The Yard found another corpse already cold in the street as on-lookers stared in horror at the mangled body being left on the stoned floor. “Another murder,” they murmured amongst themselves until a policeman clad in dark azure uniform and a long black coat stepped forth to assess the situation. More of the law enforcers came to the scene and subdued the place before the respected detective arrived.

“Detective Holmes…” one of the policemen acknowledged as he stood in attention before the respected man’s presence. “It’s another murder… The body’s innards were hacked. Torn. The victim was a e, a middle-aged woman living a block away. People last saw her with a young man with shaggy black hair tied to a ponytail although they couldn’t make out his face since he was wearing a hat and he avoided the streetlights when the suspect walked with his victim…That was all I could gather from the people…”

‘Werewolf…’ the detective thought upon hearing the policeman’s account. His eyes trained towards the body being covered with a white cloth before landing back on the man who reported to him.

“Get the body and bring it to the mortuary. We’ll begin our investigations there. The police cannot work here. There are too many people in the area…” the detective mused before ordering his men to scour the vicinity for more evidence and clues pertaining to the nature of the crime.

“Jack the Ripper has struck again!” The people in the crowd mused to themselves. People started to panic until the crowd soon dissipated for fear that the murderer might be amongst them.

Detective Holmes ran a few fingers over his hair before capping his head with his hat. This was one stressful morning that he had woken up to. He wonders when this chase will end. The murderer seems to leave no clues and it seems that he was adept at committing the crimes in the shadows.

Holmes came upon a lone figure standing a distance from the dispersing crowd. He was a tall young man with long black hair. He doesn’t suit the image of a ruffian as Holmes continued observing his stance and his clothes. The young man was wearing a dirty white shirt, his muscular features still standing out behind the curtain of fabric that he was wearing yet he was still lean. His shirt was ed on the upper half and a loose black coat hung idly on his shoulders.

The figure that caught Holmes’ interest was leaning lazily onto the lamp post quietly observing the police cleaning up the murder scene. As if he had felt the detective’s gaze on him, he shifted his sight towards the detective meeting him in the eye. A sudden fear crept up the detective’s spine upon seeing those eyes that were as sharp as the knife.

The young man’s eyes had a certain aura about them that made him flinch unwillingly. Then, the young man that had been his subject of observation gave him a small smile that had a hidden meaning to it. The man tipped his imaginary hat at the detective before turning and taking short lax steps away from the scene of the crime. His leisure gait gave a certain feeling to the detective that he was the killer.

‘Could it be?’ Holmes asked himself as he strode towards the man who unceremoniously walked away.

Without warning, the young man turned his leisure steps into a sprint. Holmes had his doubts answered and he came to a realization that it was the murderer known amongst the populace as the infamous Jack the Ripper.

“You! Stop!” Holmes bellowed as he ran after the young man.

Jack the Ripper, or his real name would be Count Black, chuckled when he found the detective trailing him. “This will be interesting…” he mused to himself as he made a sudden turn to a dark alley.

The chase ended in minutes with Jack the Ripper facing a bricked dead end and the detective aiming a hand gun at him. “Don’t move!” Detective Holmes said, his guard up as he pointed the gun at the young man.

The Ripper murderer turned towards the detective. Holmes was irked at the young man now facing him raising his hands up in mocking surrender as a sly smile graced his face. The detective had this uncomfortable feeling of being alone with the murderer that he had managed to trap in a corner.

“You know… you should be careful, detective…” the young man was oddly grinning at him. Even at gunpoint, the murderer neither seemed fazed nor scared. He was calm.

“It is you who should be careful…”

“Not really… I mean… I’m immune to that stuff…” said the young man pointing at the gun that was propped towards him.

“I will shoot you if you move!”

A smile was sent towards the detective before the murderer transformed into a beast Holmes had never seen in his life. Fangs protruded from the man’s canines and they turned sharp and longer as the seconds ticked. He fell on his fours before claws and fur grew on his arms and his legs as the clothes he wore shredded into pieces over the bulging muscles that popped and enlarged.

The young man’s ears sharpened and became pointed mimicking a wolf’s sensitive organs of hearing. To his terror, Detective Holmes backed away. His grip on the gun trembled and shots rang hitting the werewolf on the shoulders.

A groan was heard and the werewolf, fully transformed, lunged at him. Holmes doubled over and barely evaded the pounce of death. He scrambled back to his feet before he fled onto the streets and back to his comrades who were finishing up their investigation of the crime. Fear was evident on his face and his colleagues asked him what’s wrong.

Holmes could only shiver in fear as his sights searched for the trace of a werewolf stalking him. He soon found his predator perched atop a building with a wolf’s smile gracing its mouth as the detective trembled in fright.

Count Black retreated to the roof deck before jumping off the roof. ‘We will meet again soon, Detective Holmes. But first, I must finish my mission… The royal vampire family will fall in my land…’
 

***

The hunters and rogue vampires were now stationed outside their gates. A carriage was present too making the young Seo observe its contents from afar…Well, from deep inside the mansion that is.

“What do you sense, Juhyun?” Yoona asked as everyone stared observing the youngest cousin close her eyes in concentration.

“I can smell familiarity of the resident of the carriage… It’s female… I-It’s… Jung Soojung!” Seo Juhyun opened her eyes at her mention of her cousin’s name. She was now more determined to carry out the plan as their ancestor had laid out.

The maknae turned to the ancestor who was settled on the seat near her. “Grandfather… May I help in freeing my blood partner?”

Silence came with the anticipation as the ancestor thought for awhile.

“Juhyun… I guess everyone here needs their blood partners and although Yoona lent some of her blood for Hyoyeon and Juhyun to satiate their hunger for awhile… I can only say that another pureblood’s sustenance cannot really help much…” The ancestor began, “Blood partners are there for a reason. They are the ones that purebloods are attached to for sustenance. They are the persons who could only fully satisfy one’s thirst and yes, Juhyun, you can help free your blood partner.”

Juhyun bowed in gratitude, “Thank you grandfather.”

White Tiger smiled before turning towards the two archers who were seated on a different couch.

“Sunny, Tiffany… you two know what to do… I will create a veil of illusion over Soonkyu and you, Miyoung, will cover for her in case the hunters sense an anomaly. I will personally deal with the rogue vampires should they neglect the negotiation. And Sunny, you know what to do once the exchange is completed. Let’s hope Soojung will play along and not get confused over our plan…”

“Yes, grandfather….” Sunny and Tiffany chorused as they stood up.

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