As I sat high above the docks, like a seagull awaiting a stray morsel, I felt what might be cortisol pumping through my veins as I watched the cop anxiously pace back and forth. Would I have really killed innocent people if he hadn’t complied? The idle threat that slid from my mouth so easily in the moment felt real, but I would never do something so vile… Right? I thought of the punishments I’d given people without a second thought, but those were people who deserved it. But then I thought of Joon-hu, and how I hurt him; even though I was ordered to do it, a part of me enjoyed it, displaying raw power in front of all my peers. Maybe it was vindication, having been on the bottom of the pecking order for so long, and finally showing everyone that I wasn’t someone to be fucked with. So those officers were definitely safe, and the threat was as empty as my grandfather’s house.

  A figure showed up after an hour of waiting, cloaked in black, their face covered by a hood and a mask. Based on their figure, they weren’t the person I was looking for; they were much smaller, most likely just a messenger. As the two of them discussed the deal I asked the officer to parrot for me, I weighed my options: I could either try to get the Vanta of this figure and ascertain things from that, or I could try to tail them until they got back to their hideout. The first option was far less risky, but had the possibility of failure, as I wasn’t sure if I could get their Vanta; if they weren’t human, there was a chance it wouldn’t work on them. Tailing them was also risky, as I could be discovered, or walk into a trap or somehow get in over my head. I didn’t have much time to decide, and so I decided to play it safe, and test my power on this cloaked figure.

  I snuck to a better drop point, before leaping down on top of them as silently as I could. The ambush was successful; they crumpled to the ground, and the officer fled immediately, as instructed. I grasped them by the back of their neck, and wrapped their right arm around their back, pinning their left arm to the ground with my knee, before rolling up their right sleeve. I saw the half-moon tattoo, and grasped it with my bare hand, and was transported to my inner world. I looked into the pools of black, and saw their sins. This person was an Othersider, one with fangs and claws; I saw them tearing through their enemies in torrents of blood and viscera. They seemed to be a talented fighter; I counted my blessings that I managed to restrain them before it could escalate to a brawl. Curiously, their body had no claws to speak of, and their mask was far too small to mask the fangs I saw in these images.

  Now that I had dove into this dimension enough times, I had gained enough control of myself that I was able to look into the pools without drinking them; a handy investigative tool that allowed me to keep my clarity for future endeavors. But I knew that the moment I let this Folk go, they would try to tear into me, and so I drank deep of their vicious bloodlust, before moving onto the memories I needed to see. I scoured for a while before finding a memory of an execution; the execution of my grandfather. I watched as they stalked him on his way home from the grocery store a few blocks down in the night. I watched as they leaped onto him, and severed part of his neck with their fangs, before devouring his body. I watched them rob his body. Then the memory ended. I drank deep of this, so I could remember this feeling, this raw hatred, blood seething, like a kettle forgotten on a stove, screaming for relief, for the fire underneath to be extinguished, but no one coming.

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  I hunted down the accompanying memories, the ransacking of my grandfather’s home, and the transportation of its goods to a warehouse in a nearby section of the city by the water. I saw the banner with the logo, the half moon, and I saw at least a dozen figures in that warehouse dressed the same way. This was more than two people: this was a gang, an organized group of lycan-adjacent figures. I drank this too, to memorize the address, and because I was deep in my cups, and the third drink was just the excuse I needed to let go. I returned to reality, and the figure beneath me began to grow in size, their mask popping off to show a fur-covered snout, and their hands growing and sprouting elongated claws. I began to laugh as they tried to escape, still unable to break free of my grapple.

  “Hey pup. I’ll play with you for a bit.” I whispered to them, before letting go of them, and backing up a few steps. They got up in a swift and powerful motion, letting out a fierce growl and locking eyes with me before rushing me, claws extended. They may as well have been moving in slow motion as I dodged strike after strike, the memory of this creature enjoying eating my grandfather coursing through my veins. I grabbed their left arm and struck their elbow full force, sending the bones of their arm out the other side. I then kicked their right kneecap, shattering their knee and shin completely. As they fell onto the ground, held up by their only working limbs, I grabbed them by the nape of their neck. As I yanked them back up, their face up towards the sky, I leaned in close to their ear.

  “I heard that lycans have unique howls… Their cry can be heard by their pack from over a mile away, and from that cry, the pack can tell which specific member it is, and their approximate location.” I couldn’t help but laugh a bit; my heart was overflowing with happiness watching this wolf squirm and writhe, unable to do anything but listen. “So I want you to howl for me. One big, mighty cry please.”

  Their eyes looked at me with confusion. “... When the Half Moon gets here, you will–”

  I slammed their head into the ground, a satisfying crack from the pavement as their snout became a fountain of blood.

  “It’ll be a bit harder now, but I didn’t ask you to talk, I asked you to howl. So be a good little puppy for me.” I think Silaqui would be disappointed in me, but I didn’t give a fuck about that right now. I had never felt a release this freeing or full in my life; this put beating that man in the alley to shame.

  Through pints of blood, they managed to muster a single word. “Why?”

  I smiled back at them. “I want them to know where to find the body.”