Chapter 1

Riverside County.

Dixon town. 7:30 a.m Friday, November 29, 2024

"Come on Logan, we're going to be late, again."

A little girl dressed in light blue jeans and a pink shirt could be seen banging on the door screaming. She looked to be around ten years old, having a heart-shaped face with blue eyes.

"I'm coming, *sheesh*." A young man's voice could be heard from behind the door.

Click!

The door to the bedroom opened and a young man could be seen taking a peek outside the room, he looked to the left side of the hallway, then the right. When he didn't see anything, he looked down only to see the little girl with arms crossed, tapping her right foot on the ground and pursed lips.

"You aren't prepared yet?!" The girl exclaimed when she saw the young man still didn't have any shirts on yet.

"I'm almost done, stop yelling." Logan tried to explain, but things turned worse when he accidentally let go of the door and the little girl saw that he was only in his underwear.

"D...." The little girl's mouth was quickly closed by the young man when he realized what she was about to do.

"Come on, I'm already done." Logan looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Hmph! You'll have to bribe me." The little girl said with a cunning smile, of course, it was only after she bit his hand after he let go of her mouth.

"Fine, how about this, I'll play with you for a day," Logan announced.

"No." The little girl shook her head.

"Two?" Logan raised two fingers when he saw this, but was met with the same response.

After raising every single finger in his right hand, he could only helplessly start raising his fingers from his left hand. The little girl only agreed after he raised all ten of his fingers, as well as four imaginary ones.

With a happy smile, the little girl skipped down the hallway, going down the stairs.

'The time I spent negotiating with her was enough for me to get prepared.' Logan shook his head with a smile but still went back inside to quickly prepare.

Four minutes later, he could be seen coming down the stairs with a school bag in his hand, his ember hair was neatly combed back, with some strands falling in front of his face, bringing out his handsome face and sparkling amber eyes.

A middle-aged man could be seen sitting on the dining table with the little girl from before, the man had the same features as Logan, only a little more mature with brown hair. His eyes were deeper, and his beard looked a little disheveled.

"What delayed you this time?" The man asked with a raised brow.

Logan took a glance at the little girl and she quickly understood.

"Dad, he was helping me with my homework." The little girl said.

"Homework, this morning?" The middle-aged man looked at the girl with questioning eyes.

"Yes dad, I only recalled it this morning, so I asked for his help while I got prepared. You know I have to look my best every day." The little girl said while repeatedly shaking the middle-aged man's hand.

"It's not good leaving your homework till now, don't do it again, okay." The middle-aged man reprimanded.

"Yes dad, now, can we continue eating?" The little girl asked while sticking out her tongue in a cute way.

This made the man chuckle before nodding, but he still gave Logan a knowing glance.

Logan gulped before taking a seat at the dining table, after they were done with their rushed breakfast, they hurried out of the apartment.

Ten minutes later.

At the front of Dixon High School.

"Hello, Mr.Smith," A young man around the same age as Logan waved at the truck that just stopped at the roadside. The young man was 5' 11, with golden hair and black eyes. He was dressed in a denim jacket and blue trousers.

Logan and his father were inside the truck, they dropped his little sister off at Dixon Junior High.

"Hello Cass," Mr.Smith waved back at the young man who was coming towards them.

"Goodbye dad," Logan said while opening the door of the truck.

"Wait," Mr.Smith held onto his shoulder.

Logan stopped to look at his father.

"I might not be coming back home for the weekend," said Mr.Smith.

"Oh, okay. I'll take care of Steph while you're gone," Logan replied nonchalantly.

His father was an officer of Dixon town, so he was already used to him not coming back home on some occasions. After his mother passed away five years ago to what was claimed to be a wolf attack, his father had been obsessed with any case regarding wolves in the town.

The previous day, a wolf attack was reported to the station, it was even aired on the news this morning. But the thing Logan found strange was that there were no wolves in Riverside County. Yet, there are over ten reported wolf attacks every year.

There has never been any footage of the wolves in the County nor had there been any sighting of these wolves.

Logan still found it hard to believe that his mother's death was caused by wolves.

Mr.Smith let go of him after hearing his reply, "More like she'll take care of you,"

Logan smiled before leaving the truck and walking towards his friend who was waiting for him on the roadside.

"Hey, Castiel," He fist-bumped the young man waiting for him.

"Hey, did you hear about the recent wolf attack?" Castiel asked as soon as Logan got close to him.

"Who didn't?" Logan asked with a shrug.

In a small town like theirs which had a population of just over six thousand people, any news like this will be the only thing being talked about in the entire town. Dixon town is mostly covered by woodlands, and most of the houses are separated by deep forestations.

"Come on, class will be starting soon," Logan said while placing his right hand across Castiel's shoulder.

"I may have a theory about the attack," Castiel said as they walked into the school premises.

"Oh, what's that?" Logan asked with an amused smile.

Castiel looked around to ensure that no one was around them before whispering to Logan, "Werewolves…"

Logan froze for a few seconds before looking at Castiel with a surprised look, "Okay, you've had a lot of theories through the years, but this has got to be the least plausible one,"

"Come on, think of it, big wolves, yet other than during the attacks, there are no sightings of wolves. In the past two hundred years, there have been no wolves in Riverside County." Castiel said, trying to make a point.

"Yes, but there are bears, and bears have teeth and claws as well," Logan replied, not the least bit taking Castiel's theory seriously.

"Look, I'm telling you, this is the most plausible theory I've thought of in years, and I even did a ton of research. There have been people who said there were werewolves in Riverside County," Castiel said, refusing to give up on it.

"Look Cass, I'm going to be honest with you, I don't believe in werewolves and all those mythological bullcraps. But let's say there are werewolves, why the hell would they attack my mom, and the other innocent people around?" Logan stopped to look at Castiel.

After speaking, he opened the door leading to the hallway and walked in, not waiting for Castiel's response. Speaking about wolves has always been a sensitive topic to him, because of his mother's death.

Although he didn't want to believe the ruse of wolves being the cause of her death, according to the autopsy report, the bite and claw marks were that of wolves.

'This is a weird town, occupied by a bunch of weird people,'

This has always been what Logan said to console himself whenever he thought of the mysteries in the town.

After getting to class, Logan sat on the last seat by the window on the left, while Castiel sat just ahead of him.

While they were waiting for the bell to ring, a beautiful young lady walked in, drawing the attention of everyone in the class, Logan included.

But after he saw her, he looked back out the window without showing any interest. Other than him, everyone watched as the young lady went to take her seat.

This wasn't the first time he saw this young lady, her name was Daphne, and she transferred to the school two months ago just at the start of the new semester. She was 5' 6 with an hourglass figure, ember eyes, and brown hair. Her eyes were brought out by her charming oval-shaped face.

Daphne took one of the front seats, just after she sat down, the bell rang.

"It's a blessing to see her almost every day. I have to say, seeing her has become one of my motivations in coming to school." Castiel said.

"You know you could just walk up to her if you have a crush on her, right?" Logan asked with a bland look.

"I don't have a crush on her, I'm just appreciating her beauty. You should learn to do that more often, other than your sister, you rarely smile with other girls," Castiel advised.

"Yeah, that's because she's my little sister, almost a perfect replica of mom," Logan replied.

He rarely interacted with girls, not just girls, but boys as well. His father wasn't the only one whose personality changed after his mother's death. Since her death, he became overprotective of his little sister, just like his father, making sure to take extra care of her.

The teacher soon came to the classroom, and before they knew it, it was time to go home.

Logan left Dixon high, accompanied by Castiel. They headed to go get his younger sister, before going their separate ways.

Later that night, 9:48 p.m.

Logan was browsing through his phone when he suddenly saw something about the wolf attack in the town. He scoffed when he recalled what Castiel told him about werewolves before going outside. He made sure to confirm Stephanie was already asleep before he walked out.

Their house was situated in the woods, by the roadside. Not all the houses in the town are in the woods. There was a place in the town that had been properly cleared, but his parents wanted peace and quiet when they just married, hence they moved away from the populated town.

With his phone in hand, he walked into the woods. There was a lake not too far from his house, around one kilometer or so. He usually comes here at night to clear his head whenever he recalls his mother.

After walking for about twenty minutes, he got to the lake. There was a shack by the side of the lake, he saw it when he first came here, and he guessed it was most likely owned by someone some years ago.

The shack has been abandoned for so long that it was just barely standing. There was a chair that was outside the shack.

He sat down in the calm windy night, looking at the gentle flowing water. A tear dropped down his face when he remembered the time he spent with his mother.

Rustle!

Logan, who was still reminiscing about his mother, was startled by the rustling sound he heard.

"Who's there?" He hastily got up and pointed his phone's flashlight at the area where the sound was coming from.

This wasn't the first time he was coming here at night, he had seen some strange creatures around, but never a dangerous one.

He focused on the place and saw a platypus walking out of the woods, heading for the lake. He sighed when he saw the platypus, this wasn't the first time he was seeing it in this lake.

'I should go back,' He thought while looking at his phone to check the time.

He realized he had stayed in this place for over thirty minutes now. But he froze as soon as he stood up.

Growl…