Act II.

  — Earlier That Day —

  A man walked down a narrow, cold hallway lit by harsh white lights. His footsteps echoed softly as he approached a red door, its paint chipped and peeling with age. He knocked gently, glancing around with nervous, twitchy movements.

  “Come in,” a raspy voice called.

  He pushed the door open and stepped into a cramped, cluttered office. A man with gleaming glasses sat behind a desk, the overhead light reflecting sharply off the lenses. He gestured toward the nearest chair.

  “Jacob,” the man said, voice rough. “You better have a good reason for dragging me here on Halloween. Otherwise, I might just make your head a decoration at my house.” He laughed — a loud, harsh sound that didn’t feel entirely friendly.

  “B?boss, I’m sorry,” Jacob stammered. “I just… had an idea. Since it’s Halloween, werewolves might come into town pretending their look is a costume.”

  “So?” the boss grunted. “We can’t just yank on every werewolf costume we see to check if it’s real.” He sighed heavily. “Boy, you better start giving me some real evidence. Proof. Something.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Jacob.” The boss leaned forward. “If you don’t give me something soon, they’re gonna fire me. I’ll be out of a job. And I don’t think ‘mythbuster’ counts as a real profession. They’ve been laughing at me for years. Sooner or later, they’ll kick me out. And you—kid, you need to find something new to do. Something stable. This isn’t a job that’ll give you a good life. If I were you, I’d go find a rich chick and settle down.”

  “I don’t have time for relationships,” Jacob muttered. “I will find the truth about werewolves. There has to be somewhere we haven’t checked yet.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “Ja—”

  “Boss, I’m sorry, but I can’t give up. I have to solve this mystery.”

  The boss shook his head. “Like I said, kid… if I were you, I’d be finding myself someone. You’ve got the looks — shouldn’t be too hard.”

  Jacob sighed and rolled his eyes. “Fine. If you’re not gonna help me, I’ll do it myself. It was nice working with you.”

  The boss leaned back in his chair. “I wish you the best of luck, then.”

  Jacob stood, walked out, and stepped into the bright, sunny morning — a sharp contrast to the dim, suffocating office he’d just left.

  ---

  — That Same Night, After the Encounter —

  Jacob stumbled through the crowded Halloween streets, panting from running too much. Children in costumes darted around him, laughter echoing through the night.

  “W?what… who was that?” he muttered, pulling a sketch from his pocket. It was a drawing of wolf ears — his imagined version. He hesitated, then erased it and began sketching the boy he’d seen. The twitching ears. The tail. The expression.

  “No way,” he whispered. “Absolutely no way. Maybe I wanted them to be real so badly that I imagined it.”

  He paused.

  “Other than that… he looked beautiful. Ugh. What’s wrong with me?”

  But he knew he hadn’t imagined it.

  His dark eyes were ringed with exhaustion, the result of too many sleepless nights. His body felt like it could collapse at any moment. Running a frustrated hand through his messy dark hair, he trudged toward his apartment.

  The place was small, cramped, and chaotic — sketches and posters plastered across the walls, papers scattered everywhere. A wastebasket overflowed with ripped drawings. Most of them were of werewolves, maps, theories, and sightings. His obsession was impossible to miss.

  He stared at a large map pinned to the wall. Every location he’d investigated was crossed out. Every theory disproven.

  “Why is this so hard?” he whispered.

  His finger traced the map until it landed on a spot he hadn’t dared consider.

  The Bermuda Triangle.

  He exhaled sharply. “There’s no way. Ships and planes disappear there. There’s no way a whole werewolf population could live there… right?”

  Still, he grabbed his phone and texted the boss — the same man he’d walked away from that morning.

  The reply came instantly.

  “Come to the recording studio tomorrow morning.”

  Followed by an address.

  Jacob stared at the message, heart pounding.

  He had no idea he’d just made the biggest breakthrough of his life.