Wolf's Bane

Chapter Seven

"So, how was it, Zayne? Was she your type?" Jack asked the young man who walked through the front door of his office.

"Not really. She just has something I want, potentially," Zayne said as he proceeded to head back towards the bed at the back of the room.

"What do you mean potentially?" Jack asked curiously as he turned towards Zayne who had already laid down.

"Apparently, she's someone who I met when I was younger. It was during the time before Alice adopted me. It would have been a few short weeks but apparently, I left quite the impression on her it seems," Zayne replied.

"I'm guessing you don't trust her then. Well, that's to be expected. I was only teasing you earlier but if she really is indeed someone you had met when you were younger, I'm quite surprised she recognized you," Jack said.

"Same. I don't know who she is. She may be an ally or an enemy but, the fact that she probably has information I want, I need to take this risk. I won't get anywhere by doing requests and waiting for the committee to give me the information I want. They might see my revenge as something trivial or, there may be some people there who are hiding some things. In any case, I don't trust them. I only trust Alice because I know that she's someone who won't betray us," Zayne said.

"Well, that's true. Her voice in the committee is also quite influential but that's also a double-edged sword. She can't needlessly interfere in matters she doesn't belong to, just because she's someone who has earned the trust of those above them," Jack said.

While the two men were discussing how they should plan ahead, there was one person in particular who wasn't able to move ahead, still stuck in the same seat she was in earlier.

OH. MY. GOD!!!

Rias was unable to contain her excitement as she felt like a schoolgirl who was noticed by her crush. In fact, she kept on squealing to herself, making some of the employees at the cafe look at her weirdly.

"Calm down," Rias whispered to herself, all while in disbelief that someone as hot and handsome as Zayne would agree to meet up with her once more. And although she knew that people thought that she was beautiful, this was the first time she had to ask herself that.

"But, I need to calm down first and help him out. I only approached him because he felt familiar and after staring at him for so long, I knew he was the boy my father wanted to help," Rias muttered as she started taking small sips from her frappuccino.

"Still, even though I'm crushing on him and had ulterior motives about saying all of that earlier, I really do want to help him. But hopefully, we can go out for real," Rias thought to herself with a smile as an old memory resurfaced in her mind, something that she always treasured.

It was a memory where she saw a little boy hiding himself underneath a bed and there, he was playing with a busby tail that looked like it was connected onto his body.

I shouldn't tell him that though. I'm sure there's something more to it but, I'm sure of it now after meeting him. Zayne is not at all human.

After their first meeting, it took at least another week for the two of them to meet up again. And when they did, Rias was dressed more casually, wearing a pair of jeans and a button up blouse while Zayne was his usual self, wearing denims and a plain grey shirt.

The two of them had decided to meet up again after Zayne asked for Alice's thoughts on the matter and when she told him that it was worth the risk, he gave in and waited for Rias to call him before they set up a date.

"Did you bring everything I asked of you?" Zayne asked Rias who pouted, looking like she wanted more than what was said but she did nod in reply.

"I brought everything so, why don't you trust me a little now?" Rias asked, making Zayne reply that he does.

"But only to a certain extent. Not until I'm sure of everything, I won't be giving you any more than this," Zayne said.

And with that, the two of them headed off towards the same cafe they had been at last week and there, Zayne began reviewing all the documents and photos on the laptop that Rias brought, while she began ordering them something to eat and drink.

"So, did you find anything of interest from my father's files? Just so you know, I also did a little investigating and research on my own but I didn't open my father's files out of respect for him and you," Rias said as she sat down across from Zayne and waited for his reply.

"That's good. Because if you did take a peek into your father's files, you'll definitely feel sick and end up hating yourself," Zayne said.

When he uttered those words, Rias felt curious as to what's on the laptop but Zayne told her not to satisfy her curiosity for mow. "It's best if you don't know," he added, before looking back at the screen in front of him.

All of these files were heavily encrypted and tucked away. If Rias didn't have the codes that her father left for her, it would take a while to open all of these. However, I now understand why he did all that. These files are…sickening.

If one were to take a peek at what Zayne was looking at, they would be able to see photos of different people massacred brutally and treated inhumanely. There were photos of people getting their skin sliced off cleanly from their bodies, while in the background, there were a dozen or so human skins that were drying in a corner.

Not only that, there were multiple instances of a person's body parts being prepared, chopped up and diced to be turnd into a meal and in some photos, there were people who were being tortured so violently that no words can express just how much pain was being inflicted towards them.

Everything was just so violent, inhumane and downright cruel that Zayne felt like he was about to pop a nerve and tear the laptop down in front of him.

However, there was one thing that the photos all have in common and that was the fact that somewhere in the photos, there was a single word that shows up everywhere.

"Luminous."