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6.39% The Moon Goddess' Chosen / Chapter 39: Chapter Thirty Nine

Chapter 39: Chapter Thirty Nine

Katie made it to the Hunter's Agency in a matter of minutes after taking the long route, a run through the forest. The twelve-mile run that was made longer by taking the long route through the forest proved refreshing for her. The tall metallic grey gates that led to the large compound that was Hunter's Agency soon came into view, but so did the three werewolves that she'd been warned about along with her best friend that she'd called before starting her run.

The werewolves had been held back by the guards and were causing quite the commotion at the entrance. Sandra stood back and watched the chaos before her as there was no reasoning with this trio. They all held high ranks and weren't used to taking orders from anyone. At the same time, the guards at the gates were simply following orders and barring their entrance. This didn't bode well with any of them, however, considering how important they took themselves to be. A simple acceptance to enter the Hunter's Association should not have been a problem, but orders were orders and these three could not get in unless they had a professional hunter with them.

Katie sneaked up on Sandra, "What seems to be the problem?" she asked her friend.

"Well, these guys won't be let in unless they have a pro hunter with them. I've tried getting them to calm down, but they choose to throw a tantrum at the poor guards," she flinched on hearing one of the insults Jason threw at the guards, "They really have enough energy to spare."

"Yeah, there is no doubt about that," Katie replied right before the boys noticed her and stopped their noise all at once except for Jason who was still wrapped up in his antics. 'Foolish clowns who don't ask questions before getting answers… Mindless peasants that would jump on a spike with their butts first if they were ordered to… Rancid monkeys that…'

"Jason, Jason…" Cole tapped his comrade in a rush to shut him up, a look of horror on his face in reaction to the words that were being uttered.

"What is it, Cole?" he asked, following Cole's signs to meet Katie's face.

"Someone's got a rotten tongue…" she commented, her face still stuck in the shocked expression. Cole's face went red with embarrassment as he face-palmed. Caden couldn't contain his laughter even though the two had been involved in this ritual ceremony of roasting the guards. Jason, however, had not held back on the insults and had said a lot of unspeakable words while he got creative with his insults.

"My image is forever tarnished by one of my best friends," Cole groaned.

"Hey, don't act like I'm that much of a disappointment. You were with me the entire time and even encouraged me," Jason complained.

"That was before I heard the drivel that was coming out of that loose tongue of yours..." turning to the guards, "I'm sorry for anything excessive that he might have said. I do not deny, however, how frustrating it is for you to hold us here when we should be interrogating the scoundrel that could lead us to find the killer of our comrade."

"So that's how this all began…" Katie said, cutting Cole off before he spiralled into a fit that would start the whole cussing charade all over again. The more Cole was made to think about this, the more he would spiral out of control.

"Is your presence a sign that we are finally going to be let in?" Caden asked.

"Yeah, that might be the case if you promise to behave yourselves. You can't go in there cussing hunters as well," Katie told them folding her hands across her chest.

"Fine then, you have our word that we won't cause any trouble in there. Well, I can vouch for Caden… Jason will have to give you his personally…"

"Seriously, dude, that's rich coming from you…"

"It is what it is, brother. You need help," Cole replied, his eyes flashing back on the words he heard Jason say.

"Jason, will you behave yourself?" Katie asked, breaking up the childish bickering.

"Behave? That's not exactly my forte," this was true, although it wasn't going to be a reason for him to pass through with a mere slap on the wrist. The questioning look on Katie's face had him rethinking his words, "Fine, I'll also behave."

The guards opened the gates almost instantly allowing them into the Hunter's Agency. Footsteps on the other side of the gate caught their attention as someone from the inside came to greet them. Dressed in black fitting leather from top to bottom with a white undershirt beneath his unbuttoned leather jacket, Anthony, the Director of the Hunter's Agency came to receive them. "You certainly took your time getting here."

The werewolves covered their ears once more, having forgotten the man's tendency to speak in the normally required volume of speech. "Why was I stopped at the gates?"

"We wanted all of you to come in at the same time. Besides, the werewolf asked for Katie, so we want that to be the face of the next person that they meet," he said, turning to lead them to the prison.

This was the first time that Cole and his friends were actually getting to walk through the place. Most of the buildings were kept to a plain white, a colour that would have been boring, but its maintenance was outstanding. There wasn't a sign of dust or dirt on any of the walls as though they were scrubbed clean on a daily basis. Green compounds and decorative plants decorated the wide compound, surrounding the pathways and clearly demarcating them.

At the centre of the entire compound stood a statue of a man holding a sword facing off against a werewolf thrice his size. The detail of the statue was astounding as it even captured the sheer determination that showed in the man's face as he faced off against an enemy that was clearly stronger than him.

Just by seeing this statue, one could already tell who the victor of the story behind it was meant to be. "That would be Damien, the first hunter to ever be granted a Prometheus gift," the director said as they walked past the statue.

"From the size of that wolf, I would say he was facing an alpha. Did he have his Prometheus gift by the time he went through that fight?" Cole asked.

"No, he didn't have one. He was the most skilled fighter of his generation of trained hunters. This was back when victory against the werewolves was only but a dream. A test of the hope that Prometheus is so proud of," he explained, leading them past the statue without sparing it a second glance. For someone who was the director of the facility, he probably had each curving in it to the last detail committed to memory.

"That's quite a feat for someone to pull off," Cole mused, keeping up with the group.

"Anthony…" Katie called, jogging up to him till she was side by side.

"Do you not care about the hierarchy anymore?" he asked her, his voice low for the first time, "I know what you want to talk to me about. I have nothing to say about it except offer you my thanks. I know his heart was in the right place, but he put the lives of many civilians at risk. That is something even I cannot overlook," he said.

"But still, would you rather he hadn't done it then. What about?"

"She knows the cost of becoming a hunter… as do you. Now drop the subject," Anthony yelled this time, not allowing room for Katie to try and reason with him. Cole noticed Sandra look away from the two as though she had already deciphered what the conversation was about.

"Very well," Katie spoke, falling back behind with the other as they left the main premises. They left the neat and tended path straight through all the white buildings and further into what seemed like part of the forest. The only difference was that someone could know that this part was still fenced in within the Hunter's Agency. Walking through the forestlike part of the premises, they came upon what seemed to be an entrance to an underground bunker.

A large mound of earth that looked more like a tiny hill, camouflaged well with just one side cut clean to make an entrance. The guards stood well hidden on that side. Someone from the outside would have no idea what it was. On the flat side of the small structure was a heavy stone door that looked practically immovable. Cole was familiar with these kinds of structures, dungeons that were used to detain rogues like this were used by hunters all over the world.

Two guards dressed in leather jackets that contained weapons stood at the door, each of them brandishing a dagger casually. They casually bowed in respect to the Director and opened the large stone door. Their strength suggested they were using the Prometheus gift of strength. Both of them heaved as the door slowly slid open revealing a dark staircase that started to light up.

Bulbs lit up the staircase heading down, the walls also a stainless white. They followed the director into the dungeon. This was the first time Cole was entering one and had no idea what to expect when he did. For once he saw bulbs in a dungeon, it became clear that this wasn't one of the dungeons he'd read about in medieval-set novels.

The corridor at the bottom was fully lit and bordered with cells built of concrete. "Try not to linger with what you see," Anthony said.

The walk began normally for the first few seconds before the scent of wolfsbane mixed with blood hit their noses. Katie fell back and ran back to the corridor, palming a wall on the side and waiting as it slid open unexpectedly. She walked into the room and came out with three gas masks, palming the side of the new door once more and watching it close seamlessly like it never existed. She jogged up to the three werewolves and offered them the masks. "Doors like that exist all over the place for a variety of reasons… I hope this helps with tolerance with the scent."


Chapter 40: Chapter Forty

During the walk to their destination, Cole couldn't help but look through the glass panes that offered a view into the cells. Some of the rogues in the cells were dead, others were in a state of permanent shift, unable to shift back into human. Some had severed limbs and were strapped to a table that stood at a forty-five-degree angle to allow them to sleep and wake up with no need to move. "Do you not like what you see here?"

"It's inhumane…" Cole said.

"This is the cost of being a hunter. Hunters trade their humanity for the right to keep the peace between the two races. We will go to any lengths if it means finally defeating the Rogue King. Once he is dead, we merely need to kill every other rogue that avoids a Prometheus evaluation," the Director explained.

"When you speak of giving them a chance to go through a Prometheus evaluation, you sound human just for an instant," Cole replied, drawing a smile from the middle-aged man.

"You might just make a fine King, Lycaon," he said, "Protect the peace that your forefathers have worked so hard to create within this war. Maybe then the moon goddess can finally atone for wronging Prometheus the way she did."

"I don't like the way you speak of our goddess… but I can't argue with what you're saying," the two seemed to be getting along in Katie's point of view.

"Is he in 'that' room?" Katie asked, her voice once again cold in the way it normally was when she masked her emotions completely.

"Yes, he is… You are the only one who will be allowed to see him. No one else is allowed to see the prisoner, is that understood," Anthony spoke, turning to the rest for answers. They arrived at a dead-end; something Cole was now sure was a common illusion here. Anthony placed his hand upon the wall. The sound of locks and gears could be heard rocking the wall before them before one loud click that had the stone walls sliding open, splitting in two like double sliding doors and letting them into a room that trumped everything Cole had seen with ease.

Right before them were hunters in lab coats standing at monitors, watching someone through a glass pane. They turned to see the director and the people he'd come with, "Oh, Director Anthony, welcome back. You brought her…" one of them spoke up hurriedly, a hint of shivers running through him.

A large control panel attached to the wall right before the glass panel caught Cole's attention. Words such as adrenaline, wolfsbane intake, anaesthetic, voltage and many more in relation to torture occupied the panel. Through the glass pane, a boy whose was strapped to a chair with needles poking and tubes poking into him at numerous vessels. Wires were attached to the chair and connected to a power supply.

The boy in the seat barely looked seventeen. His knees and elbows were purple with deep cuts that leaked all manner of disgusting fluids. If it wasn't for the gas masks, Cole was sure he wouldn't be able to stand the stench that might have been in the room. Furthermore, the boy sat with his head limp, cuts riddled his body even appearing on his bloodstained rugs of clothes. "He still hasn't said anything, sir. He insists that no manner of torture can bring him to speak and that all he'll say is what he wants to 'smite' Katie with."

"What bothers me is how confident he is that whatever he has to say will hurt her and that we will just hand her over to her," Anthony said, his voice low once again, "Katie…"

"I'll be fine. I don't think there is anything he can say that can…"

"Think about what you are saying first. Do you mean to tell me that you weren't hurt by Ash's death?" the question drew a sharp breath out of Katie. Anthony was right… despite all the training she'd had that hadn't let her develop strong enough emotional vulnerabilities, there were still things that could hurt her. She was strong, very strong, but she could be hurt in different ways indirectly… and that was what Anthony was trying to warn her about.

"In that case, might I ask a question then?" she asked.

"What might that one be?"

"Am I allowed to torture him as well?" the question was met with silence. This was something that would have been perceived as a normal question, but something was amiss when Katie asked it. Something turned within Cole's stomach when she asked for permission to torture the prisoner. The expression on the Director's face suggested that he too was thinking, maybe trying to decipher what she meant by that. Or maybe he already knew something Cole didn't, for he wouldn't have hesitated this long over a question to continue the torture they'd already been doing.

"Very well, do as you see fit." With that, Katie walked to the side of the panel and placed her palm there, another door sliding open once again. The design of most of the door was getting on Cole's nerves. It would be impossible for someone to escape a prison-like this one without knowledge of where the doors were and without the access that everyone seemed to have in their palms.

This would probably explain why Cole could not go through the Agency without a pro hunter to escort him. They all looked into the room while Katie appeared on the other side of the glass pane. In front of the chair was a small pedestal with controls on it that Cole could not make out. Katie put her hand to the pedestal and began scrolling through the touchscreen designed piece of hardware.

She reached what she was looking for and tapped it. A green liquid began to move through one of the needles that were attached to the wolf. On the main panel, one of the many screens began to react showing what had been activated to be 'adrenaline.'

The seemingly asleep captive's head shot back as the contents of the syringe hit his system to rob him of any last ounce of sleep he was probably hunting for. The boy looked around until his eyes landed on Katie. A smirk occupied his face, an evil glint in his eyes that made Cole clench his fist immediately.

"I almost felt sympathy for him because he looked young," Cole spoke up.

"Do not be deceived…. These rogue spies are rotten to the core. You should know that already from the way the rogues fail the Prometheus evaluation. It is meant to save werewolves that still have some humanity left within them. That thing you are seeing in that room doesn't have any humanity left. He finds pleasure in watching the world burn at his feet and everyone die away," Anthony spoke, his voice vile. The hatred that the hunters held for rogues didn't come as a surprise and it was the one emotion that they were fine with expressing freely for all to see.

"Yeah, his current expression says it all," Cole said. The eyes that stared at Katie weren't those of an innocent seventeen-year-old. This was a cold-blooded killer who didn't give a damn about anything. It made sense that they had not been able to draw information from him by simply staring at him.

"I like your game face, Katie," the boy said, smiling while he watched her.

"Did you get our little present? That traitor never did have what it took to be a true rogue… To carry out the mission that our goddess bestowed upon us centuries ago… The extermination of all mankind to every last man, woman and child," he said laughing hysterically.

Katie stared at him all the while he spoke, "It's hard to think rogues are born like that, Chandler."

The hysterical laughter died down at the mention of his name, "So you know my name, huh… Nothing truly escapes you, does it? It's possible by now that you've realized that all the missing students are wolves that you killed yourself. You see this as the death of one wolf in the prestigious Brigade High School. No, there have been seven deaths in the school and they have all been registered as absent students. It's only a matter of time before everyone finds out that the missing students are either students that were undercover rogues…" a smirk appeared on his face while he finished the statement, "or students the rogues killed and no one ever noticed until weeks later, their carcasses will be found in the forest damped to be eaten by vultures in…"

The rogue found himself unable to speak as Katie darted forward with a knife in hand placing it to his throat. One more word and his larynx would impale itself on the sharp blade. A red bead of blood leaked from the knife wound as the blade dug into the skin of the boy's neck. "Katie, calm yourself," Anthony yelled out.

"Oh, but Director Anthony… I am calm…" her voice came out with so much venom it tore sent chills down everyone's spine. She retracted the blade and walked back to the panel… scrolling through the controls before tapping the same configuration she had earlier.

The same green fluid began to flow into him through the syringe in his right arm, "Katie, you already… It's no use… That boy is going to die," Anthony said, lowering his voice as he watched Katie pump more unnecessary adrenaline into the boy.


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