The room was a mess. Cabinets were yanked open, rummaged through, the insides were all over the floor. Notebooks were opened on random pages. The window was ajar, letting a slight breeze enter. He looked at it all, wondering what to make of it. It was the second room they found like this. He turned to the older lady beside him; the owner of the house. “Was anything taken?”

The lady shook her head. “Not as far as I can tell.”

He hummed as he rubbed his chin in thought. “They’ve broken in twice, but haven’t stolen anything…”

“What do you think they’re doing?”

“Must be searching for something.”

The door creaked behind them. They saw a young woman walk in. She had light, warm skin and black hair tied in a low bun. She smiled at the young man standing next to the older lady. “Hyde, hi!”

“Hey, Raven,” Hyde mumbled as he turned his attention back to the room.

“Hello, ma’am. So sorry this happened to you.”

The lady forced a smile and nodded.

Hyde walked further into the room. He examined one of the opened notebooks. It was a personal journal, he couldn’t imagine why a thief would be interested in it. It didn’t look much more important than it was, just a plain old notebook. He crouched down to be at eye level with it. He sniffed it, only the smell of paper and ink.

“Smell something interesting?”

Hyde flinched, he huffed at Raven. “No.” He stood up. “What are you doing here?”

Raven shrugged. “I thought you might need a second pair of eyes to spot clues.”

“Thanks, but I don’t. Let me do this in peace, please.” Hyde stepped away from her to investigate something else.

“But—” Raven protested with a frown. “It’s not like you’re a professional, you could use all the help you can get.”

“I’m still a lot more experienced than you.”

“Fine.” Raven stepped away towards the door. “I’ll get out of your hair.”

“Great.”

Raven seemed annoyed before leaving.

Hyde walked to the opened window. He searched it. It wasn’t damaged, it must not have been locked. “You don’t lock your windows?”

The lady huffed. “Who does in a small village like this?”

Hyde shrugged and hummed. He leaned closer to the frame and sniffed it, hoping he could catch a whiff of the invader’s hand-sweat or something. But no, only wood. Hyde sighed. “I’m sorry, I can’t seem to find anything. But maybe start locking your windows.”

“I suppose I must do, now.”

Hyde smiled apologetically and left the house.

Hyde stood outside. He glanced at the house next-door as an idea came to him. He approached the front door and knocked on it, there was no answer. He turned the doorknob and peaked inside.

“Selene?” he called out. She didn’t answer, he decided to let himself in. He went to her study. There, she sat at a table with a crystal ball, her hands on the ball with her eyes closed. He glanced at the squeaking wheel the rat on her desk was running in, in its cage. Wasn’t that annoying her? It sure was annoying him. Hyde knocked on the door frame.

Selene flinched, she opened her eyes. “Hyde!” she called out, pissed. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“I don’t know, you were just sitting there.”

“I was trying to see if any lingering souls could help me with my research.”

“Right… souls.”

“Helping me might be what they need to move on.”

“Sure.”

Selene sighed. “What do you need?”

Hyde scratched the back of his neck. “The house next-door was broken into last night, I wanted to know if you heard anything.”

“Really? That’s the second time now, right?”

Hyde nodded.

Selene shook her head. “Sorry, I didn’t hear anything. But if you want to talk more about other things, you can come back when I’m not busy.”

“You’re always busy.”

Selene put her hand on her chest in offence. “Ah! I’m not!”

“Right, well”—Hyde stepped away from the door frame to leave—“you’re always busy when I walk in.” He left.

“You have bad timing!” he heard her calling after him.

He opened the front door. “Sure I do,” he called back.

He stepped outside and closed the door. He took a deep breath and looked at the sky. He was tired, he wanted to go home and do nothing for the rest of the day. He went on his way to his house.

People had been bothering him about this break-in all day. Honestly, he didn’t even want to bother, nothing was stolen anyway. But, due to what he is, people always want him to be the one to investigate. He’d be the most likely to find anything, they’d say. He guessed his life here would be a lot more relaxed if there was another young werewolf in the village. But sadly, he was the only one.

“Hey!”

Hyde snapped out of his thoughts with a yelp. Raven stood next to him, carrying her hunting bow.

“What?”

“I was about to go hunting, I was wondering if you wanted to come with?”

Hyde sighed. “Sorry, but I was heading home to rest for a bit.”

As he wanted to continue walking, she said, “Oh, maybe I could keep you comp—”

“No—no. I just want some time alone, okay?”

Raven frowned. “Oh, okay. Another time, then?”

Hyde faked a smile and continued walking.

He finally arrived at his house. He opened the door, walked in, closed it behind him and went into his living room. He grabbed the pen and notebook from the coffee table and let himself crash on the couch. He laid the notebook on his leg and opened it. He leaned his left elbow on the arm rest, his head in his left hand, and held the pen in his right. His handwriting wasn’t going to be the prettiest writing like this, but he didn’t care if it was readable or not. As he thought of how to begin, he bit the back end of his pen. The pen would most likely explode in his face someday (as several people had warned him), but it hadn’t yet, so he kept tempting fate.

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Why am I so exhausted? I was away for only a couple of hours at most. They kept bothering me about all this stuff with the break-ins, as if I’m some sort of expert.

‘Hyde, you gotta help! There was another break-in!’

‘You can find clues the best, you have to!’

‘Don’t you wanna do your part in the community?’

Ugh.

All this only because I happen to have a strong nose. I’m shit at finding clues, it’s just that I could pick up on scents others couldn’t! And it’s not exactly paying off, is it? I haven’t been able to find anything in ages! At least it keeps me occupied, I suppose. It’s not like the other two at our tiny police station are doing anything. Ever. I’m not even sure if they are actual cops, honestly. Not that I am. I guess when you’re a cop, why would you want to work in a tiny village with mostly elderly people? Sounds like an incredibly boring existence.

Raven won’t leave me alone, as always. I don’t get why she keeps hanging around me, I barely engage in conversation with her. She talks at me, getting almost no response. Why is she so persistent?

He doodled repetitive patterns around his writing in an attempt to ease his nerves and slow his racing mind.

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Selene sat at her desk at night, reading an old book and taking notes. A cauldron for her potion making stood next to the desk. She flipped through the pages of the book, despite having done so a hundred times over the last few years. Perhaps there was something she missed.

A rat laid dead in its cage, she’d stabbed a needle in its head to kill it a few moments ago.

She stood up, grabbed an ingredient from the desk and sprinkled some of it into the cauldron. She moved her hands along with a spell and muttered gibberish under her breath. Her hands glowed a sickly green, the fluid in the cauldron did too. A small puff of smoke above the fluid indicated the completion of the potion.

She took a dropper off her desk and put it in, then squeezed the top to fill it. She sat on her desk chair again. A few drops of the potion escaped above the dead rat, landing on its head. The small wound stitched itself back together, it’s legs twitched. It got to its feet with no urgency, like it had only woken up from a nap.

Selene frowned at it, it’s eyes still looked dead. She tapped against the cage, it didn’t react. Once again, only the body awoke. Damn. She wrote the results down in her notebook.

She jumped when she heard a noise somewhere in her house. She looked behind her, her heart beating in her chest. She stood up to investigate. She left her study and walked through the hallway. Nothing was there, so to the living room she went. She looked around, also nothing. Maybe she had imagined it. Was it a soul, perhaps?

She made her way back to her study and froze. The door was closed, she swore she had left it open. She carefully pushed the door handle down and pulled it ajar. She peeked inside. She gasped. There was someone standing at her desk. They were rummaging through her research, it pissed her off. That was her years of hard work they were messing with! She kicked the door open and yelled, “Don’t touch that!”

The invader shrieked and yanked himself around to her. He got a pocket knife out. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Ha! I’m a witch!” Selene held her hands up, they began glowing a light blue. “Try me.”

The invader hesitated, then bargained, “I just need to take one thing, then I’ll be gone.”

“You think I’ll let you take my research? My life’s work?! I’d rather die!”

“Well, that’s a bit dramatic, no?”

Selene stepped towards him. “Get out of my house!”

“Not without the notebook.”

“What do you need my research for?!”

The invader shrugged, still pointing the knife at her. “Not sure.”

Selene tilted her head and squinted her eyes.

“It’s for someone else,” he clarified.

“Then they can come ask me for it themselves.” She pointed her hand at her desk chair, it gained a light blue glow. She yanked her arm to the side, the chair flew towards the invader. He duck to the ground. He pulled himself up on the desk, grabbed the notebook, and ran out of the room, pushing her out of the way. Selene regained her balance and hurried into the hallway after him. He was on his way to the front door. Her hand glowed again, so did the invader’s foot. He fell over, but caught himself on his hands before he fell on his face. He looked back and frantically pulled at his foot. He kicked his shoe off, scrambled back on his feet and sprinted out of the house.

Selene stood there, frozen as the realisation kicked in. Did he get away? With her research? Her hand stopped glowing. The thump on the floor caught her attention as the shoe fell. Her eyes widened. She had his shoe. A piece of clothing with one of the strongest scents. She grabbed it off the floor and ran out of her house before he could get too far.

Hyde laid across his couch. One arm on his stomach, the other hanging off the side with a pen on the floor next to it, notebook laid on his face. He was asleep.

“Hyde!”

Hyde screamed and shot up, his notebook fell on his lap. “What the hell?!” he shouted at Selene, who stood in front of him.

Selene shoved the shoe in his face. “Smell this!”

Hyde twitched away from it with a disgusted look. He pushed it away. “I’d rather not.”

“You have to! The invader broke into my house and stole my research! This is his shoe, you have to track him down!”

“Why do you have his shoe?”

“No time for that, we can’t let him get far away!”

She pushed it into his face again, he leaned away. “Yeah, okay. I got enough of a whiff of it.” He stood up.

Selene pushed it into his hands. “Take it in case you lose the scent. I’ll leave it to you, I’d slow you down.”

Hyde groaned and grabbed it. “Fine. I’ll bring your research back if I get it.”

Selene nodded.

Hyde left the house and looked around. He sniffed, all he could smell was the shoe. He scrunched his nose up. He put it on the ground at his door and went to look for the invader without it; it was too distracting. He left for a quick stop at the police station first.

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The invader ran through the forest; notebook in hand, hoodie tied around his waist, backpack on his back, and with one shoe. He nearly tripped over the uneven terrain a couple of times. He slowed down and looked behind him. Surely the village was far enough away now. Out of breath, he stopped and leaned against a tree. He pulled his bag off his shoulders, opened a zipper and shoved the notebook in. He closed the zipper and let the bag hang over one shoulder. He rested the back of his head against the tree. He closed his eyes and let himself catch his breath.

He opened them, he heard footsteps. He jumped and yelped when someone appeared beside him. He stared at him. The other stared back, also out of breath. The invader looked him up-and-down and let out a soft “Oh?”

From his light but tanned skin; messy, rich brown hair; chin and jaw full of stubble; golden eyes; the scar on his lip—down to the plain, grey shirt and dark green flannel he wore and the muscles hidden underneath. The invader raised a curious eyebrow as one corner of his lips crept up. “Hello, stranger.”

The other looked at the invader’s feet. Then at his face, pissed off. “You’re the thief.”

“Oh”—the invader snapped out of it—“that.” He turned to run away, but yelled as he had his arm grabbed and was thrown on his back on the ground. He hurried back to his feet and grabbed his pocket knife. He pointed it at him. “Don’t make me stab you.” He was too pretty to be stabbed.

The other leaned closer to him, backing him up against another tree and while making intense eye contact. His golden eyes glowed, his pupils became thin like needles. “Don’t make me shift.”

The invader stared back with his own raspberry red eyes. “Oh, that’s how you found me.”

The other squinted.

“What do you want from me?”

“The notebook.”

“Why?”

“It doesn’t belong to you.”

“What’s so special about it, anyway?”

“If you don’t know that, why did you steal it?”

The invader groaned. He dug the back end of the knife into the other’s gut, he cried out in pain and folded over. The invader ran away.

Hyde stared him down as his irises grew so big they nearly covered all the white in his eyes. His ears grew longer and hairy, like a wolf’s ears. His teeth turned into fangs; his nails into claws; all his facial and body hair grew longer and thicker, like fur. He growled and bolted after him.

The invader still ran. He screamed as Hyde tackled him to the ground. Hyde sat on his back. The invader tried to crawl out from under him, Hyde pushed his claw on his neck, he stiffened up. Hyde pulled the bag off him and threw it aside. He leaned down to his head and sniffed.

The invader reached into his pocket, grabbed his knife and flicked it open. He swung his arm at Hyde. Hyde cried out and let his neck go. The invader turned on his back. He grabbed Hyde’s shoulder and pushed him off. He sat up and moved onto his knees, pointing the knife at him again. He saw he had cut him on his upper arm. Hyde covered the wound with his claw, he growled.

“Well,” the invader started, “shouldn’t have grabbed my neck like that. Now, if you’ll excuse me”—he grabbed his bag and began to stand up—“I’ve got a package to deliver.”

Hyde jumped on him again, knocking him over. He yelped, the knife flew out of his hand. Hyde had him pinned down. The invader looked at the knife and tried to grab it as he hissed, “Bloody hell!” He looked at Hyde, he pushed his head away. Hyde growled again, annoyed. He only pushed harder.

“Get off!”

Hyde bit his hand, the invader screamed. Hyde released it. The invader curled up on his side as he grabbed at his bleeding hand and whined. Hyde pushed his head to the ground.

He shifted back to normal. All the extra hair shedded, his ears returned to their regular shape, his fangs and claws retracted. Lastly, his eyes were back as they should be, still glowing with annoyance.

“Shouldn’t have pushed my face like that,” Hyde mocked him.

The invader gave him a scowl.

Hyde reached into his pocket as he grabbed the wrist of the other’s injured hand. He grabbed a pair of handcuffs. The other’s eyes widened as he fully realised what was happening. He cuffed his wrist, then grabbed his other hand and cuffed them behind his back. Hyde panted after the struggle. “Game over, fucker.”

The invader glared up at him. Hyde got off his back and stood up. He pulled the other to his feet. He picked the bag up with one hand and firmly held the invader’s arm in the other.

They made their way to the village.

“Do you have any idea how exhausting the last few days have been for me because of you?” Hyde complained.

“Oh, so sorry. I didn’t mean to inconvenience you, good sir.”

Hyde shot him a glare.

The invader slightly tugged at his arm. “Could you stop pinching my arm so hard before it falls off?”

Hyde groaned and only pinched harder, making the other whine until he loosened his grip again.

“You petty little shit.”