THE WEREWOLF DETECTIVE

FAMILIAR VOICE

ZEKE

“I won’t agree to another rescheduling. This is urgent, and you know it.” I disagreed with another request from the detective agency to reschedule my appointment. I already gave way when they said they needed more time to accomplish their other case. I understood because it was another missing person case, but another rescheduling is already too much.

“Ma’am, please understand that we also have to sort out other cases,” I heard the exhausted sigh of the person I was talking to.

“I just need to present the case to the investigator. I promise I won’t be demanding. Please, you need to hear me out.” I pleaded this time, praying that my not-so-good persuasion skills would work this time. My desperation was genuine, and I couldn’t wait for another day to know that my brother could be in any danger right now.

“Okay, you can come tomorrow around 1 pm. Is that okay for you?” I couldn’t contain my smile after his confirmation.

I nodded unconsciously, “Yes. Thank you so much.” It was my last stroke of hope to find my brother.

My brother was my only family. He did everything to raise me despite being young himself. He’s always been kind, and he never hurt anyone. That is why I can’t accept that he suddenly disappeared and no one bothered to find him after a few months. I begged the police so many times, but they had already considered Liam’s case a cold case after a month. There was barely any evidence presented to me, and it was as if my brother had disappeared without a trace, which was impossible. No one could disappear like that in this time of age.

I hated it, but I realized I had to make a move on my own if I wanted things to progress. I hired a private investigator, but none of them could find him either. This is my fourth time, but this agency will lead me to something. It has to, or I might lose my mind.

The calling card given to me by a colleague is what led me to their agency. I did some research about the agency, and they have had promising results so far. They are good at similar cases and even found someone who has been missing for years already.

“I’ll find you, Liam. I’ll find you no matter what.” I mumbled and placed the calling card back in my wallet.

This has been my life for four months already. It’s already a miracle that I can still keep up with my deadlines for my job. I bobbed my head on the table, realizing I hadn’t eaten anything yet when it was already past lunchtime.

“Liam would surely nag at me for doing this...” I mumbled and pushed myself to go to the kitchen to cook something.

“No, he’ll kill me.” I shook my head. The fridge was all empty. Of course, I haven’t been out of the house since last week! I reached for my phone and ordered food instead, which would last until tomorrow.

I was used to my brother taking care of me. He always put me before himself, and now I couldn’t even find him without reaching rock bottom. I looked around. I can’t even remember the last time I cleaned our place because I was busy juggling between writing and finding him.

Tears started streaming from my eyes again. I feel so miserable without Liam.

“I shouldn’t be like this.” I walked out of the kitchen and picked up the vacuum from one side. The house needed to look just how it should be once Liam returns. I cleaned the house diligently while waiting for my food, dusting and cleaning every nook and cranny, from the living room to the bedrooms.

--

CALEB

I lazily stretched my arms as I entered the office. My whole body still aches from the full moon last night. It’s a side effect that usually lasts for a day. I usually take a day off to rest, but one of our clients, whom we should have been meeting three days ago, was already eager to see us. It was understandable. She agreed to a reschedule, and another one seemed unprofessional already.

Still, Miguel did everything in his power to reschedule it again, but the client was persistent and demanded that it should be today.

“Are you sure you can handle a client today?” Miguel asked. When I decided to establish my own detective agency, I didn’t really expect that Miguel would follow me. He had just returned from another country. He left when everything fell apart in his life, thanks to his past relationship not ending well. I felt terrible then because I couldn’t help him, but he said he just wanted to be away for some time. It lasted for a year, but he said that running away from everything wasn’t the best decision he had made, so he came back.

“Yeah. I’m certain I could handle another find a missing person task,” I chuckled and answered, stretching my arms once more. His face crumpled. I could guess he didn’t want another missing person’s case because of what happened the other day. It was a pretty bad experience. I couldn’t blame him at all.

Maybe I shouldn’t tag him along when things get dangerous, but knowing him, he would still try to jump into danger to help even though he knew he was perfectly aware that it would endanger his life. Complaining later on was just his way of saying he was happy to be alive.

A sudden pang in my chest cut my train of thought. It was an unusual feeling, like something or maybe someone was coming. It didn’t exactly hurt me, but it was very odd. I was startled when Miguel snapped his fingers in front of me.

“I’m pretty sure spacing out wasn’t a side effect of your every full moon thing. Maybe I should just talk to the client instead.” I always talk to our clients, not because I don’t trust Miguel, but because I could sense if they were lying or trying to hide anything. It was one of the perks of my true identity. We have been in this business for three years already. I’m sure Miguel had already picked up a skill or two, and I could have let him this time, but something tells me I should be here right now.

I shook my head, feeling a bit dizzy, but I ignored the feeling. “I’m fine. I have to meet this client.” I honestly have no idea why I said those words with so much desperation. Call it instincts or a hunch, but I knew I had to meet this client.

Miguel’s eyebrows knitted, probably weirded out because of what I was saying. He was about to ask, but his phone notified him of a new message.

“She’s on her way, the new client. She didn’t have to apologize profusely, though. She said there was a road accident, so she was late.” Miguel placed his phone back in his pocket and momentarily looked at me.

“What?” I asked, acting nonchalantly, just because I didn’t want any other questions asked.

He shook his head, “I’ll buy our lunch. What do you want?”

I shrugged. I’m too preoccupied to even think about eating.

“Anything with meat.” I ended up answering whatever came first into my mind. Maybe I was hungry after all. I didn’t get the usual rest after the full moon, which probably caused the physical pain, but I never felt this disoriented before.

Miguel simply shrugged and left the office while I silently sat at my desk. I tried distracting myself, but nothing was working. I decided to just wait for Miguel, who probably had just bought food from the nearby restaurants downstairs or maybe in the convenience store if he was feeling lazy.

I suddenly felt my head throb, and my chest tightened enough to leave me breathless. A familiar voice growled in my mind.

Mate…