22 Adler Creeks

The duo finally arrived at Adler Creeks after another two hours of their halt in the gas station. By the time they reached at twilight had taken the town all over, which worked perfectly for him cause major disappearances occurred in the evening.

With that being said, Adler Creeks seemed quite peaceful. Calm before the storm is always like that, Hayden thought. "Well, this is where we part ways, I suppose." Hayden mumbled.

"Yeah, I suppose." Nathaniel shrugged and then disappeared into the incoming night.

Arriving at an inn, Hayden entered. He tried to chat with the innkeeper, hoping to get some Intel. In most cases, these people were chatty, but Hayden couldn't seem to catch his luck because not only was this innkeeper quiet, but also had a stern expression on her face as if she was going to engulf someone as a whole. Hayden would be lying if he said that he'd be surprised if she turned out to be some kind of a monster.

After going to his room (which was extremely damp), he decided to take a quick shower before he went on his escapade. After a certain amount of time, just when he was about to wash down for a final time, the lights went out, and the flowing water trickled down to nothing. Luckily, he had some water pooled on the bucket, which he poured on himself somehow, after which he exited the washroom.

Putting on his clothes, he decided to go into the corridor to see what the problem was. What surprised him, however, was how well lit the corridor was. "You've got to be kidding me." Hayden sighed due to his poor luck. He ran straight to the counter to complain, furious with the poor service of the inn.

The grumpy lady was still there working on her register, who gave Hayden the same look she gave him earlier. But he didn't care anymore. "I was in the shower when the lights to my room went out. And just my room and no other place! What the hell is up with that."

"Mnn…" the innkeeper blurted. "Let me check it." She got up and followed Hayden to his room only to find everything well lit up. In fact, every switch seemed to work perfectly. "I guess the spirits must hate you." The innkeeper shrugged.

"The spirits?" For a supernatural hunter, Hayden asked as he was pretty unconvinced. Clearly, the lady was trying to convince him about the poor maintenance of his place. Shaking his head in dismay, he left to go outside in search of the actual monster. He ended up at a nearby pub, a place commonly visited by those who are grieving the losses in their lives.

It was one of the two pubs that were in the town, and the first victim was actually spotted last in the bar. While the bartender and the recently inhaled CCTV camera confirmed that the first victim, a middle-aged man who just lost his daughter to a freak accident, had exited the bar. Of course, he had managed to hack into the official police servers and see some of the footage and official notes. Chances are, if something didn't make it to those files, they were trying really hard to bury the facts. Which meant that if he was direct in asking about him, he might not get a definitive answer.

He had to be discreet about it, so he came up with the next best thing he could think of as he approached the bartender. "Hit me with the strongest scotch you got!" Hayden huffed in anger as if he was trying to hide his pain or something.

As the bartender complied with what he was asked, the bartender questioned, "Rough day?"

"Rough day?" Hayden snarled. "Does losing the love of my life count to you as a rough day?" He huffed back, followed by gulping the glass in a go. He was lucky he could hold his liquor. "Hit me with another one!" He snarled again. He did the same with the next few glasses before he started to pretend to be getting tipsy. He added a look of disgust after every first sip to make his drunkenness more believable.

Hayden 'tried' to walk away as if he was going to the bathroom, but he 'collided' with the door instead. He 'fumbled' on the ground a little bit before someone came to his rescue. Looking up, he blinked as if he was trying to focus his gaze on her face. But he clearly made out that the other woman was a very pretty lady, wearing a shade of red and black and there was a tiny tattoo of a snake behind her neck, just in front of the hairline. "There there, let's get you out of here and get you some water to drink." In a mesmerizing voice, the lady mumbled. As the lady led Hayden out, supporting him on her side, Hayden noticed that she was taking him out of the back. His instincts were shouting at him that this was something, and thus, while he was taken away from the wrong way, Hayden suppressed his urge to smirk in victory.