章 31: Chapter Thirty One
The director took the weapon out of Katie's hands and took a good look at it, "Let's have the owner of this revealed now, shall we?" he yelled to one of the hunters that stood guard, having them take the dagger of his hands. The hunter timidly ran out of the room to investigate and find out who the dagger belonged to. "That dagger…"
"You suspect that it could be mine, don't you?" Katie asked him, keeping her voice as neutral as she could even though this would be implying that she was to take full responsibility for the death of a werewolf in the school.
"Let's not jump to that conclusion just yet. But if we do, will you come quietly?" tension soared in the room as the two hunters stared at each other. There was no doubt that both of them was remarkably powerful, Katie with raw power and the Director with experience to top it up.
"I do not intend to be detained by the Agency," Katie spoke, her voice clear as a bell and her will of iron coming off her in waves. The Director didn't look like someone who took kindly to insubordination and yet, Katie did nothing to show a chance of her backing down.
"Does that also mean you are aware of the possibility of that dagger being yours and are ready to resist detainment if it comes to it?" he asked her.
"Did I stutter, sir? I will find the culprit behind this murder and Prometheus be with them because it will take everything I have to hold back from killing them, but I can't do that while I'm detained," she spoke.
"We don't let our emotions get the better of us, that's one of the rules we hunters go by. Surely you know by now that a decision made based on emotion rather than fact is nothing more than wishful thinking. The facts are in alignment right now. There have been more werewolf casualties than human ones. Rogues attacked the school and it was found that one of them was a student at the school. Furthermore, that student has been killed.
You must know what we are facing right now. People are questioning the system. They think there are rogues working undercover in the school and that the hunters are helping them. After what Shaemus pulled that put hundreds of lives at risk, the murder of a werewolf by the school's best hunter might just be the tipping point of society. Resisting detainment would be something you have to rethink," he said.
Katie kept silent for a moment before speaking, "Detainment… will only make this situation worse. This perpetrator would not have done this if I was present at the time. If I'm detained, what stops him from killing another student at the school? If there is another death, the school might just be shut down. I can't even tell if it will even survive after just this one death," Katie said.
"The one who died was a werewolf and not to mention, a former rogue. The school will continue with caution after this. If it was an innocent human, the school would be shut down at once," he said.
"Sir Anthony, the results came back…" the hunter that had been sent called from the door, raising the tension in the room. Katie's heart threatened to leap from her chest. She was getting her Prometheus gifts ready for the worst-case scenario. If there was a chance that she could avoid detainment, she was ready to do what it would take. This killer was hers to catch and no one else's.
"Who's is it?" Director Anthony asked the man, his hands folded across his chest while he paid attention to the hunter at the door. The hunter looked between Katie and the Director nervously before speaking, "Katie Chase."
The room was plunged into a deep silence while everyone contemplated the news about the owner of the murder weapon. Cole knew Katie was not a fan of using those weapons and that she could have silenced Ash in a less messy manner if she'd wanted to. And for that reason, he believed she was innocent. Nonetheless, this did not help her situation.
The two hunters stared each other down for a brief moment of silence, right before all hell broke loose. The Director rushed forward at threatening speed, his bulky arms spread out so he could grab Katie. Katie, on the other hand, leapt out of reach just a moment before she was caught, avoiding Anthony at the last moment before she vanished.
Anthony was at the doorway in no time barring her way out. "You aren't escaping, Chase. You might come from a prestigious family. You might have scored highest on the Hunter exam for even experienced hunters and you might possess two Prometheus gifts, but you are not above the law."
"I am not above the law indeed, but I am the best chance you've got at catching Ash's killer. Grant me that opportunity. I won't let you down and you know that," Katie said, her body visibly relaxing. This was the opening Anthony must have been looking for as he lunged for her faster some of the eyes in the room could see. His speed was incredible, but alas it was without the enhancement of a Prometheus gift.
Katie grabbed his hand and twisted around him, going through the strokes of a judo flip at a speed the director couldn't match. The action flung the bulky man into an aerial barrel roll that was going to get him down on his back. Katie had virtually won for the few people in the room that could still tell what was happening, Cole included although Jason, Caden and Sandra remained clueless to what was happening in the blur of motion that occurred before them.
The director yanked his arm free in mid-air and twisted so that he landed on his feet, a movement that raised numerous alarms within Katie's mind forcing her to leap back and avoid the kick that came straight for her face. The two warriors glared at each other. The door was now behind Katie and she could leave when she wanted, but that would have only led to a manhunt. If she was to peacefully carry out her investigation, she was going to have to clear her charges here and now or at least get an extension on the time it would take to have her detained.
"What are you waiting for? The door is wide open and none of these hunters has the power to stop you from leaving if you run at your top speed," Director Anthony spoke.
"I am not leaving until you let me lead this investigation. I want the chance to deliver the killer. Running away won't help me achieve that," Katie spoke up.
"I already told you…"
"What's going on here?" someone's voice butted into the conversation from behind Katie, "Anthony, a boy is dead and the best thing you can think of is finding someone to blame instead of finding the killer."
It was a man Katie knew so well as her foster father. "Mr Chase, what brings you here? You're retired and this has nothing to do with you."
"That's not a way to speak to your former superior, Anthony," he replied, sizing up the hulking man who seemed adamant to let Katie off the hook.
"It is if you are here to defy me. Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't do the exact same thing," this resistance seemed complicated to solve. It was obvious to Anthony that Katie was to be detained with no further question.
"You and I both know that Katie doesn't let emotions get the best of her, otherwise that score in the hunter exam would have been impossible to attain. Why do you refuse to hear her out? Is violence the way you have decided to solve things at the Agency now?" he asked him.
"What's there for me to know? I received evidence that makes her the centre of attention of the crime. It won't be long before word gets out about this incident and everything points towards her. I am only doing this for her own good. Knowing she has been detained will put the werewolves at ease and won't cause a panic," she said.
"The werewolves that should concern themselves with this matter are in this same room with you. You don't see them attacking Katie. The other werewolves in this school also know of the way she handles things in this school as well as her policies. All you are worried about is the publicity of the Hunter's Agency.
And while you are worrying about that and detaining her, you are giving the killer free rein to roam about the school and get more chances to kill others. So what happens if the public knows about this? That has never mattered to the Agency, but if you do detain her and another person in the school is killed, that will be a whole different story. No one doubts Katie's ability to protect this school and that is what matters right now," Anthony gritted his teeth while the former hunter spelt out the whole situation for him.
Rushed footsteps got Katie's attention before her mother appeared in the doorway, pushing past the hunters that blocked her to give her daughter a hug, "Oh dear, I heard what happened."
"I'm okay… You had nothing to worry about," Katie replied, hugging her back.
"I had everything to worry about… You've protected this place since you came here and the first time you leave it didn't take long for everything to be overturned. That not something I can just brush off," she said to her.
Katie sighed, not letting her façade falter and hugged her mother back. This did matter to her, but as her hunter, she was not at liberty to let emotions get the best of her and so the emotions of rage, sorrow and grief for the dead werewolf ravaged deep within her where no one could tell they existed. No one except for the half sleepy white wolf within her that stayed locked up by the constraints of the drugs that kept it hidden.
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