Chapter 4. First Hunt

The following day, after sunset, Sasha and Scott drove to the graveyard. This graveyard is dated back to 100 years as it is the oldest graveyard in Bailey County. It is located very far from houses because of the long time history it has. Pulling over in front of the graveyard, Sasha turned off the ignition. “What are we doing here?” Scott asked with curiosity. He knew nothing about hunting supernatural creatures. All he knew was how to catch bad guys and solve a complex case.

“This is our first hunt and I want to teach you how best to hunting starting with ghouls.”

“So we are here for ghouls, huh?”

“Yes, just follow my lead and always stay behind me.”

“What in the hell are ghouls doing in a graveyard?”

“That’s where they are mostly found since they feed on corpses to survive. With their long claws, they can dig a grave.”

“Oh shit!” exclaimed Scott.

Sasha opens the door of the car. “There’s no time, come with me,” she said as she slowly shut the door.

         Standing by the gate of the graveyard, she pulled out a container and removed its stopper. She started drawing a line with its white liquid.

“What’s that?” asked Scott.

“Salt.”

“Salt? What’s it for?”

“Salt is often used against some supernatural creatures. By making a line with this salt, the ghouls can’t cross it. There will be trapped inside and that will make us have a great advantage against them.”

         Sasha continued drawing the line around the graveyard. Salt can be used to fight off some supernatural creatures. Anyone can use salt to prevent ghosts or ghouls from having access to their home by simply tracing a line with it on their window or the entrance of their room. No ghost could be able to cross the lines of salt and likewise ghouls. It has been proven strong against some supernatural creatures from hell and no hunter goes hunting without carrying salt.

         After Sasha has drawn the line, she walked back to the gate to meet Scott and then joins the line. She made sure there was no opening if not it won’t serve as a barrier. Anyone can use salt to barricade himself against any attack from ghouls, ghosts, or supernatural creatures from hell by simply drawing a circle with the salt and staying inside the circle. However, these creatures can have access to the person they are hunting if there is an opening in the circle drawn with salt.

             They returned to the car. “Help me carry this,” she said. She handed a large brown sack to him and instructed him: “wait near the graveyard but a good few paces away from the silver dust and salt line.”

              As advised, he hauled the heavy sack back to the graveyard with Sasha following behind, carrying a large black bag in her hand. Scott felt his heart beating rapidly against his chest and weird restlessness took hold of him. He could hear crawling and purring noises coming from the deep within the earth and there was this horrible stench of burning flesh that choked his nostrils. It was almost as if he could sense evil nearby.

“Ghouls only come out to hunt at night, unless they are desperate like the ghoul that attacked you in Jasmine’s castle.” Sasha's voices distracted him from his thoughts. She put down her bag and helped Scott cut the ropes tied on the sack’s mouth. “When hunting like this, bait is very important. You want to make sure that you draw out the entire ghouls so that you can finish them all at once.”

“I don’t think we can handle so many ghouls at once!” Scott protested, feeling unsure about this idea and how many ghouls are in there. He had already seen how fierce and deadly a single ghoul can be and he was not ready to lure an entire large number of them out at once.

“Just follow my instructions and you will not screw this up for us. The ghouls cannot cross the silver dust and salt line around the graveyard. It burns their flesh! All we need is to put some golden bullets through their head.”

Scott had no option but to trust Sasha on this. After all, she has been doing this before he joined the team.

            To lure the ghouls out, blood must be dropped. They have to perceive the smell of blood. Sasha pulled out a dagger strapped around her waist and quickly cut open her palm. She drops the blood inside the line of silver dust and salt as Scott watched. ‘This is disgusting,’ he said to himself.

           The ghouls crawled their way from their burrows and resurfaced on the ground snarling like savage dogs. Over ten adult ghouls and five younger ones pounced at the blood all at once, fighting with each other. Sasha smiled menacingly as she unzipped her blown sack. “Are you ready for this? It’s time to kill!”

           The black sack contained Sasha’s special weapon. It was a PKM machine gun. The PKM is one of the most common machine guns in the world. The PKM machine gun is a lightweight weapon chambered for a 76.62-millimeter cartridge. Its original rate of fire is approximately 550 rounds per minute.

“How in the hell did you get your hands on a PKM machine gun? Aren’t they illegal for non-marines and the army?” Scott asked.

“I built it myself but you should know these creatures don’t care about the legality or illegality, and neither should you if you don’t want to die again.”

              Sasha started firing at the ghouls. She went for their head and after she had killed them all. She continued shooting at them all over again to make sure they are all dead.

“Since all these ghouls are dead, can we go now?”

“We are still not done here. Jasmine expects me to teach you how to hunt, so it’s time for you to get in on the action.”

“What should I do now when you have wasted all the ghouls?”

“Walk around the graveyard and see if there’s any one of them I missed, and then bury a golden bullet to its fucking head.”

              During his training in the local police academy in Bailey County, he had learned a great deal about tracking criminals but he had very little idea about tracking ghouls.

After a while of cross-checking around the walls of the graveyard, “It’s all clear!” he said walking back to Sasha.

“Good, it’s time to get the hell out of here,” she said.

They both made their way back to the car.

As they crossed the oak tree, Scott suddenly heard whispering behind them. He turned around in a flash, and Sasha followed his cue.

In the pale light of the moon, they saw a terrifying shadowy figure that leaped from the oak tree. The skies roared with thunder and the fallen leaves rustled in the howling wind. Out of the dreadful darkness of the surrounding thickets, emerged a charming feminine figure in a majestic red gown which was adorned with glittering lapis lazuli stones. Her ruby red hair reached to her waist.

             The mysterious lady chuckled and immediately, enormous black wings sprouted from her back and her countenance suddenly changed to a churning figure of ash and smoke. The face was hard to see except for the pinpoints of the eyes, which shone like the quasars. Beating her wings, the waves of darkness rolled over them in form of a dark mist.

“What in hell is that?” Scott’s voice was dry with nervousness.

Sasha opened her lips and squeezed out a scared reply, “She is Nyx, the goddess of the night.”