The car pulled back into Louie’s house.

“You should plant some flowers in the front garden” Rosa suggested, remembering how her mum would love to decorate the garden with flora. As they wandered across the front yard she noticed, it was coated in plenty of lush grass but was still quite bland.

Louie gave her a quick glance, a mix of confusion and amusement. He seemed to like giving her that one. “I’ll think about it” he said and then unlocked the door.

Once inside he stuck out his hand for the folder and files and she quickly passed them over. Without a word, Louie then headed down the hallway. Not wanting to be left on her own she trailed after him.

“Where are you going?” Rosa asked.

“My office”. Louie stopped at a door near the end of hall.

“Can I come in?” Rosa inquired. She remembered how protective her father was of his office, only understanding why now. She imagined the truth would’ve undoubtedly been revealed to her a lot earlier, if she’d seen the room’s contents.

“If you want to” Louie shrugged before entering. She happily followed him in.

She was hit with a small wave of disappointment. She was hoping for monster parts and weapons to be decorating the walls and displayed on pedestals but instead she was hit with an ordinary office. It contained a desk, chair, some storage units and a tall bookshelf on the right wall. Louie sat at the desk and extracted a pile of papers from the folder Ruthor had given him. As he began shuffling through them, Rosa found herself wandering. She stood in front of the bookcase scanning over the titles. Despite the room not being very supernatural the books did not disappoint. She saw aged books with a variety of bizarre names.

‘Bestiaries, Alchemy, Incantations, Runes, Potions, Cures and Poisons, Witchcraft, Binds and Seals’.

Rosa’s curiosity got the better of her, she grasped one of the many bestiaries. It was a thick, leather tome and looked ancient however, despite its aged appearance was in surprisingly good shape. She took a seat on the floor and opened the book on her crossed legs. She flipped a few pages into the book and found the index.

‘Avian, Alchemic, Demonic, Hybrid, Ghost, Lycanthrope, Mammalian, Marine, Miscellaneous, Necromancy, Reptilian, Vampire, Voodooism, Witchcraft’

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Her eyes scanned over the books chapters, identifying the ones she found fascinating.

“There’s so many” Rosa said stunned, as she flipped through book, glancing over the monumental amount of creatures it contained.

“There is” Louie nodded as he peeked above his papers to see what she was reading.

“How many of you hunted?” she asked.

“A lot”.

“Werewolves?”.

“Yes”.

“Vampires, Demons, Spirits?”.

“Yes”.

“What about”, she flipped through more pages, “Hell-hound, Cockatrice, Basilisk, Siren, erm Chupacabra, Skin walker, Wendigo”.

He nodded before returning to his case file again.

Rosa kept searching through the bestiary. She reached the chapter on Witchcraft creatures. “What about Gargoyles?”.

“Why’d I hunt a gargoyle?” he questioned, “They’re on our side. You’d only have to destroy one if it malfunctioned or became corrupted”, he paused, “which as happened before … so actually the answer is yes I’ve killed one”.

Rosa stared at him, confused and stunned. “What do you mean they’re on our side?”.

“Read the page. Gargoyles are made through magic. Although a traditional gargoyle hasn’t been made in over a centuries. They’re protectors of sorts” Louie explained.

“How many monsters do you know?” Rosa asked.

“Don’t know” he shrugged. “I have a basic knowledge of every book there” he said and gestured to the bookcase, his eyes never leaving the case files “Some a little more detailed than others and a few a lot more”.

“Woah” Rosa stated, “Impressive”.

“It’s my job” Louie stated, “not knowing certain facts can mean life or death”.

“Is every hunter this knowledgeable? Or are you some kind of genius?” she questioned.

“Depends on who you ask. If you question my old teachers they’d disagree” he joked.

Rosa chuckled lightly and closed the bestiary. She stood up and wandered over to the desk.

“Is that my father’s case?” she asked.

He shook his head. “It’s one Ruthor assigned me” he explained, “I haven’t looked at your father’s case yet”.

“How come?”.

“James wanted me to help save the city. So that is what I’m going to do”, he stood from his desk holding a case, “starting with this one” he stated.

Guessing they were finished here, Rosa went to return the bestiary into the bookshelf.

“I’d keep that on you” Louie said, “recommend you have a read on Direhounds. You’ll find it under Lycanthrope”.

“Why?”.

“It’ll be useful when we go out later” Louie replied.

“I’m sorry we” Rosa stated cautiously, “you want to take me on a hunt?”. The embers of fear began to spark inside her. She had no desire to come face to face with another monster any time soon.

“No I don’t want to take you. However, I also don’t want to leave you on your own. At the end of the day, the safest place for you is by my side, so you’re coming with me” Louie answered. He then patted her shoulder as he walked passed. “Don’t worry kid, nothing bad is going to happen with me there. You can even stay in the car if you want”. She nodded. “Read up, you won’t feel as scared if you’re prepared” Louie stated before leaving his office.

Rosa glanced down at the book in hands, staring deeply into the same strange symbol she’d seen at the Hunter HQ that was engraved into its cover..

“Great” she muttered.