CHAPTER 18 | the fourth estate
📎A/N. Hello dear friends, I hope you are all well...
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"I'm telling you, there is something to this," Drew cried out in exasperation.
Peter Elliot, his editor at the Boston Globe, sat back in his chair and contemplated one of his star investigative journalists' request. The man was a loose cannon; he drank too much; partied too hard - but was a reporter that wielded results.
Rubbing his nearly bald head in frustration, he cast an angry glance in Drew's direction, "You do realise that this is not the National Enquirer?"
Drew's face grew red at his boss's implications and waived the folder he had been holding towards Peter. "This is a real story. That's what I've been trying to tell you."
Peter leaned back in his chair and folded his arms across his chest so that it now appeared to be resting on his portly stomach. "You have ten-seconds to pitch it to me," he growled, "and it better be good!"
Drew pulled out something from the folder he had been brandishing and placed a grainy colour printout on his bosses desk.
Peter glanced at the photo and frowned, "Every fucking news outlet, channel and blog in the country is covering that."
The now familiar image was of an animal standing over the remains of a dead body. The image was grainy and dark. It had been taken with a cell phone camera, outside - at night. In fact, a number of videos had gone viral from that evening. All from different angles, but each telling the same story, with the exact same ending.
A wolf had burst into a party full of college students and viciously attacked and mauled eight of them. By the time it had desecrated the gathering into a war-zone, two members of the local campus's Football Team, and a Freshman were dead. The remaining five were in hospital, one still in critical condition.
The police were not releasing details, but were warning locals to stay indoors until the animal could be located and contained.
The press had descended on the local authorities like locusts. Champing at the bit to appoint blame and sensationalise. Many questions had been posed to the various agencies involved in the matter. The only resulting response was - 'No comment' or 'We cannot comment on an ongoing investigation'.
Not able to make inroads to the information via this avenue, left the media no other alternative but to to speculate.
Wolves did not appear out of nowhere and attack a group of people in the suburbs. The press were having a field day, with each correspondant posing the exact same question:
Was this the Boston Wolf Killer's - Wolf?
After the furore that had erupted upon his return, the general public had settled down after its initial panic. The fact that he appeared to be only targeting criminals and organised crime, almost placed a romantic twist on the killer.
As far as John 'Q' Public were concerned, this placed him firmly in the 'Vigilante' category, rather than the 'Serial Killer' category. While Massachusetts could not cope with a Serial Killer, it could most definitely put up with a Vigilante.
What was most surprising was that a number of polls were indicating that people believed the Wolf Killer was doing a better job than the police of cleaning up the city.
However, with the appearance of this creature within a suburban environment, attacking a bunch of kids with no link to anything illegal had everyone on high alert. People wanted answers - and the media were more than willing, and able, to wildly speculate on what those answers might be.
Was the Wolf Killer setting his pet on random people?
Or more importantly, Had the killer Wolf escaped from his master? And was it now on a killing spree after developing a taste for human flesh?
Drew leaned over the desk and pointed to the large grey animal poised, ready to attack its next victim, after making short work of its first, "How high would you say that Wolf is?"
Peter snorted in disgust. "You're telling the story."
"According to my source, its height at the shoulders is estimated at least forty inches."
Peter was becoming agitated with the reporter taking his time to get to the point. "And?"
"Grey Wolves, on average, are only twenty-nine inches. This Wolf is fifty percent larger and has a greater body mass."
"So it's not a Grey Wolf it's another type," Peter declared as he glanced at his watch, "times up."
"It does not match any of the known Wolves," Andrew persisted with the conversation.
Peter pinched the bridge of his nose. Not wanting to ask the question but, in the end, succumbing. "What are you saying?"
"Whatever that animal is, it is not a known Canine Species."
An uneasy feeling began to swell from the bottom of Peter's stomach. Reaching for his antacids, he popped a tablet in his mouth and swallowed.
Drew Robbins was a great reporter, but his over active imagination and his prevalence for making giant leaps was draining and had been the source of more than one of his editors ulcers. "Where the hell are you going with this Robbins?"
The reporter stood up straight, an excited glint in his eye. "Assuming this is the Wolf Killers pet, he has either found a brand new species - or engineered it," he blurted out in a rush, "and the big question is; are there more of these Giant Wolves running around? I think the government knows more than they are letting on. They are the only ones who could have funded something like this."
Peter brought a clenched fist down on his desk, disturbing papers and scattering a few pens in the process. "Fuck it Andrew," he moaned, "you need to stop with the government conspiracy theories!"
"It is not a conspiracy theory," Drew argued imploring his editor consider his request. He could see Peter shutting down.
"That animal," the reporter said as he poked a finger at the image of the Wolf, "is not a known species. If we don't run with it, someone else will. This thing is completely new and we have no idea how dangerous it might be."
Peter closed his eyes and rubbed his head again. Reopening them he looked up at the now very anxious looking reporter and sighed. "How sure are you that this is an unknown breed?"
"Very," he declared confidently.
Tension hung heavy in the air as Andrew waited with bated breath for his editors answer. "Okay, you have forty-eight hours. If you can prove your story, I will consider running it."
A large smile spread across the reporters face as the words sunk in. "Thanks boss, you won't regret it," he said, just before turning and heading out of the editor's office.
"Oh and Drew-" called out Peter before Andrew had turned the corner.
The reporter stopped short and turned back to face his boss. "Yes?"
"You will need more than the Zoologist you are sleeping with as a source," mumbled Peter who had now returned to what he was doing before the intrusion.
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By the time Kaitlyn had landed back in Boston, raced home, and then back to the FBI Headquarters, it was already late afternoon.
Walking into Doug's office she noticed that Murphy and Tony were already present and seated.
An obviously irritated Doug glanced down at his watch "Pleased you could join us."
"Sorry," grimaced Kaitlyn as she took a seat at the small meeting table.
Doug remained silent until Kaitlyn was settled. Clearing his throat before speaking he looked around the table. "The night before last a scout troop was doing an overnight camping trip at a local State Forest. In the middle of the night, one of the kids went a little too far off track to take a dump, and stumbled into the remains of two dismembered bodies."
Kaitlyn went on high alert. Something must be different about this particular body dump. They were obviously more of Elijah's victims, but there would have to be a substantial difference around this incident not to be able to wait until Monday morning.
"No disrespect Doug," Kaitlyn cut in, "but dragging our arses in here on a Sunday to let us know we have found two more victims is a bit extreme don't you think?"
Kaitlyn pierced him with a penetrating glare - as if trying to read his mind. "Whats going on?"
Doug threw Kaitlyn a look that told her he would get to the point in his own sweet time.
"The scout troop included within is members the children of some fairly high profile and influential people," he paused, "including the Governor's grandson. Who just happens to be the kid who fell into the remains."
"Oh," exclaimed Antonio, who until now had remained quiet.
"Oh, is not the half of it," remarked Doug, "the Governor is after heads from the Park Service, the Police and straight on to us. He wants to know how many more bodies are out there and why this madman and his animal are still on the loose."
"And did you tell him that if his 'friends' would be more co-operative about the victims movements prior to their abduction, we might just be closer to finding our killer?" snapped Kaitlyn.
It was no secret within the FBI walls that the Governor was under suspicion of collusion with the New England Mafia. In fact the current, yet to be proven theory, was that his last election campaign was mainly funded by dirty money.
"Yeah right," drawled Doug sarcastically, "just after I asked him where they buried Hoffa."
"Does the Medical Examiner have any idea on how long the bodies were there?" asked Kaitlyn, changing the touchy subject.
Doug shook his head. "None. The parts have been exposed to the elements and local wildlife have been feeding on the pieces. We are getting an Entomologist to analyse what little there is. But we are talking weeks not days," he finished soberly.
Picking up a remote that lay on his desk, Doug pointed it at the flat screen on the far wall. "You also need to see this," he said had he turned to his computer, "this happened the same night and has gone viral. Both local and national media have picked it up, and it is getting out of hand."
Doug pressed a button and Kaitlyn watched in horror as a Wolf ran riot amongst a bunch of college students. The video was not clear and was shaky as it was taken whilst the owner of the camera was running in the opposite direction for safety. However, the devastation left behind was very clear.
The room was silent once the piece had finished. The only sound was from the gentle ticking of the clock on the wall. Kaitlyn glanced across at Murphy and Antonio. It was obvious that this was not the first time either had seen the gruesome images.
Deciding not to question Murphy in front of the others, she managed to keep herself in check. Instead, she directed her query at Doug. "I am assuming that the Wolf is still at large?"
Confirming her suspicions he elaborated further. "Our current working assumption is that it belongs to our old friend. Best case scenario, he set the animal on that party and is still in control of it."
"Worst case?" Antonio asked.
"He's lost control of the animal and, it's running free. The people over at Animal Control are telling me it will be unpredictable, and it has a acquired a taste for blood and human flesh."
"Do we have any evidence that he was in the vicinity?" Kaitlyn inquired, casting glances across as Murphy, who had remained silent throughout the entire discussion.
From the strange expression hidden behind his standard veil, she could see he knew exactly what had occurred on that video.
Doug broke into her thoughts moving her focus back to her boss. "We have techs combing through all the videos that we can find from that evening to see if we can spot anyone out of place at the party. This may be our chance to identify him. He should be pretty easy to pinpoint," he chortled before continuing, "he will be the oldest person in a group of teenagers."
The meeting lasted another two hours before they broke up for the evening.
"Ok, I suggest that you all get a good nights sleep," said Doug as they were packing up, "because all leave has been cancelled and everyone has been approved for overtime until we have sorted this mess out."
Doug then looked across at Antonio. "Sorry for pulling you away from your father's birthday party," he said apologetically.
Tony shrugged his shoulders, "That's okay, it's one of those all day and night affairs. I won't have missed much," he smiled, "at least I got out of being called 'second' for a few hours."
Seeing the confused expressions, Tony elaborated. "I'm named after my father. My uncles tend to drink a little too much at these gatherings and start referring to me as 'second'. It was sorta funny when I was a kid. But now - not so much," he confessed before shrugging it off, "anyway, see you all tomorrow." With that, Tony exited the room, whistling the entire way down the hallway.
Doug, still needing to finish up some paperwork pushed Murphy and Kaitlyn out of his office.
Kaitlyn managed to make it all the way to the lift where both she and Murphy were alone before she posed the question uppermost in her mind. "Was that Elijah?"
"No."
"You're sure about that?"
As the doors closed, Murphy handed her his phone and played a similar video to the one they had seen previously. This time, it was taken before the wolf attack.
"Keep your eye on this kid here," he said pointing to one of the partygoers.
Kaitlyn watched as the boy was attacked, not by a wolf, but another college student.
"That kid definitely has some anger issues," she mumbled as she watched the camera pan to follow the aggressor race away from the party. Continuing to observe the aftermath, her eyes widened when a Wolf came into focus - entering from the same direction as the student had left.
He face snapped up to Murphy's. "Oh my God!" she exclaimed before lowering her voice, "that kid is the Immigrant."
Murphy confirmed her guess, "What's worse, is that it looks like he is freshly turned. And, taking his age into consideration, this is a very volatile situation that we need to contain - and quickly."
"What does his age have to do with it?"
"He is basically a hormonal teenager pumped up on adrenaline. His wolf is young; reacting by instinct and emotion only."
"So how is it different if he were born one? From what I could see in Tudor Falls, teenagers are teenagers, no matter their heritage."
"We spend years preparing the young on how to control their emotions, how to work with their Wolf when it first emerges," explained Murphy.
"So this kid has just turned into his worst nightmare, is probably scared, alone, and thinks he is having a psychotic break?"
Murphy nodded. "That pretty much sums it up. It appears that Elijah has been actively biting people so that they will turn," he admitted reluctantly.
"Are you sure about that?"
"It turns out," Murphy sighed, "we have had a few near misses."
Kaitlyn listened with growing horror as Murphy relayed the information he had received from the Alpha Commander the previous evening. A few humans, who were very close to turning into Werewolves, had been miraculously found, prior to their actual turning. These unfortunate individuals, who had no idea what was happening to them, had been whisked away to the closest pack by the Alpha Commanders people. The pack would assist them through the transition process and help them understand what how and why their lives had changed forever.
One thought kept on replaying in Kaitlyn's mind, How many had already turned and were running around loose - not knowing what was happening to them?
By now they had exited the lift to the Parking garage. They spoke quietly as not to allow anyone to overhear their conversation.
"So why is Elijah going around randomly biting people?" Kaitlyn asked.
Murphy paused before answering. "It's not random."
Kaitlyn was stunned. "What do you mean it's not random?" she hissed trying to keep her voice down.
"Only those with a dormant Wolf Gene can be turned. And even then, only by a Pure Wolf."
This fact, Kaitlyn was already aware of. Something cold clutched around her heart as she considered the ramification. "So how does he know who to target?"
"I have my suspicions," was all the reply she recieved.
"Our main priority has got to be to find this kid before the authorities connect him to the wolf," Kaitlyn said as she took another look at the video again.
A sobering thought pushed its way to the forefront of her mind. She looked directly up at Murphy. "So who killed those students? The Wolf or the boy?" Kaitlyn asked quietly, "He just can't be left to run free. Especially in light of the fact he has already taken three lives."
The look on Murphy's face halted her from asking more questions along this line. She didn't think she really wanted to know the answers at this point in time. Kaitlyn was not sure what her reactions would be.
Glancing back down at the image on the phone, her body tensed. "What about the videos?" Kaitlyn remarked as she realised that they were evidence that could expose Murphy, her grandfather and the rest of the Werewolves.
"We already have someone working on that."
Kaitlyn handed Murphy his phone and headed towards her car. She got halfway before another nagging thought popped into her head. Turning, she called out to Murphy who had already reached his vehicle. "Why do you think Elijah had dumped some of the bodies for us not to find them; while others he leaves out in broad daylight?"
His answer did nothing to alleviate her fears. "That's what I am trying to work out. He has a greater plan in play here. The question is what?"
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A/N. * press start button... the sound to Jaws is now playing *
... well it had to happen at some point... a Werewolf caught on camera and then straight on to youtube !
... this does not look good ... I wonder where Drew will start his investigation??
... starting to get a little nervous :-(
You will need to wait until the weekend to find out what happens next!!!! Next chapter will be up late Sunday.
Until then, take care and don't forget to vote :-)
M.
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