Chapter 16

REID:
“I thought you both had this entirely figured out. So why do we have this here?” I question both men who had just joined me in the location of the first mystery.
I am not looking at their faces to tell what expression they are revealing but I am sure they were surprised to see what I am seeing here. The slimy substance which we believed to be evidence in the second quarters.
My eyes are fixated on it as I try to sense life in it. But nothing seems to be pulsating, making it look like snot in some way. Whatever this is, I have no idea. And might not if the whole situation keeps going this way with no substantial evidence.
“We truly did comb the whole apartment. And, trust me, nothing of such was there. We would have been the first to notify you if the case had been that way,” from the voice, I can tell it was Hunter who just responded to my query.
“Or probably my father first,” I say.
“What?”
And so I turn around to face them but was particularly looking at Hunter. “I wasn’t talking to you,” and then I shift my gaze to Ryu who suddenly looks a bit scared. “I was talking to him,”
My hands are still right at my back as I fix my eyes on the man who I have not been confirmable with ever since my father confronted me about my visit to the Elder. Now was the best time to make Ryu know that I know of his schemes which I do not in any way like.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, Alpha,” Ryu tells me with his head down. I can tell that he is trying hard not to look at my face.
“If I decide to go over the issue that led to that statement, you won’t be leaving here the same way you came, I promise you,” To Hunter, I say, “Let’s get back to what I called you here for. That thing over there,” I point to the slimy substance by the entrance, “you said you didn’t come across it when you had been investigating, right?”
“Exactly,” Hunter says, “which is why I’m surprised that such could happen despite the number of eyes that accessed the place.”
“What do you think made it escape your sight?”
Hunter seems to think through my question for a while before saying, “My best guess would be that whatever it is that might have caused the damage, that thing lurking in the shadows like Ryu described, came back here. It came back here to drop its presence to notify us that it was its doing. I don’t know if it makes much sense but that is the only thing I can think of,”
I didn’t want to agree nor disagree with him because, in as much as it seems like mere talk, there was a lot of sense in it.
I don’t say anything about what he said but instead, walk out of the apartment. I take in the beam of light shooting out of the sky and in no time, it was out of sight again.
“What do you want us to do now?” Hunter, who is now beside me, asks.
I take in a deep breath as I let the air of the day take me. I still feel a lot of pressure but it was lesser than when I had first arrived here initially. The two warriors that had been assigned here were still guarding the place with their gazes away from the building.
“If indeed whatever it was had come back here, then how had the warriors not been notified about it? Why weren’t they able to feel its presence?” I ask I fix my eyes on the men that seemed to be immersed in their duty.
“Because it lurks in the shadows?” Hunter stated as if making an observation.
“That makes sense,” I say and then shift my eyes to Ryu who is standing behind us. “Later, I need you to get two men to work with you on searching through the apartment once more for anything out of the ordinary. I believe that if it had been here once more, it might have left something else behind that would help curb the situation,”
Ryu nods. “I will,”
I start to walk down the balcony of the quarters and when I reach the last step, a thought flows into my head. So I turn back and tell Ryu, “Yeah, get a paper bag to put that substance away for more observation. Pretty sure it would help put in some way. And keep it in mind that you and I have unfinished business,”
So I start to leave the premises after that because I was done with anything around here. It remains for me to get back to the main quarters and get on with the paperwork that I had abandoned to come to check on this place. The thought of being here had been eating me up and I lost total concentration on the work I had been indulged in at that time.
“So what’s with Ryu that you are not telling me?” Hunter asks about a minute away from the location. I had very much already forgotten that he was still with me which was why I was a bit startled when he questioned me.
I can’t help but scorn him after that and I think he gets the memo because his face brightens a little in realization. “Sorry about that,” he says.
“When did I start telling you everything that goes on around me?” I choose to say much later.
“Like forever?” he responds, oozing a sort of confidence.
“Well, you do not need to know about this one. Besides, why should I tell you about it? It’s not like there is anything you can do to curb the situation. And knowing you, you could escalate it which I am obviously not ready to handle,”
The silence that comes after speaking was a little peaceful I must admit. Most times I like a walk out of here without anyone talking to me. And without words being exchanged. The only one I can make an exception for is Bryan because it involves telepathy.
“Did Ryu snitch on you?”
Dammit! The silence hasn’t lasted more than two minutes before Hunter decided to ruin it with his questions.
“Why can’t you let me be, Hunter? I need to think here,” I groan in frustration as I say that to him.
“Just answer the question so we can get this over with,” is the response I get from him.
“I would rather talk about this at my convenience and not at you trying to get the words out of my mouth,” I tell him off and then start to increase my pace to leave a great deal of distance between us. But he catches up to me in no time which was totally expected, knowing the type of person he is.
Just when I think he is about to say something else to bug me, I suddenly feel strange. I do not even know when I happen to look to the side because my attention is shifted away from where I intended to go.
Is it just me or is the whimpering sound of someone all over the place? I cannot seem to focus my attention on one place right now as I try to have a clue about what I am doing or what my mind is making me do.
My gaze finally lands on Hunter who is looking at me strangely after my sudden change in motion. I mean, I had suddenly stopped walking and then started looking around like I was looking for something so I was bound to receive such a stare from him.
“Are you okay?” he asks me with his brows raised.
I would have asked him if he was also hearing the whimpering sound. But with the look on his face, I know that there was no possible means of him hearing that. This means I am the only one, most likely hearing the sound all over.
“Go on without me,” I tell Hunter as I start to move in the direction of where I am certain the sound was coming from. Ask me what I am doing, I do not know. All I know is that the whimpering sound was pulling me over. And funny enough, I cannot resist.
“Where are you going?” Hunter demands to know but I ignore him as I continue to go in the direction. “Reid?” he calls my name. “Reid?” now he must think I have been possessed or something.
“Just go, Hunter. I will be with you soon,”
Soon after, I increased my pace because the pull to whatever it is was much stronger now. I cannot even try to beat it and even my curiosity would not allow me to.
There is a strange excitement in me now that I feel I am getting nearer to where the sound was coming from. And I am totally down for it.
But I have questions. What if I am leading myself into a trap? What if this is just my thoughts messing with me? I could be getting into trouble or worse for all I know.
So I decide to link with Bryan who I know has more hyper senses than me. He would be capable of fishing out any strange movement whatsoever. That is if I am not too late.
‘Is it safe to continue?’ I ask him via the link. And after waiting about ten seconds, there seems to be no means of getting a response. ‘Bryan, are you there?’ I can feel his presence in me though but I still choose to ask since I have no idea why he decided to zone out on me.
Something like adrenaline rushes through me. And so I pause with the motion. There is only one thing separating me from getting to where possibly is and so I decide to go for it.
I bend the tree branch over and before I knew it, I am met with the sight of a completely naked lady not too far off. As I am still trying to process what is going on, I am suddenly made aware of the situation by Bryan who happens to growl a single word in my head:
‘Mate!’