Stay Away (The Beocraftian Gambit - Book One)

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE: DISCOVERED

Derik drove into a large conference room beside the police department. He took out his phone to confirm it was the address that William had texted him. Then he got out of his car and walked past the security guards standing outside into the hall.

There, he met a large crowd. He marvelled at how big the whole place was. Frank, head of the forensic laboratory, was there. The entire police force in the city was present. And so was Scott. They were all seated in an orderly arrangement. Looking up at the podium, he saw William addressing the crowd. And next to him was TCU's new president, Sir Lawrence Linus.

Beside Lawrence sat a muscular, dark-skinned soldier wearing dark glasses. He had a flagitious look as he stared towards the crowd from his dark shades. He had an M16A1 gun strapped to his left shoulder and was chewing a gun.

Derik walked through the attentive crowd, up the front row as he searched for an empty seat. William's voice became audible as he reeled towards the front.

"— and these shifters no longer hide in the shadows as they're now getting bolder every day. They are no longer afraid of us, as we are of them." William spoke, raising his voice. "A few days ago, Mrs Eulich, a lab assistant at the forensic lab, underwent a genetic transmutation process which altered her DNA and turned her into one of them. The aim of this experiment was so she could help us understand how they behave, think, and act. But she was killed by one of them before we could get her out on the field."

"As I'd been informed earlier, a girl's body was dumped in City Park yesterday. She suffered brutal torture at the hands of one of these shifters a few hours after Mrs Eulich's death. And again, in the early hours of the morning, one of our agents, Sergeant Scott, discovered five bodies lying on bayside street. They were said to have been tortured and brutally murdered by a shifter."

A line appeared between Derik's brows as he listened to William. "A kidnap attempt was also made on my daughter a few days ago by one of these shifters, but thanks to the timely intervention of one of our agents here—" he paused, looking down at the crowd below. He smiled, eyes fixated on Derik. "—my daughter is safe," he concluded.

There was loud applause from the crowd as William returned to his seat. Lawrence took the microphone from him and Derik heard him speak for the first time.

"Some of you already know me, but for the benefit of those who don't. My name is Lawrence Linus, a retired SIAS officer in Fallout. Your mayor—Mayor Ramsey—invited me to this city, to lead this taskforce and bring down every single shifter here in the city. As your vice-president has mentioned, these shifters pose a great threat to this beautiful city and every citizen living in it. This is why I have decided to handle this mission personally. So I'm announcing to you all, starting tomorrow morning, I shall embark on a home-to-home visit to every household in this city to have them interrogated. And believe me, I never make mistakes in my line of work. No shifter will pass me unnoticed."

Lawrence ended his speech by gazing directly at Derik in a way that bothered him. "Now, here's my word of advice to every shifter still present in the city—"

Again, Lawrence's gaze bored into Derik's eyes in a way that made him feel uncomfortable. "Leave this city before I come fish you out of your homes."

The entire hall was quiet when he stopped talking. Loud applause and cheers immediately followed the silence. Lawrence again looked in the direction where Derik was seated.

Derik—feeling really uncomfortable, stood up from his chair and walked back into the crowd, heading towards the door. He looked rather frightened and seemed to be in physical pain. Lawrence followed him with his eyes. A cocky smile crossed his lips as he watched him leave the hall.

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Derik entered the restroom and locked the doors. He was breathing rapidly and seemed uneasy. He felt a slight pain in his chest and let out a loud groan. Then he looked at his reflection in the big mirror that hung on the wall. He noticed that his chest was heaving apace.

Something about the way Lawrence looked at him earlier worried him. He released a breath which he didn't realise he had been holding in. Then he removed his shirt and rubbed his hands over the bandage that had been tied around his chest. He gently took them off to reveal the delicate surface of the stab wound on his chest. He groaned as he slid the tip of his finger over it.

His eye colour suddenly deepened and fur grew from his skin. His nails grew into sharp claws and his canines became fangs. His body structure grew incredibly larger, and in just a moment he was transformed. The animal fur on his skin covered the wound on his chest.

Then the hairs on his skin slowly disappeared and his claws became shorter. His eye colour returned to normal, and within seconds he was human again. Derik stared at his reflection in the mirror. He rubbed his hands over his chest. The stab wounds had completely vanished, leaving behind no trace of any scar. His fingertips ran smoothly over his chest.

And suddenly, a loud knock sounded on the door, startling him. Derik—perturbed, glanced at the door, his eyes shaking. He hurriedly put on his shirt and swept the bandages into the waste bin, then unlashed the locks and pushed the door to open.

He blinked in surprise when he saw Lawrence standing outside, and the dark-skinned soldier waiting behind him. A fake smile egressed his face, and he quickly apologised, maintaining his composure, "Sorry if I took so long to open up. I was kind of in the middle of something."

"Of course, you were," Lawrence retorted in a disbelieving tone. He held his gaze with suspicion. "You must be Derik."

"That's correct, sir," he answered, maintaining the smile on his face. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"I wish I could say the same," he snapped, walking towards him until he was inches away.

Derik's brows furrowed.

"William had mentioned a lot about you, especially how you saved his daughter." He spoke in a husky voice, his eyes lowering to Derik's chest. "He also mentioned that you were stabbed multiple times while trying to defend his daughter. That was precisely three days ago, correct?"

Derik thought his behaviour was condescending. "Yes, sir."

"I got a hold of the doctor's report on the incidence. Says you were roughed up pretty badly and had suffered many internal injuries. The report claimed it's a miracle you survived. And now, here you are, back to sound health. Not a scratch on you." he said, then his features formed a humourless smile. "Remarkable!"

Derik—queasy, said, "Sir, if you don't mind, I beg to leave now. There's something I need to catch up on."

Lawrence's lips curled into a wider smile to ease up the tension. He could hear the sense of urgency in Derik's tone. "Please, by all means."

Derik walked to his car, then stopped to look at him. "And one more thing sir, that was a magnificent speech you gave in there," he commended before getting into his car.

Lawrence nodded with a smile, and Derik drove out of the building. He followed him with his eyes as he drove into the road. His smiles slipped soon after Derik was out of sight. He then opened the door and entered the restroom. A cocky smile crossed his lips at the sight of the bandages inside the waste bin.

Turning to his bodyguard standing behind, he said, "Send words to the vice-president. Tell him I've found a mole on the taskforce."