The Scent of the Monster _ Aita's Children

Chapter II _ Rogue Lunarians

Enzo Iezzi, the rogue werewolf. Iezzi was a technical assistant at the University of Bologna. The arcades of Bologna had been built in medieval times for this very purpose: to provide bedrooms for the students and staff of the universities, which were born and flourished in the 11th century. Even today, many of those balcony rooms are rented out to young university students.

However, the apartment was a pigsty. Iezzi was evidently a serial hoarder and a tenant who didn't clean. Boxes and packages were everywhere, piles of newspapers, broken chairs stacked, clothes stuffed into shopping bags instead of drawers. In the small aqua-green tiled kitchen, garbage bags covered every surface, interspersed with stacks of dishes and pots.

"Are we sure this is the right apartment?" Marco asked as he tried not to trip over yet another box. "Maybe we should check the other ones before ruling them out—"

"We're sure," Selene cut him off.

Even with the nasal filter, she could still perceive that distinctive stench: the smell of a Lunarian. The apartment was soaked in it.

Selene warned Marco: "Watch out for the cables."

"What—?"

The girl caught him just before he could plant his face on the ground. The floor was covered in cables and electrical material like snakes. When she saw that Bianchi was standing on his own, she let go. The young man didn't thank her.

"Alright," Marco said, looking around disgusted, "so what are we looking for now?"

"You said Iezzi is involved in the kidnapping of five kids, right?"

"It was seven, and yes, that's the hypothesis."

"Well, let's turn that hypothesis into proof, shall we?"

They needed to find concrete evidence to proceed with the investigation; without it, Selene would never get the go-ahead from the Romagna monster hunters' society. The girl couldn't understand why they were so formal over there. Iezzi was a rogue werewolf—probably, like her, he was from Abruzzo, given the surname—and just for that, she had expected to get the green light. "Rogue" was the term they used to identify monsters on the run, those who acted incognito outside their region of control, breaking every regulation. All werewolves had to be registered and assigned to a community. When it came to a registered werewolf, a hunter's hands were quite tied; the monster was protected by too many rules. But with rogues, it usually meant open season.

However, the Iezzi case was delicate. The disappearance of young university students in Bologna had worried the hunters' society for months, and as the investigations continued in vain, the victims increased. Initially, they believed they had simply been killed; usually, that was the fate that befell monsters' prey. But after two sightings of respective victims, one in Ferrara and the other in the province of Padua, the surprising hypothesis of kidnappings arose. And this news had piqued Selene's interest. Perhaps Iezzi was also behind Raoul's disappearance.

Marco huffed and started putting on gloves while staring at a table covered with books, files, and papers.

"It's going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack," he said.

Selene didn't put on gloves; to avoid leaving fingerprints, she preferred to work with her hands in her pockets. After all, she didn't need to touch things. She just needed to smell.

Finally, she removed the nasal filter anchored with two springs to her face and put it in her pocket. Marco gave a glance that was too intrusive, and Selene had to glare at him to put him back in his place. The fact was that Selene's nose was a mess in the middle of her beautiful face. The bridge of her nose was red and swollen, and the septum was broken by an ugly scar, around which the skin was taut and pale. Seeing that old wound made you think Selene couldn't smell anything. But it was the exact opposite.