Anomaly

Chapter 422 – From despair, hope is born [3]

(POV – Victor Hale)

Early in the morning, Victor drove toward yet another location flagged as a possible source of the same energies that had appeared alongside the sisters of the [Angel of Death]. The sky still carried the grayish tones of dawn, while the moderate flow of traffic made the tires glide slowly over the damp asphalt left behind by the night rain.

With one hand resting against the car window frame, Victor kept his eyes fixed on the road ahead. The calm expression on his face concealed the subtle exhaustion accumulated from the past few restless hours. A quiet sigh escaped his lips, almost imperceptible, carrying a faint trace of irritation and fatigue.

The car slowed to a stop at a red light. The green glow of the GPS partially illuminated the inside of the vehicle as Victor glanced toward the dashboard: (Should be there in about three minutes...) he thought indifferently, though his attention remained sharp.

For a brief moment, his eyes drifted beyond the car windows, observing the outside world while he waited for the light to change. People hurried along the sidewalks, some carrying cups of coffee, others simply trying to start another ordinary day... completely unaware of the kind of thing he was about to investigate yet again.

And honestly, Victor envied that ignorance a little. Thankfully, only a few seconds passed before the light turned green. Without wasting any time, he pressed down on the accelerator and turned the wheel firmly, entering a street that led directly into a lower middle-class neighborhood.

The surrounding buildings clearly showed the marks of time. Some had peeling paint, rusted fences, and small cracks spreading along the outer walls, though nothing about the area truly felt abandoned.

On the contrary, there was something strangely welcoming about the place. The yellowish glow of the streetlights had begun spreading across the road, reflecting against apartment windows and worn-down sidewalks.

A few small businesses were still open, while scattered pedestrians walked calmly along the sides of the street, far too absorbed in their own routines to pay attention to Victor’s car. Despite its simple and somewhat aged appearance, the neighborhood felt relatively peaceful and pleasant.

There were subtle signs of care everywhere: flower pots near building entrances, freshly painted walls in certain spots, and surprisingly clean streets for an area that clearly didn’t receive much attention from city officials. It was the kind of place maintained by the residents themselves.

Victor’s destination sat near the end of the street: a community center visible even from a distance. The building was large and carried the same aged appearance as the rest of the neighborhood, its walls weathered by time and its facade slightly worn.

Even so, the structure remained surprisingly well maintained. The windows were intact, the entrance looked clean, and even the sign above the gate had clearly been restored recently. Victor didn’t need long to understand why.

Most likely, the residents themselves worked together to keep the place standing. After all, community centers like that rarely survived on their own, much less with government support.

Victor parked across the street from the community center. The engine shut off with a low muffled rumble, plunging the inside of the car into an uncomfortable silence. Opening the driver-side door, Victor stepped out slowly, automatically adjusting his coat as his eyes settled on the building ahead.

For a few seconds, he remained still, simply observing the place. As always, the address turned out to be another one of those improvised support shelters, places where broken people, emotionally, mentally, or even spiritually, gathered in a desperate attempt to find some kind of meaning that would allow them to keep moving forward.

Or at least, that was what those places had become after the incident involving the so-called “Apocalyptic Priest” Ever since the energy fluctuations began appearing, centers like this had started popping up all across the city.

Abandoned churches, community halls, old clinics... any minimally functional location eventually became a gathering point for victims, curious onlookers, fanatics, or simply people too terrified to be alone. And Victor had visited enough places like these to understand more or less how everything worked.

The residents usually shared the same hollow stare, the same heavy dark circles under their eyes, and the same exhausted expression of people who had witnessed something they couldn’t explain.

Some searched for answers. Others looked for comfort. And then there were those who simply wanted to hear someone say the world still made sense. Overall, they were... depressing places, for lack of a better word. The building standing before him didn’t seem any different.

Victor had his own thoughts about all of this. Still, what exactly could he say to ordinary people who could only cling to the empty hope that some nonexistent divinity would protect them? After so many years on the job, Victor had seen more than enough to understand one cruel truth: Nothing was coming to save them.

No higher power. No last-minute miracle. When things truly went wrong, people were on their own, and the world kept moving like nothing had happened. A faint sigh escaped through his nose as he shook his head, pushing those thoughts away before they sank too deep.

There was no point dwelling on it now. With calm, steady steps, Victor crossed the street toward the community center. The damp asphalt reflected the yellow glow of the streetlights, smearing distorted patches of light beneath his feet, while the distant sound of traffic filled the quiet morning air.

Near the entrance, someone stood beneath the building’s awning, head lowered while absentmindedly scrolling through their phone. At first glance, he looked like just another random guy killing time. But Victor knew better than that.

The man, who was definitely not random, noticed Victor approaching long before he got close enough to say anything. Without fully lifting his head, he lazily waved one hand in a casual, indifferent greeting.

“You already go inside?” Victor asked, his tone just as detached as his expression while his eyes swept across the nearly empty street, quietly tracking the few hurried pedestrians trying to escape the biting morning cold.

The figure leaning near the entrance looked up at Victor, revealing Rupert. He slowly shook his head, equally uninterested: “Not really” Rupert replied as he turned off his phone screen and slipped it into his pocket with a sluggish motion. Then he shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his thick coat, clearly bothered by the temperature. Rupert hated cold days like this. The freezing wind always felt like it cut through every layer of clothing just to personally annoy him.

“Figured I’d wait for you before going in” he added, a small cloud of vapor escaping his lips as he spoke. Victor merely raised an eyebrow slightly but said nothing.

Rupert discreetly pointed toward the community center behind them, its yellow lights spilling across the damp sidewalk: “By the way...” he began with a tired sigh: “Do you actually think we’re gonna find anything here?” His eyes drifted toward the worn sign hanging above the entrance before returning to Victor: “We’ve gone through more than seven community centers this week alone, and so far we haven’t gotten a single decent lead on this new target”

Victor remained silent for a few seconds, watching people leave the building carrying bags while quietly talking among themselves. His expression didn’t change in the slightest, but Rupert knew him well enough to tell he was thinking: “The problem” Rupert continued, rubbing his hands together inside his pockets to fight off the cold: “is that we’re basically chasing energy fluctuations after energy fluctuations. At some point, this starts feeling like a complete waste of time”

Victor shrugged, a simple gesture that didn’t seem to bother Rupert at all. It wasn’t like Victor had much more to add anyway. Just like Rupert, he didn’t truly believe they’d find anything concrete in this community center either. If there had been something important to uncover, Victor figured he would’ve found at least some kind of clue in the other centers they’d visited over the past few days.

If there was one useful conclusion to take from this exhausting search, it was that the energy fluctuations didn’t necessarily mean the target was still nearby. At best, they only suggested the target had briefly passed through at some point, leaving behind a weak and scattered trace.

Letting out a cold breath that quickly dissolved into a thin mist in front of his face, Victor adjusted his coat before following Rupert inside the community center. The glass doors slid open with a soft creak, revealing a warm interior lit by old fluorescent lights that flickered every now and then.

The two walked through the reception area, passing exhausted volunteers organizing boxes of supplies and stacks of blankets piled against the walls. The smell of reheated coffee mixed with the faint aroma of hot soup drifting from somewhere deeper inside the building.

Quiet conversations filled the room, occasionally interrupted by the sound of children running between rows of makeshift chairs. When they reached the main hall, where most of the residents had settled in, Victor slowed his pace slightly. Honestly... this was very different from what he expected.

He had imagined a heavy atmosphere, silent and crushed beneath despair. But surprisingly, the mood felt far less depressing than Victor anticipated and far more... hopeful. Yeah. Maybe that was the right word.

Even surrounded by uncertainty, those people were still talking, quietly laughing, and trying to move forward the only way they could. Some played cards at improvised tables while others shared simple meals as children drew on crumpled sheets of paper scattered across the floor.

The other community centers Victor and Rupert had visited shared certain similarities. All of them felt more lively than either of them expected to find in the middle of the chaos consuming the outside world. But this place... This place was different.

These people weren’t just trying to keep up appearances or cling to some fake sense of normalcy. They looked genuinely happy. Personally, Victor found that strange. Very strange. It was almost as if the inside of this community center existed separately from the rest of the world, like a small bubble isolated from the brutal reality beyond its walls.

Outside, fear, despair, and paranoia ruled the streets. In here, though, there was comfort. Safety. Hope. And that bothered Victor far more than it should have. Naturally, it caught both his and Rupert’s attention.

The two exchanged a brief silent glance while walking through the building, each arriving at the exact same conclusion without needing to say a single word: Something was happening here.

Victor, especially, felt his instincts flare up the very moment he stepped through the entrance. An unsettling sensation crawled down his spine as his senses practically screamed at him. Victor’s eyes narrowed subtly while he scanned the room. Whatever was hiding in this place... Victor was almost certain they were finally about to find something.