THE WEREWOLF DETECTIVE

LET'S NOT DO THAT AGAIN

CALEB

I heard Miguel take a sharp breath before stopping me again.

“What?” I asked, already irritated.

“Before that, tell me how we can enter this place because we were almost charged the last time.” I shrugged and tried to push the gate. It created an irritating screeching sound. It made me flinch and cover my ears, but at least that was easy. My senses were much more heightened than regular humans, and they are more heightened now that the full moon is near.

I slightly massaged his ear before speaking, “I guess we don’t have to destroy properties today.” Miguel sighed but then went to cling to my arm again.

“Are you that scared?” I asked as we entered the inside. The gate was stuck, but it was enough for one person to enter each time. I could have climbed the gates if I wasn’t with Miguel.

Miguel pointed at his face, “If this expression looks happy or unafraid to you, then you should get your eyes checked.” We managed to go towards the porch. I approached the door and was about to open it when Miguel stopped me for the nth time today.

“We won’t be able to finish here if you keep stopping me,” I complained. It would take us weeks if I waited for Miguel to face his fears. I shouldn’t have scared him earlier and let him be in the car.

Miguel suddenly directed the light into my eyes, another attack on my senses.

“Oops, sorry. That I didn’t mean. I just remembered that you have enhanced senses, right? Why don’t you just try to hear if there’s anyone inside? That way, we wouldn’t have to go inside.” He suggested it as if it was the brightest idea.

“I do.”

“Okay, then use your wolfie powers now.” He ordered as if just ordering me to turn on a switch. I honestly have no idea if he was serious about it or if he was just taking revenge on me for teasing him earlier.

I heaved a sigh. I didn’t mean to tell him this, but I had no choice.

“There were two people inside. One is alive, then the other... is already dead.” I answered almost immediately. Miguel’s eyebrows knitted in response.

“If you already knew, then why are we still entering this damn place?” I simply looked at him, waiting for him to understand what I meant.

“Oh... don’t tell me...” He stuttered. He wasn’t fond of ghosts, but so were killers on the loose.

“Okay. I won’t tell you.”

I know we basically announced our presence the moment we opened the gates, but I’m confident I could take them down. I finally pushed the door open. Unlike the gates, this one didn’t create much noise. I gestured for Miguel to be quiet as we entered the house.

There was no electricity in the house, but it wasn’t a problem for me because I could see no matter how dark it was inside. On the other hand, Miguel has to rely on his flashlight to see where he is walking. He almost tripped from stepping onto the broken floor. Fortunately, I was fast enough to pull him back to regain his proper balance. I could see Miguel’s eyes widening in pure surprise.

“Thanks.” He mumbled. Miguel was usually loud, but knowing that a killer was roaming around the house made him suddenly meek and soft-spoken.

I scanned the floors. The house is barely holding itself up. I don’t even know how it was still standing.

“There was a lot of broken wood. One wrong step, and you might end up in the basement.” I said, holding Miguel’s forearm to guide him through the darkness, but we were taking twice as long as we should be because Miguel was too afraid to take another step.

“You think we could get there within the night?” He glared in front, knowing that I was looking at him.

“I apologize that I don’t have night vision, Mr. Caleb. But I’m sure we can reach it before the sun rises.” He spoke with the lowest voice he could muster.

We finally reached the staircase. I let go of Miguel to make our lives easier, but I got a couple of frantic complaints from him.

“Calm down, okay? I just have to do something. It won’t take a minute.” I rushed and went upstairs. I stared at the huge window covered in thick curtains before using my force to pull the dusty curtain away, letting the light from the moon enter and illuminate the place.

I quickly covered my nose and mouth with one hand and waved the other to shove away the dust that had accumulated from the thick curtains. This is definitely the perfect place to hide a dead body.

“We have to finish this today. After all, it’s the full moon tomorrow.” I turned to Miguel. I could feel my eyes changing briefly, then returning to normal after I gathered my control.

“A lot better now, right?” I spoke while trying to assess the situation. I could smell Miguel’s fear and the excitement of another human.

I clicked my tongue after realizing the human wasn’t even afraid of being caught.

“We’re near. You should stay here.” I spoke while trying to figure out the room where I could smell the corpse.

Miguel nodded and cautiously stood to one side. I advanced towards the room with caution. The room door was closed but not locked. I could hear the person’s exhilarated breathing inside. I gestured for Miguel to stay as far as possible for his safety before pushing the door open.

The sound of the rusty knob twisting was irritating in my ears, but I kept pushing the door open and was quickly welcomed by a man holding an axe.

The unknown man immediately swung his axe towards me. Fortunately, my senses were more heightened than usual, and it was easy to dodge his attack. His axe ended up hitting the door. The old flimsy wood was quickly shattered, but the killer didn’t waste any more time and swung the axe towards me again.

I saw Miguel having an existential crisis on the side. It wasn’t his first time encountering a killer, but I saw the eyes of the killer. He has the eyes of someone who doesn’t have any remorse. I’m sure that Miguel saw it too.

He ran away, which was the best thing to do in the situation, but he only ran towards the staircase.

The killer laughed manically while I dodged his attacks and tried to find an opening to pin him down. I could feel my wolf awakening. It was snarling at me and was pushing me to attack. I growled unconsciously and almost got hit because I couldn’t focus. I pushed my wolf back before things got out of hand. I can’t lose control right now, especially with the full moon fast approaching.

I gathered my momentum and ran toward the killer, delivering a powerful kick that knocked him to the ground. Fortunately, his huge axe slid and fell to the first floor.

“My friend is fighting with the killer! Please come here immediately. I- holy s**t!” Miguel exclaimed when the axe fell a few meters in front of him.

“Are you okay in there?” I asked while still pinning the killer on the ground. He yelled at me and tried to mock me, but I wouldn’t fall for it.

“I almost got hit by an axe. I’m totally fine!” I almost snorted at his sarcastic remark, but the man still tried to overpower me.

By the time the police came, the killer was already on the floor with his hands tied behind his back. Miguel managed to find some ropes downstairs, and we wrestled some more. Now he was completely still, not because he was knocked out, but because he was physically exhausted from trying to resist.

I finally had the chance to check on the dead person inside, and he obviously wasn’t brought here by his own will.

My task was only to find him, which was the end of our work. The authorities and an ambulance took the criminal and the victim away. I was also able to inform my client about what had happened.

Finally, it was time to go back home.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. Miguel was staring at me with tired eyes. He looked like he had aged a few years in the span of an hour.

“You might really send me to a mental institution if we kept doing this.”

I scratched my head, “It’s not like I know which case has a killer.”

He looked at me dead in the eyes, “Please. Let’s not do that again.”