Michelle stood in uniform, her eyes gleamed on seeing Inspector Lucien. He was smartly dressed and carried a solemn air about him, like the world revolved around him.
Definitely different from Abel. They were entirely two different persons.
She turned and gave a salute, prompting the rest of her team to do the same to stand at attention and salute.
“Good day Inspector Sir” she gave a soothing smile to Abel as she stretched her hand for a handshake.
Abel took it and replied with a curt and cold nod.
“Good day lieutenant. My colleagues and I will be assisting you today”
Michelle nodded as she looked behind Abel to scrutinize his comrades.
One was a tall burly man who seemed to be in his sixties. He exuded a soothing aura like a reliable uncle one could lean onto.
Then her gaze went to the lady with gothic makeup and wearing a tomboyish outfit. Her gaze was cold and unfriendly, especially when looking back at her.
Michelle felt as if she had offended the lady somehow.
“Uhm! Yes. The time to move will be by 5:30pm… so we have ten minutes to prepare” she added with a stutter, her gaze returning back to the woman behind Abel.
‘What's her problem?’ she thought to herself.
Abel, oblivious to all this, replied with a curt nod as he signalled to a bar just across the street.
Michelle flinched, memories of her last bar outing returning slightly.
She and Alberto had gotten into a fight with some mobsters whose job was to stall them. But the fight was messy at best.
Thankfully, no one died…
Well…
Michelle shook her head and acknowledged Abel's gesture, leading her men towards the bar named the Bat and the Barrel.
They all entered, the atmosphere of the bar much more quiet and cozy.
It felt more like an expensive restaurant than a bar.
It was large, quite larger than a regular bar with tables and chairs neatly arranged.
Abel and the others took a seat at the counter, whilst the rest of the officers went for the tables.
An elderly man with balding grey hair and a large gait hopped from the kitchen behind. He wore an apron on his linen shirt and leather pants.
On getting to the counter, he stopped in shock and gave a large smile.
“Well lookie what the win blew ere ey? How ya doing Brother Boris?” He laughed as he walked from behind the counter to Boris.
“Dillon brova, it's good to see ya in high spirits” Boris replied his greeting with a hug.
Abel wasn't too shocked about the turn of events and the light mood. He'd been briefed about the bar and who owned it.
From what he was told, Dillon was a retired member of the Order. He was of the generation of Boris, so they knew each other very well.
They both greeted, reminiscing on old times long gone and washed away by history.
“So, do ya ave em prepared?” Boris asked as he signalled to Abel and the rest of them to follow behind.
Dillon snapped his fingers as a maid rushed from the kitchen and went to lock the doors.
“Follow me!” He said as he led them through the kitchen and into the store room.
He pulled the light switch thrice in quick succession, causing one of the shelves to shift, a hidden passage behind.
Abel sighed as he reminisced on his period working with the Order.
He'd seen so many types of hidden passages and magic doors that he'd grown numb to the surprise it usually brought.
The other officers, about four of them other than Michelle, seemed beyond amazed.
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But no one said anything as Dillon led them through the door and into a stairwell that led to somewhere underground.
Soon, they reached another door that was locked and bolted.
“Aye, been a long time since I opened this here door. You know where you're going right?”
“Yup, don't need to worry about us…”
“Oh I'm not worried about you… to be worried for you is a waste of me time now innit?”
Dillon and Boris laughed out loud, jolting the other behind them before opening the door.
What lay before them was a large underground sewage system. It was dark, damp and downright stinky.
Abel sighed, just like old times.
He took the lead as was designated to him and said in a deep tone.
“Arm yourselves, Mr Boris take point, Dorothy cover from behind… the Hunt Begins”
***
The Cathedral, Hillsborough suburbs in the North of Belmont.
The Church of the Goddess lay still, its courtyard clean and its atmosphere holy.
Rathcliffe walked down the hallway, his footsteps echoing and his jacket swishing about.
He walked to a large door and knocked thrice, before pushing the door open.
Inside, Father Eric and Freya in nuns clothes that seemed too obnoxious for her size sat across from each other, discussing something serious.
“Ahhh! Ratchliffe, come in and have a seat” Eric greeted with his arm gesturing to a free chair.
Ratchliffe took a seat, giving a curt nod to Freya.
“Alright then. Let's get to the serious matters shall we…” Eric said as he took out a large grey book and placed it on the desk
Mother of The Shadows
Of the Unseen and Unobtainable…
I pray your grace this day come…
To Watch and Guide…
Conceal and Confide…
May our Words be Unheard by the Deep
And may Spirits be quiet to our Sayings…
After the short incantation, the book began to glow and cry in a buzzing hum. Then after a while, it stopped.
“Good, Mother is upon us so we can speak freely.”
Freya didn't waste time as she turned to Rathcliffe and said with a solemn voice.
“Dream Lord… the artifact has reacted…”
***
Down in the dark underground sewage, Boris led the team through various passageways like a seasoned hunter tracking his prey.
Abel and Michelle followed with revolvers and rifles drawn, whilst Dorothy trailed behind with a large briefcase strapped to her back.
Soon, he stopped, sniffing the air as if he'd caught a scent.
He took out a map from his waist coat breast pocket and flipped it open.
He signalled for Abel to come forward.
Abel did, wondering what was happening.
“Alrighty… this is where you guys stop and create a diversion… lead the normal officers take out the ones at the front” Boris whispered as he gestured with his chin to a turn that was illuminated by what seemed to be a flame torch.
“What about you and Dorothy?”
Boris smiled with a toothy grin and replied with confidence
“We will take out the leaders of the cultists and any Transcendent being amongst them. Just play safe and it will be like your normal police raid”
Abel modded, signalling for the officers to be ready to move.
Michelle and the other four officers all nodded, putting on gas masks and rechecking their weapons.
Abel grabbed a gas mask as he gave signals for them to move in.
They slowly crept over to the corner, the sound of whispers coming from within it.
There were about two to four people on the bend based on the shadows he saw.
Abel stretched his hand, and an orb like object was placed in his open palm.
A smoke grenade…
He flicked the pin off and tossed it into the corner.
Booofff!!!
Green sleeping gas sprayed and puffed immediately, causing fits off coughs followed by the drop of bodies.
The job was to take prisoners if possible, if not they were allowed to take them down without remorse.
This was how a police raid on crime rings usually went.
Abel wore the gas mask on his mouth, putting the goggles aside as he jumped into the fray, his gun drawn and primed.
Michelle followed from behind to cover him, her weapon aimed across the door.
Four bodies lay asleep, all of them wore red robes with the symbol of a snake wrapped on a sword.
The Grotto of Snakes Abel thought as he recognized the symbol as one of the cults that worshipped an Abyssal Deity.
The rest of the men moved in, quickly disarming and tying up the unconscious bodies.
Abel didn't wait for too long, as his ears picked up the sound of two figures walking towards the entrance from behind a large door.
He rushed to the door and poised himself for action.
The two figures, a man and a woman, seemed to be in a hurry somewhere, grasping at their clothes and kissing a hell of a storm.
‘Oh Baby, stop, what if the guys outside hear you?’ a seductive voice moaned as the door creaked slightly open.
They were greeted by a rude awakening of the officers tying up their allies, their faces scrunched in disgust and some level of shock.
Before they could say anything, Abel pounced on the man from behind and rammed his fist into the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. The force sent him toppling over with a loud thud.
Michelle rushed to the lady, put her palm on her open mouth and swung her body to her side.
With one single sweep, she knocked her down. Her body hit the floor like a wet bag of fish as Michelle lifted her fist and punched her in the temples, knocking her unconscious.
Michelle looked at Abel and nodded.
Abel nodded back and his thoughts began to move quickly.
It seems these guys had no expert training.
Abel signalled for them to move quickly, dashing down the hallway with Michelle and two other officers in tow. The other two were left behind to secure the prisoners.
They met no resistance, mostly because the hallway seemed empty, as if it was uninhabited.
They soon reached a fork that led to two distinct paths.
Abel looked at the left side, noticing a bloody palm staining the wall.
It was a signal that Boris had told him to look out for.
“If you see a bloody palm on the wall, go the opposite direction. We're most likely going to chase down the Transcendent into that direction”
This was meant to warn Abel on the path not to take.
He led them to the Right, barrelling down as water splashed from their footsteps.
But just as they were to turn another corner, Abel’s senses began to tingle.
He felt an aura of death sweep from somewhere he couldn't see, before it disappeared.
Abel turned to Michelle and the others, making sure he didn't miss anything.
That was when he noticed something terribly wrong.
One of the officers was missing…
