(Soundtrack: "Predator" (Collide Remix) – Front Line Assembly)

It was dark. Ben could see clearly, though. Darkness never really mattered to his eyes since the day he had become a werewolf. He was hanging around Claygate like he usually did whenever he fell out of sleep. The night air was keeping his head clear, in his own words. He stood at the corner, leaning against the wall.

Winter in London, freezing cold and foggy as usual… A cop car approached. The lights played through the thick fog. Two homicide detectives got out of the car, walked towards him. One of them was tall; the other was shorter and fat.

After they examined this nasty, violent, young man for a moment, the tall one came one step closer.

"I'm Detective Rush, this is Detective Murray." They both flashed their badges. We're from London Police Department. We'd like to speak with you, young man."

Ben put his hands in his pockets and frowned. "What do you want?"

"Do you know Mrs. Kate Birmingham?"

Ben was surprised. Because this female name was quite familiar to his misogynist ears.

"Yes. She's a housekeeper. She cleans my apartment from time to time when I'm at work," he callously replied. "If she's the same bitch that you're talking about," he added.

Detective Rush showed him a passport photo. "Is this her?"

Ben nodded.

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Two weeks ago. Why?"

"She was found dead this morning." The fat detective, Murray, spoke.

Ben froze. He could be rude and arrogant, but he had feelings, too. "How did she die?"

"She was murdered."

Ben rolled his eyes dramatically. "Really? Maybe that's why you're from homicide department."

Two detectives glanced at each other in bewilderment.

Rush spoke again. "She was raped and slaughtered."

Ben grimaced. He opened his mouth to speak, but no word came out of his firm mouth.

"Listen, boy, shall we do this downtown if you please?" Rush asked.

Ben frowned again. "Look, I don't know anything about her. She was just a housekeeper to me. I was neither dating nor fucking her! I don't think I can help you with your investigation."

"We'll see about that!" Murray cut in. "We'd like you to come downtown with us and answer some questions. Don't be stubborn, boy! Don't make me arrest you!"

Ben seemed to have no choice but to follow them. In the car, they sat in front, he sat in the back.

"You have the right to an attorney," Rush said to Ben, looking at him in the rearview mirror.

"Attorney is for wealthy jerks. I have nothing…" Ben replied, staring out of the window. "Nothing to do with this case," he added under his teeth.

The fog was heavy. It was raining heavily.

"It's after midnight, raining cats and dogs and we're still working our tails off, Gary!" Murray said to his partner.

Ben closed his eyes a beat and then, still staring out, he gave a thin smile. They saw it, too, and glanced at each other…

INTO THE POLICE INTERROGATION ROOM- 3 a.m

It was small, fluorescent-lighted. Ben walked in with Rush and Murray. A young officer was waiting outside.

Both detectives kept their eyes on Ben. He sat down and they sat directly across from him. Even though he was nervous, he was in complete command of himself.

Rush spoke first: "Ben, would you tell us the nature of your relationship with Mrs. Birmingham?

"Like I said before, she worked for me as a housekeeper twice or three times," he replied as he looked from one man to the other as he spoke.

"Did you have feelings for her, Ben? Did you ever ask her out?"

"Holy swearing cuss! I've never been into married bitches."

"How did you know that she was married?" Rush raised an eyebrow.

Ben stared at him, expressionless; "Because you've been calling her 'Mrs' for the last one hour. I don't have to be a genius to know that."

Detective Rush suddenly felt like stupid. Murray carried on:

"Do you always call women 'bitches' or 'whores', Ben?"

Ben paused. They waited for a response, but he remained silent.

"Where were you last night?"

"I was patrolling around my Alp-" Fortunately, he managed to pause before he blundered. He almost forgot that werewolves hadn't become public, yet!

He cleared his throat before he corrected his last sentence. "I was patrolling around the house of my boss."

"Patrolling for what?"

"For… uh… protecting his house and car from thieves."

"Alright." Rush curled a lip. "Can he come to testify on your behalf? Write his name and number. We'll call him." He put a piece of paper in front of Ben.

After Ben had written the name and the number, Rush took the paper and read it out loud. "David Irons… Hmm, this name sounds familiar."

David Irons, the Alpha of London pack, had always been a well-known man in central London even before the werewolf society became public. He was a rich and womanizer man.

Rush came to his feet, opened the door and extended the paper to the officer who was waiting by the door.

Then he sat back on his chair. Crossing his arms, he assumed on a serious air.

"Do you do drugs, Ben?"

"What? Hell, no!" Ben looked directly at him.

Murray opened up a folder and looked at some written documents. "You seem like a smart boy. You've got a degree in computer science."

"Yeah, I have, I suppose." Ben scratched his hair smugly. "You want to study my computer records in detail, don't you?"

Murray glanced at his partner for one second. Then he had his eyes on Ben again. "How do you know about that?"

"I'm just guessing." Ben shrugged.

"Did you kill Mrs. Birmingham?" Murray suddenly raised his voice.

"You're bloody out of your mind! I haven't seen her for two weeks!" Ben yelled back at him.

"I'm afraid we're gonna have to keep you in here until your boss comes to verify your statement." The detectives stood up to leave the room.

Ben lost his mind and started howling; "I did not kill that bitch! I didn't fuck her, either! I didn't touch her hair or her hand. Okay? It's not me who did that to her!"

"Take him to jail. He's going to wait there." Rush ordered to the young officer.

"It's not me who did that!"

"IT'S NOT ME WHO DID THAT!"

Ben jumped out of the bed with shock and horror. After he wiped the sweat drops upon his forehead, he looked at the clock by his bedside. It was 3 a.m. He rushed into the bathroom to wash his face. After two long minutes passed, he managed to collect himself.

"Just a nightmare," he muttered to himself. "A fucking nightmare!"

He took his cell phone and dialed a number.

The person you have called cannot be reached at the moment. Please try again later…

"Damn it!" He threw the phone on the floor.

"Where the cuss are you, Aurah?"