"It’s getting late," James said. "I’m heading out, but thanks for your hospitality."

  He felt a bit like an idiot, but he couldn't think of what the hell else to say. He wasn't used to talking to people, but he felt he should say something.

  He surely sounded like an idiot or a robot, with a stick firmly up his ass, but at least no one made fun of him out loud. That was something.

  Of course, by this point, the others had returned. It was almost 11:00 PM.

  "Don't go back to the hotel," said Mary. "Stay here for tonight."

  "Why?" asked James.

  "Yeah, why?" asked Jaime.

  She didn't seem to be the only one wondering.

  "It’s been a few days, and they aren't very patient or reasonable guys. They’ll probably try something tonight."

  "Are you sure about that?" said Lea.

  "Honey, of course I'm not sure, that’s why I said probably."

  Lea laughed.

  "But I’d bet on it," she continued, growing more serious and frowning. "I’d bet on it. What I don't want to bet is your life, James. So listen to me."

  "Okay. I guess I can sleep on the couch for a night."

  "Don't be silly," said Natalia. "We have plenty of spare rooms."

  "You have more than four rooms?"

  "Yes," answered Mary, "but besides that, we only use one."

  "You sleep in the same bed?"

  "I said we use the same room. Just that."

  Mary arched an eyebrow.

  "What exactly are you thinking?"

  "No, no, uh... nothing, nothing, of course."

  But of course, that wasn't true. His imagination was quite active, but sometimes it played tricks on him.

  "Right, sure... I believe you. Well, pick whatever room you want. There are plenty to choose from."

  James nodded. He decided to end the conversation there, before he had time to put his foot in his mouth even more.

  He looked at all the unoccupied rooms. They were all more or less the same. And better than his hotel room. That was for sure. Anyway, they were a group of four, sharing expenses. Apparently, they could afford everything.

  James sighed and flopped onto the bed. The only thing he had done was take off his shoes and socks. He hadn't come with pajamas tucked under his arm expecting to stay the night. Obviously. He closed his eyes.

  It wasn't bad here. Besides, that feeling of camaraderie reminded him of better times.

  "You know," he heard Lea's voice—he was almost entirely sure—through the walls, "with that face so young and innocent, he reminds me of my little brother. Makes me want to pay him a nightly visit."

  What? He had heard wrong, right?

  He blushed to the tips of his ears.

  "Suddenly I'm worried about your little brother's chastity," said Jaime.

  "He's not innocent anymore. But I swear I had nothing to do with it."

  "Well, what a pity, huh?" said Mary. Which surprised him more than everything else, actually.

  Okay, they were messing around, but come on.

  James blushed. Once, his mother had told him she preferred working with men because at least you could talk to them; while women were always talking about sex, little toys, and that stuff, bragging about... how and how much they did it, and blah, blah, blah.

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  He had never fully believed her, but... women could be more perverted than men. That was clear.

  He thought he wouldn't sleep a wink... whether due to the natural unease of sleeping in a place he wasn't used to, or the fear of being attacked in the middle of the night. He thought he'd wake up every two seconds to go to the bathroom, at the very least. But it wasn't like that.

  The next time he opened his eyes... sunlight was streaming through the windows, and the truth was he felt good. Not relaxed, but... better than last night.

  And why not?

  He had been prepared to deal with Davis and Julian on his own, but now he had allies. He had the armor.

  He might fall in the end... maybe, but he wasn't going to be easy prey.

  So he got out of bed. He put on his socks and shoes briskly.

  He was ready to face the new day with a smile. It was wonderful not to fear tomorrow. Not really.

  He stepped out into the hall. Silence. Well, he hadn't checked the time, but it was early. The sun had surely just risen. It wasn't strange that he was the only one in the house awake. He went down the stairs and found a guy... a person in the kitchen, but even from a distance, it was clearly the back of a man.

  James tensed up at first. It wasn't Davis or Julian, but it could be an ally... another corrupt cop maybe. They were always interested in covering their backs. A privileged club of sons of bitches.

  But then he thought he was exaggerating. Who knows, maybe one of them had invited a guy over last night too. For other reasons. Or they had a boyfriend. And he was here because it was normal for him to drop by. Even at this hour of the morning.

  The point was he knew absolutely nothing about them, so why assume the worst.

  He took another step forward.

  "Good morning."

  The asshole didn't answer him. He didn't even turn around. He just opened the fridge and took out a carton of milk. And fuck, he drank directly from it. How fucking gross. Whether he was the boyfriend of one of them or not. How disgusting. And what a jerk. Well, maybe not a jerk. Maybe he hadn't heard him.

  "Good morning," he repeated, getting closer, raising his voice.

  This time the guy did turn around.

  James's heart almost stopped. He had no eyes. His sockets would be empty were it not for the worms. However, he wasn't dead. He was clearly looking at him. And not just in his direction. Somehow, he could see.

  He was thirsty. James guessed he wanted to split him open like a pig and drink from his veins.

  The zombie, or whatever it was, stumbled toward him, leaning with one hand on the kitchen table and wherever it could as it advanced. Fuck, what the hell. James didn't waste time.

  He took out his armor, equipping it. With Ash Raven wrapping around him, he felt like a different person, like an untouchable hero.

  He had time to equip his sword, but nothing else, before the monster lunged at him. He decided that was enough and brandished the sword with both hands.

  Faster than any of his previous strikes.

  Using two hands had something to do with it, of course, but also the fact that the weight of the shield wasn't a hindrance. And the weight of the armor was like a feather. Negative weight, actually, because it helped him.

  A sound like a butcher knife cutting meat on a board. The sound of blood spurting out. That single blow was enough. The zombie, or whatever it was, collapsed in the middle of the kitchen, dead.

  He supposed he couldn't be 100% sure of anything, but he’d bet it didn't possess enough intelligence to play dead. To devise strategies. So he was sure. Sure enough. Although it was more instinct than thought, of course, because James was too scared to think.

  Okay, he had faced more horrifying creatures in his short stay in Asphal and had been closer to dying countless times. He had even killed many walking skeletons. What was a skeleton if not a zombie without skin or flesh? Hahaha.

  But he supposed that being attacked in a kitchen, in a home... even if it wasn't his. A place that was supposed to be warm, safe, and normal. He supposed that had affected him even more. He supposed that had helped it affect him even more. James took a deep breath. Plus, he had just woken up. Damn.

  "What the hell was that?" came the voice of one of the girls from upstairs.

  He wasn't sure which one. His ears were ringing and his head hurt as if it were going to split in two, just from pure stress and adrenaline. It hadn't passed yet, not by a long shot.

  He stared at the zombie on the floor, half convinced it was going to get up, despite everything. Despite what logic and common sense might tell him. Because there was nothing logical about this, nor did it have anything to do with common sense. They hadn't said anything all night and had waited until dawn. The girl, whoever it was, responded with skepticism, but he could also hear footsteps, doors opening... meaning they were getting dressed, getting ready to come down. He wasn't going to be alone for long. Even if that thing got up. Even if there were more things waiting to attack. Good. Good.

  They appeared right away, effectively, all four of them. Mary fixed her gaze on him.

  "What happened here?" she asked.

  "What you see. This thing attacked me and I took it out."

  He took another deep breath, as if he didn't have enough air in his lungs.

  "It was with its back to me when I arrived. It simply opened the fridge and drank from that carton."

  "What the fuck..." exclaimed Jaime.

  Yeah, I’d like to know that too, thought James.

  "It's strange for a monster to come out of the dungeons," said Leah. "What do you think, Mary? Was it really them? How would they be able to do this?"

  "I don't know," the aforementioned admitted slowly after a while. "But I guess it doesn't matter. Now we have to get rid of this thing. We'll see about the rest later."

  James considered storing the sword and the Ash Raven armor back in his inventory, but he was too tense for that. And he tensed up even more when he realized something else, perhaps even stranger.

  "Isn't it too quiet?" he asked.

  "What do you mean?" asked Leah.

  "Outside."

  James opened the window above the kitchen counter and stuck his head out. He knew the sun had just risen, but there wasn't a soul out there. Not even the song of birds could be heard.

  "Something very weird is going on here," said James.