The carnage was horrendous. The silks and garments that they'd seen on display in the house had been used to tie and dress young men and woman. Blood had stained and caked the stone walls and floors of the room, and the stench was overwhelming. Shackles, bloodied knives and utensils glinted in the dimmed lighting. 

Voiced echoed in the chamber, figures draped in black and gold were hunched over a gagged man. His body was impaled with knives of different sizes and chains beneath her skin. Haruka nearly lost the contents of her stomach, but managed to hang on.

 Alucard snarled loudly, but stepped in front of his owner when she moved to help the dying man. One of the robed figures--clad in gold with black trim--turned and raised blood soaked hands, "They have heard us! Brothers and sisters, the rituals have worked. The blood of the wicked has been purified and called out for our salvation!" the others turned away from the freshly killed man and a shout of joy rose from the others.

As they stood fully, there were many more than Haruka had once thought, and the hunched figures revealed a few smaller robes beneath them. The gold clad leader pulled off his hood, to show a man with a surprisingly kind face. "Thank you, thank you! You must have come to deliver us from the Evil One! It comes to us at night and devours the young in their beds. Please, stay for the night and see for yourself! See the blight these bandits have brought upon us." he motions and the others remove their hoods. Men and women stand before the alter, facing the three. The smaller robes and kept in front of them, so that a soul wall stood between the robes and the dead man. The leader of the town steps forward, and allows one of the town's women to tips a vase. Water falls to the stone, under which the man washes his hands. 

"The Shinigami, the ones a traveler once told us could kill the Evil One. You have heard our cries for help. Please...will you deliver us?" 

Haruka's jaw clenched as she looked at Alucard. The dog had stopped growling, but still stood protectively in front of her. Haruka didn't know what to think or say, but looked to Sinai to buy time so she could think.

She didn't condone what they did but...she couldn't blame them. If this had been happening for as long as they think it had, and Squad 10 had only recently sent out a team...she didn't want to think of the implications. The young woman closed her eyes. While torture was not an answer, she wasn't stupid. To her, these people did what they could to get what they needed. Torture happened whenever someone needed something out of someone else that was not cooperating. In her opinion, this was no different. 

"They need help. We could stay the night, and lure the Hollow here, or we can hunt for it..." she murmured to Sinai.