both her blood and miasma bit by bit until she was nothing more than a shriveled raisin. 24 b7Q

Once he was full and sated, Iszak drew himself out of the succubus’s body; which still twitched and spasmed despite being reduced to an ugly shriveled heap. He scoffed, his blood slowly contouring his human form before he could fully materialize. “Disgusting,” he spat.

And not to mention, weak.

How could this lowly creature leave a mark on his property so easily?

This damned succubus was weak and starved. Franz should have been able to tear her to shreds in his sleep! EHp2jv

Iszak’s visage twisted in both amusement and anger. “I see… It seems that I will have to crush your master too, hm?”

Author: And the plot….it…thickens…? Maybe!? Also just as a head’s up, been feeling pretty poppy lately wahhh if this continues I might have to delay a chapter down the line, this is just a head’s up!