The last day in town with Grace

Act 3 - Starting Howland Town's longest day

June 7th.

You woke up in bed alone at 7:30 in the morning.

At first, you panicked a little when you saw Fran wasn't beside you, but it soon came back to you that after your quarrel the other day, she had gotten herself another hotel room, 205 downstairs, and was staying there by herself. So you just got out of bed casually. You dressed yourself and left the room because you had an appointment with the doctor today.

You arrived just as the clinic opened for the day. Dr. Nathan Jones ran a quick blood test on you, and the results weren't looking good.

"Your body is developing a resistance to monkshood solution." Nathan shook his head and sighed, as he knew he couldn't do much to help you. "I'm afraid that you need to double the dose in a week. The monkshood Valerie ordered should arrive this afternoon. By then, I'll be able to have the solutions ready for you. I know it isn't easy for you. Just try to look on the bright side, alright?"

"Thank you, doctor." You weren't feeling good about this, but you had to deal with it.

"As for the rapid infection you just mentioned, we call it the threshold. When a victim sustains a fatal wound from a werewolf, aka crosses the threshold, they will fall into a coma-like state. Their brain function degenerates, and the infection is fastened. At this point, if you cure them, they will lose the regeneration boost and die from the wound. And if you don't, they will turn into a mindless beast and never revert to their human form." Nathan explained what he knew about the infection, but he looked quite confused, too.

"But I've never seen an infection that starts transforming someone within minutes. That's too fast." He added.

"So there's something more to it..." You sighed helplessly. You really didn't know what you were dealing with.

"Whatever it might be, don't blame yourself. There's nothing you could have done."

"Okay... Could you tell me more about you and Valerie?" You said gently, "How did you know her? And how did you find out she's a werewolf?"

"Is this helping with your case, or is it just to satisfy your curiosity?" Nathan looked at you calmly.

"Maybe both."

"I've known her for more than 18 years, before she became a werewolf. Perhaps she doesn't remember the person she used to be, but I still do. That's all I'm going to say." Nathan smiled, but you noticed a glimpse of sadness in his eyes.

"Okay... Thanks again, Dr. Jones. Bye." You stood up from the chair after taking a deep breath.

"See you later."

You went back to your hotel room at around 9:00, and you suddenly felt extremely dizzy and hot.

It had been a week since you last injected yourself with the monkshood solution, and the lycanthropy infection was coming back. Your senses were further heightened; even a deep breath made you desperate for some fresh meat to fill your stomach.

But you managed to hold yourself together long enough to grab a syringe from your bag and inject yourself. The coldness seeped into your veins instantly, fighting the infection so fiercely that you felt like tens of thousands of bugs were eating you from the inside out. You collapsed onto the floor and started twitching. You could barely open your eyes or hear anything as your entire body was numb to everything except the pain. You believed that you had passed out at some point, because when you opened your eyes again, it was already half an hour later.

When you finally returned to your senses, you didn't feel much better than before. You felt exhausted, but the hunger for flesh didn't just go away. You had to rush to the restaurant and swallow whatever was left there to quiet it down. The waitress was frightened as she hadn't seen anyone that ravenous before.

Now you understood what would happen if you didn't get the cure soon enough. After finishing your meal, you slowly went back to your room. You sat by the edge of the bed and calmed yourself down. You decided that you should sort things out before you planned what to do next. You spread out all the puzzles and all the clues in your mind, trying to piece them together.

The true identity of the black female werewolf that attacked you was still a mystery. It was the key to your salvation.

Andrew, the mayor, was aware of the existence of werewolves. He used silver bullets in his revolver. He didn't hesitate to kill the lycanthrope in the Smith Mansion, and he didn't show any remorse or sadness after he found out it was Shannon. He was unnervingly calm and decisive in that situation. He also mentioned his participation in an event in 1992, where he eradicated a cult with the police forces.

May, George's wife and a vampire, stated that a settlement of pure werewolves disappeared some time between 1990 and 1998. There hadn't been any werewolf activity until now.

Valerie, a werewolf who hunted werewolves, had a complicated history with the mayor, which also dated back years.

From the information above, a vague guess began to take shape in your mind.

18 years ago, which was 1992, the werewolves assaulted a village to the north of the mountain for some reason and killed most of the villagers there. Valerie was probably one of the few villagers that had survived, but she was infected and turned into a werewolf. Andrew rallied the police forces and retaliated, killing most of the pure werewolves. The female black werewolf that attacked you might be a survivor that had escaped, and she just came back to town recently, which was why May hadn't noticed her presence until now. And her goal... could it be to seek revenge on the mayor?

With this, your next moves were clear. You could visit the City Hall to check the list of outsiders that had just come into town recently, if you could convince the City Recorder to help you. You could also talk to the mayor and learn more about the 1992 event, or you could go to the police station and see if you could find the records of it. Going to the City Hall first seemed to be a good idea.

You grabbed your stuff and went out of the room. But before you left, you went to Fran's room on the second floor.

You knocked on the door, but no one answered. "Hello? Fran, are you in there?" You shouted.

Still no response. She must have been out. You called her cellphone, but she didn't pick up either. She must still be angry with me, you thought. With a sigh, you sent her a text telling her you were going out.

You continued to the first floor, and you were greeted by the enthusiastic receptionist again.

"Hello, Mr. Wilson." Cole gently nodded at you with a smile. "Oh, that's right. I just checked the mailbox. A letter for you was sent here last night, Mr. Wilson. Here." He picked up an envelope from the desk and handed it to you.

"A letter? Well, thank you, Cole." You were confused as you accepted the envelope.

It had your name written on it, but you didn't recognize the handwriting. Who could it be? When you were sitting in the driver's seat, you carefully opened the envelope, and found a library card and a letter inside. The library card had the name "Barry" written on it. You didn't know who that was, so you proceeded to read the letter.

Mr. Wilson,

I guess you'll want to try your luck at City Hall. The City Recorder, Barry, is an old acquaintance of mine. Show him the library card. Maybe he'll help you.

Farewell,

An evil vampire

"That woman..." You sighed with a helpless smile.

The City Hall was in the southwest of the town. On your way there, you passed by the G&M bookshop, so you slowed down the car and stopped in front of it. A sign reading "Closed" was hung on the door handle, but you pushed the door open and went inside anyway. The tinkling of the bell above you was the most pleasant sound you'd heard today.

"Sorry! The bookshop is closed today!" Grace emerged from between the bookshelves, ready to politely usher out the customer who had come in at such an untimely moment. But when she saw that it was you, a delighted smile broke across her face. "Oh, James! What brings you here today?" She blushed slightly as she spoke.

"I was on my way to City Hall, so I decided to stop by and see if everything was okay." You looked around. The atmosphere was quiet, more than usual, which was making you a bit unsettled. "So, George and May left the town last night, right? What did your brother say when you told him that you're staying?" You asked Grace.

"We argued for a while, but he respected my own decision." Grace sighed a breath of relief.

"Do you know where they are going?"

"No, they didn't tell me. I guess that's because May doesn't want us to follow her." She shook her head with a faint smile.

"Yeah... If I were her, I wouldn't either." You replied calmly. You knew what she was, and she wouldn't risk being hunted down by vampire hunters just to tell you where they were going. "But... how are you going to find them when this is over?" You wondered.

"I don't know." Grace looked at you, her eyes glowing with hopeful anticipation, "I guess I'll just go with you."

"Oh..." You nodded slightly.

"How's Fran doing? I didn't see her with you that day, and she's not with you now." Grace looked a little nervous.

"We... had an argument." You lowered your head awkwardly.

"Oh... Is it... about me?" Grace asked in a shaking tone, with her fingers crossed. She hasn't known Fran for long, but she knew well enough that Fran would be upset to find out about your affair with her. And judging from your look, Fran might have already known.

You didn't reply, and that just confirmed her guess.

"Do you... want me to come with you?" Grace didn't dare meet your eyes. She felt guilty for driving a wedge between you and Fran, yet deep down she also felt a faint thrill, because she could tell that you cared about her, that there was still a chance that you could reciprocate her feelings.

"Yeah. Sure." You nodded. You really needed some company.

"Okay. Let me grab my stuff." Grace went back upstairs to pick up her bag before she returned and got in your car.

You arrived at City Hall at around 11:00. It was not as big as you had imagined. It was a simple two-story building under a thousand square feet, and seemed to have only five staff members, the City Recorder included. There weren't many people here even for a Monday, and everything seemed neat and orderly.

You went to the office on the second floor and found the City Recorder immediately. Barry looked like he was in his 50s with his graying hair, however, he was well-built with solid muscle. You gave him the library card after you briefly introduced yourself. He looked at you for only a moment before he stood up from the chair with a smile.

"Mr. Wilson, huh? A private investigator? Mrs. Clark must be very fond of you to help you like this." Barry walked up to you to shake hands. "And our little Grace is accompanying you, too. When was the last time we met, huh?" He turned to the girl standing beside you with a surprised look.

"Probably March this year, when you sent your bike to our shop to get some repairs." Grace returned a smile.

"I remember. It works much better after that." Barry looked at you sincerely, "So, how may I assist you, Mr. Wilson?"

"Do you have a list of people who have recently arrived in town? Like, in the last two months?" You asked.

"Oh! What a coincidence." Barry gave you a hearty laugh as he picked up a file on his desk. "We collected the transient lodging tax just last week, and this is a copy of the guest registry list. The mayor asked me for this yesterday, but he hasn't come and collected it yet. Here, have a look." He handed it to you.

The mayor? You knew you were on the right track when you heard this. "Thanks." You humbly accepted the file and started running down the names.

"I heard from the mayor that Mr. Smith's elder daughter was tragically gone. I feel sorry for them." Barry said quietly, "Especially Sherry. After living together for so long, they were like real sisters. She must be very sad."

"Real... sisters?" You murmured when you heard that.

"Yeah. I remember that Sherry is adopted." Grace said.

"I figured as much." You said while you were still checking the list. "They looked totally different. Shannon had black hair and deep blue eyes, while Sherry has red hair and green eyes. I've always wondered if one of them was adopted."

"Yes. The little one was adopted by Leonard, like, 17 years ago, when she was roughly a year old. Leonard hired that butler right after that, to help him take care of the girls." Barry said casually.

Ben did tell you that he watched Shannon and Sherry grow up. But that didn't matter right now. You quickened your pace and scanned the list.

Unfortunately, it didn't help. Based on your theory, your prime suspect was a female, who was at least in her early 20s, and most likely came here by herself. You thought you could at least narrow down the suspects, but most of the people on the list were men, with a few underage young girls traveling with their parents. None of them met all the criteria.

"So, is there any luck?" Grace asked with concern when she saw the anxiety on your face.

"No." You shook your head. That couldn't be right. The female werewolf must've been staying in town most of the time rather than in the nearby forest. Otherwise, Valerie, who has been patrolling the forest these days, would've found her long ago.

"We must have missed something." Grace thought carefully about everything you had explained to her on your way here, "Maybe the mayor knows something that we don't."

"Yeah. I guess we have to pay the mayor a visit. Like, right now." You held the file in your hand and turned to Barry, "Would you mind if we take this list with us? I'll pass it to the mayor when I see him."

"Not at all. Go ahead, and give the mayor my regards." He smiled and went back to his chair.

"Thank you." You would like to ask him about his relationship with May, but you knew that this was not the time. So you said your goodbyes and left with Grace.

You went straight to the mayor's house. It was an ordinary house on the northwest side of the town, nothing special, just like the surrounding two-story homes, where many older-aged townfolks lived. You rang the doorbell a few times, but no one answered. You began to wonder if the mayor was not at home.

"Hey... That's Mr. Baker." Grace patted your shoulder and pointed to your right side. You followed her gaze and saw an old man, who had been playing chess with his friend in the nearby little garden before, slowly walking up to you.

"Oh, Grace, did you come to visit the mayor with the detective everyone's talking about?" He looked flustered and uneasy as he spoke.

"Hi, Mr. Baker." Grace greeted the old man warmly, and she introduced you to him, "This is James Wilson, private investigator."

"Nice to meet you." You would like to shake hands with the old man, but he just stood still, so you just gave the old man an awkward smile and withdrew your hand.

"Haven't you heard?" The old man pointed to the mayor's house with his cane, "Their maid called the police and reported the mayor missing this morning!"

"What?" You were shocked.