22: Unfortunate Circumstances

Sophie went to work the next day. She found the restaurant sealed for investigation. Apart from that nothing had changed. The same hordes of people that crowded the streets yesterday, did so that day. She went to her floor and was greeted by her coworkers with tons of sympathy after seeing her bandaged hand. It was a kitchen accident as far as she had told. She entered her room and shut the door behind her. She hoped against hope that Aaron would show up. The pile of files on her desk kept her busy. As she dived into it, hours passed like minutes. She called on his cell phone but there was no answer. Every once in a while, she left her office to check if he had arrived but in vain. The day concluded. Aaron never came.

She exited the building into the road where traffic was slow as usual. She entered the same street he had saved her from, the other evening. It seemed safer that day. There was some sort of party in one of the houses, so there was some activity there. Sophie wanted to look for him but Aaron hadn’t told her where he lived. She didn’t have the slightest idea where to look. She took a long and slow stroll to the subway station. She couldn’t wipe off the worry no matter how much she tried. She was concerned about him. He was in danger.
She got off the subway and, after a short walk, arrived at the street of her house. The long travel proved beneficial for her muddled head. She wondered what Chloe had decided for dinner. Sophie was thinking Chinese takeaway. She was just four houses away when a black van screeched to a stop in front of her and four masked men emerged from it in an instant. Sophie froze with fear. They approached her while one of them showed her a flip knife and motioned her to keep quiet. Her eyes welled up. She knew she was done for. She heard the loud roar of a motor bike from behind her. The masked men tried to grab and shove in the van as soon as they could but a gunshot made them reconsider. They abruptly stepped back as soon as they heard it. They decided that the job would be easier with the biker out of the way so they pulled out their side arms. They aimed where the biker would be. The bike had disappeared. They masked men listened attentively for its engine’s noise. A flashbang bounced in front of them and went off without giving them enough time to react. An earsplitting bang and a blinding flash rendered them unable to act. They shut their eyes and ears and waited for their senses to come back. Profanities flew like confetti. Unfortunately, Sophie was also among the immobilized ones. She was on her knees with her eyes shut and her hands on her ears when the bike stopped beside her and a pair of hands lifted her up, put her on the bike. She retaliated.
“It’s Aaron”, she heard the voice say and she gave in. The bike sped away. It took almost two minutes for her hearing and sight to return. The bike was still speeding when the white in her sight faded away. She tightly hugged Aaron from behind. Aaron almost hit a hydrant in shock. They didn’t speak until they arrived at Aaron’s place. Neither had the strength to talk.
It took them thirty minutes to reach there. They would have arrived in twenty at the pace he had been riding in but Aaron had decided to disappear in some alleys and make some decoy turns. As they arrived, Big T was playing with little Ezekiel in front of the house.
“My man!!”, he exclaimed admiringly as he saw him approach with a lady behind her. Aaron offered a tired smile and parked the bike. He led her upstairs. She staggered to his room with him.

They both kept staring at the ground exhausted. Sophie looked tarnished. Her hair were a mess and her shirt was missing a button. They lacked words. She understood what he was like so she knew she had to break the ice.
“Is this your idea of an apology?”, she fired. Aaron didn’t move. She had expected him to be startled but instead he was in deep thought yet acknowledged her remarks.
“After what I’ve put you through, I am surprised we’re having this conversation at all”, he responded, without moving a muscle. Sophie flushed. She didn’t even want an apology. She just wanted to know what was going on. She had been shot at and had almost been kidnapped in past two days. It was a valid suspicion that it was happening because of her proximity with Aaron and his reaction to it was fading the doubts. She tried the driving question but it didn’t work.
“Who were those men?”, she decided to ask it directly.
“Just some guys that don’t love me”, he responded after a brief pause.
“Wouldn’t have shot at you if they did”
“Let’s just keep it at that”
“My ears are still ringing. My hand is fucked up because of 3 inches long glass shards were embedded in it. I am in no mood to keep it at that!”, Sophie stood up and screamed. Aaron still didn’t look at her.
“If you wanna keep secrets, fine! I’m outta here”, she blurted and went for the door.
“Alright. You have bled because of me. The least you deserve is the truth”, Aaron’s voice stopped her in her tracks. “The answer you seek is gonna make you walk out of that door before letting me finish”, he added. Sophie turned and faced him. He was staring directly into her eyes.
“Try me!”, she said. He sighed.
“My blood line is connected to the last known man who could morph into a wolf on command”, he explained, expecting her to either laugh hysterically or storm out of the room or throw something at him. Sophie looked at him trying to find a hint if he was kidding. “My powers haven’t kicked in yet and the enemies know that. That’s why they want to kill me so desperately because once my powers kick in, killing me will become a bit more complicated”, he added. Sophie sat on the bed in deep thought. There was a long silence in the room.
“So silver bullets?”, she finally asked.
“In my present state, a regular one will do just fine”
“You know how this sounds, right?”
“I know. I can’t even prove it. Unless I get my powers, all I have is human strength that is marginally more than a regular guy”, he retorted. “I have been on the run since I was eight. I have never known any of my family. I have been crashing here and there with different aliases. The elders forbade me from making any friends but it was getting sickening”, he added.
“Elders?”
“Yeah. They watch over me from a distance. They have a very resourceful network and many friends in high places. They warn me of any imminent threats”
“You guys meet?”
“No. I haven’t ever seen them. They convey their messages through letters that I am instructed to burn as soon as I have read them. I have only met a person who carried his message and that’s it”
“Those men…?”
“I have my suspicions but nothing concrete”, he said. “I am pretty sure that they are the same guys”, he added. Sophie was having a hard time trying to absorb all this. She just kept nodding and trying to make any sense of it.
“You just might be some guy who stole from a gangster and he is sending cavalry after you”, she said.
“It must be an insane sum to piss off a gangster this much and with that much money, I would have simply fled the country. But the elders want to keep me here”, he responded. She was back in deep thought. He had a point.
“Maybe you stashed something and want things to cool down”, she fired back. He sighed and walked to his wardrobe. He pulled out a bag and emptied it in front of her. It had several driver’s licenses and passports with his photo but different names and details. They all had different states and countries on it. He looked significantly younger in many of them.
“As I said, I have been on the run for a while now. I have had enough time to escape or retrieve anything I had stashed somewhere”, he responded. Sophie was speechless again. Silence dominated in the room for a while.
“So… the werewolf? Is it some kind of a codeword?”
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me!”, he snapped.
“Am I supposed to believe that horseshit? That you are the last seed of some mythological being?”, she didn’t realize but she was yelling. “Tell me the truth when you want to but for now, I’m stuck in this with you so I think I can do without the answers for a while”, she added. Aaron slumped his head and stared at the ground in disbelief. He didn’t know how to comfort her or if there was even a possible way to do so.
“So, what now?”, she finally asked.
“I don’t know. We gotta live one day at a time. The elders will figure something out”, he said and Sophie nodded. She decided to believe that whoever or whatever the elders were, they were probably make things right. She stood up to leave without a word. He offered to drop her at her place. She nodded again. Just as they stepped out of the house, the sting in her head made her remember something.
“By the way, where’d you get the flashbang?”
“You’d be surprised what people would do for a gram of coke”, he said and snickered. She wasn’t amused even though the gadget had probably saved her life.
“I know it’s too much to believe but something tells me you’re gonna have your doubts fixed real soon”, he said as they took off.