I waited patiently for Susan and her Dad to go further into the woods before walking back to the main road. Chris and Karen were already there, standing beside Chris' car.
"You heard everything?" Chris asked.
"I did"
"I don't know if I believe him" Karen said.
Chris turned to Karen "Apart from a werewolf ripping up people, his explanation is the next best logical thing"
Karen scoffed "A dire beast? Really?"
"Something with claws did it. If it's not someone from your pack then I suggest you keep an open mind" Chris answered.
"If this is remotely true then I have to tell my Dad, we need to get this information to the AMU"
"What do we tell them if they ask how we got this information?" Chris asked.
"I've said it before, it's the Alchemist versus my pack. Guess whose side I'm picking"
I sighed "Just think for a second, I know you're angry right now so you might make rash decisions you'll regret later"
"Not to mention he's the only one aware of the dire beast to hunt it, if he catches it then its over" Chris stated.
"Ugh" Karen growled "Let's get out of here"
We got into the car and started driving back towards the main town. We drove for about twenty minutes when we saw some AMU soldiers along the highway, they were all geared up and had set up a checkpoint.
"AMU soldiers" I said "Try to act normal"
I saw Chris tighten his grip on the steering wheel "This is getting too real, too fast"
An AMU soldier started to wave us down from a distance, Chris slowed down as we approached the checkpoint. There were two military trucks parked on both sides of the road with about six soldiers on foot, they were all heavily armed. We got close enough and came to a stop, the soldier walked to the driver's window and looked at us very keenly.
"Identity your species" The soldier said.
"Human" Chris answered.
I cleared my throat "Human"
"Werewolf" Karen answered.
The soldier took two steps away from our vehicle "Everyone out of the car now"
Chris looked at the soldier "Seriously?"
The soldier who initially had one hand on the pistol grip of his rifle used his other hand to grab the handguard with the barrel of gun still pointed towards the ground "This is a security check, don't let me repeat myself" he barked.
We all exited the vehicle and stood in front of the soldier.
He paced in front of us slowly "Where are you young folks coming from?"
"We went for a drive after school" Chris answered.
The soldier was quiet briefly before responding "A drive this far from town. Do you really expect me to believe that?"
"It's the truth" I said.
"Really?" He took a step towards me "So two humans and a werewolf take a drive this far into the woods after school, just when a major incident happened earlier today. I can see you're eager to become the next victims"
"Hey! My friend and her pack didn't harm those people" Chris voiced.
"Did you hear me accuse anybody?" The soldier asked.
"You sure implied it" I responded.
"What did you say to me?" The soldier asked in a gnarly tone.
"I'll take it from here buddy" Another soldier said as he approached us. This soldier had a full tactical facemask on so we couldn't see his face. When he got close enough to us he removed his facemask.
"Dad?" Chris said in shock.
Karen and I had never seen Chris' Dad, all we knew was that he and Chris' mum split up not long after he was born and Chris' Dad has barely been present since then
"This is your dad?" Karen asked.
"Hey son" Mr. Palmer said.
"Wow Dad. You always manage to set a new standard for a 'Father of the Year' award" Chris scoffed "It's been two years and I finally get to see you because people are getting murdered"
Mr. Palmer ignored Chris' comment and responded in a calm tone "We'll continue this conversation later"
"They're good" Mr. Palmer voiced to his colleagues. He then turned to face us "You kids should be on your way, it's dangerous to be this far from the main town right now. I'll talk to you later Chris" he walked off to join his colleagues. He didn't seem bothered by the fact that his son was enraged, he didn't show any signs of emotion at all.
Chris got into the car, slamming the door loudly behind him. Karen and I exchanged a glance before getting in.
"He's a jerk" Chris said speeding away from the checkpoint.
"That's your dad huh, he sure lives up to his emotionally unavailable reputation" Karen said.
Chris always told us about his father acted more like a robot than a human being, but still I didn't think that Karen badmouthing him would be helpful. I turned and gave her a stern look. She seemed to understand and kept quiet.
"There's no need to shush her" Chris looked at me. "You saw him back there, did he look happy to me?"
"You don't know what's going on in his mind" I responded. "He might have a lot on his plate right now with hunting whatever killed those people"
"I know you're trying to make me feel better but you saw him back there, it's been over two years since he saw me and he didn't even smile at me"
"I'm sorry"
"Where are we going?" Chris asked, changing the topic.
"My house, my dad should be back from work by now" Karen answered.
"Karen, I…"
"I know" she interrupted before I could say more. "I just need them to be aware of the dire beast, if there really is one. I promise not to expose Jerald or Susan, for now"
Chris looked over at me and I nodded in compliance "I guess we're going to Karen's place"
We arrived at Karen's home, she wanted all of us to tell her Dad about the dire beast together, she figured if we all tried convincing her Dad of the threat without telling him how we got this information then he would take it seriously. We got into the house and sat on the couch.
"Wait here while I get my Dad" Karen said and went up the stairs to her parent's room. Not long after Karen and both her parents came down the stairs.
"Hey guys, Karen said you had something to tell us" Mr. Brown said as they all sat down.
Chris and I threw glances at each other, confused on how to start this conversation.
"We think we know what attacked those people in the woods" Karen voiced.
"What?" Karen's mom responded. "How do you know what it is?"
Karen was silent briefly "It doesn't matter mom. We now know what it is, we can relay this information to the AMU and get them off the pack"
"It doesn't matter?" Mrs. Brown sounded angry. "People just died in this town covered in bite and claw marks and my teenage daughter and her friends tell me they knows what's killing people and I ask my daughter how she knows and she says it doesn't matter"
Everyone went dead silent, this was going a lot worse than we thought it would. Mr. Brown held the palm of his wife trying to calm her down.
"What is doing the killing?" he asked.
"A dire beast" Chris answered.
"A dire beast?"
"That was my initial reaction Dad, I know they're considered a myth among supernaturals but we have a fairly reliable professional who also happens to be an eyewitness of today's incident"
"Who is this professional?" Mr. Brown asked.
"I can't tell you Dad, I really can't"
Mrs. Brown was about to lash out again but Mr. Brown held her hands and asked her to please calm down. He turned to face us "The AMU interrogated the pack alpha and some of us earlier today, we told them about the Alchemist, it's obvious he is somehow involved in whatever happened"
"You did?" Karen asked. "Did you also tell them about the other guy with the lightning abilities?"
I took a glance across the room, Chris and Karen seemed tensed, the answer Mr. Brown was about to give would determine if the AMU was on the hunt for me. My eyes wandered back to Mr. Brown awaiting his answer.
"Yes. Our custodian advised against it, he said something about a prophecy and asked us to trust him but the alpha decided not to keep any information from the AMU"
That response was definitely not what we were hoping for. Karen and Chris were staring at me.
"So how do you kill a dire beast?" I asked.
"There's a lore that has been in my pack for so long we don't even know if it's true. According to this lore a werewolf pack battled a dire beast, they were in luck because it was a full moon so the werewolves were at full strength and even then it took a dozen werewolves to put it down"
Karen had a look of disbelief "How come? We're pretty strong on a full moon"
"I can't confirm it but apparently a dire beast is about the size of a grizzly bear, maybe even bigger, like we're talking eight to ten feet when standing on both feet"
"Whoa" Chris muttered.
Mr. Brown had a look of realization "If a dire beast is really behind the killings then the Alchemist being out on a full moon actually makes sense, he could've been trying to lure it out so it would be in our crosshairs and the werewolves could potentially take it down"
"What are the next steps here?" Mrs. Brown asked. "If this thing is really out there, we need to bring this information to the AMU"
Mr. Brown sighed "The only confirmation we have of this thing being out there is our teenage daughter who won't reveal her source"
Mrs. Brown looked at Karen "Honey, we need a lot more than your word to convince the AMU about the possibility of a dire beast. So I'm going to ask again, where did you get this information?"
Karen's glanced at Chris and me, clearly confused on how to answer her mother's question.
Mrs. Brown snapped her fingers "Don't look at them, look at me. I asked you a question"
Karen cleared her throat, I taught for certain she was going to expose Jerald as the Alchemist "Okay. I was mad about the whole situation and I needed to vent my anger, so I asked Chris and Fred to drive me to the woods and we coincidentally ran into the Alchemist"
Mr. Brown's eyes widened "What?"
"He was the one that told us about the dire beast Dad"
"He could've hurt you, possibly worse"
"That was incredibly reckless" Mrs. Brown voiced. "Just this morning people were killed in those woods and you decide to go there after school?"
"I agree with your mom. That was a stupid thing to do" Mr. Brown turned to Chris and I. "Are you guys going to say anything or you plan on mostly staying silent"
"We're sorry, it won't happen again" I responded.
"I had an idea on the way over" Chris said. "My Dad is one the AMU soldiers in town, I figured I'd tell him but having Mr. Brown around when I tell him would make him take it more seriously"
"Why can't we just take this information to the AMU and not one of the soldiers?" Mrs. Brown asked.
"We can and we plan to but the AMU is going to have to interrogate the kids who provided this information and that means us, so I want to give us some time to get our stories straight" I responded.
Mr. Brown turned to Chris "Just let me know when it's convenient to talk with your father"
"Yes sir"
Karen smiled "I'm glad we could sort this out"
"Nothing is sorted out young lady" Mr. Brown said. "I may have calmed your mother down so we could get the full story but her concerns are spot on, going into the same woods where a murder happened earlier today and your encounter with the Alchemist which could've ended very badly. So like I said this isn't sorted out yet"
Mrs. Brown turned to Chris and I "You boys should get going, we have some things we need to discuss with our daughter"
We didn't have to be told twice, we got up and got out of the house as quickly as we could.