WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

She yanked her feet out the broken floor board and dashed for the ground floor ignoring the mice scattering at her feet. ‘yikes’ she cringed as she stepped on one, all she could here was squeaks and knock over woods. ‘Man this place stinks, sure know how to style them murder scenes’ Iva stared eyes wide at the door of the ground floor, alarmingly wide open, it wasn’t like that before.

“Devin?” Her voice trembled as she rubbed her cold hands for warmth, her breath visibly white from the cold. Iva was a 5 ft 8 with a slender build, lauded for her beautiful long legs hidden in blue denim. Her eyes were hazel with thick long lashes circling the frame. Her cheeks were red from the cold and so was her not-so-pointed nose. She bit absently at her full lips, it was pale and a little chapped. She had a chubby heart-shaped face that took her long raven hair beautifully. Her black turtleneck sweater won’t do any good in this out-of-the-world weather. Her blue jeans were damp but her ankle boots tried to warm her feet.

Iva was rubbing her hands non-stop as she paced back to take the ground floor’s scene into view. Worriedly she stared at the door.

‘unlike him, so unlike him… are we alone?’

It was the first location of her investigation, the windows all smashed letting blue lights from the night sky illustrate pointed shadows as well as glinting glass shards on the dusty tiled floor. The floor was covered in soothe and sand, Rocks from the ceiling had fallen leaving hanging wood, rods, and black bags. The floor was messed up with cement, some pressure had caused them to fall some time ago. She had been up the stairs already and had covered all floors in her search, It had been a while now, and still no sign of her partner.

The mission in this strange city was off to a rather overwhelming start. She had crossed the border of the Court on weakness that threatened to cave in. Her heart pounded as she was finally opening that old box of memories in the attic of her brain. She finally landed an opportunity to investigate this city, the city that took her father.

Right now her heart raced louder and her mind recalled her Chief’s voice.

‘Via an anonymous letter, the recent feuds between the Court groups, West-Alhana and East-Yuwan had become even more gruesome due to power imbalance which is the claims of the Alston Family of Yuwan.

We are unsure what their plans are, but Vingerton’s lives are of importance. It’s a case of theft between the two. The report has it that, Yuwan had stolen from the Alhana. Iva this is an extremely dangerous mission, don’t disobey your superior’.

Iva recalled her partner drumming his fingers in anger, he had to grit his teeth in fear of the mission.

‘We could let them sort it amongst themselves, why did they have to involve us?’

Her partner, Devin had ranted but McGhee continued to speak.

‘Aqupire is the only evidence to this case… unavoidably we’d be looking for trouble with the Alston’s but we can’t ignore the end of the letter. We are to recover what they stole for the sake of HUMANITY’.-

Devin had originally been negative about this mission and as it seemed, ‘He just had to jinx himself’. She was being cautious doubting that they were alone. No gunshots, no blood stains besides a scene up stairs.

She leaned to rest as she’d just searched the in and outs of the building, the cold slipped through her jean from the metal wall and she lunged off it shivering.

Iva walked stiffly to the entrance and used her shoulders to open the big door a bit more so her body could go through. She remembered the loud slam of the front door had earlier caught her attention, she would have run the full way if she didn’t assume it was just wind and now Devin is missing. She walked out the doorway to where it could only get colder and her lips trembled from the weather. For goodness sake, it was supposed to be summer! It was the seventh month, the month of Thebe.

“There’s no way I lost him” she whispered as cold engulfed her body warmth.

In the bid to search for clues on the case she’d been working on, Iva-Lois and her partner had ventured out to the outskirts of Vingerton- For months now, they have been cases of mass murder, dismembered corpses, and serial crimes. All of this points to this district, the Court, known for hoarding miscreants and pure evils. Iva-Lois and her partner, Devin were both sent over to investigate, the locals of Vingerton never trespassed in this area, rumors about the Court drove most people away and those who ventured there were said to have been missing or dead. The detective believed they were all rumors and Iva wasn’t getting any in her head, she knew someone who had ventured here and returned a long time ago…

She had split up with Devin somewhere during the search to cover more grounds and on returning to their meeting spot, she had found only his walkie-talkie, Devin had disappeared. She couldn’t reach him on his phone as there was no reception and she had exhausted her battery while taking photos.

“Devin!” she yelled into the night turning around as she backed up away from the building to take its full view. ‘Shit! The hell am I yelling’ She stared around the low fence about the building, ‘God knows what could be within the tall trees surrounding the building’ .

The trees weren’t visible because of the night but it was a beautiful orchard. Part of the fence had fallen somewhere at the left due to age and didn’t look like I’d be getting fixed anytime soon, the vines had grown over it fastening the fence to the floor.

She walked cautiously towards their car, it was a black wrangler, parked in front of the building, she squinted as she observed the interior, he wasn’t in there. She looked down at the opened ledger on the driver’s seat, her clean writing laid beside a picture of the land she was currently standing upon- The most recent crime scene with a grown man’s corpse on one of the floors of the seven-story building.

She backed up from the vehicle and turned to face the left side of the building, staring at the silhouette of trees lit by the silver moon, she sighed. She could only search for so long, it was getting darker by the minute, and being away from Vingerton, she needed to find shelter for the night, there was no way she was sleeping at a crime scene, gory thoughts flashed through her head and she shivered.

Her brows crinkled in worry as she fondled her useless torch and muttered a curse, she’d be needing new batteries. “Devin Paul” she yelled as she began to worry. It wasn’t like him to joke around, something most definitely had happened. She turned towards the fallen fence resting at the corner of the house and breaking into a jog she approached.

She heard no scream, it was a really quiet and cold night, did he wander into the woods? Why drop the walkie-talkies? They had planned to search the woods first thing in the morning so that couldn’t be the case. She felt that she wasn’t alone, but on the thought that it could be her fear and for a fact that her supposed stalker had not made a move, she blamed it on her mind. She was one to fear to begin with.

“Devin!” She said immediately getting startled by a bird who suddenly flew out the bushes, she couldn’t identify the color or type. ‘Some sort of crow? Is there another corpse?’ Moving and shivering, she advanced to the corner of the building avoiding the dark areas, with her failed torch, she watched the bent window irons of the fifth floor and the shards of glass on the grass beneath, She wondered “What force could do such damage?”. She had been standing on the fifth floor and studying the scene an hour ago, what was thrown out the window? She studied the floor…

Bags of garbage lined the wall of the old building and snack wraps and soda cans spilled out from a torn bag covering the visible pathway. She found nothing heavy enough and large enough to cause that much damage. Moving through, she peeked at the shadow in the bushes to her left, did a body jump through, from the fifth floor? Most definitely should have died, but no sign of blood on the floor, the bushes weren’t close to the building, and no human would jump that far away.

She peered at the back of the building pointing her torch, it was empty except for occasional newspapers that had been scattered by the wind. Circling and inspecting the building had taken two hours already. She worriedly stared at her watch which showed 11:53 PM. “Crap” she hissed and folded her arm, her torch barely giving a light facing the bushes.

Some job, she thought as the worry for her partner began to worsen…They had already seen a body on the second floor beside the alleviator… A huge man in his 30s, his expression dreadful and the way he had been killed unbelievable. Something large had gone through his chest, leaving a large hole. His body was still warm at the time they had discovered him. The case could open a bit more and they would be out of there in a weak was the plan. They couldn’t picture the tool the killer had used on his victim.

“CAW!” Iva turned in alarm to the sudden sound, heart pounding, she stared at the bush where the noise had erupted from, her hand hard on her pistol, she couldn’t ward off the feeling that she was staring right at something.

Heavy breathing woke her from pondering "Paul?", she called taking her pistol out. "-. no lights" she cursed as her torch gave out some time ago, She lifted her chin and slowly moved towards the bush where the sound had emanated from. After a few steps,...her eyes doing most of the work as her torch flickered... she froze.

Iva suddenly jerked away in fear, falling on her butt she let out the most horrific below. Shivering all over but not from the cold, she felt her body was frozen in place, she could only push her feet further from the sight. Pupils dilated and adrenaline pumping she gazed at what laid before her.

Heart pounding in bewilderment she stuttered “m-mm-my G-God”. She threw her hand to her chest as she could do nothing to stop her sudden incessant breathing. He was glaring at her.

His body was covered in white fur, silver eyes glaring at her, his dog like face caught her much by surprise, a man-sized wolf was clutching his left side. He pulled his lips back revealing sharp canines, he kept growling at her. Crouched in the bushes it wasn't difficult to identify him, he had to be at least 6ft, he was 6 ft 3 ,Silver fur stained with crimson, lethal looking scars marred his build.

He was doing fine holding on, his arms and thighs showed his physical strength was in measure to your all-time-crazy gym guy if not greater. “The Court” she found herself whisper, a strange feeling grew in her, one of overflowing excitement and fright. She was unsure if she had ever felt this way. Swallowing, she gave him a quick look over, large wounds marred his right shoulder moving down to the left of his waist. His face had been scratched but not so deep. His right thigh was probably attacked by a pocket knife and there was his right arm that sat weakly beside him. ‘Could that arm broken or?’. She thought to herself as she stared unblinking at him. He bared his teeth as he growled threateningly at our young detective who unintendedly appeared to be putting out an offensive mode to the wounded wolf.

‘What? this is unbelievable, no legends, a real werewolf? A real deadly werewolf! ‘ All these reactions filled her brain as she pushed up to her feet and stared at it. He was swallowing ever so often for moisture and he couldn’t stop the vertigo that hugged him. ‘With a wound like that, it would surely die'. She moved cautiously towards it thinking how much she’d make if she brought him back with her to Vingerton, she’d be a billionaire. She laughed at the thought in her head, she had to help him anyway… he should know about Devin, she shook on the thought that he might have attacked Devin, but she doubted he did much damage with a wound like that.

For one, she was sure Devin couldn’t slay a beast alone, no matter how skilled he was. ‘was there someone else here’ absently she turned to the darkness at her right and that’s when It lunged forward, all without warning in supernatural speed she couldn’t phantom. Fright stricken she fell hard on her back forcing air out, it could have been a deadly slit to her throat if he hadn’t dislocated his right arm, she stared wide eyed and eyes red, hand clutching her bleeding throat as the other pointed her her gun shakenly towards his head. She had just briefly spotted death in the face. How could she have let her guard down? She almost died. Her eyes bulged in fear as she tried to swallow.

She blinked taking her hands off her throat and staring at the blood from the scratch, so close. "Don't move or I'll shoot!" she yelled as the wolf stared at the wound he had impacted on her gullet, wasn't his best work. You would tell from his disappointed expression.

Iva-Lois taking hold of herself stared in acknowledgment, she had the upper hand here.

She couldn't understand what was going on but she was currently staring at a werewolf, she looked it in the eye and did the most stupid things she could imagine, She gestured towards his wound. Her instinct screamed at her, she was attempting to tame a werewolf? and this wasn't the friendly ones in the movies, it was as real as the hair on her head. Leaning slowly, "It's ok...I just_" he barked and flashed his claw at her barely missing her face and her expression turned horrid, was she going nuts? This was the second time she had almost died in one night, what the hell was she thinking, The wolf squinted in pain from the impact of his movement on his side.

He looked helpless with the large gorges and he didn’t want Iva to think so. Had Devin encountered him? She wondered, She squinted around the bushes, no sign of a corpse, the wound on his left side was a gun wound... Paul's gun? either way, the wolf knew something concerning the case and probably Paul. She had a piece of the puzzle solved, she knew what had broken through the fifth-floor window and probably what caused such a hole in the corpse inside the building…His arm? She had to proceed with caution.

He was pretty tough despite his wound and that was a fact, He had lasted this long but she doubted he would survive the next hour, I mean he had a silver bullet in him. " I'm trying to help!" .If all the childhood novels had thought her anything, her suspect was dying because werewolves were meant to hate silver bullets, she convinced herself it was the werewolf that hated bullets and the stake were for a vampire. She swallowed as the thought that, A vampire could exist came to her. He watched her for a few seconds before easing out a bit from defense, this gesture she assumed said 'I don't want to die, I'll take my chance' but it could also say ' luring my prey so I can finish what I started on her neck' Either way, Iva-Lois wasn't a mind reader, she was taking her chances here. Apart from him there was no one else, and if everyone was like him, she doubted she would make it in this world. If he died, she wouldn’t go around asking for Devin, if anything… the occupants of the Court were barbarians and now she had an idea why. She had to save him, the only clue to finding Devin.

"Ok...ok" she whispered placing her gun back in her belt while pulling out her handcuffs cautiously. She crouched beside him and he studied her every move like a lion about to devour an unsuspecting deer. "Ok" she whispered again and looked at his wound and then at his eyes. He watched her as much as he could dizzily staring at her hazel eyes. "Hold still...I'll get a first aid kit". She bit her lip and took her hair away from her cold face. With trembling fingers, she placed her hand on his right arm, he glared at her, what games would she be playing, his left hand was perfectly fine. She knew this and that he would come at her at any point, "gun wound?" she raised her eyebrows at him unsure if he could speak and also in fear, her heart fell in her stomach as she thought... Paul? the wolf nodded, eyes fixed on her. She had to figure out how she'd inject the wolf with enough drugs, to get him to sleep. She was taking him with her, she needed to cuff him.

“Can…can you move?’ she licked at her lips and looked up “ I don’t think you should stay in the cold” He tilted his head at her and his body vibrated so much she had to jerk her hand off him.

“Get the kit” he grumbled, the husky and animalistic growl made her fall back on her heels. Watching her reaction, he looked away to the sky “Cold doesn’t bother me much”. After a long pause, Iva-Lois fumbled her cuff into her belt and nodded. Scrambling to her feet, the detective marched towards her vehicle.

She had no way to explain the situation, she couldn’t return without her partner, and she wasn’t sure he was safe. She shook off the cold as she dipped her hand into her back pocket for her car keys.