48

Hunter, Don't Shoot My Friend

Chapter 48: A Little Understanding

"The current target, Hallie Knudsen, has a younger sister, and it appears that her parents care for her a great deal. A model family in every sense of the word," said a woman who was a field agent in this matter.

"Has her family been informed?" Ethan asked, holding his unsheathed sword.

"Yes, they've been informed. They were expecting a detective to visit today, so they were notified in advance to be ready for the visit."

Ethan hadn’t yet processed this information when Stiles called, informing him about those who had summoned Slenderman. It saved them hours of investigation, which was a pleasant surprise.

Now, Ethan was heading to the house of the girl most affected by the situation, who was also suffering the worst nightmares. He suspected she would be the next target, so he wanted to see it for himself.

It wasn’t common for a regent to personally handle field missions, but Ethan was different from many leaders who only issued orders from behind a desk.

Everyone could sense that Ethan had returned to his normal self, which reassured them about the success of this operation.

Even Liam could tell that the old Ethan was back.

It wasn’t typical for Ethan to be courteous, much less patient with dark entities, but spending time in this town was clearly having a positive effect on him.

If Ethan had gone longer without eliminating a powerful dark entity, his personality might not have snapped back as it did now. But, to be fair, it’s normal for these things to happen when you’re a regent.

"We've arrived, sir. We’ll wait outside."

Ethan looked around and realized they were in a decent middle-class neighborhood, where the American dream seemed to have been fulfilled for most residents.

The arrival of the vehicles obviously alerted the neighborhood, with people wondering who the visitors were.

Ethan, of course, didn’t care. He walked to the house where the foolish girl, now in danger of being killed, lived and knocked twice on the door.

Knock! Knock!

He didn’t use the doorbell—he was a man who liked simple things.

"Coming."

Crack!

As soon as the door opened, Ethan, dressed in a black suit, introduced himself: "Good morning, Mr. Knudsen. I'm Agent Ethan from the FBI. Is your family gathered as we agreed on the phone?"

"Uh? Yes, we’re all home." Victor Knudsen glanced at Ethan’s badge and at the people waiting outside, realizing the situation was more serious than he’d thought.

"That’s good. I’d like to warn you that, as the man of the house, you need to understand that these issues directly involve your daughter, even though she may not be aware of them right now. I’m afraid you’re going to hear some things that are hard to digest, so I ask for your understanding and cooperation. We’re here to help your family, not to harm you. I hope you understand that before we discuss what’s happening with your daughter." Ethan’s words were as clear as possible.

It wasn’t hard to understand, right?

The real problem when discussing dark entities with civilians is that they often don’t believe in them, they go mad, or they refuse to cooperate. Unfortunately, Ethan wasn’t here to accept "no" as an answer.

He hoped they would at least listen to him.

"I don’t understand. My daughter is involved." Victor couldn’t believe it. He’d spoken with his daughter yesterday, and she’d promised she wasn’t involved in anything related to her friend’s disappearance.

Ethan nodded briefly and, as he entered the Knudsen house, explained, "Your daughter is the next target of the abductor, which is why you need to understand how we’re going to eliminate the threat."

"Eliminate it?" Victor didn’t have time to grasp Ethan’s words, but when they reached the living room where his family was waiting, he quickly introduced them: "This is Agent Ethan, sir. This is my family: my eldest daughter, Hallie, my wife, Rebecca, and my younger daughter, Lizzie."

"Nice to meet you, agent."

Ethan nodded and said, "Your younger daughter shouldn’t hear what I’m about to say, so you may let her go to her room."

"But I want to listen."

Rebecca took her daughter aside and whispered, "Listen, obey, and we’ll talk about this later."

"Okay, fine."

When Rebecca returned, she said, "Agent, we’ve already spoken with the police and told them everything we know. Why do you need another meeting with us if we have nothing to do with my daughter’s friend’s disappearance?"

Ethan removed his jacket and said, "On the contrary, ma’am. Your daughter and her friends are responsible for everything that’s about to happen to them."

"What?"