2 The Hunter project

The welcoming smell of food entered Quintin's nostrils as they approached the fast food restaurant, but it was only like a dream to him, he never bought fast food before, he always bought cheap food at supermarkets when he had a dime to spend.

"Sorry, but i dont have any money" he painfully said ignoring his cramping stomach.

"I know" she said not stopping "Im buying, dont worry, go and sit at that table so long" She gestured.

Quintin sat down scanning the room, it was new to him, and he felt uneasy. All around the restaurant people stared at him, he was a bum after all, his clothes in bad shape, he even smelled as bad as he looked.

When Cleopatra plased the box meal infront of him he was at first uncertain, was he really seeing this?

"Go on, dig in you must be starving" She said sitting across from him.

all reasonable thought left Quintin's mind, like a rabidous dog he tore into the pieces of chicken, so badly so, that Cleopatra didn't touch her food yet, instead she watched him. Quintin realised how he ate was badly mannered so he swallowed a last piece then slowed down "Im sorry, this is my first decent meal in days... my first meal for today" he shrugged.

She smiled and pushed a soda to him "Just don't choke ok?"

he nodded, returning the smile.

Quintin had to commend her, she had respect enough to remain quiet about how he smelled, it was a rather pungent bad smell, and he felt embarrassed.

"So... how were you planning on helping me?" he asked.

"In order for me to help you, you must help me aswell"

"Ok?"

She cleared her throat, wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"As you now know..." she slightly leaned in, almost whispering "I am a werewolf, and we werewolves have laws, to keep the peace, but there are werewolves out there, like your friends who killed your parents, that disobey these laws, and its starting to become troublesome"

"That sounds like it could be troublesome"

"Yes, now i wasn't honest about that first law; You must keep yourself a secret at all costs. Law two states if you are discovered by a human, you must either kill, or turn the human into a wolf, thereby tou must teach the turned one about the laws, and the consequences of disobeying them"

Quintin took a sip of his soda "The consequences being?"

"He who disobeys the laws will be put to an end, if the turned one screws up, both he and the one who turned him will be executed"

Quintin shrilled "So, so i take it those other wolves would rather kill me, than turn me?"

"It would seem so yes" Cleopatra smiled and ate before she continued.

That wasnt something to smile about, Quintin thought.

"Now the reason i helped you thus far was because im a Tuyuk, its native American for chief, but in my case its meaning is not reffered to the tribe, but more in police terms, im responsible for killing rogue werewolves, but those who came after you gave me the slip every time"

"Ok, so, should there be a plausible reason why they manage to evade you every time?"

She nodded "To understand that better, you must know of our ranking system; the lowest rank is Omega, second in line is Beta, after that its Alpha, and finally the highest rank is Dire. To be a Tuyuk, you must atleast be Alpha ranked, but the problem is, gaining rank kan be done legally, and illegaly. The third law states you may not feed off a human, and law four, you may not feed off another wolf"

"Holy shit, like cannibalism?" Quintin gasped.

"Yes, the quickest way to gain rank us feeding off humans and other wolves, but its illegal, yet there are wolves doing it, and it not only threatens the secrecy, but also threats the peace we have between humans"

"But if its a peace treaty between you and humans? Why make a law to keep yourself secret from us?"

"Humans are unpredictable, emagine the wrong person found out we exist? it would start world war three"

Quintin nodded "You have a point, some people are down right dumb, it would be a complete misunderstanding"

"Exactly, but, it goes both ways, if the wrong werewolf gains the ultimate rank, there are few forces in the world that can stop it, now when i say 'ultimate' rank, i mean Amarok, its even higher than Dire, and seldomly reached by ranking up, Amaroks are usually born into that rank"

"Amarok... what makes it so special?"

"The wolf gains the abillity to use life force energy, or chi, as the Japanese call it, it can manipulate elements, call storms, cause earthquakes, all sorts of calamities, and above that, an Amarok never ages, its like a fountain of youth"

"Fuck! so it becomes invincible!?"

"Sssh!"

"Sorry"

Cleopatra scanned the restaurant, they were the only ones at the tables, those working at the cash registers were bussy talking to eachother.

"I said it never ages, so yes they cant die of old age, so basically you can live forever as an Amarok, but, an Amarok can be killed, only it will be very difficult, its a very powerful werewolf"

Quintin felt a cold sweat, he learned now of werewolves, and now he learned theres a thing such as an Amarok, a beast so powerfull nothing can stop it!?

"Wha... what about the military?" he pleaded.

"As in... human military?" she lifted an eyebrow

"Yes, i mean, if you shoot that wolf with a tank, it will die right?"

"No doubt, but do you think it will remain still long enough for a tank to land a direct hit?"

"Well, no"

"Exactly, we must stop these rogue wolves before they reach Amarok, or it will be devastating"

"And how do we do that?"

Cleopatra smiled taking a sip of her soda "Thats were you come in Quintin"

"Me!? how!?"

"Firstly, you need to become a werewolf..."

"Wait wait! you're joking right!?"

"Ssh, not so loud"

he settled his voice "Seriously now!? i dont want to be a werewolf!"

"Its not that bad Quintin, think about it, youre only a werewolf under a full moon, the rest of the time youre a normal human, like me now, accept for being stronger and faster than a normal human, but thats the only difference"

What a difficult decision, become a monster, or remain a hobo, many would opt instantly for becoming a werewolf, but he has seen first hand at what these creatures can do, what if he ends up doing it to some other kid's parents!? or worse! what if he kills the child!?

"I, uh... i..." he couldn't answer.

"Quintin, just hear me out quickly, before deciding"

"Ok?"

"We call it the hunter project, you won't be bitten by a wolf, you will be made into one. The beauty of doing it this way is we can make you as strong as you need to be, legally, its a kind of contingency plan for in case we need you, that means you won't go out to hunt every single werewolf out there, only those the Tuyuk is struggling to deal with"

"Yeah, by struggling to deal with, you mean too strong for the Tuyuk, meaning ill be hunting the strongest of werewolves"

"Yes, but as I said, you'll be made strong enough to deal with them"

He groaned, it wasn't his cup of tea, he didn't like it at all.

"Make no mistake Quintin, its a career, you'll be given accommodation for free, free food, and a rather hefty salary" Cleopatra tried another approach. This rang some bells in Quintin's head, 'a salary?, free food?'

"Think about it Quintin..." she seductively said "A warm bed, no more sleeping in the cold, a full belly every day..."

Uneasily he shifted his gaze away from her to the street outside, people going about their bussiness, couples holding hands, driving cars, happy people, the same people he sometimes begged for change... how he wanted something like that so badly. For better or worse, Quintin decided to give it a try.

"Ok Cloe, ill come with you, but, if i dont like what happens, im allowed to back out right?"

She happily clapped her hands "Yes, you still have free will dummy"

"Very well, ill do it"

***

The phone rang twice when it got picked it up quickly.

"Ezbar speaking"

"Doctor, hes in"

"That hobo you spoke of?"

"Yes"

"Good, thats very good news, how's his physique? since he was homeless, i gather hes melfed?"

"Yes he is"

"This might pose a slight problem, he needs to be physically fit, otherwise the prosedure might kill him"

Cleopatra was quiet for a few seconds, thinking.

"Cloe?"

"Im here, maybe we can make him exercise to build himself up a little?"

"Thats the only thing i can think of aswell, we can't lose him, hes the first one you told of this who actually agreed apon it"

"I know"

"Whell then, bring him to the labs as soon as you can, so we musn't lose another moment with this opportunity"

"Will do doctor, ill see you soon"

End chapter