The Deceitful One

Before joining the Silver Owls, Bryan always used to go to the Damascus Police Station every alternate day to practice his gun shooting.

However, after he joined the Silver Owls, there was no need to anymore. Since the practice area of the underground HQ had all the amenities, including a sparring area, spell casting area, and also a shooting range.

When Officer Smith saw Bryan come out of the steam car, he was initially surprised, then puzzled, and finally wide-eyed.

Being one of the senior-most officers of the Damascus Police Station, he was naturally privy to certain knowledge that the general public wasn't. Such as the existence of Transcendents!

On more than a few occasions, he had personally worked with the members of the Silver Owl. So naturally, he was slightly familiar with the team captain, Robert, and other individuals such as Andrew and Elijah.

That is why he was so shocked to see Bryan coming out of the car with them!

'Of course! He's Detective Watson's student. It's only natural that he too is one of them.' Officer Smith thought in his heart as he saw Bryan approach him.

All of a sudden, he felt quite nervous. Before, whenever Bryan came to the police station to practice his gun shooting, he was always on friendly terms with him.

But now that he knew that Bryan could possibly be a Transcendent, he felt a sense of inferiority and didn't know how to react.

He too had once approached Robert as well as Bishop Walls in hopes to become a Transcendent. However, they had said that his spiritual aptitude wasn't good enough.

This had become a great source of regret for him. After all, who didn't want to wield magical powers and use those strange abilities? But most important of them all, becoming a Transcendent increased one's lifespan!

While Officer Smith was lost in his own thoughts, Bryan had already walked right in front of him. He stretched out his right hand and smiled, "It's been a while, Officer Smith."

Officer Smith snapped out of his thoughts and awkwardly shook Bryan's hand, "Hello, Mr. Lombardi. How have you been?"

"I've been all right." Bryan smiled. Then he pointed to the house behind, "What's the situation inside?"

"I'm not sure if I should say it out here." Officer Smith hesitated as he looked around.

The next moment, Robert exited the house on 304 West 14th street. He patted Officer Smith's shoulder and said, "I'll take it from here, Officer Smith."

Visibly relieved, Officer Smith nodded and made way for Robert.

"You three, follow me in." Robert pointed at Bryan, Andrew, and Elijah and then turned around and walked back toward the entrance of the house.

Bryan nodded at Officer Smith and then followed behind Robert.

Before opening the door, Robert turned around to look at the three of them and instructed, "Just follow my lead. Ready your weapons but conceal them properly."

Then he looked at Bryan and said solemnly, "Bryan, you don't have to do much inside. Just observe and see how we do things. Learn from it and implement it should the need arise in the future."

He then paused to see if Bryan was nervous about it so that he could give him some form of encouragement. However, he saw that Bryan was calm and his emotions were steady.

Robert nodded his head in approval, "Stay on guard. Anything can happen inside."

Bryan nodded and then took out Hand Cannon from his underarm holster. After making sure that it was loaded, he put it back in.

Andrew and Elijah also checked their respective weapons and then nodded at Robert.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Robert stepped forward and opened the mahogany door entrance to the house, and stepped inside.

The trio followed after him. Elijah being the last one to enter, closed the door behind him. Meanwhile, outside the house, all the police officers held their breaths and readied their guns as well. Ready to attack at any moment.

Inside the house, the members of the Strike Team entered the living room and found the owner of the house, Ricky Halpert, having tea at the dining table.

He was wearing a black cardigan over his white shirt, black pants, and black boots. Everything was fine about his appearance except his face.

Ricky's eyes were bloodshot and had dark circles around them. His hair was unkempt as if he hadn't slept or washed in days.

He looked up at Robert and the others entering his house and smiled brightly, "Mr. Albright! You're back."

Then he looked at Bryan, Andrew, and Elijah behind him and stated, "Oh? Looks like you've brought some guests. Everyone, please have a seat!"

The trio looked at each other and then at Robert. The latter nodded at them and then took a seat right across Ricky.

After everyone took their seats, Ricky asked Robert, "So, where were we again?"

"You were talking about your wife," Robert replied.

"Ah, that's right!" Ricky took a sip of tea from the cup and added, "A few weeks back, my wife and son disappeared. I was so scared at the time as I looked for them but couldn't find them anywhere."

He then paused, took another sip from the cup, and continued, "But luckily a few days later, they returned safely. However, they've been quite hungry ever since they came back.

Looks like they hadn't had much food wherever they went. So I made sure that they ate their fill every day."

At this point, Ricky started to grin like a maniac. His teeth which had now turned yellow and red were visible to all.

Bryan, Andrew, and Elijah looked at each other with slight apprehension. Then they looked at Robert, only to see that he was as calm as ever. As if nothing could phase him.

Robert, with a neutral face, asked Ricky, "Do you mind if we meet your wife?"

"Of course!" Ricky replied enthusiastically, "My wife would love to meet you all."

He then turned his head to the stairs and spoke in a loud voice, "Honey! We have guests. Won't you come down?"

There was no answer from upstairs. However, a few minutes later, a blonde woman with hazel eyes came down the stairs.

She was wearing a pure white dress as she slowly walked down and then stood behind Ricky.

The woman's cheeks then cracked open all the way to her ears, revealing rows of sharp jagged teeth.

Her sclera turned black and her iris turned yellow with vertical pupils. She looked at Robert and the rest as she started to drool, "Oh? Looks like food has been served!"

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