"Sorry, Special Agent Fischer," Detective Harry Stone said as he sat opposite Alan. "I don't know what the hell is taking Lewis so long. Usually, it takes him about four or five minutes to grab the coffee and come back. I tried calling him but he's not answering."
"No, no, it's all right," Alan shook his head as he spoke. "And you can just call me Alan, Detective."
"Oh, okay then," Detective Stone said. "Then you can just call me Harry, Alan."
"Good to know," Alan nodded his head with a smile. Harry smiled back. He then looked to the sides before he leaned forward and whispered, "Uh... so, Alan. You said that it's probably best for me to relocate. What did you mean by that?"
"It's exactly as it sounds, Harry," Alan replied. He was going through the pile of documents on his table, which had all the information that the local precinct had collected regarding the double homicide. "Some powerful people tried to play God. It failed. And now, things have spiralled out of control. Soon, the Federal Investigation Department will send their special forces division to keep the entire city in quarantine. So yeah, when I said you'd better find a new place to relocate, I meant exactly that."
"Uh, I'm sorry, Alan. I didn't understand most of what you just said," Harry scratched his chin. "That's alright," Alan nodded his head, his gaze still fixated on the documents in his hands. "Neither does the FID. They never do, until it's way too late."
"Sounds like you don't really like where you work," Harry asked, curious about Alan openly hating his department. Alan shrugged his shoulders. "I don't like the higher ups. Most of them really like the smell of money, so they make some really poor decisions. Of course, it's normal people like us who suffer because of it."
He then placed the documents back on the table and turned to look at Harry. "Harry, are you sure that these four are the only bodies you've found?"
Other than the bodies found in the alleyway right behind the Red Deer pub, the police department had also found two other bodies in the backyard of an apartment complex on the same day, separated only by just a few hours. Apparently, one of the tenants heard some noise coming from the backyard and went to look, only to find two bodies lying in a pool of blood.
"The ones that I found and the ones that Jeffrey and his team found on the other side of town are all that we know of. Murder is pretty rare here. Why?" Harry asked. Alan leaned back on his chair and began mumbling to himself. "Only four? Is it really just a late bloomer...."
He then turned to Harry again. "Were there any missing cases just prior to these cases?"
"There were a few missing cases just two weeks prior. Do you think there's a connection?" Harry asked. "But weren't these just bear attacks?"
Alan was about to speak when Harry's phone began to ring. He picked it up and said, "Hello?"
Alan watched Harry's facial expressions, which changed from bored to surprised to anxious in less than ten seconds. After finishing up his call, he placed the phone down and said to Alan, "One of our officers called. He said he found a few boys screaming about an animal attack or something. Apparently, there's a body. We don't know yet, but I'm about to leave to find out. Want to come?"
"Yeah," Alan nodded his head. He turned around to look at Raphael, who was going through a pile of medical records and asked, "You want to come, Raph?"
Raphael shook his head, "You can leave. I'll be here."
"Alright then," Alan turned back and walked towards Harry who looked at Raphael and asked, "Isn't he a doctor? Isn't he supposed to examine the bodies?"
"He's not that kind of doctor," Alan shook his head. "He tags along sometimes, but he usually stays inside."
The two left the precinct and headed towards Harry's car, which was located across the street.
"Sh*t," Harry cursed as he looked at his phone. "Lewis still isn't answering."
"Maybe he got caught up in something," Alan said. Harry shrugged his shoulders and they both entered the black sedan.
------------ BEAST SOUL ------------
Hemingway Memorial Hospital.
"How's he doing?" Noah turned to Lewis, who had just finished talking to the doctor and was walking towards him. "Is he going to be alright?"
"Don't worry about it, kid." Lewis said. He then leaned next to the vending machine, and inserted a coin into the slot. "The doctors say that he's doing fine now. It's not as bad as you think."
Noah nodded his head, relieved. Lewis glanced at his face for a split second before crouching down next to the vending machine and pressing the button for a can of cold coffee.
Click!
The can dropped down to the empty space below, and Lewis grabbed it and held it up to Noah. "Here you go. Drink this," He said. "You'll feel calm. And you look like you need a drink."
Noah stared at the can of coffee for a few seconds before nodding his head and grabbing it. He opened the can and took a sip of the coffee. And then another sip. And then another one. And another.
Slurp!
Within seconds, he had finished the whole can of coffee. Lewis stared at him with shock. Noah did feel really thirsty. As if he hadn't drank anything in a while. Even after finishing the whole can, he still felt that it wasn't enough. However, he couldn't ask Lewis for any more help.
"Thanks for the coffee." Noah said as he threw the can in the recycle bin.
"Uh, yeah… sure." Lewis nodded his head. He had done that for the purpose of calming Noah down so that he could question him about Adrian's injuries. But he didn't expect Noah to simply chug the whole can in one go.
"So about those injuries..." Lewis looked at Noah. "You want to tell me what happened?"
"Ah, right. Of course," Noah nodded his head. He seemed nervous. "Adrian and I were hanging out in the junkyard along with a few of my classmates..." Noah said, leaving out the part about the fight. "And all of a sudden, we heard a loud howl."
"A howl?" Lewis raised his eyebrows and Noah nodded. "Like that of a wolf. Except it wasn't a wolf. At least I don't think it is."
"What was it?" Lewis asked. Noah shook his head. "I really don't know. I've never seen such a creature before. It looked like a crocodile, but it moved quickly, like a wolf. I-I really have no idea what that thing was."
"But that's what attacked your friend?" Lewis looked at him. Noah nodded. "It got Billy.."
"Billy? Is he one of your classmates?" Lewis asked, but before Noah could answer, their conversation was interrupted by the loud ringing of Lewis' phone.
Lewis pulled it out of his pocket. The name on the screen said; Detective Stone.
"Detective," Lewis answered the call.
"What the hell Lewis?" Harry screamed into his phone as he drove his car. "I've been calling you for god knows how long. Why the hell did it take you so much time to answer?"
"Apologies Detective Stone." Lewis glanced at Noah and said. "I was a bit busy. What's the matter?"
"Get your a** down to the junkyard fast," Harry said. "Some kids said they were attacked by some wild animal. And there's a body. Apparently."
"Junkyard?" Lewis exclaimed as he looked at Noah. "Billy..." Noah whispered under his breath.
"Got it. I'll be there in a few minutes," Lewis replied and hung up the phone. He then looked at Noah and said, "Hey kid, give me your full name and address before I leave. I'll contact you if there's anything I need to know."
"Uh, sure." Noah grabbed a newspaper that was lying on the table, tore a piece and wrote down his name and address on the paper, along with his home telephone number and handed it over to Lewis. "Thanks. You can get back on your own, right kid?" He asked, and Noah nodded his head. "Uh, yeah. No, I can."
"Good, good..." Lewis murmured as he jogged towards the elevator. "Get going before it gets dark, kid. You wouldn't want to make your parents worry, do you?"
"I will..." Noah nodded his head, and Lewis entered the elevator, waving his hands as it closed, leaving Noah alone in the hospital.
Was this really alright? Noah thought to himself. He didn't reveal everything to Lewis. Should he have? He didn't know.
'I've got to thank Wolfe for his help,' Noah said to himself as he thought about what happened at the factory. The dragon that helped them escape was, of course, Wolfe.
'It seemed like he had grown a bit more,' Noah thought. The dragon did look a bit larger than he remembered. But more importantly…
'Did he win against the other creature?' Noah was curious about the result of the fight. As they had left early, he didn't know what the outcome was. But seeing Wolfe fling the other creature up in the air as if it was nothing, he had a feeling that the dragon won.
'I've got to meet up with him.' Noah said to himself. For some reason, he felt connected to the dragon, even though it hasn't been that long since he met Wolfe. It was strange, but Noah didn't mind. He also has to figure out whether or not Wolfe was the one responsible for killing the Vice Principal and the soccer coach.
'It could've been the wolf-like creature,' Noah nodded his head. Now that there were more than one creature roaming around the city, he wasn't so sure if it really was Wolfe.
'But for now,' He looked at his watch, and mumbled under his breath. 'I've got to get home.'