Long after most of the city had gone home, the lights on the highest floor of the Mercer Tower remained on.
On this floor was a well-lit, massive boardroom. Fifteen men and women sat around a long glass table. Most wore tailored business suits, while a handful wore white laboratory coats over formal attire.
A meeting was ongoing. The people around the table spoke in turns as they shifted through documents on their tables and discussed.
At the head of the table was an old woman in her seventies with grey hair, wearing a black suit. She was the oldest person in the room, and yet she seemed to command the presence and direction of the meeting.
Whenever someone spoke, their eyes inevitably drifted toward her. A single frown was enough to stop them mid-sentence and force an apology. If her expression remained unreadable, they continued.
This went on for another hour before something disturbed the meeting.
The boardroom doors opened without warning. Planche, a grey-haired man in a suit, entered briskly, phone still in hand, his normally composed expression nowhere to be seen.
Normally, he would be instantly questioned for his actions. However, everyone in this room knew him and also knew he was closely affiliated with the woman at the head of the table.
He was the right-hand man of the chairman.
"What is it, Planche?" The woman at the head of the table asked in a low tone. She didn't need to ask where the matter was urgent. One look and she knew it.
"Interim chairman, a code black has been triggered."
At that moment, those at the table looked at each other, wondering who it could be. Even the chairman looked around, trying to discern with her eyes.
A code black was the highest level of emergency that could be issued in the company, and it was reserved for only family members. Today marked the second time it had ever been used.
"A regional hospital just confirmed a blood match." Then there was a pause. "The match belongs to the Mercer family. We need you immediately."
Heads on the table flickered between the two across the room, trying to discern as much, but the information they had was too little to discern the full scope.
The old woman looked around calmly and stood. "The meeting is adjourned. We are leaving now."
"Yes, chairman." They all bowed and responded in unison. There was no one who dared to speak. It was final. They all stood up and followed behind her.
The next series of events happened fast, and before the chairman arrived at the hospital, the entire hospital was practically under lockdown.
***
The smell of blood still lingered in the forest.
Flashing blue and red lights illuminated the trees as police vehicles and emergency teams surrounded the area. After the testimony from the couple, Officer Nathan had notified his superiors, and they were instantly dispatched to the site.
He had been shocked by the instant directive from his superiors. Their action concerning the matter had been swift.
Officers moved carefully between the bodies scattered across the ground, trying to recover the parts. Men clad in white overalls also moved, taking pictures of the carnage-like scene.
Broken equipment littered the forest floor.
"Goodness…" Officer Nathan gasped as he appeared at the sight with a detective.
Unlike him, the detective moved in as they stepped in. With a full sweep, he sighted something and went over to find out more.
He arrived here and crouched beside one of the corpses, studying the deep wounds carved into the man's armor.
"…This wasn't done by ordinary weapons," he muttered.
Another officer approached.
"Sir, we counted thirty-two bodies so far."
The detective stood slowly. "All of them from the same group?"
"Yes."
The officer hesitated. "…There's something else."
The detective raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"There was no sign of a large battle," the officer said quietly. "It's like… they were overwhelmed instantly."
"What!" Officer Nathan, who had approached, reacted in shock. However, the detective looked around the forest again.
Thirty-two trained men, all dead.
No survivors.
He turned to Officer Nathan and asked, "You said a couple rescued a man down this river?"
Officer Nathan nodded, "Yes, and strangely he had no records with any hospital or the database prior. Then his blood matched with that family."
The detective nodded. He had been briefed beforehand. All of this was just confirmation.
His eyes traced the battlefield once more and moved towards the riverbank.
Dark stains marked the ground near the water. He crouched down, felt the stain, and lifted it.
Crimson and sticky. It was blood. A lot of it.
The detective frowned. 'What is the connection between the man who collapsed here and the man rescued in the hospital? Why is there an unregistered Mercer family member?'
He called out to one of the men clad in white, "Scan the traces of this blood. Let's see who it leads us to."
Behind him, Officer Nathan called out.
"Sir! You should see this!"
The detective walked over to see one of the bodies that had been turned over. On the corpse's back was a deep claw-like wound stretching across his body, ripping through his skin, muscles, and bones.
The detective stared at it for a moment. Then he quietly asked,
"…What did you say the couple found drawn at the back of the survivor?"
Officer Nathan hesitated. The word felt strange even saying it aloud.
"The couple said..."
"...the survivor had a tattoo."
The detective looked up.
"What kind?"
Nathan swallowed.
"...the face of a beast."
The detective's expression changed for the first time that night.
He slowly turned back toward the river.
"...Find me everything."
"I don't care how long it takes."