"Let's get moving," Colby said, leading Sophie out of the church.
The street beside the church was eerily empty, with only their team combing the area for any clues. Sophie looked around and said, "This church has been a part of Devonport for over a hundred years and sits right in the heart of the city. By day, it's usually bustling with traffic and is seen as a cultural landmark. I remember hearing about a few disappearances here that stirred up quite a fuss. Rumor has it, the place is haunted because so many lives were lost here during the wars. It lured in ghost hunters chasing after stories, but they all left empty-handed. The panic eventually led to a nighttime curfew on this street, with barely any cars allowed through."
Colby frowned, deep in thought. "My team wouldn't get it wrong. This church has to be their meeting spot. And I bet it's not the only one; they must have hideouts scattered all across the country."
Sophie couldn't shake the image of those cold, blade-like eyes she saw at the Pearl Hotel. The memory still sent a chill down her spine.
"Colby, I've got an idea," Sophie said, her voice serious. "Do you remember the hunter game Sandy and I got caught up in at the Pearl Hotel?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"I think I told you before that the Mintons run similar events. They throw these masked balls every year, sometimes even monthly," Sophie explained. "At first, I thought they were just trying to reel in the wealthy crowd. But now, I'm thinking these events might be some kind of sacrificial ritual. The vibe I got was just like the one at the Pearl Hotel's deadly game. Maybe... the older generation of the Mintons, the ones who ran things, were part of this church. They might've seen these sacrifices and decided to mimic them with their own twisted games."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Revenge is best served cold