Chapter 2: The Hunt Begins

The library is by far the most unpopular place in all of Crescent Peaks – most werewolves in town regard books as waste of good trees. As a result, the library became a clean, silent place to spend time in and learn interesting things at the same time.

Just as always, Archibald Novak sat at the solitary long table placed exactly in the middle of the building. It was surrounded by bookshelves on both ends – the books in the shelves were sparse for Archibald’s taste, but he had no choice. He was reading a book about warfare as part of his self-studies as one of the zetas in the pack. He was expected to be knowledgeable, especially about military strategies. He was not complaining, but more references would have been nice.

In between paragraphs, he would look up and take a glance at the librarian’s assistant. Without hindsight, she looked exactly what you would expect someone living in a town to look like; she looked ordinary. If you did not know her to be a human, you won’t even think she’s not a werewolf. She looked exactly how a werewolf would, outside their beast-form.

But he felt pity on the woman who was mindlessly tending on the books. He pitied how unlucky she was to be born different in the worst place to be different. He always wanted to approach her and maybe become her friend, but he doesn’t know how. His books taught him how to maneuver a large number of troops around, but not how to start a friendly conversation. And was not like he had friends, in the first place.

He looked outside the open window and saw that the sun was already low behind the mountains. He closed the book and got ready to leave. The assistant glanced at him, and he thought he could flash a smile at her – just a friendly gesture – but it felt awkward and forced, if he did it at that moment. He diligently returned the book back from where he got it and went straight to the door.

“Bye, Miss Kaitlyn,” he greeted the librarian on the way out. “When will the new books come?”

“If I remember, the scouts will be back by next month,” she looked up on her seat. “You done with the war book?”

“Not yet, but maybe later this week, I would be done. It’s a fascinating read too, miss. Maybe you can read it too and tell me what you think,” he said. “Learning never stops, no matter the age,” he added.

Kaitlyn raised an eyebrow and just smiled. “Sure, kid,” she just said and waved a hand at him.

Archibald bowed in acknowledgement and took a glance back at the assistant cleaning the reading area. He always wondered what’s happening in her mind after all these years. Ever since he realized at a young age how unfair the town was being towards her, he had been curious about her. Does she hate them for the mistreatment based on her birth? He can’t imagine how much she must have liked to get away from them.

As he stepped outside, he looked up the sky and saw the familiar darkness of the night looming over the town. Then he saw commotions coming from the far end of town. He looked at the direction of the disturbance and saw the soldiers dragging a man on the ground towards the guard station.

He walked casually to the men following the soldiers.

“What happened?” he curiously asked one of the men.

“The humans killed the Edevanes!” the man angrily answered before running towards the guard station.

Archibald stood there on place, unsure if he should come back inside the library and inform the assistant about her parents’ death. He pondered on himself for a while before deciding maybe he should be a good person and inform her of a very important and personal news. So, he ran back, with urgency on his feet.

When he opened the heavy door, swinging it unnecessarily hard, Kaitlyn frowned at her.

Archibald looked around for the woman, but he can’t see her. He asked Kaitlyn instead, “Where’s your assistant, miss?”

“I don’t know, she’s somewhere around. Why?”

“The Edevanes got murdered, and they caught the human who did it,” he explained. “Just tell your assistant about the news.” He then went out again without waiting for a response. He looked at the guard station and saw people gathering outside.

That girl’s life is so sad, he thought to himself. I wonder how she’ll live in town now that her parents are dead now.

He walked slowly to his house, where he lived alone, ever since he lost his parents from an expedition to the north.

To be an orphan is hard enough as it is, I wonder what being an orphan while being a human in a werewolf town will do to her. He found that his mind was filled with concern and interest about the woman – more than he had before.

***

Georg was shaking in anger as he looked at the human inside the prison cell. The bloodied creature was beaten almost to death by the people who saw him come out the Edevane residence. The man was swollen all over, and close to death; and yet Georg was itching to add in another punch or two to the man’s face just for good measure.

“Where are your accomplices?” he shouted at the injured man. “Where did you all come from?”

The man lay on the cold floor, unresponsive and barely conscious. His breathing was shallow and irregular. Blood flowed unceasingly from his nose.

“Where are your FUCKING accomplices?” Georg repeated as his body convulsed and shook as his muscles bulged twice their size. Hair slowly grew out from his skin, covering his whole body. His mouth stretched forward, while his teeth became sharpened fangs. He howled as his body contorted, his hands and feet turned into clawed appendages. His eyes glowed bright red as he looked at the encaged man with pure anger.

The guards just looked over as Georg turned into a werewolf in front of their prisoner, while the onlookers watched with expectant eyes. Georg lunged at the prison cell railing, grabbing two rods in his bulbous hands. “Talk or die,” he growled at the man.

“I—” the man started. “I don’t… I don’t…” he stuttered.

“You don’t what?”

“I… don’t know,” he said. “They left me alone,” he finished, forcing out the rest of his energy. He coughed out a blob of blood and started convulsing on the ground.

Georg, in his beast form, was enraged by the answer. He went berserk and pulled the thick iron rods from the cell, creating a huge enough opening for him, before pouncing on the dying man. He bared his mouth and ripped the man’s throat, ending his life almost instantly. Georg looked at the other people looking at the event occurring inside the prison cell, and all he saw was approval.

All humans must die, he thought.

All humans must die, the collective telepathically agreed.

Georg howled at the ceiling, before returning his attention to the murderer. No meat must be wasted, he thought to himself, as he devoured its remains whilst the crowd watched over.

***

Selene felt her world shattered when Kaitlyn told her the news of her parents’ passing. She was not expecting to be comforted by the librarian, and she was right not to expect. Nobody really cared about her. Kaitlyn simple informed her, her eyes did not show any sympathy to her. After all, she was only accepted to the library because it was the only place, she can be of use for them without them having to see her all the time.

She sprinted haphazardly back to their home, tripping several times and bruising her body and tearing at her clothes. Her face was covered with tears, dirt and blood when he reached their residence, and saw the crowd of onlookers and soldiers around and inside.

“Where are my parents?” she asked, panting, crying. Nobody was saying anything. They merely looked at her in vaguely hidden indifference. “Where are my parents?” she repeated, but even the soldiers did not answer her questions. “Are you all fucking kidding me?” she gave in to years of buried resentment. “Seriously? Even now? What do you have against me? Do you really hate me this much?”

Nobody responded. They all looked at her with disinterest.

“I live in this town. I breathe the same air that you breath. I eat the same food that you eat. I am standing on the same ground that you stand in. Why are you treating me like this?” She looked each of the people there in the eyes, searching for sympathy, but found none. “Just get out of my way,” she resigned.

The crowd parted and let her get in. Everything was as it always was whenever she returned home from the library. Nothing was out of place, like the news she received was a just a distasteful prank. But the splotches of blood trailing from her parents’ bedroom to hers pulled her back to reality. Her heart almost exploded from the realization that everything she heard was true.

She reluctantly inched towards her parents’ room. She was preparing to see the worse, their bodies mutilated, and their room splattered all over with their own blood. But the room was void of their bodies; what remained were the blood stains on the bed, the floor and the ceiling.

She fell on her knees and cried every single tear she had in her body. She wailed, she shouted, she broke down and felt her very soul seep out of her body. And in what felt like hours, her eyes felt dry, her mouth metallic, and her lungs were sore. She stood and remembered the blood trail leading to her room. She felt dread once again creep up into her heart.

She slowly walked to her room, unsure of what to expect. Upon looking inside, everything she owns were in their rightful places. Her room was untouched, except the writing on the wall:

In bloody scribble, were the words HUNTING SEASON.

Selene was confused at the meaning of the message. Was it a message for the werewolves? Was it for her family? Was it for her?