— an abandoned building in portland, oregon, september 2022

"Why are you interrupting?" the creature growled behind the woman, as she barely looked back at him over her shoulder and considered her answer for a moment.

"You know what the Alpha said."

"There's nothing even he can do, if I rip you apart right here."

It seemed to be hard to speak in his current form, though he refused to turn back in this situation. It would mean he took a step back and surrendered his position in this fight.

"Back down, Garth."

There was no fight anymore. That much was clear, but he was too stubborn to accept it – it was their trademark hotheadedness which had gotten him into this position in the first place, as he had seen another Vampire following him, getting all riled up.

Just one or two ill-advised decisions had gotten them into this mess. But it wasn't as if they had never dealt with a situation like this before and it would definitely not be the last time either. Nevertheless, the thought of truly going against the words of their Alpha was too much, even for a brute like Garth, so he turned and jumped out of the hole in the wall he had earlier created himself.

To In-Sung, the way she was not at all concerned about the hairy monster, which had sat right behind her, made obvious that she had to be aware of at least the Werewolves. Not that In-Sung was truly surprised.

"I thought you were pretty knowledgeable on Vampires, but you didn't say a word about how to fend off Werewolves," he said, making it sound like an insinuation of some sort.

Had he known that it was someone of the Werewolf clan who had followed him, he would have stopped him before he went to the meeting. Of course, he had felt someone lurking, but there was no reason for him to be worried, so he hadn't paid it any mind at all until this very moment.

But now? Someone tailed him all the way from the Euphoria to this far off place, which was the site of a Dungeon Break around five years ago.

And it's also a place he just happened to meet someone who was close enough with the Werewolf behind her to stop him in his rage and knowledgeable about vampires to the point of lecturing people on how to evade, and defend against them. Needless to say, she also seems to dislike the latter quite a bit.

In-Sung pulled a phone out of his pocket, which had outlasted the numerous crash-landings it had been through by now, and thanked his guardian spirit for it to have survived yet another great ordeal. There was a number he sought out and sent his current location to in a quick manner.

"I will have to alert the American Hunters Association. Who am I speaking to?"

The woman who stood in front of him, with the rigid posture and strictly tied brown hair, seemed to contemplate giving him an answer, before waving away the comrade behind her and sighing deeply.

"Quinn. Sawyer," she says with little energy to fight over it, "that is my legal name."

"What is your illegal name, then?" In-Sung joked, but was greeted with an unexpectedly mischievous grin.

"Hati," she said, "it's my nickname, if you want to use it."

"Sounds surprisingly fitting." He barely knew anything about Norse mythology, but that much he understood. 'Wait, was that the one chasing the sun or the one chasing the moon?'

What he did remember reading was the fact that in old Norse language, Hati meant "the one who hates". Her demeanor, though polite, even a bit playful in nature, felt icy at the core – rather fitting for her nickname.

'What did Sköll mean again?' the man wondered as his mind wandered, before realizing he still had a duty to uphold.

In any case, he thought it must have been the one chasing the sun, naturally, since the Werewolves, despite fairy tales claiming otherwise, were stronger during the day, when the sun was still shining. At least, that's what he had been taught by the people in the know about these two races living among them.

He wouldn't have said that if was fitting, had he never met her before this very moment and only seen her the way she looked right now. But then again, the way she seemed unfazed by all the chaos which had just transpired, he might have to revise that statement too.

The eyes of a crow sitting on an old electric pole close by were interested in following their conversation, as its master was biting down the pain as a price of the transmission.

'So it really was you, Hati,' he thought, though he did have the thought, he couldn't have confirmed it, as this version of his eyes wasn't strong enough to discern it.

In a room not far away, a young man was sitting with his head against a shelf.

"So, was all that part of your grand plan?" Hayden Chase asked the brown-haired who hadn't said anything for a while now. 'Did he fucking fall asleep, or what?'

On top of that, someone had intruded upon their hideout, and the guy who had brought him here suddenly started sweating and jerked up, as if he had had a bad dream.

"Did you really fall asleep, man?" he asked in undisguised confusion.

"Are you okay?" the girl through in at the same time, making Hayden look at her as she looked at Isaac.

"Who are you anyway?"

"Rue?" she simply answered, "For your information: we go to the same school."

"Do I care?"

"You asked?"

He was lost for words, at the way she simply pretended to be right and it irked him, but right now he was not the most dangerous person in the vicinity and they had way bigger things to worry about, so he kept his mouth shut about it.

"Whatever, man. Pull yourself together!" Isaac really didn't look healthy.

The scrawny teenager had to take a few breaths in order to soothe his heightened heart-rate and the constant sweat pooling at his temples. He couldn't keep watching them outside, but he had seen how a few black cars had rolled in from the side. Likely the Association coming to interrogate Hati and whoever had been at the sight, ready to announce how they had a small Break nearby.

The value of this area will further diminish, as it would officially be the second time it had been hit by Dungeon monsters. Not that it was worth much at all, but at least they felt like trying to rebuild the district and put the past behind them. Now the past had come back and rolled over them once again.

"Did you ask me something?" Isaac said in a tired manner.

"I asked if this was all part of your grand plan," the dark skinned boy repeated.

"Well, not exactly," he admitted, "I didn't expect an actual Werewolf and a Vampire would show up as lecturing props." And for all it was worth: His plan was basically fucked at this point.

'No amount of mulling over this is going to solve the problem of three bodyguard-looking men standing in front of us like a tidal wave ready to pounce,' he thought and stopped to blink. "Uhm…"

As he looked up, the other two did the same and three broad-shouldered men came into their collective view. All three had grim looks on their faces and wore suits that meant business.

Resigning himself to his fate – as nobody else said a word under the scrutiny of their gazes – Isaac scratched the back of his head and shrugged. "Does anyone know where the janitor went? We could use a duster." All they needed was a new plan, of course.

"Damn," Hayden bemoaned, "I can't believe the Men in Black came to neuralyze us."

"Before that, can I meet Choi In-Sung?" Rue said with a hand raised, but put it down in an instant, "no, never mind, I wouldn't want to forget about that."

They had been brought over to the Association Headquarters, together with the woman identified as Quinn Sawyer. Choi In-Sung must have been somewhere around as well, the teenagers thought, since he had been a part of the fight.

Only Isaac knew for sure that it had been the Hunter who had called upon the Association's agents, not a Dungeon Break alarm. Hati was in another room, being interrogated by other agents, while two were with them in a room, but standing quite a few feet away, left and right of the quite robust looking steel door.

"Why are they simply staring at us? Shouldn't they act already?" Isaac quietly muttered behind a hand in front of his mouth.

It was as if they had turned into stone statues after sending them in, hoping it would suffice to scare them off at bit. There was a radio in the room, playing old music to silently fill the background and he simply couldn't tell what this was all about. If they wanted to speak to them, they could have already done so – they clearly have more than one or two agents in their organization.

"They're getting instructed", Hayden whispered in Isaac's manner, without even looking at him to confirm that he caught that info, adding "through their earpieces" for clarification.

"How do you know?"

"Skill, Bro", he said, coupled with a sly grin, sounding like the douche that Isaac knew he was.

But it seemed as if he meant it differently from how it sounded. Or rather: He meant it literally.

Just a moment ago, a tacky bright red pop-up window appeared in the air with a pinging sound of arrival. It was as invasive as if they had been browsing through a porn site – but only Hayden could see it anyway.

It was one of the Skills that Hayden Chase had awakened during a moment of anxiety when he was only 14 years of age. Sometimes, knowing what people were saying behind closed doors could mean everything to you. He had understood that well, back then.

The boy had always been sensitive toward people's expressions. He used to try and read those close to him to the best of his ability, that's why it was as clear as day to him – those two couldn't give less of a shit about them. So he decided that he would like to listen in on them for a bit, just for comfort.

["...-ot away. What's the deal today?"]

A lot of static was heard in the message, there was no further command, and the two burly guys didn't seem to know what to do with Isaac, Hayden and Rue either.

["What abo-…-n you caught? Do you copy?"] The female voice sounded impatient, which was caused by the fact that there was no answer whatsoever from these two.

'Guess they didn't even try, but the connection is pretty shitty too.'

Begrudgingly, the one on the right snorted and replied loudly. "She's obviously regular."

The left one, who looked like a model for some Crest commercial, took this moment to lift his hand and pressed a button to speak: "We are currently waiting for instructions on the third floor interrogation room. Three witnesses, presumably teenagers, two male, one female. Do you copy?"

More white noise was to be heard. ["The intruders? Right, Room A is clear, Ron."]

"Who ever said we were intruders, man?" Hayden asked in a snarky tone.

'Ron' eyed them over and over and then put his hand on the earpiece again while smirking. "Alright, we will make haste." It was as if he was laughing at them through his way too shiny teeth.

And somehow, that reaction alone felt like an insult.