Experimental Rebooted (The Haunted FF)

Chapter 2: Red Sky

Third person point of view-

Two large bottles sat abandoned upon a kitchen table, one half full of a liquid releasing a pungent aroma that he had become nose blind to, the other void of any content it once held. In their accompany sat a tablet, apps obscuring the wallpaper displayed in the home screen, however it was apparent that the image contained three people; a man in a police uniform beside a woman in a summer dress, one hand of each on the shoulders of a young boy between the two. While each of their faces was at the least partially covered, their smiles were able to shine through.

Aside from the tablet light bleeding into the cramped living room, the only light sources came from beside the couch and the flat screen television which was far too fancy for a cheap and temporary apartment dwelling. The anchor woman's voice came through the speakers, calm and controlled as the next subject of the news allowed its headline to be shared.

  "Increase of dybbuk and demon activity in Trovour County."

The man leaned forward on his sofa with intrigue, or at least he was making an attempt to place his focus on anything other than his throbbing migraine.

  "Just last night, exorcists in Ruby and Whitewater encountered B and A ranked demons with one casualty in Ruby and two in Whitewater." A video appeared on screen, seeming to have been filmed by a bystander from inside their home as the glare from the window reflected the light from their phone.

  "Exorcists report that the demons responsible for last night's attacks were bunyip and hellhounds, two demon breeds which do not typically enter city grounds."

The video playing behind the calm tone was labeled as being sent in from Ruby earlier that morning. It showed a large demon laying on the ground, covered in the green and purple flashing lights of the armored exorcist vehicle. Based on it's size and poorly censored golden blood, it was a bunyip. The video was quick to end, showing the studio once more.

  "On today, we have an interview with Whitewater exorcist Sawyer Maeve on video call. Sawyer, it's nice to speak with you today."

The screen split to show another woman in an exorcist uniform with short ruddy brown hair and blue eyes that could easily be mistaken for grey. They greeted one another before the question was asked, what do the exorcists have to say about the possibility of demons and dybbuk adapting to human society and evolving, and if this is occurring in Trovour County, what does that say about the future?

The man sitting before the television took a drag from the cigarette between his fingers, holding in the smoke from a brief couple of seconds before blowing out the toxic fumes.

Sawyer began her reply, a smile never coming onto her face. It was difficult to tell if she was naturally poker faced or perhaps just tired or upset. "Well, demons have adapted to human technology in the past but this isn't the case we are seeing. They still can not injure those with talismans to protect them nor get into protected homes. As long as everyone follows the guidelines of protocol then we all should be safe. Demons may be getting more comfortable in entering human territory but this is nothing to fear."

The man let out a sigh, clicking a button on the remote to see the channel listings. With boredom setting in, he turned his head while leaning back into the cushions, gazing at the small end table against the armrest of the worn couch.

  "They're only going to start a panic covering this stuff constantly. Who knows, maybe everyone's too used to this by now to get scared."

The small black and red salamander in its glass walled aquarium flicked out its forked tongue and flapped the single wing upon its back as if giving a response. The man chuckled before turning his attention back to the screen and changing to another news station which happened to be currently showing what he was most interested in at the moment.