Beast Soul

The red dot on the tablet began to blink rapidly, which made Agent Edgerton click his tongue and slam his hand on top of the steering wheel in response. "What? No, no, no… not now!" But even though he was frustrated, Edgerton couldn't do anything to stop what was happening as the red dot continued to blink for a few more seconds before disappearing completely from the screen, which made Agent Edgerton slam his brakes hard and pull over.

"Are you f*cking kidding me right now?!" Agent Edgerton was pissed that he lost the monster, and he pulled the tablet close to his face and tapped on it a few times with frustration in his eyes. "Goddamn piece of junk!" With an angry expression, he threw the tablet onto the seat beside him, and the tablet bounced a bit on the seat and landed safely. 

"Hah, hah…" Agent Edgerton tapped his fingers on his steering wheel and began to inhale and exhale in a rhythmic manner in an attempt to control his breathing and his anger. "Calm down Richard…" He mumbled to himself under his breath. "It's not the end of the world… Let's just think this through."

He closed his eyes and breathed in and out for a few more seconds. He then reached for his tablet and picked it up.

"Recalibrate the route from before," He said as he held the tablet up to his face. The map began to recalibrate the route that was shown to him before.

"Computer, what's the possibility that the creature might follow the same path that you predicted?" He asked the artificial intelligence within the tablet, and the tablet responded with its monotonous feminine voice, "The probability that the object might follow the same pathway as shown in the map is calculated to be around 67%!"

"67 percent, huh.." Agent Edgerton thought for a few seconds before biting his lips and nodding his head. "I guess that's good enough for me." And with that, Agent Edgerton stepped on the gas once again and the car charged forward, heading for Harker mountain ranges.

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"Wait, what?" Noah, who was using the branches to move forward, all of a sudden came to a stop. 

He leaned back on the tree trunk, and raised his eyebrows in confusion as he had realized that the annoying feeling of someone staring at him had now, for some unknown reason, suddenly disappeared. 

"Did I do something?" Noah didn't know what was the reason behind the sudden disappearance of that presence. He didn't remember doing anything different from what he has been doing for the past half an hour.

And yet, the weird presence that he had been feeling all this time only disappeared just now. 

"Maybe the mountainous regions actually blocked the range of the satellite or the drone, just like what the other Noah suggested.." Noah mumbled softly under his breath. Although he didn't know the reason, he was definitely grateful for the presence to have left him.

"But if it really was a surveillance drone or a satellite that was keeping an eye on me, then wouldn't it mean that the person who was behind this whole mess would've already figured out where I am currently, even though they might've lost my location just now?" Noah scratched his chin and said with a frown on his face. 

Of course, if whatever was keeping an eye on his location only lost its connection just a few seconds ago, then the person who was controlling that thing would have the information about his location until the moment that they lost contact. 

Which means that if Noah continues to stay in that location, then there might be a chance that he'll get found out by this very person.

"I should probably leave this place before the person responsible for this gets here…" He murmured under his breath and then got ready to jump off the tree branch, but right then, his eyes widened, and a short gasp escaped his lips.

"What the hell?!" He whispered with a look of surprise on his face. Noah then slowly touched his face, rubbing his fingers on his cheeks and his chin before continuing, "Why the- It- It's still me!" He looked confused, and continued repeating, "It's still me! And yet, why one earth am I thinking like him?!"

Noah was confused as to why he was thinking like the old Noah, even though he was technically still in control of his body. The amalgamation or the merging process should still be happening, but there was still time until the merging to be complete, evident by the fact that the two Noahs are still two different entities rather than a single soul. 

The only way that either one of the two entities could influence the thought process of the other is by forcefully penetrating the thoughts through the subconscious mind, something only the unique and the alien are able to do. It wasn't something that a normal human being was capable of doing. Or at least that's what Noah had thought to be the case.

But now, he wasn't so sure anymore. 

"This isn't how it's supposed to happen…" Noah said with a weak tone, sounding clearly frustrated and puzzled by what was happening. He wanted answers, and unfortunately for him, there just weren't any.

"F*ck it!" Noah stomped his foot on the branch, causing it to shake violently. Fortunately, it didn't break, and Noah sat down on it. "There'll be no telling what this person is capable of. This might be the only shot I have to get rid of him. And who knows, maybe I would've been found out by the drone or the satellite right after I tried to escape." He said to himself, deciding on waiting for the enemy to arrive near him so he could put an end to this properly. "This way, I'll at least have a chance of launching a surprise attack on whoever is behind it."

Right then!

"Urgh!" Another sharp pain was felt passing through his head, which made Noah groan in pain as he held his head. "Not this again," He was getting annoyed by how many times he was being interrupted by the subconscious mind of the original Noah. 'This is getting bothersome..' He thought to himself.

"Don't you get it? This is the safest way to solve this problem.." Noah said in a hushed tone as he tried to calm himself down, but his efforts were interrupted by another sharp pain, which made him slam his fist hard onto the tree trunk, causing the leaves to fall down from above.

"I meant the safest method for you." He said while gritting his teeth, clearly frustrated by the actions of the subconscious mind. "The best and safest way to deal with an enemy is to end it as fast as you can." He said. "Cut it off as fast as you can. A clean slice."

"Urgh, for f*ck's sake!" Another sharp pain passed through his head, and he bit his tongue. "Think about your mother!" He yelled out loudly, and the sharp pain suddenly disappeared, which gave Noah enough time to calm down once again.

"The more you leave your enemies alone, the more you're giving them time to grow and learn. And who knows, maybe they'll even learn of your identity." Noah spoke in a hushed tone. The sharp pain was no more, and silence reigned.

"You know, deep inside, that this is the right way.." He said once again. 

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Near the border of the Harker mountain ranges.

Vroom!

The car came to a halt right in front of the gate, and Special Agent Richard Edgerton got out of the vehicle and walked towards the gate to open it.

The gate was old and made up of wood. It wasn't locked, and the whole structure was covered in vines and moss. It looked like the place was left isolated for a long time.

CRRR!

Agent Edgerton gave a slight push to the gate, and with a loud and squeaky noise, the gate opened wide, and all of a sudden, he felt a cold wind flutter against his clothes. 

"I guess this is where you're hiding, huh.." Agent Edgerton gave a light snort, and then walked back to the car. "Well, if you think that it's going to help you…"

He opened the backdoor and pulled out one of the black boxes which he had taken from within the crate, and placed it down on the ground. "... Then you're clearly underestimating me…"

Tweek!

He opened the box, revealing a set of camouflage clothes, and he grabbed it, pulled it out of the box, and then wore them over his regular clothes.

Tap!

The Agent then tapped on the badge on his chest, and the camouflage began to lightly adjust its brightness and colors in order to match the surroundings, similar to a chameleon. 

It wasn't exactly making him invisible, but it definitely made it difficult to spot him.

"Now, let's hunt some monsters!"