Located

Joseph had gone with them to where they were staying on the island after hearing that Cristal had something for him.

She brought out a jet-black case with golden edges and set it on the table facing her and Joseph.

"What's inside," Joseph asked as he heard the sound of soda cans opening in the kitchen.

"It's a gun," Cristal replied, putting in the combination to open it, "model Sig Sauer P226."

"And this is for me?" He sounded unconvinced.

"It was originally for Max," she turned to see the other three talking in the kitchen, "and, well, you know the story."

"Then are you sure you should give it to me?" He was still concerned about whether or not he should morally take it.

"Yes," she pulled it out of the case. "Mr. Zackson said that if Max could no longer have it, give it to another assassin class, and you fit the bill."

He saw that there were three clips in the case as well before receiving the gun.

"Thank you, I appreciate the gift," Joseph said, examining the sleek gun in his hands.

"Do you know how to shoot it? Without it knocking your arms up?" She looked at one clip in her hand, admiring the delicate golden trails that ran up and down.

"Yeah," he smiled, "bend my arms in a little before shooting."

"Hey! Joseph," Markus called out to him with a coke in his hand. "You want one?"

"Sure," he responded, followed by Markus tossing him a can.

"You too Cristal." Markus tossed one to her too, almost making her drop the clip in her hand."

She sighed after firmly resting the can on the table, "Don't go killing anyone with this." She looked into Joseph's eyes. "We can't help you if that's the case."

"You don't need to worry about me," he finished concealing the gun and the clip as he walked out.

Joseph looked down at the clothes he'd bought at that store, "Now it's time to get to work."

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"Are you doing alright?" I asked as we walked through the forest to the village, even though we'd been there just yesterday.

"Yes," Vala giggled as she nudged my shoulder. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm tough."

I laughed off her comment.

'UGGHHHHH,' that thing in my head continued.

'Just make out already,' she furiously continued as if she was losing her mind. 'No wait, make out with me, let me devour you.'

'Do that with Rose, you freak.' I sharply responded as the main thing that I remembered from my dream was that distorted figure. 'Your whole body disgusts me.'

After I said that, my head was filled with sobbing.

Was she fake crying? Throwing a tantrum?

'How can you be so mean? How, how, how, how, how?'

When we arrived at the village, we were politely greeted by those that we passed by. At the center of the village was when many of the people, manly girls, and women, started to gather around Vala.

I didn't want to be the center of attention, nor did I feel like I could handle all the chatter around me, so I drifted off into the shops that surrounded them.

"I have no idea how you did it," I heard a masculine voice say behind me.

I turned around, not knowing that I suddenly made my way back to the flower shop where I got Vala that flower crown.

"Oh hey, I didn't see you there," I said, smiling at him before turning back to see Vala talking to all the people around her.

"I'm still wary of going up and talking to her," the man continued. "But you did change people's minds with that stunt you pulled your first time here."

'OOO,' she sounded excited. 'That sounds interesting. What did you do? Wait, why am I asking you?'

I'm guessing she's going to check my memories.

"Trust me, with her power, I was having second thoughts even as I was doing it." I had a stupid grin on my face while I said that. I bet it almost looked creepy if it was night.

"She's sweet," I continued, "just don't get on her bad side, and everything with her will be alright."

"I hope you're right about that," the man said before turning away. "Why don't you join the boys over here," he pointed a semi-large group of boys off to the side, in and around a round table, playing cards.

"Yeah, sure."

I spent the next couple of hours watching them play cards and even joining in one game to test it out, only to end up losing quickly.

"So, how did you make her fall for you?" One of the boys asked that was sitting at the table.

"What? Are you talking about Vala?" I sort of raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, so that's her name. We just got used to calling her vampire because," he raised his eyebrows to match mine, "you know."

I laughed as I felt the number of eyes increasing on me.

"She's strong too," I explained, "I don't even think all of us could take her down."

"Heh, I think that was tried before."

"But back to your question." I took a deep breath in, "I was just kind."

It was clear that they thought it was a joke, as they busted out in laughter as soon as those words left my mouth.

——————————————————————

Joseph knew that the station would first check far east in Kaalakei valley to get it out of the way. Since that was the case, he headed to Pearl City, another location that was marked on the board and the one that made the most sense.

Pearl City was located between 2 airports and had access to a port connected by Waiawa Stream. It was a city with lots of traffic, meaning he couldn't easily move in with a car.

He would leave his ordered car once he reached Newtown park in Waimalu as he could walk the rest of the way there.

"Maybe I'll come across Athena's group," he mentioned now in the new clothes that he'd bought, which covered most of his body in a dark navy blue under the night sky.

As he approached the collection of Warehouses in the area, he felt that same shiver that ran through his body as it did when he ran full speed on the beach towards Tiresias.

And like a child to candy, his attention was drawn to a specific warehouse in that area.

It was big and dark blue all along the outside and had 4 guards stationed that walked around independently but other than that, the place was practically silent.

"How am I going to get in," he mumbled to himself after locating the shut double doors that opened the inventory of the warehouse.

Without being too overbearing in his gaze, he continued walking around the outer wall as if he was just passing by until he saw a small room connected to the warehouse near the front.

He'd seen that there was no one in that room with only one guard that came close to it after walking to the edge of the corner.

As soon as the guard began walking away, he silenced his footsteps approaching the room, then lightly fumbled with the doorknob and got in.

That feeling he got earlier from Tiresias got even stronger when he entered.

But there was another thing that troubled him about being in that room. Through that wall that connected both areas could be heard the sound of muffled cries and shouting. As if many people were being held there.

"Are they selling people?" His voice almost didn't come out from the shock.

That was the first thing that came to mind after hearing those voices.

"Does that mean they plan on selling Tiresias off too?" His mind began racing with possibilities just like any others would when confronted with something like this.

He crouched behind the desk when he saw the guard walking back and stood up after they walked away.

What he found on the desk when he looked down was a scheduled list of orders that all had time stamps on them dating for the next couple of days.

He quickly took out his phone and took a photo without moving the paper. Crouching back down again, seeing that the next shipment was tomorrow at 10 am.

Who knows how many people will be here tomorrow morning. He thought before putting his phone away and seeing the man come back only to then walk away.

That was the moment Joseph took to leave, this time making less noise than before, now that he knew how the door worked.

And just as if nothing happened, he left the area, formulating a new plan to save Tiresias but not before he'd suddenly come across Athena's group walking back from their time at the open bath.

He didn't hide from them, he just smiled as they passed by, but that was when Athena grabbed his arm.

"What's wrong," she sounded concerned and shocked Joseph.

The 3 others stopped and turned back in confusion.

"Huh," Joseph responded as he put his hand over her's, softly trying to remove it. "Nothing is wrong, just going for a night walk."

She continued looking into his eyes for a brief moment before saying, "then why do you have a gun on you?"