cHApTEr 11. EmoTionAl DAmAgE (3 of 3)

“Natalie Lance?”

“Yes. And you are?”

“Kevin Edgett.”

They came to a stop in front of each other, umbrellas in hand – black against white – shielding them from the steady rain. Mioray was the only one without one, though it wouldn't have made a difference; he was already soaked to the bone.

“I didn’t see you at the abandoned factory,” Natalie said, narrowing her eyes at Kevin.

“Let’s just say I ran into some… difficulties–”

“That decapitated body the Dismantler dragged around – was that you?” Natalie cut him off.

Kevin’s face darkened.

“If you saw that, then, to my shame, I must confirm: yes, that was me.”

Natalie raised her eyebrows, visibly skeptical, but there was no real reason to doubt him. After all, she'd already seen the unbelievable. Like Mioray extending his arm and leg. She glanced at him now, noting how his left arm looked perfectly intact, as if it had never been missing. Without lifting it, Mioray gave her a subtle wave. Just enough to prove that, yes, the arm was real.

“So I assume you’re the same as Mioray,” she said, turning back to Kevin. “What about Terry?”

There was a glimmer of hope in her voice. A dangerous thing, hope. Good thing Kevin was the one answering. Mioray wouldn’t have been able to say it aloud, especially knowing she had likely spent the entire past week wondering whether Terry was truly gone, his life ending as a monster, or if, somehow, he’d turned back into the same goofy guy he’d always been.

“Nothing’s changed,” Kevin said flatly, offering no mercy. “His body doesn’t decay, but there’s no reason to believe he’ll come back. It’s better to accept that it’s just an empty husk.”

“I see.”

It looked like she'd been preparing for the worst-case scenario after all. Still, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, Natalie’s cheekbones tightened slightly as she struggled to keep her expression neutral.

“So, what was it you wanted to talk about that couldn’t be handled over the phone, Kevin Edgett?” Despite everything, Natalie’s tone remained composed.

“We want to strike a deal with you.”

“A deal?” she repeated, intrigued. “What kind of deal?”

“We help you with the Dismantler in exchange for–”

“Let me stop you right there,” Natalie interjected again. “I saw how it went last time. Were you calling the shots in your undead group?”

“You could say that,” Kevin muttered, his tone tight from being cut off a second time.

“Do everyone a favor and don’t make any more plans to catch the Dismantler. Okay?”

Neither Mioray nor Kevin expected that response. Kevin looked stunned, unsure how to reply. Mioray, however, caught the way Kevin’s fist tightened around his umbrella and the color drained from his face. The lawyer was clearly trying to keep his emotions in check. Even stopping himself from breathing, it seemed. Mioray nearly chuckled. Who would've guessed Kevin could be rattled so easily? He might need to take some notes from Natalie on how to do that.

“Any news about him?” Mioray stepped in, giving Kevin a moment to regroup. “The Dismantler, I mean?”

Natalie hesitated, clearly debating whether to share investigative details with them.

“No. No new leads,” she finally admitted, throwing up her arm in frustration.

“What about us? There’s nothing about us in the news. Wouldn’t the police be looking for us after the factory incident?”

“Normally, yes,” Natalie said, voice dropping into a cold, almost haunted tone. “You were seen in action by multiple officers. By protocol, we’d at least need to bring you in as witnesses, or at worst, as accomplices to the Dismantler. But there’s no such order. In fact, any mention of you has been scrubbed from official records.” She shook her head, as if still trying to wrap her mind around it. “And I was pulled from the case. Don’t get me wrong, the disaster at the factory should’ve ended my career. But instead – nothing. No reprimand. Just silence. All I lost was my lead on the investigation.”

“You think the authorities are trying to hide something?” Mioray asked, genuinely surprised.

“I think someone’s putting pressure on them.”

“Someone like the Order of Mercy?”

“Someone exactly like the Order of Mercy.”

Sooner or later, that name had to come up. The Order was the source of the serum that brought people back from the dead. The blame for the Dismantler’s very existence – at this point, it wasn’t even a stretch to assume the serial killer was Impact Corpse – could be laid at their feet. It was just as July said. He wasn’t the only one responsible for the string of recent tragedies in Reques City. The ones who made him bore just as much responsibility.

The idea that they were sweeping things under the rug wasn’t far-fetched. In fact, it was deeply troubling. If it was true, it meant the Order had sway in high places. They didn’t want the public to know about the undead or the threat that came with them, like the Dismantler.

“Last thing I managed to find out,” Natalie added, “is that the blood and, er, pieces of flesh and bone left behind at the scene do belong to Herman Clopton.” She hesitated a beat. “It looks like he turned undead, just like you guys.”

“Was it only his DNA on the scene?” Kevin asked sharply, his earlier restraint finally cracking.

“As far as I know, yes. Why?”

“There was a woman with us. She sacrificed herself to stop Impact Corpse, though it didn’t really work. Her remains should’ve been there too. She’s supposed to regenerate the same as us. By now, at least her skeleton would’ve started reforming. Your people couldn’t have missed that.”

“I haven’t heard anything,” Natalie said flatly, her voice dry.

The silence that followed was heavy. If Natalie was being kept out of the loop, how were they supposed to find out what happened to Mia? If the Order got involved, they might have already taken her somewhere. Mioray’s shoulders stiffened. They weren’t leaving Mia behind. Even if Erinel disagreed, Mioray would find a way to get her back. She was more than just part of the team.

Mia was a friend.

A sudden noise caught their attention. From the direction of the university’s main entrance came the soft clatter of boots on wet concrete. A security guard in a raincoat was passing by, sweeping his flashlight lazily across the ground as he walked. It wasn’t illegal to be on university grounds at night, but lingering too long always raised eyebrows. Mioray and Kevin had already been loitering here for nearly two hours seeing off Chris and Julie, then waiting for Natalie to arrive.

“Look, if there’s nothing else you can offer me,” Natalie said, tilting her neck with a tired crack, “then I think it’s best we end it here.” She sounded worn out. Clearly low on sleep. Mioray was reminded that the living had limits. They needed rest. “I’m already going out on a limb meeting you in secret.”

Kevin exhaled hard.

“I understand you don’t trust us,” he said, quick and direct. “But we really are your best chance at stopping the Dismantler.”

“Why should I believe you?” Natalie challenged, her eyes locking onto his.

“You’ve seen what happened to Terry.”

“Yeah. And I still don’t know why or how he died, when he was supposed to be undead.” Her voice sharpened. “But I suppose you have the answers to both those questions? Right, Mioray?”

Both she and Kevin turned toward him.

Mioray nodded, solemn. Now wasn’t the time for secrets, not if they wanted Natalie on their side.

“You do understand,” she said slowly, “that if you have any information on how to stop the Dismantler you're obligated to share it with the authorities?”

“I’m afraid that’s out of the question,” Kevin said, slipping easily back into his usual arrogant, self-assured tone like he had the upper hand now. “To me, it looks like the authorities have secrets of their own.” He raised an eyebrow. “But I’ll give you something. The Dismantler? He’s not your typical human. He’s not even a regular undead like Mioray or me.”

Natalie’s eyes narrowed, but Kevin pressed on.

“As I see it, there are two stages to becoming something like him. First, there has to be a severe emotional reaction, something that shatters the mind. That’s when an undead goes mad and starts obsessing over whatever it was that broke them. Like the Dismantler, for example, killing victims in search for another undead, quickly forgetting that reason. Just stuck on repeat.”

He gestured vaguely with his free hand.

“The second phase begins when that obsession gets interrupted and the undead mutates, loses all control. In the Dismantler’s case, that moment was when he saw Mioray’s arm wasn’t decaying. That’s when he knew he found another undead. One he’d been looking for all along.”

That theory had taken shape after what happened to Terry. The memory of it still chilled Mioray. It meant any one of them – Kevin, Farah, Matt, Mia... even him – could spiral down the same path.

He looked down at his hands, flexing them. What would he turn into, if his emotions lost their leash? Would it be tied to these strange black threads that appeared every time he detached his limbs? They reminded him of surgical sutures, like when his body was stitched back together from scattered parts, except the stitching had grown into him. A part of who he was now.

“That’s your working theory?” Natalie asked, brow furrowed.

“For now, yes,” Kevin said with a nod. “There are other things, but those will have to wait. So, Natalie Lance, what do you say? Do you really think the police stand a chance against the Dismantler?”

“What do you want in return?” she asked, sharp as a scalpel.

“The woman I mentioned, the one who sacrificed herself. She’s got to be in police custody somewhere. Help us get her back, and we’ll stop the Dismantler.”

Natalie didn’t answer right away. She simply stared at them, weighing the bargain like a judge in court. Her eyes flicked between Kevin and Mioray, as if trying to gauge if they were serious or if this was just a criminal plea deal in disguise. But that comparison wasn’t fair. Kevin was bluffing, sure, but their cause wasn’t fake. Even if Natalie refused, they weren’t giving up. Erinel still wanted to put an end to Impact Corpse, and while that monster was still out there, the risk of the undead being exposed to the world was too high. They wanted a shot at holding onto something like normal life for a little longer.

“Fine,” Natalie said at last.

Mioray let out a subtle breath, careful not to show the relief tugging at his chest. It was hard to keep his expression neutral, but he managed. If Natalie saw through their bluff, she gave no sign of it. Maybe she had seen it and agreed anyway?

“I’ll take the deal,” she continued, “but I have conditions of my own.”

“Let’s hear them,” Kevin said.

“First, I’ll participate in both operations. Recovering your friend, and confronting the Dismantler.”

“That can be arranged. What else?”

“Second, you’ll take me to your hideout. If you expect me to trust you, I need to know you trust me, too.”

Now it was Kevin’s turn to hesitate. The storage facility was the only safe place they had left. Letting someone from the outside in, especially someone connected to law enforcement, was risky. What if Natalie brought backup? What if it was a trap?

He stood there in the rain, umbrella gripped tightly in hand, posture rigid with tension. Mioray could tell, Kevin was considering saying no. If he wasn’t, he would’ve already agreed. And if Kevin was stalling… Then maybe he was preparing himself for failure.

“It’s a deal,” Mioray said quickly, cutting in before Kevin could make up his mind.

The lawyer gave him a sharp, puzzled look, but Mioray didn’t flinch.

“It’s fine, Kevin. Natalie’s human. We can trust humans to be our allies, right?”

It was a shaky argument, but it landed, mostly because just recently Kevin said something similar in relation to greanrips. Mioray was using his own words against him, and Kevin knew it.

“Besides,” Mioray added, glancing over at Natalie, “if she wanted to arrest us, she’d have done it by now.”

“Oh, most definitely,” Natalie agreed dryly. “I’m in no mood to play games.”

Still, Mioray cast a quick look around, scanning the trees and shadows nearby. He didn’t trust this night, or anyone, entirely. Who knew? Maybe there was backup lurking out there, waiting for the perfect moment.

But nothing stirred.

“Fine,” Kevin muttered, annoyance seeping into his voice. He extended his hand to Natalie. “A deal’s a deal.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Kevin Edgett,” she said, shaking it. “I’ll have to look into you. See what interesting things I can dig up.”

Kevin gave a thin, tight-lipped smile meant to be menacing.

“Start with the fact I’m a lawyer.”

“Ah, I see,” Natalie replied, matching his smile with a sharper one of her own. “That explains a lot. Like why you were skulking around my office windows at the precinct.”

“Wait, really?” Mioray blinked, turning to Kevin. “Is that a hobby of yours or something? Stalking people?”

Tonight was definitely not going Kevin’s way. Usually so composed and smug, he pursed his lips in barely concealed irritation.

“There’s no reason for us to stay here,” he snapped, pivoting sharply and heading off.

“My car’s in the other direction, you know,” Natalie called after him.

Kevin froze, adjusted his direction without a word.

“No, I’m just kidding – you were going the right way.”

“Just lead the way, will you?!” Kevin snapped again, gesturing dramatically for her to take the front.

Mioray and Natalie shared a quiet laugh behind him. It was rare to see Kevin so thoroughly flustered. Mioray couldn’t wait to tell Matt. And maybe even Farah. She might finally shift her constant mockery away from him and give Kevin a well-deserved taste.

Eventually, Natalie led them to her car, and the three of them drove toward the storage facility. On the way, Mioray explained how they had an entire floor to themselves.

“Really?” Natalie gave him a disbelieving look in the rearview mirror. “The whole floor? Where’d you get the money? Legal work?”

“In a way,” Mioray replied from the back seat, suppressing a grin.

Up front, Kevin’s glasses caught the passing streetlights, flashing in quiet annoyance.

“Kevin figured out a way for us to access Terry’s money,” Mioray continued. “So we’re not exactly hurting for rent right now.”

Natalie fell silent for a beat.

“So what you’re telling me is… you’re using Terry’s money to rent the place?” she asked, her voice light but edged with something unreadable. “Money I couldn’t inherit even though I was his fiancée?”

Mioray swallowed, caught off guard. He hadn’t thought of that. Terry had no surviving family. Perhaps Natalie should’ve inherited everything? Of course she would’ve had a claim.

“Don’t worry,” she said, waving the thought off before the silence grew awkward. “It’s not like I was after Terry’s money or anything. At the time, it was the last thing on my mind.”

She glanced back at Mioray, eyes tired but genuine.

“But now that I know? I’m fine with it. He was with you guys. If he wanted to share what he had, that’s his choice. I’m okay with that.”

When they arrived at the storage facility, Natalie asked to see Terry’s body. She didn’t expect closure, just a chance to say goodbye again. A proper one. Their last meeting had been short, fragmented. Just a few words exchanged. Then he went mad, and nothing she said after that ever reached him.

“We’ll wait outside,” Kevin said as he rolled up the metal door to Terry’s room. “Take all the time you need.”

“Thank you,” Natalie murmured, stepping quietly inside.

Mioray glanced once more at the body lying on the vehicle lift. Wheels for arms and legs, made from bone and muscle tissue. Everything from the skin down to bones turned blue. Terry looked strangely peaceful with eyes closed and face calm. Like he was napping and might wake at any moment. But he wouldn’t.

Not even when Natalie placed her hand gently over the stab wound near his chest where the Cursed Blade took his life and death.

The sight brought a gnawing unease back into Mioray’s gut. The thought kept circling him, never quite leaving: was the same fate waiting for all of them? The parallels between the undead turning into gruesome monsters and the souls of the dead merging into the Soul Collective was striking. It felt as if anything that overstayed its welcome in the world of the living was doomed to become corrupted and fall apart.

“I’ll go check on Erinel,” Mioray said to Kevin, tearing his eyes away. “Can I leave you two here?”

Kevin didn’t look at him.

“Go.”

Mioray left. He walked briskly through the echoing corridor, clenching his jaw. I won’t go mad. He repeated it like a promise. Like a prayer. I won’t become like Terry.

He thought of Chris and Julie. Somehow, he just knew that if they stayed, they’d never become part of the Soul Collective. Chris was Chris. He’d never lose himself. Julie, too. The difference between how she had been in the final moments of her life and just a few hours ago was remarkable. She came to terms with her death. For them, Mioray would resist that thin line between sanity and madness.

When he stepped into Erinel’s garden room, it felt like stepping out of time. A meadow unfurled beneath his feet, soft grass swaying gently under artificial light. Two red foxes darted through the greenery, their forms playful and surreal. Every time Mioray came here, the place looked like a dream sculpted into reality.

In the center where a teak tree put its roots, Erinel sat with her back against the bark. She was reading a book. A starling perched on her shoulder, watching Mioray. Erinel didn’t notice Mioray’s approaching, but the bird chirped once, sharply, and fluttered up into the branches, disappearing among the leaves.

Mioray tilted his head to read the cover. “The History of Cinema”. Of all things, that wasn’t what he expected. Maybe Erinel picked it up after their date at the movies? She was already halfway through the book. She didn’t start reading it today, that’s for sure. Mioray shifted, unsure of himself. For the past week, he’d been avoiding Erinel.

“How’s the book?” he asked, breaking the silence.

“Mioray?” Startled, Erinel looked at him over the pages. She reminded him of a fragile flower, with enchanting and delicate black petals. “It’s nice to see you.”

Those simple words could’ve melted him, but instead, goosebumps ran down his spine. He recalled what Kevin had told him. Currently, while their goals aligned, Erinel was their ally. But that could change at any time. The thought frightened him. Especially now, when Erinel looked like she had been torn right from a painting – a beautiful woman surrounded by innocent nature. But could someone innocent kill so mercilessly? And not just a stranger. A friend.

“I wanted to learn more about cinema,” Erinel said, closing the book and holding it up for him to see. “Apparently, humans were once amazed by short black-and-white films. A train arriving at a station could leave audiences stunned. Compared to what we saw, it’s incredible how far they’ve come.”

“Yeah,” Mioray replied, uncertain. Her curiosity felt… innocent. Disarming. But it didn’t erase what she’d done to Terry.

“And why didn’t you tell me,” she added, lips curling into a soft smile, “that it’s not just movies you can film? You can record anything and can keep precious moments forever. Like a piece of the past frozen in time. It won’t fade away like memories do.”

She knew what she had done. Was she trying to deflect? There was no point in it. Mioray could feel that suffocating gap between them, and it wasn’t narrowing. And still, she sat under the tree, surrounded by innocence, smiling with her soft pinkish lips. It was impossible not to drown in that smile of hers. Still, he had to resist.

“Kevin mentioned to me that you met Claire,” Mioray said, locking his arms behind his neck as he glanced at the walls covered with drawn trees. “The server girl from the museum.”

“Did he now?” Erinel placed the book on the ground and stood up, resting her hand on the bark of the tree. “Yes, I let her pass to the realm between realms.”

“How did it go?”

Erinel tapped a finger against her pointed chin.

“It went well, actually,” she answered thoughtfully. “She was a brave woman. She was able to come to terms with her death.”

That wasn’t the answer Mioray expected. Then again, he wasn’t sure what he had expected, but definitely not that.

“Did you talk to her?” he asked.

“As a matter of fact, I did,” Erinel said, smiling with a quiet, satisfied expression. “I connected with her by talking about the movie we watched together with you. I asked what she thought of it.”

“What?” Mioray blinked. “She saw it too?”

“No,” Erinel chuckled softly, shaking her head. “I just didn’t think it through. People don’t watch every movie that gets released. There are simply too many of them in one lifetime. You humans have to choose which ones to watch. Or do other things. Claire said she preferred video games, whatever that means.”

How could he stay angry at her? She was so sincere, so removed from human habits, from human guilt. Mioray could feel himself softening. Still, he wondered what she truly thought of him. Was he a friend or just a tool? There was no ill will in Erinel’s hazel eyes. They held a kind of quiet gentleness that couldn’t be faked. And if it could… Well, then whoever faked it wouldn’t be human.

“Video games are Matt’s specialty,” Mioray said, “but I could still teach you a thing or two. Did Claire say what kind she played?”

“Yes. She told me she was glad she had time to finish Zenoraid Chronicles, and then she dove into explaining what it is. But, frankly, I understood nothing.”

“Right, I’ve heard about it,” Mioray chuckled. “But it’d be a bad starting point. I think we should try something easier to get into.”

Talking about Claire helped. It brought a small sense of closure. It was comforting to know she’d had someone to talk to before moving on. She deserved that.

The starling whistled again somewhere in the teak’s foliage, cutting into the moment. Mioray caught a flicker of sadness in Erinel’s smile. It brought everything flooding back. What happened just a week ago and today, and how quick Mioray was to push it aside. The shame crept in like a tide.

“Do you hate me now?” Erinel asked quietly, adjusting her dress. She was the brave one this time, choosing to address the gap between them first.

“I don’t,” Mioray replied, his voice steady as he met her gaze. “I can’t. I don’t want to. But… I can’t ignore you saying that we all should be gone.”

“It is true,” Erinel said. The innocence faded from her face, replaced by a quiet, ancient gravity. “I only stated how things should be. I didn’t say I wanted it that way.”

“Do you want us gone?”

“No.”

“But you had the blade on you even when we went to the movies.”

“I had to be prepared in case Impact Corpse ambushed us.”

That was fair. It made sense. Mioray wanted to believe her. She’d admitted she didn’t want them gone. She’d taken interest in human culture. And – possibly for the first time in a long time – she’d connected with a soul of the dead.

There was only one thing left he needed to be sure of.

“Do you feel remorse for killing Terry?” Mioray asked, the words forcing their way out of his mouth.

It was a question he didn’t want answered but needed to be. Enough with the speculation. The answer could change everything: their dynamic, his feelings for her, the way he saw her. Erinel understood that, too. She nodded silently, bracing herself. Would her answer be what he wanted to hear… or what he feared?

“What are you saying?” a voice suddenly called out from the garden entrance. It was Natalie. “I’m supposed to believe there’s a being I can’t see who guides the souls of the dead to the afterlife,” she said, incredulous, “and she’s in possession of a blade that can kill the undead? The very same Cursed Blade of Avalon that was stolen from the Mausolo Museum?”

Mioray and Erinel turned toward her voice. Natalie approached, walking beside Kevin, with Farah and Matt trailing close behind. The detective looked around, stunned by what she saw – the meadow, the darting foxes and a teak tree in the center of it all. Such beauty, hidden inside a storage facility. Her mind swelled with questions, and she didn’t hold back.

“Erinel is standing right next to Mioray,” Kevin explained after they reached the tree, having just finished his patient breakdown of the spiritual plane. “You should be glad you can’t see her. It means you’ll live. At least for the next three weeks.”

“Okay…” Natalie said, clearly uncertain. She tried to look at Erinel, but all she saw was empty air. “And she’s the one who killed Terry with the Cursed Blade?”

“Right.”

“Okay. That’s hard to believe, but I’ve seen crazier,” Natalie said, taking a deep breath. “Tell her that when my time’s up and I’m the one meeting her, we’re going to have a serious conversation. I don’t like her methods. But for now, we’re both after the Dismantler, so we’ll have to work together.”

“She doesn’t know I can hear her, does she?” Erinel smiled, arms crossed.

“Miss Erinel,” Matt stepped forward, eyes pleading, “Kevin said that Miss Natalie will help us look for Mia. She’s a dear friend of mine, and I don’t want to lose her too. Will you help us get her back? Please, Miss Erinel.”

“Oh, Matt, I never said I wouldn’t,” Erinel said gently, leaning in to rest a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“You better not try anything funny,” Farah snapped, grabbing Matt and pulling him protectively toward herself. “I’m coming too. I’ll be watching you.”

Natalie planted her hands on her hips.

“Well, now I don’t know if you guys are serious or just messing with me.”

“You better get used to it,” Mioray chuckled. “Nothing’s normal here.”

The fighting spirit had never burned brighter. Somehow, against all odds, they were all on the same page, united in a single purpose: getting Mia back. Nothing would stop them. They had a greanrip. They had undead with formidable abilities. And now they even had a real detective on their side.

Just wait a little longer, Mia, Mioray thought. We’re going to save you!