The Blue Eyes

"Kevin, have you heard the rumors?"

There was no wind, no rain, but suddenly there was 'lightning.'

Two seconds ago, the laboratory atmosphere was still very calm and peaceful. Only Kevin was there because it was getting late at night. Other scientists must have come home to rest after a long day of work.

But, the tranquil atmosphere was disturbed by a loud 'lightning' named Andre Concord. He entered Kevin's workplace in a hurry and asked something that sounded ambiguous.

At that time, Kevin was concentrating on studying the research document of his parents' legacy, which shape was no longer intact because many parts were burnt and now the object was dominated by the color of charcoal black.

The majority of the writing was already unreadable. It was still fortunate that the document was saved after the big explosion seventeen years ago. Perhaps in the past, the document was stored in a place quite far from the center of the explosion so that it wasn't completely destroyed without leaving a trace after the explosion.

"Can't you speak more clearly? What rumors do you mean?" Kevin asked in a lazy tone. He knew so well that his co-worker was quite eccentric and sometimes crazy.

Andre's not-so-secret hobby was gossiping and was always excited when he was about to deliver gossip that's hot at the time. Sometimes his demeanor was also a little childish even though he was two years older than Kevin. Although it was undeniable that Andre could also act maturely at certain times―the probability was one in a million, though.

Before answering Kevin's question, Andre first dragged a chair and placed the chair beside Kevin. His butt then landed on the hard object made of iron. His face looked so excited, like a puppy seeking the owner's attention.

Too bad that this one was not a puppy but a big dog. Andre was also quite tall, probably just two or three centimeters shorter than Kevin. His body was also muscular since he liked doing exercises. Andre's face was also attractive, he was quite popular amongst girls before he got married half a year ago.

"I just got a piece of secret information from the Intelligence Agency. They found signs that the werewolves are still alive until now."

Andre's narrative successfully attracted Kevin's attention. The handsome scientist who had been reluctant to listen to Andre's story now showing an enthusiastic expression on his face. "How do you know about that secret information? That kind of information sure can't be leaked so easily, right? That's called secret for a reason," he then asked curiously.

The question made Andre smile proudly and patted his chest once arrogantly. "I have a trusted informant there. The information I get is 99.99% reliable," he said braggingly.

"That means there is still a 0.01% chance that the information is wrong, right?" Kevin asked with a sneer.

The one who was sneered at couldn't accept it and said, "But, the chance of the truth of the information is still greater than the chance of that being wrong."

Kevin finally nodded, choosing to back down rather than argued endlessly. "Okay, I'll ignore the 0.01% chance of that information being wrong, but tell me more about the rumors," he said in the end.

Andre's eyes lit up at the request, and he started babbling, "Some time ago there was a storm in the northern sea. At that time, a fisherman who was desperate to go to sea ended up stranded on a remote, uninhabited island. The fisherman accidentally saw a group of humans feasting on the raw meat of wild animals. They looked like hungry beasts. When the fisherman was finally able to return to the coastal area, he reported the incident to the local police and the local police reported that to the Intelligence Agency."

Kevin paid close attention to his friend's story, then he responded, "Didn't you say 'group of humans' earlier? How could the fisherman immediately conclude that they were a pack of werewolves even though they looked like humans? They could just be humans who were also stranded on the island, right?"

Andre immediately shook his head after hearing Kevin's response. "Don't we all know that werewolves are very good at disguising themselves as humans?" He asked confidently.

Kevin nodded in agreement. That statement was indeed true. Today it was very difficult to distinguish between the human and the werewolf. Moreover, a long time had passed, and it could be that the werewolves had also experienced rapid development in themselves. It may be that now they were becoming more and more difficult to distinguish from normal humans.

"That makes sense," Kevin finally returned to respond. "Based on the research results, werewolves developed very rapidly from the 1980s to 2000s. Within two decades they developed from savage beasts to cultured creatures like humans. And now that almost seventeen years have passed since the big war, they may be experiencing rapid development again."

Andre seemed to agree with Kevin's explanation since he nodding his head without any doubts on his face. "You are right. Moreover, the fisherman also said that the creatures on the island also consume alcohol and some of the drinks normally consumed by humans. If I remember correctly, didn't seventeen years ago they could only eat and drink human or animal flesh and blood?"

"You don't remember it wrong," Kevin confirmed again. "If indeed they are experiencing rapid development again, it means that humans are in greater danger. It could be that they have been among us all this time but have not been detected. Maybe they deliberately stop hunting humans so that their existence remains undetected by humans. Maybe they feel outnumbered by us so they choose to be careful."

Andre nodded again in agreement, but then he cringed himself at the thought of the possibility of a ferocious werewolf in their midst and could pounce at any moment. Wasn't this the same as living side by side with a ticking time bomb?

No one knew how long the werewolves would be able to 'fast' without eating human flesh. It may be that seventeen years was already too long for them and they started craving for the tastiness of human flesh. Oh no. Andre was starting to feel frightened now.

"Hey, buddy. We should start to limit our working hours. It will be very dangerous if we come home too late. Aren't you afraid of werewolves?" Andre asked after a few minutes of fearful contemplation.

But the other guy didn't look scared at all and remained calm as usual. "If you want to go home now, you don't have to make excuses. I know you already miss your wife at home," he replied in a mocking tone.

The man who was being mocked could only grin innocently in response to Kevin's taunts. "You are very understanding, Kev," he said as he began to pack his belongings and got ready to go home. "If you are married, you will want to come home early too. You will see," he added. He waved his hand briefly at Kevin and then immediately walked quickly out of the laboratory.

Kevin just smiled when he saw his friend's very unique behavior. He was about to go back to studying the documents from the explosion seventeen years ago but suddenly his cellphone that was lying on the table vibrated softly.

He grabbed the sophisticated object and looked at the identity of the caller on the transparent screen. He smiled heartily when he saw who was contacting him at night like this.

"Hey, what's up?" He greeted the person on the other end of the phone.

"Are you home?" Someone on the other end of the line asked.

Kevin moved his hand to close the document he was studying and then responded to the caller, "I'm still in the laboratory. Why? Have you returned to the city?"

"Yes, I was back in town this afternoon, I even visited Blue at the orphanage."

The answer from the caller on the other end of the phone surprised Kevin. "Have you been back in town since this afternoon? Ah, that means you lied to me! Didn't you say that you weren't back in town when you called me this afternoon?" He asked a little annoyed because he felt he had been lied to.

Instead of feeling guilty about upsetting Kevin, the man on the other end of the phone laughed out loud. "I was not lying. Technically I wasn't in the city when I called you this afternoon because at that time I just arrived at the border," he said defensively.

The young scientist grumbled softly while his right hand unconsciously moving over the cover of the document which was already in a mess. The writing on it could not be seen because it was covered by black burn marks.

Kevin's short nails involuntarily moved to scratch the part that was covered by black color, and his eyes widened when writing began to appear after he managed to peel off the thin black charcoal with his fingernails. Unconsciously his thin lips muttered, "BLUE?"