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Alderon was plagued by thick, swampy-green fog the early morning sunlight couldn't pierce. The tires of Sebastien's car churned up the mud covering the road, and the few people walking the streets looked like mere apparitions inside the murk.

          Where could they be heading so early? If this were a city, he'd understand, but it was just some small town. Could they be heading to Ulrora Slope to begin their workday?

          Sebastien continued up the road, but that was when he saw a man stumbling forward while he coughed coarsely. And then he dropped to his knees, spluttering like he was choking on something. Every nearby person walked faster to get away from him, and when his coughing led to him throwing up, Sebastien grimaced in disgust and drove a little quicker. Despite the fact that demons like him couldn't catch human illnesses, he didn't want to risk it.

          But on his way through a street lined with boarded-up shops, he saw another coughing man...and a woman, too. Evidently, there was something going around.

          He reached a fork in the road at the end of the street. The car's headlights cut through the fog just enough for him to make out what the signs ahead had written on them. The sign pointing to the right said Aldergrove Academy, 25 miles. Next to it and pointing to the left was the sign for Ulrora Slope, which was 53 miles away. And the last sign—which pointed down the road in front of him—had Alder Estate, 15 miles painted on it.

          He didn't immediately drive off, though. The weight of his fatigue felt like a tonne of bricks on his head and even more on his shoulders. His back ached, his legs were starting to feel numb, and no matter how hard he tried to ignore his body's plea for sleep, he was getting weaker.

          Somebody honked their horn.

          With an irritated grunt, he drove away from the sign and down the road leading to Alder Estate. He pulled into a parking space beside a bus stop and shut off the engine. And finally, for the first time since arriving in DeiganLupus, he reclined his seat and leaned back, letting himself rest.

          But just like any other time he closed his eyes and tried to sleep, all he could see was Clementine's dying face.

          Sebastien opened his eyes as pain struck his heart. He missed Clementine so much; if he'd known that the time he would have got to spend with him would have been as short as it turned out to be, then he would have cherished their moments more. He would have stopped with all the stupid teasing and flirting and taken more chances to gaze into the boy's captivating blue eyes. He'd have made the most of being able to hold his hand and feel his warm skin. And hear his voice. And become lost in his sweet natural aroma of lily and sycamore trees.

          Thinking about Clementine wasn't doing him any favours. It made his heart ache and his chest tighten. A piece of him died the day Clementine did, and the weight of his loss cut like a serrated knife.

          He switched on the radio, hoping that some music or someone's voice might distract him, but all he got was static noise. Every channel he flicked through was fuzz and muffles. There was always Mathew's screamo metal music...but he didn't want a headache right now.

          So, he just sat there. He listened to the townspeople waking up and starting their day, and when he glanced at the sign again, he frowned. This town was closer than Ulrora Slope; why had the Aldergrove Academy students not been sent here for supplies and whatever else they'd been going to the city for?

          This place was giving him a weird vibe. The longer he sat there, the more a strange feeling of angst grew in his gut. And he hadn't forgotten about the hitchhiker he'd seen last night, either. The hitchhiker who slowly transformed more and more into a corpse every time he passed him.

          A shiver spiralled down his spine, making him sit up straight. Maybe the academy didn't send anyone here because it was weird as fuck. All the coughing people and the strange, thick fog. Sebastien would choose a snowy city over this place any day.

          It was time to go. He didn't care that his eyes were trying to close. He didn't want to spend another moment here.

          Sebastien sat the chair back up, started the engine, and reversed out of the parking space. Then, he got back on the road and headed towards Alder Estate, glancing at the map Lord Caedis had given him. So far, he'd managed to follow it to Alderon, and when he located a turn he was supposed to take, he drove onto the dirt road and headed through the woods.

          The swampy-green murk faded almost instantly. He didn't know how fog worked, though. Maybe the trees were responsible for keeping it from entering the woods or something. He was just glad to be out of it.

          He leaned forward in an attempt to fight his drowsiness and to search for signs of the estate, but all he could see were trees.

          Trees, trees, more trees...and an animal sniffing around by an old barn. At first glance, it looked like a stag, but when he looked again, he saw that it had a very long neck...and human-like arms on each side of it.

          Sebastien slowed the car as he stared at the creature, watching it use its human arms to pull something from the bushes. But then he drove over a branch, and the loud crack startled the beast. It sharply turned to face him, and Sebastien could see that it was some sort of centaur; the beast had the body of an elk instead of a horse, and atop its head were a pair of impressive moss-covered antlers.

          But there was something off about it. The brief moment of awe it gave Sebastien faded when the creature's eyes flickered red, and it let out a screeching roar. It threw whatever it pulled from the bushes to the ground, swung around, and fled, disappearing deeper into the forest.

          Sebastien was sure an elk-man wouldn't be the creepiest thing he saw out here; Aldergrove Academy prepared him for the weird and freaky shit the world had to offer, and it would take more than a centaur to spook him—it would take a whole lot more than that to get him to even consider halting his mission to get Clementine back.

          With a quiet sigh, he drove a little faster, following the silent forest road. Every time he glanced at the time, another five minutes passed by, and just as it was coming up to nine, he approached a pair of rusted metal gates.

          Sebastien slowed his approach and stared at the sign hanging beside the mailbox. It read 'Alder Estate', and just like the iron gates, it was entangled in twisting, blue flower-sprouting vines.

          This was the place.

          He stopped the car and got out, and when the cold air hit him, so did a familiar scent. Wolfsbane. The flowers growing on the vines were the source; in fact, there were wolfsbane flowers everywhere. Growing on the walls and in the grass, and some were even clinging to the nearby trees.

          If Sebastien had to guess, he'd say that whoever lived here wanted to keep wolf walkers out very badly.

          He tore the vines from the gates and pulled them open. For a moment, he stood there and tried to locate the estate, but the same green fog that ensnared the nearby town clung to the area beyond the gates, making it hard for him to see more than a few feet in front of him.

          Sebastien returned to his car and drove past the gates, following the road through the murk for a few more minutes.

          And finally, there it was. A black-brick mansion with white pillars on either side of the doorway, and white panelling around each window. The roof tiles were dark, cracked, and mossy, and the courtyard was infested with vines, fallen leaves, and several large logs. The fountain was demolished, and over by the planters sat a black car. Although the car was scratched and had several vines twisting around it, it looked much nicer than the piece of crap Sebastien was driving.

          He parked in front of the courtyard and slowly got out of his car. There were no lights on in the house, nor were there any signs that anyone was home. Sebastien was expecting to smell wolfsbane, but instead, his nostrils were filled with a sulphur-like scent.

          Demons.

          A shiver ran down his spine and his instincts went haywire, urging him to shift. His body tensed up, and his heart started racing...but he couldn't see any danger. There was nothing here. He couldn't detect any lifeforce or ethos auras, nor could he smell blood or hear beating hearts. As far as he could tell, he was alone...so why were his instincts telling him otherwise?

          He stayed close to his car, looking around slowly, examining every inch of the overgrown garden. The stench of sulphur grew thicker, and his instincts were still convinced that something was lurking nearby. When he set his eyes on the house, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. That was where the feeling was coming from.

          Lord Caedis had sent him here to find out what happened to his man, so Sebastien was going to do just that.

          With a deep exhale, he extended his claws from his nails and slowly made his way towards the doors. The ominous feeling which gripped him intensified the closer he moved, and when he pulled the door open, he stepped back in case something pounced out at him.

          But all he was hit with was the smell of rotting flesh. He held one hand over his mouth and nose, scowling in disgust as he stepped into the hall. Despite the state of the courtyard, the inside of the house looked as though it had been taken care of. The red carpets were spotless, the wallpaper was clean, and there was no sign of cobwebs in any of the corners.

          That smell, though. It was coming from the room the doorway under the stairs led to.

          Sebastien cautiously looked to his left, right, and then up the stairs, searching for anything that might mean danger, and when he was sure he wasn't going to get jumped, he made his way across the hall and through the doorway under the stairs.

          He emerged into a sunroom; the houseplants were overgrown, and through several cracks in the windows, the wolfsbane-sprouting vines had slithered in. The vines wrapped around some of the furniture, and a single, long vibe had made its way up the wall, along the ceiling, and ensnared the crystal chandelier hanging from the wooden ceiling connecting to the glass roof.

          The smell led him to the right and down into a wine cellar. Once he reached the bottom of the stairs, he carefully navigated the narrow walkways lined with wine bottles and cabinets full of other beverages. The closer he got to the smell, the more he tensed up, ready to face what might be waiting for him. He pulled his hand away from his face and dealt with the eye-watering stench, ensuring he had all ten claws at his disposal.

          And when he turned the final corner—

          Nothing.

          The floors were clean. There was no sign of blood or a rotting corpse, yet the smell was all around him.

          Sebastien searched the area—maybe there was a corpse behind one of the shelves—but he didn't find anything.

          "Huh..." he mumbled, scratching his head.

          A phone suddenly started ringing, and it made Sebastien flinch. He turned his head and stared towards the doorway, which he could barely see through the wine bottles, and listened.

          It kept ringing. No one answered it. Was it for him?

          He hurried out of the cellar, through the sunroom and into the entrance hall.

          It was coming from upstairs.

          Sebastien raced upstairs and into the room at the end of the left hall. The curtains were open, allowing the early morning sunlight to fill the bedroom with light. There were papers and stationery on the desk, as well as a cup filled with coffee. Clothes were piled on the floor, and a new suit was hanging from the bed's canopy.

          The phone was over by the window.

          He made his way over, picked the receiver up, and held it to his ear. "Uh...hello?"

          "Good, you made zhere," came Lord Caedis' accented voice.

          "O-oh...hi?"

          "Did you vind my man yet?"

          "No. I just got here."

          "Vell?"

          He frowned, glancing around the room. "Well...I don't see him anywhere. I mean his stuff is still here, and I assume the black car outside is his...."

          "Da."

          Da? "Uh...what?"

          "Yes..." Caedis uttered. He was clearly getting irritated.

          Sebastien scratched the side of his face. "It smells really bad here. Like...really bad."

          "Bad 'ow?"

          "Like something died. But I followed the smell and there wasn't any sign of a dead body."

          "Hm. You drove vhrough Alderon, da?"

          "I did."

          "I veceived vord zhis morning zhat an illness 'as struck zhe town. Everyvone is getting sick; zhe doctors veported zhat a man named Viktor Vood—zhe estate's groundskeeper—said 'e started veeling sick avter cleaning zhe 'ouse's basement. Vhatever 'e caught 'as spread like vild vire. I vink might be connected to vhat my man vas looking into."

          Sebastien nodded. "So...you think that your guy—the guy I'm here to look for—was onto something...something that could be responsible for a sickness spreading through Alderon?"

          "Yes. If you vead all zhe invormation in zhe vile I gave you, you'd know vhy 'e vas zhere."

          He dragged his hand over his face, stifling a sigh. "Sorry. I was tired as heck. It makes sense, though. I saw a few sick people while driving through that town."

          "Vead zhe vile vhoroughly," he said firmly. "Use vhat is in zhere and vhat I just told you to vind out vhat my man vas onto."

          "W-wait...I thought I was just here to find—"

          "Considering 'e missed 'is last check-in—and zidn't call me to tell me vhat 'e vound avter investigating zhose strange sounds 'e veported—is 'ighly likely 'e is dead, and I suspect zhis 'uman illness is vesponsible. Still, I vant you to convirm zhat, and if 'e is dead, zhen you vill do as I just said and vind out vhat 'e vas onto. If 'e is alive and drunk in some bar someplace, you 'ave permission to kick 'is ass vor me."

          That made Sebastien smirk. But he couldn't let his amusement cloud his judgement. "I didn't agree to that. The deal was that I find your man and then—"

          "Zhe deal vas zhat you do as I ask. You get zhe job done. Zhe contract never specified just vone job, Sebastien. You zidn't vead zhat eizer, did you?"

          He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. "No."

          Lord Caedis sighed through the phone. "Just get zhe job done. Zon't call back unless you 'ave answers."

          "Yeah," he replied, and when Caedis hung up, he slowly put the phone down and stared at it.

          He'd fucked up, hadn't he? He'd fucked up big time. He'd been so desperate to get on with the task Lord Caedis gave him that he hadn't even properly read the contract. And now he wondered...what did that mean for him? How far could Caedis stretch the fact that Sebastien now had to do what he asked? How far would he push it?

          Sebastien moved over to the bed and sat on the edge. It was only just hitting him. He'd sold his soul—Lord Caedis owned him. He'd probably have to spend the rest of his life doing what he asked, wouldn't he?

          But he refused to let his dismay consume him. He didn't care about himself. He cared about Clementine, and for the boy he loved, he'd sell his soul to a thousand more gods.

          There wasn't time for him to sit around. First, he'd read the file Caedis gave him so that he was up to speed on what his man was doing here, and then, he would work out where to go from there.

          Without a moment to waste, he left the bedroom and headed back to his car. He'd get everything Caedis wanted—he'd find his guy and he'd discover what he was onto—and then he'd finally get to see Clementine again.

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