Dominic

  A week has gone by, and nobody has seen that girl since she got her tire fixed. The only time she pops up is at the bar to visit Erika, but after that, she doesn’t exist. I wish I could say that about the crime here, though. Something happened out here in New Orleans. Something really bad happened, and it’s something I never thought would ever happen.

        I headed over to Janelle’s bar at 5pm. It was really crowded this time, and I thought there was a little small event going even though Janelle isn’t the type to do stuff like that. I walked into the bar, and everybody was on their phones, gossiping about something that happened last night at a local club called New Euphoria. New Euphoria is a club that I work at every Thursday to Friday morning. However, last night, I was released early for the same amount of money I got for both of the nights.

       As I got closer to the crowd, everybody stopped talking and stared at me. I moved past them and all I could hear were people whispering people were whispering, but I didn’t pay attention to that at all. What bothered me was when I got to the bar, the cops were there, talking to Seth and Janelle about something. Janelle stopped talking when I got close to them. Seth and the cops turned to me, and I immediately regretted coming here.

        “ What’s going on?” I asked, confused as hell.

        “ At least we didn’t have to look for you.” Officer Ramirez said, walking up to me.

        “ You better get the hell away from me!” I warned them, backing up.

        “ You run, and I’ll shoot.” Officer Kravis threatened me, placing his hand on his gun. “ So, you better cooperate.”

       I turned to Seth, who was glaring at the cops. Janelle walked in between us and put her hands up. 

       “ You can’t just arrest him.” She told them. “ It’s clear he doesn’t know what’s up.”

       “ Did you see the fucking pictures?!” Kravis asked her. “ That was him, and you know it. So, step aside.”

       “ Wait, what did I do?!” I shouted, getting nervous. “ Somebody tell me something!”

      “ You stop playing fucking dumb.” Ramirez told me. “ You know what you did!”

       “ No, the fuck I don’t.” 

       Seth sighed and walked over to me. 

       “ Dom, what happened when you worked at New Euphoria a few days ago?” He asked.

       “ I was just stamping people’s hands and taking their money like I always do.” I told him, shrugging my shoulder.

      “ Exactly what was on the pictures.” Janelle said. “ Dominic, you need to tell us everything.”

       I looked at Janelle like she lost her mind. I just told her the truth, and she’s over here questioning me like she doesn’t trust me.

      “ You don’t fucking believe me?” I asked, looking from Seth to Janelle. “ I told you I worked the door that night.”

      “ We believe you, Dominic.” Seth said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

     I pulled away from him and turned to Officer Ramirez for question. He looked irritated, and so did Officer Kravis. 

     “ I promise, I didn’t do anything wrong.” I told them.

     “ Well, you can take that up with the judge.” Officer Kravis said, walking up to me and forcing me against the wall.

     “ Get the fuck off of me!!” I shouted, trying to fight them off. “ I didn’t do anything!”

     “ Shut the fuck up!” Officer Kravis shouted back.

      Officer Ramirez grabbed his gun from his holster and pointed it at me. Right at that moment, I didn’t care. I didn’t know what this was about, but I knew they were arresting me for something. 

      “ Put your fucking gun down!” Seth shouted at Officer Ramirez.

      “ Tell your brother to calm down!” Officer Kravis shouted back at Seth.

      Janelle tried to calm me down, but I ignored her. Nobody was telling me anything, and I felt like I was being framed for something. 

     “ Somebody tell me something!” I shouted.

     “ Dominic, they found five dead bodies at the New Euphoria.” Janelle told me.

     “ So what! There’s always animal bodies in the New Euphoria! That’s what the club is used for!”

     “ Dominic, the bodies belonged to five college students who were on vacation here.”

     I stopped fighting and turned my attention to Janelle. I swear my heart stopped when she told me that. I let Officer Kravis slap the cuffs on me.

     “ So, they think I did it?” I asked Janelle.

     “ You know humans aren’t allowed in New Euphoria.” Seth reminded me like I forgot.

     Officer Kravis pulled me off the wall, but I kept my eyes on Seth and Janelle.

     “ I didn’t know they were human.” I told them as I was pulled away towards the front door. “You know I’m not that type of person.” 

     “ Just go with them.” Seth told me. “ We’ll figure a way to get you out.”

     Janelle took her phone out and began calling someone. Still tripping over the whole situation, I just followed the police to their car. Officer Kravis opened the back seat and shoved me in, causing me to fall. Before he shut the door, Officer Kravis stuck his head in, and I just stared at him.

    “ We got a special place for dogs like you.” He said.

   “ As long as it’s away from you fuckers.” I retorted back.

   After that comment I made, his fist connected to my cheek, and an irony taste immediately filled my mouth.

    “ You’re my property now, bitch.” He growled at me before shutting the door. 

    I spat the blood onto the floor and turned my attention to the window that was on my side. My heart hurt instantly when I saw my mom standing there, tears formed in her eyes. I wanted to hug her so bad. This shit is so crazy. I kicked the fucking driver’s seat over and over again until my foot hurt. I screamed as loud as I could; tears forming in my eyes from me being so angry. 

    The thing is, I could only blame myself. It was nobody else’s fault, but mine. I’m the reason why those five students ended up dead. If I was focusing on the people instead of listening to music and avoiding eye contact with every person I stamped and took money from, they would’ve been alive. I sat there waiting for the officers to take me to jail, but they were too busy chit-chatting with my mom. 

     Somebody else popped up, and I wished they didn’t. James’ dumbass showed up, trying to be nosey as hell. He saw me in the car and a smile formed on his face. I scooted to the other side and kicked the door as hard as I could. This caused everybody to look my way. The police cut their conversation short and walked over to the car, but they weren’t what I was focused on. No, the look that James gave me took the fucking cake. His smile irritated me and he knew it. 

     The cops finally drove off, and for some reason, I had a feeling that this night was never going to end.

    See, what did I tell you? I knew that this night wasn’t over for me. I slumped over on the chair I was handcuffed to, blood dripping from my mouth onto the ground. Officer Ramirez laughed as Officer Kravis beat me while I was chained to the fucking chair.

     “ You’re different than the other dogs I beat up.” Officer Kravis said, rolling his sleeve up. “ Normally, dogs like you would almost be forced to shift.”

       I didn’t respond to that statement because to me, it was more of him just bragging than anything. However, to Officer Kravis, I think he was expecting an answer because he grabbed my hair, forced my head up. I was forced to look at Officer Ramirez, who was leaning against the door, smoking a Newport cigarette.

        “ What’s wrong with you?” He asked me, after puffing on the cigarette. “ Why aren’t you shifting? I’ve been waiting to see you change for a minute now.”

        Officer Kravis pushed my head down, and I spit the remainder of the blood that filled my mouth onto the floor. When I didn’t answer again, it was Ramirez’s turn to ask the questions. He threw the end of the cigarette into the ashtray that was placed on the brown wooden table and squatted down right in front of me. I slowly looked up, glaring at him, and he just smirked at me like the evil bastard he is. 

   “Why aren’t you shifting?” He asked me. “ Are you even a wolf?”

   “ Because I can’t.” I told him, and Kravis popped me on the back of the head.

   “ Don’t get smart you stupid fuck?” He shouted at me. “ Answer that question again with another lie, and I will beat it out of you once more.”

   I rolled my eyes and turned my attention back to the ground.

              “ You sure are bold for not responding when I am talking to you.” ,” Ramirez said, getting off the ground. “ Maybe you do need another ass whooping.”

   As much as I would love to irritate them, I wasn’t up for another ass whooping from Kravis. He wasn’t even fair at all. First off, he tied me to the fucking chair, knowing I couldn’t move, then he punched me in the stomach and let’s not talk about the face shots he did. 

   “ Because I can’t!” Shouting it to them. “ I can’t fucking access my wolf!”

   “ So, you’re the runt of James’ pack?” Kravis chuckled. “ I would’ve outcasted you if that was the case. I wonder why he kept you if you’re useless to them.”

   As those words left his mouth, my thoughts went back to James and the happy reaction he had on his face when he saw me in the back of the police car. That smile on his face angered me the most, but it also had me questioning myself as well. James never goes to the bar, so why was he there when I got arrested? How did he even find out about the incident? 

   Even though my family is part of his pack, my mother and sister don’t communicate with him outside of pack business. My brother does, though. Since he's Gamma and James’ best friend. That’s the only thing I dislike about my brother. I always wonder if he was on my side or not at times. 

   “ Isn’t that strange, though?” Ramirez asked Kravis as he walked over to the table. 

   “ Please tell me you’re not taking this bastard’s side?” Kravis asked Ramirez as he walked away from me as well. 

   “ I’m not defending anybody, but I’m not going to accuse somebody who hasn’t done anything wrong even though he is an enemy to the N.O.P.D.”

   “ To be honest, I’ll blame this on anybody just to get this fucking case closed.”

   I immediately looked up at Kravis, who was staring back at me as well.

   “ You would see an innocent get locked up for someone else’s crime?” Ramirez asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. 

   “ Anything that’s not human, of course.”

   “ I told you, I don’t kill.” I joined in the conversation. “ I’ve never killed in my life, and I’m not going to do it now.”

   Kravis grabbed the pictures that they showed me earlier and threw it at my face. 

   “ You might as well have!” He shouted at me with bass in his tone. 

   “ I didn’t fucking know they were human.” I said, not looking at the disturbing pictures they showed me earlier.

   The pictures were so gruesome, I can’t believe any wolf could do this without getting sick to their stomach. Five bodies were ripped apart. They had scratches on their face and body, so the clothes they had on were shredded up. The thing that really got me was that the hearts from each of these victims were snatched out before they were partially eaten. So, they were right about one thing: the suspect was indeed a wolf.

   “ Look at those fucking pictures, and you tell me what the fuck you see!!” Kravis screamed. “ Plus, the only footage we got was your fucking ass at the door, taking the money and putting something on their hands!! So, don’t act all fucking innocent!”

   I sighed and lifted my head up to look at the ceiling. My eyes quickly went over to the fan that was spinning around and around. 

   “ I never meant any harm to anybody.” I spoke calmly to them. “ It was just a regular night at the job.”

   My eyes went back to Ramirez and Kravis, who was standing there, looking at me.

   “ When I work there, I tend to keep my headphones on, blasting music while waiting for people to come up to me with their money and their hands extended.”

   “ Did the five people do the same as everybody else?” Ramirez asked, and I immediately nodded my head. “ So, you thought they were regulars?”

   “ I don’t have the abilities like my family and the other pack members do.” I explained. “ They can tell the difference between a human and a wolf by smell and the sound of the heartbeat. If the person is a wolf, I was told their heart beats three times faster than a regular human being. Their scent is a smell of nature natural scents like trees and pine cones and other things.”

   “ You don’t look at the faces of the people you stamp?” Kravis asked, calming down.

   “ For what?” I asked. “ I can’t tell the difference, so to be honest, it’s a waste of time.”

   I watched as Kravis walked over to the door and leaned against it. “ Then what happened?”

   Sighing I continued with the story. “ After I finish with the job, my boss comes out afterwards, pays me my cut, and tells me I can leave.” I stated. “ The thing is: he released me earlier than usual. I’m supposed to finish at 6am the next day, but he released me at midnight instead. So, I rushed home quickly. That’s all that happened.”

   As soon as I finished, Ramirez got a phone call. He grabbed his phone from within his uniform pant pocket and walked out of the room before placing it up to his ear. While he was chatting, I turned to Kravis, who was just staring off into space. Him not saying nothing smart was killing me. I wasn’t used to the quietness of the room. The door opened back up, and Ramirez walked into the room. He looked at me before turning his attention to his partner.

   “ So, we’re not taking him to jail.” Ramirez announced.

   “ That’s so generous of him.” Kravis said,rolling his eyes. “ So, we just let him go?”

   Ramirez shook his head, and when he smiled at me, I knew I wasn’t getting off this easy.

   “ He’s going to be taken to the Bayou Asylum.” 

   Kravis chuckled, but I didn’t say anything. They irritated me already, so when I heard the announcement from Ramirez, I wasn’t even impressed. 

   “ When does he have to be there?” Kravis asked.

   “ Tomorrow at eleven am.”

   Kravis nodded his head and walked towards the door with Ramirez right behind him.

   “ Are you leaving me here?” I asked them.

   “ We’ll come back to get you in eight hours.” Ramirez said before shutting the door. 

   “ What the fuck?!!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

   I swear they fucking irritate me.