Forsaken Hunter-Chapter 21: Dumping ground

The old woman's frail hands trembled as she clutched a worn-out photograph to her chest. Her milky-white eyes were filled with silent grief.

"She's gone," she whispered. "My granddaughter... she never came home."

Beno Mark clenched his jaw, his fingers curling into a fist. The woman's voice was so weak, yet it carried a weight that pressed down on his chest.

"We'll find her," he promised.

Charles crossed his arms. "We need a place to start. CCTV?"

Luna nodded. "According to the old woman, she was last seen near the park entrance. That's the first place we should check."

They wasted no time. The trio made their way to the security station, where an exhausted officer sat behind a small desk, flipping through old reports. The room smelled of cheap coffee and stale air.

Beno approached the officer and pulled out his Hunter License, the silver badge glinting under the dim lights.

The officer raised an eyebrow but nodded, pushing a keyboard toward them. "Go ahead. Just don't break anything."

Beno pulled up the CCTV footage, scrolling back to the last recorded sighting. The screen flickered, the time stamp rolling backward.

At 3:42 PM, the girl appeared.

She walked alone near the park entrance, her cane tapping lightly against the pavement.

Then—

A black van pulled up beside her.

The doors swung open, and three men stepped out.

The way they moved—quick, calculated, efficient—sent a shiver down Beno's spine. One man grabbed the girl from behind, another clamped a hand over her mouth, and the third shoved her into the back of the van.

She barely had time to struggle before the doors slammed shut.

And then—just like that—she was gone.

Luna sucked in a sharp breath. "They're professionals."

Charles' brows furrowed. "No license plate. The van's modified—reinforced windows, no brand markings. Someone didn't want this traced."

Beno rewound the footage, scanning the frame carefully.

There—on the rear door—a faint symbol.

His pulse quickened.

"...I know that mark."

Luna turned to him. "Where have you seen it before?"

Beno stared at the screen, the image triggering something buried in his memory. Then, it clicked.

"The garbage trucks."

Charles raised a brow. "What?"

Beno pointed at the faded mark. "I used to see this symbol on waste disposal trucks when I worked in a restaurant. They'd pick up garbage from restricted zones."

Luna's eyes widened slightly. "A landfill?"

Beno nodded.

Charles let out a scoff. "Bullshit. You think they dumped a kidnapped girl in a landfill?"

Luna, however, looked deep in thought. "...Wouldn't that be the perfect place? No cameras, no patrols, just mountains of trash."

Beno's stomach twisted.

"...We have to check it out."

The Landfill – A Place of Death

The landfill stretched endlessly before them, a graveyard of discarded waste and rotting filth.

Mountains of trash rose like grotesque hills, shrouded in mist and the sickening scent of decomposing flesh. Flies buzzed hungrily around the piles of waste, their tiny wings creating an eerie hum.

Beno pulled his scarf over his nose. "Goddamn, the smell."

Luna winced. "It's not just garbage... there's something else. Something rotting."

Charles muttered, "You're imagining things."

They moved cautiously, scanning the area for anything out of place. The landfill was eerily silent, apart from the occasional distant sound of a garbage truck dumping another load.

An hour passed.

Nothing.

Beno sighed, rubbing his temples. "Damn it. There's nothing here."

Charles smirked. "Told you it was bullshit."

Luna frowned, biting her lip. "Wait. Look over there."

She pointed toward a partially buried metal grate near one of the trash heaps. It was rusted, barely visible beneath layers of filth, but something about it felt wrong.

Beno stepped closer, nudging aside debris. "This isn't a normal sewer drain..."

Before he could finish, the ground beneath him gave way.

"BENO!" Luna screamed.

He fell.

The air rushed past him as he plunged into darkness, hitting cold, damp concrete below.

Pain shot up his side. He groaned, coughing as dust filled his lungs.

Then—

His eyes adjusted to the dim light.

And his breath caught in his throat.

Bones.

Piles of them. Stacked like a grotesque monument, some still covered in decaying flesh.

Women's bodies.

Beno's stomach lurched. He staggered back, his boots slipping on blood-soaked ground.

Above, Charles and Luna peered down, their faces pale.

"Beno!" Luna called. "Are you okay?!"

Beno barely heard her. His heart pounded as he stared at the horror before him.

Luna and Charles carefully slid down after him.

Luna gasped, covering her mouth.

"What the fuck is this?!"

Charles paled, his usual smugness gone. "...No way... no fucking way."

Beno's hands clenched into fists.

This isn't just a kidnapping.

This is a slaughterhouse.

Then—

A sound.

A wet, shuffling noise from the shadows beyond the piles of bones.

Beno froze.

His instincts screamed at him.

Charles turned slowly. "...Did you hear that?"

Luna's hands trembled.

A shadow moved.

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Not a trick of the light—something alive. Watching.

Then—

A low growl echoed from the darkness.

And the bones shifted.

Something huge emerged from the piles of corpses.

Beno's breath hitched. Its form was unnatural.

A grotesque humanoid figure, its limbs too long, its flesh stitched together like a patchwork of human skin. Its eyes were hollow, black pits that seemed to pull in the light around them.

Luna took a step back, her voice barely a whisper. "...Run."

Then—

A scream.

A woman's voice, shrill and desperate, somewhere deep in the tunnels beyond.

The creature twitched, its head snapping toward the sound.

Then—it moved.

Not running, not walking—it launched itself forward, its jaws unhinging, revealing rows of needle-like teeth.

The entire tunnel shook as it smashed into the wall, tearing through debris like paper.

Luna let out a strangled breath. "We need to get out of here. NOW."

Beno gritted his teeth, his pulse hammering.

They had seconds before the creature realized they were there.

"Don't make a sound," he whispered.

Charles nodded stiffly.

Luna barely dared to breathe.

As they stepped back, a single bone slipped beneath Charles' boot.

CRACK.

The creature stopped.

Then—

It turned its head toward them.