[b]A Day Before Autumn Arrives.[/b]

Gray stretched in his cheap foldout chair, letting out a drawn out yawn. Again he lifted binoculars to look through the narrow opening in the motel's shoddy blinds. Autumn had sent him on ahead with a decent promise of pay as usual. Gray was almost disappointed by the fact that she wasn't hiring him to hunt something in particular. There's was little information to go on. Looking at the fact that Autumn generally didn't have a "little" information to share made this mission a little unnerving. Now is a different story.

Gray focused in on a group of what appeared to be gangsters or local thugs. They'd been moving around the neighborhood way too much in the last hour. It was obvious they were looking for something and doubly so to Gray that they were involved. They slipped through another alleyway moving at a pace that didn't match the general laziness of the modern gangsters he knew. The hunter's professional opinion: They were monsters up to no good. And they weren't the first.

Gray adjusted the shoulder holsters holding the two Glocks in place underneath his arms. There was going to be action soon but not enough to suit up for quite yet. He needed to lay low and contact Autumn before getting rash. That's what he was being paid for right? After all, he hadn't witnessed this much suspicious activity since he dealt with the haunting at the old Argonne grade school in Wisconsin. Incidentally that ended with a satisfying explosion that forced the government to officially condemn it. Good times.

Gray pulled out his cell phone, went through his speed dial and hit the call button. A secretary answered and he moved his mouth to speak before suddenly stopping. There was a small gasp of air and no more. A cold shudder ran down his spine. Silence. A person on the other end said something he couldn't hear. Gray ended the call and dropped the phone on the stained carpet.

"CRAP! What the hell was that?" He spouted, venting his sudden frustration. That felt almost like what a seizure patient would describe. This was bad. Not just bad! House cat eating dead owner because he can bad. Some kind of voodoo or magic was affecting him. Whoever had that kind of power meant really bad news. Time to leave and get backup before things got worse.

Gray grabbed his one suitcase, stuffed a few loose clothes in it and headed down the stairs. "Leaving early?" The mildly attractive receptionist asked as he slowed to a more casual pace. It was always best to not be suspicious. In this line of work it didn't just mean drawing unwanted attention from enemies but also humans who didn't need to get endangered. If this power and the local activity were connected it could mean New Camden would have to hire someone to change their population marker really soon.

"Yeah. Family emergency. Dad needs some help." He lied. It was pretty convincing too. "Sorry to leave so soon. It's a nice place." That was a lie too.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Stay safe." She said. [i]That's exactly why I'm leaving[/i], Gray thought. He threw the suitcase into his rented suburban with the other one and hopped in. Time to get out. He was already on the edge of New Camden so it didn't take very long to leave the borders. But that would have been too easy.

The suburban's engine sputtered and died as he rolled over a hill. After some coasting and light breaking he parked the car. He got out to examine the engine and found it to be in perfectly fine condition. It simply decided it wanted to turn off on him. Looking away from town he felt that compelling and nagging feeling coming back. An unnatural chill ran down his spine and made his legs feel weak. He simply couldn't will himself to walk away. "Trapped..." He whispered, his usual lighthearted expression collapsing.

[b]Real Time[/b]

Gray had it easy laying low. Figuring out what was going on however was more difficult when all you did was watch through your windows. He had attempted a few times to call Autumn with very little effect. His phone vibrated in his pocket and he answered to find it was in fact her. "How? I.." He paused, a little surprised that he was actually speaking. "Where can I find you?"