Life was short to me. We weren’t able to do everything because if we did, we might expose ourselves to humans and werewolves. War will begin and blood will be everywhere. If I did see a drop of blood that was the result of this war, there will be no one but myself to be at blame. We had war before but humans weren’t aware of it, of course. Their senses were too dull but they were God’s creation. We were all God’s creation. We existed to balance the ecosystem so neither wolves or humans will gain control. A wolf once accused me of siding humans before he attacked me. He might be right. I did it to save humans but not to help them be powerful. I never thought of it until he told me so. I will do my best to find my brother before it will be too late. My granddaughters will be at mortal danger and my daughters didn’t have the capability to save themselves. William was my only hope, if he is still alive.

            I closed the diary and left it on the table. I curled myself into a tight ball on the sofa and thought, what did she mean by mortal danger? Could this William be alive after the World War 2? I shot a glance at Valerie, who was feeding Alice for an early dinner. She looked back at me. I walked to the window and saw a young girl; around ten years old were staring at our house. How long had she been there?

            “Don’t worry about her,” Val told me. “She is our neighbor. What is her name?” She snapped her fingers and then answered her own question. “Amanda Desiree.”

            I looked back at Amanda. This time, I recognized her. I had been seeing her for the last few days but I wasn’t paying attention to her. I must have been too stressed up because of Solstice. She hugged a small white teddy bear as she laid her confusing eyes on me. She looked up at the sun and saw that it will be dark soon. She walked away after another gesture at me.

            That was odd and awkward. What was wrong with that girl?

            Jamie went with Sam to hunt. She went with him daily and come to sleep at my house. She would be back in the evening.

            It was time. I ran to my room to get ready for the hunt. I wore my cloak and took my weapons. Valerie was dressed and ready but waiting for me. We waited in the living room so Sam would give us a green light to hunt since the tigers are hunting at day time and we hunt at night time.

            Sam didn’t come as usual but he sent me a text so we could hunt. Val and I decided to hunt separately. It wouldn’t be dangerous because Solstice was just around the corner and the wolves rarely hunt by the time Solstice will begin. They were saving their starving stomach for the feast on Solstice. I took the west part of the forest and Val took the east. I hunted solo once without Val around.

            There wasn’t even one wolf was in my sight today. Instead, I just climbed a tall tree I could find and looked around for wolves. The view was quite beautiful from up here. I couldn’t see any animals around except for an owl, hooting at the darkness. It was cold but not as cold as it was in London. No snow but the wind was enough to make me shiver. Then I saw something small and white. I jumped down to take a closer look. I felt chills running down my spine. It was a teddy bear. Someone was out here recently. It couldn’t be a wolf. Wolves don’t sleep with their teddy bears. Little girls did. I knew whose teddy bear it was. Before I could stop myself, I started calling out her name, “Amanda!”

            What was I going to do now? Show up at the Desiree’s house and tell her parents whether she was home or she was dead, killed by the wolves. I couldn’t go through that.

            I calmed myself down so I could track her in my mind. I closed my eyes and let my mind wander aimlessly. I opened my eyes and saw someone familiar. I started to shiver again but it wasn’t because of the cold this time, it was because the person I saw was Gran. Her face was pale like a ghost. Maybe she was one. She was wearing a black cloak. There were circles under her eyes that made her eyes looked scarier. She wasn’t smiling at me, she was pointing at a direction.

            “Gran?” I whispered. She put down her hands and walked over to me. She smiled. It wasn’t an evil smile. She stroked my face with her fingers but I couldn’t feel her touch. She looked at the direction she pointed before. I took a pace towards where she was pointing. By the time I looked back to see Gran, she wasn’t there anymore.

            I took a deep breath and ran towards where she pointed. I was at the right track; I caught Amanda’s scent that was from the teddy bear. I clutched on to the teddy bear as I ran. I called out her name again.

            I saw her. A young man was next to her, hugging her. How did the young man get here? He looked up at me and growled. Okay, he wasn’t human. But how did he manage to hug the girl without killing her? Amanda let him go. He turned his back at us and ran away as a wolf. I didn’t realize until this moment that I was carrying a gun, aiming at the place where the wolf vanished.

            Amanda saw me. Her face turned white as paper. Her terrified eyes were locked on my gun. I was still stunned with what just happened so I slowly lowered the gun. I showed Amanda her teddy bear.

            “It’s not safe out here, Amanda,” I told her.

            She just walked towards me, taking the teddy bear without saying a word back to me.

            She was about to leave me when I asked, “Who was that guy?”

            She turned to face me. “He was my father.”

            I nodded, but I wanted to ask more. She looked at where I hid my gun.

            “Why are you carrying a gun? Aren’t you a little too young for that?” she asked.

            “I will tell you what you need to know if you tell me what I need. Deal?”

            She started to walk towards home and I followed her by her side. “He was my biological father. My mum married another man. I thought he was dead. He left me last year. That was why no one wants to go into the woods. An old gypsy lady stated that there were evil spirits in the forest. They kill whoever enters the forest.”

            I rolled my eyes at the humans’ prediction of the forest. No wonder nobody dares to enter the forest even though it wasn’t surrounded by a fence. Evil spirits equals to werewolves. “Why did you enter the forest then, when you heard there were evil spirits in this forest?”

            “I’ve been watching you, Sophia Rhys-Deaux. For weeks. I saw you enter the forest and made it out alive. I went alone yesterday and saw him.”

            My hands started shaking. “You shouldn’t follow me. It’s so dangerous. I hunt what your father is.”

            She was confused. Since she told me everything, I explained what I am to her but I kept it brief. We were finally away from the forest, walking down the road to her house.

            “Oh no. It’s already late and my parents will kill me. I’m not allowed to stay out this long.”

            I grinned at her. “I have an idea.”

            I carried Amanda. She was as light as nothing or maybe my measurements were out because of my incredible strength. I knocked the door. Amanda pretended to be asleep.

            Mrs. Desiree opened the door with a concerned look. She must be looking for Amanda. She spotted Amanda in my arms instantly.

            “I found her fainted in front of my house. I’m sorry I sent her late because I had to treat her wound.” The wound was from the forest instead but the proof would convince Mrs. Desiree.

            I handed Amanda to her.

            “Thank you . . . err . . .”

            “My name is Sophia. I have to go. Goodnight, Mrs. Desiree.”

            “Thank you, Sophia. Goodnight.” Amanda winked at me and mouthed the words: “Thank you” before her mother closed the door. I was on my way home. Val was already home and she opened the door before I could knock. I explained what happened just now to her as I cooked noodles for both of us.

            Jamie was listening what I told Val. “It looked like we have a human in cover.”

            I glared at her. “What do you mean?”

            “Hello? Don’t you get it? She’s the first human to know the existence of wolves and Hunters.”

            “I don’t think so. Humans exist for millions of years so I’m sure a few of them knew a long time ago.”

            “Okay, she’s the first human alive to know the existence of wolves and Hunters.”

            That wasn’t nice. I liked Amanda. Jamie should appreciate that she was keeping our secret. I served the noodles and took a huge bite. Jamie was staring at the noodle. I rolled up noodles with my fork and showed her. “Do you want some?”

            Jamie laughed. “You seem to forget that I’m not human.”

            I ate the noodles that were rolled up with my fork and dug in.

            “Maybe the girl that you said . . .” Jamie began.

            “Amanda,” I corrected her.

            “Maybe Amanda can take care of Alice during Solstice.”

            It was a good idea but we had to ask her. She’s ten years old. Could she keep this valuable secret from anyone? I was afraid the people would torture her just to get that information. A little girl who sacrificed herself to save all of us. I was never going to stop owing her. I thought about her father, the wolf. He was able to control himself. Maybe he deserved to be given a chance. I could ask Sam if he could find that wolf and offer him to be a Bermudan Wolf. His life would change and he could visit his daughter.

            What I couldn’t understand was how did I find her in the first place? I had forgotten how. All I could remember was Gran. She was there in the forest pointing at where Amanda was. Gran was dead. How did she help me when she was dead? Who knows I might be imagining her. I asked Val anyway. She said that it happen sometimes. It wasn’t because I lost my mind. Sometimes when we were desperate for something, anyone could have appeared to help me. Gran might be a ghost, watching me. It reminded me of the nightmare I had about Gran as a ghost. She will always be there for me even if I thought she wasn’t there but she might did every second of my life.