Chapter 5
Eden Cooper
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"Coming!" Eden rushed to the door in just her pajamas, a mug of coffee in her hand. She'd just ordered pizza that morning or so she thought until she opened the door.
"Afternoon, ma'am," the man in a low hung baseball hat greeted. She had to check the wall clock behind her to confirm. The time struck 12noon.
"Er...okay," Eden grabbed the box from his hand and made to close the door but he held on to the knob, preventing her from closing.
"Hi again, Eden."
The man took off his hat and she was met with his hazel eyes looking down at her.
"Not again. What do you want from me?" She asked, already fed up of the constant stalking and following. "You're lucky I haven't found the right evidence against you or I'd have arrested you..."
"Don't you get it?" Lowell flung the hat on the porch, his brows creasing in an intended seriousness. "As long as you're connected to all of these, you're in trouble. Why do you think I didn't make you forget that night?"
Eden raised a brow,
"I...I'm human. I'm supposed to not forget. Besides, I think I may have passed out for quite a long time and you have to answer to that."
Lowell straightened, his creased brows now relaxed. After a few seconds of silence, Eden opened her door wider. Her eyes glued on the tall man before her.
"Come in." He hesitated. "I'm inviting you in. What do you think?"
She felt him eyeing her. Her toes curled.
"Come on." She coaxed.
He drew in a breath and followed her in. "A trap?" He asked.
Her eyebrows sprung up. "Maybe."
He laughed. A dark, derisive laughter that she couldn't tell whether it annoyed her or amused her.
"You seem to be a very different cop. Where are you from? New York." He guessed, picking up a frame with her teenage face displayed on a coffee table.
"No. My parents were more of a chronic traveller so we kept moving through the years. But, I'm from California if you need an answer to that question. And," she moved closer and snapped the frame from his hands. "No touching of my stuff while you're here. We need to talk."
A pause and then Lowell nodded before sitting on one of the comfortable sofa in the decently wide room. Very cozy and comfortable to work in as a cop. He took in the details of the 8 inches smart TV before him, the casually hung paintings she must have done herself while she was a kid; an evidence of this coming from the spurted colors that could only be aesthetically pleasing to the eyes of her parents.
"I did that when I had just graduated college and I was going through a lot." Eden noticed he's had his eyes on the painting for a long period. She dropped a mug of chocolate on the small table before sitting across where he sat.
"So, Lowell, this is going to serve more like an interrogation and I want you to be honest with me."
Lowell leaned back on the chair, crossing one leg on the other with confidence.
"And if I'm not? How would you know?"
Eden licked her lips nervously. Her eyes lowered to the floor.
"Do that one more time and I'll be forced to grab and kiss you..."
"Don't forget to add that I'm gonna kick your ass if you try one stupid stunt with me right now." His eyes had no expression in them and she couldn't tell whether he was impressed or just unfazed.
"Go on."
"After you told me a bit about your father's death, I've been wondering if you had a rough relationship with your father for you to make up such stories." Eden sipped from her mug. "Did you escape from the hospital?"
Lowell just stared at this woman before him, his brows creased. The reaction she'd wanted to see as long as it's not the smug expression on his face.
"You really don't know what you're in for, I can see."
"Then, let me in. I'm interested. I want to know how you've killed over ten residents with your bare hands and why."
"I didn't kill anyone."
Eden scoffed. "Until you're brought in for questioning."
"Carlsen will find you and kill you if he knows I've found what can break the curse!" Lowell raised his voice as he seemed to have gotten tired of playing it cool. "Don't you get it?"
"What curse? Who's Carlsen? And how am I in the middle of this?"
He stood up suddenly, hands dug in his pocket.
"If anything happens to you, I'll take responsibility for it. Humanity and my father's pack will be erased from existence."
"You expect me to believe this?"
One could see his tensed jaws and his pupils dilating.
"I don't have time for this." He muttered.
"You think I do?"
Heaving an exasperated sigh, he grabbed the mug and gulped the chocolate drink.
"Whether you believe or not, it's none of my business. It is my duty to protect you." He glared at her. "And I'll do that even if it costs my last breath." With that, he left the house, leaving Eden to mixed feelings.
Her phone vibrated and when she checked the caller ID, it was Hamilton.
"What's up, Chief?" She stood.
"How fast can you get your ass over here, miss Cooper? There's been another case of bear attack in the woods."
Eden creased her forehead.
"Who's it this time?"
"A pizza delivery guy. When you get here, you'll see things for yourself."
With a whoosh, Eden got into her car and rushed towards the crime scene. She'd barely turned the engine off when she jumped down from her vehicle. She ran towards the Chief who looked like he was tired of his job. He always looked like that.
"Hamilton?"
He glanced over his shoulder.
"Hey, city cop." Eden rolled her eyes. "Now that you're here," he patted her arm and left her with a tall blonde man who crouched beside the body, a small jotter in hand.
"But..." Hamilton had already left.
"Peter Schaffer here. Forensic scientist and your new partner for the bear case, signed with WPD." She turned to see the blonde man flash his badge. She swallowed as she saw his appearance.
Tall, blonde and blue eyes. He had this intelligent air around him that she couldn't tell if it was a threat to her relevance in the department or a relief.
"Detective Eden Cooper," he removed his black gloves and took her hand in a handshake. "I'm taking a lead on this case. What have we got?"
"Victim seemed to have struggled marks around his wrist which means he was dragged into the woods against his will. I'd have thought it was a human who would have done this, but," Peter removed the victim's pale arms, showing Eden the bruises gotten from struggling.
"Definitely looks like he was struggling with..."
"An average man with the force of one in his mid fifties. But guess the crazy part." Peter cut in enthusiastically. He revealed the dead man's neck and showed her a deep bite mark. On his neck and other bare body, there were long scratches.
"These are animal bites and scratches."
"Rare ones infact." Peter muttered thoughtfully.
"What do you mean?"
"These scratches are unusually long for bears, sloth bears inclusive. A sloth bear's claws is typically 3 inches long. Sloth bears also known as Melursus ursinus have strong, thick, curved, and long claws of 3 inches. And the last time one was ever found was in India."
"Sloth bears don't attack on impulse..."
"Talk about these tourists getting killed. The singer, the teenager?" Peter listed off nonchalantly as though these victims were the cause of their misfortunes.
"And the pizza guy?"
"Except we have a case of a half human, half bear, his case remains unsolved and complicated. I'll have him sent to the lab immediately." He moved past her to where the others stood, leaving her breathless.
This only left a question in her mind as she remembered Lowell came to ber house disguised as a pizza delivery guy.