Prologue 6 Inner circle district surveillance.

''It made the most sense to have our gate here at the border. This area is nothing but factories, most of them shuttered down or abandoned. Most people call this the Outer Street. This old warehouse belonged to Mr.Cao He had the gate prepared here before we left. Sadly, there was no way to use it, at least not till the labyrinth expanded. You need a lot of power to get over the real barrier in the city.'' The three of them drive over the highway, the grand wall at their left. There weren't that many people around this area, a few workers here and there and some youths loitering around, it was a quiet place, almost reminding Abram of the outskirts. There wasn't much vegetation either, just empty vacant lots of yellow dry earth.

''If we could sneak people into the city here, they would just end up on an even worse runt, I haven't told anyone on the outskirts about us coming here, only the royal guard. They didn't take the news that well, but they probably still want to come here. This place feels safer, that has to count for something, I guess.'' Rush Collins looked at the tall wall with a sad smile.

''Most people left for the other district so this one has been left behind. That said, a lot of people refuse to move, being in another district will require them to pay tribute to their families. Some can't pay that and some don't want to. Stubborn people will rather remain in this lawless district.'' Aurora spoke while driving and taking a turn to go away from the border of the city and back towards the center.

''I guess Nicholas wasn't that wrong, even here people must abide by the demons, or obtain a demon of their own.'' Abram was still anxious while on the road, but having Rush there was making him try hard not to show it.

''Cheer up you two, there is a lot more to see in town.''

***

''This is what we call the middle ring, we are as close to the center of the inner circle as we can get. Most people live around this place. Your apartment is close to the edge almost at the outer ring, but this is the main residential district here. There are all sorts of restaurants and businesses as well, the most notable for us is the newspaper office. I believe we should take a look at another area around here.'' Aurora was now driving on a busy street, with people going about and about. There were no skyscrapers, but every side of the street had signs for apartments, stores, and offices.

There was a lot more transit around, Abram has gotten a bit more used to this district already and so has Rush They have walked here often just taking in the sight. There are plenty of homeless folks here, but it is already very different from the outskirts. Most people here can at least afford a car or home which was insane to them. The streets were still as dirty as ever, and everyone still had the same tired eyes as they rushed to work.

''Are there any gangs around this district? If this is the lawless district, it has to be a perfect place for that kind of stuff.''Abram asked her, he had yet to see any violence around town, but it couldn't be that squeaky clean.

''Most gangs either get taken down by the policy or assimilated by one of the families if they do well enough, but there is still some. I think the one we need to care the most about can be found here on the middle ring,'' We stopped the car at what seemed to be a very flashy building on an otherwise pretty modest street. A tall building painted with elaborate murals in purple and bright green that displayed a forest of vivid striking art, Abram had never seen anything like that.

They came to a stop on the other side of the street and stayed for a while, looking around. People were coming and going into the cafe, many of them very well dressed, but they could occasionally see people wearing purple business suits hanging around outside.

''They are called the Ocassio family, they are under the watch of Toussant Ocassio a very powerful underground boss who leads a lot of the smuggling on this side of the wall, not to mention doing a lot of under-the-table work for the families as a middle man. He has a demon, of course, as does his lieutenant.'' Abram looked at the man in purple. They were all armed and wandered around the cafe in clear patrol.

''Ocassio? I know that name already.''

''He is the older brother to director Vic in the newspaper agency, I don't know what the story there is but Mr.Louise and their family have some serious conflicts. You can say they are fighting for control of the inner circle. Now let's get going, we don't want to stay here for too long.

''Man, that is a nice-looking place, I hope I can take a look at their drinks before things get messy.'' Abram laughed a little at Rush's comment, and they returned to the car before anyone noticed them.

                                                                           ****

''Here is the marketplace biggest cultural melting pot in the whole city, they say everything always flows down here, this is the place to look for anything, old trinkets, silk works, and food, people from all over the city cook here, you can get all kinds of ingredients. Hell, hell there is some good Chinese food, Japanese dishes, Indian cuisine you name it, and all sorts of small stores with specialties from the other districts.'' Abram was quite amazing. The center was a place for trading, but this was on another level. The marketplace was on the right side near a great blue wall that led to the Long Wan district, it consisted of multiple buildings connected with bridges and huge black carpets covering all of the streets below in case of rain. It would be easy to get lost in here or get distracted so much once wallets could simply cease to exist. The smell was really heavy, from fish to rice noodles and all sorts of spices.

''Wow just wow, I've never hated being so poor as I do now, I mean, look at that over there. What even is a Vodka I never heard of that kind of alcohol.'' The three of them had been walking around for a few hours now. They had yet to decide what to eat but they would have to do so eventually, especially if it was on Aurora's tab. Rush was the most excited about it all, Abram was in awe, but being surrounded by so many people always put him on edge.

''No worries, you guys can enjoy the good parts of the city. That said, even if most people in the city know English, there are a lot of important languages. This town was built by multiple countries, and everyone who came here brought their culture and language.''

''I barely learned English on my own.'' Abram interrupted, he could tell that people used their native tongue way more often here than in the rest of the city.

''You know, multiple languages, Aurora?'' Rush asked her as he came back with a crystal bottle of vodka. He was curious about finding more drinks, Abram could only find it amusing that even now, his bar was still on his mind.

''Sure, English, Spanish, some Russian, my native tongue is Italian.''

''Hell, that is impressive, excellent, you can translate if needed, help me ask the guy with the Vodka some stuff,''Rush asked her, unusually friendly towards him which rarely happened.

''Don't be. That was a must for my old job. Anyway, it's getting late. We better get moving before the night falls'' Rush bitterly agreed, and they made their way back in the car after trying a mix of whatever stands were on the way back.

                                                                                      ***

The sky had turned into a bright orange as the city began to fall into the night. There was no sun in any direction upon the sky but Abram knew that the sun was setting. The stars remained bright as the sky began to fade into a dark purple tone. The skies never disappeared. That always made him remember that there were no stars at all. What they were he couldn't tell. They were driving on the main highway that went by the city of the inner wall of the capitol district, a massive hallway where all the districts were connected.

They could see the outer wall in the distance, as well as the sky beyond and something else: a small tower sizzling far above the wall. Even if this place was not part of the world, a slight mirage of the rest of the world could still be seen.

What even is this city? That was Abram's question, but there was no one to answer it for now.

''Take a look at that building. We are just going to pass through it, but it's really important.'' The building ahead was resting on the side of the inner great wall, it was almost as if it was a part of it. It was a tall, square building, completely white, but with a huge statue at its center of an eye surrounded by rays of light, it was quite an impressive sculpture of s symbol on the massive wall of the building. It was that of a golden eye with the rays of the sun in black and gold behind it.

''That is the Argia police HQ. The symbol of the eye is their insignia. They are the most active in this district. We need to always be careful of them, especially because you went and took down one of their inspectors, Mr.Abram.'' Abram leaned back on his seat, only getting a glimpse of the building.

''That eye thing is really tacky. They have awful taste.''

****

''This will be the final area, we call this place the higher ring, is another residential district, but is a lot more segregated. There are a lot of small, tight communities around here, Korean Town and the Netherlands District, among others. There are a lot of small communities that were pushed out by the families back when the city was founded. Most people around these districts don't speak English that often. That said, they are very successful districts, a lot of people try to move here over the middle ring, but in all fairness, most people in these districts just want to make it to a higher district, but even so, they are still quite proud communities on their right.'' Their final stop had a different feeling than what they had seen before. The architecture of the buildings and the decoration on the streets were different from row to row. It was already night, so the street had already slowed down.

''So not everyone that got to this city got a fair shot, I suppose who holds the power here really comes down to the founding families.'' Rush sat down with difficulty in the small car.

''That is a complicated question, this place was founded so long ago. The government has always stated that it is an ark of sorts and has always tried to ensure that it will make it a place for all of humanity, but it is not that simple. Racial tension is inevitable, especially with the families always being at each other's throats and dragging the people into it as well... At the end of the day power dictates everything in this city, the people with the most powerful demons have remained in power since its foundation.'' Aurora stopped the car for a moment as they prepared to move on again.

''Is that what the old lady wants to stop...If this is the way of the city, if we start killing their leaders, won't this place just collapse?'' Aurora smiled and started laughing as her voice changed. She looked back at Abram as he waited for a response.

''Hahaha, what a silly thing to say. No need to worry about that, you just need to hunt, besides does a city built by demons worth existing? I'm a demon, so I know, human concerns are below us if you humans need us so much you only have yourself to blame if you can't stand on your own. " Her eyes shone with a red glint it seemed it was not Aurora speaking anymore.

''She is just like Sabnock. These demons are not part of this world, so they are just witnessing whatever mess we make for amusement. I don't see this city dying down. People are not that weak here or on the outskirts. At least that is what I believe." Collins was always proud of his little town.

''Huh? Well, let's put that to the test then.'' Abram put his cap over his eyes as he closed his eyes for the rest of the road.

Volume 2

Inner Circle Huntings begin.