Joseph and Cormac arrived at an apartment complex according to the address provided by Ken the victim's brother lived here. The apartment with an estimated eight rooms, one below and one above, with a little stairs connecting the two levels. Joseph and Cormac climbed the stairs silently until they reached a blue-colored door that appeared to have not been repainted. Once he had knocked twice, Cormac abruptly stopped and yelled:
"Police open up"
Subsequently, there were deliberate steps and a silhouette could be seen beneath the door. The shadow came to a standstill, and someone spoke:
"What do you want?"
Joseph said, as his red eye glistened:
"It's about your brother Axel"
Nevel took some time to respond:
"I don't have a brother"
Cormac continued:
You are not Nevel Sigzfree, then. "So are you not the victim's brother?"
Nevel said, "Victim," opened his door slowly, and posed the following question:
"Why do you mean Victim?"
Cormac took out his badger and added:
"I am Cormac, and this is Joseph, my partner. There was a murder at the main entrance of the Root Grove, and we have identified the body as Axel Sigzfree; we are come to give the news and ask a few questions, if you don't mind."
Nevel's body was suddenly shown to the two investigators; his Were metamorphosis made him appear towering and hefty, his blue fur encircled his body, his hand and claws were outstretched, and his tail was swaying as it smacked the wooden door.
"What is this about my brother?"
"You will grieve later, answer as so we can catch whoever did this?" Taking out a little notebook and pen to jot down the responses, Cormac remarked.
With a malicious expression that he believed no one could see, Nevel turned to face Detective Cormac. However, Joseph's sparkling eyes revealed a secret aura emanating from the Werecat.
"Alright officer Cormac, I will answer your question" Nevel replied.
Detective Cormac here. Please leave the area before we begin. so that we can converse."
Joseph continued, saying:
"Wear some clothes please"
"Oh right," Nevel exclaimed as he disappeared into his room's back. Sounds of things falling, cans being kicked, etc. Joseph sees only what he likes to refer to as contempt as he leaves the door ajar.
Nevel changed back into a tall, broad man with obvious muscles when he closed up his flat after leaving it. In addition to tall, spiked leather boots, he wore a black jacket that revealed a crimson shirt and black pants.
Cormac frowned and inwardly inquired, 'He looks like a punk.'
"Has the Victim visited you before his depart?"
"Yes, he came to see me a week ago following a my departure from home. He called today and said he'd be stopping over," Nevel said, ruffling his short hair slightly.
"Okay, was your brother part of a gang?"
"Not that I know of," he answered, digging into his ear with his pinkie finger.
"Has he been into any trouble as of lately?"
"If there was trouble he would have told me"
"Okay, last question," Cormac remarked, as Joseph retrieved the two images from his pocket.
"Do you know this kid?" Cormac inquired. Nevel took a moment to study the photo before responding,
"That kid goes to the Academy; he is a second year I think"
"You know of him?"
"No I never met him, I just caught sights of him, here and there"
Cormac questioned, "Do you know of his involvement with your brother?"
"No and my brother would be caught dead, hanging out with a Husk"
"A husk?"
"Yeah that kid is a husk"
"That's the closest thing we could find during our search. The Husk population in this city is small. In any case, I appreciate the cooperation. We will be visiting you if we have any news."
Before Cormac and Joseph could turn to go, Nevel asked:
"Don't I get a reward for providing information?"
Grinning, Joseph set the two photos down:
"Use them on his funeral"
As he was saying this, something appeared to be approaching quickly. Nevel snatched up the photos and continued:
"Thank you sirs"
As he and Joseph departed the apartment building, Cormac nodded. Cormac queried:
"Why give him evidence?"
"Grief is essential for growing up"
"Why say that?"
"His emotions were welling up inside"
"Oh, the Malice, he hasn't received an acceptance, that's right. something he will have trouble with in the future.
"He will advance soon enough, anyways I am impressed that you fooled me about you sensing the Malice"
"I am not that ignorant, not to see the buildup," Cormac said with a small laugh.
"You are just old"
Cormac joked, "Shut up," which made Joseph chuckle a little. "Anyways, what are you going to tell the chief about the evidence?" Joseph asked.
"It dropped, fell and we can't find it"
Cormac gave a face-bombing shrug.
"We need to work on your excuses as we head to the station"
Cormac asked, glancing at the residential complex:
"Do you think he will take justice into his hands?"
"You mean Revenge huh, it is essential to his acceptance and advancement" said Joseph as he looked to the complex and then he and Joseph left Root grove.
Nevel's eye started to drip as he glanced at the photo. He shrieked, his body shaking, and he wept tears that were tinged with a hint of rage.
"Idiot" "I told him and I told, you idiot. Idiot" as he collapsed to his knees, hitting the ground while sobbing in agony.
Because of his innate animalistic factor—which all Weres share had been genetically made to not displayed a lot of emotions. This factor affects basic human emotions, but not those of an animal because animals are sentient beings whose survival depends on their ability to express certain emotions, which implies weakness.
The Were race is one in which people have suppressed their feelings. Their mythology states that the world's animals were created by the god of Beasts, Lycan. Lycan slept with his creations out of pure boredom and loneliness, and thus his offspring were born. They bore the features and factor of their parents, but the only thing that distinguished them from their father was the ability to suppress what were referred to as weak emotions.
Their predominant emotion is fury, which is employed for conquest. Lycan's children were despised by humans. They saw them as abominations, mocking his children, so Lycan slept with the princess of the human tribe and left his mark.
That mark permanently transformed people into Were-creatures like his children, nearly dooming the race as a whole. The wrath feeling represented hatred for those who rejected his children, and now his offspring find power in the negative emotion.
Nevel wiped his tears away and placed the images in his inner jacket pocket before standing up and jumping off the upper stories, landing on the hard earth with a loud boom that shook the entire building.
"HEY SHUT UP, I'M TRYING TO SLEEP HERE!"
The residents who Nevel's exhibition had upset were shouted, but Nevel ignored them and simply turned to go. The once-complex lite up as everyone turned on their lights and shouted, eventually fading into distant whispers to Nevel as he moved into the darkness.
Walking downtown, Nevel came across a dimly lighted tavern that appeared to be in the middle of nowhere distant from the city. Bikes were parked outside, and there were drunken men and women talking about ordinary things like the Agent 6 group's predicament, spotters in the neighborhood, and other such topics.
Nevel inhaled the air, grinning, then turned to face the Tavern:
"Oh dogs, just what I needed"
As he said this, he cracked his knuckles and his claws grown from his fingernails. He headed for the tavern with his eyes now with vertical slits, he is on the hunt. As he reached the clearing where the light made him feel mysteries and yelled:
"Meow"
"Hey kitten, F*ck"
Hearing this, some of the men looked at his funny as they stopped talking. Nevel's grin grew wider and his long tail retracted from his behinds as he said a word he knew will force a reaction as he stuck out his tongue and:
"Bark"
He repeated four times, as he said this. One of the men walked toward him and added:
"Beat it Puss"
As he spoke, Nevel used his tail to seize the man's feet and tug. causing the man to tumble to the ground. After that, the attacker climbed up and punched the man repeatedly in the face until he was bleeding and was unable to talk.
Nevel said, getting to his feet, "Come on"
A few of the guys started developing fangs, ears, hair, and claws. They all surged at the massive teenager, who blasted the first man with a combination of straight punches and uppercuts before finishing with a hook to the cheek.
The other man was trying to scratch at his face when he grabbed him, barely cutting him. Nevel then grasped him tight and used the Werewolf as a shield, using his tail to sweep the legs, his claws to cut push and cut at them, his legs to do straight kicks and roundhouse kicks, and finally his cat-like reflexes to escape and counter with effort.
Nevel, having had enough of the outside team, turned to the now-quiet entryway after a series of cries and gasps. Stillness prevailed inside, until Nevel grabbed the man he was using as a shield and threw him so hard into the window that it broke on impact.
Nevel unlocked the door, turned to face everyone, and peered out the broken window from the tavern. The man used as a shield and tossed had now demolished a pool table, with men and women wearing gang jackets and showing underwear for the women that was partially covered by the gang jackets and shorts.
Some were drinking near the bar, some were playing pool and darts, some were by the music box, and one man, hiding his ominous tattoos, questioned Nevel:
"Boy, where are my men?" the man inquired as he took a poll cue.
With hollow eyes, Nevel turned to face the stranger and questioned:
"Are you Lester?"
The man who took the cue, hit the white ball toward the clear color ball to the edge hole as the clear color went the edge hole. continued, saying:
"Then what if I am, I am I required to give you an answer"
Nevel approached a nearby pool table, grabbed the 8 ball, and added:
"8 seconds"
"Excuse me"
"That is how much I needed to find acceptance to advance, after I heard that my brother died"
"Which do you want condolences or congratulations?"
Nevel approached a man who was observing him with a smile on his face and remarked,
"Neither," he muttered as he used the 8 ball-like device to battered the skull of the man in front before dropping and hitting the table with force.
Some of the men lunged toward Nevel while he smirked.
"Bring it on"