Once the door was shut, the room plunged into darkness. As the blackness engulfed them, an eerie atmosphere settled in, creating a silence so thick Celeste could almost touch it.
Amidst this hushed tranquility, she could discern the uneven rhythm of Raymond's breaths and the faint thumping of his heart. She couldn't help but wonder if it was the lingering torment inflicted by the rogues that kept him in such agony.
Gradually, Celeste's eyes adjusted to the darkness, allowing her to make out the figure of the hunter who was bound to the chair. His face was a mess, disheveled and stained with smears of blood. Celeste couldn't fathom how the rogues could have subjected him to such punishment. It was beyond her imagination.
Raymond lifted his head in the gloom, his eyes attempting to meet Celeste's gaze. But she knew he was just an ordinary human, lacking the night vision of werewolves. In the dark, he could at most catch a fleeting glimpse of the glimmer in her eyes, while her expressions remained concealed.
"What do you want?" Raymond's voice sounded feeble and strained, escaping from his parched throat. Celeste could barely decipher his words.
Casting her eyes around the room's walls, Celeste's search came to an end as she finally spotted a switch. She swiftly made her way toward it and flipped it on, instantly flooding the room with an onslaught of light.
The sudden burst of radiance caused Celeste to squint momentarily. Similarly, Raymond squinted as well, attempting to acclimate himself to the unexpected luminosity.
Drawing nearer to Raymond, Celeste's steps were deliberate, not hurried, yet the distinct sound they made upon hitting the solid floor resonated with undeniable certainty.
The muscles on Raymond's shoulder appeared to tense slightly. In his face, Celeste could discern a mixture of vigilance and bewilderment, yet strangely, she couldn't find a sign of fear from him.
After all the crazy stuff those rogues pulled on him, Raymond ought to be scared witless of werewolves showing up. But right here, right now, it was just the two of them in the room. And Raymond didn't look scared one bit. In fact, with only Celeste by his side, he seemed oddly chill.
"Hey, aren't you freaked out that I might treat you like those jerks did?" Celeste blurted out, unable to hold it in.
"Nah, not you. I know you," Raymond replied, his voice still raspy as ever. But he managed to squeeze those words out. For some reason, this realization made Celeste's heart skip a beat.
"You're sounding mighty confident there," Celeste remarked, leaning in closer to Raymond.
Raymond tried to shrug, but it was more like a feeble attempt. Being tightly bound to the chair, pulling off that move was not that easy.
Now, Celeste was just a hair's breadth away from Raymond. From this angle, she could take in every detail of the tortured hunter before her. His clothes were a crumpled mess, barely holding together, and those ropes had got a tight grip on his hands and legs, making sure he was going nowhere.
Celeste's gaze fixed on those ropes. Just the regular old ropes, nothing fancy like the ones Kent had used on her when he snatched them from their car. Back then, the more Celeste struggled, the tighter those ropes cinched. Couldn't blame him for being too cautious, really. And now, Raymond may be a hunter, but he was just a regular human, lacking the super strength of a werewolf to snap ordinary ropes like twigs.
Celeste partially shifted, revealing her sharp wolf claw that shimmer with an otherworldly glow. That single claw looked sharp enough to slice through Raymond's skin like butter. With a deft move, she reached behind Raymond, her intentions crystal clear. Raymond caught sight of her transformation, causing a slight twitch in his muscles beneath the raggedy clothing.
With the grace of a seasoned pro, Celeste skillfully raked her claw across the ropes that were on Raymond's wrists, setting him free in a jiffy.
Raymond blinked in confusion before slowly retracting his hand to his chest, gingerly rubbing his wrists that bore visible marks from the tight ropes that had bound him.
"Thanks," Raymond muttered half-heartedly. Despite his attempt at gratitude, the skepticism was clearly etched on his face, evident to Celeste.
"You know… Without silver bullets or wolfsbane, you wouldn't exactly be a menacing threat to me right now," Celeste quipped, her hand extended as she offered the bottle of water to Raymond.
Rolling his eyes, Raymond caught the underlying sarcasm in Celeste's voice but decided to play it cool. Taking the bottle, he swiftly unscrewed the cap and gulped down the water, a few droplets cascading down his chin and finding their way onto his chest. Within moments, most of the water had vanished down his throat.
Finally satiated, Raymond nonchalantly set the empty bottle aside and cast a glance at Celeste. His gaze then shifted to his restrained feet. His eyebrows to arched at Celeste.
"Well, even if I were to free you now, they'd just truss you up again later," Celeste said matter-of-factly.
A wry grin crept across Raymond's face. "Fair enough. Care to enlighten me on your purpose for being here?"
Heaving a dramatic sigh, Celeste leaned against the table, crossing her arms as she peered down at Raymond, her eyes filled with scrutiny and intrigue.
"Raymond, that's the question I should be throwing back at you. What on earth brought you to this place?" Celeste crossed her arms and leaned on the table, looking down at Raymond in an interrogative manner.
"The answer isn't obvious? The werewolves caught me, so here I am," Raymond replied with a smirk.
"Let's not beat around the bush. How did you get caught by Kent?" Celeste interlaced her fingers, resting her head on her hands, scrutinizing Raymond.