CHAPTER 5: THE RECRUITMENT AND THE SET UP

Zhen rolls a map and puts it in his jacket; "Forest park. There are two ferals here. One here and the other up north," the Chinese man says.

"North forest park?" "Yes," "Can't your spell give us the exact location?" Cassandra asks.

"Not really. Except he is stuck in one place but feral ones don't particularly stay in one place. They wander seeking a home they will never find," he says.

"We won't find him now. Our best bet is to try at night when their wolves want out," Zhen says.

There are a lot of green lands here and its size is perfect for a werewolf to stay hidden. A pack maybe if they can create a hidden den since this is a public area.

These parts would be dangerous to walk at night if the feral is a starving one.

The shadows draw patterns of their owners on the well trimmed grass floor and the breeze blows calmly rejecting the heat that comes with the sun. Energetic kids scurry around each other with a few dogs running at their feet.

"Let's go in. Night will meet us in the woods," Cassandra says and the Chinese man swallows his saliva hard, Zhen sighs; "Sure," he says weakly and scratches his head.

Night does not take long to fall as the two of them walk in the woods.

Zhen felt okay when they walked past the Carousel Amusement park but now that they had gone in the more natural side of the park, the night made him feel eerie but his map let's him know that they are still safe from the feral.

He has to be alert after all they are going after a feral one and that means anything can happen.

Cassandra's green eyes search the forest under the night's dark gaze. She stops every now and then to sniff into the air as she tries to pick up the feral one's trail.

They arrive at a pond. There is a little fence around it and no lights around the place. There are some dry grasses mixed with the green ones around the pond.

Cricket sounds fill the vicinity and toad croaks accompany them to make for a natural song.

They walk past the pond with their hands in the pocket of their jackets shying away from the cold

Goosebumps almost pop out of Zhen's skin as his imagination plays a pessimistic trick on him, creating scenes of dread that hopefully remains in his head.

This is going to be a long night, he thinks. Cassandra stops and signals to Zhen to stop his movement.

She sniffs into the air and she hears a loud howl from a distance. This is a warning, she has entered its territory.

"I think we've found your first feral," Zhen says as he stands with fidgeting fingers that tap at the sides of his legs, "You know I'm not going to be of any help taming it, right?" "Didn't expect you to," Cassandra says as glowing gold eyes seem to get closer.

Her eyes replicate the werewolf's glow as its full body comes into view. The air gets cold and the night's wind carry their scents to each other's nostril. A strange silence falls in their midst and attentive looks are shared between the creatures of fur and claws.

The silence breaks under growing growls and their ears flicker in affirmation of the threat they both face, each other.  

The werewolf runs on four with grey colored fur and pointy ears, throwing pieces of the earth behind its limbs and into the night of darkness and grass.

It runs fast as Cassandra begins to transform herself.

Hair grows at the nape of her neck and the sides of her face, her face distorts into an unfamiliar one with pointy sharp and pointy ears. She shoots out claws from her hand and charge towards the beast, increasing her growl with every step toward her challenger.

Zhen sits on the floor as he watches the werewolves enter an animal fight for supremacy.

"I should have bought popcorn,".

The two wolves swing their hands at each other in an attempt to tear one another. The grey werewolf has the higher ground and a bigger stature. He presses Cassandra against the ground and bites her shoulder, "Aah," she screams in pain.

She uses her claws to tear the sides of his face and it howls loudly before Cassandra throws the creature off her body.

She roars at the werewolf and it growls before charging in for another attack. Cassandra dodges his attack under a swing of his arm and she slashes his face and his torso with her sharp claws.

The werewolf kicks Cassandra away with its strong legs. He stands up on two legs to stand at 7ft tall and its glowing gaze stare down at the dark skin girl on the floor.

Cassandra notices how its iris is covered with blackness, evidence of its wild nature.

This is a wolf that enjoys bloodshed.

The grey wolf jumps towards Cassandra but she dodges and gets on her feet.

She charges with a kick to the werewolf's head and a deep cut to its chest.

It snarls in rage but Cassandra lands two solid punches to its face before she roars in its face, "Yield," she screams.

The grey wolf falls to the ground trembling and its hairy skin gradually changes to a smooth and almost hairless body.

A Caucasian man with stubble beards lay on the floor looking at her and groaning from his wounds. His short brown hair is messy and he wears torn briefs.

"What do you want?" the man growls at her. Cassandra squats down so her eyes meet his dark ones. "What is your name?" she asks, "Joseph, Joseph Brooke" he says.

"I want you to join my pack," she says and Joseph almost choke with laughter.

"You know I'm a wild one. A feral one. There is a reason no pack accepts me,".

"Every feral are exiles but that doesn't me they can't have a home. Join me and let's create our own," Cassandra says.

Joseph stares at her in silence for a minute or two, pondering on her words before breaking into a soft laugh, "I will join you if you tell me how you could beat me," Joseph says. "Simple, I am way too strong for you," she winks.

"That went better than I expected," Zhen says as he show comes to an end.

They hear a loud howl from the other side of the park. "The other feral," Zhen says, "Let's go after him," Cassandra says as she helps Joseph up. "It's a she. We have been fighting for the territory," Joseph says.

He stands at 5'9ft and has a fine tuned body. Not muscular but fit looking.

"Good. Maybe the two of you can reason woman to woman," Zhen says. "I doubt that. She is vicious," Joseph says, "No problem. I just have to make her submit," Cassandra says as she begins to walk towards the direction of the next feral.

"You are not one of us," Joseph says to Zhen as they walk behind the 6foot woman.

"I'm a mage," "Oh,".

            Lucas Tremblay and Elena Martin-Tremblay sit at the back of the black van with two other operatives. They park the van in front of Hampton Inn, the LaGuardia Plaza hotel, and prep themselves on the task at hand.

Lucas comes out of the car and takes a deep breath. The first rays of light hits his face as if the sun smiles at him, but he frowns back with a hardened heart.

His brother and sister died like any great hunter, in the line of duty but that doesn't mean they won't be honored with vengeance. The Tremblays always get their vendetta and this one would be no different.

He rubs his wavy laid back hair and wears a black jacket. Two black vans join them and men in police uniforms come out of the car, he presses a earpiece against his ear, "Let's go,".

The hotel is beautified by the trees and well trimmed lawns around the buildings. It creates a modern style mixed with nature to provide a soothing and pleasant look to their customers.

But this lot aren't here to admire the beauty of their glassy walls and their nature decorations, they are here for a hunt.

They enter the hotel and are welcomed to clean tile floors of white, grey and brown in shapes of boxes. The room is wide extending to the left and right with comfy looking chairs and decorations of vase and different green plants. Some of jasmine and others of some unknown origin.

The ceilings are of white colors.

Chandeliers and bulbs illuminate the already bright room but their eyes are fixed to the three-man reception space that lies ahead.

They pass a glass table holding up a vase and two doors on opposite side are revealed.

They meet a single attendant at the reception.

A Caucasian woman with short red hair greets them, "Good morning, how can we help you officers?" her eyes assess the men before returning to the one in front of her.

He raises a badge and Lucas brings out a picture, a picture of Gabriel Stone, and shows it to the woman.

"We have information that this man is in this hotel. He is a person of interest, a criminal. We need this to be quiet, we don't want him to make a run for it. Cooperate with us," the man says.

He has light brown hair and full beards over his jaw. His brown squinty eyes and uniform makes him look intimidating to the woman.

"Where's the security room? We need access to your cameras," he asks and the receptionist points the direction.

"One more thing, tell everyone on that floor to stay in their rooms. It is for their safety. That man is a very dangerous man," Lucas throws in.

Elena follows the team that goes to the security room, where they show their badges and provide surveillance.

"They are on the fourth floor," she says.

Lucas and his group divide the team into two groups; one follows the elevator and the other the staircase.

The elevator takes them to the fourth floor and Lucas drops the bag on the floor. They pull out their equipment and prepare themselves for a hunt, if this is a hunt at all.

"Sebastian, you will take charge here. He and I will be the eyes on the ground," Lucas says as he orders one of the men to follow him downstairs.

They go back down to the ground floor and exit the hotel to return to one of the vans outside.

"Put the drone in place," he orders his subordinate.

It doesn't take long for the drone to enter the air and begin to send live feed into their laptop.

"Operatives, the hunt has started. Be alert," Lucas says over his earpiece.

"We are making our move," Sebastian says over his earpiece as he and the men begin to approach Gabriel and Rachael's room.

"Wait," Lucas immediately shouts, "We have something here," Lucas recognizes someone from the feed. The man's face is pale and his eyes are dark and gloomy.

"I know this man, he is a vampire. Everyone pause, there is a vampire coming your way. Let him lead the way, then we take them all out," Lucas orders.

"This is going to be good," he says.

           Bryan walks into the hotel carrying his body like a log of wood. Every step feels like an extra weight has been put on his body. He wants to stop walking but his body will not listen to him.

His body is rigid against his will as he enters the elevator.

He knows where this leads to, he knows where he is going and it means trouble.