2 Keep Your Knives Close

Jason was driving his car, a brand new Caballo land rover equipped with strong amulets, on the coastal road. He sighed when he saw 00.30 a.m. on the dashboard of the car. What did Farah say? Shapeshifters hunt at night. There were three common features of the corpses: Claw marks, bite marks, and lost body parts. Farah's right-hand man, Zhou, had asked whether they are collecting parts. Jason had answered, 'No, they are eating parts.'

He turned his head to check the silver light that caught his attention. 'What? Have I started daydreaming now? There's no way the moon could touch the sea, right? Is there?' When he finally could take his eyes from the sea and look at the road, the first thing he noticed was that he was late to hit the brakes.

Jason looked into the scared eyes of the old man standing two meters in front of the car, turned his direction to the trees on the side of the road. Luckily, the car was able to stop before it hit the trees. Jason leaned back and tried to slow his breath while listening to his heart beating as if his heart wanted to escape from his chest.

He got out of the car and walked towards where the old man stood. There was a man in torn clothes lying face down on the ground. The man's white hair was stained with bright red. Jason stopped a few steps away from the man.

"Sir, can you hear me? Are you okay?" Jason slapped himself in the face and thought, 'Of course he is not okay. What the hell I am asking? There is no place nearby where I can call the police or ambulance. Shit. What will I do now?' He took a step forward. 'Please don't be dead.' "Sir?" He took another step and leaned over the man and waited a few seconds without knowing what to do.

Jason started reaching out to check the man's pulse, raised his hand, and noticed the slight movement of the man. One hand caught Jason's wrist. He reflexively tried to pull his hand back but he could not. The man's fingers were like steel on Jason's wrist. Then the man opened his eyes and exposed his cat-like pupils in his yellow iris. It was not Jason's pride but his shock that kept him from screaming.

"What a responsible citizen. We were worried that you would crash and run." Someone said behind him, from somewhere he had not seen.

The old man stood up without releasing Jason's wrist and said, "Why would he run away? He is on the side of the law."

"No, he is not. Weren't you listening to us? He is from the Safe City Organ of the executive council. They are hunters for ones threatening the 'security' of the city. Law is for pretty little citizens. For us, there are only silver knives." A woman standing among the trees said.

"SCO takes action only against ones who are in aggressive behavior," Jason said and got the answer as a blow to the head. He did not even have time to feel the pain before the world went dark.

His first conscious thought was 'I feel cold,' and the second one was 'My head hurts.' Then he remembered his last moments before fainting. He clenched his teeth so as not to moan from pain. He listened without opening his eyes to learn something that can help him. He heard the leaves rustling in the wind and smelled the sea. Breathing constricted when he inhaled the soil he was lying on. 'Not far from where I fainted,' Jason thought.

"We can hear your heartbeat and your breath, Jason. You do not need to be pretending." The woman who spoke about SCO before said. Jason heard footsteps. He kept waiting without moving. Jason could smell the leather of her boots. The woman kicked Jason in his chest.

Jason pulled his legs to his chest and took the form of a fetus while pulling the little knife hidden in his boot. 'I will never leave my knives in the car again.'

"That is better," Woman said.

Jason straightened to meet eyes of gold, hazel, and emerald. All the instincts that had evolved to keep him alive started screaming out. RUN! You are the prey here! Jason clenched the little knife in his palm. He tucked the hilt of his knife into his jacket sleeve. If they wanted him dead, he would already be dead.

"What do you want from me?" Jason looked at the five shape shifters. Woman prone to violence, the old man in the car accident, a scar-faced man, and two more waiting away.

"Please accept my apologies, Jason. Amelia was not supposed to hurt you. She tends to forget how weak humans are. We want you to cooperate with us," Scar faced man said in a calm voice.

'So Amelia is the woman prone to violence,' Jason thought but of course, he did not say it out loud. Instead, "Cooperate with you? Who are you? Why do you need me?"

"We do not need outsider humans!" Amelia said.

"You won't speak for me!" Scar faced man roared. Literally, he roared.

"But tha-"

"No! I had enough! You will be respectful to me. Who is the leader in this pack, Amelia?"

Amelia got down on her knees and bowed her head. "You are, Rex."

"So go. Don't come back until I call you." His voice was calm again. 'He is acting.' Jason thought. 'Nobody can get angry and calms down in such a short time.'

After Amelia left, scar-faced man turned to Jason. "As you see, I am the Rex. It is a title for the leader in semi leon pack. As for the your other question, you know the recent murders, right?"

Jason thought for a second. "Do you mean the shape shifter killer?"

"I mean shape shifter victims."

"What?"

"Bodies, Jason, all of them are from my pack."