The Enchanted Art Gallery- Night of Investigation

Night falls slowly, plunging the city into darkness. Alex and Liam stood at the door of the dark and silent art gallery. The overcast sky hid the moon and stars, adding a mysterious atmosphere to the night. The two men looked at each other, trying to hide the slight nervousness in their eyes.

"Can I get out of here?" Liam asked in a hesitant tone.

Alex shook his head, "It's too late to back out!" he said, actually regretting taking on this case. Somehow his instincts told him that the creatures playing here were not on the same level as the ones he was used to dealing with before. Especially after the case in the restaurant the other day, when he had been confronted with a supernatural creature with strong energy, Alex was even more cautious in his search.

With cautious steps, Alex and Liam slowly opened the heavy gallery door. An atmosphere of silence and stillness greeted them as they entered the room. Their breathing was clearly audible in the stillness of the night. The flashlight Liam held illuminated their surroundings, shining on the artwork hanging on the walls and the statues on the floor.

"The gallery is really quiet tonight," Liam whispered, trying to break the tension.

Alex looked around, sensing something increasingly strange. "What is that?" He muttered to himself, deciding not to say anything lest Liam lose his G-string thin courage.

Alex and Liam began to explore the gallery room carefully. Perhaps it was because it was too quiet, their footsteps echoing on the clattering wooden floor. And for some reason, as they passed some of the artwork, a different atmosphere began to set in. The air grew colder in the dark night, as if something was peering out of the darkness.

"A, you feel it too, don't you?" asked Liam in a low voice.

Alex nodded, "Yes, there's something unusual here. We have to stay alert."

As they walked on, the atmosphere became increasingly tense. The shadows of the artwork were visible on the walls, creating strange silhouettes. Alex began to see shadowy movements that had nothing to do with what they were doing.

Liam, sensing something, stopped suddenly. With a trembling voice he said, "You felt that? That's weird! I feel like there's a cold wind touching my skin."

"Yes, Liam, I feel it too. We need to keep moving." Alex furrowed his brow, he too felt something moving around them.

They continued down the quiet corridors of the gallery, looking carefully around every corner. And as they moved into the deeper rooms, the atmosphere grew increasingly tense. Liam's torchlight suddenly flickered - dimmed, as if something unseen was creeping around him.

"Be careful, Liam. We may not be alone here," Alex said in a low voice.

Liam nodded, his face pale. "I feel like something is watching us from behind the walls."

The two men continued to explore the room cautiously. The shadows continued to move along the walls and the air grew tense. Alex noticed a strange shadow movement in the corner of the room, but once again decided not to tell Liam, fearing it would only increase Liam's fear.

"Let's check this room out," Alex said in a controlled voice.

They both moved to the corner of the room, but suddenly Liam's torchlight went out completely this time and instantly the atmosphere became pitch black. Faintly but surely they both heard the sound of creaking footsteps on the floor. But it wasn't their footsteps, for it sounded as if many feet were approaching.

Alex sharpened all his senses. But strangely, neither his sense of smell nor his sight could make out the shape of the creature that was in the room with them. Tonight he felt as if he were no different from a normal human, just like Liam. All the powers he had as a half-vampire were completely out of action tonight.

"Shit! Why is this happening again? Yesterday my hypnosis was broken by a creature! Tonight it's all my senses! Have I already reached my final limit as a half human-halfvampire creature?" Alex thought deeply. He really couldn't get over what was happening to him.

Alex turned to Liam. It seemed that his partner for the night had reached the limit of his courage. "Liam, don't panic. I'm going to switch on my torch," Alex whispered as his high-powered flashlight lit up the room.

As the light flickered on, what they saw left them speechless. In front of them were horrible shadows that looked like human figures, but without faces. The sound of hissing and eerie laughter filled the room.

"Are those things, ghosts? But why  I feel nothing! It's not like the ghosts I'm used to seeing?" Alex continued to watch the creature in front of him and Liam.

Liam looked at Alex with eyes full of horror and Alex, who understood Liam's look very well, gave a small nod. "Whatever it is, I'm going to catch it and question it! What is the purpose of disturbing here?"

Alex tapped Liam on the shoulder and when Liam turned to him, he immediately hypnotised Liam. Immediately Liam seemed to lose consciousness. His eyes were blank and he stood still as Alex instructed. "Wait here and don't go anywhere!"

Alex walked towards the mysterious creature. But as he got closer, he could feel an immense power. Alex had to fight just to get closer. And suddenly...

"Brrrrrrruk!" Alex's body jumped as the creature smiled at him eerily.

"A halfhuman- half vampire creature like you can't compete with my strength! Go away!" the creature's roaring voice was painful even to Alex's ears. Alex covered his ears with both hands. Once again he had met a creature above his level.

"Shit! He's no match for me! My power won't be able to repel a being with that kind of power!"

Realising that his opponent was stronger than him, Alex racked his brain. After all, he had already received an advance payment for his work, so he had to find a way to get this creature out of Evelyn's gallery.

Still confused about what to do, Alex finally decided to leave the gallery first. He didn't want to rush into anything that might put him and Liam in danger.

"Liam, come on!!!" Alex tapped Liam on the shoulder and instantly his hypnosis on Liam disappeared. Alex deftly pulled Liam's hand so that they could both escape from the place.

Unfortunately, as they both turned, the door that had been open suddenly slammed shut. The sound of horrible laughter could be heard coming closer and closer.

"Alex! What happened?" Liam asked with a panicked face that he couldn't hide.

"I'll explain later! The important thing right now is that we get out of here," Alex said, trying to calm down.

"Get out? Don't dream..." The creature waved its hand, sending Alex and Liam flying into the door.

"Aahk!" a sound of pain came from Liam's mouth while Alex just grimaced slightly as he looked at the creature in front of them.

"Liam and I can't die here!" Alex stood up and concentrated. He remembered that a force had appeared when he had faced the creature in the restaurant yesterday. And if he was lucky, the same power would appear this time.

"Come on, don't let me die stupidly here!" he shouted to himself, trying to unleash his power at this crucial moment.

Frankly, as long as Alex had been alive, all he knew was that he had limited strength as a vampire. If a vampire could run really fast, he was a step behind them. If a vampire could jump very high, then he was a step below them all over again. And if vampires had a special power that was different from the others, then he might have that power too, but certainly below the standard special power that a vampire had. And the special power Alex thought he had was the ability to see through objects up to a kilometre away.

But yesterday a power had been awakened without his intention. A power he had never known before. And it was this power that he wanted to awaken tonight in order to save his life and Liam's.

"Focus Alex! Focus!" Alex commanded himself.

After a few moments, Alex felt a stream of power flow through his body. "Good! Finally this power is showing up!" He exclaimed happily, knowing that he would soon be able to get Liam out of this haunted gallery.

But just as the power was about to come out, a bright light suddenly illuminated the room. Evelyn was standing in the doorway holding a large torch. "Alex, Liam! Are you OK?"

Alex, distracted from his autoconcentration, lost his hard-earned strength. But strangely, the creature disappeared at the same time.

"Thank God you came, Evelyn!" Liam exclaimed, feeling as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"We'd better get out of here!" Alex urged Liam and Evelyn, worried that the creature might reappear.

Once they were outside Evelyn's gallery building, Alex looked at the building intently and told Evelyn about what he had found in the gallery building.

"You were right, Evelyn. There is something wrong with your building! And it's only fitting that the psychics you called in to clean it up couldn't do it. The creatures in there aren't just any creatures". Alex told it like it was. He didn't hide the information he had received when he had been in the building with Liam earlier.

"Alex is right! This creature is very strong too. Close your gallery for the time being, until Alex solves the mystery of this haunted gallery". Liam, still shaking with fear, joined Alex and Evelyn's conversation.

"So what now?" asked Evelyn, looking increasingly worried.

"We should find a place to talk about this. And that place is certainly not here!" Alex said, turning and walking away.

Evelyn nodded, "You're right Alex! And we should go to my house instead!" Evelyn invited, matching Alex's pace so that Liam, who had been left behind, had to run to keep up with Alex and Evelyn.

"That's it then!" Alex replied quickly, throwing the car keys to Liam.

" Drive my car, Liam! I want to write down everything we found in the haunted house in my notebook!" Alex casually ordered, as if Liam was his personal driver.