Hunt For The Ghouls (1)

Zaen was quick to reply to Miranda's text. After analyzing her reactions back in the alleyway, Zaen could infer that she was different from the other Special Officer and having her as an ally would be beneficial for him in the future. But he couldn't reveal his secret identity to her yet because well... he didn't know much about her. If he revealed his identity and she reported him, it would be all over for him and he didn't want to risk it all just yet.

He had to be careful about his every move. Before texting her though, he went to her Instagraph profile to make sure he wasn't chatting with a fake account. And boy was he in for a surprise. She looked amazing in every photograph she had uploaded on her feed. But Zaen quickly closed the page before his second brain got active. After a couple of deep breaths, he finally replied to her text.

<Hey there, Officer Lopez. I didn't think you'd reach out so soon.>

Within seconds of sending the message, Zaen already got her reply.

<I don't have much to do as of now so... I thought why not.>

'Of course, you don't have much to do, considering that you fainted last night, it's a miracle you're allowed to use your phone.' Zaen thought as he quickly typed a response.

<Why? Is something wrong?>

Ding!

<To make a long story short, Last night we were chasing criminal and things got out of hands. Let's just say I'm lucky to be alive.>

"Chasing a criminal, yeah right..." Zaen shook his head, "Also, it was more like you were lucky that I was there to save your life from that psycho wannabe terminator."

Zaen wanted to excavate more information from her about what happened last night and why was the special force trying to capture ghouls in secrecy. But he controlled his urges. This wasn't the time to take rash actions. He had to make sure that Miranda was completely on his side first.

Also, she intentionally hid some information from him by lying about chasing a criminal. Zaen didn't know whether she hid information because he was just an ordinary citizen and she wasn't allowed to share such info or because she thought that no one would believe her story about ghouls. But then again, if people were superstitious enough to believe in ghost, some might even believe in the existence of ghouls or worse things. In the end, he decided to carry on with chatting as if he didn't know anything about the ghouls or what happened with Marcus.

<Dang, I never knew Special force took so many risks. But aren't you guys supposed to investigate the mist? mean that was why Force established in first place.>

Zaen could see that Miranda saw the message and was online, but she wasn't replying to him anymore.

"Let's see how you deny about the ghouls now."

After a few minutes, she finally replied to his text.

<My apologies. The nurse came to check my vitals and give me some meds. As for your question, we might be called Special Force have different motives than the regular law enforcement divisions, but we're still are a part of main police force. If see criminal, can't turn blind eye on it just because they aren't related mist, can we?>

"Damn, she's good at this." Zaen smiled as he read her reply.

He thought she won't be able to wriggle out of his question so easily without admitting about the ghoul. Yet she did exactly what Zaen didn't think she could. Either she was pretty smart when it came to these things or the special force had already made a story to cover up what happened last night. Either way, she didn't fall for his trap and he wasn't going to push her anymore as it could make her suspicious. He had to take things slow.

<Of course, you couldn't. Thanks for your service. I'm just happy that nothing happened to you. What about team though? I hope they're safe as well?>

<Hugo is fine but... Marcus didn't make it.>

<My condolences.>

Zaen replied and in return, he received a smiling emoji from her. In reality, he didn't care much about Marcus. He didn't like him but neither did he wanted him to die in such a manner.

<Looks like the photograph will have to wait now.>

<I don't know who's more excited about the pic, me or you? lol.>

After reading Miranda's text, Zaen could almost feel his face turning red. He didn't think she'd text him something like that. But now that he thought about it, it did felt like he was more interested in getting a pic with Miranda than she was in getting a pic with him. While he was still blushing, Aeron entered his room as he knew Zaen finished streaming at around 11 AM every day.

"Woah! Why are you blushing so hard?" Aeron teased Zaen. He rarely got a chance to do so, and he wasn't going to pass up an opportunity like this.

"Have some decency to knock on the door, Aeron!" Zaen quickly gathered himself, "And get out, I'll talk to you in a minute."

"Geez, calm down brother. You're the one who asked me for help remember?" Aeron smirked as he turned to leave, but before he closed the door, he wanted to throw one last jab at Zaen, "Well, it's about time you got over your ex, in my opinion."

"Go now!" Zaen exclaimed before locking the door.

He checked his phone and he had another message from Miranda.

<I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said such a thing when was the one who wanted to click pic with you.>

"Looks like she's an overthinker as well..." Zaen shook his head before quickly replying to her.

<No, no. It isn't like that. My brother wanted me to look at something that why I couldn't reply. Either way, you should rest. Maybe we'll chat later.>

<Sure. See ya.>

"Hmm... at least that went well. Now let's see what Aeron wanted to tell me."