Isaac Holden already had a bad feeling when he found out about his latest move, and when he saw Joyce and his elongated-eyed Asian partner, it was clear that he didn't like his new colleagues.

And Isaac was pretty sure, and Joyce and Han were probably vaguely aware of it—Isaac's dislike for them was almost equal to their defensiveness and suspicion of Isaac. But on the surface, the three of them actually get along quite well.

They gave each other their names and shook hands. Han noticed Isack's empty fingers and raised an eyebrow, and then he made a joke about a bachelor, to the effect that people like them would end up with their right hand. This kind of joke with a little lewd connotation would most make people think that the joke teller is stupid and obscene, but the wonderful thing is that it comes out of Han's mouth, it only makes people feel quite funny, and it is easy to produce an inexplicable sense of intimacy. As a result, Isaac determined that Han had probably taken some kind of language course.

By the time the first day of their first meeting had passed, the three of them seemed to have become a fairly intimate group, of course, only on the surface.

After a few more days, they were already able to spy on each other in a seemingly intimate manner. Isaac could bet his □□ that his résumé and past information (those that are not on official records) must have been studied many times by Joyce and Han in private.

He didn't know what had gone wrong, but ever since the two men had linked the corpse on the beach to the "masterpiece" in front of Calvin's apartment building, Isaac knew he had to brace himself to deal with these two goddamn bastards.

He had to find a way to get in front of Calvin's little bastard, trying to save him from the police spying and pursuit—probably without any malice at the earliest, but Isaac would never underestimate the seeds that the Adventists had planted in the official systems.

"You look like you're in a bad mood today. ”

Joyce sat in the driver's seat of the car and said to Isach.

Isaac glanced at the front seat, Joyce's eyes reflected in the rearview mirror of the patrol car, and contrary to the tone of his colleagues, his eyes were as cold and attentive as a machine.

"Well, if it were you, you'd have come from Los Angeles to this scenic seaside resort town, not to enjoy the sand and the sea and the beautiful women in bikinis, but to deal with corpses as shredded as minced beef, would-be murderers, and a dozen reporters buzzing around you like flies...... Your mood will also become quite bad. Izak gave a look of annoyance, "What's more, I'm still fucking having nightmares." This case is disgusting. ”

Han turned his head from the passenger seat, and he looked at Isaac with some concern.

"It's a bit presumptuous, but Officer Holden, are you okay? ”

Isaac shrugged, "Well, I'm just trying to find a way to quit smoking." ”

The eldest son of the Holden family knew he was looking terrible right now, he had lost almost twenty pounds in the past month, he always had huge dark circles under his eyes, and his cheeks were slightly sunken. Of course, he's not the kind of person who lets himself go, he will try to give himself □□ every day and then stay on the gym equipment until he is exhausted. His body fat percentage has now dropped to an all-time low. And all because he's worried about a certain bastard going berserk.

"Wow, you can see you're going through a difficult journey in life. ”

Han let out a stumbling sound.

He was the kind of person who couldn't help but feel close, and Isaac felt that if he hadn't been in the underground with Dr. Holden for so long, he would have been aware of the spying and research under that guy's gracious mask, and he would probably really like each other.

Thinking of this, Isaac couldn't help but secretly fight a cold war.

The intercom in the car crackled with electricity, and Joyce received a call from a police officer who had found a new clue near the hospital.

Han let out a painful wail, "Don't do this, I would have liked to get myself a cup of iced coffee, the kind with double cream and plenty of nuts—"

"Then spit it out at the crime scene. ”

Joyce took Han's words, and he said coldly sarcastically.

But Isaac noticed that when he spoke to Han, the indifference in Joyce's eyes faded instantly, and he finally looked like a full-fledged human being.

Oh, it's disgusting—

At the moment of discovering this small detail, Isaac found that his mood really became worse. He didn't know how to express that terrible feeling...... Well, if you have to describe it, he feels like the kind of bachelor who inadvertently sits in the cinema and watches a movie between a loving couple who have been married for many years and have a good relationship.

With the two people around him, he is so out of place with the whole world.

Isaac struck a stirring in the cold, pulling himself away and pulling back his increasingly strange thoughts.

For attention, he crossed his hands over his chest and watched the scenery fly by outside the car window. The seaside town, which was originally sold as a scenic resort, was mostly empty after the serial murders, and most of the people who remain here are reporters who rushed to hear the news after seeing the news, and some curiosity hunters with sick brains. Because of this, there was an unpleasant heaviness in the air throughout the town. Even the palm trees with a tropical atmosphere on the side of the road look indescribably ominous at this time.

Then, while waiting for the red light at the small intersection in Sunset Town, Isaac was somewhat surprised to see the huge black dog sitting at the intersection.

Isaac's pupils contracted in an instant, and his heartbeat suddenly accelerated.

"Officer Holden?"

God knows how long Han had been secretly observing him, but Isakh's unusually subtle reaction still caught his attention.

Han leaned back slightly, turned his head sideways and followed Isaac's gaze to look out.

"You don't like dogs?"

He asked casually, his tone sounding almost like a joke.

Isaac turned his head, his gaze touching Han's in the air.

"I just don't really like black dogs. He pursed his lips, "In superstitious parlance, seeing such a big black dog is not a good omen. ”

A young woman walks to the intersection and unties the black dog from the railing on the side of the road. It was obvious that she had only left temporarily, and to make up for it, she bent down to let her pet take a bite of ice cream.

The sunlight fell on both, and the light was brilliant, while the shadows appeared very thick.

The patrol car drove quickly past that intersection, and inside the car, Han laughed softly.

"Is this what you call the LAPD? I thought no one hated the big black dog since Harry Potter was published......"

"Harry Potter?"

Izak frowned in confusion, not knowing any connection between the Black Dog and Harry Potter.

Han sensed his confusion, and the disgusting smile on his face subsided a little: "In that book, Harry's godfather, Sirius, also appeared as a black dog when he first appeared—"

"Han!"

Joyce let out a warning call, finally interrupting Han's chatter.

Isaac pretended not to care about the momentary awkwardness in the car, though his strange feeling of being a bachelor sitting between a loving couple had intensified a little more.

And, the black dog......

Isaac couldn't help but think of the nightmare that had always haunted him.

Growing up, if there was any nightmare that really scared him, it was that dream.

His younger brother, Calvin, was sometimes a child, sometimes a grown man, but without exception, they were pale and terrified in the distance of Aysac.

And a big black dog will suddenly appear behind Calvin with blood-red eyes.

After that, no matter how wild and shouting Azac was, he could never do anything, and in that nightmare, he could only watch as the black dog opened its bloody mouth and bit Calvin, and then dragged him into the thick darkness -

No matter how many times he told himself it was just a nightmare, Isaac couldn't overcome that deep fear.

Somewhere in his heart, there was a voice that was stubbornly repeating.

Someday......

His nightmares will become real.

After arriving at their destination, Joyce, Han and Izak all got out of the car, and the police officers were very excited by what they discovered, as they found several illegally set pinhole cameras near the morgue where the tragedy was released.

It was a young man who loved blood and curiosity to increase the clicks on his channel and secretly set up a hidden pinhole camera under completely illegal circumstances. His lover had been the cleaner in charge of cleaning the area, and with the help of the other party, the young man had completed the installation of the cameras.

"What did he shoot?!"

Joyce asked the officer as she walked.

"For a bloody livestream, there was very little content, the cameras were cheap bought on eBay, and the signal was poor under the interference of the walls - and there was no view of the inside of the morgue, and his lover didn't want to do that, so the cameras were only distributed in the hallways and doorways......"

Isaac followed them, listening carefully to their conversation.

And at this moment, the mobile phone in his pocket vibrate. Isaac frowned, he took out his phone and glanced at it quickly, it showed an unknown number.

And almost as soon as he saw the word, Izak's almost beastly intuition worked.

His heart beat faster instantly, and his back sweated slightly.

Someone whispered in his ear, telling him that the call was very important. Because it's ......

Isaac glanced quickly at Joyce and Han, who were focused on the new developments in the case.

Then, around the corner of the hallway a few steps away, he dodged in.

His fingers were trembling slightly when he pressed the answer button, and he was really worried that the other party had given up dialing the moment he answered the call.

Fortunately, the other party did not.

"Hey—"

“……”

After the first greeting, he and the person across the microphone fell silent.

Isaac heard a very restrained, faint breathing, and his palms instantly became even wetter.

"I should have texted you, but I don't want to leave any traceable information. ”

There was a strange voice on the other side of the microphone, one that was sharp and sharp, like a botched version of Donald Duck.

But Isaac felt paralyzed.

No matter how the voice changed, he couldn't mistake the tone of his brother when he spoke with him.

He almost wanted to grab his phone and ask like a machine gun - are you okay? are you safe now? how are you doing? does the corpse in Sunset have anything to do with you? Is that damn pervert still chasing you......

But in reality, he just forcibly pressed the strong worry and panic in his heart, and said a thousand words without ups and downs.

"Uh-huh—"

He motioned for Calvin to continue.

"It's not safe where you're now, I know it sounds ridiculous, but trust me, everything I'm saying is true. Devils, demons, monsters, whatever you want to call it, there's that thing out there and it's going to want to hurt humans - get out of there if you can, don't dig into it - you can't catch a culprit, it's not something that human laws or firearms can sanction. Only God can ......" Calvin's voice paused, "if there really is God." ”

“……”

Aisak's brow furrowed, and he desperately caught every tone of Calvin, trying to discern where he was now.

Admittedly, at the beginning of Calvin's words, Isaac almost thought that he was being controlled by someone, a cult or some other brainwashing gang.

But there was something inexplicable in Calvin's voice that made Calvin's warning extra solemn and true.

"What about you? How are you now?"

Isaac asked urgently, his voice lowered, he could no longer control his emotions - especially after realizing what Calvin might have really gone through to make such a venture to say this to him, the intense worry almost engulfed Isaac entirely.

"I'm fine now, I'm going to hang...... Take care of yourself, Isach. ”

Calvin replied on the other end of the phone.

Then he decisively cut off the phone.

Isaac couldn't help but look at his watch, just as he expected, it was 45 seconds. This is the method that Dr. Holden once personally instructed, hanging up the phone during this time period to ensure that the location of his call is not searched and located.

Isaac was well aware of this, but when he listened to the disconnection sound from his phone, he still felt unusually distressed and anxious.

"Did something happen?"

Suddenly, a gentle inquiry came from not far away from Isaac.

Isaac turned his head suddenly, and Han's figure appeared at the other end of the hallway, his expression a little blurry because of the backlight.

Damn it—

Isaac let out a curse in his heart.

He didn't even know how long Han had been standing there. Theoretically, with his alertness, no one could approach him so silently. But maybe it was because Calvin's sudden phone call today disturbed his mind, or maybe Han did have a special talent in some way (maybe he did have gongfu), and he was like a ghost when he appeared there, and Isaac didn't notice it at all.

Isaac's hand holding the phone trembled slightly, but then steadied.

"An informant. ”

He waved his phone and replied calmly to Han.

"Wow......" Han slowly took a few steps closer, and he looked at Isaac a few more times as if he was a little strange, "That must be a very important informant." Is he in any trouble? You look a little nervous. ”

Isaac didn't know how he managed to squeeze that smile out of Han.

"Like you said, it's my very important informant. ”

He didn't say much. And on the surface, Han doesn't seem to want to delve into Aizak's weird informant phone -

"Joyce is looking for you, and I think our lovely social network poisoner has left us something very interesting. You should check it out. ”

Han said.

…………

……

At the moment when Isaac and Han began their conversation, Calvin in another city put his disposable phone into a cup full of Coke at hand.

At his feet was a deflated balloon that Calvin had bought for a few dollars from a couple of punk teenagers on the side of the road. This helium balloon was popular at parties and used to change his voice briefly.

Just through the news, he is too accurate to judge Isack's current situation, but this does not mean that it is superfluous to do an extra layer of insurance.

Thinking of Joyce and Han, a faint shadow appeared in Calvin's heart.

He took his phone out of the cup and stomped on it, then lowered the brim of his hat and turned and walked out of the dilapidated alley where he had been hiding his figure. Compared to the laughing holiday crowd on the streets, Calvin's pace was slightly faster. Of course, he did not forget about Messer, who was left alone at the Sapphire Royal Hotel by himself.

At the thought of his actions, Calvin almost felt guilty.

At this moment, he desperately wanted to go back to the hotel...... Go back to Moser.

However, just as he was about to speed up his pace, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Excuse me, are you interested in learning about Adventism?"

The sound that made Calvin's blood almost freeze rang out.

Only then did he notice that in order to get closer, he had unconsciously moved away from the commercial street and stepped into a certain urban residential area. Compared to the luxury resorts and bars that line the streets, as well as the specialty craft shops, this residential area where locals live looks a bit old and run-down.

The lawn on the side of the road is overgrown with weeds, and it is evident that it is not well tended on a normal day, and the water in the swimming pool in front of a collective housing building has grown green moss.

The air was humid and stuffy, with a faint stench.

Calvin looked up slowly, and he coldly observed the preacher in front of him from under the brim of his hat.

It was a middle-aged man with a rickety, scrawny middle-aged man, with a large red and swollen nose covered with yellow grease granules, and sagging eyebrows with loose eye bags barely enclosing the man's red eyes.

Judging by the texture and color of his robes, he was a very rudimentary initiate.

He was holding a stack of leaflets in his hand, and his expression was rather dazed, and it was evident that he had not been a religious believer, but had left home for the benefits of the Adventists. And having to go out on the street after joining the church was obviously not his favorite activity.

It's just that all the slackness and exhaustion in his body were swept away when he saw Calvin's beautiful face exposed under the brim of his hat.

"It's a good sect, man, I think you'll fit into our family-"

Calvin had his hands in his pockets, and he didn't reach out, while the new Adventist began to sell rather eagerly.

As he spoke the sentences that he was about to memorize, he was distracted, and he looked up and down the young man in front of him with a sticky and obscene gaze from what he thought was inconspicuous.

He swore he had never seen anything so good—not even in a professional men's club that cost five hundred dollars to get in for a night.

He had already sensed the other party's coldness, but it didn't matter, he just wanted to lean over and smell the little guy's smell......

The man didn't realize it, Calvin's face had gradually turned pale.

"Fuck off. ”

Calvin said stiffly.

He didn't want to be stuck here at all, because he was facing an unprecedented crisis.

He found that sometimes he didn't have the means to control his wings.

Now, for example, the mere mere name Advent almost makes him want to vomit, but in order to hide his whereabouts, he has to hide his clenched fists in his pocket (God knows how much he wants to punch the man in front of him to the point that his teeth fall out), which wasn't a big problem in the past. But now......

He felt his wings fluttering.

Calvin desperately tightened his shoulder blades, but the desire to spread his wings was so strong that he had never done before.

He let out an inward curse as he rounded the Advent member to leave, but he had only taken a few steps when his path was blocked again.

"Dude, at least you can look at the flyer?"

The man was very deliberate in his presence in front of Calvin.

He did it very secretively, and in the eyes of ordinary people, it was almost normal approaching.

But Calvin was no ordinary man.

He knows how those perverts act......

"I'm not interested. ”

Calvin said in a low voice.

His back muscles were already twitching from excessive tension.

"But—"

"No, but. He's already said he's not interested, and if you come over again, we'll call the police to deal with it. ”

A low voice interrupted the man.

Then, someone grabbed Calvin from behind.

The author has something to say: Isaac: I don't know what's going on, but I think I'm a light bulb. 166 Reading Network