What Lies Beneath His Pelt?

CHAPTER 13: THIS IS WHERE IT BEGINS

“...lathas, watego autenata noga som shinakamonu to keikoku? Nazecur anawa bugailaverit subetetum extraraka ni shitomnia nodesu ka?”

I woke to the sound of someone speaking near my door in a whisper. If it wasn’t for my superior hearing, I could have thought it was just my imagination. The voice was low and hollow like it had just come six feet underground. I decided to just ignore it.

It was probably just some servanuli or something.

“Quinaze shiriciti eshitis iruno? Etare wanon oblivikaku soream washremasusquam? Watanos agaresikogeki suntsa, watego voluikai ado hayakufinem owareriter pugratakata itaso gau arillic!” I shot up from the bed when I heard that it was Ciara's voice who replied. I stealthily made my way towards the door to eavesdrop some more.

However, what I heard were retreating footsteps. I waited for a few seconds before I opened the door and found that it was empty, the sunlight already flooding the entire corridor.

I raised an eyebrow before getting my phone from the desk to look at the date and time.

December 24, 10:30 AM.

As I put my phone down, I thought back to last night when Ciara and I talked under the moonlight. Something about it felt romantic to me and at that thought, heat rushed to my face as I smiled. I didn’t know what caused this sudden shift of energy, but I was glad I wasn’t utterly focused on her body anymore, but on all of her, and I wanted to know more about it.

I prepared for the day and when I went down to the dining hall, I couldn’t help but grin.

Victor sat beside Ciara as she fed him and Edmund was having a conversation with Grace, who seemed absorbed in what he was saying but her eyes were unfocused. Lils and Callan (who remembered to introduce himself to me during dinner last night) were busy looking at the tablet and I noticed that someone was missing.

“Hey, guys, where’d Liam go?” I asked and it was Lils who answered.

“Oh, he went home somewhere around one in the morning? Lexus called so naturally, he had to go.” She said, her gaze never leaving the tablet.

I simply nodded and sat next to Ciara, who smiled when I approached.

“Oh? You look refreshed, Wolfman. Did you have a nice dream?” She teased.

“Dream? I don’t remember any dreams. It was what happened before I went to bed that made me feel better.” I replied and her cheeks tinted red.

“What?” It was Callan who spoke. His voice carried over to my side of the table despite the huge distance I had from him.

Ciara did a facepalm when he stood up from his chair and glared at me.

“Why? What happened before you went to bed?” He asked and I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat.

“We uh-Ciara and I, we went out for a walk. But nothing happened, I swear! We just talked!” I replied nervously as my tone began to rise.

“Sagidax!” Victor announced, and I didn’t have to know the meaning of the word (if it was even a word) because somehow I knew what it implied. Callan turned red and his eyebrows shot up.

“Oh, you better not lie to me, Vallejo, because if I smell you on even a strand of my sister’s hair I will-” he started, but was unable to continue as the servanuli brought out the lunch they had prepared. Delicious scents of pork, chicken, and fish cooked in two cuisines infiltrated my nostrils. My stomach growled.

We began to eat and when we finished, I went with Ciara to the city center to buy some food for our Christmas Dinner, chatting as we did.

It was a relaxing day, but of course, I just had to ruin it with a question.

“Have you seen images of what the Hadansmuto looks like?” The glare she shot me was cold and I could feel it seeping through my veins.

“We were talking about traditions, Vallejo, how did that lead to that?” She never called me by my family name and I knew she was beyond pissed. She looked at me expectantly.

“Well, you mentioned wreaths, right? And I was thinking about what was in there. Pine cones, twigs, branches and reminded me of the forest. The forest reminded me of Ghigau’s story and, well, it led to the Hadansmuto.” I blubbered. It was a good thing the alley we were walking in didn’t have many people. According to Ciara, it was a shortcut to the other side of the city; however, it was unusually dark. I noticed that she became alert.

“I see. I knew I shouldn’t have told you the story but I brought this upon myself, so yeah, let’s just deal with it.” As we were about to round another corner, the smell of sulfur and rotting flesh infiltrated my nostrils. I had to cover my nose with my hand.

Ciara didn’t have to have superior senses to smell it too, as I knew it was strong.

We looked at each other and we followed the direction of the stench. It led us to one of the narrowest alleys between two warehouses that were at the edge of the city center. Only a fence separated the buildings from the forest and I heard Ciara swallow.

“Stay here if you don’t want to see. This is part of my job, I’m used to seeing dead bodies.” I instructed as I gave her the cloth bags I carried.

“Okay. Hurry up, alright? I’ll also call for Magistratus.” She mused and I nodded. She pulled out her phone from her pocket while I went into the alley. I switched to breathing through my mouth as the scent was strong enough to make my eyes water.

Wedged in between two dumpsters was a sleeping bag that had liquid seeping through it. There was a faint buzzing coming from the same bag as well. I took out my onyx pendant from underneath my shirt and I could feel the protective energy wrapping around me. I stood in front of the sleeping bag.

I had to swallow the bile that formed in my mouth because of the state of the body. I’ve seen a lot of dead bodies, yes, but this was by far the worst.

The victim’s face was mauled beyond recognition and maggots had taken up residence in the holes where their eyes and nose should have been. Flies covered the victim’s neck and the combination of the sulfur and rotten flesh...I ended up puking out today’s lunch.

“Calum, the Magistratus are-” Ciara began as she approached me, but I moved quickly and prevented her from doing so. I wrapped my arms around her waist and hugged her tight to my chest.

“Let’s wait outside, yeah?” I exclaimed. I could feel her frown.

“I’m not weak, Calum, but uh...I think it would be best not to see it.” She mused as she disentangled herself from me and just on time as police cars parked in front of the warehouse.

An ambulance came as well and two paramedics dressed in hazmat suits went out carrying a hospital bed.

“Okay, that’s just unfair. You told them just how horrible the stench was but we had to figure it out on our own?” I teased. She shrugged her shoulders.

“Can’t be helped, I am a thoughtful person after all! Speaking of it, why didn’t anyone smell it? The scent was strong enough to carry over until the next street.” She mused as she looked at me. That got me thinking as well.

“Well, it would seem that only those who are similar to the victim can smell it.” We turned our attention to the speaker and found ourselves looking at a man with shaggy blue hair and a broad build. He wore the Magistratus uniform except for the fur hat, since his ears were out and I was able to see blue veins running through his translucent skin where the sun hit him.

“What kind of Fabukage are you two?” He asked as he removed the shades he wore. We were met by ruby-colored eyes set against the black sclera.

“It’s my first time seeing two similar auras and energies coming from two people who aren’t related to one another.”

*****

Thank you so much for your support and patience! You can see chapter art from the story on my i********:, artbyellysse, or my Deviantart, reza-delavega. Do not forget to leave a comment if you want!