Kei placed a weak sound barrier around himself, though it was plenty strong enough to guard against Peter hearing anything. Leaning against the pillows on his bed, he balanced his phone on one knee and let out a harsh breath.
"There's a wraith in town." Kei's voice was grim, and well might it be. The presence of a wraith anywhere was enough cause for alarm to even the most skilled Hunters. Wraiths could only exist in places where negative energy was already strong and plentiful. The vampiric creatures feasted on the residue of demonic presence within a population, almost like a fecal-eating scavenger in the animal world. The stronger the demonic presence, the stronger the wraith. Its usually wispy, invisible form would solidify into a black mass, and the wraith would become strong enough to roam over large areas, visible even to humans. As demons grew stronger, and created more negative energy among the human population, wraiths would absorb more and more of it, encouraging more negativity to take the place of what was there before. The humans who unwittingly fed it would become weaker, physically and emotionally drained, and less able to create the positive energy that would keep a wraith away. Eventually, it could become powerful enough to destroy even large cities if left unchecked.
To have one already so strong in the small college town meant that the demons in the place were already very powerful. The fact that they had enough power to mask it was of deep concern to Kei, and would be to Iris and the others back at HQ. That was why he'd made the emergency call to his Handler.
Briefly, Kei told her what had happened, and what he'd felt. As innocuous as the incident sounded, to an experienced Hunter it was anything but. He told her, also, of the wraith's effect on Peter, and the shielding spell he'd had to use on his roommate. They might need something more permanent for Peter, given his possible background, but for now it would do.
Kei was on the point of asking for further advice when he heard Peter moving around again. To his horror, the quiet noise of the front door opening, then softly shutting again, broke the silence. Kei's sound shield was one-way, and that proved all to the good here. Otherwise, he would not have known what Peter was doing. Vainly, he hoped that his roommate had just stepped out onto the porch, but the next moment he could hear skateboard wheels skittering along the sidewalk outside.
Cursing violently under his breath, the Hunter waved a hand, disarming the sound barrier and leaping out of bed. "I'll have to call you back. Peter's just gone AWOL." he growled into the phone, hanging up on Iris abruptly. No time for polite good-byes. then again, given what they'd just discussed she would likely understand. Kei didn't even bother with shoes or a jacket, not actually needing them, and leaped out of bed in only his boxers and a tanktop. He gave his phone three taps and it vanished into a holding space for later as he rushed out into the hallway and toward the door. All the while, Kei snarled under his breath about idiot roommates. And this one had seemed so level-headed, too…
Throwing the door open, Kei was suddenly confronted by an almost sheer wall of night which, in his human form, was nearly blinding. Peter's cross acted as a deterrent to such darkness for the blond, but in Kei's case he had to focus to see anything past a few feet. Even sound couldn't be trusted, so even though he heard what he thought was a skateboard moving off to his right, he didn't run after it at once. Instead, the Hunter shed enough of his human disguise to use his speed and strength, and his senses. To do more would mean revealing himself, and even this much was risky. But Kei needed that edge if he was going to save his foolish roommate.
Sprinting out onto the wet grass, making sure the door was latched behind him, Kei turned and leaped onto the roof in one bound, using it as a vantage point from which to spot Peter. Even with his vision only enhanced by half, he found his roommate at once. Peter stood out like a flickering candle in a dark room. Kei was only half-surprised to find that his roommate's soul shone more brightly than the average human. Had he not had some idea that Peter was more than ordinary, it would have been cause enough to warn Iris. Now, he was more certain than ever that his roommate was more than he seemed.
However, that would not matter in the slightest if he didn't go and save Peter from his own unwitting stupidity at once. Kei could see the darkness hanging back from the blond, and even if he could only guess why this was, the Hunter knew it wouldn't last for long. The whole atmosphere was heavy with the wraith's shadowy vapor, and this town had very little light with which to fight back. The Hunter would have to do for now.
With a noiseless bound, he propelled himself into the air, and landed on the neighbor's roof with ease. Kei barely touched the tiles before he was off again, his gaze locked on Peter, and the black mass that tailed him. It was gaining speed, but still hanging back, still unsure of this inexplicably powerful human.
Kei decided he would try and convince Peter to turn back, rather than confront the wraith head-on. He had power enough himself, but giving it away so soon could blow the whole operation. He would if he had to save Peter's life, but for now he was taking a calculated risk. keeping an eye on his roommate and the mass, Kei leaped quickly from roof to roof, even using tree branches and cars to make his way ahead of Peter's current path. Sliding through an alley, he went out to the curb and sat down, returning to his full human form just as Peter rounded the corner. Behind him, still visible to the Hunter, even in his current state, was the massive wraith. It was gliding along noiselessly behind the blond, its outline hazy and shifting. Kei felt no personal fear of it, but for the sake of his roommate, he was ready to leap in and blast it literally back to Hell. Every muscle was prepared to act, though as Peter got closer to him, the Hunter looked utterly calm.
"A bit dark for skateboarding, don't you think?" he said, his voice carrying in the stillness of the dark night. There wasn't even a breeze blowing, and the crescent moon did little to illuminate the dark streets. Kei's eyes glittered in the darkness, fixing on Peter. Did he truly not feel the wraith behind him, or notice the way the street lamps flickered out at its approach?
