North America Gunman Detective

Chapter 1375 744: Shadow Beast of Dusk

The name "Texas Shadow Beast" is what the locals call it. It's suspected to be vampire-like because decades ago, several unusual deaths occurred there, with victims turning pale and experiencing significant blood loss, yet very little blood was found at the scenes.

The victims all died in the middle of the night, but no one knows how they actually met their end. Some traces left at the scenes suggested the perpetrator might have been an animal, though the footprints did not match any animals commonly found in Texas.

Someone once claimed to have seen a strange creature at night, but he had no concrete proof. Back then, not everyone had cameras, and even if they did, it would have been difficult to capture anything in the dead of night.

Based on his description, a sketch of the creature circulated locally. However, aside from that person, no one else had ever seen such a creature, and it hadn't appeared again. Gradually, the incident faded into oblivion, leaving behind some rumors in the area.

In the 70s, a similar case surfaced—the body had already decomposed. After all, Texas summers are quite hot, so the forensic doctor couldn't accurately determine the time of death but suspected significant blood loss. Yet, police found little blood at the scene, and the legend was recalled, but without evidence and without a second incident, it was shelved.

Recently, a similar event occurred again locally. One morning, a household noticed their neighbor hadn't taken the dog out for a walk. They knew each other well enough, so the person went straight to the neighbor's house and knocked on the door. But there was no reply.

Just the previous day, he had seen his neighbor, confirming he was home. Thinking something was wrong, he broke the glass and opened the door, finding the neighbor dead in his bedroom, his body pale as if his blood had been drained by some unknown force.

The caller was terrified, immediately recalling the local rumors about vampire activity, and in panic, he called the police and sought help from the town's church priest.

The town's police station had only three officers—a sheriff and two deputies. The sheriff was local, naturally familiar with the area's legends, but he still proceeded with an investigation out of duty.

This time, there was new evidence: a very blurry figure, captured by traffic surveillance near the body, featuring long arms and a hunched body, with drooping hands, leaping from one side of the road to the other.

The town police investigated the scene and found a series of footprints where the figure appeared. But the impression of the footprints made the town's old Priest uneasy, as they matched a record preserved in the church.

Due to the complex nature of the issue, the old Priest requested the town sheriff delay reporting to the county police and instead contacted Priest Horton in Dallas.

Exorcism priests are rare in the priesthood, like in the suburbs of New York; the numbers in Dallas are also expected to be small.

Upon receiving the old Priest's call, Priest Horton wasted no time. Such incidents, happening near Dallas city, were within his responsibility. He quickly headed over with his apprentice and exorcism gear.

Arriving at the scene, Horton found some disturbing clues and understood the old Priest's concern. The deceased had been moved to a refrigerated vehicle—since the town had no coroner, the body needed to be sent to the big city, Dallas, for examination. But to allow Horton to inspect it first, the sheriff agreed to delay the transportation.

There weren't many injuries left on the body except for a very deep bite mark on the neck, and two restraining marks on the arms—suggesting it was grabbed, though the size was slightly larger than human hands.

The body was completely pale, and aside from the wound areas, there was barely any exposed blood elsewhere.

In his bedroom, the window at the back had been damaged, with claw marks on the windowsill extending outward. Since he lived not far from the woods, the scratches and traces became hard to distinguish once they entered the forest.

The name "Texas Shadow Beast" resurfaced among these people and was no longer just a legend but a living reality. After hearing Priest Horton's analysis, both the sheriff and the old Priest confirmed this, making this case even harder to handle.

After discussing with the sheriff, Priest Horton, with his assistant, directly tracked into the woods, heading toward the location observed on surveillance. After searching in the forest for a long time, they finally found some traces. The figure had moved through the trees shortly after entering the woods, causing them to lose the trail on the ground.

After climbing several trees, the assistant finally determined the opponent's direction of movement. Chasing it, they quickly discovered a mound of earth with a hole extending below it from the other side.

Outside, Priest Horton and his assistant made preparations, set up a Holy Water Bomb, then went straight into the hole, soon meeting the Shadow Beast inside the burrow, luring it out and exploding the Holy Water Bomb at the entrance.

In Horton's mind, the main attack methods of the Shadow Beast were biting and blood-sucking, so he naturally handled it like dealing with vampire-like threats: sunlight and Holy Water as the primary means of damage, supplemented by a silver short sword. He thought these would suffice, but after the confrontation, he found himself mistaken. Though the Shadow Beast did fear sunlight and Holy Water, its attack power didn't decrease much after leaving the cave.