Metropolitan Police continues its search for the vigilante nicknamed "Ghost" (left picture). She is the prime suspect in the brutal murder of D. Yarowsky (67) (see right). Yarowsky died on 13. November, after he encountered Ghost in a local park at Wembley. Yarowsky had a long criminal record and a Met spokesperson said it is believed that his death was also crime-related,

"Likely to be a usual stop and search carried out by the vigilante that got out of hand.".  In England and across the UK vigilantes do not have the right to perform stop and search or any other task reserved by the police only. Deputy Commissioner McLoad said: "London and the country don't want those masked criminals. We don't need them. They aren't better than those they are trying to stop. Justice in our country is being served by the police, not by aggressive civilians. Vigilantes were, are and always will be in an illegal status and my prime priority as Deputy Commissioner is to wipe them out. That Ghost, that cold-blooded murderer just showed us why we shouldn't let them roam our streets. I just came back from a meeting with the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary, where I proposed serious aggravations of the laws on any vigilante-activity." 

McLoad expected to be the next appointed Commissioner at the start of the new year or sooner. She is known for her strict policy against non-human police officers, which in the light of recent events seems to be more reasonable than ever before. She also believes that specially trained and adequately armed magicless police officers are the real answer for the raising magical crime rates, as opposed to her predecessor who preferred magic-wielder police officers and a special vampire action unit. Voices in the House of Lords and the Parliament claims that this change would make the Metropolitan Police weaker and unready for the challenges in the years coming, but McLoad has an answer for that, too: "Any vigilante, who is willing to serve this country properly, can put their abilities towards a safer tomorrow under the Met's control as a member of the new, temporary SRU, which will act until the changes in the Met's structure are done." This would mean that the masked "heroes" had to reveal their real identities, which secrecy is believed to be their first line of defence when they had to deal with dangerous criminals. According to John…

Anna huffed like an angry cat and closed her laptop mid-sentence. In Hungary, there was a popular opinion, according to which Hungarian language was highly eligible to have a very long rant on it without repeating any swear word twice. Anna put into test and proved this hypothesis now, mentioning, amongst other things, various types of family relationships, sexual acts, animals and deities. 

Once she was out of things to say, she sprung up from her bed and grabbed the small phone. She sent a message to the Gentleman: "Can we talk? Now?" and got an answer in a minute saying "two hours, usual place". 

She took off the oversized T-shirt she was wearing and started to put on the Ghost-ensemble. Her eyes caught the truth seer compass on the shelf where she kept her vigilante-stuff and stopped to stare at it for a few moments. Maybe she should check whether or not she could trust the Gentleman… After all, the Ghost was a legit target now, not only for the police but for some other vigilantes, too. Then she shook her head: the Gentleman would never betray her. He was kind of her mentor ever since she started this kind of life, and he wasn't a stranger to tough decisions either. 

Anna had to completely change her wardrobe because of the photo every news site and paper had on her. The black cargo pants were gone, instead of them came a pair of dark blue jeans. She had to say goodbye to the chain she used to carry on her hips and to the utility belt, too. Now, most of her weapons were in the various inside pockets of a new, very expensive, enchanted blue trench coat. Only the black hoodie and the shoes remained from the old set. 

The biggest change, however, was that she couldn't wear her fae helmet anymore when she wasn't fighting, because everyone was looking for it. And with that, flying around in the city was out of the question, too. That led to another big expense: Anna had to buy a vehicle. She never felt the need for one before: public transport, may it be as uncomfortable and unreliable as it gets, still was enough to get to work and back, and if she needed to be faster, there was the helmet.

London being London, Anna opted for a motorcycle in order to avoid traffic jams. She used to be a pizza delivery girl for a year or so during college so she knew how to ride it. Experts called the type she bought a "cafe racer" and it was perfect for short and quick rides, just what the girl needed. A bike built for the city. And even though hers was older and used, she fell in love with it very soon. She still missed being able to fly freely, without one eye always out for the police or ex-friends, but having a motorcycle was the second best to that. 

Her roommate, self-proclaimed life-coach and probably only non-vigilante friend, Edit, wasn't impressed with it. Of course, she didn't know the real purpose of the purchase and she was convinced that Anna was trying to look more interesting. 

'But trust me, you don't wanna date those adrenalin-junkies, honey, sure they have got the body and it's fun for like ten minutes, but then you gonna find yourself climbing a mountain or something, and let me tell you, the mobile coverage outside the city is terrible…' she had said on the day when Anna brought the bike home. She was smarter than to try and explain to Edit that it had nothing to do with men and dating. She had tried it a couple of times in the past, but Edit always looked at her as if she grew another head all of the sudden. 

Now Anna actually looked like someone dateable, though. The skinny jeans made justice to her legs and bottom and the new trench coat showed her figure when she closed it. Too bad that nothing else changed, she thought, except for, of course, that she was a wanted murderer now.     

Her new Yamaha had an unforeseen advantage: she could wear a crash helmet and a balaclava under that. That last one was particularly useful: Anna was able to put on the fae helmet over the biker-mask in need and her face would stay hidden the whole time. It was so common of wear with the motorcycle-riding delivery workers everywhere that nobody batted an eye if she had it on. That piece of clothing, naturally, annoyed Edit to no end: she wasn't able to understand how Anna wanted to catch a guy for herself with her face hidden. Anna explained that it was against the cold November weather, but Edit just waved and said that a little colour on Anna's pale face could only help.

The "usual place" where Anna and the Gentleman used to meet up was a tiny, long closed cinema. It had only one screen, a small one at that, with not more than 100 seats. It stood in a back alley not far away from the park Anna met the Medic, on the edge of Camden Town. As sorcerers and drug dealers both liked the neighbourhood, trouble was constantly around the corner here, and so were vigilantes.

Anna left her bike in a parking lot on the main road, where there was a slightly smaller chance that it would get stolen. She kept the crash-helmet on for the moment being, even though it was well after 8 in the evening and the sun went down hours ago. She was a little early for the rendezvous but she wanted to look around, just in case. Trusting in someone was one thing, but being reckless was what got people killed in Anna's profession.

But everything looked normal. The alley was empty and the building looked as deserted as ever. The only entrance was planked over along with the windows, but there was a fire exit, half-hidden behind a rubbish container. It was closed by a chain and a padlock. The latter was magical once but it used up all the energy the sorcerer who had locked it poured into it a long time ago, so Anna could open it easily. She hid her crash helmet behind the container, put on her fae mask and it hugged her head with quiet, metallic clinks. The world became slightly red through the red eyes of the helmet and her weak little magic reached out to touch and order the padlock to open.

The place was dusty, all the colours faded on the posters that advertised movies everyone already had forgotten about. The once scarlet carpet on the floor looked light red now. Anna walked up to the staircase that led from the empty lobby to the actual screen, then ran up and opened the door. The Gentleman was already there, waiting for her: he made balls out of pure, yellow light so the small projecting room wasn't dark.

'New outfit?' the big man asked. He looked like always, white shirt, brown vest and a scarf hiding half of his face. He had his boxers with the Runes on.

'Out of necessity,' nodded Anna. 

'I like it,' shrugged the giant. He was sitting in the second row, with his legs up on the headrest of one of the front row seats. Anna sat next to him, leaned back and sighed.

'So, what's up, Li'l Ghost?' he asked. 

'I don't know if you will believe me, but I didn't kill Yarowsky,' she said.

'I know you didn't,' shrugged the Gentleman again. 'Who did, by the way?'

'The redhead girl I told you about. Her name is Bonnie or Daisy, she is old as hell and apparently she thought that Yarowsky was a walking risk anyway.'

'I see,' nodded the man. 'You've got names and files, didn't you? Do I wanna know how?'

'You don't,' Anna answered, but she knew that this told just enough to the Gentleman anyway. He sighed.

'I hoped you wouldn't go to that man,' he said. 'Well, it doesn't matter now, does it?'

'It doesn't, I guess,' said Anna. 'I figured out who is behind the attacks and I think I even know why.'

'Feel free to share.'

Anna took a deep breath. She didn't know how good her theory was and felt a little nervous about it. 

'Alright, the word "knowing" might be a little stretch,' she said. 'But Yarowsky said something before he died… Not a name, but that his boss knew I would come. He was ready for me, he even had orders to kill me. And there is only one man in the city who I pissed off enough for that…'

'Attila Kovach,' the Gentleman said.

'Attila Kovach,' Anna nodded. 'Exactly. But here is the weird part: it turns out he and that Priest guy were business partners. Maybe even friends. So, Kovach wants a lot of vampires in London, right? While his friend is known for what? Controlling vampires. That's a goddamn army right there.'

The Gentleman put his legs onto the ground and leaned forward, staring at the empty screen. 

'I don't know…' he said slowly. 'It is a stretch, indeed. Sounds logical, at first, but if you think about it… A spell needs a source of energy. Every spell. Let's say he wants to control what, a hundred vampires? Two hundred? Even he doesn't have enough power for that. I don't think anyone has.'

'What about talismans? Like those thunder orbs?' asked Anna. 'With a few of those he might be strong enough, right?'

'On paper,' nodded the Gentleman. 'In reality, he would probably cook his brain like the Montgomery kid did, I hear he was in a coma. It's a miracle he survived at all. And none of it matters, anyway, Li'l Ghost: The Priest is behind bars, somewhere in the middle of nowhere, with a big-ass Signum tattooed on his forehead hopefully, surrounded by a thousand guards. MAGE knows how to fuck someone up. Even if you are right, there is no evil plan to stop anymore.'       

'Yeah, that's true,' nodded Anna slowly. 'But I just had to stop another attack two days ago. What's the point, then?'

'Probably just the last ones who never heard that the party is over and still thinks they will get paid,' guessed the man. 

'Yeah, probably,' agreed Anna but she felt a little doubt. 'Anyway, what do I do now? I'm a wanted woman.'

'That's a tough one,' said the Gentleman. 'We all had been there, but with this new leadership… You could tell them the truth but you are gonna need proof, and even if you've got it, you are still a vigilante. It's more illegal than ever before. Of course you could join the new SRU…'

'What happened to the old, though? They can't be all dead, it was like 500 vampires.'

'They got fired,' answered the man. 'McLoad hates vampires. And sorcerers. And halflings. And basically everyone who isn't a white Christian human being. If she wouldn't be a woman I'd say she hates women, too.'

'Great,' murmured Anna. 'That's exactly what we need right now. How do you know so much about her, by the way? Or about the police?'

The Gentleman seemed to be hesitating for a moment, although it was hard to tell with just half of his face visible.

'Well, you came here even though I could have been hunting you, so I guess I will have to trust you, too. When I'm not this...' he gestured towards himself, '... I am a copper. A DI, to be precise. That means detective,' he added after a few seconds because Anna didn't react.

'I know what it means,' she said. 'I'm just… A little surprised. So… You should arrest me now, shouldn't you?'

'I should arrest myself as well,' he laughed. 'Relax, Li'l Ghost, we are still friends.'

'Touching,' came a voice from the direction of the entrance. Three figures stood there, people Anna knew and even liked. They all wore their own vigilante-costumes, but all of them had three letters sewn into them on the left side of their chest: SRU.

'Ghost and Gentleman, you two are under arrest,' said the one named Hammer. Rather unsurprisingly, he carried a big hammer. 'Please do not try to resist, we are authorised to use lethal force.'