‘What kind of tests is he going to do on me?’ Gary felt apprehensive, and backed away, placing his hand in front of him. It was at that moment, he realised that he didn’t really know Blake that well. Perhaps this was his trap, then again the system hadn’t popped up with any type of message saying that he had broken his promise, but he was sure there would be loopholes to his system’s bond.
Pressing the button again, the spikes went away, and the baton-like bat went down to something that Blake was able to hold freely in his arm. He then placed it around his belt that had a number of similar devices.
Touching the side of his mask, for a second Gary could see something light up on the inside, and he could hear a small mechanical hum like if a computer had been turned on.
“What are you doing?” Gary curiously asked.
“This mask isn’t for show, it has a lot of built-in features, such as night vision, heat sensors and more.” Blake explained. “Sorry, but I only have that one.”
Gary didn’t mind, he could actually see quite well in the dark thanks to his enhanced eyesight. Still, the mask sounded very impressive, as expected for people who hunted Altered for a living.
“Altered, even in their human form, give off more heat than a regular human. It’s only ever so slightly, so it’s a rather unreliable way to search for Altered. Otherwise, they would be bringing in every sick person.” Blake explained. “Still, it’s useful for narrowing down our search, but for one, we need to learn if it’s the same for… your kind.”
Gary understood that Blake was referring to him being a Werewolf rather than an Altered, yet for some reason he seemed to avoid using that term. The next thing the young Altered Hunter pulled out was a special tube that was encased with something, with a button in the middle of it. The inside of the liquid was red but also a little dark, making Gary guess its contents, so he simply asked.
“Altered blood.” Blake replied. “Most Altered have a sensitive nose, and they can distinguish between human blood and Altered blood. In their curiosity they may come to this area, but it’s not too useful unless we know the general area of a target.”
After a few more tests, the brown haired teenager placed all the items that he needed for quick access around his belt. He then pressed a button on his bag that almost vacuumed shrunk the entire thing, and swung it over behind him. The straps were placed on well, and it was hard to even see he had brought a bag with him in the first place.
Of course, the final touch was a large hoodie that almost looked like a robe, but it was clear that it was used to cover everything on him. If people saw a person walking with all these items they would surely get a few calls.
“What about you, didn’t you bring-“
Before Blake could finish his question, Gary cleared his throat, reminding him that he always had everything he might need on him. The two teenagers walked down together, with Blake taking the lead. Gary was following him carefully and from just watching his actions, he felt like he was learning a lot.
Blake was careful on every turn he made, and even used small devices like mirrors to look down hallways he couldn’t see.
It was quite amazing, and Gary figured if he had picked up on some similar things, then perhaps White Rose would have never found him.
The two reached outside the apartment, and Blake seemed to be looking at the ground for something. Meanwhile, Gary was sniffing the air, hoping to pick up something with his nose.
“The blood is still left here, but it’s really faint. We could follow it and see where it leads us, but I think the police would have done that already.” Blake stated.
“We can follow it anyway. Maybe Billy takes all those that he kills to a certain place, and I can sniff him out with my nose.” Gary suggested.
The two followed the trails and Gary assumed that Blake must have been able to see the blood through the strange mask of his, which certainly seemed handy. In the end, though, the blood trails seemed to somewhat stop, and they only found themselves heading to another local park near the block of apartments.
Using the mask, Blake searched for anyone in the vicinity with a high temperature reading, but there were only a few. Unfortunately, Gary didn’t need any fancy mask to tell that Billy wasn’t among those.
They continued their search looking around in the forest and since it looked like they couldn’t find anything, Gary had some questions he wanted to ask the other.
“I was wondering… do you also hunt beasts?” Gary asked, still thinking about the system message he had received after reaching Level 10.
“Why would you think that? They don’t call us ALTERED Hunters for nothing. …when you mean beasts, are you referring to those like yourself… or those creatures Altered are based on?” Blake questioned Gary in turn.
The Werewolf teenager thought that there was a difference between the two, because if there wasn’t, then he wouldn’t have ‘failed’ the Altered test back then, but it made him aware of something else. Blake knew about Werewolves too, and the words he used back then when Gary revealed everything to him were certainly strange.
“I guess I’m talking about beasts that the Altered come from. Are there others around?”
“I have never seen one, nor has my father, but some of our logs talk about the hunters in the past having met them. I doubt they were lying, so at one point they certainly must have existed, whether they still do… who knows? However, those books also mentioned not meeting your kind for a very long time.”
Gary suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking towards Blake. “You mean there are other Werewolves?”
“You mean, you didn’t know?” Now it was the Altered Hunter’s turn to be baffled. “If you exist, then isn’t that already proof that others exist? Besides, you were originally human, right? I mean, the changes happened not too long ago to you. Didn’t you become a Werewolf after having been bitten?
“If not, how did that exactly happen? And what about Billy? Even if it was a different way that has to make you think, of course there are others out there.”
For some reason, that thought had never crossed Gary’s mind. He had turned out of nowhere, and the main culprit appeared to have been his Werewolf System, which seemed to have been inside that suitcase.
Even in the absurd scenario of a Werewolf somehow having been inside it, it wouldn’t have explained his system. Come to think of it, why did the Underdogs even have that suitcase in the first place? Just who was it meant to be delivered to that day?
…perhaps they had the answers about the Werewolves?
“I think I found something!’ Blake suddenly exclaimed.
*****
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