Chapter 19

Apologies for the delay. I've been busy these past few days, but here is the next chapter. You will never guess the guest for this mission. It's a surprising one. With that said, I hope that you enjoy!

Then: Yeonju

Wonpil grits his teeth together as he slams the blade of his machete clean through a man's neck. His head slides off of his body and to the floor. His mouth wide open and revealing a set of sharp pointy teeth. "Hunter," a voice hisses. Wonpil whirls around and is confronted by three more monsters. He grins at them and twirls his weapon around nonchalantly. "Blood-sucking, pointy-teeth bastards," Wonpil says back in an even tone. The vampires all growl at this, not happy with the way they are being talked to by the hunter that has broken into their home and decided to kill them all. The three all charge at him simultaneously, but their efforts to gang up on him are useless. Wonpil doesn't hesitate as he slices off the head of one vampire followed by another. The last one tenses when he sees his fallen comrades. He takes a tentative step back and glances up at the hunter who has blood splatter over his face. "You vamps always think you have a chance," Wonpil sighs, "It's pretty sad how much you try to fight back when we both know you'll just end up headless at the end of the night." With that said, the hunter swings his machete again, chopping the head clean off the final vamp. Wonpil lets out a sigh and looks around the large mansion-like home to admire his work. The place is a wreck. Furniture knocked over and destroyed. Blood covering the floors and splattered on the wall. And of course, the large amount of decapitated vamp bodies lying all over the place from the main floor to the staircase to the kitchen. All courtesy of one hunter named Kim Wonpil.

──────●◎●──────

Now

"He took out an entire vamp's nest by himself?" Felix questions as they walk into a cafe. Chan nods his head. He has Wonpil's journal in his hand and he is reading about the hunt that his old friend did in this town. "That's impressive," Felix says, "Wonpil sounds like a kick-ass hunter."

"He was," Chan muses.

"We're not going to be meeting one of your vamp friends in this town, are we?" Felix asks, "One that's like vegan or something?"

Chan shakes his head, "No, so you have nothing to worry about."

"I'm not worried," Felix says.

Chan shakes his head, "Yeah, right, remember how you acted with Jisung and Changbin?"

"What are you talking about?" Felix questions, "We became great friends."

"Yeah after you threatened to kill them both fifteen times," Chan says.

"Character development," Felix says as they walk over to the barista who is sucking on a blue lollipop and orders two coffees. Chan scoffs at his cousin before looking back down at the journal. His gaze remains on the pages as he walks over to a booth and slides into it. Felix sits across from him, grabbing a packet of sugar to play with. "Anything else happen?" The freckled hunter asks.

Chan shakes his head, "This is the most normal hunt, other than the fact that he killed the entire nest by himself, but this is a type of thing any hunter would do."

"Did he just stumble on the nest or was he tracking a vamp?" Felix asks.

"Tracking a vamp," Chan says, "Apparently one of them slipped up and this alerted Wonpil." Felix nods his head just as a barista calls out his name. The Aussie stands to go get their drinks. As he nears the counter, he passes by a group of three chattering with each other. "I swear," A guy with a red hat says, "The coffee here is like some weird drug. The other day I swear I was in Hawaii!"

"Dude, no way," A man in an oversized graphic tee exclaims, "I got taken by aliens!"

"That's ridiculous," The last says.

"You only say that cause you've never had a coffee here," The red-hat guy states, "Just have a cup and you'll see." Felix shakes his head, ignoring the weird conversation the three are having. He smiles at the barista as she slides two coffee cups towards him. "Thanks," Felix says.

"You're welcome," The woman says. Felix grabs the mugs before heading back towards his table. He passes by more groups of people who seem to all be having similar conversations to the three guys. Felix sighs as he slides back into the seat, placing one of the cups in front of his cousin. "Do you hear what everyone is talking about?" Felix asks.

Chan nods, "Coffee that makes you experience hallucinations. Fun."

"Should we be drinking this?" Felix questions, looking around his cup with suspicion. Chan shrugs as he takes the lid off of the cup and sniffs at it. "It smells like coffee," he says. The blonde brings the cup to his mouth, but is stopped by his cousin. "I say we just go to another cafe that doesn't serve drinks that are rumored to cause drug-like side effects," Felix says. Chan nods and slowly stands, finding it better safe than sorry. The cousins toss their drinks into the trash as they exit the store. They make their way towards their car when Chan's phone starts to ring. The blonde digs his hand into his pocket and yanks out his keys as well as his phone. He tosses the keys to Felix and eyes the car, telling his cousin to start the vehicle. He then taps on his phone before bringing it to his ear, "Hey, Seungmin, what's up?" He walks over to the passenger's side of the car and opens the door. "Hi, hyung. What are you and Felix doing?" Seungmin asks. Chan climbs into the vehicle and places his phone on the dashboard. He turns on the speakerphone before closing the car door. "We're checking out another place in Wonpil's journal," Felix says, "Yeonju to be specific."

"Great," Seungmin says.

"Great? Why?" Chan questions.

"Well, I called hoping that you two would be willing to take on a case," Seungmin says, "I know you're trying to figure out hyung's journey, but I don't think you would mind handling something for me along the way."

"What is it?" Felix asks, "What are we hunting?"

"A trickster," Seungmin says, "Who just so happens to be in Yeonju."

"Really?" Chan says in surprise, "What are the chances of that?"

"I know, I'm glad I called you two about this," Seungmin says.

"What exactly is a trickster?" Felix asks, "I've read about them a bit, but we don't deal with them often in Australia."

"Tricksters are rare," Seungmin says, "But, powerful as frick. They can warp reality, create people and objects out of thin air. They can take any form, but most of the time they appear like humans. The easiest way to identify one is by what they eat. Tricksters have a sweet tooth. Candy and sugar galore with them."

"They sound like pests," Felix says.

"They are," Seungmin says, "Especially this one. Jackson hyung and Mark hyung have been trailing after him for months. They went from China to America to Greenland. The two are currently in Europe, but they have reason to believe that the trickster has moved to Korea."

"And what gave them that idea?" Chan asks.

"The lovely internet," Seungmin says, "Social media has been blowing up about this one cafe which serves drinks that can literally transport you to another world." Chan and Felix exchange a look before glancing out the window at the cafe right in front of them. "Is the place called Impresso Espresso?" Felix asks.

"How did you know?" Seungmin questions.

"We went to get coffee there," Chan says.

"Tell me you two didn't drink it," Seungmin says in a serious tone.

"No," Felix says, "We heard the customers talking about their drug dreams and walked out of there."

"Thank goodness," Seungmin says, "I don't know how, but the trickster has been using his powers to drag all the customers in that shop into his own little worlds."

"That means that he's in the shop," Chan says.

"Most likely," Felix says, "We're still outside the store. Should we go confront him?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Seungmin says, "He's a sly one. He may get the upper hand on you and you don't have the weapon to kill him."

"What does kill him?" Chan asks.

"A wooden stake dipped in the blood of one of his victims," Seungmin says.

"Well, then we need to go inside either way," Felix says, "Some of the customers have already been affected by the trickster. We'll need their blood."

"What if you run into the trickster?" Seungmin asks in a worried tone.

"Don't worry," Chan says, "We went in there before without any issues."

"But, this time is different," Seungmin says, "Everyone acts different when they know something powerful and dangerous is nearby. Even hunters."

"We're just going to have to try our best to act like everything is normal," Felix says, "Don't worry, Seungmin. We'll be fine."

"You better be," Seungmin sighs.

──────●◎●──────

Chan and Felix enter the cafe once more, trying their best to keep their faces even. "Welcome to Impresso Espresso!" A male voice says. The two turn to look at the front counter and stiffen when they notice it's someone different. They had only left a little while ago, there's no way that the barista on staff suddenly left. It's almost like she has been completely replaced by this man with gelled hair and a form fitting shirt. There's a black apron over his clothes that reads the logo of the cafe as well as a small white plastic name tag that reads JYP. There's a stick poking out of his mouth that is revealed to be a bright red lollipop as the man takes the candy into his hand. "Weren't you two here just a little while ago?" The man asks.

Felix coughs and shakes his head, "Nope. It's my first time here." Chan elbows his cousin as discreetly as possible. Felix grumbles and glances over at him, "What?"

"Quit being so obvious," Chan huffs.

"I'm trying not to," Felix whispers, "But, it's hard when it's pretty freaking clear who the trickster is." Chan elbows Felix again for saying trickster so nonchalantly. The freckled Aussie scowls and slowly walks up towards the counter. "What can I get you two?" The man asks.

"Um...uh, I'll have an americano," Felix says, shifting a bit."

"And I'll have the same," Chan says with a forced smile. The man nods as he types onto the digital screen of the cash register. He seems to be entirely focused on the screen and doesn't seem to have figured out exactly what the cousins are. This offers a bit of comfort to the two Australians, something that is short lived as JYP sighs and slowly looks up at the two. "You know...I hate myself for not noticing it sooner," He says, a cocky grin slowly blooming onto his face.

"Noticing what?" Felix asks, his heart thumping in his chest.

"You two are hunters...aren't you?" The man asks, "I thought I smelled motel stench in my store..."

Chan forces a confused look to pop on his face, "What's a hunter?"

"Nice try," The man says, "I figured it out the second you two walked out of my store. Only hunters are unwilling, stubborn bastards who never wish to play along with my games." The cousins look at one another before slowly turning to glare at the trickster. Dropping their act after being discovered in mere seconds. The other occupants of the store don't seem to even notice what is going on, each of them having hazy, cloudy looks in their eyes. "You're playing with people's perceptions of reality," Chan states, "You can't do that."

"Why not? They're having fun," JYP says with a grin, "I take them from their miserable lives in this world and give them adventure, love, intrigue! They have everything they could possibly ask for."

"Except, none of it is real," Felix shakes his head, "They're just illusions. Tricks."

"I assure you that my magic is the real deal," The trickster says, "Would you like me to show you?" He raises his hand up and brings his fingers together. Chan and Felix's eyes widen simultaneously. They try to stop the trickster by grabbing at him, but the mischievous being is too fast. JYP snaps his fingers and in a burst of light both Chan and Felix disappear. The man sighs as he sticks the lollipop back into his mouth, "This is what happens when you throw out my coffee...."






JYP is our trickster. He has sent our boys somewhere.... you'll have to wait to find out exactly where in the next chapter. I hope you all are enjoying this fic so far. If you are please vote, comment, follow me, add this story to your library and check out my SKZ story Collision Course. I hope you have a great rest of your day. Au revoir!

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top