Rhedrise

For as long as anyone could remember, Rhedrise City had been infested with monsters and supernatural creatures. In the old days, monsters were lesser in number and weaker. They were an inconvenience for the authorities to take care of.

No one knew where the beasts came from. People merely assumed they had just appeared out of thin air. Any research conducted to find the source of their coming had come to deadends time and time again.

Monster hunters started as small hunting parties and later evolved into guilds and the current Hunter Association. To join, one must obtain a special license through an intense two-year training course.

The people's relationship with the hunters was as reader and myth. Citizens rarely witnessed hunts. Hunters preferred to kill privately, if possible. Their job was messy and ruthless. There was no way to sugarcoat it.

Rhedrise was a large and ever-growing city. It was surrounded by an impenetrable fog. Every few years, the haze would disperse, revealing a new area so that the city could expand. Nobody could enter or leave.

The only exception was the Arrivals, humans who can enter the city from the outside world. Legally, all Arrivals must be detained immediately. Rhedrise has a violent record with the outsiders, though there hasn't been one in decades.

----

The boy pressed his back against the wall, trying to make himself as small as possible. Bella stepped towards him calmly.

'What's your name, kid?' she asked.

'M-Matt.'

'I'm sorry you had to see all that, Matt. It must have been scary.'

She crouched beside him, smiling regretfully. Ivan observed the two quietly, absent-mindedly wiping his knife with a handkerchief.

'We've called an ambulance for you and your friend. The police should be here any minute. They'll make sure you boys are alright. Does that sound okay?'

Matt gave her a shaky thumbs-up. He didn't want to speak. He was afraid that if he did, he would start crying. Bella patted his shoulder and reached into her pocket. She placed a Carmel in his hand, its golden wrapping crinkling against his palm.

She passed by Ivan and headed straight to the entrance retrieving a large, black, folded plastic sheet. She unfurled it, revealing that it was not a sheet but a body bag.

'Ivan, would you give me a hand with this?'

'Hm? Sure,' Said Ivan, startling from his distracted gaze.

They both slipped on gloves, wanting to avoid all possible contact with the body. Bella fixed her messy bun, sloppily twisting a hair tie around it.

The two partners worked together, keeping each other busy with idle conversation. They went back and forth on comments about the weather, a man Bella had spotted with a bedazzled hat, and the like. Probably to keep their minds off the awful stench and squish of the spilled Wendigo remains.

As they zipped up the bag, The roar of sirens surrounded the warehouse. Men and Women in navy uniforms rushed in, encircling the area and shouting commands. The paramedics quickly followed, carrying the two boys to safety.

While the hunters had a neutral relationship with the people, the same couldn't be said of the police. Police and Hunter work often collided and caused issues for both sides. Both regarded the other as arrogant and troublesome. Which, to be fair, was true, and both sides acknowledged it. Though, that didn't stop their quarrels.

Both Ivan and Bella shared a mutual distrust of the police. Ivan had his reasons, but he was never sure why Bella's skepticism ran so deep. Especially considering her deep bond with her father, a retired officer.

'A real mess you've made of this one four eyes.'

Ivan knew that voice. He cursed himself for not making a break for it as soon as he'd heard the sirens.

'It just had to be him, didn't it.' He thought.

Out of all the pretentious cops and pompous detectives, Ryder Kingsly was the worst. They had constantly bumped into him on jobs and "interfered" with cases. He was a right pain in the neck. You could find comfort knowing that the friendly detective Kingsly would always be there to lecture you at your lowest.

Ryder was young for a detective. He had graduated from the academy a few years early and joined the force when he was twenty. Currently, he was twenty-four. Two years older than Bella, four more than Ivan. He was a tall, slender man. You wouldn't guess he was a detective at first glance. His short red hair and freckled face didn't exactly scream authority.

Bella stepped forward, staring daggers at the detective.

'What is it now, Kingsly?'

'Did you two really have to injure one of the victims? I thought you were professionals.'

'Ivan stopped that boy from becoming a cannibal.'

'By sticking a crowbar through his shoulder? Yeah, great job with that. Now I have to go tell his mom he was stabbed by a patroling hunter in the middle of the night.'

'Well, I'm sorry it's so inconvenient for you,' she spat, 'but he saved those boys. You should be thankful you're not bringing in corpses tonight.'

She lifted the body bag off the stained ground, stepping closer. Ryder's nose crinkled at the wretched stench wafting off the thick plastic.

'Now if you'll excuse us, we're off to the burning grounds.'