Chapter 4. "Hurtful Truth."

The renowned demon hunter looked at Claire and felt the pulled the left side of his lip back and grunted to himself. She walked to his side and moved her hand near his shoulder as he walked away.

Dante walked around her then stared onward and outright avoided to blink. "You wouldn't be gone that long right? That is what you told mom." Dante's eyes narrowed. "You told Vergil to not worry, we will be safe. He is the man of the house until you return." Dante's eyes glittered with tears, but held himself back."Do you want to know what happened to my brother because of you?"

Claire glanced between both silver haired men, it was like both looked into a mirror. One reserved and one angered. Sparda broke eye contact then looked at the ground.

"Dante, that's enough. Imagine how he must feel right now." Claire leaned forward and took two steps forward.

Dante pursed his lips. "You don't know anything Claire. You better save yourself, because he will leave you to die, just like he left his own family." And he turned away. So many emotions bubbled within his mind, but it all lead back to the single emotion of anger. He bared his teeth and did not look back at Sparda.

"Where are you going?" Claire jogged after him. "You shouldn't be alone in this city…"

Dante gazed back at her with a smirk. "Claire-bear, I can take care of myself just fine. You can stop worrying about me. I will return."

Claire's lips formed half a smile while Dante slowly vanished from her view out of the station entrance. Once he was alone outside, he heaved a long shudder."I can't do this, I can't."

Back inside Claire recalled the current situation and blinked several times to focus.

Claire turned back to see Sparda still in place. She noticed Sparda closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I will move ahead to check the place." Claire whispered and hoped he will say something and then follow her but that was it. She heaved a sigh then walked away, leaving him behind.

…Sparda's eyes drifted to another place, another time where everything was better...

A figure wandered through the shore and her heart felt heavy within her chest. Her lips were closes as she hummed a song to herself, one held dear in her heart. The dark blue sky of the beach engulfed the water and reflected the blue hue.

She enjoyed the peaceful dawn, she felt the air around her change. There she saw him alone. Her movement stopped, for a moment she was enchanted by the clarity of his face, she wanted to say something… The fair man noticed and gazed back at her, his expression was that of confusion for this encounter. The woman at last broke eye contact and walked away which left him lost.

"Wait." He uttered. "What's your name?"

The woman stopped and turned a little bit to look at him in the side. "I'm Eva."

The man smiled and placed his hand over his chest then bowed. "My name is Sparda, milady."

Eva's expression changed into half a smile and she walked away.

...

Sparda had returned to this place when he passed the only abandon churchyard in the island, although his thoughts were occupied by the blonde human he met days ago and he wished to encounter again. He glanced to check the angle of the stone over the statue in the church, as he always did, but found his attention arrested by events taking place in the graveyard. It was dark, of course.

And nobody had business to be in a darkened churchyard on a night like that. Not any kind of business that could be labeled as sinister.

Sure enough, what Sparda heard was very wicked business indeed. He vaulted the low stone wall that acted as the churchyard boundary and moved further into the gloom. The noises continued. The skittering and groveling noises were that of nearby demons.

He noticed the glow of lanterns, and what he made out in a clearing in the shadow of the

Church were two creatures and a figure on the floor.

'What do you call that?' One of them was saying as he stood astride her, slapping her face, the second creature laughing and swigging.

'Let the woman go,' proclaimed Sparda.

Once the two creatures noticed him, their expressions adjusted to recognition and anger. "Sparda!"

Sparda looked down and recognized Eva… "I'm not leaving without her." His eyebrows furrowed and he took a step forward. With every step, the broadsword at his back would rattle slightly in the sheath. "You know of what happens to those who stand in my way right?"

The two creatures extended their arms and growled... eager for the taste of iron, but just not their own. Sparda's eyes glowed red and white light erupted hitting them both. In the aftermath of the light, Sparda flicked his wrist as two piles of ash replaced the locations of the demons. He stood for a moment to admire his handy work, before he knelt down to help Eva to return back on her feet.

Her eyes were at the ground as she took several steps back. The hand he offered was brushed aside as Eva inspected what weapons Sparda equipped himself with. "You are a demon too…"

"You need not to fear me milady." He spoke gently.

"Stay... stay away from me." She coldly stated. "I don't trust demons like you."

"But I..."

She interrupted again. "Of course you would help me, so I can be your next target."

Sparda did not respond, "Be more cautious..." He whispered then observed the uneasy walk she had as she never turned her back to him. She appeared to be on constant alert when it came to demons.

The warrior looked away from her general direction and stared at the sky. There was a potent stench of a demon that could be in the next town over. He drew one of his broadsword he called Rebellion and rolled his neck to pop some of the tension. It was time to blow off some steam.

The next encounter did not go as swimmingly. Eva somehow crossed paths with the Demon again but armed with the agenda to kill him.

"Stay were you are filthy demon!" Eva stated as she stepped forth. Sparda snapped into action by taking a step forward then lowered his body so his right leg could sweep the grass. This forced Eva to avoid it then for her to take aim at him. She did not retaliate fast enough since Sparda brought Eva to ground then he tried to restrain her. For this young woman however, she was not helpless like she was before, so in reflex of practice, Eva clenched her left fist then brought it around to strike Sparda on the right temple. Instead of causing pain to the demon, a prolonged burning sensation fired up within her knuckles.

"Argh!" She grunted then shoved him off. She caressed her hand while Sparda walked backward with an eyebrow raised. Eva reached for her gun but Sparda swiped his arm so it rolled away within the grass.

Eva rolled back to her feet as she raised both of her arms into a boxer's stance. Sparda cocked his head as he was more than happy by this little game. The last occasion that that he had a sparring session would be with the Gargoyles of the old times.

Sparda gently rubbed his temple. "Milady, please it would not benefit you if you keep fighting me."

"Silence demon, the world will be better without you!"

Eva took a step forward then before she could say anything, Sparda straightened his back then he lowered it and spread his arms apart. Eva did not wait for him to engage first as she dashed forward swiped her right arm around aimed for Sparda's temple again. He raised his left arm up to halt her right hook it then her left arm jabbed him in the chest. Sparda reacted by leaning forward and making an 'X' formation with his arms then split it apart for her arms to knock them out of the way. He flicked his right leg then brought it up to strike Eva in her stomach, but not as harsh… the force of his hit however made her feel dizzy and grunt in pain. Eva had the wind knocked out of her as well as some spit. She shook her head to recover mentally from the pain then by spinning around for her left leg do a roundhouse kick. It caught Sparda on the left shoulder then Eva jumped up and brought her right leg then knocked Sparda back. Evident in her meager expression... no matter how much she tried it was no use, she cannot hurt him.

He stumbled and she closed the distance by circling around him then jabbed at his left calf for him to drop to one knee. To her he seemed to be having fun with that wide smile in his face. Once that happened, another roundhouse to the temple should knock him out for good. So she raised her leg again to do so.

Sparda leaned forward and the kick whiffed above him then he rolled to his back then trapped her free leg from his boot then tugged at it. Eva completely lost her balance as she was brought to the ground and Sparda leaned forward so he could pin her leg to the ground. He was in the position to possibly break her leg…

Sparda chuckled as he stared down at her. "That was precious, please do come and find me if you want to play again." He let go of her leg then rolled to his right.

"Why are you doing this?" She whispered, and he could recognize confusion. "What kind of a demon are you?"

Eva rolled to her right and the two stood at arms-length from each other. Sparda dusted off the specs of grass from his clothing. "I must say you are the first brave human to challenge me even though you know you cannot win. Honor and bravery are traits of what I find amusing."

… "Mom is dead, they killed her... right in front of me..."

Sparda never knew how long he stayed there, how much he blamed himself for everything happened, but there is no use anymore. What's done is done. Eva is not coming back, no matter how much he wanted to deny that fact. There is a time for him to grieve. He pulled himself together and prepared to finish the current issue so he can locate the closest dwelling he owned and stick around.

Sparda backtracked a bit, eyes focused down to the double door, he took a breath and moved at incredible speed, well compared to humans anyway. He stopped in front of the door and sensed both the girl and that sandy haired guy are in the area, somewhere.

He opened the door and noticed several shelves on the opposite wall. Each were hard cover and varied in size. Reading the works of humanity was a favored past time but he felt disheartened at the moment. Perhaps another time.

He went through the waiting area and out into the next hall.

Just ahead, the dark grey hall then he turned right and Sparda tried to steel himself against the task ahead; if memory served, there was a dead cop around the corner. That being he'd have to search the corpse for anything about this place. He had not been too torn, at least, not that he'd noticed.

For how decorative the halls were for the Kingsmen of this society. It appeared that they are respected and compensated for how they served their lords and people. 'Good show!' Sparda's mind wondered.

Sparda turned the corner and froze, staring. His senses screamed, something is in the place and in wait for the perfect moment to strike…

The body that he'd jumped over was now only a bloody, tangled mass, flesh and broken limbs and shredded uniform. The head was gone, although there was no way to tell if it had been taken away or just smashed into an unrecognizable pulp. It looked like someone had taken a sledgehammer or an axe to the corpse in the few moments since he'd passed it, beating it into a clotted smear.

Sparda looked around to see if there could have been some sort of clue of what would do this to a corpse. Granted, the creatures at this point have not killed in sport but more so out of instinct. This was done with a purpose.

'The objective!' Sparda cursed at himself. Maybe talk to that guy with the black shades. There could have been something he knew to set him on the right path.

Something moved. A shadow, soft and darting over the mashed remains some twenty feet in front of him. At the same time, Sparda heard a strange rasping sound, breathing. Much like how a mask would have breath echo loudly over itself. The warrior looked up and saw the same creature he met in the street.

The creature's rounded head dropped back, the wide jaw opened with a ropy stream of dark drool string out. The long drool trails splattered over what was left of another corpse of a cop.

It extended its tongue it rolled along its teeth. To savor the flavor before the next meal. The creature dropped to the wooden floor, its body flipping in midair so that it landed in a crouch atop the mutilated cop.

The creature opened its mouth again and screamed...

Sparda drew Ombra and aimed at it. The thunder of his pistol's rounds drowned out the howl that echoed through the tight hallway. The flashes of light showed the every moment the creature flinched from the gunfire. Right side then the left side. Bits of teeth that blew out and the tongue whirled out to a wall with a small splatter of blood. Once it was over, Sparda took a second for his eyes to readjust to the darkness to see the aftermath of his handiwork.

The moment passed. Sparda took a careful step over the raw red flesh of the creature and crouched down next to the warrior's remains, using the muzzle of his weapon to push a torn piece of bloody uniform. He poked through the rotten flesh and bone, he did not think about who the man had been or how he met his end. There was nothing useful for him.

"Rest in peace." Sparda shook his head lightly went ahead for the door.

…Inside one of the rooms…

Sherry Birkin sat under a low table inside the messy briefing room. Her mind went in circles what she should do, in all the time she just waited. Governed by fear during that time. She'd gotten used to being alone, and hadn't even realized how terrified she'd been, but meeting Claire and silver haired man had changed that. She wanted to see them again and stay with them until they escape together, she wanted her parents back so bad that it made her heart ache. Even Police Chief Irons, he was a good friend to her father.

Footsteps. In the hall outside terrified her. Sherry stood up and ran to the open door that led inside to a small grey room with a chimney, hoping it was them and ready to run and hide if it was not. She ducked under the door frame, held her breath then stared at the wooden double door and silently prayed.

The door opened slowly and brown shoes came into her view as the door closed. Sherry was trying her hardest to muster up enough courage to sneak a look...

"Miss Birkin?"

Sherry laughed happily. It was the silver man's voice, no doubt.

She stood up and ran back to the wide briefing room and there was Sparda, who stood between the multiple chairs. "We were looking for you," Sparda said, holding her hand tightly. "Do not run off alone, understood?"

Sparda knelt in front of her, still smiling, but Sherry could see the change behind the smile and cyan-blue eyes. It felt empty...

"I'm sorry," Sherry said. "I was very afraid, I do not know what else to do."

"Do you know what happened to the city?"

Sherry frowned, thinking. "Well, there were a bunch of murders last month I think - like ten people got killed. And then they stopped, but then maybe a week ago, somebody got attacked."

Sparda nodded. "Okay. What did the king's men do?"

Sherry was confused by his words. "I don't know what King's men means."

Sparda pondered over it for a moment, what did Claire call them again? "I meant the police."

Sherry shock her head sadly. "I do not know what happened, my mother told me to try to hide when things got bad and I should try to look for help." She trailed off, noticing that the silver man seemed distracted suddenly, his gaze far away. It was a look she had seen plenty of times before- and it meant that he weren't really listening anymore. But as soon as she stopped talking, Sparda refocused on her, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder. "Come on." He held her hand, and together they walked out of the briefing room. The two walked carefully over the broken windows boarded with bloody wood. Sensing the danger that lurked nearby he aimed his gun at the windows and walked carefully with his back against the wall. Their footsteps seemed to be the only sound echoing in the small hall.

A sudden movement out of nowhere disturbed the place, Sherry shrieked in horror as multiple hands came between the damaged wood. "No!"

Sparda fired back none stop until the hands went limp and stayed dangled through the window. Sherry held unto his waist, to feel safer.

The walk out of the hall was mostly silent, as the two went to the other side of the hall. Sparda pushed Sherry behind him and he opened the wooden door slowly. Here they are, the hollow semi-humans. A woman and two men with her. Sparda aimed Ombra then made a clean shot over the woman's forehead. The woman fell backwards and bled profusely, followed with two shots over the men. Sparda opened the door widely but angled himself so that Sherry could not get a good view of the carnage.

They were in a light grey small hall, there was a steel door in the right side and a small brownish stairs in the other side. Sparda noticed there was a door under the stairs and next to it there was a large plant placed for a decoration perhaps.

"Claire!" He called out as loud as he could muster. Sherry glanced at the empty place, wondering where she could be. After a moment of silence the door under the stairs opened and Claire walked out of it.

"Oh Sherry."

Sherry let go of Sparda and ran to Claire's arms, embracing her.

"Thank god you found her." Claire wrapped her arms around the girl. However Sparda did not come close to her, he just stood there with a blank look.

Claire's face changed into sadness. "I believe in you." She whispered. "Sins can be forgiving, unlike my old man who disowned me while he was still alive and okay."

Sparda did not answer and he just waited for the two move ahead of him, up the stairs. The trio returned to Chief Irons office to check for anything useful.

It was Claire's turn to trail off. She stood up and walked toward the big desk at the far end of the office, looking around as she went. Claire saw something on the floor behind the desk.

She crouched down and Sparda stood behind her. "There's blood here," Claire said softly, so softly that Sherry thought Claire was just thinking a bit loud to herself.

"And?"Sparda asked. Claire looked up at the plain tan wall, frowning, then back down at the big drying trail of red on the floor. "It's still wet, for one thing. And see the way it's just kind of cut off? There should be some on the wall here..."

She rapped on the dark wood trim that lined the wall, then on the wall itself. There was an obvious difference; a dull thump from the trim, but the wall

sounded hollow.

"Is there a room back there?" Sherry asked.

Claire looked back at Sparda but nothing changed. He still has that hollow look, like he was barely there with them."Say something?" she whispered."Please?" Sparda just avoided looking at her eyes.

Claire sighed and focused back on the task ahead.

...Thank you for reading, I hope this is much better read.