Venator : Devil's Moon

VII. I MEET A WITCH AT A CAFE

[ Laura ]

There were a few wooden stairs which cranked when stepped on. Down here, it was a different cafe altogether. Many people were seated at numerous tables, discussing various things - some talked about demonic activities, while some bragged about killing down a nest of vampires. So vampires were real too. Wow, not even a day had passed and I was learning about the existence of so many different species. Great.

There was also a small bar down here. Well, a perfect place for hunter I guess. Judging from Sebastian I thought all hunters loved to drink.

Sebastian was standing just before me.

"If you hadn't had saved my life back then, I swear I would have kicked your ass." I said.

Confusion rose in his dark blue eyes.

"Look." I pointed at a lady who emerged from a washroom - the ladies' washroom.

"Oops, sorry. I didn't know." he apologised.

"Well, this sure is a dandy place.What's all this?" I asked after we stopped at a thumb pin board.

"Jobs. We choose one, complete it and we are paid according to the price. It's sort of a bounty thing, well, if there are bounties on ghosts and demons and what not." he chuckled.

"Oh, so you are a bounty hunter?" I said.

"Kind of, yeah." He said and turned his attention to the board where a number of posters were pinned.

"What job are you picking this time?" Laura asked. The moment her eyes fell on the board, she felt a bit disturbed. Not a single thing on the board could be called sane by ordinary people. And it also conveyed what kind of lifestyle Sebastian, and now, herself too, had to live for a while.

"Maybe, this one". He pointed at one of the posters.

It read "C Class. Ghost hunting. 500 dollars." And it gave an address along with a creepy ghost picture.
I looked at other posters. The format was similar. But then my eyes locked on one of the 3 big posters on the top.

"A Class. Investigation. Unknown. Location - Gates of Hell, Thornton, Colorado. 10000 dollars." And there was a picture of the famous Gates of Hell attached to it.

"Hey, what about this one?" I pointed towards the Gates of Hell. I didn't know why but this job seemed quite appealing. Not that I was that much into the creep but Gates of Hell had been one of my 'once in a life time' thing. And now that I knew the world was full of mystery, I was quite curious what really resides in the Gates of Hell. Or is it really a gateway to Hell?

"Nope, we can't. Hunters like me can only take D class or C class job. I can't go beyond that." He said. His face, as usual, conveyed no emotion at all.

"But why not? I mean you just killed five demons right before my eyes."

"It isn't like that Laura. Killing demons is a normal thing in our world. We have got certain tests, you see. You top that and your reach is extended." But later I found out, there was one more point to the criteria.

Those who were locked down in Casstelia under a murder charge could only have C or D class mission.

Before I could question him about the tests, something happened. The noise of the hunters stopped. I looked around and saw that all the hunters had frozen. People had stopped talking and moving. A bald guy who was drinking, froze and the whiskey didn't move. It was as if time had paused.

"Dammit!" Sebastian sounded worried and looked like he was expecting someone, someone really unpleasant. What kind of time manipulating freak was after me now, I wondered. Was Delroy back? My heart almost stopped by the thought.