Davyd looked up at the sky for a moment, then closed his eyes, replaying his new memories in his head.
"Davyd Silver, huh..." he muttered.
"Heh, the only good things about these memories are the last name and the fact that my soul's essence is better than when I was reborn." He chuckled lightly.
Then he looked at a random tree and pointed his finger like a gun.
At the tip of his finger, a small black sphere of pure shadow condensed.
BANG!
The sphere pierced the tree, leaving a small hole.
"Hmm… it's not much, but it'll do the trick." Davyd smiled, satisfied.
Then he began walking with a carefree air, as if he were on a stroll.
Davyd followed the scent to the backyard of the old Hale house, where he found Derek standing next to what appeared to be a grave.
Derek had finished digging and was wrapping his sister's body in a black tarp.
Davyd, who had been watching from afar, began walking toward him.
"Hey." He raised his hand in a casual greeting.
Derek didn't even pay him any attention. He walked into the grave with the wrapped body and lowered it in slowly, as if it were made of the most fragile material in the world.
Davyd reached the edge of the grave and crouched down to observe what Derek was doing.
In this movement, his jeans ripped a little.
"Tsk..." Davyd frowned.
"What a shitty outfit. Tell me, was that all you had to wear?"
Derek ignored him. After positioning the body, he took small ropes and began wrapping them around the black tarp, securing each turn with precision.
The knots were quick, secure, as if he'd done this more than he should have.
Davyd propped his elbow on his knee and rested his chin on his hand, watching Derek tie the ropes to the tarp.
"One thing I don't understand…" Davyd said, his tone as casual as ever. "Why didn't you bury her in the cemetery around here? That's where I was reborn!"
Derek paused for a second, frowning.
"…Reborn?" Derek looked up, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
It might sound like delusion, but there was something about Davyd's carefree tone that made it disturbingly convincing.
The smell of sulfur all around only made it worse.
Derek even knew which cemetery Davyd was talking about.
Some family members had told him about a small, ancient cemetery in those woods. Perhaps it belonged to the natives who lived there before, or to the town's first founders.
But no one had used that place for a long, long time.
What intrigued him most was this guy saying he was reborn there.
Derek kept his gaze fixed on Davyd, not responding.
"..." The silence between them grew heavy.
So, without saying anything, Derek simply finished tying the last knot in the tarp. He climbed out of the grave and pushed the shovel into the earth, beginning to spread the first layer over the body.
Davyd let out a mocking smile.
"To be honest, I thought you were going to bury her like a dog, with your own hands."
Derek stopped what he was doing and fixed Davyd with a deadly glare.
His eyes flashed blue for a moment, but he controlled himself.
Davyd held his gaze, as if nothing had happened, and even gave a provocative half-smile.
"Hey, calm down… I'm just trying to break the ice. But if you prefer to continue playing the dour gravedigger, that's fine with me." He stood up with both hands in surrender.
"But speaking of dogs... that 'thing' you said was an Alpha smelled just like you."
Davyd already knew the Alpha was a werewolf. Damn, it was obvious just by looking at that thing.
Even though he'd recently regained his memories from his past life, he still knew a lot thanks to the memories of the "human" souls he'd absorbed in hell.
Although he'd only taken a quarter of those memories to keep from going crazy, he still had some useful information.
Among them, the old werewolf movies.
Derek frowned. "Same smell?"
"Yeah... like a 'marker,' like you and it were the same species," Davyd explained thoughtfully.
"I know that thing is a werewolf; it's pretty obvious from its appearance."
Davyd paused dramatically, then added, with the utmost seriousness in the world:
"...And so are you. I'm not going to lie, the first time I saw you, I thought you were some kind of dog-man."
"..." Derek just stared at him like he was an idiot.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. Seriously: claws, fangs, and the smell of wet dog... what did you want me to think? Shit, not to mention you bit me. That detail is hard to ignore."
Derek took a deep breath and went back to shoveling dirt into the grave.
What asylum did this lunatic escape from? That was the question that plagued Derek's mind.
No words came out of his mouth, but sometimes silence said more than any confession.
Davyd arched an eyebrow: "Heh, silence is confession, right?"
Putting all the joking aside, he got straight to the point.
"So… I forgot to ask before, but what is this place?" Davyd scratched the back of his neck, looking around.
"I'm not talking about this forest," he continued. "I'm asking about the place itself. What town is this?"
Derek looked up from the grave and paused for a few seconds, staring at him, but answered in his usual dry voice:
"Beacon Hills."
Davyd frowned. "Beacon Hills...? Never heard of it. Where is it?"
Derek sighed, impatient and irritated.
"California," he replied shortly.
Davyd's face changed instantly. He laughed a little nervously, shaking his head.
California? From what I remember, I've lived in California my whole life... but always in big cities. I've never heard of any town called Beacon Hills.
"..." The silence grew heavy, until Derek pushed the shovel into the earth again.
Davyd, still intrigued, narrowed his eyes.
"Okay... and what year is it?"
"2011." That was all Derek said before he shoveled more dirt into the grave.
"2011…?" Davyd repeated, as if testing the word in his mouth. "But I died in 2015…"
He blinked a few times in disbelief.
Did I go back in time…? Or… Shit, so that's what Datanael meant? This world isn't the same as my past life…!?
He shook his head and dismissed the thought for now.
Derek paused for a moment when he heard Davyd say he died in 2015.
The shovel hovered in midair. He slowly looked up at Davyd, his expression as if he were trying to decide if it was a stupid joke.
Finally, he turned his face back to the grave, shoveling more dirt, pretending not to care.
But his mind was elsewhere:
Reborn… died in 2015, that nonsense. And that unbearable sulfur smell. Not to mention those strange shadows from earlier. Who the hell is this guy? And why doesn't he just leave?
Davyd was silent for a few seconds, respecting the brief moment of mourning, just watching Derek throw the last shovelfuls of dirt.
Then he raised an eyebrow and asked:
"What now? Are you going to keep chasing the Alpha even after finding your sister?"
Derek remained silent.
But from the hard, determined glint in his eyes, Davyd didn't need to hear a word.
Heh... looks like I guessed right, that thing probably killed his sister. Davyd thought with a neutral expression.
Davyd took the inhaler from his pocket and held it between his fingers.
"If it is, you can count on me. I have my reasons too."
Derek narrowed his eyes at the object in his hand.
"What is this?"
Davyd smirked, lifting it like a prize.
"Something I found lying around. Might come in handy. Smells like the human that was with your big friend."
This revelation didn't change Derek's expression one bit.
Davyd was about to stuff the inhaler back into his pocket, but hesitated and tossed it to Derek.
Derek caught it mid-air.
He sniffed it, confirming the faint human scent that the rain tried to wash away.
"Why are you giving me this?" Derek asked, suspicion thick in his tone.
"Consider it a gift from me." Davyd said with a "gentle" smile on his face, but behind that smile:
Hehe~, why do the dirty work myself when I can send this guy?
Derek, despite being suspicious, still pocketed the inhaler, the silence between them a newly sealed contract.
Suddenly, a hoarse GRUUMMM echoed in Davyd's stomach.
He placed a hand over his belly and huffed.
"Man… I haven't eaten since I fell into hell. Didn't need to eat down there, but now? Finally, I can stuff myself again. I can't wait to taste a few things."
Derek gripped the shovel handle tightly.
Hell...? he thought, his gaze narrowing. The word echoed in his mind like something he didn't want to believe, but couldn't ignore.
If it was a joke, it was in bad taste.
"What are you?" Derek finally asked, his voice cold but tense.
"A poor and humble demon!" Davyd answered cheerfully, without missing a beat.
Derek froze. For a second, it looked like the air had left his lungs. He opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.
His gaze turned hard, cold, calculating, as he tried to make sense of what he'd just heard.
He didn't even think Davyd was lying.
His mind raced. So demons really exist? Shit… if that's true, then what—
Before he could finish the thought, Davyd cut in casually:
"Hey, got any cash? I was thinking of heading to town. It's close, right?"
"…" Only the sound of crickets and rustling trees answered him.
Then Davyd spotted a black car parked nearby.
A mischievous grin spread across his face.
"You've got a nice car. Mind lending it to me? Promise I'll bring it back with a full tank… or close." His tone was all playful mischief.
Derek finally snapped out of his daze, replying only with an icy stare.
Davyd raised his hands. "Alright, alright. Tough crowd. I'll walk."
He turned and took a few steps, laughing to himself.
"Time to hit the town. Maybe I'll even look more presentable…"
But Derek's voice stopped him.
"If you go into town," Derek said over his shoulder, "be discreet. There are hunters everywhere."
Don't mistake Derek's words for kindness.
He didn't care about Davyd; he just knew the demon was also after the Alpha.
In the end, Derek saw him as another player on the board, someone who could either get in the way or, if luck allowed, help in the hunt.
That was the only reason for the warning.
Whether Davyd listened or not, that was his problem.
Davyd frowned, confused. "Hunters?"
"You understood," Derek said simply, not bothering to explain.
Davyd blinked once, twice, then burst out laughing.
Huh? I didn't understand a damn thing! he thought.
This place's got pale monsters, werewolves, and now hunters. Before you know it, even a fairy godmother will show up with a shotgun. He shook his head, amused by his own joke.
Looking back at the car, he smirked.
Tsk, tsk… stingy bastard. Couldn't even offer me a ride.
Then he remembered something and turned to Derek.
"Hey, I forgot to ask your name."
Derek paused for a moment, holding the shovel in his hand, frowning, debating whether or not to tell him.
He decided not to.
Who knows what that lunatic would do in town. And this guy smelled like trouble.
If he found the hunters and decided to mention Derek's name, wouldn't he be involved in all this mess?
Derek had enough trouble already, so he ignored Davyd.
"See? That's what I get for trying to be polite," Davyd muttered, laughing.
He shrugged and started walking toward his next destination.
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until the next chapter... 🫡