Greykin Mountain

| 45 | Draven

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The rest of Jackson's afternoon was consumed by research. He scoured the internet, but no matter how deep he dug, there wasn't much information on demons.

          With a breathy sigh, he glanced at the clock and downed his sixth cup of coffee. But when he saw that it was almost 7 p.m., he choked and grimaced. Where the hell had the time gone?

          Jackson leaned back in his seat and grabbed his phone's charger. As he plugged the phone in, he closed the internet browser and stared at the home screen. He wasn't sure what time the Emporium shut, but perhaps he should give them a call and see if they could help him.

          He took one of the files he'd taken from the evidence room, found the Emporium's number on the back, and dialled it.

          "Welcome to the Hunter's Emporium. Please select from the following options so that we may direct your call to the appropriate department."

          Jackson sighed. He hated these automated messages, but at least he didn't have to speak to it.

          "Press one for job inquiries. Press two to report Caeleste sightings. Press three for Caeleste-suspected crime reports. Press four for missing persons. Press five for general enquiries. Press six for anything else."

          "Uh...." He pulled the phone away from his ear and tapped six.

          "Please hold."

          A classical tune began playing.

          Jackson tapped his foot and sunk into his seat. But to his surprise, the music stopped playing, and the other end of the line crackled.

          "Hello, Hunter's Emporium. This is Carol speaking. How can help you?"

          "Oh, hi Carol. I'm doing some research—I'm working on a case here—and I was wondering if I could ask for information since I'm struggling to get what I'm looking for from the internet."

          "I'll try my best to help you. What are you looking for specifically?"

          "Any information you may have on demons—specifically about..." he drawled and looked down at his notes, "...morax and valacian demons."

          He heard the woman typing.

          "What would you like to know about them?"

          "Their hunting habits or if they store prey somewhere for later."

          She was typing again.

          "From what we have on record, these two species of demon don't require live food. They're lesser demons, which means they've evolved to adopt human habits. Just like us, they eat food. They're also usually standard pack members; they carry out all the grunt work."

          Jackson frowned disappointedly. "Are there any species that hunt and store people in a nest?"

          "One moment," she said, typing loudly again. "We have a few on file. Would you like me to include subspecies?"

          "Uh, sure."

          "Master vampires store people to transform or feed from."

          Vampires were a demon subspecies?

          "Baphom demons do the same, but unlike vampires, they eat their victim's flesh. Valef demons have also been reported to store victims for later. That's all we have, I'm sorry."