23 Curiouser and Curiouser

Hayden was a little bit disappointed when the aforementioned lady let him sit on the rock next to a well lit stall, which was just behind the pub he was in. Turns out the lady only took him through the backdoor because it was closer. In his peripheral vision, his gaze followed the actions of that woman. She spent a few seconds chatting with the man at the stall before coming back to Hayden with a bottle of water. "Here you go," sweetly the lady offered. 

Hayden was a bit taken aback by the gesture. While everything about his current situation seemed ordinary, like a kind stranger helping a man in need, his guts screamed something was definitely wrong with this woman. His hunter's intuition had never been wrong this far, which is why no matter what, he couldn't let go of the feeling of doubt in the moment.

She patted his back gently and spoke, "I overheard you talking about your love. I'm sorry for your loss. " Hayden resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her and snarl 'get to the point, woman!'. Hayden intentionally spilled some of the water on his shirt in order to continue with his facade of being drunk.

"Poor you, going through such trying times at such a young age." She mumbled. Hayden scoffed internally. While the line about losing the love of his life was a lie, he did lose people when he was much younger. Having his parents murdered at the age of twelve can be definitely counted as trying.

"Leave me alone!" Hayden attempted to push this woman away from him in order to try and get her to bring out her true intentions.

"Now, now… you shouldn't be alone at a time like this". She whispered. Hayden could swear she heard a difference in her voice. It was ringing and his surroundings started to become blurry. He could feel his eyelids drooping and his breath slowing down making it difficult for him to breathe. He knew he wasn't dying, but there was definitely something wrong.

He gazed at the woman only to find his vision blurry, but he definitely didn't miss the devilish grin on her face. His confusion grew and he clenched his fist which released the crackling sound of crumpling plastic. And that's when it hit him. The water… he was drugged. But why? Wasn't his appearance of a very drunk person enough?

He knew fighting the effects of whatever the drug he was given would be hard, and the more he put up a fight his facade would come off, so he pretended to get carried away in the influence. He closed his eyes and his body fell over the lady's body. Even though he was still pretending at that moment, unfortunately that was the last thing he remembered before waking up in a stinky environment.

...….

The first place Nathaniel was headed to after he left Hayden was to an old cemetery. It was at the edge of the town which was pretty much secluded from the rest of the Adler Creeks. He went in and headed for the tomb which read, {Agnes Boulevard; 1453-1499). He stared at the grave until he heard some rustling noise in his own background. He turned around to see a preteen girl standing right in front of him. 

"Nathaniel," She smiled and took a step forward, "it's been a while". 

"So it has, Aurora," Nathaniel smiled back. "How have you been?" He asked in a much softer voice, a voice none of the mortals have ever heard him speak in.

"Well, given that my existence is confined to this cemetery, it's always the same". Aurora let out a poignant smile. "But I believe you're not just here to see me." She took a few steps forward, "but you have a purpose in mind."

"I'm looking for someone, and I'm looking for a way to defeat someone." Nathaniel admitted.

"Again?" Aurora chuckled, "is this one worse than your last enemy? What was his name again….?" She tried to recall.

"Conrad." Nathaniel blurted. 

"Yes, him!" Aurora beamed.

"Well. It's him. Again. He is back from the dead", Nathaniel sighed. "He is much stronger than ever, invincible perhaps." He urged. "And this time, he is not gonna cut any slack".

"Are you afraid he might take revenge on you?" Aurora inquired calmly.

"Even if he is aware of my weakness, he still has no idea how to reach it". Nathaniel sighed. "You can say a while ago I have made some modifications to it to ensure my safety". He added. Aurora simply nodded. 

"Dark magic always had its own challenge, even without clashing with white magic". Aurora smiled. "Nevertheless, stopping someone who is back from the dead seems next to impossible."

"Aren't you familiar with anything?" Nathaniel asked. "Anything from the ancestral plane"?

"You must realise that unlike many others I am not resident there." Aurora spoke, gloominess evident in her voice. "As a being who belongs neither here nor there, my help to you will always be limited… as usual". She sighed. She took a few steps back. Her form was starting to fade away, which became quite noticeable by now. "Your presence is finally starting to hinder me it seems" and with that she disappeared into thin air.

Nathaniel took a few steps in the direction Aurora disappeared until he reached a familiar grave. It read, {Aurora Sinclair 1493-1504}. Taking a small flower out of his pocket he placed it over the grave. It was good seeing you, little one". Nathaniel whispered. His gaze was fixated on the grave until he heard the clicking signs of the metal. 

Finding a tall tombstone, Nathaniel hid behind one of them. While Nathaniel was familiar with this place, coming here almost every year on this very same day he had never heard a living soul here. Dead souls, yes…. But living never.

For the people of Adler Creeks, this place was labelled unofficially haunted, and as well as abandoned. In fact the most recent grave in this cemetery was perhaps someone who was buried in the mid-19th century. Nathaniel closed his eyes and focused his hearing on the sound that followed. 

There were no words, except the sound of someone grunting, perhaps a woman? There were footsteps that were increasing in pace. Paying further attention it seemed it was not one person, but two. Even without much information he deduced that someone was dragging the other person, perhaps against their will. The entire thing reeked of suspicion. So he remained quiet and focussed everything on the other situation from the time being.