• Office •
John sat in his office, struggling to find peace of mind despite the numerous threats he had made towards the girls. While they might be scared, he knew that if they pursued their accusations, it would not end well for him. This was the main reason for his unease. No matter how he tried to shift the blame onto them, he realized that reporting him would only complicate matters further and entangle them in a mess he desperately wanted to avoid.
He began to contemplate the idea of reaching out to them for a calm conversation, hoping it might set everyone free from this tension.
As these thoughts swirled in his mind, he grew increasingly restless. He shifted his posture repeatedly before finally standing up and pacing around the office. The transparency of his office allowed his colleagues outside to see his agitation, but he didn’t care about their opinions. This was a busy environment, and they wouldn’t have the opportunity to ask him what was wrong. Even if they did, he wasn't foolish enough to share his troubles.
His gaze drifted to some of the officers. Most were engrossed in their computers, researching the cases at hand. However, his eyes locked onto a particularly cute officer. She was stunning and exuded a womanly charm that drew him in.
In that moment, he thought about how he could spend the night at home in peace, and she might be just the distraction he needed to clear his troubled mind.
Before long, their eyes met. The lady gathered some documents and walked into his office, as if she had found something significant.
“Sire, I have just received information that this is the monster we are looking for…” she said, handing him the documents. John took them and opened them eagerly.
What he saw was a photo of Sam. He didn’t recognize Sam on the photo though as he hasn't met him before, and was shocked that she was presenting him with a picture of a human instead of a monster.
"What's this? Why are you giving me a picture of a boy? We are looking for a monster, not a boy," John said, wanting to shove the picture back into the envelope.
"Sire, the boy is the monster. It's said that he transforms into a monster every full moon! This just came to my attention," she replied seriously.
John hesitated for a moment before taking out the picture again. He stared at the boy for a few seconds. He noticed that the police were making significant progress regarding this monster, and he wasn't very happy about it, for reasons known only to him. At first, they thought it was just a monster, but now they had learned it was a human transforming into one.
"You mean this cool, cute, innocent boy transforms into a beast? Are you saying werewolves exist? I thought they died out centuries ago?" he asked, looking at her.
"That’s what everyone used to think. We still don’t know where this one came from or how it came about, but we are conducting research, and we will gather all the information we need," she explained, taking a deep breath. John gently placed the picture back on the table, pressing his hands down as he looked into her eyes.
"Excuse me... how do you know all this? Did you just make it up?" he asked.
"We heard the rumors..."
"Oh, rumors! You heard rumors and took them seriously?" he interrupted, laughing and shaking his head. It sounded ridiculous. As a police officer, she should have confirmed more before bringing rumors to him. How could she just accept them as truth?
"Sire, I know it sounds funny, but I think the rumors circulating about these pictures are true."
"Why do you think that?" he asked in a deep, harsh voice. It seemed like she was still convinced she was right, even though she should realize she was wrong in every way. She wasn’t doing her job perfectly.
"Because we searched for the boy in the picture, and we discovered that he doesn’t exist. There is no information about him, and the name they gave—Sam Ola—doesn't exist either." The lady said, and he paid close attention because the name sounded very familiar to him.
"Who started this rumor?" he asked.
"On it, sire..." she replied.
"Then hurry up! Search for him. I will have him interrogated. If you can't find him here at work today, I want you to come over to my place tonight let's continue with it," he said, leaving her wide-eyed in surprise. He couldn't just ask her to come over. This was supposed to be an office job, not a personal invitation.
"Yes, I want you to come! In fact, I’m inviting you over to my house, not for work or anything. I just want to discuss some matters with you," he added. She gazed at him for a moment before saluting him.
"Yes, sir," she said.
"Alright then, you can go, but I’ll keep the picture," he said. She nodded and left the office.
He sat back, exhausted, gazing at the picture once again. Was this really the Sam he thought it was? As much as he tried to remember, Rose had never mentioned a brother. All she talked about was her beloved mother who had passed away.
It pained him whenever she spoke about them, but despite her sorrow, she never mentioned a brother who could have kept their family together. Did they even know about him? The situation was becoming mysterious. The Sam in question was said not to exist, and that was the hard truth—Sam had died years ago when he was just a baby. But who was the man in the picture that everyone called Sam? This was still under investigation, and he would follow it closely.
 
                     • Adam's Home •
Ariana sat in her room, her gaze fixed on the floor. It seemed she was still alive; she likely had eaten something, as she didn’t look like someone who was starving.
Just then, the door opened, and her father stepped in once again to check on his precious daughter.
"Every time I come in here and see you like this, it pains me. I brought this upon myself. If I hadn't brought that young man into this house to show him kindness..."
"You speak of kindness! What do you know about being kind? You brought someone in to be your political thug, and you call that kindness? You were never kind to him!" she yelled.
"And he wasn’t kind to me either! Wasn’t I kind enough when I warned him repeatedly to stay away from you? And he refused!"
Ariana stood up angrily, stepping closer to her father and gripping his shoulders, looking him in the eye.
"Father, please! He did nothing wrong by loving your daughter! Do you want to marry me? Even if you have me in bed whenever you want, why do you have to stop such a caring man?"
Before she could finish, her father interrupted her.
"A caring man? It's been months since you've been locked up here, and he never even tried to come for you. He’s too scared to die for you, so he care not," Adam replied, raising his eyebrows.
"I thought you said you killed him?" she asked, her heart racing.
"Of course I did," he smiled. "That was when you had no choice but to accept me. I'm still all you have left! Now, let’s go back to—"
Before he could finish, she leapt at him, kissing him fiercely and pushing him onto the bed.