Chapter 37.1 – Violet’s parents – part 2
Because of the shock they got from Aniya’s words, Louise asked with a trembling voice while squeezing the arm of her pale husband. “What… happened yesterday?”
“According to what Violet said to me before she died, someone very high in the Hunters ordered her to kill me. While we were distracted, a Werewolf attacked us and killed her before she could kill me. I can only think of three certain members of the High Council, specifically Mister Blake, who didn’t seem to like one bit in our last meeting that a woman would join a Hunter Squad on the field instead of being an administrative.”
Blake Garvin answered with a hoarse voice, full of anger, “You can’t prove any of those accusations! May I need to remind you I am also your superior?”
“Lucky you, I can’t prove anything, or you would be already dead. I told my father yesterday, and I am telling you today. I don’t want to have anything to do with the Hunters anymore. If one of you ever approaches me or one of my children, when I have them, I will kill every Hunter I can find. I know my family is one of the first Hunter bloodlines, but with me, that bloodline ends.”
Blake Garvin shouted, “You can’t do that! You have a sacred obligation!”
“Sacred my butt! Was that how you convinced my friend Violet to turn on me? Hunters don’t have a sacred code! You are all a bunch of murderers that kill innocent people who have no blame for being born Werewolves! The only way for you to force me to continue my Hunter bloodline is if you take me by force and find a Hunter that rapes me. But if you try something like that, you and all your friends don’t need to worry about Werewolves, because I will kill every single one of you!”
Blake Garvin turned towards the door and answered with a grin. “You have no idea of the power and reach of the Hunters. You will come begging for me to accept you back, sooner than you think!”
Aniya frowned and warned him. “One month from now, you and every Hunter I can put my hands on will be dead. It will also be an open season in other countries. You really have no idea what you did… Your Hunter’s group even twisted my father in such a way that he almost beat my mother to death today. I will come for you, don’t worry.”
Blake left, with his men glancing at Aniya, who was clenching her fists. Lisa was at her side, gently squeezing her arm and whispering, “Calm down, Aniya, focus… The light, remember? Breathe, Aniya, breathe.”
After they left, Louise Green fell on her knees, crying nonstop. Her husband kneeled on the floor next to her, and hugged her, crying as well.
Aniya faced them when she stopped hearing the footsteps outside and said, “Tomorrow will be Violet’s funeral. As soon as you can, quit working for the Hunters and go to my company. It is better if you stay away from them as much as possible. Nothing good can come from that crazy bunch.”
Louise turned to look at Aniya and asked, “I… don’t understand… Why did Violet try to kill you? That makes no sense! You were all such good friends!”
“Good friends that never noticed she was a Werewolf or could see she needed help to get away from the Hunters. If only we knew… I couldn’t help her, but I sure can help you both. Unless you prefer to continue on their side. If you do, you might lose your job when I go after them, because I will avenge Violet’s and my father’s death.”
“Your father? He is dead? Oh… I am really sorry, I didn’t know…”
“One Werewolf that escaped yesterday went to my house. Or it was another one that works for the Hunters. He killed my father and almost killed my mother before I arrived. He escaped, but I will find him, eventually.”
Louise Green clenched her fists and said, “Werewolves are evil… I know they can’t control themselves, but still…”
“Yesterday we killed a big group of Werewolves that could turn when they wanted because when they were Humans, they liked to eat Human flesh. Evil Humans make evil Werewolves. People that are born with the blood mutation can’t avoid becoming Werewolves during a full moon. You have no idea the fear they suffer from, especially the fear of one day getting free from their restraints and killing their entire family.”
“We kind of understand that fear, Aniya. It’s just… You sound like you care more about Werewolves than Hunters.”
“That’s because I do. Mindless Werewolves have no idea what they are doing. Hunters know and they don’t mind killing children and old people. They are all just a bunch of murderers that hide behind a so-called sacred code to justify their liking for killing innocent people.”
She kneeled on the floor next to the sad couple and said, “I wasn’t able to help Violet on time, but I will help you. Please, get away from them. I don’t want any of you to get hurt, because the moment they make a move against me, I will make them be sorry.”
Louise Green held Aniya’s hands and pleaded, “Don’t go against them. You have no idea of the power they have. They can ruin you or make you disappear. They have the police and members of the government on their side. Going against them is futile!”
“That’s what they like to believe, and they say that to everyone around them. They are not almighty, and they are not more than the Werewolves. They are fewer, and they keep on losing members while Werewolves increase. I need to go now because I need to return to my mother’s side. I will be at the funeral tomorrow morning.”
Louise hugged her and got up to hug Lisa, who was in silence and nervously trembling since Aniya began talking with Blake Garvin. Louise and her husband hugged Lisa, worried by the way she looked.
Aniya grabbed Lisa’s hand, and they both left. Outside, Nick was talking with Mister Sellas, the taxi driver, and he bit his lower lip when he saw how sad they looked.
Aniya asked when she got near him, “What… are you doing here? You were supposed to wait for me.”
“I had to come, Aniya. Davis told me what happened with your father, and that you were going to come here. I couldn’t leave you alone to face all the sadness, you know that.”
Aniya hugged him tight and whispered, “Thanks… This means a lot...”
“I am here for you, and I will always be.”
He opened the door for her and sat at the front. Lisa joined Aniya in the back seat, and Aniya asked, “Mister Sellas, can you please take my friend home and then take me to the Hospital where you picked me up?”
Lisa frowned. “What are you saying? I am going with you!”
“No, you are not. You are going home to protect your parents. I don’t trust Hunters one bit, and Blake Garvin even less. I will tell Davis to go see you as soon as I get to the Hospital so that you have a backup, just in case.”
“Yeah… alright… But... Aniya, why didn’t you tell Violet’s parents what really happened yesterday? I was… well…”
Aniya gently caressed her friend’s cheek. “What good would that do, Lisa? It’s better if they don’t know. For all purposes, what I told them was what happened. They already lost their daughter, so there was no need to lose us as well. They need us, so I guess helping them is our punishment? It’s all for the best, Lisa, it’s better this way.”
Lisa slowly nodded, tears falling down her face. Aniya did her best to reassure her friend, but the guilt was consuming Lisa little by little.
When they finally reached her house, Aniya gave Lisa one last hug and waited for her to enter before asking the taxi driver to go.
On their way to the Hospital, Aniya was biting her fingernails, and Nick turned back and said, “I saw three men leaving that house. Were they Hunters? They looked like it.”
“Yes, they were. The older one is a member of the High Council and he was probably the one that told Violet to kill me. I told him I wanted nothing to do with the Hunters and that my Hunter bloodline would end with me. He kind of threatened me, and I threatened him back. Nick, we need to be fast. I want to find as many Werewolves as I can so that one month from now, I have an enormous group to awaken. Or even better, one big group on each night. The more the merrier. I can use my company resources to contact the others on that list I have, and Lisa’s father can probably find a few. But we need more.”
“What for? You want to go to war, or what?”
“I just want to be prepared. Do you think I could ask the ones with whom I have already talked and have them try to find more Werewolves? Considering that Werewolves can smell each other, I mean. I can also ask Davis to contact my father’s family, my real father. Maybe they can help as well.”
Nick nodded, and he looked worried. “Yeah, about that… I am kind of nervous about meeting them, you know? What if they don’t approve of me?”
“I approve. What else matters? If they don’t approve, they don’t approve. See if I care. I have lived all these years without knowing they existed. I think I can live a few more without them messing with my life. I just need their help in dealing with our common enemies. My personal life is mine alone. And I think my abilities will be very useful to them. I don’t know how many conscious Werewolves are there, or how many can do what I do to awake others, but I bet there are few.”
“Adrian was a conscious Werewolf, remember? His group was not, but he was.”
“Yes, you told me that at lunch. Still, I may very well be unique, and if I am, I am very valuable to my father’s family. And to every Werewolf out there, of course.”
Nick nodded, and he sat properly again. After a few seconds of silence, he spoke. “You are also very valuable to the Hunters. If they find out what you can do, they won’t stop until they get you. You need to be very careful, Aniya.”
“Yeah, I already reached that conclusion. They had a lot of trouble yesterday, fighting that enormous group of mindless beasts. If they were all conscious, the Hunters wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“That is why I said you need to be careful. Me too, of course. I took a tremendous risk to come to you, but I couldn’t be in that house, thinking of how much you were suffering. And since I now know how to change, if some Hunters found me while I was coming to you, I just needed to change and escape. Or kill them, if I couldn’t escape.”
“Be careful, Nick. You don’t want to be like them, enjoying killing people. If you kill Hunters indiscriminately, you are no better than them.”
Aniya stared at the rearview mirror and noticed that Nick was twisting his upper lip as if he knew she was right, but his hate for the Hunters was stronger than his reasoning.
She reached out to him and gently tapped his shoulder. “You said you were here for me. I am also here for you, you know?”
Nick kissed her fingertips and gave a slight smile. He grabbed a curl of her long blonde hair and put it behind her ear. “You changed a lot, Aniya, you know?”
“I suppose. Lisa said more or less the same thing. I don’t feel any different, though, except that I now have more patience with people.”
“That is also one of the reasons why I love you.”
Aniya jolted. “You… you what? You… I mean, I…”
Mr. Sellas spoke with a big smile. “This is the part where you say you also love him, Miss.”
“I… Yeah… I… I mean… Yeah...”
Nick pretended to be angry. “Forget what I said, you are still the same rude brat that knocked me out the first time we met!”
“No! I… you took me by surprise, that’s all! I…”
She then glanced at the taxi driver and asked, her face all red. “Can we… talk about this on another occasion?”
“Of course, Aniya, of course. I already have my answer. It’s written all over your face.”
Aniya gave him a slight punch on his shoulder. “Stop mocking me, you bloody idiot! I just… Oh, forget it!”
Nick turned forward again and winked at the taxi driver, who was doing his best not to laugh.