Young Writers Society

Alex

Anton had caught up now, a fierce grin on his face as his eyes glowed red. We were catching up to her now. As long as she didn't transform...

As if on cue, arms became wings, clothes became gray fur, and she took to the air, now a huge batlike creature. I cursed, slowing - she was getting away!

And then Anton raced forward. As I gaped, he jumped onto a crate and pounced, arms and legs moving through the air for a moment before a dagger slammed into the beast's back, and he held on like a matador riding a bull. He swept a knife to the side, and the beast shrieked and fell. Anton leaped off, landing in a roll on the ground, as the it crashed with a tremendous din into an alley, sending a dumpster flying. Immediately, there was the sound of a gunshot, and a bullet slammed into the aswang's chest.

By the time I'd picked my jaw back up again, it was already over. Miranda ran back to get her katana, which she'd dropped in favor of her gun.

I ran over as the others caught up, everyone gathering around the still form. Surely it was dead. Korina stood over it, checking vitals. We all knew how smart she was with monsters; we kept out of the way, waiting silently for the verdict.

"It's still alive," she said finally, drawing surprised breaths from everyone else.

Miranda pulled out her gun again. "Well, then," she said, "let's just finish what we started." She readied her gun and was about to pull the trigger when Darcy jumped in front of her. Miranda hastily pointed the weapon away, glaring.

"Why do you want to kill it?" Darcy demanded. Everyone stared. "We can study it," she continued,"see what it's like. It's harmless now."

"Don't you know anything about aswangs?" Miranda snapped harshly. "If we don't kill it now, it will heal itself in two days and just kill more people!"

"We don't need two days!" Darcy argued. "The academy must have some way to hold it!"

"We weren't even supposed to track this thing. What do you think will happen if we bring it back?" Miranda spat, grabbing the other girl's shoulders. "Now get. Out. Of. My. WAY!" She threw Darcy away, pointed the gun back at the aswang, and fired. The body of the beast jerked, and was still forever.

I stared, completely dumbstruck. What was her problem?

Apparently oblivious to our stares, Miranda blew the smoke out and looked coldly at us. "Let's go," she said, as if nothing had happened. "And this time, I'm driving." Nathaniel just grunted and handed her the keys, and she walked off as if no one else was there.

I stared after her, then at the beast, then at Darcy, who was climbing shakily to her feet. I wanted to ask if she was alright, but I was afraid she might snap back, so I didn't. Then I realized everyone else had begun to move, so I followed, feeling hopelessly out of place. I hadn't even done anything except shout like a crazy person and stare like a gape-jawed idiot. Everyone thought - no, knew - that I wasn't nearly as deserving of this job as they, and they didn't believe half of what I'd told them anyways. And Darcy was glaring hot daggers at everyone, including me, and I couldn't blame her.

As we reached the car, she spoke. "I'm not coming with you," she said, her voice hard.

"You have your own car here?" Nathaniel said, confused.

"No."

"How will you get home, then?" Anton asked.

"I will walk." Her voice was cold.

"You'll get yourself killed in some alley," Miranda replied, "and I'm not talking about monsters here."

"You are talking about monsters," Darcy said. "Just not the kind you'd kill. I can take care of myself, don't you worry. Go home to your beds, sweet dreams." And with that, she turned and left.

Some of the others shrugged and got in the car, but I stared after her for a moment. That was a long walk. And, as Miranda had pointed out, a dangerous one.

"Do you think someone should go with her?" I asked quietly.

Nathaniel shrugged. "She'd probably bite their head off if they tried."

"I guess you're right." Sighing, I got in the car, climbing into the back. Maybe Darcy knew a faster way back somehow. That had to be it.

In the front, Jaegar laughed loudly. "God, I'm freaking hungry," he declared. I just looked at him - wasn't he worried about Darcy? Was anyone? I wasn't so sure I really liked most of these people. I wasn't so sure they liked me, either, though, so I kept quiet and let Miranda drive.

Korina

Back there, it took me a moment to realize they wanted me to check the monster. I had walked forward cautiously, and examined the ugly thing for vitals. She looked like a really old woman, one who had regressed into senility long ago, no longer able to take care of herself. I noted the wings and the bullet wound oozing slow, dark blood, and knew that this was no granny.
I hoped my revulsion of the blood as I kneeled and examined her was simply mistaken by my friends as disgust for the vile creature herself. How they would laugh if they knew the truth.
Finally I stood, troubled. I had felt the heart, pulsing beneath my hand. Knowing what this thing would do if we left her...
"It's still alive." Most of the others gasped, but a few just gave grim nods. Miranda raised her gun.
"Well,then, let's finish what we started." She readied her weapon, and I stepped aside. Another took my place, however. The new girl. Darcy.
I didn't catch much of the conversation that passed between them, just that Darcy wanted to let her live so we could study her, and Miranda was ready to kill it. I couldn't believe that Darcy had the bravery to stand up to Miranda. I never could do anything like that. Finally, Miranda pushed her aside and shot the thing.
I was so preoccupied walking back to the car. Would Isa approve of what I was doing here? She had always been-was-is-a pacifist at heart, fighting against even the killing of murderers. I'm doing this for her, but would she ever approve?
Back in the car, we had already been driving a few minutes when I noticed something. I was sitting next to Nathaniel, so I whispered to him, "Where's Darcy?"
He gave me an odd look. "She decided to walk home. You missed the big fight about it?"
I could only stare out the window. Again, I'm not really an outgoing person, but I know that Darcy is a lot like Isa.

Darcy

The sky in the east begun to lighten, as she spotted the Society's building. Just a couple of streets away, and it seems that she'll be there before breakfast after all. Darcy smiled. New day, new chance that something good actually happens in this country.
"Maybe I should give those guys a chance after all", she muttered to herself, picking a flower from a nearby tree. She loved walking through that park, and always took her time to turn around, pick a flower and observe it a little, before crossing the road in the opposite direction and getting back to the Society.

She didn't turn from the park to face the street she needed to cross - instead of that, she bumped into a tall man in blood red suit. He caught her wrists and took her crossbow without much trying, pushing her in the car behind him a moment later. The windows were darkened, so she couldn't see it before, but in the inside awaited another man - half hidden in shadows, with a top hat, long hair and short beard, holding a walking stick and not meeting his eyes. His suit was dark red too, but seemed almost black, and he avoided her eyes. The other guy closed the door behind her.
"Drive," he said to someone on the front seat, observing Darcy's weapon in his hands.
"Who are you?" She asked. "What do you think you're doing? Do you know who I am?"
"Relax, were only talking," the other man spoke in low voice. "We know who you are, it's hardly our style to take someone we don't know on a ride." He made a short pause, as Darcy wondered where they were taking her. Maybe I won't see that breakfast after all.
"So, who are you?"
"We could be friends," the guy in slightly lighter suit spoke again. "If you wish."
"Where are you taking me? I have to get back. There are people who wait for me." She felt fear rising. She wasn't afraid of the supernatural, but people had a way of freaking her out - especially in small spaces, like cars. The man with the top hat chuckled.
"No one is waiting for you. They hate you, don't you know? They don't want to work with you, they only do it because of it being their job."
Darcy felt frozen. How could they know? Who were they? "Do you know why they don't want to work with you, Aislinn?"
He even pronounced her name right. Darcy bit her lip.
"I don't care. Not like I love them either, job is a job."
"Because you're different. Because you don't want to kill them, do you?"
"Please let me go now." She didn't feel so strong anymore. She was tired and couldn't think clearly - and these guys were messing with her head, and she didn't like that.
"Think about it, will you?" The guy who first got her into the car gave her a card, with a phone number printed on it. There was no sign, no name.
"Think about what?"
"You're an explorer, not a killer. You respect the strength and believe in legends. We could use someone like you. Good day, miss Darcy."

And just like that, she was out again. With her crossbow in hand, standing at the entrance of the Society, shaking for some reason.
Passing through the inside gates, she bumped into her uncle. Great, I wonder what he's doing here.
"Linn", he said in surprise. He was the only one still alive who called her that way, and it made her think of home every time. "What are you doing out at this time, you should be sleeping."
Being the Academy's principal, he acted colder with everyone else, Darcy knew it very well, and he didn't seem to care at all what others may think about her because of such treatment.
"I was walking from the Chinatown case," she confessed, and he rolled his eyes - not at all professionally, but there was no one to see anyway.
"I'm guessing, you went to there alone as well?" He waited for her to nod. "Oh, Linn.. You're a part of the team now. Do you know how big an honor is to be a part of the Society at such young age?"
"I know. We worked together on the scene, I've met the team. They all know each other already." That last one came out unexpectedly. She was still pretty shaken from the previous experience, and her uncle grabbed her words and decided not to let it go.
"Is that a problem, you're too shy to introduce yourself?"
"It's not.."
"Why, I can do that if you wish. Of course. Right now, the others will be coming down in matter of minutes." They both turned to the stairs, leading up towards the students' rooms. Darcy had a luxury of having one all for herself - if they didn't decide to change that as well, that is. She saw the girl, Miranda, coming down, and it was her time to roll eyes.
"See?" The principal grinned. "One of you, no? You should make friends with girls, Linn."
"I will. God, I promise. Just don't go introduce me to her now, fine? She knows my name, I know hers, it's lovely. I'm hungry, and you're busy." She quickly kissed his cheek, and practically ran to the dining room, still with her weapon in one hand.

It wasn't until she entered the dining room, seeing Miranda and one of the guys from the team at the same table set for eight, that she realized she still held the card in her other hand. It was white as snow, with dark red numbers. She read it a couple of times, sure that she's memorized it, and put it safely in her notebook. No one touched that but her.
Should I make a call? She wondered. No. Not yet.
*

Nathaniel,

We drive back to the Society in silence. I've been demoted from driver and I'll admit, I'm a little annoyed. What really irritates me, though, is the fact that my so-called "team-members" killed the aswang without a second thought. We could have studied it, like Darcy said, or at least added it to the collection. Now, though, it's reverted to its human form, and is withering away to dust before our eyes. And that's the other thing. The others seem dedicated to driving Darcy away. I can't understand why. She's clearly experienced, in more ways than many of us, and she's a great asset. But no, we have to go all Society-macho and take down the beast ourselves. I shake my head in disgust. I'm sitting in the back of the Range Rover with Korina. We haven't talked since she asked about Darcy. Now, though, I lean over to her. She's the only other member of our team whose monstrumological knowledge matches mine, at least in terms of cold, hard facts. I ask her something that's been bothering me ever since I saw the aswang's corpse.

"Did you notice anything strange about the aswang?" I mutter, hoping none of the others hear. Alex has turned on the radio, so it covers my voice. Korina glances at me, and then it dawns on her.

"No proboscis," she mutters back, "It didn't have a proboscis in its mouth."

I nod, "Exactly. Usually, even in human form, they can't hide it, and even when it died, it didn't reappear. Either it's a new species, which I doubt, or someone has been tinkering with it. This has human meddling written all over it."

Korina looks worried, "What should we do?"

"We can't tell this lot...yet," I say, contemptuously, "They won't take it seriously. I'll tell Torrance when we get back, and take whatever's left of the corpse down to the Monstrumarium tonight."

She nods again, "Okay."

We arrive back at the Society garage, and go about our separate business. I say that I'll make the report to Torrance, and no one challenges me, too tired to disagree. I take out what is left of the aswang, only a few pale bones and shreds of hair and skin that can fit in a plastic bag, and seek out the leader of the Society. Torrance is in his office, looking over pictures and reports of previous attacks. He looks more tired than I have ever seen him. He looks up at my soft rap on the door frame.

"What are your findings?" he asks, gruffly, "You should have been back ages ago. Data collection shouldn't take that long."

In answer, I hold up the bag of the aswang's remains. Torrance sighs.

"You went after it?" He begins, but I speak before he can go on.

"It was an aswang," I say, and Torrance looks slightly alarmed, "It was definitely going to kill again, probably a child, and I didn't...we didn't want to risk that happening. But some of the others got carried away. They killed it."

"I can see that," Torrance says mildly, "Who made the decision to go on the hunt?"

I stare him in the eye, "Me," I say, a little defiantly.

Torrance sighs again, "I gave that order for a reason, Tallow. Please respect that in future."

I'm slightly angered, "We can handle ourselves. You just need to explain to Anton and Jaeger that we need to study the specimens alive, rather than dead. We have enough experience and talent. Why did you pull us from the Academy, otherwise? To just collect data? I don't think so. And another thing," I pause, "The aswang was modified. No proboscis."

Torrance looks pensive, then shrugs, "That is strange, I'll grant you, and I applaud you for making such an observation. As to the other issue, if you think this group can handle it, so be it. But since you're the one who suggested it, I expect you to handle any further situations. If you want to be autonomous, be prepared to accept the consequences."

I nod, "Works for me. I'll just take the remains down to the Monstrumarium and turn in, then, if you don't mind."

Torrance nods, and I leave, heading for the stairs that lead to the basement, or, as it has been called since the foundation of the Society, the Monstrumarium. It is a depository of all things monstrumological. There are specimens, both dead and alive, filling its gloomy chambers and cobwebbed halls. There are numerous volumes, filled with all the notes on malevolent creatures that monstrumologists have recorded down through the years. And above all, it is where I feel most calm. Even when I was still at the Academy, I would come over here and sit, maybe reading, or observing specimens, and think. Sometimes it would be about my parents, if I happened to be looking at the three meter tall stuffed anthropophagus, it's dark eyes glittering, its shark-toothed maw mocking me, or sometimes it would be about what I had dedicated my life to. I go there now, and find the room to deposit the aswang, which happens to be near the anthropophagus. In a sudden burst of anger I kick it. It's leg is merely dented by my boot and it leans back against the wall. I sigh. Inadvertantly, I have told Torrance that I want to be the leader. I have no idea how I'm going to convince the others of this.

I sit down there for a while, maybe dozing, when I'm jolted out of my thought by a soft noise. I wake up, and realize that it's morning already. I rush upstairs to the breakfast hall, and almost bump into Darcy. Darcy. I gape, and then quickly close my mouth.

"Darcy?" I ask, and she looks at me, almost guiltily, "I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with us!"

She sighs, "I thought I'd give you guys another shot. You're not all bad."

I grin, "Good to know."

We get food and go to sit at a table with Korina and Alex.

Darcy

That guy who acted as a leader, Nathaniel, practically bumped at her as he ran in the dining room. What was up with all that bumping this morning?
He looked surprised to see her. Even more, he looked almost as if he knows he has to be careful in addressing her. Not quite what uncle meant when said making friends, but he at least knew her name. And surprisingly enough, she managed to remember everyone else's as well.

"Darcy?" He asked, in a tone of voice as if addressing an untamed pet. She didn't quite want to start like that - she almost felt sorry for him, and she was still a bit lost from the whole thing with the men in red. "I thought you didn't want to have anything to do with us!"

She sighed, deciding in a moment. Uncle didn't seem to wish to give up on her being a part of a team, so she didn't have anything to do but to go along with it.
"I thought I'd give you guys another shot." She said. "You're not all bad."
"Good to know." Nathaniel grinned - he looked like a regular teenager. They all did, really. Like normal people with relatively normal pasts, nothing mysterious in it. She bit her lip again, following him as he took his food and set next to Korina and Alex. Miranda, and the other guy, eyed them in a somewhat strange way, but Darcy didn't care. She couldn't make them all be friends all of the sudden, after all. She didn't even want it.

Nathaniel seemed eager to keep the conversation going, now that she didn't act as offensive as before. She wondered if she should apologize.
"Are you a vegetarian?" He pointed at her plate, filled with salad.
"I like green stuff," she said, feeling a bit awkward. "I do eat other things."
"So... When did you get here?" Korina asked, taking Nathaniel's side in the wish to talk. Why do people keep asking me things?
"Today? Just a moment ago. I ran into my uncle in the lobby, though."
Alex frowned.
"What would your uncle do here?"
Darcy took a bite of her salad, wondering if she should lie. She was good at that, very, very good.. But it made no sense.
"Eh.. He's the principal. Of the Academy." She observed their faces, ready to leave at the sign of the very common thought - that she's only in the team thanks to him. That wasn't true, Darcy and her uncle both knew it. She may have been a little young, but the Society wouldn't take her just based on the family connections. The other thing is, she probably wouldn't get noticed at all if her uncle didn't put her in the spotlight whenever he got the chance.
Neither Alex, nor Nathaniel nor Korina showed that they're thinking those thoughts. I might as well even like them, after all.
"Is he from Ireland too?" Korina seemed genuinely interested - that was new, and Darcy didn't even start her true-yet-told-as-a-lie life story.
"He was born there, but got here young, as part of some school exchange."
"Brother of your.. Father?"
"Mother", Darcy felt nervous talking about family. "She.. She died."
"I'm sorry," Nathaniel said silently, giving her a look she could understand - he didn't have a lucky past either.
"Well, I guess I owe her to who I am now," Darcy concluded. It was true, really. If she didn't find herself a monster to make a child with, Darcy wouldn't be so troubled today. "What about you?"
They all made strange faces.
"Can we talk about something else?" Korina proposed, and Alex and Nathaniel nodded at the same time. "I liked it now you stood up to Miranda back in Chinatown."
Darcy was surprised.
"They didn't need to kill it." She said, wondering why does she even explain that to people who don't understand anyway. "I never kill when I can avoid it."
"You do carry a weapon, though." Alex noticed.
"I couldn't have been a part of the Academy without one, and I'm not stupid enough to not protect myself." Without intention, her voice turned colder again, and she frowned. "I'm not expecting anyone to understand."
"Don't be mad," Nathaniel grinned again, "you're hurting your salad."

She calmed herself, pointing at the book that rested on the table next to Korina's hand.
"What's that about?"
"Mythology", she said. "And magic.. And ancient beliefs. It's an interesting read."
Nathaniel reached for Darcy's notebook, but she took it before his hand got to it. That move, of course, made them all more interested.
"Is it a diary?"
"No", Darcy blushed. "Just drawings and such. Research."
Hesitating, she handed it over to Alex, remembering to take the card with phone number out. Korina and Nathaniel joined heads to see, and Alex looked up first.
"You're good. Did you see all these somewhere or copied from a book?"
"I don't copy from a book. I only draw monsters I've encountered."
"When they die?" Nathaniel asked and Darcy shook her head. "Then how do you keep them calm for long enough?"
She felt awkward again, pretty sure they'll think she's crazy.
"I play flute," she said, and sighed , realizing that didn't explain anything. "I sing, occasionally, when my hands are too busy. A lot of them like music, and it's only the matter of how you approach them." They eyed her skeptically, as if they wonder if she's lying again. "I don't have a single scar." She added. Not that I'm going to prove you that, though.
"So you're, like, a monster whisperer?"
"When you don't act as a mad hunter, they don't act as a defending prey. It goes like that for all creatures, including humans."
Alex slowly nodded, returning to her notebook.
"The man-eating tree looks very detailed. Wouldn't it try to catch you if you got that close?"
"It was little," Darcy shrugged. "In my room at the Academy."
Nathaniel and Korina both seemed surprised, but he opened his mouth first.
"How did it got there? How did you escape?"
Darcy bit her lip again, sending it all to hell. If they want to think she's crazy, who cares.
"I brought it there myself. It had a pretty purple pot, too."
*

Nathaniel,

I laugh out loud, and Darcy looks a little offended. I calm down, and put on my usual grin, which Alex mirrors. Korina smiles hesitantly.

"What?" Darcy, asks snappishly. I hold my hands up in a sign of pacification. Jaeger, Miranda, Anton, and John are giving us weird looks.

"I like your style, is all," I say, taking a look at the picture of the man-eating tree in her notebook. It is small, I can tell, and all waving fronds and whiplash vines, ready to snare its next victim, "What did you feed it?" I ask.

"Mice, usually," Darcy says, giving a small smile, "You're not...alarmed, or anything?"

"No!" I say, and Alex and Korina nod, "It's cool, although I'd suggest not mentioning it to the others. They'd probably find where you live and kill it."

Alex rolls his eyes, "That's all they ever want to do: hunt," he says. I glance around to see if the others heard. Luckily, the conversations of the other, more senior, Society members have covered our discussion.

"You must have travelled a lot," Korina says, awe evident in her voice. Darcy nods.

"I take it you've dealt with aswang before?" I say.

"A few times," Darcy confirms, "They're some of the few I haven't gotten close to."

"You're lucky you've even seen them in the wild," I say enviously, "I've only ever read about them."

"Me too," Korina pipes up.

We keep up friendly banter, not saying anything of importance, and finish breakfast.

"So, have you seen the rest of the Society?" I ask Darcy, and to my surprise she shakes her head.

"We'll give you a tour, then," I say, but she looks vaguely bored, so I go on, "Have you heard of the Monstrumarium?"

"Of course, but I've never seen it," Darcy says, a hint of interest in her voice.

"The Monstrumarium it is, then," I say, laughing, "It will take most of the morning to get through, anyway. Just give me a sec and we can go down."

I walk over to the table the Anton, John, Miranda, and Jaeger are sitting at.

"So, you deign to talk to us?" Anton sneers, but I roll my eyes.

"Right. Because I was so terrible to you," I sit down, "We need to have a meeting about what happened last night. And we need to do some research, because there was something not quite right about the aswang. It didn't have a proboscis."

"So, what are you saying?" Miranda asks, "That someone removed it?"

I nod, "That's what I think."

"You mean we're dealing with human influence?" Jaeger says.

Again, I nod, "We need to do research on any human actions that have used monsters as weapons in past years. Meet us down in the Monstrumarium in an hour."

They grumble that they will, and so I walk back over to Korina, Alex, and Darcy.

"Okay, let's go," I say, and we head down to the Monstrumarium.

Anton Wolfe
I didn't know whether to feel grateful to Jaegar for understanding, or punch him in the face for calling me bro. Probably punch him in the face, but that wouldn't go very well with the team spirit now, would it? What did I care anyway? I had asked not to be place in a team, I preferred to hunt alone, but no one listened. They wanted to put me on a leash because of that incident with the Cherufe. It wasn't my fault that the Society had chosen to send me, of all people, to capture the last one. Besides, it was extinct now anyway, so there was no need to study it.

"Did you notice anything strange about the aswang?" Nathaniel's words pulled me from my thoughts. They probably thought that I couldn't hear them, but I could hear everything with these damn ears, even if I didn't want to.

"No proboscis," Korina answered. "It didn't have a proboscis in its mouth." What the hell was a proboscis? I frowned. I had never bothered to learn more than how to track and kill the monsters.

"Exactly. Usually, even in human form, they can't hide it, and even when it died, it didn't reappear. Either it's a new species, which I doubt, or someone has been tinkering with it. This has human meddling written all over it." Well, that was interesting. The Society wouldn't do something like that, which meant this was a new group of people. People who used monsters as weapons? Or did they simply conduct research on genetic engineering and the aswang had escaped by accident?

"What should we do?"

"We can't tell this lot...yet," Nathaniel said, and his tone almost made me growl. "They won't take it seriously. I'll tell Torrance when we get back, and take whatever's left of the corpse down to the Monstrumarium tonight."

"Okay."

Well, at least I knew which to I would add to my list of people not to trust in this group. John, 'cause he was to busy following the rules to actually get something done; Darcy, 'cause if she'd have to choose between us and the monsters, she'd choose the monsters; Nathaniel, 'cause he was hiding thing and obviously looked down at him; Korina for following Nathaniel's lead. I clenched my fists and gritted my teeth in an attempt to keep calm. They were dead to me now, all four of them. I never forgave, never.

When we arrived at the Society I ignored the others and went to the research department. They would want to check my vitals, like they always did after a mission, and probably take a few tests. They would study the results with hungry eyes, like always, whisper about my unique immune system among each other when they thought I couldn't hear, and then let me go, telling me that my blood pressure was too high and that I should calm down. That's what they always did, and it annoyed me just as much every time.

After that I went to my room and slept.. Or tried to, anyway. I had filled in the window with bricks to keep the damn light and noise out, and exchanged the standard door to a thicker, soundproof one, but I still couldn't sleep. With my eyes it was always light as day, and my hearing picked up even the slightest noises outside. Eventually I managed to fall asleep for a while though.

---

When I entered the dining room Darcy, Alex, Nathaniel and Korina was already sitting at a table by themselves. The others, including John were sitting at another table. I decided to ad Alex to my list and sat down with the others. I ate in silence, listening in on the conversations around me. Once again Nathaniel's words picked my interest. "It's cool, although I'd suggest not mentioning it to the others. They'd probably find where you live and kill it."

I lost my appetite. Darcy had one of those creatures in her room, and she kept it alive. Just the thought about sharing my room with a monster made me want to hurl.

They walked over to our table. "So, you deign to talk to us?" I sneered. If the society didn't take me out of this team soon, or they didn't change their childish attitudes, I would start hunting them instead..

I half listened to the conversation, since I already knew about the proboscis.. Whatever that was. When they left I got up too. I was going to find Darcy's room. It shouldn't be too hard, considering that my nose was better than most.

---

I followed her scent, which eventually led me to a room. I could smell the creature inside, and it made my adrenaline start pumping again. Damn, I had to calm down, or I wouldn't have any energy left for the rest of the day. That was what the poison had done to me. My scenes were heightened, but my stamina.. It was as good as nonexistent. I could sprint for about ten minutes before collapsing, which was shameful, and apparently the reason why the Society wanted me to be in this damn team.

I tried opening the door. Of course it was locked. What had I expected. I heard familiar steps and looked up. "Need some help with that?" Jaegar asked.

Did he know how to pick locks? I nodded. "She keeps a man-eating tree in her room," I explained.

His eyes widened slightly and his fake smile disappeared. Before I had time to protest he kicked the door open. How subtle. I entered the room and spotted the small tree. At first I intended to use my lighter to set it on fire, but then I had a far better plan. I approached it and put my left hand within its reach. It immediately pulled it in.

"What the hell are you.."

The tree suddenly squirmed and let go of my now bloody hand. It had scratches all over, but nothing that wouldn't heal in a day or two. The tree kept squirming as it it was in pain. It probably was. In a day or two it would be dead, slowly fading away, just like my parents did, just like I should've.

I turned and left her room, Jaegar followed. "What did you do."

"Poison of a hell hound," I muttered. "I drink it.." In case a monster bites or kills me, but I didn't say that. I refused to let whatever monster that killed me in the end walk away, so I kept drinking the poison that my body was immune to, much to the scientist's fascination. They sometimes told me that I should stop, but they didn't really want me to. If I stopped, then I wouldn't be as interesting a specimen.

We walked down to the Monstrumarium to meet up with the others. Damn, I was already tired. I really hoped that we didn't have a mission today.

“Pull.” The whirl of the machine throwing the small clay disk filled John’s ears. He lifted his gun, tracing the clay pigeon as it arced through the sky. He squeezed the trigger and in response the clay exploded into dust. With a sigh of satisfaction John rubbed his ears – he did not wear muffs, you needed to get used to the sound of an elephant gun going off by your head if you were going to hunt in the Moore family.

“Pull.” Shooting was how John channelled his frustration and anger and now he was in need of a lot of channelling. He had felt useless in Chinatown, the crowd making it too dangerous to fire his elephant gun – blowing off a shopkeeper’s arm in front of his family was not an accident John wanted to happen. By the time he had got his pistol out they had found the aswang and when he had limped over the beast was already on the ground. Then the new girl had jumped in front of Miranda’s gun, idiot. Those were the kind of antics that could get your friends killed. Blocking someone’s shot and arguing in front of a monster would have got you kicked off a hunt if John’s father had been in charge. Never count a beast out until its dead, he had taught his son. If Miranda hadn’t pushed Darcy aside and finished it John would have done it himself. Monsters were not misunderstood, they were not victims, they were monsters. It was their nature to kill – letting them live was a risk to innocent lives that John refused to take.

John’s watch began beeping. Tea time then. Wrapping up with a final clay he placed his weapon back into it locker and made his way into the dining room. The others had already begun so John took his place at the table and ate in silence, only stopping to glance up occasionally at the annoyingly loud and odd conversation Nathanial was with the new girl. The others at the table were talking in the main about the aswang.

“He’s too soft.” John finally decided to contribute to the conversation.

“Who?” Jaeger glared at John in his usual fashion.

“Nathanial, he’s supposed to be our leader but what was he doing?” John growled. “Did he finish it off? No. Did he stop the bickering? No. He let Darcy endanger the rest of us. What if you’d only winged it?” He asked Miranda. “You think these bastards don’t play dead to get our guard down.” The others stared at him in silence.
“We need someone else in charge, someone who isn’t afraid to pull the trigger.”

Hundreds of skeletons and monster models made Darcy sad and amazed at the same time. The Monstrumarium was bigger than she expected, and of some of the species there she's barely heard.
Nathaniel frowned as they stopped by the stuffed anthropophagus. It was about three meters high, and its eyes made Darcy shiver a little, and Nathaniel seemed troubled about it. The same thing happened with Korina next to a small dead basilisk in a jar, and with Alex, when they passed the sign reading Fear Liath, where empty podium awaited for the specimen to be caught.
They all had their demons. They were all haunted, one way or the other.

Darcy stood by the window, as the others stopped by the Aswang remains they brought in earlier. She didn't have a name for what was haunting her. She couldn't draw her past the way she could draw the monsters she'd encounter. She couldn't put a tag to it and present a stuffed figure, she didn't even have anyone she could talk to about it. Her uncle knew of the story of Darcy's mother, of course he did, but he never wanted to talk about it. He was nice to her, and did take care, but other than that, he was just like every other Monstrumologist. No thinking, just hunting and killing. They said the monsters don't have souls, that they don't have thoughts and that they only wish to destroy, but... For an untrained dog one could say the same. No one even tried, ever, so how could they just tell? And even if some now dead Monstrumologist did try a different approach, how can the younger ones now s blindly follow one experience? Doesn't it bother them, that the main destroyer of the world is the human kind itself? What they call monsters were there long before Monstrumologists.
"Hey," Korina was standing next to her. "Are you okay?"
Darcy nodded. She wanted to be alone again.
"I'm tired. I haven't slept the night, as you know." She did her best to smile and turned to see the boys. "I'll see you in twenty minutes, have to go and fresh up. You'll all be here, yes?"
Nathaniel confirmed. That meeting thing didn't sound like something Darcy will enjoy. But the team is the team... She waved them as she left upstairs.

Her room was bathing in light, coming from big windows, but she wasn't paying attention to that this time.
It was unlocked, door slightly opened, and she saw it often enough to know that someone's kicked them. Frowning, raising her crossbow again, she inspected every part of it, finally letting her weapon fall on the bed as she was sure she's alone.
She didn't even notice how close she was to her tree until she felt it against her skin. She twitched, but it didn't do anything. Frowning again, Darcy carefully touched it again. It moved this time, squeezing her finger, but it didn't even leave deep marks.
"Hey," Darcy muttered, "what happened to you, are you alright?"
The tree didn't answer - not that she was expecting it - but it didn't make anything else either, and her face wasn't even twenty centimeters away. The others from the team would call her suicidal, and she almost wished for them to be here and see that she was telling the truth.

She rose up again, climbed over her bed and a couple of suitcases - she still didn't unpack everything, as if she still hoped to be send home for some reason - and pulled out a little camera from its hiding place. She put it there the same day she came, so she could observe what's happening with the tree even when she wasn't around.
Darcy checked the tape twice, with tears in her eyes after the first one and with rage burning inside after the second.
Anton and Jaegar, she thought, grabbing her crossbow again as she marched out of the room.

Back at the Monstrumarium, they were all there. Korina held to Nathaniel, who seemed to be having a reasonably calm conversation with Anton, Miranda, Jaegar and John talked next to some monster skeleton, and Alex wandered around the empty podium for his monster again. Darcy didn't care about what they were talking about, nor about the team thing. She walked straight to Anton, pushed him strong enough for him to step back and touch the wall with his back, and pointed her arrow to his chest before he made his move.
"You had no right to do that," she said, not even trying to stop her voice from shaking of anger. "It wasn't yours to interfere, neither me or it has done anything to you!"
"What the hell are you-"
"I don't care how much monster blood or poison you have inside of you, and I don't care if we're in the same team or not." She took a short moment to glance at others, who didn't seem quite sure how they should react - neither of them had their weapons anymore. "If any of you enter my room uninvited again, and if you dare to try messing with my life again, I swear I won't be hunting the same monsters as you the next time we go out!"

She turned and left, ignoring Nathaniel's attempt to stop her and a bit scared look coming from Korina. She was breathing heavily and her hands were shaking, and she couldn't even cry. She passed her uncle again, this time not saying hello nor even caring what he was doing there, left the Society building and crossed the street, not stopping until she got to her favorite small bench in the park. Just then, she let tears fall down her face, wiping them away with her sleeve the next moment. She hated crying. And she hated the fact that no one will ever even notice, though she knew it will be her own choice not to show her emotions to anyone.
*

Korina

My life would have been so much simpler if I never came here. But I thought there'd be something more here, not just the same junk I've seen everyday by high-strung kids in a normal school.

Anton is a total jerk. Why couldn't he leave well enough alone? Obviously the tree meant a lot to Darcy, and it wasn't harming anything more than a few mice. This is why I don't hang out with most of these people when I don't have to. So called best of the school.

Nathaniel said, a little shaky, "Maybe we should wait to do the meeting. Maybe tom morrow?"

I took a deep breath, hating myself in some ways for what I was about to say. "No." Everybody turned to stare at me. I was usually more of a follower, but this needed to be said. "The missing proboscis is important. Something's been fiddling with the monsters. What if..." I could barely finish the thought, it scared me so much, but they needed to think of it. "What if someone's trying to create a new, stronger type of monster?"

Jaeger Pen

“We need someone else in charge, someone who isn’t afraid to pull the trigger.”

I nodded in agreement with John.

"Monsters are exactly that," I added, "just monsters. All they know is how how fight, and you can't change that. We can't afford to have people in our group that are going around trying to spare their lives. They must be either killed or captured first and then killed later. That's the only way."

My father's voice echoed in my head: "This things aren't out pets, Jaeger. They will never be pets. We catch 'em, fight 'em, 'n then we kill 'em. Always kill 'em. You see a monster out there, 'n you don't wanna bring it home, you kill it. Understand me, boy?"

I lay my fork down on my plate, wipe off the frown that creeped onto my lips, and crack my knuckles. When I look back up Miranda and John are still at the table, talking quietly about the others.

"I'm gonna head out," I announced to them before getting up and following him out.

I pursued him quietly, not wanting to alert him to my presence before he got to where he was going. I stayed far behind, tried to stop my arm from creaking when I moved it - I needed to oil it again and tighten some bolts. He stopped in front of one of the dorm doors and tried the handle. I smirked and stepped forward.

"Need some help with that?"

Anton looked at me and nodded.

"She keeps a man-eating tree in her room."

My eyes widened and my smile dropped. Was this girl insane? Stupid? It wouldn't be so cute and fun when the tree gets older and tries to freaking eat her. My patience for this Darcy girl was slowly running low. What type of idiot... Furious, I walked over and kicked the door in. Picking the lock would take way too long, and I needed to know which level of maturity the tree was at.

Thankfully, it was still basically a hatchilng, too small to eat an actually man, though I don't doubt it's tried before. It looked weak, too, scrawny, it's branches and trunk were way too thin. However, I doubt Darcy is the type to feed her tree little slices of human, so it's probably been living on animal meat of some type.

Anton approached the tree and stuck out his left hand, the tree swallowed it hungrily. I walked forward quickly, ready to pull him back.

"What the hell are you-"

The tree squirmed and let go of his hand. I stopped my advance and stared. He left the room without another word and I frowned and followed.

"What did you do?"

"Poison of a hell hound. I drink it."

We started down to the Monstrumarium, at least I supposed that's where we were going, I wasn't really paying attention.

"That it," I asked. "You drink it? What, is it a good source of vitamin D or something? Come on, don't hold out on me. What do you think I'm gonna do, turn you in? Tell the others?"

I laughed loudly, and he still didn't reply. I didn't really expect him to either. I seemed right, that way. He reminded me of my dad. Whether that was good or bad, well, I didn't know.

We arrived and, without question, migrated to where Miranda and John were as opposed to the others. I guess it was official, we'd split ourselves up. We all chattered together calmly enough, mostly about which skeletons we could identify and which ones we'd actually fought before. I didn't contribute, I want anybody really knowing about my past, but I listened as I sat down on the floor and fixed up my arm with some of the tools from the work table.

It was long overdue for a re-assemble procedure, I needed to take out all of the pieces, clean them, and then put them back together, but lately I couldn't find the time. We'd just had a mission, so I doubt they would put us on one so soon again. It didn't make any sense. I started unscrewing the pieces, first I took of the major pieces, my hand, ulna, radius, and humerus, and then laid them on the floor in front of me.

I needed a wash cloth, but as soon as I got up to retrieve one, Darcy came storming in, angry and wielding a crossbow.

"You had no right to do that. It wasn't yours to interfere, neither me or it has done anything to you!"

She was furious, and it would have been funny if she wasn't so wrong. She continued to yell, even pushed Anton. I decided to stand up then, ready to either join or break up the fight. There wasn't much I could really do now that my arm was disassembled, but I could try. Turns out I didn't need to because she stormed out.

"What did you guys do," Nathaniel said, looking angry himself. I rolled my eyes and walked over to one washing stations to prepare a cloth.

"We took care of the problem. I don't know why she thought it was a good idea to keep a man-eating tree in her room, and I don't know why you idiots didn't do something about it before we had to interfere. Have some brains next time."

I felt myself getting angry as I sat back down and started cleaning the metal pieces. My heart sped up and my chest heaved. I could feel my hand shaking.

"Monsters. Are. Not. Pets."

Alex

The fog was ridiculous. I couldn't see farther than fifteen feet in any direction. Where had my tour guide gone? I was stuck on top of a mountain, alone. Maybe I should climb back down. But what if he was looking for me?

I felt watched. I'd heard legends from the locals about some cryptid up here - Am Fear Liath Mor, or the Fear Liath. Complete nonsense, of course - if such monsters existed, then they'd have caught more evidence by now, sent the military up to kill it. But where had my guide gone?

"Hello?" I called. My heart was pounding, and I had no idea why. I felt hunted. I had to calm down, but some small voice in my head told me to run. But monsters weren't real; this was ridiculous.

Determined to convince myself that I was safe, I shouted out, "Monsters are not real!" Then, I added, "And if they are, then they're stupid, and ugly, and pathetic."

There. No monsters, or they would've surely reacted to that, I told myself.

And that was when I heard the sound.

I sat bolt upright, gasping. I had to struggle through my bedsheets, and that was when I realized it had just been a dream. An exact recollection of a memory, yes, but a dream. It was past. I wasn't in Scotland anymore.

Dragging myself out of bed, I changed and splashed water on my face before I went to the breakfast hall. I sat near Korina, and after a few moments Nathaniel entered with Darcy. I looked up, curious - Darcy hadn't appeared to be on speaking terms with any of us, but she came and sat down. Maybe she was giving us a second chance.

There was some vague small talk, and then Darcy mentioned her uncle in the lobby. I frowned, curious. "What would your uncle do here?"

"Eh... he's the principal. Of the Academy."

"Is he from Ireland too?" Korina asked.

"He was born there, but got here young, as part of some school exchange."

"Brother of your... father?" She guessed.

"Mother." Darcy looked uncomfortable. "She... she died."

There was an awkward and somber silence. Finally, Darcy broke it by saying, "Well, I guess I owe her to who I am now. What about you?" she added, clearly wanting to hear their stories.

My story. I recalled my nightmare, and the second encounter with the Fear Liath. I wasn't really sure I wanted to talk about that right now. The others were looking at me and each other, clearly wanting someone else to take the conversation.

"Can we talk about something else?" Korina suggested, and I nodded. Then she continued, "I liked it how you stood up to Miranda back in Chinatown."

Darcy seemed surprised, but she nodded. "They didn't need to kill it. I never kill when I can avoid it.""

"You do carry a weapon, though," I observed.

"I couldn't have been a part of the academy without one, and I'm not stupid enough not to protect myself." She looked cold again. "I'm not expecting anyone to understand."

"Don't be mad," Nathaniel said, grinning. "You're hurting your salad."

Darcy made an obvious effort to calm down. She pointed at one of Korina's ever-present books. "What's that about?"

"Mythology. And magic.... and ancient beliefs. It's an interesting read."

Nathaniel reached to look at Darcy's book, but she snatched it away. "Is it a diary?" he teased.

"No," Darcy defended. "Just drawings and such. Research." She paused, then tossed the notebook to me. I thought I saw her take out a slip of paper as she did, but I examined the contents of the notebook instead. Detailed drawings of all manner of beasts filled its pages, with notes and observations scribbled in the margins.

"You're good," I told her, impressed, as Korina and Nathaniel leaned in to see. "Did you see all these or copy them from a book?"

"I don't copy from a book," she retorted. "I only draw monsters I've encountered."

"When they die?"

It turned out, not when they died. As Darcy explained her view on monsters and people, I listened thoughtfully, nodding. She had good points. Very different, but very good. And very interesting.

I handed her back the notebook. "That man-eating tree looks very detailed. Wouldn't it try to catch you if you got that close?" I asked, curious.

"It was little." She shrugged. "In my room at the Academy."

We all gaped. "How did it get there?" Nathaniel asked. "How did you escape?"

"I brought it there myself," Darcy said, biting her lip. Then she smiled, and added brightly, "It has a pretty purple pot, too."

Nathaniel laughed, and the tension dissolved as Darcy relaxed, seeming surprised that we weren't alarmed. Nathaniel suggested keeping it from the others, though, or they'd kill it.

I rolled my eyes, nodding. "That's all they ever want to do: hunt." It made me angry.

After some more small talk, we discovered that Darcy wasn't acquainted with the Society yet, and decided to take her on a tour. We started with the Monstrumarium.

After Nathaniel went and greeted the other members of the team, he rejoined us and we set off.

The Monstrumarium had always sort of given me the creeps, but it was interesting at the same time. We passed an empty podium, waiting for a monster that hadn't been caught. I didn't recall that - I looked at the label, curious as to what creature we hadn't caught yet. Fear Liath, it read calmly. I shuddered, mentally flashing back to that time two years ago. If they ever put the Fear Liath in there, dead or alive, I doubted anyone would be able to drag me in here again.

Darcy declared that she had to go freshen up. She looked troubled, but I didn't say anything.

The others arrived soon, with Miranda, John, Anton and Jaegar in one cluster and the rest of us in another. It was like high school cliques all over again, complete with a couple members of the other group occasionally glaring over at ours. What kind of team was this supposed to be? Everyone was acting like prissy kids trying to be cool.

Jaegar started disassembling his mechanical arm to clean it, which creeped me out way more than it probably should have. As he did, though, Darcy burst in, looking as if she was ready for murder, complete with the crossbow in her hand.

"You had no right to do that," she snarled, storming over to Anton and Jaegar and glaring flaming, poisoned daggers at them. "It wasn't yours to interfere, neither me or it has done anything to you!"

Anton looked at her. "What the hell are you-"

"I don't care how much monster blood or poison you have inside of you, and I don't care if we're on the same team or not," she snarled. Then she whirled on all of us. "If any of you enter my room uninvited again, and if you dare to try messing with my life again, I swear I won't be hunting the same monsters as you the next time we go out!" Her room. I remembered her statement before - that she had a man-eating tree in there. And I remembered my own words - all Anton and Jaegar did was hunt and kill.

Before anyone could say anything, she whirled around and left, storming out of the room. Nathaniel turned to Anton and Jaegar.

"What did you guys do?" he demanded quietly.

Jaegar rolled his eyes, walking over to grab a washcloth for his arm. "We took care of the problem. I don't know why she thought it was a good idea to keep a man-eating tree in her room, and I don't know why you idiots didn't do something about it before we had to interfere." He sneered at us. "Have some brains next time."

There was a long silence as most of us just glared at each other with obvious efforts not to break out into a fistfight in the middle of the Monstrumarium.

Finally, Nathaniel quietly said, "Maybe we should wait to do the meeting. Maybe tomorrow."

Korina took a deep breath. "No." We all turned to look at her, surprised to see her speaking out. "The missing proboscis is important. Someone's been fiddling with the monsters. What if..." she paused. "What if someone's trying to create a new, stronger type of monster?"

We stared. "Why would anyone do that?" I asked after a moment. "It's like suicide. Or terrorism." As I said it, it occurred to me. "Is it terrorism? Maybe people trying to get more people killed?" But why?

Darcy

Sitting on her bench, drawing faces of her teammates on a piece of paper from her notebook, Darcy frowned as a man's shadow fell over her.
"What do you want?" She asked, expecting someone from the team, and froze as she looked up. The man in red suit, the one who wasn't wearing a top hat, observed her with a little smirk.
"That was polite."
Darcy frowned as he sat next to her.
"What do you want from me?"
"That is hardly the right question. What do you want from yourself? Do you want them to train you how to kill? Do you want to die on a mission you didn't even want to go on?"
"No one will train me to do anything. And I know how to take care of myself."
"Yes? And about others you care about? Like you took care of that poor little plant of yours?"
Darcy felt like she suddenly jumped into ice cold pool.
"Are you threatening my..."
"Friends?" He smiled again, a mean little smile that she knew how to use as well. "They're not your friends. Not one of them. Don't you see that you just don't fit?" He took the notebook from her hands, pointing a finger at each one of them. "He hates you for being new. This two hate you for having different philosophy. She hates you for standing up to her."
"I don't care about them. The others don't hate me."
"You think?" He now folded the paper in half, leaving visible only the part with Nathaniel, Korina and Alex. "They hate you too, or will be soon enough. He will see that you won't follow anyone's lead, and this other one will, after all, find your ideas too strange. And she.. Well, she's a good girl, but say you encounter the only monster she'd really, really like to see dead... You know what's right, you wouldn't let it die if it wouldn't threaten anybody, would you?"
"We only just met," Darcy said. "They are a team, and no matter how much I disliked it, I'm a part of it too. So unless you know how to heal my tree again, I would appreciate you just go away."
"We knew your mother." He said, showing her a picture. It was an old one, one Darcy remembered. Her mother was still very young, with long braid of black hair, smiling for the camera. Darcy got her hair and her figure, but the mother's eyes were green and much darker than hers. On the picture, baby Darcy was holding a flower, paying more attention to it than to the photographer.

She stood up from the bench, taking the picture from the man's hand.
"Where did you get this? It's the only picture of the two of us ever taken, where did you get it!?"
"I got it," he said calmly, "from your father."
Darcy felt tears in the corners of her eyes, staring at him as he got up too.
"You're a liar."
"I have many talents, but to lie.. That's one of yours." He smiled in a different way this time. "You have his eyes. From time to time, anyway."
"Who.. What-"
"We have answers," he interrupted, "but we also made promises. You have the number, don't you?"
"Who are you?" She asked. "How can you expect me to trust anything you say, when I don't even know you?"
"We know you," he said. "You need to start thinking of us as of your friends. We want the same thing. We can understand you, Aislinn." He sighed. "Out of good will, I shall tell you. Tomorrow you will get another call. It will lead you and the team to the abandoned site of old factory little outside of the town. It will be your chance to prove them you're right. You understand?"
She nodded, lost in her thoughts, and he took out the paper from her notebook. "Good. I will be taking this. You see their faces every day."

Darcy was shaking, with no idea where to start. Questions were buzzing around in her head, and she suddenly didn't want to be lonely anymore.
"Don't hurt them," she heard herself saying, and his eyebrow furred.
"Not until you say so, my dear girl."
*

Reputing as a new post.

Thanks!!


Nathaniel,

Korina is right; we need to put aside our differences and talk. I don't go after Darcy because I'm fairly certain she wouldn't want to take part in the conversation either way.

"Why would anyone do that?" Alex asks, "It's like suicide. Or terrorism," he looks like he's on to something, "Is it terrorism? Maybe people trying to get more people killed?"

This get's everyone's attention. The idea takes hold. That humans could be behind all of this, using monsters as weapons. I nod slowly.

"It...could be. I've heard of several groups who've used similar tactics in the past, but they were all disbanded," I frown.

"But maybe they weren't," Korina says, "Maybe they've just been biding their time, waiting for the best moment to strike."

This makes sense, "Alright," I say, and the authority in my voice surprises me, though it draws glares from John, Miranda, Jaeger, and Anton, "We need to do some research. All of the records are down here, so we can get right to work," Miranda is about to argue, but I speak over her, "Look, I know we have differences. I know that you guys don't want me to be leader, you don't like people like Darcy. I get it. But there's a larger issue at stake here. We've been chosen to protect this city from a threat that no one else is willing to acknowledge, and if other humans are behind this, well, that changes everything," Jaeger mutters something under his breath, but I go on, "Whatever you think, monsters are just like any other predators; they need to eat to survive, and it just so happens that their ideal meal is humanity. They can't make a choice. That's why we have to capture them, and try to release them back into the wild. If you don't like it, fine. If you don't want me as leader, fine. Take it up with Torrance later. Right now, though, we need to figure out what kind of terrorist organization would modify monsters. Can we at least agree on that?"

Without waiting for an answer, I stride towards one of the records rooms. I pass Alex, who keeps glancing fearfully at the Fear Liath pedestal, and past the basilisk that drew Korina's attention earlier. I stride quickly around the anthropophagus, and suppress the thought, If a pack of these show up, I'll be such a hypocrite. I wouldn't be able to control myself, and that whole speech I just made would be laughable.

The records room that I enter, which contains most of the accounts of human-monster interactions over the past few centuries, is smaller than most, and dust hangs heavily in the air. I look around, wondering where to start. I know a few groups my name: The Magnificus, the Bloodletters, the Cryptonomids...I pull files from cabinets and start reading through them, perusing descriptions of the various attacks, along with gruesome pictures. After a while, the others come in, even Anton and Jaeger. They don't look at me, and I refuse to look up from my work for longer than a few seconds. I'm in the middle of an account of the kraken attack the Cryptonomids brought on in Venice a hundred and twenty years ago, when Korina gasps.

"I think I've found something!" she says, showing me a small article in the journal of a monstrumologist from London. It is a description of another aswang attack. I read it aloud, and the others listen.

The creature had taken the shape of a monstrous dog, and had fed upon a child at a local orphanage. I was surprised and alarmed, as aswang are known only in the Phillipines and have yet to be recorded in other parts of the globe. I shot the beast and cut off its head as proof for the Society. However, as I did so, I noticed an oddity. The mouthparts of an aswang usually consist of teeth and a proboscis. This one lacked any such appendage. New species?

I look up, "D'you think..."

"That's not all," Korina says, and flips through a few pages, "It says later on that, 'the attacks in London were later attributed to a cult-terrorist organization known as the Bloodletters, who claimed responsible for many more killings around Britain and mainland Europe'," she looks up, "It all fits!"

"Maybe," Anton says, "But it could just be someone playing copycat, or something."

"It doesn't matter though, if it is," Alex says, "Because whether they are just copying the Bloodletters, or actually are the Bloodletters, we can use past accounts to predict their actions. We should tell Torrance," he finishes.

"Yeah," I say, "Let's go up now, see what he thinks."