Wolf pack

An unsettling interrogation

Cleo was getting impatient as the tour led on to yet another room. How big was this house? His showing off was not impressive to her. Not as much as he thought. She remembered some of Nate and Melody's conversations. He had explained the "magical law of property" to her. According to what he said, if something from the "non magical world" was somehow taken over by something in the "magical" or "fantasy" world then it would disappear from the non magical and transitioned to whatever or whoever took it.
That meant this house could be hers.
Suddenly the tour got a lot more interesting.
He noticed her interest, stopping outside of a door and opening it up to a massive bedroom. A king sized bed lay there, the blankets plush and impossibly soft. It was adorned with reds and white.
It looked very comfortable.
Cecil noticed her gazing at it and grinned, walking over and resting an arm against a rich wooden bednob. "You like it?"
"It is beautiful." She admitted.
"Want to try it out?"
Cleo thought a moment and realized his intentions quickly. She would like to try it, but not like this. Not what he was thinking.
Her expression turned into a glare, but she softened it again. She still needed information from him so needed to play this cool.
"No thank you. Where is your office? I would like those names again please."
Cecil sighed, shaking his head slowly. "Is it all purely business with you Cleo?"
"With you. Yes."
"It doesn't have to be, you are my guest here, relax!"
She kept her stance by the door. "I am perfectly relaxed standing thank you."
"You are not very easy are you?"
She let her glare resume, walking towards him this time. "Cecil, I came here for an interview and I would appreciate your compliance. The hospitality I need right now is a pen and paper."
As she came closer, he stood up, walking up to her as well. He grabbed onto her arm. "How about a trade then?"
Cleo was not up for trades.
She was not quite used to this form, but she knew it well enough.
She glared only a moment longer, then grabbed his wrist.
He could barely react as she kicked his knee with a surprising force. His arm was behind his back the next moment as he crumbled.
Cleo pressed her foot into his back, keeping her grip on his arm and holding him down.
Her words were no longer so calm to him, they were whispered intensely into his ear.
"I know who you are Cecil. I know what you've done. You work for Valia. I need information on the other scientists and I need information on her. You will provide me a list."
Cecil groaned his response. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Liar!"
"I DONT KNOW!"
He was lying. Cleo wasn't so patient this time. She moved her foot and grabbed onto his shoulder, preventing him from getting up. She felt venom pool into her mouth as she bit into his arm.
Instantly it spread through his bloodstream, veins bulging red and black as the spider web pattern spread over his skin.
She let go of his arm, taking him again by the shoulders and pressing him against the side of the bed to look into his face.
"That's right." She hissed. "I'm a halera. But you already knew that didn't you?"
His eyes widened as he looked at her. Her words were sharp through the pain that was spreading over him.
"How about a Trade? Give me the list, and I'll remove the venom."
Cecil nodded rapidly this time.
An instant later, Anu burst through the door. A look of worry was spread on his face, but it changed as he saw Cleo pinning Cecil with her foot.
His glance shifted from Cecil to her and then a proud smirk replaced his worry. "My Lady, you're amazing!"
She turned to look at him quickly, hissing her words. "He was looking at me wrong! I hate when they look at me like that!"
Anu gently walked forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Does it bother you when I look at you like that?"
Cleo did not respond at first, calming her breath as she looked at him. "No. Not from you."
He nodded, relieved. "If I ever make you uncomfortable. I want you to tell me."
"Of course."
Their attention returned to the scientist who was wincing against the venom.
"What did you find out?" Anu asked, not looking away from the man.
"Cecil Groman is his name. I was going to get a list of other possible scientists, but he was not compiling." Cleo grumbled.
"I can fix that." Anu knelt down, glaring into his eyes again. "I cant believe how you could go right back to work as if nothing happened. It's disgusting."
Cecil looked between the two of them. "I've done nothing wrong! What do you want?"
Anu gestured to the scars on his face. "You don't remember me? You tortured me for years. You forced the monster out of me."
Cecil looked genuinely confused.
Anu frowned. This was definitely the man. It was his blood he remembered. Those were the same eyes.
Cleo noticed the pause. "What's wrong?"
"He's forgotten everything." Anu gritted his teeth. "Jynx. He whipped his memory."
Cecil started to sit up as Cleo took her foot off his chest. He winced again at the spreading Venom.
"Should I remove the venom from him?" She looked to Anu.
"Venom is valuable. Don't waste any more on him. Yes."
Anu watched, still barely believing that it all has been forgotten. He was furious.
Another moment and Cleo had sucked out all the venom.
Cecil looked completely and utterly exhausted.
"What should we do with him now?"
Cecil coughed out a few words, pulling something out of his pocket. "I'll call the police. Get out of my house!"
Cleo quickly grabbed it out of his hand, pulling his fingers from an emergency button before it could be pressed. He fought back but was too drained to win.
Anu put a hand on Cecil's shoulder, pressing it hard against the frame again. "No. We are not leaving just yet. You may not remember me, but you may remember something else more valuable. We need names. Who are the other scientists?"
"I told you! I can't remember!"
"You're not even trying!" Anu shook his head, his blood starting to heat again. "Let me jog your memory. You were part of an experimental program. You participated in animal testing to find all the cures ethics never would allow. Your teams sought out otherworldly creatures that had wandered into civilization. Some of which were phasewolves. I was one of these." He glared deeper. "You were looking for cures for cancer. I was your personal test subject."
Something in Cecil's eyes sparked. The magical divide was splitting again, memories were flooding back in. Flickers came in slowly. One flicker was of a boy in a chair. Another a man in an alley. Cecil did not want to remember, and he fought against the memories. The spark disappeared.
"Tell me, who survived? Where are the other scientists?"
Cecil would prop himself up if it were not for the powerful muscles keeping him pinned. He would get himself out of this. "I don't owe you anything. I will not tell you."
Anu was surprised by a slipper coming against his head. It was not hard, but the fist that held it was.
Cecil slipped out, rolled back onto his feet and started rapidly for the door.
Cleo ran quickly after him, finding him slipping into another door down the hallway.
No sooner had she entered the door did she find herself tackled.
Cecil had hidden at the side of the door and pounced on her the instant she entered. He quickly shut the door, wrapping arms far tighter around her than she liked, keeping her arms in.
He squeezed her tighter. "You are different than I thought Cleo. First impressions are wrong it seems. I won't make that mistake again. This can happen the easy way or the hard way."