Chapter 238 – Centralia

Luke was flying toward the border between Ohio and Pennsylvania.

He had made a slight change of plans. Before offering himself as bait, he would recover his family’s Soul Weapon.

It made much more sense to secure it first… and fight with it in his possession. Besides, it would be a good opportunity to get familiar with the weapon and start testing it in real combat.

The distance from New York was around 600 to 700 kilometers. Thanks to his recent training, his flying speed had improved significantly. Thus, over the course of a single night, having left Addams Manor in secret, he managed to reach his destination, guided by Edgar.

It was nighttime. The air had a dry, strange smell. And the silence was absolute.

“We’re close,” said Edgar, appearing by his side like a translucent shadow, floating along with him. His glow was dimmer than ever.

Luke descended gently, landing on what seemed to have once been a road, or what remained of it. Cracks ran across it in every direction, and from some of them, a faint white vapor rose like threads of smoke. Just a few meters away, a rusted, twisted sign resisted the passage of time.

“Centralia…” Luke read the sign.

Then he looked back at the road where he had landed, it was devastated, as if an earthquake had hit, but it didn’t feel like that. The white vapor rising from the cracks suggested something else.

‘Welcome to Hell 666?’ Luke thought, reading a chalk inscription on part of the road.

The name meant nothing to him. Curious, he pulled out his phone and looked it up. The first thing that appeared was a Wikipedia article:

[Centralia, Pennsylvania, is a ghost town. The place was evacuated due to an underground fire that began in 1962 and still burns to this day. The fire was caused by an accident in a landfill located over a coal vein. For decades, the heat and carbon monoxide made it impossible to live there…

The coal seam continues to burn, and experts say it could do so for another 250 years.

The only signs of the fire, which burns 1,600 meters below the surface, are some underground vents that expel smoke to the south of the municipality. Other sources of smoke and vapor come from an abandoned stretch of State Route 61, which was closed in the 1990s after several surface cracks appeared, as well as in the area around the cemetery and other surrounding zones]

Luke let out a low whistle after reading it and sharing the info with Edgar.

‘Wednesday would love the story behind this place… She probably already knows about it,’ he thought.

Luke, guided by Edgar, walked along the road at a steady pace, almost as if sightseeing.

A nice little expedition after so much time locked away, training nonstop. The contrast between the ghostly silence of the place and the usual buzz of his routine was almost pleasant.

He scanned the surroundings: twisted trees, leaning poles, remnants of houses choked by overgrowth. Everything carried a desolate, almost unreal aura.

“All because of a coal mine fire…” Luke muttered.

“Don’t believe that entirely…” Edgar said, and Luke raised an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.

“I heard some rumors a while ago… Back in 1962, when I was training your father’s father, your grandfather. Something happened here in 1962, something involving outcasts. Not a coal mine or a simple fire,” said Edgar.

“Oh, a battle?”

Edgar nodded, “Yes. I don’t know the sides or the reasons. It wasn’t my business, but it’s not as simple as the normie government makes it seem.”

Luke looked around, watching the vapor rising from the cracks in the road, “So the normie government covered it up…”

“Exactly,” Edgar confirmed.

Luke lowered his gaze, thoughtful.

He had experienced a similar situation firsthand. His battle in Sunnyvale against Elliot had brought death and destruction to the town.

Over a thousand normies dead, millions in structural damages, and the whole thing had been disguised by the government as a ‘natural disaster.’

He had long since discovered that, at the highest levels of political power, there were normies who were fully aware of the existence of outcasts. They had known for generations. They had simply decided it was better to keep it hidden from the public eye.

Vampires, werewolves, psychics, normies, all sharing the same country in a fragile peace. Some didn’t want trouble, living within their own circles. Others, like Elliot, wanted to assert their superiority through bloodshed.

“Do you think it was that same division of the normie government that covered this up too?” Luke asked.

If he hadn’t lost consciousness in Sunnyvale, he might have met the normie secret agents who handled the cover-up.

Naturally, the incident created tension between both worlds: the outcast and the normie.

As always, the normies went on high alert. They feared Sunnyvale was the beginning of something bigger: a war, a rebellion, a fracture in the fragile coexistence. They knew that, even though the outcasts were few, if they ever decided to unite and strike, the damage would be catastrophic.

But an agreement was reached.

In part, thanks to Gómez, a prominent figure in the outcast world due to his psychic lineage, power, and influence. But also respected and feared in the normie world because of his political connections and vast fortune. His intervention, along with the Addams family’s extensive resources, was what prevented the incident from escalating further.

Gómez calmed the waters, pulled the necessary strings, and the incident was covered up. Like so many others before it.

The truce held.

Despite everything, the normies didn’t want a war. They knew that an open conflict would mean hell on Earth. But they didn’t fully trust the passivity of the outcasts either. The fear was always there, latent.

Despite the horror of Sunnyvale, they understood it was an internal conflict. Not a deliberate attack against their kind.

The outcasts didn’t want an all-out war either,except for the Spellmans, whose primary goal was war and his secret allies. But they hadn’t been able to act yet, as many other outcast factions were hunting them down to eliminate them and their allies.

The outcasts knew their population was small. Despite their extraordinary gifts, they were vastly outnumbered. Normies, though lacking supernatural powers, had millions of soldiers, advanced technology, chemical and biological weapons, cutting-edge military equipment… even nuclear bombs.

On the other hand, the normies also understood the real danger. Because the outcasts weren’t just brute strength or isolated individuals with strange talents.

They knew that a high-level psychic could kill thousands with ease. That a single vampire could throw an entire city into chaos if left unchecked. But the most unsettling part… was what they didn’t understand.

What normies feared in silence was the hidden knowledge. The methods that defied their scientific logic.

Psychics capable of manipulating minds, rewriting memories, inducing emotions, and breaking wills.

Vampires who used ancient techniques of hypnosis, blood control, and unknown enchantments.

Shapeshifters impossible to track. Siren songs capable of triggering mass suicides.

Each species with its own way of disrupting the established order. And on top of that: witchcraft, ancient grimoires, and more.

Seen from that perspective, maybe the normies should be grateful that most outcasts don’t seek world domination.

That they don’t aim to reduce humanity to mindless slaves or turn cities into blood farms. That, deep down, most just want to live in their own world, far from mass hysteria and the normie system. Or even live within it, without causing chaos.

That’s why normies cover up supernatural incidents. Not out of ignorance… but out of fear. Out of pragmatism.

They’d rather cover up a massacre caused by outcasts with headlines like “earthquake” or “chemical accident” than declare a war they know they can’t fully win, and one that could be disastrous.

It’s a fragile and precarious balance. But one where, for now, the edge slightly tilts… toward the outcasts.

Edgar floated silently at his side. Then he nodded.

“Yes. From what I know, it’s a secret division of the government. Specialized in the supernatural. Outcasts, strange creatures, monsters… everything that doesn’t fit into their orderly world. I know they exist, and they’re very well funded.”

“Don’t underestimate them just because they’re normies,” he added, glancing sideways at Luke. “I’m not an expert in their structure, of course. Back in my day, I didn’t care much about normies. But over the years… I’ve learned a few things.”

Luke listened closely.

“They’re not as weak as they seem individually. Their advantage isn’t just technology, weapons, or numbers. They also have people among them… who aren’t fully normie,” Edgar continued.

“Hybrids?” Luke asked.

“Exactly. Children of normies and outcasts who were brought to their side and awakened outcast genes. Don’t expect to see psychics, we’re extremely rare and born only into very specific bloodlines, but you might see gorgons, werewolves, and the like,” Edgar confirmed with a nod.

“Mm. Still, they can’t be that powerful. Their nukes are more dangerous,” Luke muttered.

After all, they were still hybrids. And most of the time, they only inherited one gene, which meant they might not even have powers. And even if they did, they’d still be weak, at least compared to him.

A psychic with four auras.

“Not everyone can be a Poe… and definitely not one like you,” said Edgar.

“Thanks for the compliment,” Luke replied sincerely.

Edgar smiled and said nothing more.

They kept moving until they reached the center of Centralia.

Broken streets. Abandoned houses overtaken by vegetation. Empty windows like blind eyes.

A low mist covered everything, drifting as if it were breathing.

‘What is this? Silent Hill? Maybe it was inspired by this place…’ Luke thought, surveying the area.

After that, he expanded his domain, a field of perception that stretched for several kilometers, cutting through matter, structures, terrain, even underground layers.

And finally, he sensed it.

A presence with an ancient, heavy pressure.

Silent, yet alive.

As if a consciousness lay dormant beneath the earth—breathless, motionless… but aware.

Over 1,600 meters deep.

“I found the weapon,” Luke said.

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