Jason stayed still inside the car even after Bryce had gone back into her townhouse. He looked around and saw the neighborhood was silent. Different from the bustling city.

 

She chose a good place to stay.

 

It was like any suburban area. Front lawn, neighbors on each side and a whole lot of houses.

 

She’s probably renting.

 

He doubted that she bought the house. She’s still young judging by her appearance, settling down here with a creep like that at her workplace was a sign that she will move sooner or later.

 

Time to bust myself out of here.

 

Rather than kicking the side window, he unlocked the door and there he was. Standing outside without much fuss. Yet the alarm started blaring with the lights kept on blinking.

 

“Shadow Hide,” he said.

 

Jason vanished into thin air as he took covered underneath the shade of a tree. He saw Bryce opening up the window on the second floor. She was only wrapped in a towel and Jason who looked from down below felt a sudden urge. He slapped himself out of sudden.

 

Get yourself together, Jason. You’re not going to become the second hollow man.

 

He reasoned with himself while sitting down at the front lawn. He could feel the thin sharp grass prickling his buck naked ass.

 

“Why is the alarm went off?” she said. Bryce clicked on her car keys and the alarm turned off.

 

She returned back leaving the window open. Jason sat there staring at the window while deep in his own thought.

 

What’s next? Still haven’t a clue on where to go right now.

 

It wasn’t like him to do something this random. It was always planned first and act later but desperate times need desperate action. He didn’t want to be locked up in a cage by the military. Feeling the breeze from down under. He made up his mind.

 

I need to get some clothes.

 

He was about to leave the front lawn but a scream shattered the silent night of the neighborhood. Glancing behind his back, he saw shadows scuffling through the open window. Before he could even leap into action, the scream died down. A silhouette of a person came out from the window with a naked woman hanging on its shoulder.

 

I’ve already saved her, and now I need to do it again? This woman really has rotten luck.

 

Jason couldn’t see the silhouette’s face clearly, hidden under the darkness of the night. But a slight glimpse made him shudder.

 

It’s not human.

 

The faint moonlight let him saw spikes protruding out from the silhouette’s shoulders. The silhouette landed on the ground with no noise as if it had noise-canceling boots on. It was about to break into a run but held its steps. The silhouette suddenly glanced towards Jason’s direction, catching him off guard.

 

It can see me?

 

Jason was still in his hidden state. The silhouette stared for a few seconds and left after noticing nothing was wrong. It broke into a run, with its speed flashing by like a shadow. It didn’t make a sound even with a full-grown adult body on top of its shoulder.

 

Definitely not human.

 

Jason was about to give chase but stopped for a while.

 

Didn’t anyone hear her scream just now?

 

The neighborhood was peaceful and quiet. Even those neighbors from both sides didn’t show a reaction to the scream. It got him thinking.

 

Definitely not a good neighborhood.

 

Jason gave haste chasing the silhouette that was faster than he had expected.

 

He’s fast.

 

But Jason’s speed wasn’t something to be scoff at. His agility shined as the distance between them shortened. They were running through the neighborhood and the kidnapper took a sudden turn. Jason followed him close by shortening the distance between them by the second. They escape the confinement of the suburban area and headed into the tall trees. The suburbs were close to a park with tall trees covering the entire land.

 

The moment they entered, Jason lost sight of the silhouette. They were barely any light. He has Shadow Hide but that doesn’t mean he could see in the shadows. Jason focused himself as he was chasing them by following the red hair fluttering through the wind. He could barely see it within this darkness. He pushed himself putting every strength he had in these legs of his to run closer. Jason was a few feet away from the kidnapper. He was contemplating whether it’s a good time to ambush it or not.

 

Should I? But what if that thing suddenly does something at the redhead?

 

Then from the darkness of the park, he heard a strange voice echoing through the forest.

 

What’s that?

 

It came from left and right and after the sound ended, he heard it once more right in front of him.

 

It sounds like a conversation.

 

An assumption of his and it wasn’t far from the truth. He didn’t recognize what language it was but the presence of more of them spelled troubles.

 

They’re more of them?

 

Jason postponed his ambush and kept on trailing by the kidnapper in front of him. At this point onwards, he had a bad feeling about this. They ran through to the park which looks more like a forest, with nothing blocking their way. Along the way, Jason stumbled a few times as he was smacked by a tree branch and tripped from a tree root. Every time he stumbled he kept his mouth shut, didn’t want to alert the sensitive kidnappers.

 

It would have been great if the Shadow Hide could allow him to weave through the shadows like he himself was the shadow but for now, the only thing it can do is just make him invisible. Soon, Jason was out of the trees and ran into a clearing. A clearing made into three soccer fields. There were no trees blocking the mild moonlight and it was enough for him to opened his eyes wide in surprise.

 

The hell is going on here?

 

He was expecting two or three kidnappers but now the numbers reached more than two dozens of them. They were all running at the same pace in the same direction. Some were carrying two people on their shoulders while some carried one. Enough for him to see that something bad is going on here. Then, the cloud that covered the moon passed by as the moonlight shined over the plain. Jason who was looking from left to right suddenly stared at the kidnapper running at the side. He saw the face of that kidnapper and it was no man.

 

Goblin?

 

The first thing that came in mind after seeing that horrendous looking face. Yet it was far different from the goblin he first fought back in the dark alley. Taller, similar to an adult human. Under the darkness, he couldn’t see the tone of its skin but it was different from the dark green skin tone of a goblin. These tall goblins have navy skin tone and for once they have hair on top of their head. Some were tied in a top knot while some in mohawk style while some let it loose. One more thing that Jason was sure about these creatures.

 

No doubt, they’re definitely stronger than a goblin.

 

If he has the identify skill, he would have known its species. A hobgoblin.

 

How did these things get here? They said the monsters stop advancing at Staten Island. Did they swim across the bay?

 

If they really did as he thought then this revelation would only mean more trouble. Swimming across the bay undetected by the coast guard, while kidnapping people like some covert op. The thought of them acting as a unit scared Jason. He followed them close as they entered through the tall trees once more, heading deeper into Veteran Park. The prolonged run was depleting down Jason’s stamina, his breath was getting rougher and his condition was deteriorating.

 

Shit, I should have put more into stamina.

 

The sign of his unbalance point distribution was starting to show. Unlike his survival time back at the hotel, he didn’t actually have to run this much. His fights are all rather fast pace and ended quite fast thus the lack of stamina didn’t really show. But now he saw the effect of not allocating it.

 

He was keeping a distance but the distance is slowly getting wider. But then something the unexpected happened. Something tore apart the air and a swooshing sound went passed him.

 

The heck?

 

He stumbled and stopped moving. An unexpected pain started to erupt from his right shoulder. It was excruciating unlike he had ever felt before. He wasn't supposed to felt pain since his energy guard was still active. But then a blue window popped out.

 

You have been poisoned