Chapter 24 – Meeting the Hunters High Council – part 1

As soon as Aniya crossed the entrance, all eyes were on her, Lisa, and Davis. Aniya sighed because she could very well understand why they were attracting so much attention, considering they were covered in blood all over their faces, arms, and clothes. They barely had time to clean their hands before travelling to that building, so they were indeed a nasty sight.

Aniya faced her father, who was already near her, and asked, “Can we make a stop in the bathroom? I want to at least wash my arms and face because my skin is itching from the dry blood.”

“It’s better if we go meet the High Council as you are right now because it will make them understand right off the bat the importance of what happened. Also, they will believe you easier.”

“You know, father, this Hunters thing sounds shadier by the minute. Are you sure you are not working for the bad guys? Because Squads of Hunters breaking the code, a High Council that needs to see the mess we are right now for them to believe in us…”

Dan Rossi slowly shook his head, “You had a small experience with Werewolves and you saw what just one could do to trained Hunters. Imagine one of them in a block of apartments running loose in the middle of the night. What we do might sound gruesome and cruel, but it’s also a necessity. Let’s go. We must take the elevator to the top floor.”

Aniya followed her father in silence, thinking about his words. At the reception, they delivered all their weapons for safekeeping, and then they all went to the elevator.

While going up, Aniya suddenly snorted, making everyone look at her. “Sorry, I just had the weirdest thought. Imagine if, after what we went through, the elevator broke, we fell into the basement and died? That would be really stupid!”

They all burst into laughter, and when the elevator stopped, they had to make an enormous effort to stop laughing. The doors opened, and Dan Rossi led the way along the corridor they arrived in, until they reached a large door on the left, nearly halfway to the end. On each side of the doors, two security men were standing, one holding a portable metal detector.

They nodded, and while one security guard was looking at them, the other used the portable metal detector. He stopped when the detector blipped over Aniya’s groins, and she asked with a frown, “What? You want to put your hand in my panties to check?”.

The security man made a slight smile and went down her legs with the detector, signalling to Lisa that she was next. The same blip on her groins made him freeze to think for a moment, and he then went down, checking Lisa’s feet. After a check on Davis, he opened the door for them.
Inside, a long oval table had several empty chairs around it, with only three of them occupied in one section of the table, and two security men on the other extreme of the large room, standing guard.

One man at the table signalled Dan Rossi’s group to sit in the chairs in front of them, and when everyone was seated, he spoke, “Good morning. I am Mister Jake Kinnerk. My colleagues are Mister Blake Garvin and Mister Anthony Nolan. It seems you went through a very serious ordeal. Mister Dan informed us about what happened, but we need a complete report with everything that happened, how it happened, and why we have here one Hunter in training, one administrative that was wrongly suspected of being a Werewolf, and for that, we apologise, and a personal bodyguard. Not to mention the fact that we have two experienced Hunters injured and suspected, together with their administratives, of making a trap to have Miss Aniya Rossi killed.”

Aniya raised one eyebrow. “None of you is curious about how two Hunters died? Or how four men could change into Werewolves during the day?”

Those questions made the three men jolt, and Blake Garvin, the one that looked older than the other two, at least judging by his grey hair and beard, asked, “We know that the two Hunters that died violated the sacred code, and the penalty for that is death on the spot, but what do you mean about Werewolves changing during the day? That’s impossible!”

“Well, we left in that house three beheaded men next to the dust their Werewolves bodies left behind when they changed back. One Werewolf escaped, the one that injured Mister Ethan and Mister Peter. That means there is one man somewhere who can turn into a Werewolf when he wants to. I have one friend that was providing backup for me, and he got close to that man, and he will call me back when he gets more information.”

“That friend of yours, is he a Hunter?”

Aniya tried her best to remain calm as she answered, “No, he is not. I just thought it was weird how a group of Werewolves was peacefully in that house last night, none of them restrained, and they killed a member of a Hunter Squad that was fully armed and ready for everything. Today I went to meet that Squad to see if they approved me to join them, but not only that story puzzled me but also the way Mister Lucas Dalton was being strangely friendly, considering women doing fieldwork was unheard of. My bodyguard, Davis, and my friend Lisa tagged along, not only for more firepower but because I don’t trust people I don’t know. My friend followed us since we left the City, and he was nearby just in case I needed help. He saw a shadow jumping out the window and followed it into the woods. The last time he called, he said he was talking with a naked man and was going to meet some of his friends.”

The three members of the Council looked at each other, and Blake Garvin asked, “What is the name of your friend? We need to do a background check to see if his information is reliable. Assuming he will call you back, and not get himself killed by that Werewolf, that is.”

“That, I won’t tell. I don’t know you, nor do I trust you. You could be a member of the High Council, or you could be another misogynist who believes women are only useful as breeders, like Mister Lucas Dalton, who nearly got me killed. If I trusted him instead of taking my own gun to that house, I would be dead by now. I already told you, I don’t trust people I don’t know, sacred code or not.”

Blake Garvin grinned and faced Aniya’s father, saying, “You were right, she would be a good acquisition for Internal Affairs. Not trusting and not believing in anyone until solid proof is presented is a rare quality, and one of the requisites for joining the Internal Affairs.”

He then looked at Aniya and said, “We were informed of that conversation. We track the phones of all our members for security measures, just in case they get into trouble and don’t have time to call for backup. We also noticed that for the last two days, your phone was disconnected, and we couldn’t track it. Why was that?”

“I figured the Hunters would track me and listen to my conversations, but I always disconnect my phone when I want to be at peace. My mother tends to be a control freak, and I don’t want her to turn up in a club where I am having fun with my friends, like she did some years ago, just because I didn’t arrive home on time.”

“You will need to have your phone turned on at all times so that we can always know where you are since you are now a member of the Hunters Society.”

Aniya gave a slight smile. “That, I won’t do. I don’t obey my mother. Why do you think I would do what you say? My phone is mine alone. It is already weird having you guys listen to my conversations, but tracking me and following me around? I am sorry, but your group is not as trustworthy as my father keeps on telling me. I just survived a trap that one of your Hunters made for me, and I also found out the Hunters Society watches over their members and even advises women on whom they can marry or not. Do you honestly believe I will willingly accept being turned into a breeder or follow your orders blindly? My friends and I killed three Werewolves and injured another, while the men in one of your Squads froze in panic. I will easily become the best Hunter around, but if you even think for a moment that I will bend over and let you stick a finger up my ass, you are all up for a nasty surprise.”

The three men looked at her with serious faces, and Anthony Nolan, a man with round glasses, a shaved face, and short hair, turned to Aniya’s father and asked, “Can you show us the gun that Lucas Dalton tampered with? I was told you brought it with you when you called Headquarters while you were coming.”

Dan Rossi grabbed the gun from his pocket, took out the cartridge with the ammunition, and removed the last bullet from the gun, and pushed everything along the table, into the direction of the Council members. The man with the glasses took the gun and checked it. He pressed the trigger and confirmed it was not connected to the hammer strut, making it impossible for a bullet to be fired.

He tested it a few more times to make sure it was not merely stuck, and he then nodded. “Clearly, someone sabotaged this gun. Considering this could end up causing the death of a fellow Hunter, a death sentence was appropriate for Mister Lucas and Mister Lucian. The rest of the Squad is being interrogated, and later today or tomorrow we will reach a verdict. For the time being, Miss Aniya, Miss Lisa, and Mister Davis, you are excused, but you can’t leave this building until we finish the interrogations. We may need to talk with you all again, or separately. We have rooms available in the lower levels, a canteen, and plenty of entertainment so that you don’t get bored.”

Aniya noticed that the two security men were approaching the table, and she grinned. “See, father, what did I tell you? They want to make sure we don’t disclose the information that there is a man out there able to turn into a Werewolf whenever he likes, and there could be more like him. Your precious High Council is even willing to arrest us so that we are silenced. I bet we will never see daylight again, or we will all be killed, just for ‘security measures’ like they said.”

Dan Rossi looked at the serious Council members, unable to believe what was happening. “You can’t be serious! My daughter was almost killed today! She told everything that happened, the Squad that went with her is being interrogated, she has a friend near that Werewolf, and you want to arrest her?”

Blake Garvin spoke, while looking at Aniya. “They are not arrested. We just want to confirm what the surviving Squad members and their administratives are going to say, and we also want to be sure this conversation doesn’t leak. We can’t risk other Hunters hearing about Werewolves changing without a full moon, because that would cause panic and would most certainly lead to some unfortunate events, like the execution of suspects without further confirmation if they were a Werewolf. For sure, you understand our position, Miss Aniya.”

“Oh, I understand alright, and I am sure you will understand me in no time. Lisa, Davis, if you please, but not too loud. We don’t want to alarm the people outside.”