After Blake’s shout it didn’t take long for Gary to zoom to where he was and that’s when he could see that the other teenager was digging through the leaves. They were being hurled, thrown everywhere. Now looking at the spot, although Gary couldn’t see it, he could smell it.
“There’s blood there, right?” Gary asked for confirmation.
“Yeah, but not just here. A lot of the leaves are covering the area, so I wasn’t so sure, but there’s blood all over in this park and forest.” Blake said.
If Gary could smell the blood, and he could do so quite clearly, it meant that it couldn’t have been shed too long ago. This made the high schooler wonder where it had come from. There had been no reports of recent dead, no bodies nor police in this area.
The two continued looking and Blake was uncovering piles of blood in certain places, and even up particular trees. The problem was they weren’t really leading them anywhere, it was just blood located different areas of the forest, and they were unable to find anything else until Gary had a theory.
“I think my earlier hunch was right.” Gary revealed. “What we have just uncovered must be his hunting ground.”
“Hunting ground?” Blake repeated confused. “You mean he killed more people and took his victims here? But that doesn’t add up with the news report.”
It was then that Gary ran and leapt up on one of the trees, transforming only his arms, and started to climb it quite quickly. With his extra strength and being able to change parts of his body, it was easy enough.
The vibrations of the tree caused a bird to scurry away, yet the next second, Gary leapt clawing at the creature. When he landed, his knees bent before hitting the ground and now blood was dripping from his hand, the blood of the lifeless bird.
“I can’t see the blood like you, but I know one thing. He and I are alike.” Gary stated. “I looked at the trees, and saw his markings. There are claws marks everywhere at the top. What I just did is an example of probably what he was doing as well.
“Unlike me, Billy is on the run, which means he has no easy way to buy the food he needs. Even if he had the money, it’s not like he could walk into a supermarket and just buy it. Werewolves need a high amount of Energy, but the meat doesn’t necessarily have to come from humans.”
“In other words, he’s switched to hunting animals.” Blake finished Gary’s sentence, realising what he was saying, and now knowing why there were so many blood marks on the ground. It was most likely where Billy had feasted on the animal.
Another thing that Blake noted was how fast Gary’s movements had been and how easily he had caught the bird as well. It was clear that the Werewolf he had fought in the park and the one in front of him were quite different. He had even slightly transformed in front of him, which was something the Altered Hunter had been unaware the other even could do.
“Does it mean he will eventually return here? If he’s using the place as his hunting ground, maybe he’s hiding in the vicinity.” Blake theorised. “However, if he is, he must be out, right now.”
Gary turned around for a second. He had killed the bird, and he didn’t want to put it to waste, especially since his little show had also used up a bit of Energy. At the same time, he didn’t really want Blake to see him eat, so he had the decency to hide it.
When looking at the trees he saw that there were claw markings. Given how high up they were, the teenager was trying to compare himself to Billy, trying to gauge how advanced he had become.
“This place might not be his only hunting ground. If he’s smart enough to switch to animals, he might also have realised that staying in one place for too long might be too risky. Let’s keep an eye out, and if we don’t find him, we could always return here the following nights.” Gary suggested.
Blake agreed, and he also started to set up little cameras in the forest. This way, he could check up on the area while they were away. He had placed them in the areas where the most amount of blood had been visible.
While doing so, Blake had something on his mind he wanted to ask Gary.
“You’re different from how you were back then. And I don’t just mean that you transformed like an Altered. Last time, you were attacking me like a feral animal.
“If you transform again to fight Billy, will I have to worry about that happening again? I’m not exactly looking forward to having to fight for my life against the two of you.” Blake voiced his concern, as he programmed the cameras to send their footage directly to his phone.
“It won’t happen again.” Gary stated. “I acted that way because of the full moon. Although we’re stronger during that time, we also get … ‘weirder’, more primal. I… I couldn’t control myself back then, probably because it was my first turning.
“After my recent change, I feel like it might have solved my problem. It’s what allowed me to change only part of my body. Anyway, that’s also why we need to finish Billy off sooner rather than later. He’ll only get stronger the closer we’ll be to the full moon, and I dunno if he can or will transform like me.”
After the cameras had been set up, Blake and Gary headed towards the apartment buildings of those that Billy had killed before. They searched around the block and the area to see if they could find anything.
Then, when finding trails of blood that were still present, they would follow them to see if they could find any clues, but there were none at all.
“Well, it looks like we’ve been to every place so far where Billy has been, but there’s been no luck.” Blake sighed, ready to call it a night. If it had been that easy, his father would have surely found the Werewolf by now. At least, they had some clues to go on now.
“Wait a second.” Gary stopped him. “Billy hasn’t killed for a while now, but his killing wasn’t random. Not counting his parents, he had only killed those he lost against in a fight. I was just wondering… what if he hasn’t given up going down that list?
“If that’s the case, then maybe Billy is just waiting for the right moment… maybe he’s away, because he’s stalking his next target.”
“Do you have an idea who Billy is after, then?” Blake asked. He had overheard Gary mentioning something of the sort during his interrogation by White Rose, but the young Altered Hunter didn’t want to admit that he had snooped around.
Of course, one of those people was Gary himself, but perhaps Billy was also a little worried about Gary due to them both being Werewolves. He shouldn’t know that the green haired teenager was only ‘older’ than the other Omega wolf by a few days. Instead of risking it, there was a far easier target, though.
If Billy came to them, it would be perfect, but it was important to cover all possibilities. There was only one problem… he had no idea where Innu actually lived. He tried contacting his friend on the phone, but given how late it was, Innu appeared to have gone to bed already.
As such, Gary contacted someone who seemed to have the answers to everything, and, unsurprisingly, Kai turned out to still have been awake.
[He’s not at his apartment, but you can find him there. Just remember if you are causing a scene, as leaders of the Howlers it means we’re involved as well. Call us if you need us.]
“Let’s just check this one place out before we call it a day.” Gary told Blake.
——
Following the attached address, the two teenagers finally arrived at the location, and both of them were surprised at where they were at the moment.
‘The other person is Innu… but why would he be around here?’
“An orphanage?” Blake sounded surprised.