Return to town with Valerie

You went back to town at around 18:00. You parked the car in the parking lot and headed towards the station with Valerie.

"So, what did Nathan say?" You asked.

"He sounded... happy. He said he had already booked a table at the restaurant." Valerie smiled casually.

"That's good, right?"

"We'll see." She shrugged her shoulders.

You went to the front door of the police station, but Valerie suddenly stopped. She looked serious and began to sniff the air. "The smell is strange. It's like... Get down!"

Before you knew what was happening, Valerie had tackled you to the ground. The next moment, a violent explosion erupted inside the police station, shattering the doors and windows.

Your head was buzzing, and your ears were ringing. Between the crackling of flames and agonized screams coming from inside the police station, you heard a blood-curdling howl. A werewolf's howl.

How is this happening? You wondered as you barely got up.

Valerie must have heard that, too, as she quickly ran inside the building to search for the beast. When you felt the world around you finally stopped spinning, you rushed into the police station.

You began coughing once the smell in the air struck your nose. Was it gasoline? Was that what caused the explosion? The scene before your eyes was terrible. The explosion erupted in the middle of the main hall, and all the police officers nearby were killed.

The most severely injured among the dead, the one whose face had been burned to a bloody, mangled mess, was probably the one closest to the blast. Judging by the gold badge on him, he must have been the police chief, Thomas. You also found Hannah's corpse behind a desk on the floor. The right half of her body was almost gone, and you saw terror and disbelief in her eyes.

But you didn't have the luxury of time to figure out what had happened here. You turned around a corner and found the records room. It was swallowed by the fire. Whatever had once been kept there, you had no hope of getting it now.

Following the trail of blood, you headed to the detention room. When you got there, you realized that the situation was worse than you thought.

A giant gray-furred werewolf was holding Ben's neck with its claws. Judging by its large penis, you knew that it was a male. It must be a pure werewolf, since it could transform into a full-on werewolf even if there wasn't a full moon. But who was it? Your mind was swarmed by questions.

Leonard was lying on the floor, while blood was pumping out of the cut wound on his neck, and he was desperate for air. Valerie grabbed a pistol from a dead police officer and fired at the werewolf, but that didn't do much damage. The werewolf just looked at you with an evil smile. You saw brutality and savagery in its golden eyes.

"No... You don't... have to do this..." Ben was still struggling, but he was easily outmatched by the strong beast.

"Let him go!" You yelled at it.

"James Wilson. You're too late."

It spoke.

"What? Who are you? What do you want?" You were frightened that the beast could actually talk. Its voice sounded familiar, but you couldn't place it since it was twisted a little bit.

"You know nothing, detective. Everyone must pay." It laughed.

Before you could do anything else, the werewolf landed a sharp cut on Ben's throat, dropped him on the floor, and jumped out the window.

"Don't you dare!" Valerie didn't care about the wounded as she immediately chased after it through the window.

It all happened so fast that you didn't know what to do. You ran towards Leonard and checked his pulse, but you found none. He was already dead. You didn't have time to mourn him as you quickly went to Ben. The cut on his neck was deep. You tried your best to stop the bleeding, but you knew it was in vain. Ben was infected by a full-on werewolf. Even if he could make it, there was no way to cure him now.

"James..." Ben whispered to you while coughing blood.

"I'm here. Stay with me, okay?" You tried to comfort the old man.

"It's... Bruce..." He could barely speak now.

You were shocked. Did Ben just say that the werewolf was Bruce, Sherry's boyfriend? How was that possible? What did it mean? Everything was out of your control, and you felt totally powerless.

"Save... Sherry..." Ben drew out his last breath right after. He died.

"James!" Valerie came back with an angry face, "It fled north out of town, I lost it. Come on! We have to catch it! Why are you still here?"

"Coming..." You answered before looking at Ben one more time. You kind of felt relieved that the old man has at least been spared the terrible fate of being turned into a werewolf.

You closed Ben's eyes for him, collected yourself, and followed Valerie out.

You went back to your Sentinel and drove back onto the mountain road, heading north, while Valerie kept texting Nathan, asking him to meet you at the Smith Mansion. Whether it was actually Bruce or not, whether its target was Sherry or not, you had to make sure that Fran was safe. You tried calling her cellphone several times, but there was no signal on her end. You were getting more and more nervous.

"That was a male. Have you seen it before?" You asked Valerie, who was calibrating her crossbow.

"No." She shook her head, "Did the old man say something to you before he died?"

"I think he was trying to tell me that it was Bruce, and we need to go to save Sherry before he gets her. But that doesn't make any sense!" You had no idea what you were dealing with. How come Bruce was a werewolf? Why did he kill Leonard and Ben? Why was he targeting Sherry? All these unanswered questions were making you anxious.

"I don't care. Whoever it is, I'll just kill it." All you saw in her eyes was fury.

You haven't felt such despair over your own powerlessness in a long time. As a private investigator, you couldn't piece together anything useful from the limited clues, and simply let things slide toward the worst. All you could do was drive faster and hope that you could turn the tide against all odds.

You had a strong feeling. Whatever happened tonight, it would bring an end to this whole affair.