Deranged

Chapter XI: The Hunt

Hello everyone! Things will be getting a bit slow now. We will update every two weeks because school started for us. However, things will also be getting heated and intense as we progress. The feels level is high!

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This chapter was written by Maheen.

Throughout the following day, many Shadowhunters and Downworlders spent their time looking for the missing Husni Morgenstern, tirelessly scouring the cold, wet streets of Illinois with persistent determination. They were called by the Head of the Chicago Institute to search the vast land of the state and wherever he may most likely be.

Maheen, Hana, Mason, Maximus, Isra, Ahmad, and Samrah searched high and low, asking anyone for information regarding where Husni was. They tried all sorts of tactics; they went to every pub, shop, church, restaurant, and hotel, waving a picture of Husni under people's noses, questioning them if they had seen the guy.

But it was no use. Everywhere they went, they were given the same answer over and over again. Eventually when reaching the agreement that this search party was going no where, they decided to split up. Maheen, Isra, Mason, and Samrah would be searching the north side of Springfield, and Ahmad, Hana, and Max would be searching the south. They settled on the fact that they would meet each other back at a famous Downworlder/Shadowhunter restaurant called Dante's around 8 o'clock. They had 3 more hours.

Both groups worked painstakingly to find their lost friend. They once again looked in every abandoned building they could find but there was no Husni Morgenstern hidden in the shadows of the dark, looming establishments that were already long gone. Feeling hopeless, they would call and leave messages on his phone and attempted to track his demon Sensor again. But it was as if he has vanished from the face of the Earth.

No one dared to utter the possibility that perhaps he was gone forever. But there was no doubt the thought was hanging disturbingly in the air. They were all terribly famished, throats parched, but still trudged on, entering vampire lairs and talking to the werewolf packs. None of the Downworlders had a clue where he may be and the two groups were getting more hopeless by the minute, their thoughts in an utterly despairing mood.

When eight o'clock rolled around, Maheen, Mason, Isra, and Samrah walked into Dante's and the shop opened with a ding. A familiar girl with short, pink hair, pointy ears and pastel blue skin dashed towards them and smiled, showing a set of pearly white teeth. Her name tag read Sicily.

"Back so soon?" the faerie said, grinning.

"Yeah." Samrah replied, worn out. They had visited the restaurant this morning, asking if anyone had seen the Shadowhunter. Like usual, there was no valuable information.

"I see. So is it only the four of you this time?" she asked, glancing around behind them and holding a small clipboard with an order list.

"No, we have three more people coming in. Would you mind getting us a booth?"

Sicily grinned, "Sure thing!" and the four of them followed her to a large booth beside a window. They sat down just as the door dinged open once more and in walked Max, Hana, and Ahmad. They, too, looked starved.

When the three Shadowhunters sat down across from them, Sicily hurried back. She took one look at the exhausted group in front of her and asked gently, "The usual?"

Everyone nodded silently, too drained from energy to speak. The bubbly waitress skipped away, jotting down their already-known orders. They were all regular customers here, seeing as this was the only decent non-mundane place around. Maheen glanced around the restaurant, looking at the many warlocks, vampires, werewolves, and faeries chatting and munching on their food in the diner.