The Flesh-Eating Werewolf

Chapter 5 – The list of suspects

Aniya was already in her bedroom, walking back and forth, thinking about everything she had heard in that secret cave under her mansion. “|… I hope they believed my act. I can’t let them find out about Nick, and I also want to know if I am one of those things! And if I am, why did I never turn? Why did I never find out about all those things? I need to know more, and I must absolutely talk with Nick! …|”

Aniya went to bed and had one of the worst nights of her life. Nick’s green eyes were looking at her, and then the beast would eat them from the inside out, emerging from his body. Her next train of thought was about her family’s secret. All that mingled with the plan she had memorised for the next morning, for the meeting in her family’s company.

…

Early in the morning, she came for breakfast, all dressed up in a light yellow business suit. She put the jacket on the back of her chair and sat without even worrying about addressing her parents like she normally did every morning.

Violet Rossi signalled her husband with her head and wide-opened eyes, and he cleared his throat after taking a quick glance around to check if they were alone, “Aham… Aniya, regarding what you asked last night, I have to inform a few people because it’s something unheard of for quite some centuries. Each family is entitled to make their own decisions regarding our… duty, but we need to inform other families because of our joint operations that happen once in a while. There are some occasions when some families join forces, depending on the number of… things to deal with.”

Aniya bit into a slice of bread and spoke without even looking at him. “Do what you must then but remember my words. I wasn’t joking, father. Instead of talking about things that can be dealt with later, what about if you eat your breakfast so that we can go? I have a few things to implement in my new company, and as soon as we go, the sooner things will change.”

Dan Rossi frowned, “Your company? Last time I checked, my name was over the CEO desk there!”

“Yes, I already asked for a new plaque. Should we go? I want to take care of this as soon as possible.”

Her father blinked a few times and made a slight smile. “Talked like a true Rossi! Those fools on the Board wouldn’t even know what hit them!”

Aniya wrinkled her upper lip and sipped her tea to hide her mood. She was getting annoyed and disappointed with her father each minute. He used to be quiet at home and her mother was the one bossing him around, but now that she found out about her family secret, every little thing was making her irritated. Even the way her father was smiling at her was making her want to throw a piece of bread at his head.

Dan Rossi grabbed his jacket as well and stormed to the exit, leaving his wife behind, lost in her thoughts. “|… If he ever finds out… I am not even sure what he would do. ...|”

Davis was already outside, holding the door of the limousine for Aniya to enter. He rushed to the other side to open the door for Dan Rossi, who nodded at him as he was entering the extremely expensive-looking vehicle.

Aniya had her legs crossed and was looking at her phone as her father entered, answering some of the several comments she had received on her I.nstagra.m account, ‘aniya-rossi_official’, related to her visit to the Dior shop the previous day, not even bothering to raise her head to look at what her father was taking out of the briefcase he was carrying.

He put the thick file on the bench near her and tapped on it. “I already sent a few messages early in the morning to several families, and they will answer me back when it’s appropriate. In the meantime, you may want to have a look at this. These are the most recent names that we suspect are being... cursed with the mutation. You may recognise some names in there, while others you have probably never heard of. I believe you will keep this knowledge secret because we are still confirming our suspicions and we can’t let them know we are investigating them so that they don’t vanish.”

Aniya forced a roll of her eyes, pretending not to be as interested as she really was. She put the phone back in her purse and opened the file. She glanced at the names and the small surveillance photos near each name, noticing that among several unknown people, there were some that she knew, either from television or because they were her followers. Then her jaw dropped. A photo of her long-time friend, Lisa McCarty, the red-headed menace.

She pointed at the photo and faced her father, unable to hide her surprise. “This can’t be right! Lisa was always a bit wild, but she is also one of the gentlest people I know! It’s not possible for her to be... one of those things!”

“Like I said, those are the names of the latest suspects. But for her name to be there, it’s enough reason for you to be careful near her. Maybe she didn’t change because she was young, or maybe she did, and her parents had some sort of hideout for her to go to on those nights. Either way, you must be careful and also, don’t let her suspect anything. If you want to be sure, you know which particular plant you can use. Even one small flower hidden in your purse the next time you see her would be enough to convince you.”

Aniya closed the file, trying to stop her hands from trembling. Her voice came out, failing, “You want me to make a trap for her so that you and your group... No way! I won’t do that! I also must warn you that anyone that touches Lisa will be dead. I don’t know enough about your supposed duty, but Lisa has nothing to do with all that.”

Dan Rossi took one slow and deep breath and answered in a low, impersonal voice, “You don’t want to go that way, Aniya. The Hunters are a very secretive group, but our influence and power reach all corners of the World. There were times when sceptic people didn’t believe the horror and destruction those beasts could cause stood in our way. And they were also disposed of.”

“You are the one that shouldn’t go that way, father... I told you yesterday, I am not a doormat or stupid. If you or anyone else goes after Lisa, I will be there to stop you, and them. I don’t care how many you send, I won’t let them take Lisa. You can have everyone in this file for what I care, but don’t you dare lay one finger on Lisa, or you may very well lose your entire hand. Or worse...”

Dan Rossi frowned when he noticed, for a split second, a glow around Aniya, and he forced himself to believe it was the light coming from the half-open window behind her.

He leaned back on his seat and answered while staring at the small smoked window in front of them, “There is not much I can do, but I will send a few messages so that no one makes a move unless she changes and does something. Will that be enough for you?”

Aniya opened the thick file again and slowly nodded while checking the names and addresses in there, realising there were far too many. “For the time being, yes. I can see that, judging by this huge file, either your group is doing a lousy job, or this mutation is spreading like a virus.”

“Yes, I also fear that. Despite our efforts, more and more of those beasts keep on appearing. For one that we took down, we found three others in hiding and no one knew. We were supposed to prevent those mutated bloodlines from reproducing and spreading the mutation to the following generations, but sometimes I think we are not doing anything, or at least, not enough. Some of our most radical members wished for years to eradicate an entire family if one of their members had the mutation, but that goes against our sacred duty. Only the ones proved to have the mutation, no one else. And even those that are killed, our sacred code says they have to be in their beast form, never when they are Human.”

Aniya wrinkled her lips in an annoyed expression. “Sacred code? Sacred duty? Since when were those words associated with murder? No one ever thought that all this could be a natural evolution, like what happened to the Neandertals and the Homo Sapiens?”

“Yes, and we all know that Neanderthals were extinct by Homo-“

Aniya raised her open palm to interrupt him. “Stop right there, will you? The latest findings prove Neanderthals lived until the surge of Homo sapiens, and they even mingled. We all have chromosomes inherited from both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. If what you tried to say had even the faintest truth in it, we wouldn’t have so many Neanderthal mementoes in our genetic code. You keep on giving me enough reasons to believe that Hunters are nothing more than crazy maniacs and xenophobes who hide their liking for killing living beings behind a sacred, lame excuse.”

Dan Rossi sighed, suddenly feeling tired, “You really have no idea of what those things are capable of, Aniya, and I always wished you had never found out, but considering the lack of numbers in our ranks, your wish to join fieldwork might be granted, and I may lose you one day, my beloved daughter because your big heart might get in the way of your judgment. You have more of your mother than you think. She also used to think like you until she saw a beast coming at her. That was never supposed to happen because she was at the back of our group, in a van, monitoring everything and giving instructions to the advanced team. The beast got loose from the restraints and killed them all. I killed that damn thing when he was going at your mother’s neck, but the trauma stopped her from sleeping properly for an entire year.”

“When... When did that happen? I never knew, and I never noticed...”

“You were three at that time. The nightmares stopped when you were already four. She always said that your smile and the way you looked at her were the reasons she didn’t go mad or try to kill herself. I guess it was also to protect you and your innocence that she worked harder than any other woman in the organization, all the while administering our company. The one that is going to be in your hands in a few moments, considering we are almost there.”

Aniya gulped and slowly faced the window at her side. Maybe she was indeed too harsh with her mother last night, but discovering her family’s secret was too much for the mood-swinger Aniya to deal with properly.

Aniya kept on thinking about what she saw in that thick book in the cave under her mansion, and she was too distracted to notice a now familiar feeling until it was too strong for her to ignore.

The green-eyed Nick leaned on a corner on the sidewalk, leisurely staring at her with a slight smile. Aniya kept on staring at him as the limousine made the curve to go towards the enormous office building, with a huge plaque saying ‘Rossi Technologies’ above the main glass door.

While Davis was opening the door for her, Aniya did her best to calm her heart, as her mind drifted, “|… What was he doing there? Is he nuts? He doesn’t know the danger he is taking by getting so close? I need to talk to that damn fool. I just don’t know how to contact him! And why does he keep on finding me so easily? ...|”