VI. Troublemakers

Orashi forest...

Day 1

23:49

"For the love of Christ Max, what are you doing here?" Silas yelled at the most troublesome trio he had ever encountered; his son, Maxwell, and his merry crew.

Just when he was talking about how quiet they have been, they appear in the middle of nowhere at the heart of a serial killing case.

"Are you kids crazy!?" Silas yelled even louder, risking a bad case of hypertension.

"Ohh boy...!" James mumbled in a sing-song tone, raising his hands in surrender.

"...here we go again!" Cecilia completed James' sing-song phrase following James' lead to raise her hands in absolute surrender.

"I asked you a question, what? Are you? Doing. Here!" Silas vents, burning with annoyance and frustration.

"Mm Dad, would you believe it if I said we were just..." Max started but Silas cut him off;

"Hush! Shush!" He shone at him, waving his gun around like he was trying to swat a bug from the air.

"I know you have a very believable half-truth story for why you are here and what happened like you always do," he said, putting his gun back in its holster, "but this time, you three are going to tell your stories separately in the interrogation room to CSP Hassan."

"Oh come on!" The trio groaned in unison;

"Chief Hassan hate our guts!" Cecilia moaned.

"You can't do this to us, bro," James said, doing his get-out-of-trouble smile.

"I can, I will, and I am. Do you know why? Cause I am not your bro." Silas said, producing his cell phone which - like on cue - started to ring.

"You stay right there." He commanded with authority in his voice.

If it were any other person who gave that command, Max, James, and Cecilia would have made a run for it, ditching their captor and taking their chances. But with Silas, it is only a matter of an hour before he throws them in detention for twenty-four hours, or worse, place them on house arrest.

"Yeah?" Silas answered the phone, his back to Max and his friends.

"I am okay," he paused, "yeah, that's good, get the forest guards to detain whoever comes out of this forest for the next two days, and send a search team to sweep this side of the forest." Silas ordered over the phone, probably talking to a subordinate;

'Godwin perhaps,' Max thought.

"Good. And tell Chief Hassan I am bringing in his favorite people in the world." With that Silas ends the call and turns to the troublemakers, a smile playing on his face.

'It feels good to get back at the kids' troublemaking as well as Chief Hassan in one shot.'

"Wassup!?" James smiled, trying his get-out-of-trouble smile that had never worked on Silas.

"I am good thank you, James," He said.

"In conclusion, you guys are in for a long night with your favorite person." Silas turned to leave expecting them to follow him — which they did, they dared not try anything funny.

"Urm... Dad?" Max called after a few minutes of walking in silence.

"Dad!" He called again when Silas refused to answer.

"What, are you going to make a deal again?" Silas said knowing exactly what to expect from Max. "Not this time, I don't want to hear it."

"Okay then. Although it's too bad we will have to give the lead to Chief Hassan."

Silas stopped in his tracks, knowing fully well that his son was drawing him into a trap to get out of trouble. Like always. But Silas is willing to jump off a cliff for a lead on the Claw-mark case.

And if Max and his peers say they have a lead, then it is worth a shot. They had proved to be helpful before; troublesome and problematic; but helpful. And besides, they witnessed whatever happened in that clearing.

Silas turns to face the troublemakers; "let me guess, you are going to make me beg for it."

He has already gone through this before, in fact on many occasions, and they all turn out the same, with him practically begging for the lead. And he has a feeling this one won't be any different.

"Oh come on, uncle," Cecilia did a mock gasp as though offended to hear Silas thinking that way, "We would never do that to you, never."

"What are we waiting for, let's go to detention," James said, pushing Max and Cecilia forward and past Silas who knows exactly what the trio are trying to do.

"Fine," Silas said with a sigh. "What do you want?"

"No more probation," Max is quick to say, "it is boring to be watched you know."

"That will depend on how happy you make Chief Hassan," Silas said, assuming a commanding posture.

"No, Chief Hassan," Cecilia said with a frown, "that man is a toad!"

She deepens her frown as though it could affect Chief Hassan wherever he is.

"I can't help you with that, I already said I was bringing you guys in."

"Fine, no detention then," James said. "And I want my bike back."

"Three hours detention after Chief Hassan is fine with you and you get your bike next weekend."

"Monday," James said.

"Wednesday." Silas countered.

"Fine," James grinned, "let's compromise, Tuesday. Deal or no deal."

After a few seconds of staring at the contest;

"Fine." Silas conceded knowing how much he needed a break on the Claw-mark case.

He marched back the way he had come not bothering to order the trio to follow him, they dare not try anything funny.

"Your lead better not be a dead end because if it is, you will spend the rest of your lives in detention."

***

Von Rooyen Mansion, Ozuoba...

Day 2

10:32

"Let's make a deal guys," Cecilia said, peeling off her jacket as she dropped onto the three-settee couch in the Main room of the Mansion like a dead weight.

"No more police stations for the rest of our lives."

"As much as I would love to sign that contract, we all know it is not going to happen," James said, kicking off his shoes as he climbed unto the sofa nearest to Cecil.

"Uhh!" He let out a sigh, making himself comfortable in the fluffy fiber of the sofa. The comfort just never gets old.

"Gosh I smell like an interrogation room," Maxwell said, making his way to the bar that might as well be another man's bar parlor.

"I don't ever want to go back in there," he paused, "at least not on another man's terms." He added as he prepped the coffee maker.

Max, James, and Cecilia had spent the night in the police interrogation room after surviving Chief Hassan's wild accusations; he even accused them of messing with his tires because he had a flat tire on his way to the station.

As if sleeping in the discomfort of the interrogation room was not enough, Silas didn't allow them leave until well after daybreak.

"We are never going back in there, ever again," Cecilia whined as Max handed her a steaming cup of clumsily made coffee.

"I don't think I can endure another hour in detention." She said as she took a sip of the worst coffee man can ever make.

"Eww! Man." James recoiled, spitting the remnant of the coffee in his mouth back into the cup. "What is this, cow poison? My dog makes better coffee."

"What? I figured you guys are too tired to make your coffee so I helped, I need you both wide awake."

"Well, next time remind me to remind you never to make my coffee." James said with mock annoyance, "But you're free to make a drum of those for Cece."

"Hey!" Cecilia threw a pillow at him.

"Guys fight later." Max interfered before the two would go into another all-out war.

"We've got work to do." James and Cecilia groaned in unison, sinking deeper into the protective embrace of their seats.

"Can't we do this later?" Cecilia asked in her baby-like whining tone blinking her eyes like a doll with her lips pouted to make her look like a Barbie doll.

"I am tired." She added with an exaggerated sobbing sound.

"First question." Max ignored her attempts at swaying him and she made a nasty face. "What on earth did we encounter last night?”

***

12:08

"...there is no rational sense to describe it," James said, pacing the space before Max who has been subconsciously toying with the Ring.

"I mean did you see the hair on those two, it just varnished like it was never there. And their eyes, their eyes!"

"Do you guys think it's connected to the Claw-mark case or maybe this Ring?" Max asked, tossing the Ring to James.

"They had claws on them, Max, it's definitely connected to the Claw-mark case." James said, tossing the Ring back.

"You guys don't understand, did you see how easily I defeated the hooded man, I think it was because of this Ring." Max said, standing up to do his own pacing.

"I felt different, strong, and...and I think it could be the Ring," He said. "I mean it would make sense if the Ring is connected to stuff like last night, right?"

"...maybe you kids will find your answers in the books in the basement."

Max and James turned simultaneously to see Nana tentatively walking into the hallway that leads to the garage with a covered basket in one arm. Cecilia sighed;

"Just don't get my floors dirty when you are done," She called out.

"What is she talking about?" Max asked as soon as Nana left.

"Uh!" Cecilia bit her lower lip.

"Maybe she is having another episode," James said. "Should we really allow her to go grocery shopping? She is going grocery shopping, right?"

"Mark is going with her, she will be fine." Max said, waving the topic off. "Back on course guys, how do we go about solving these mysterious weird people."

Cecilia sighed. She opened her mouth to say something but James beat her to it;

"Oh! Oh! Oh, guys I got it," James said with a proud triumphant smile.

"What?" Max and Cecilia said in unison.

"Werewolves!" He said with a dramatic whisper. Cecilia let out another sigh and Max just stared at James, unbelievably. "Seriously, they look just like werewolves."

"Okay, I'll indulge your stupid theory," Max said, settling back to his seat. "Werewolves are mythical magic creatures and you don't see them wearing jeans and gowns. They shapeshift into huge bloodthirsty wolf-like beasts or something like that.."

"No, no Max, you're getting it all wrong. Those are Lycans, like in 'The Underworld' or 'Twilight', and most Webnovel fantasy romance stories," James said, continuing his pacing.

"I'm talking about werewolves," He paused, "like in 'Teen wolf'? Seriously, did you even watch any of these movies?"

"Boys, please," Cecilia said. "Stop with the wild fantasies. I... I will show you real fantasy."

Max and James shared a quizzical expression, looking at Cecilia with confused frowns. She sighed;

"I have to apologize." Cecilia said, getting out of the couch and gesturing for Max and James to follow her.

"I should have said this months ago, but I...I mean I couldn't." She said making her way to one of the places anyone hardly venture in the Mansion; the basement

"You have been keeping something from us?" Max asked as he and James followed her down the hallway. "You know more about the weird people? Or is it about the Claw-mark case?"

"No, I am sure it's a bunch of dusty collectibles. Could it possibly be a collection of human skulls or a variety of albino tongues?" James said with a funny British accent.

Cecilia shock her head and ignored him.

The trio head past the hallway and down the stairwell to the basement door. She hesitated at the door;

"I know more than I let on," She said, trying to hide her hesitation and ignoring James' exaggeration. "Ever since the first body turned up I had an idea what was going on and after the first five bodies, I was sure I knew what was going on."

Max frowned. He was ready to believe any kind of explanation that would set his mind at rest about the Ring, but she wasn't talking about the Ring.

"Cece darling, I'm supposed to be the conspiracy theorist. What are you talking about?" James said, with just a hint of seriousness.

Cecilia exhaled and unlocked the basement door. The lights turned on automatically to reveal a room of shelves arranged in rows. Left to right, top to bottom, even the passageway between the shelves was full of books and journals and dust. Especially dust.

More like a wildly disarrayed, dusty, disorganized, and unused library.

The trio walked in;

"Three months ago, when we saw the first victim in the News, it reminded me of..." Cecilia trailed off. She continued in a lower voice; "my father."

"It reminded me of all his stories about werewolves and magic," She said.

"Werewolves," James repeated incredulously.

"Seriously?" Max said.

"I know how it sounds, but I think it could be connected," Cecilia said, "and then the Ring fell, and now we encountered weird paranormal stuff last night. Everything is connected, guys."

"So let me guess," James started, absentmindedly leafing through a small dairy-sized journal he had picked up from the floor. With a sarcastic scoff in his voice, he said;

"You are trying to tell us you have an idea of who or what the Claw-killer is and you kind of know where the Ring came from or at least what it's. But you decided to wait for three months and thirty-some dead victims before saying something? And now you know something about the girl from last night? How convenient."

"Doesn't make sense, Cece," Max said with a shrug.

"I am being serious, dammit!" Cecilia said with a sharp frustrated tone.

"The Claw-mark case is very similar to my father's last research and the Ring, I recognized it..."

She stopped mid sentence and pushed Max away from the only reading table in the basement library he was leaning on. The table was already full of scrolls and journals, all dusty, opened, or looked incredibly ancient.

"The Ring is...is...like it's some kind of a myth my father was researching," Cecilia said, rummaging through the papers and journals and books on the table.

Further diminishing any hope of organization.

Her search yelled nothing until her eyes fell on a book sized rolled-up paper. She snatched it.

"Here."

She unrolled the paper and showed it to Max;

"See any familiarity?"

"Not that I can think of." Max said without sparing the painting a second glance. He is just waiting for Cecilia to finish her conspiracy theory before dismissing everything and hope she doesn't break his legs.

"Just look at it!" Cecilia snapped with a serious tone. A commanding tone in fact.

"Okay fine...geez!" Max sighed, but before he could really look at the painting, James snatched it from Cecilia.

"This...this looks...but..." James stuttered, peering at the painting.

it's an old and dusty painting of a symbol; a circle with an engraved 'X' in it. Painted so expertly the space within the symbols look deep and real.

"What?"

"The painting, it's... it's identical to your Ring." Max frowned.

He moved to look over James' shoulder, trying to see any resemblance.

"But the ring is an X not a circle." Max argued

"No, it's an X engraved inside a circle." James pointed out, showing Max just how alike the painting is with the Ring. Max subconsciously brought out the Ring from his pocket and compared it to the painting; they do look alike...no there are the same.

"Alright, start from the beginning." Max said, now ready to listen. "I don't understand, how is the Ring possibly connected to the Claw-mark case?"

"My father, I told you his research got him killed, right," Cecilia started, "but I never said what he was researching."

"Yeah, you always wave it off." James said, putting the painting aside. "I always assumed it had something to do with a top secret government agency that controls everything."

"What?" Cecilia and Max said in unison, giving James the - are you serious? - look.

James shrugged.

"Well anyway, he was researching supernatural beings and an ancient god. As far as I know, he followed a certain event throughout history and they all led through the same thing; a mass blood ritual that might or might not be connected to the said god and a warrior known as the Lord of the Ring who kind of battles the god or something like that."

"Wait a minute, the Lord of the Ring?" James repeated, "you mean like the Ring in the painting that could also mean the Ring on Max?"

"That's the theory." Cecilia said.

"Okay, let's hold on to our crazy hats before we try to link a god-fighting-warrior to a Ring from space." Max said, pacing to rest on the dusty step of a nearby ladder.

"What event was he researching and does it have anything to do with the Claw-mark case?"

"I am not entirely sure," Cecilia said. "Dad never told me and have you seen the size of this library?"

James and Max instinctively looked around to take in the mass of the library.

"My theory is," She continued. "Maybe the Claw-mark case is not a serial killing spree? What if it's the said ritual my dad was researching?" Cecilia said, pacing back and forth in excitement.

"Why would you think so? Cause of the claw marks?" James asked.

"Exactly," Cecilia said. She paced to the second shelf on the left and brought out a painting that looked a lot like an anime. "Does this remind you of anything?"

It does. Max just started at the painting of what looks like an elderly man with turquoise gleaming eyes, a rough hairy face, saliva dripping down his jaws as he roared fiercely with his thick fangs out for the world to see.

"That...that looks..."

"A werewolf." Cecilia said.

"It looks almost like the hooded man from last night," Max said.

"So," James started, "if the Claw-mark case is the ritual in your father's research, then is Max this Lord of the Ring that is supposed to battle the god?" James asked pacing the length of the shelf facing the reading table.

"it's mostly myths and legends but they always involve mass murder and ritual killing," Cecilia paused to swallow, "this event always contains witches, clawed people with fangs, and there is also the possibility of devils men as they were called."

She continued;

"The thing is every time this event happens, this Ring comes up as well; at least the description of it. The painting I showed you is the only documentation that the Ring exists. I am not sure how old it is but my dad said he found it in a place called Etiek-something."

"You are spiraling, Cece." Max said in absolute calm as he stood up to hold Cecilia who had become so agitated in her revelation spree.

"Calm down, take a few breaths." She did, inhaling and exhaling as directed. "Now, tell me something that actually makes sense." Max said, taking a step back.

"Everything makes sense in a nonsensical way." James pitched in. "The hooded man we saved that girl from yesterday fits the description in that painting."

James said with a groan as he removed a massive book from the shelf and started leafing through it.

"Exactly," Cecilia said. "I think he is a werewolf or devil man as described in the journals."

"Hey Max," James called, "Tell me where you stand on this supernatural mumbo jumbo?" James asked.

"Hey, that's my dad's work you are talking about!" Cecilia groaned; James waved her off

"I am not sure." Max sighed, "I cannot deny that this Ring is extraordinary. Like I said, it was the reason I defeated the hooded Man. It kind of made me faster, stronger, and agile. A lot more than I have ever been?"

"It's crazy." He said with a sigh.