American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 359 Shadow Hunter
Claire pulled Roy to the basement. At this time, the black-haired woman was still on her last breath, clearly on her deathbed. Even her vision had become blurry, and she could only barely see Claire.

"Ms. Frey, have your rescuers arrived?"

"Save your energy and don't say anything more! Roy can save you!"

Roy checked on the black-haired woman's condition. She was mainly suffering from excessive blood loss due to two gunshot wounds. Once the bullets were removed, she could be healed with the power of the angels.

"I need to remove the bullet from your wound, just bear with it!"

The black-haired woman gave a carefree smile.

"It's all like this now, do whatever you want!"

Despite his carefree attitude, when Roy actually started to take action, he still made the black-haired woman suffer excruciating pain.

Because Roy had never learned how to perform surgery, he was simply using a scalpel to pry open the bullet, which inevitably led to many accidental injuries.

In short, by the time Roy removed the two bullets, the black-haired woman had completely lost consciousness and was only breathing faintly.

"Roy, she looks like she's about to collapse!"

"No, although ordinary angels cannot resurrect the dead, they can still pull people back from the brink of death. Claire, give me your hand."

Claire offered her hand to Roy, and her face flushed instantly as she felt the warmth of his large hand.

"I will teach you how to use the power of holy light to heal others, and feel my power."

Under Roy's guidance, Claire successfully transformed into her angel form. Holy light flowed between their hands before settling on the black-haired woman.

This time, Claire studied extra hard, because she hadn't learned how to transform properly before, which was why she couldn't rescue Da Zhuang and Xiao Hei.

"Gah-"

The black-haired woman suddenly opened her eyes, as if a person about to suffocate had suddenly breathed in air, and then she vaguely saw two angels with halos above their heads in front of her.

"Am I already in heaven?"

"It's a pity you haven't entered heaven yet. God knew you had a sick daughter, so he sent you back."

Having rescued the black-haired girl, Claire was in a pretty good mood, so she made a joke.

Only then did the black-haired woman clearly see that the two angels with halos and wings beside her were Claire and the man wearing black-rimmed glasses.

"Am I dreaming?"

The near-death experience, along with the two angels in front of her, made the black-haired woman question her existence. However, Claire and Roy quickly returned to their human forms.

"Alright, Claire, tell me what happened inside the villa."

Claire explained in detail what had happened, and also helped the dark-haired woman up.

After listening, Roy was somewhat surprised.

"I never imagined that the Elders' Council would collude with the dark web!"

No matter how powerful the Presbyterian Church is, it is ultimately a European power and has little influence in America itself.

The dark web is different. This organization is deeply rooted in America and enjoys strong political protection. Roy has fought against the dark web several times, but he has not been able to eradicate them completely.

Perhaps this is an opportunity. After all, colluding with foreign vampires to cause trouble in the country is a much more serious problem than before!
It just so happens that the federal government is currently quite sensitive to matters of the supernatural.

The next step is to interrogate that strange little girl and find direct evidence of cooperation between the dark web and the Elders.

"Come on, let's go up."

Roy pulled Claire and the black-haired woman back to the first floor, but as soon as they stepped out of the basement, a crossbow bolt was shot at them.

Roy easily caught the crossbow bolt and noticed that the arrowhead was imbued with magical power, making it the kind of weapon specifically designed to target supernatural creatures.

"Who is it? Get out of here!"

Roy just cursed out without thinking, and sure enough, five or six people came out.

Several people were wearing identical black uniforms with the same markings, and they were carrying various cold weapons, including swords and crossbows.

One of the men, who looked like the leader, spoke.

"Claire Frey, we've come to save you!"

Claire was puzzled when the man in black called out her name.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

The leader then offered an explanation.

“We are Shadowhunters, an organization that protects humanity in the darkness and deals with dark creatures. Your mother, Jocelyn, was once a Shadowhunter, and she is the one who sent us to rescue you.”

Claire was somewhat skeptical, because she had never heard her mother mention Shadow Hunters before.

Seemingly sensing Claire's doubts, the leader showed her the markings on her uniform.

"Do you remember this mark? It's a mark unique to Shadow Hunters; your mother should have one too."

(It's the mark shown in the picture)

Claire frowned and thought for a moment.

“I think I did see this mark on my mother, and I have it on my body too!”

As she spoke, Claire rolled up her right sleeve, and there was indeed a mark on her wrist that resembled the one worn by the man in black.

This discovery made Claire begin to believe what the leader of the Men in Black had said.

"What does this mark mean? I've asked my mother, but she's always refused to tell me!"

"That's the symbol of the Holy Grail! The Shadow Hunters were originally a branch of the Knights of the Round Table, specializing in hunting dark creatures. When the Knights of the Round Table perished, the last Knight of the Round Table passed the Holy Grail to the Shadow Hunters, who would guard it for generations. From then on, the Holy Grail became the mark of the Shadow Hunters."

At this point, the leader of the men in black appeared very proud, as if protecting the Holy Grail was a great honor for him.

"Is this how things are? How many things has my mother been hiding from me?"

Claire was incredulous. She had always thought her family was just an ordinary single-parent family, never expecting that there was such a big secret behind it.

The leader of the men in black even said a good word for Claire's mother, Jocelyn.

“Claire, please don’t blame your mother! Your father was also a Shadow Hunter, and he died in battle while your mother was pregnant. Therefore, your mother decided to leave the Shadow Hunters and hide her identity to raise you. We fully understand her choice!”

This was the first time Claire had heard about her father, whom she had never met, and she couldn't help but feel a little sad.

"Alright, Claire, let's talk about the rest when we get back to base. We shouldn't stay here any longer!"

As he spoke, the leader of the men in black extended his hand toward Claire.

But at that moment, Roy stood in front of the two of them.

"Wait a minute! You still haven't explained to me why you attacked me just now!"

The leader of the men in black frowned slightly as he looked at Roy, whose expression was unfriendly.

"Sorry! I thought you had taken Claire hostage, but after seeing Claire's expression, I realized you were together."

However, Roy was not satisfied with the leader of the men in black's words. He mainly felt that the other party's arrival was too coincidental. How could they appear just when he had grabbed the little girl?
Where did these people get their information from?

"I'm curious, how did you find this place?"

The leader of the men in black wore a mysterious expression.

"Shadow Hunters naturally have their own sources of intelligence."

"Fine, I don't care who you are, Claire won't go with you, and that little girl is also my trophy, you'd better give her back to me!" Roy noticed that the Shadow Hunter was controlling the little girl, seemingly intending to take her away as well.

This is not possible!

Having met the little girl before, Roy already knew that her name was Abigail and that she was a special person, so he certainly couldn't just hand over the treasure chest.

The leader of the men in black's eyes turned hostile.

"Sir, this little girl is a dangerous royal werewolf. It would be best to hand her over to us!"

Roy sneered. He had even defeated several demon kings of hell, so what was there to fear from royal werewolves?
"Stop talking nonsense! Since I was able to defeat her, I'm not afraid of what trouble she might cause!"

The leader of the men in black changed his expression and finally decided to hand Abigail over. After all, Abigail was captured by Roy, and from any perspective, the Shadow Hunters were in the wrong.

"You can have this little girl, but Claire must come with us!"

Roy looked at the leader of the men in black with an expression that said, "Look at me like I'm an idiot."

"Are you brain-damaged? Claire is a free person; she can go with whomever she wants, and I can't restrict her! Claire, who are you planning to go with?"

Claire hesitated for a moment, but in the end she still hugged Roy's arm. Compared to some so-called shadow hunters who suddenly appeared, she trusted Roy more.

This result turned the leader of the men in black ashen-faced; it was utterly humiliating.

Left with no other option, the leader of the men in black had to resort to his trump card.

"Claire, don't you want to find your mother?"

Upon hearing this, Claire's attitude indeed changed.

Do you know where my mother is?

"I don't know, but someone does!"

Claire began to struggle. It concerned the whereabouts of her mother, and she was torn between two choices. In the end, she could only look at Roy with pleading eyes.

"Claire, it's okay, I can go with you, nothing will happen."

Claire looked at Roy gratefully and nodded.

"Hey you, I need to take this black-haired lady home first, and then I'll go with you to that Dark Hunter base."

"I'm a Shadow Hunter, and I'm not called 'that guy,' I'm called Luke!"

"Unless your surname is Skywalker, you're just some guy, I don't care what your name is!"

Roy pulled Claire and the dark-haired woman along, and then took the expressionless Abigail onto Bumblebee.

First, they took the black-haired woman to her home in the city.

Blackie had practically walked the gates of hell, so she was extremely grateful to Roy and Claire and exchanged contact information with them.

"Don't get involved in dark web stuff anymore; this organization is extremely dangerous."

The black-haired woman looked somewhat dejected; she had no other choice but to accept this criminal contract.

Claire explained the situation that the dark-haired girl was facing to Roy.

Roy thought about it for a moment and decided to help the other party.

"I can provide you with an interest-free loan to help your daughter through this difficult time. You can work and pay it back gradually."

Upon hearing this, the black-haired woman almost knelt down before Roy.

"Thank you, sir! I will definitely repay you! I'll do anything you ask!"

The black-haired woman's words seemed to carry an implication, and she was probably sincere. After all, Roy was wearing Nidi's black-rimmed glasses, and strangers wouldn't be able to tell how handsome he was.

To be honest, the black-haired woman, a single mother, has a very hot figure and also has an exotic Latina charm. However, Roy still has to be more serious in front of Claire.

"Ahem! There's no need for that. I just want to help people! Tomorrow, go to Roy Black's studio, and someone will be there to talk to you."

After saying that, Roy took Claire back to Bumblebee, preparing to follow the Shadow Hunters' convoy to their base.

The Shadow Hunters' base is located in a private museum in downtown Los Angeles.

When Roy and Claire entered the museum lobby, they saw a middle-aged man waiting for them.

"Welcome to the Shadowhunter's base, Ms. Claire Frey, and this gentleman who is not known."

The middle-aged man was probably the real person in charge of the Shadow Hunters. The leader of the men in black who had just brought Roy and the others in stood behind the middle-aged man.

"So you're the leader of this Shadow Hunters thing?"

Roy looked at the middle-aged man and felt that his expressions and body language were more suited to be a politician than a leader of a demon hunter organization.

"Yes, you can call me Hodge Starkweather."

The man in black must have informed Hodge Starkweather beforehand, so he wasn't surprised by Roy's appearance.

Claire didn't have a good impression of Hodge either, so she didn't bother with small talk and went straight to the point.

"Didn't you say you could find my mother? Then what are we waiting for?"

Hodge gave a friendly smile.

"Don't rush! Shadow Hunters possess a special ritual that allows them to locate the approximate position of a missing person through the bloodline connection between close relatives. However, now is not the time, since our opponents are vampires. Why not search for them during the day?"

That makes a lot of sense!

Roy sometimes feels speechless when he sees the main characters in horror movies doing things that are dangerous in the middle of the night.

This made Roy look at Hodge with new respect; the other man wasn't the kind of politician who had never been to the front lines and only knew how to talk big.

“Claire, Mr. Starkweather makes a good point. It’s almost dawn, why don’t we rest for a bit?”

Roy was in good health, but Claire looked very tired, and to prevent any accidents from happening later, Roy felt that she needed to rest.

Upon hearing this, Claire had no choice but to suppress her anxiety and nod reluctantly.

"Very good! The Shadow Hunters' base has many rooms for you to rest. How many rooms do you need?"

"two."

"one!"

Roy was referring to two, while Claire was referring to one.

Roy was somewhat surprised to hear that Claire only wanted one room.

"I...I'm a little scared!"

Well, it's normal for Claire to be scared since she hasn't experienced anything as terrifying as last night.

"Alright then, we'll share a room. You don't need to be afraid with me here."

Claire blushed and nodded.

After entering the room to rest, Claire lay on the bed, with Roy watching her from the side.

"Claire, go to sleep."

"Roy, don't you need to sleep?"

(End of this chapter)