Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 144: An uncanny meeting

Chapter 144: An uncanny meeting

Silence reigned in the dim alleyway as Claudia faced off against the strange man.

He was human but for some reason, she found herself drawn to him.

The attraction was so powerful that she completely forgot her initial goal of escaping the 11th just to follow him.

Her scarlet red eyes scrutinized the man, trying to see if maybe it was because of an item he carried that drew her to him.

But of course, her search yielded no fruit causing her to grow even more confused because as she stood before the man, the attraction she sensed was still there.

"Who are you?" She was forced to ask after unsuccessfully trying to deduce the man’s identity.

The man did not immediately respond, instead shooting her a trained glare before replying with a question of his own.

"Shouldn’t I be asking you that?" His voice carried with it no malice and instead held tranquility that brought peace to Claudia’s troubled heart.

Her lips quivered as she pondered whether to speak.

It didn’t take long for her to decide as she replied.

"Claudia... you can call me Claudia." She replied softly.

The man nodded. "So Claudia... mind telling me why you were following me?"

"That..." Claudia hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to say.

Wouldn’t it be weird if she said it was because she was attracted to him?

It would make her out as a weird stalker who had a twisted romantic sense.

But it was nothing of that sort.

Like iron drawn toward a magnet, Claudia found herself unable to pass the man without feeling the urge... to serve him.

Gulping nervously, she replied. "... I don’t know."

"Hmm?" The man raised a brow.

"That... I followed you because..."

"Go on."

Claudia met the man’s gaze and after sensing something strange, muttered. "Your mind..."

"Hmm?"

"Do you feel okay?"

"Why?"

"Well ummm... don’t be mad but... you don’t seem okay up here.", Claudia remarked while pointing to her head.

Though her words carried a certain level of insult, she found herself unable to resist the urge that made her want to serve the man.

The man revealed a complicated gaze and after a brief moment of silence, remarked. "How do you know that?"

"... I’m a Psionic," Claudia said. "Dad says my abilities are quite potent despite my young age... I can sense mental waves and yours... seem distorted."

"Distorted, you say?"

"... Well, not really distorted. But it’s definitely not a straight path."

"You can read my mind?"

".... Yes, but I won’t, I promise." Claudia quickly said to avoid angering the man.

***

It came as a shock to Alex.

It seemed in his rush, he had not taken the time to understand the supernatural world properly.

Sure, Nyx’s authority was an easy way to solve more problems but that didn’t mean it was omnipotent.

Darkness, despite its strengths, was still limited.

Just like now, even a vampire girl like Claudia had access to his mental workings even though he didn’t make any attempt to make his thoughts known.

’Mental attacks can affect me’ Alex made a mental note while quickly trying to pick up ways to avoid suffering from such a weakness.

Then just as he began to figure out strategies, he paused as a thought came to mind.

When he first arrived in Eventide and assimilated Alex’s memories, hadn’t he noticed some blanks in the memories?

Of course, due to the circumstances, he had passed it off as normal but thinking back now... what if the blanks were a result of tampering.

Alex frowned as he realized the case in BoneHaven was not finished yet.

Pursing his lips, he glanced at Claudia to find that she was quite tense, most likely as a result of his current expression and the prevailing silence.

Sensing no malice from her, he saw no reason to be hostile and since she readily approached him, he was curious to see the end of this.

Letting out a sigh, he remarked. "Kane."

"What?"

"You may call me Kane."

"Oh... uhmm, nice to meet you, Kane," Claudia said, seemingly relieved that Alex wasn’t upset about anything.

"Tell me Claudia, you say you can sense that my mental state is somewhat distorted?"

"Yes... from what I can sense, your mind has indeed been tampered with... of course, it’s more of an old scar than a recent one."

"... You are quite perceptive."

"My dad says that a lot."

"You say dad but you are a vampire." Alex couldn’t help but point out.

Claudia revealed an awkward expression as she replied. "I was adopted after I turned."

"I see." Alex nodded before broaching up the topic that he had in mind. "So tell me, if you can sense my distorted mental state... prove to me that my memories are indeed distorted. That should be easy to carry out, no?"

"That... should be possible," Claudia replied, clearly unsure of herself.

Though still skeptical about the happenings in BoneHaven, Alex couldn’t just let a few words from Claudia lead him on so he thought it best to check for himself.

If it was indeed as she said, then the next step would be recovering the correct memory and if not, then he’d get to understand whatever game the young Vampire was trying to play.

He wasn’t worried that she’d try to kill for even though he was susceptible to mental attacks, it would take more than a minor telepathic attack to prove deadly to him.

It wasn’t arrogance but belief in his capabilities... Or rather, in the darkness lurking in his subconscious.

Alex stretched out his right hand and leaving his palm open, gestured for Claudia to approach.

"Right here?" Claudia seemed apprehensive at the thought, worried that it was a trap to catch her.

But then even as she tried to mistrust Alex’s intentions, she found herself walking towards him.

She gulped nervously as she came within a few meters.

"... Will you kill me?"

Alex raised a brow. "Why should I?"

".... I’m a monster," Claudia muttered softly.

Watching her expression shift to a pained one, Alex let out a sigh. "If you are a monster..."

Pa

"... What am I?"

Claudia watched as pulsating black and white appeared from Alex’s shadow and a moment later, enveloped the area they were in, creating a scene reminiscent of the night sky on Earth.

".... You... the Night King." Claudia trembled as she spoke, her voice filled with both awe and fear.

Alex chuckled softly to help Claudia dispel her fears as he remarked. "So I’ve heard."