The Guardsmen

Chapter 40: Beneath the Surface

"We're too ­late..." Eden whispers under her breath.

She stares at the slew of bodies lying across the Willow Estate.

"You lot are chasing one major psycho," says Calina.

Kokuro stands over Roxie's mutilated corpse. He clenches his fist and stares at it with a look of contempt.

"Kokuro!" Andrus shouts across the property.

Kokuro looks up to see Andrus holding a scythe over his shoulders. Kokuro's hands relax and slightly tremble.

"I don't know how it got here, but here you go," Andrus says as he hands Akahito's scythe to Kokuro.

Kokuro tightly grips it. It feels so natural to him; as if he was meant to have it.

"Thank you." Kokuro softly says.

"He's not here. Now we have no idea where he's going..." says Evander.

"So now what?" asks Eden.

"I...I don't know" Evander replies.

"Easy. We find this guy and take him back to my guy, and then he does his magic shit, and boom! Done!" Calina chimes in.

Kokuro's eyes drop.

"That's easier said than done" Evander retorts.

Calina shrugs her shoulders.

"She's right though! We have to stop him!" shouts Eden.

"So that means you know where to go, huh?" Andrus interjects.

Eden's expression drops. Calina sighs in frustration.

"Fine. Give me a second" she says as she furiously types on her tablet.

"What are you doing?" asks Eden.

"Finding your guy" Calina replies.

After a few minutes, Calina's tablet chimes.

"So according to some witnesses, they saw a man...flying through the air?" says Calina.

She squints her eyes to make sure she read everything correctly.

"That's him!" exclaims Eden.

"He can fly??" groans Calina.

"Where did they see him?" Evander asks.

"The most recent sighting was about a day ago, about...10 miles from here!" Calina replies.

"Then that's where we shall go!" shouts Eden.

"Sounds good to me!" says Andrus.

Eden looks over her shoulders at the bodies lying all across the property.

"Do we...do we do something about all of the bodies?" she asks in a shaky voice.

"No time!" shouts Andrus.

"He's right, Greenie. Your guy can be already miles from where he was last seen" says Calina.

Eden's expression droops.

"Okay..." she mumbles.

The group departs from the graveyard of an estate.

"Do your perks include getting us a ride?" Andrus asks in a mocking tone.

"You're not going to believe this, but he was last seen over another forest" Calina retorts.

"Ugh! Why another forest? Can't he just hide in a city like a normal criminal!" shouts Andrus.