*Knock* *knock* *knock*
William put down his slice of pizza and walked to the door. He was in his new private studio, which Weems had given him. It took him a couple of hours to bring all his things from the shed he shared with Xavier, including casting pots, hammers, lamps, blowtorches, and many other things he used to make jewellery.
The white walls were decorated with a couple of his new paintings, three large centipedes devouring each other, with a dark background covered in roots; if you looked closely enough, their antennae seemed to move outside the painting.
"I thought you'd be spending the whole afternoon with your family." (William)
"I can't stand that woman any longer. Now she wants to send me to live with some distant cousins deep in the Yellowstone forest." (Enid)
"Learn how they live, and you'll be a wolf by the end of the month." (Enid)
"You'll stop being such a disappointment." (Enid)
Enid's words were tinged with sadness with each one she uttered. She buried her head in William's chest, and he could only hold her tightly.
William wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. He could only be there for her.
"What are you doing here? You should be at lunch. There's a whole dessert bar. You'd love it." (Enid)
"It would be awkward to eat alone while everyone else is with their families." (William)
"What about Xavier? His father didn't come this year either." (Enid)
"He went somewhere with Bianca." (William)
William answered Enid's questions, hugging her as they sat against the wall. The soft carpet that covered half the room was quite comfortable to sit on.
"Mmm!"
Enid let out a cute sound as Will's fingers caressed the outline of her eyes, the slight redness from the urge to cry disappearing from her skin.
"Did I tell you about the first time I changed shape?" (William)
"The Grimm incident?" (Enid)
Enid looked directly into William's eyes.
"To be exact, it was when I was five years old. Some children were teasing me too much, so I changed shape and may have bitten a couple of them." (William)
His words brought a smile to Enid's lips. Her pink sweatshirt with white flowers and cream-coloured skirt highlighted her feminine curves and made her look very pretty.
"For ten years, I was unable to change shape again, even though I tried with all my might." (William)
"You mean that only this year were you able to be like your parents?" (Enid)
Enid opened her eyes in surprise. William had mastered his shape-shifting so well that she could tell he had been doing it for decades. He didn't seem like a beginner; he was able to take the form of wolves, cats, and even different birds.
William tucked a strand of Enid's blue hair behind her ear.
"If you trust me, I can promise that you will definitely be a full-fledged werewolf next year." (William)
"Of course I trust you." (Enid)
"But you promise me on your pinky finger." (Enid)
William and Enid's little fingers intertwined tightly.
Most of the sadness Enid had been feeling had disappeared, replaced by anticipation and some excitement for the coming year.
*Knock* *knock* *knock*
"They're done, we can go in now." (Divina)
Before William could answer, Divina, Yoko, and Ajax entered as a group.
"How did you find out about this place?" (William)
William continued to hold Enid's waist as he asked the trio a question.
"Xavier sent us the location." (Yoko)
Yoko shook her phone where the chat with Xavier was displayed.
"You should be with your parents." (William)
"How boring, we'll talk to them during the holidays!" (Yoko)
"We brought you doughnuts from the dessert table." (Ajax)
The three of them entered as if it were their home, each finding a comfortable spot on the carpet or on the huge beanbag, and Divina even placed a speaker on William's desk.
"Wow, what is all this?!" (Ajax)
Ajax was the first to notice the large brown board mounted on one of the walls, with photos of people, newspaper headlines, and strips of string connecting everything.
"My little investigation into the bear that's devouring humans." (William)
"It looks like a mess." (Divina)
"Everything is in order" (William)
"Five victims, Noa Hedar, Corton Borb, Sirguey Belbi, Sam Bulbi, four people were attacked, each on a different date."
William stood up and began to break down the information for his friends.
(Maybe they can give me a new perspective.) (William)
"The first, Noa, was attacked five months ago, three weeks later Borb, Sirguey two months later, with Sam, the specific date is unknown, his body was found half-eaten near a stream."
William's hands pointed to the photos: Noa with brown hair and a baseball cap, Corton with a badly trimmed beard, Borb with a toothpick in his mouth, and Sirguey smoking a cigarette in the photo.
"Where did you find the bodies? You can mark a bear hunting area and search specifically there." (Ajax)
"In order, a petrol station, in a cave, near a tree-felling area, and finally in a stream, all far from each other, but still within the Jericho forest territory." (William)
A map marked the approximate locations of the bodies. They did not follow a pattern, an area, or anything that linked them, and there were even areas with more people that were not attacked. The bear seemed to avoid humans except for its victims.
"Did the victims know each other? Assuming this isn't a normal bear like you think, they must have some connection." (Divina)
Divina held up a small piece of paper with the words 'Brown Bear???' written in red marker.
"A mechanic, a primary school teacher, an ice cream seller... I doubt they could have interacted enough to have a connection." (Yoko)
"What about the fourth one? What did he do? I don't see his job on the board." (Yoko)
"He sold photos on the internet, you know... that kind of thing." (William)
Enid wrinkled her face in disgust, as did Yoko and Divina. Ajax looked uncomfortable.
"I think this part is wrong. It says here that it could have six legs, but if you look closely, it doesn't have six legs..." (Ajax)
Ajax took two photographs of the blackboard, the photos in the mud that William took near the hunters' cabin. Ajax superimposed them and showed them to the group.
"It looks like they're going in two directions." (Divina)
"It walks over its own tracks to go back and make its trail disappear." (William) (Enid)
William and Enid came to the same conclusion and said it at the same time, which earned them an eye-roll from Yoko and Divina.
"Exactly, it's hard to see, but the claws on each paw are at the front of the toes and on the heel. I doubt a bear has claws on its heel." (Ajax)
"That way of walking meant that instead of eight footprints, there were only six." (Divina)
"This is more fun than I thought it would be." (Yoko)
Yoko got up and moved closer to get a better look at the data.
"Where did you get all this... never mind." (Yoko)
"I just borrowed it. You should have a copy." (William)
Yoko held up a folder that was on the desk, which had 'Jericho County Police' written in large black letters.
"What about David? The guy who got hurt in Mayor Noble's last hunting attempt. He wasn't the only one hurt, according to the newspapers. Why is he here but not the rest?" (Enid)
"According to Mr Kelvin, owner of a popular bar, he heard the hunt participants say that the Bear seemed particularly obsessed with David, to the point that he ignored those who entered his cave to confront David." (William)
"The Black Demon? That's from that old rumour." (Ajax)
Ajax paid attention to the pencil drawing of a large black bear with protuberances on its forehead, which looked like horns or antlers.
"Xavier drew it. He saw it in a dream and sketched a few lines." (William)
"I took a statement from a participant who saw it. His name is Matt. His description left something to be desired, but considering it was dark and he could have died at any moment, it's not so bad." (William)
"It matched Xavier's drawing, that's why it's there. I thought it was too old a rumour." (William)
"It started last year, I think. A couple of students saw something with dark fur prowling the forest. A few days later, they started saying that whoever killed it and had its skin would have good luck for the rest of their life." (Ajax)
"The one I heard was a little different. You'll be lucky one out of every three times." (William)
"Rumours tend to change easily... fur!!!" (Enid)
"Will, can I borrow your laptop?" (Enid)
"Sure, it's in my backpack." (William)
"Who is the unknown gentleman?" (Yoko)
Yoko followed the conversation but also wanted to help by paying attention to the details on the blackboard, such as the drawing of a mushroom with several question marks and the word Victim underneath it.
"The most recent one, I don't have a name or a face, the newspapers and the police don't know who he is, they think he's a drug addict who went into the woods to look for mushrooms or something like that, they decided to leave him out until they know more about him." (William)
"How does Enid know your password?" (Ajax) (Whisper)
"I never told her." (William) (Whisper)
"It wasn't that hard, Will, the date we met plus my birthday and yours." (Enid)
Enid listened to their whispering and gave William a mischievous wink.
"I've got it!"
Enid clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. It seemed she had found what she was looking for online.