" Here you go sirs, your glasses" José handed out the glasses after making them a vodka soda. He already figured out that the two before him were cops and he was at first worried that they were after the man who came in just now- Alphonse.
' It seems that isn't the case' He thought, realizing how they would have begun questioning him for answers if that were to be the case. However, José did not let his guard down. " You know, I was gonna ask the same question..." Court said as he grabbed a glass and paused to take a slight gulp. "What the heck are we doing?" He seemed to think for a second after asking. However, he didn't wait for his colleague to respond before he answered his own question in the same line. “I’ll tell you what we're doing. Playing animal control with the wild rangers is what we're doing, Jamie ” He vented as he took another gulp of his drink. However annoying that sounded, Jamie only sighed and shook his head as he indulged in his wine glass as well. Court was obviously pissed about the case just as himself, and Jamie understood that much. Having nothing to say, Jamie became silent, falling into his thought as he slowly sipped his drink. It wasn't after a long while after that he faced his colleague to say “ We’ve been all about town today gathering info, it's all been fallacies and just ridiculous hearsays.” Court who had also been taking his drink in silence simply nodded his head in response. He seemed to have his own speculations and doubts though. He could vividly remember how the gazes of the witnesses shook when being questioned, it was as though they were reliving the horror from their experience. Court didn't know what to believe anymore. Jamie, on the other hand, had no doubts about the witnesses. He believed they were either lying or out of their minds. This made him more furious about having to handle this case, and he didn’t like that the bureau had them working on such a case. Creak! At this moment, the door to the pub was pushed open and a man walked in. The whole place hushed seeing this man shut the door behind him as he calmly walked in. There was something strange about him. Everyone watched the man whose unkempt ruffled hair had dirts and dried leaves in them walk nonchalantly towards the bar. His clothes were also dirty and his boots were stained in blood, leaving everyone to wonder just who he was. The man, however, gave no concern to the gazes of scrutiny and caution that was peered at him by almost everyone in the pub. He calmly drew a seat by the counter top and ordered as he stared strangely towards the stairs. “ Cold beer please” José followed his gaze and became instantly spooked. However, he didn't act intuitively, realizing the man had no intention to go towards the stairs and was only observing. “ Y-you got it” José stuttered to say and quickly turned around to pour the man his order. Just now, he had lost his calm composure that he'd always prided himself in. ' Another, and he isn't from around here either' He couldn't help but start to ponder of his inaction wouldn't lead to a severe consequence. ‘ There’s need to be on the watch-out.’ José looked to the side towards a group that sat by a table in the right side of the pub and signaled to one of the guys. The guy nodded and rose from the table right after, walking out of the pub entirely. José calmly turned around and poured the glass, donning a professional smile. The man shifted his gaze from the stairs and turned to face both cops who had been observing him all the while. “ Logan O'Neal” he held a hand out to Court as he greeted. “ Nice to meet you Mr Logan, I'm Court Ronald" Court greeted in return with a serious expression as they shook hands. “ Jamie Francis “ Jamie also shook hands with Logan- the hunter. “ Here you go, enjoy your drink” José said to Logan as he pushed his drink to him. The latter only calmly nodded. " Thanks". " So, what's the business?" Logan asked, raising his glass to take sip. Court who was closer to the hunter shared a gaze with Jamie, who expressed the same extent of confusion on his face. Court, however, turned back to face Logan and said. " I don't know if you got the report, but we're from the police department and we're to work together on a case" Court introduced first. ' Right ...' At this point, José who had silently slipped away from the three strange men and was now standing a bit far by the counter away from them nodded in thought. He could still hear what they were saying after all, he had only given them the space to talk and not be in their faces after reading the mood. " I know. I Just wanted to hear what you've got on the case." Logan causally responded while calmly sipping on his drink. This time, Jamie was the first to speak. " Lot of hearsays, and it's all probably wolves attacking from the woods" Court hearing his partner speak wanted to facepalm and curse, but he gave up realizing it was too late. What Jamie just did now was insult Logan's profession, right in front of him. " Haha! There sure are" Logan chuckled as he downed the rest of his drink in one go. " Afterall, I just caught one before coming" He shot the two cops an evil grin. Court and Jamie were caught off guard by his words and were even more confused by what he meant. They both stared with a perplexed expression on their faces at Logan, not knowing whether to react to the weird grin on his face or his words just now. Only one word rang in both of their minds in the description of Logan. ' Lunatic!" " Come with me, I'll show you guys what I'm talking about" Logan ignored the look on both Jamie and Court's faces and proceeded to rise out of his seat, further walking away towards the exit. Jamie and Court shared a glance, as if asking each other whether to follow Logan who seemed like a crazy guy at this point. In the end, they both decided to follow behind him. José on the other hand was scared shitless as he watched the back of the three strangers walking out of the pub. Most especially, his gaze couldn't move from the man whose receding hairline and rough countenance made him seem like an actual lunatic. ' Just now, he mentioned capturing a wolf. D-does that mean..?' José had to hold the countertop for support or he might fall. He didn't want to believe it but, something told him it was true. One of the two brothers, Erik and Jake, had been captured! The blood that smeared his boots just gave it away. José could not overlook the facts that stood out before him. Besides, he understood just what that man named Logan meant just now, and he now knew why those three met in the pub. ' If that's the hunter, then he must know about Yoldes' palm. He's coming after everyone here too!' José panicked as the alarming thought occured to him. ...Following Logan to his car, they went around the back to the booth where the hunter himself stood smiling. Jamie and Court were already wondering just what kind of joke this was. They couldn't believe a man would singlehandedly capture a wolf, and leave it in the booth of his car. It was just absurd! " You have the look of disbelief on your faces, don't be too shocked okay?" Logan grinned as he crouched to pull the booth open. " What the heck do you think you're doing!" Immediately after he pulled open the booth to his car, Jamie reached for his waist gun and yelled out loud. He couldn't believe that he'd actually trusted a lunatic and had taken him for his word. Court who was always more flippant, also frowned when he saw the scene before him and reached for his waist gun, although he didn't pull it out just yet. In the booth, there was a man tied by almost his entire body with a rope, mumbling being unable to speak due to the gag in his mouth. He was covered in blood, m
" C-come in!" Not wanting to cause suspicion, I quickly called out and turned to face the door. Click! " Excuse me" I heard his deep voice resound as he turned the door knob and walked into the room with a tray of food in his hand. He was in casual clothing- a sportswear and a pair of joggers. " Sorry I'm late, I had a lot to do preparing this" He said with a small apologetic smile just as he walked into the room. Not knowing how to react to such politeness from him, I could only nod my head in appreciation " Thank you!" Darren stopped on his walk towards me for a second hearing me. He seemed surprised that I thanked him just now... which was odd. " No, I'm just doing what I should..." he mumbled and shook his head as he continued on his stride towards the bed. " I see you're getting better?" He asked before I could question his last words. " I- yeah, the wounds are closing" I answered looking down at my bandaged sides. " Good. But you need to recover strength and
Taking the direction that José- the bartender had given him, verifying with the bodyguards standing by the door, and after having passed through other processes, Alphonse found himself sitting in an intense room that seemed like a gang head office with pairs of eyes glaring at him. There were at least six people in the room other than himself, and they all shared the same hostility as the couple that sat in the opposite couch to him. They all seemed to be on their guards, as though they were facing a threat. " The stench on you doesn't belong from around here. You smell like a wild rogue!" The middle-aged woman who sat with one leg crossed over the other while folding her arms and glaring dangerously at Alphonse, twitched her nose in a show of disgust as she said. The man who sat beside her seemed to nod his head at her words, sharing the same thought as her. ' From what I can tell, they're both at the head. The man is probably the leader of this pack and these other people a
Thud! Just as I shut the door behind me, I realized it was probably a stupid idea to do what I was about to do. The whole place was dark and I could barely see anything at all! I quickly reached back to find the door to my room amidst the darkness and once I did, I gently pulled open the door. The light from the lamp made a slight change but it was barely enough to see. I could only make out the walls and a dark space that seemed to lead to somewhere; another hallway perhaps, I couldn't tell. Step after step, I gently proceeded while trailing the wall toward the vacant hallway ahead. I knew this was deadly considering if Darren caught me roaming about his house like this, I could end up in trouble. However, I couldn't hold back this curiosity in me. Darren seems too mysterious and he makes me feel like it would severely harm me to stay around for too long. I could smell danger on him and I find him untrustworthy. I believe every man is like this. They prey on weak
The morning dew covered the woods densely, causing a damp coldness all around. The air was crisp and fresh, carrying the earthy scent of the forest. "Ngh!" Darren grunted as he squinted his eyes open, the first thing in his field of vision being the damp area of dried leaves and twigs, surrounded by tall trees with thick branches. It was the early grotesque appearance of nature at dawn. " Aagh!" He groaned in distress and held his head as he pushed himself up, a severe ring reverberating through his head. Darren couldn't help but clench his eyes shut and shake his head. Slowly recovering from the splitting headache, Darren looked around, unfamiliar with the terrain he found himself in. He wondered just how far he'd wandered into the woods this time. This wasn't a surprise to Darren. Afterall, it wouldn't be the first time it would happen to him. It was more of a common occurrence to him. " Ugh! I have to find my way back home" He muttered and slowly rose from the floor.
Kyley looked between the bed and Darren, her entire being still shivering in fear and anxiety. " Will you?" Darren asked, pointing towards the bed with his gaze. The expression on his face made it obvious just how furious he was. ' He's gonna treat my wounds? Not harm me?' Kyley was confused and didn't know whether to believe Darren. ' Nonetheless, there was nothing to do but play it calm and by his rules' Kyley decided to listen to Darren for now. There was no way she could escape now anyway. " O-okay" Kyley nodded nervously. She slowly and cautiously got back in bed, her gaze moving to watch Darren with every move she made. Darren exhaled heavily and walked over to the bedside, he placed the needle holder down and revealed the suture needle and thread that he'd held in his palm the whole time. Kyley looked at this and couldn't help but grow tense. Darren tied the thread to the needle and raised his fierce gaze to look at Kyley. " Show me your wounds!" Darren order
Kyley stared at the wooden ceiling beams that added a rustic feel to the room's aesthetics, while still deep in thought about what had happened earlier." Show me your wounds!" Darren's stern face appeared in her mind as he yelled at her over and over again. Her pain had significantly reduced after Darren had attended to her wounds. However, Kyley still didn't know how to feel about it. The fear and anxiety in her heart still remained, and her body would shudder every now and then.Her trauma had kicked in.Kyley felt like a trapped mouse, waiting to be slaughtered. She was wounded and had nowhere to go. She couldn't help but curse her ill-fate.' Why do I always have to go through this?' Tears threatened to break out of her eyes. Kyley was hurt, in pain, and was mentally exhausted- she's collapsing. She could barely hold on to the last bit of sanity left within her, Kyley believed she would soon lose it. And Darren was probably the last straw.' Darren...' Kyley didn't know just wha
" I didn't mean to hurt you or anything, but you were throwing things at me and making it difficult for me to tend to your wounds. So I had to force you to stop throwing a fit. Sorry if I made you feel some sort of way" Darren slowly recounted, choosing his words carefully. Darren didn't want her to think he was calling her crazy. It was obvious that he believed the pain from her wounds was what made Kyley react as aggressively as she did earlier. He understood, and he wanted her to know he really did. Silence reigned over in the room for a long while. Kyley didn't respond to Darren's apology, she just lowered her gaze in thought.' He is genuinely apologizing?' Kyley repeated in her mind, over and over again as though she were trying to remind herself that this was real. Kyley had never been apologized to by anyone. Never! And hearing Darren apologize to her made her feel some kind of way. ' Moreso, he actually cares' Kyley could tell from the sincerity in his tone that Darren mea