I am already sitting in this club for the damn third hour and nothing. When I entered the building Em dragged me to the bar for a drink and there I remained without moving from my seat. A while back she pulled a werewolf on the dance floor and that was all I saw of her. Slowly sipping my drink I looked around the room. Unfortunately we had to move on to a bait-and-switch plan starring me. Dan had described this guy as a blond guy with a meter ninety and a very muscular body, tapping into the bodybuilder label. So far, no one like that had caught my eye. Out of helplessness and another guy starting to approach me, I growled under my breath. How many more times will I have to chase away unwanted admirers?! This was probably the tenth candidate fluttering his eyelashes at me. I've sent every one of them away with a flourish and this one I have no intention of treating any differently. I turned to the barman for another drink, because I finished the previous one in one gulp. I took a sip of the newly received drink and found my target on the dance floor. I got up from the swivel chair and made my way through the crowded dance floor towards him. He doesn't yet know what awaits him. When I was close to him, I squinted my eyelids as I looked into his eyes, smiled flirtatiously, then passed him and started walking towards the emergency exit. I looked over my shoulder and luckily he took the bait. Good. I won't have to waste time and energy getting him out of here. I looked up and saw Em's brother in the distance in one of the lodges, fiercely discussing something with his companion. I looked away so as not to accidentally meet his eyes. I would rather not get distracted and complete the task from A to Z. I would rather avoid any contact with him even if I do not know him. It's better to blow on cold. I reached the door, opened it and stepped out into the fresh air. After a while I felt his hand on my hip and his warm breath on the back of my neck.
- A girl like that alone in the back of a club on a dark night. You could be in danger. - He muttered in my ear. I faced him, stood on my tiptoes, and whispered right in front of his mouth:
- I wasn't the one who got caught in the trap. - I kicked him in the jewels and then pushed him against the wall clamping the fingers of my right hand on his throat. Behind me I heard clapping and Dan emerged from the darkness of the alley. When the kid saw him, his eyes opened wide and you could sense a hint of fear in the air. Apparently he had made the association of facts, because as he shifted his gaze to me, he turned several shades paler, despite the redness bubbling up in his cheeks due to his limited access to oxygen. He started to struggle, so I squeezed him harder. He stopped moving and only his eyes went back and forth, watching us.
- I'll let you go if you start answering our questions nicely. Start running or do some kind of trick and you'll learn what it's like to be prey for a predator. - He nodded invisibly, to which I followed my words. He coughed and leaned his back against the wall.
- H... how can I help you? - he said in a trembling voice. Dan stepped closer and this time he was the one who started talking:
- You are not a young werewolf Victor. I hope you will tell me everything relevant about the case for which we are gathered here. A case from 1946. CIG* was just getting started and you worked there. After it became CIA, you stopped liking it there, but you stayed. I don't know if it was because of loyalty, stubbornness or something else. After a month they moved you to another part of the country until you finally got fired for insubordination. Am I wrong about any fact? - The blond man frowned, but didn't answer. This gave Daniel the sign to continue. - In the summer of '46 you found a lead on a person who was kidnapping young supernatural girls. Unfortunately, aside from faint clues, you were unable to find solid evidence, and the kidnapper went underground. Finally, in early '47, the kidnapper appeared again. No one knew who he was, what he was, where he was from, or why he started all this. After an intense search, you finally began to tread on his toes. You were the one who led this case. You were very ambitious and committed. You didn't slack off like you do now. - Dan shook his head in disgust and turned his back on us. - I'm talking about two people. The kidnapper himself and the girl. Mikaela Smith. - After hearing the name, Victor looked like he was about to faint, but he pulled himself together and started talking in a low voice, looking around:
- Yes, everything is correct. I knew Mikaela when I was young because we were good friends at the time, but then we parted ways. When I found out she was kidnapped I quickly joined the case, I didn't want anything to happen to her. She was one of many kidnapped and when I joined the investigation it turned out that a white handkerchief with the initials MS embroidered on it was found in the forest, so she was declared dead. I was saddened by this news because I could not save her. As a teenager she was a walking sunshine and always helped everyone. The only thing I could do for her was to take over the case and catch this kidnapper. To his misfortune, his last kidnapper somehow got out and gave a statement. - We looked at him in shock without letting it show on our faces. - This pivotal event occurred in September, the month the CIG became the CIA. The new leadership said that we would not deal with old cases, no matter if they were just about to start or were already in progress. They simply told us to forget about everything and move on, to start our careers anew. However, the girl still had time to tell me everything. He kept them all in the basement of some ruins. The basement was several levels deep underground. They were given very small amounts of food rations and they did various tests on them. Something à la guinea pigs, but in human and supernatural versions. It turned out that the kidnapper had companions, he wasn't acting all alone. Plus, none of them were human. In addition to these tests, they were being asked for information about some important figure in our world. He said that one day he would finally catch this person and then the royal family would grovel before him and apologize for what they had done to him. To this day, I don't know who he was referring to, and neither did she. She described him as a tall, stocky man with a deep voice and brown bloodshot eyes. One day she ended up all sore and unconscious in her tiny room. When she woke up, she didn't know where she was. She concluded that she was in a forest, because the only things surrounding her were bushes and trees. From her hazy memories, she remembered that she had gotten up and walked out onto the paved road after two days of walking alternately losing consciousness through the summer heat. She no longer had the strength to continue walking due to dehydration and exhaustion. She collapsed in the middle of the road with the thought that maybe someone would drive by and stop at her side.
The local forester got a call to a nearby village and was driving along that very road. He saw a strange shape on the roadway, so he stopped thinking it was an injured animal. Upon seeing the girl, he grabbed her in his car and immediately drove her to the hospital. She woke up after two months in a coma, and when she got out of the hospital, at the end of August, she immediately contacted a person on my team and we got her to us on the first of September. We weren't able to figure out anything more because the same week the offices were closed and the next week they were incorporated and became the CIA. They reassigned me because I insisted on finishing this one and only case. I wanted to research something privately, but the same day I got a ticket to the other end of the state and then the country. It wasn't until years later that the relocation seemed strange to me. As if someone didn't want anyone to have to deal with the case. Eventually I got fired because one of the nephews of the local office manager, who was my subordinate, took a liking to my position. Some tale of insubordination was sold and I never had to deal with that kind of service again. I swear it's all true. - He looked at us with such sincerity that I couldn't have accused him of lying. I stepped back making way for him. He swept his eyes over us one last time, then hurried to the exit of the alley and disappeared around the corner of the building.
- Why is he looking for members of the royal family? After all, they all died. - I said with bitterness in my voice.
- All the famous personalities from the supernatural world are flourishing, only the werewolves are unlucky as far as the rulers are concerned. You know that as well as I do. I don't know who he might be looking for. What if someone from the werewolf dynasty is alive after all? - He looked at me meaningfully, and I was slightly frightened. I looked at him blankly to make sure he wasn't imagining things. He's right about one thing, our history of rulers is one big swamp. I know something about it.

*CIG - Central Intelligence Group