Chapter 21: She's Here
CALEB.
"Marcel, I trust you can take care of it." I spoke while sipping coffee early the next morning.
Someone had indeed broken into my house yesterday, and I was gonna find out. Marcel has been one of my oldest friends, and he was a mercenary, together with being a private investigator. With the right tools and information, he can fish anybody out. Getting rid of them was another ball game.
In the meantime, I was headed to my first meeting for the day. I entered the conference room, all heads turning towards me. Different classes of people sat in front of me, all awed by my aura. They didn't say it, but I knew. I had a thing for captivating people. I relaxed comfortably in my seat, my mind wandering into all the things I had lined out for today, flipped a few papers on my desk, exhaled and said firmly,
"Begin."
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"I have three estates available in Hindletown, just south east of Central Bank. I assure you'll find pleasure in the property." I said to the client on the phone. I had initially scolded Harold for handing me something as simple as a negotiation between us and a client. But on hearing the man's voice on the phone, I decided to oblige. It was my property anyways.
"What is your offering price for one of them?"
"$300,000."
"Deal. I'll come for inspections tomorrow."
"Alright, nice doing business with you." I said and hung up the phone. I hadn't gotten clients like this in weeks, and I was more than happy to offer him our best estates.
"Harold, come to my office now." I called using the secretary hotline. He dashed into my office in a jiffy, fidgeting a bit. "Sir?"
"Take the day off tomorrow." I said curtly, not taking my eyes off my computer.
He shot his eyebrows up. And said hesitantly, "Um…are you sure sir?"
"Yes, you've done well enough. Now go." He left the office, less tense than when he entered. Harold was one of my favorite employees, and that was because he never mixed business with pleasure. He was strictly professional, hardworking and highly courteous. I could try peeling back the mask behind all that seriousness, but he never let anyone in. I wonder if he'd ever get married.
My phone buzzed loudly, interrupting my barrage of thoughts.
"What do you want? Can't it wait until tomorrow?" I said impatiently. Why is Kyle calling me more often than normal?
"Jeez man, aren't you in a bad mood." There was an annoying tinge of amusement in his voice. What's so funny about calling me by 12pm on a Thursday afternoon?
"I'm always in a bad mood. You know that." I snarled.
"Well you might wanna shut it off for now because it's gonna get worse." Dear Lord.
"What do you mean?" I shot my eyebrows up.
"Well, let's just say it's a surprise. We're still seeing tomorrow, right?" I could hear the beginning of a half-chuckle rising from his throat. I will snap his head in half.
"You called me to tell me my mood is gonna get worse because of a surprise? Kyle, why won't you change? Grow up for God's sake." I've had it with his jokes.
"Caleb?" He called, his voice a little soft.
"Hm?"
"Never."
I slammed the phone on my desk. Motherfucker.
Jessica knocked on my door a few minutes later. "Excuse me, Mr Caleb? There's a man downstairs waiting to see you." I nodded, and she left. Must be Henry.
"Caleb! It's been so long, how've you been, mate?" His Australian accent thick in his voice.
"You know, the usual. I'm all that I can be." I shrugged, giving him a half-hug.
"Oh come on now, there's more to life than all that. Anyways that is something we will both work on later. Now, when are we going to see those beautiful estates you told me about?" He rambled, his eyes filled with excitement.
I let out a half smile at his demeanor. Henry was one of my coursemates back in college, and I had met him for one particular reason, his enthusiasm. He had a way of making even the most boring shit, super fun. He was 'that' friend, and I didn't wanna lose him. Not yet, at least.
I led him to my office, and we talked about old school days. He told me he was an architect now, and he would love to see the designs of my buildings. I called Jessica to get some of them.
"You know the job isn't easy ay, I have to constantly come up with new ideas. This generation is hard to please, brother." I stared at him, trying to decipher the hidden meaning behind those words. Henry is never that serious.
After a brief moment, he burst out laughing.
Me:"..."
"I got you on that one! Ah you look so confused. I'm getting better, not gonna lie." He said between laughs. I glared at him, and he laughed even harder. I smiled, softly.
"I miss the good old days man. George was really the good one at these things." He glanced at his phone, still smiling, and a mixture of emotions flickered in his eyes. Panic, fear, resignation, and…anger. I narrowed my eyes on him. Something was strange. Too strange. He shoved an envelope into my hands, meticulously placing his phone into his pocket."Those are my newest designs. I have to go meet my lady now, so I'll text you tonight and we can arrange something tomorrow ay?"
"Sure, why not?" I leaned back in my chair, a little amused. Where was he running off to? He turned around to leave.
"Wait. Jessica hasn't brought the designs yet." I said, not batting an eyelid. He was a little jumpy.
"How could I forget? Silly me."
"Are you okay Henry? Do you need help with anything?" He raised his eyebrow at my question. I leaned forward and repeated, "Do you need anything?" My voice dropped a full octave.
He stuttered for a while, shut his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them, I could see nothing but hatred. Pure motherfucking hatred. Who crossed his path?
"Werewolves." He uttered, eyes wide and serious.
"What?"
"Werewolves, Caleb. They're loose in Hulvey. And it's a problem." He checked his phone again. He fiddled with it, swiping through some photos. He stopped at one, zoomed in and handed the phone to me. I stared at what seemed to be a large wolf, the size of a human, lunging at an antelope. The surrounding area was covered in bushes and trees, and I could see the faint outline of Hulvey's central clock tower on the horizon. The wolf had dark blue eyes, seemingly obsidian, long sharp claws and disturbingly sharp teeth shaped like fangs. Its fur was full, and looked fluffy. Fascinating.
"Where did you see this?" I handed the phone back to him. He leaned closer and whispered, "My wife saw em in the woods last week. It almost saw her, but she was able to take a picture and run for her dear life. I want it dead, Caleb."
I let out a low chuckle. Helena used to mutter about werewolves in her sleep and I never paid mind to it. I thought she watched a little too many movies. I guess I was wrong.
"I don't know anything about 'killing' werewolves Henry. You should talk to Elliot." He was the eccentric one. Henry stared at me, a little confused.
"Elliot called me last week, saying the same thing. He said he was going to 'hunt it down'. You should reach out to him, maybe he'd know what to tell you. As for me, I have a little too much on my plate. I don't have the time to worry about 'werewolves'." I made air quotes with my fingers. "And I don't think you should either. Leave them alone."
Sure, they were real. But with the little I knew about them, they wouldn't attack humans unless we tried to hurt them. Henry and Elliot were chasing dead ends. He shrugged. "I guess you're right."
"Sir, the designs." Jessica knocked.
"Come in."
She placed them on my table, and walked out stylishly. I glanced through them briefly, before passing them over to Henry. He ran his eyes over the designs, nodding and smirking occasionally. He took out his phone, taking pictures of some. With my permission of course.
That's the Henry I knew. "A'ight thanks mate. I'll reach out to you before I return to Australia. I'd like to see some of these in person." He shook my hands before walking out.
What a day. I yawned, preparing to call Jessica to get me some water. Maybe I would–
My phone buzzed again.
What is it this time? I groaned loudly before answering it. I didn't even bother to check the caller ID.
"Caleb! Caleb! Thank God I found you!" My little sister, Brielle panted over the phone.
"What's wrong sis?" My initial annoyance, turning into deadly worry.
"Guess who I just saw!" She sounded all giddy. Giddy wasn't good. Giddy was bad. I sighed, running my hands through my hair.
"First of all, thank you for almost giving me a heart attack."
"Oh please, you're too healthy for that. All those workouts you do." She snorted. I laughed.
"Alright, who did you see?" I could bet my life it was an old friend, or classmate, or Keith Powers, or–
"Helena." My heart jumped straight into my throat.