Shadow Slave

As Sunny studied the bodies, Master Jet went away to talk to the police officers, and then returned with one of them. There was a disappointed expression on her face.

"No usable recordings left. Figures… places like this one only exist because they value the privacy of their clients. And the few cameras they did have show nothing but darkness."

Sunny looked at her, then sighed:

"Not much to tell from the victims, too. The murderer just used their fists."

She shrugged.

"That's how it usually goes, in situations like this. The most likely scenario is that the murderer was one of the clients, who went on a rampage because of either alcohol or stimulants, and a momentary failure to hold on to their sanity. So I doubt that this mess was premeditated."

Master Jet remained silent for a moment, and then added:

"He was lucid enough to use his Aspect to obscure the cameras, though. So dealing with him won't be too simple."

With that, she turned to the police officer and asked:

"Any survivors? Do we have witnesses?"

He hesitated for a bit, then gave her a strange look.

"That… yes, actually, there are a few. But…"

The officer didn't finish the sentence, and just stared at them with an uneasy expression.

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

"But what? Are they refusing to talk?"

The policeman shook his head slowly.

"No, they're not refusing. They just… I don't know, something is wrong with them. They just don't speak, or even react really. I've seen a lot of people in shock, and sometimes, they can seem almost catatonic. But this… this is something else. Gave us all the creeps, to be honest."

Sunny and Master Jet glanced at each other, and then, one of them said:

"Lead the way."

The officer sighed, then escorted them to the back of the club, where an inconspicuous door led to the service rooms. The witnesses were gathered in a small office, standing there motionlessly, with nervous paramedics trying to determine the reason for their condition.

were five of them, all sharing the same blank, strangely peaceful expression on their faces. They were completely silent, motionless, and still. They did not react to the arrival of new people at

were calm

Sunny paled.

is

took him a second to recognize what was

at all. These

more precise, they were

mundane human

cold

Master Jet, he saw that she had a

massacre in the dance hall was bad enough. But this, this just made the whole situation frightening and eerie. If before Sunny was just disgusted, now,

"What the hell?"

five Hollows for a few

take a break, guys. Let these people be. They

— a mature woman with short blond hair and gentle eyes — looked at her

sorry, ma'am? But… but they're fine. We

let out a heavy

nothing you can do to help them. Something else will take care

glanced at the ground and silently walked away. Her colleagues followed, expressions of

made a point of standing as

for a few moments, her scowls growing deeper, then

question, I

hesitated for a bit, then

how can a mundane human become a Hollow? It's only supposed to happen to those who die in the Dream

at him, then silently shook her head. Eventually,

chance of a powerful soul attack creating a Hollow. But beings capable of dealing direct soul damage

closer to the five empty

you do something

lingered for a bit, then answered

I am really

that they were Hollow. There was something else…

of subtle, but

with Shadow

not

Did you

his teeth, then