Chapter 12 - Found each other

'Amazing.' James thought to himself as he stared at his sister. "James?" Seeing everyone else around them fall to the ground, Janet was spooked. I looked like everyone had fallen asleep. She was wondering why everyone but them were awake. Not to mention what she saw and felt earlier, she was still feeling very scared. She run to James for protection. "We should call the police or something?" Seeing everyone in such a state, she was panicked and had no idea what to make of it nor how to react to it. The whole situation seemed strange to her. This was the first time she had seen something like this.

"Don't worry. Go home for now." James comforted her. "What?! What about you? Let's go together. Please." Janet immediately became frightened. The situation was already strange enough, and her brother was going to stay there alone? When she thought about the earlier feeling in that direction, and the thought of her brother wanting to stay, she became worried for him.

"I promise I'll be fine. Just go home. I'll be home soon." James tried to convince his sister who kept shaking her head vigorously, refusing to listen to reason. She held his shirt tight, refusing to let go. "Honestly, so stubborn. Fine. Just stay with me. And no, I'm not going anywhere, at least not personally. No matter what don't move away from me." James cut his sister off before she could protest about him going to where the danger is. James looked towards the direction where he sensed the nasty energies earlier. A frail old man in a Hawaiian shirt, shorts and slippers stood up from the ground groggily and walked towards that direction. Janet seeing someone get up, gasped. Although she found it strange to see someone suddenly get up while the others were still down, she had wanted to go and check on the old man but remembered her brother's warning and stood still.

…

Two men walked slowly through the crowded Central Mall. While they walked, people unconsciously moved out of their way at the very last second without realizing it. It was as if no one could see them. One wore a simple white T-shirt and shorts with his tattoos on his arms and legs fully exposed. The other handsomely dressed in fine black suit. They were Karl and Joseph of the Blood Church.

"All I'm saying is you didn't need to burn down the place. We could have just continued to use it as our temporary base until we left this town." Karl spoke while looking annoyed at his partner Joseph who did not seem to care in the least, as he walked beside him while picking his nose.

"What does it matter anyway, we can always get another place, right?" Joseph looked tired of his partner's incessant nagging. After taking care of the old man back at the motel, the crazy Joseph proceeded to burn down the entire motel to the ground along with the old man's body. "Besides, you said not to leave any trail behind, right. I burnt the body nice.". Karl looked like he might pop a vein at any moment.

"The burnt building, IS A BIGGER TRAIL YOU DUMBASS!" Karl ground his teeth so hard in annoyance you could hear it. This partner of his had always been like that. His actions we always thoughtless, which always got them both into trouble. It was a talent of his. No matter where they were sent, he would always find a way to mess things up for them.

Even with all the shouting, people merely walked by without paying them any mind. Just when Karl was about to strangle his partner, they both immediately became extremely alert. They each quickly grabbed a mortal that was closest to them and placed them in front of themselves, holding them by the neck before they quickly stood back-to-back. It took long to describe but both men reacted in less than a fraction of a second. They had survived too many life-threatening situations to not react any slower.

Joseph and Karl had not only reduced their presence, but also cast a spell so that the mortals in the vicinity would stay as close to them as possible. It was one of the tactics they had developed after being partners for so long. By doing so, if anything should happen, they could easily use those around as meat shields in order to help their escapes or in order to help slow down an attack they were too late or slow to react to.

However, they realized the mortals they were using as shields began to slowly move away from them both, which caused them to become extremely alert. It was not so sudden to alert them, but it was subtle, one or two at a time, but they still noticed. They stood in place while looking around for the person who broke their spell. Although it was not really a powerful ability that anyone could of their level could easily break, the person who did proved to have some ability.

"Why don't you come out already. A coward hiding in the shadows." Karl snarled in a low voice. His eyes darting back and forth. His mind was racing at that moment. Although his partner had been reckless and alerted the other sects, they should not have been able to track them down so quickly. If that was the case, then did that mean they had been unlucky? What bullshit!

It was not all lost though. The fact that whoever they were trying to move the mortals out of the way first indicated that they tried to finish them without mortal casualties. That was very foolish of them and quite lucky for them. Most of the sects claimed themselves to be members of good while they were branded as evil. While few sects did not mind a bit of sin and killed innocents while trying to take them out in the name of justice, majority of them did not want to be tainted with sin and ruin their luck of ascension. Thankfully, the ones they were dealing with belonged to the latter group.

"Two members of the Blood Church calling us cowards while they hide behind two hostages truly makes me sick." A heavy female voice rang out. The crowd parted and revealed two newcomers. A tall and burly woman with purple hair, and a tall and slim built man with three long marks down his face. Hachi and Nana. While they got a little closer, Hachi snapped her finger and the mortals around began to drop to the ground, each falling asleep. She had not only isolated the entire mall to prevent the two men before her from escaping, but she had also put everyone to sleep to prevent any unforeseen intrusion or interruptions. Although they had all completely erased their presence to prevent them from being spotted or seen, this method was the best method for sure.

Hachi glared at them with a calm but hostile look. Her partner on the other hand had a happy grin on his face. Who would have thought they would be this lucky? They had come to get supplies but ended up stumbling upon two famous members of the Blood Church. There was their chance to return to the sect, or at least back to the dojo with the others. Nana had considered mowing them down together with the mortals but quickly gave up on the idea. Getting stained with sin for killing mortals and sabotaging his higher chances of breakthrough just for the chance to return to the sect or dojo was not something he was willing to risk. Especially not when he could feel his next breakthrough close by.