Chapter 38: Motive (Part 1)

Dyne: "This probably isn't your fault, but you will have to die."

The Spectre brought his arm down, an arm that would end up ripping the soul of his target in two. However, it never reached its target.

Dyne: "What?"

He exclaimed as an arrow came out of nowhere and ripped through his hand stopping it in mid-air.

Dyne: "Who the hell did that?"

Dyne spotted a hole in the wall from where the arrow would have entered.

Dyne: "Tch! What's going on?"

Ethan: "Uh,"

Ethan ran. He saw the chance to and started running. He had loads of things to think about but at this moment, they didn't matter. All that mattered was to stay alive.

Dyne: "Wait, you brat!"

Dyne ran after him. He couldn't let the boy get away. Needless to say, the Spectre closed the distance within seconds.

Dyne: "Running from me is not possible for a mere human like you."

He said as he grabbed the shoulders of the boy but an arrow came at him again. This time it missed its mark and only scratched Dyne's hand. No blood obviously came out but the pain did. And that pain was enough to make him let go of Ethan's shoulders.

Dyne: "Damn!"

Ethan started running again as soon as he got free. He ran out of the police station and towards a construction site not very far away.

Dyne: "I need to take care of this sniper if I want to do my job it seems."

He said that as he came out of the police station and saw Ethan running. Another arrow came at Dyne and he took it head on.

Dyne: "That … really hurt."

He said as he turned to the direction the arrow came from. The Spectre tried to maximize his sight by making all his energy flow into his eyes. As he did so, he found the presence of a vampire holding something akin to a bow.

Dyne: "Bingo!"

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About 100 meters away from the police station, on a roof of a relatively large building, a female vampire was standing holding a bow.

Vampire: "Well, I need to keep shooting if I have to buy enough time for the boy to get away."

The vampire said as she picked up an arrow from the bundles of it lying on the floor. She had so far shot three arrows and had more or less been able to do her job with all three of them.

Vampire: "Okay then."

She put the arrow on the bow and started to take aim. Vampires aren't called Lords of the Night for no reason. In night time like it was back then, their eyesight was beyond amazing. So it wasn't all that much of a challenge for someone like her who, in addition to being a vampire, had also trained herself to be a sniper, to get a clear view of her target.

Vampire: "Get ready for another one, Spectre."

She said as she shot the arrow straight at Dyne. However, the arrow was destroyed mid-air.

Vampire: "What!?"

She found herself surprised as a voice rang in her head.

"Get out of there."

The voice said in a tense tone.

Vampire: "Wait, why?"

"I don't have time to explain, Darcie."

The voice was very clear and Darcie herself could feel a danger alarm going off in her head.

Darcie: "But …"

"If you don't get out of there now, you're dead."

Darcie: "Huh?"

"Dyne is going to kill you. So get out!"

Darcie: "Tch!"

She had gotten distracted so she took a look at her target. But, she couldn't find the Spectre anyway.

Darcie: "What!?"

Dyne: "Looking for someone?"

A murderous aura suddenly started to emanate from behind her as the voice pierced her ears.

Darcie: "Shit!"

She jumped away off the building she was on and as she saw the building while falling, she realized how good her decision was.

Darcie: "No way!"

The entire roof of the building seemed to be on fire with bricks breaking down and falling apart. By the time she was on the floor, the roof was a life-threatening place.

Darcie: "What the hell!"

She said as she saw the silhouette of previously her prey, now her hunter.

Darcie: "I need to run."

She said as she started sprinting along the street. The body of a vampire allowed her to run at a very high speed. While someone like Dyne could still easily catch up to her, he decided that he would not because it will only be a waste of his time.

In the flames he had created, he stood and took a glance at the construction site that Ethan was headed towards.

Dyne: "Need to get back to the real problem."

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In the time he had gotten to run away, Ethan had realized that just running forever will not let him get away from the monster that's chasing him. For some reason, when he looked at that monster, Ethan saw energy and intent; huge amounts of energy, and murderous intent. So he had instead tried to find something he could fight with.

However, he was blind. He could barely run without falling so there was no way he could have found anything to fight with. That is, if he hadn't suddenly founding his hands touching a 'DO NOT ENTER' sign.

Ethan: "This is … someplace dangerous."

The letters were etched out and his fingers could feel them.

Ethan: "It's a risk but … I might find something here that I could use against that guy."

And with that thought, he guided himself to the entrance by touching the gates and entered the site.

It had been three minutes by now. He had realized that he was in a building. He had also realized that it probably meant it was a construction site. He was now at the second floor of the building.

Ethan: "I-I …"

He was panting heavily.

Ethan: "… need to find something."

Dyne: "You do?"

Sound of thunder cracking came as Ethan immediately turned on hearing the voice of the Spectre.

Dyne: "For what though? Nothing will help you in fighting me if that's what you are thinking."

Ethan fell back in trying to move backwards to get away from the aura, the only thing that was actually visible to him.

Dyne: "Just give up, kid."

Ethan: "Tch!"

Ethan found his hand touching something.

Ethan: "Go to HELL!"

He yelled as he threw a rod at the aura and ran in a different direction.

Dyne: "Was that supposed to hurt?"

Dyne said exasperatedly as he didn't block the rod and let it hit him only for the rod to end up bouncing off him.

Ethan, on the other hand, kept running. He didn't stop for a second. This floor was the highest and so he couldn't escape any further. He had to find a way to fight back. He kept running his hands through the walls and trying to skid through the floor so he doesn't miss some potentially good weapon. He came across other rods, cement and bricks. Nothing particularly special that may be effective against a ghost but he still managed to pick up some weapons. The only problem is –

Dyne: "You can't expect to hurt me with normal physical objects like those. Though I suppose I can't blame you for trying, you are a normal human who doesn't know about things like us ghosts."

He said as he saw the boy holding those objects.

Ethan: "G-Ghost?"

Dyne: "Yeah, I am a ghost. Are you scared now?"

Ethan gritted his teeth.

Ethan: "Like I'd care about that anymore."

He said as he moved back.

Ethan: "Why are you trying to hurt me? What do you want from me?"

Dyne: "As I said earlier, this is probably not your fault, but you have to die. I don't think you need to know anything past that, especially seeing how the possessor of Eyes of Truth doesn't become a ghost when he/she dies."

Dyne says things Ethan doesn't understand right off the bat, but he does understand that his death is very important to Dyne.

Ethan: "Well, in that case,"

He said as he ran in the opposite direction of what he had been facing, which happened to be the direction that can lead to jumping out of the building. So,

Dyne: "What is that, a suicide attempt?"

He didn't felt any need to rush in to stop Ethan since his objective will be fulfilled regardless but, that became his undoing.

Dyne: "What the-"

He sees the boy picking up a wire and bringing it in contact with a rod that he had let go and was now lying on the ground.

Dyne: "You brat!"

The current in the wire starts flowing into the rod and all of sudden the rod starts getting charged.

Ethan: "Yeah, I am a kid so I don't blame you for thinking I couldn't have come up with this."

The energy surrounding Dyne was the catalyst and the charge flowing in the rod was the supply needed to turn the rod into a lightning rod.

Dyne: "But why is current flowing in the wire at an off work hour like this and how are you able to know my energy will act as a catalyst?"

Ethan: "The first and second are connected actually."

Dyne: "What?"

Ethan: "I had realized that there are wires here before you showed up. When I threw a rod at you and you were busy mocking me, I had peeled off the cover of a wire and let it rest on the ground. Since your aura is so huge and compacted, it would break off from you whenever there's any chance for it to. When you passed by the wire, that chance came and the wire started receiving electrical energy from your aura."

Dyne: "Tch! You couldn't have known that plan would work."

Ethan: "Yeah, but it did. And because it did, you need to understand that killing me in killing yourself."

Dyne: "You …"

Ethan: "Stay away!"

Ethan uses a plastic as a cover for his hands as he lifts up the lightning rod.

Ethan: "This right now is the highest point here."

He had no way of knowing that a higher point in not present but he had to bet on it.

Dyne: "Tch!"

And that reaction told him that his bet paid off.

Ethan: "Lightning will strike on it if it does strike. And soon as that happens; your compacted aura which has broken off because of the wire sucking it out will attract that very same lightning to yourself."

Dyne knew this would be the case. And this is why, he was so irritated. A kid who should have had no way to fight back somehow (with admittedly luck involved) was pushing Dyne back.

Dyne: "If lightning doesn't strike, nothing will happen."

Ethan: "Yeah, but can you guarantee it won't. You can't, can you?"

Dyne: "Tch!"

Ethan: "All you can do is to go below so the lightning doesn't have a path to reach you."

Dyne had started to move back already in order to be safe.

Dyne: "Still though, all you have done is secured yourself on this floor. Are you planning to stay here forever?"

Ethan: "Tch!"

He clicked his tongue. It's true. He had been able to drive back his pursuer but not fully. He had not become completely safe yet. So,

???: "I think that's enough."

A voice came, a voice that had a hint of sadness in it.

Ethan: "What!?"

Dyne: "Now who the hell are you?"

They both said to the boy who had suddenly appeared between them.

???: "The person this body belongs to may look like a child, but don't go underestimating me."

He said as glanced at Dyne.

???: "I could easily kill you."

Dyne: "Tch! Yeah, I can see that in your aura, you freak. Who are you?"

???: "My name is not really important. But I guess I have been somewhat important in this world's history, so I may as well say it. I am Abyss."

Abyss, the demon who had come in the body of the 8-yeard-old psychic, glanced at both of them. Ethan had heard about Abyss that morning. He was the demon that Ozyllus defeated and brought peace to this world. Dyne, obviously, knew who this demon was. So,

Dyne: "That's impossible!"

Ethan: "That's impossible!"

They said at the same time.

Abyss: "Impossible things do happen. But anyway, that's not important here."

He said as looked at Ethan in his desperate state.

Abyss: "That bastard just keeps producing more and more victims."

Dyne: "What!?"

Abyss: "Forget it!"

He said as he started walking towards Ethan.

Ethan: "No, stay away!"

Abyss: "Don't worry; I'm only going to help you."

Ethan looked at Abyss with scornful eyes.

Ethan: "You think I would just believe something like that."

Abyss: "No, I don't. Which is why I didn't ask you to believe me, I told you to."

He closed the gap between them before either Ethan or Dyne could even try to stop him.

Abyss: "This will hurt a little."

He said as he put his hands on Ethan's eyes just as Ozyllus did. Pain comes to those eyes. Ethan shouts in that pain. But Abyss doesn't let go.

Dyne: "What … the heck are you doing?"

Abyss: "Trying to help."

He said.

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