I was first aware of Val sitting next to me. I blinked twice and I was awake. I had never fainted before.

“Are you okay? What did the pussy cat do to you?” Val asked while lending me a hand.

I sat on the bed but feel like I’m not fully conscious. I was too weak to seat up then I lay down. “Who the hell are you talking about?”

“Sam,” she hissed at his name. She called him a cat? “What did he do to you?” She kept repeating the same question. I remembered what happened. It must be a dream. No, this was all true. I wish I woke up thinking this was all nothing but a dream. I wanted to go home to London without anything to think of except for college.

“He did nothing. He is innocent. What do you mean? He bites?”

She looked at my hands to look for any scars to see if I was lying. Then she replied, “Yes, he bites just like werewolves. You have to stay away from him.”

I didn’t really catch the rest of Val’s word because I was furious with him. Why didn’t he tell me? He could kill me as well as anyone in the planet and he was my best friend? Why didn’t he see me for a week? My head was spinning in confusion.

“What time is it?” I asked.

“Half past three.”

I tried to get up but winced when my backbone protested. Val forced me to lay on the bed. I struggled with her but in the end I gave up. I was tired physically but not mentally.

“You have to rest. I wished you have given me any ideas for skipping school today. Do you need anything?” Val offered.

“Call Sam in here, please.”

Val sighed sadly and left the room. I thought Val ignored my request but within a few minutes later, Sam came into my room. I sat up and faced him. My rage at him made me restless. He stood by the door as Val shut the door behind her with a click.

There was long silence. “How are you?”

“Quit the act. I want answers. The truth.” My voice was mixed with bitterness and disappointment. He stared at the floor, looking innocent.

“All you have to do is ask.” He kept his voice cool and casual. I felt like strangling him. It wasn’t time for jokes. I could kill him anytime so he shouldn’t be fooling me. He was my best friend. He was my confidante and this was what he did to me? He didn’t tell me what he was. I was angry at him for not telling me. He was waiting all this time so I would find out and wait for him to admit it.

“How did you end up in my dream?”

“I was in your dream last night?” Now he was confused.

“No, last month,” I corrected him. He mustn’t have known the answer so I tried again. “You kill humans or not?”

“Didn’t you listen to the story? No, animals remember?”

“You are the same old Sam?”

“Not old but same Sam,” he confirmed. He hovered to my side and I hugged him. I hugged him for a few minutes then released him. “You shouldn’t be there,” he told me. His voice was suddenly angry. I was the one who was supposed to be angry; not him.

“I’m sorry. I saw you. I know I’m not supposed to. I’m only allowed to hunt after seven.”

“Yes, it’s because we hunt during the day. Do you understand?”

“Are you able to control yourself when you were a tiger?” I asked curiously. He sat on the chair next to the bed. Now was the time for explanations.

“Yes. I’m sorry about yesterday. I’m an idiot,” he muttered and stared at the empty space.

“Yes, you’re an idiot. But really, that’s okay.”

He buried his face in his hands. I waited for him to stop blaming himself.

“All this time you were a tiger and kick some wolves’ butt.” That made him allowed to smile but it wasn’t enough to make him feel better.

I felt tears filling my eyes when I asked, “Why didn’t you see me for a week?”

“Alice told me not to. Alice is your leader. I am very sorry but I had no choice. Please, forgive me. I had to follow Alice’s order or the truce is over.” I was angry at him for not telling me but he did it just because Alice told him to. He had no choice. He never did have a choice. Now I was angry at Alice. She should have told me!

“Alright then, I forgive you.”

“Thank you.”

“Tell me how this did happen to you.”

“I was bitten fifty years ago. I was young and reckless. Always hungry and kill innocent people. Christ, I even killed my own mother. I hated myself for that and never forgive myself as long as I exist. How stupid of me I was back then. Thank God I met Adam and . . .” He didn’t finish his sentence. Adam must have treated him very well and now he was dead.

            “How was he killed, Sam?” I whispered as quiet as I could in his ears.

He took a deep breath. I could see that he was trying to hide his emotions from me. “A black wolf killed him.”

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “The same wolf who that killed Gran?”

            “Yes, luckily I found Valerie before the black wolf did.”

Something in his sentence caught my attention. “He found Val?”

            “He was so close to killing her a week ago.”

I felt cold and scared. “He’s after me now.”

            “I will never let that happen even if it takes my life away.”

            I looked at him. He sacrificed his life to save me and Val. I will never stop being grateful for him. “You will risk your life for me?”

            “Whatever it takes.” His voice was hard and cold.

            “Why?”

            “Everyone deserves to live especially you. You and Val are human’s last hope and I won’t let this end mankind. The only person who doesn’t deserve to live is him. I will hunt him as long as I live.”

            I stayed quiet. There was a light knock on the door. Val told Sam to leave since he stayed here long enough. I wanted him to stay here and accompany me instead of Val. Alice came home from work later. She checked my temperature and asked me to eat something. I refused to eat since Sam left. I thought Alice will talk and argued with Sam for what he did to me. Val wanted me to tell her what he said to me but I didn’t. Val didn’t protest though.

            I insisted to hunt with Sam in the evening. Val and Alice protested but I didn’t care. I trusted him to not kill me. He ordered other tigers away.

            “Are you a leader or something?” I asked him in his tiger form. I thought he didn’t understand me but he nodded and looked a little embarrassed with that fact. It felt awkward to walk next to a tiger bigger than me. I was getting used to it. “We should do this often. I’m getting bored hunting alone.” He grinned at me. It was easier to find more wolves with Sam around. I froze when I saw a vision of a brown wolf walking. It looked hungry and tired.

            “A brown wolf at our left,” I said. Sam bolted towards my left as I instructed and by the time I reached there, a young boy was lifeless on the ground. Sam looked at me. “That’s not fair. You should have saved it for me,” I complained. He rolled his eyes after I burned the body with a lighter. We continued walking while I was concentrating to find another wolf. We managed to kill three wolves in one day.

            “Want to bet? I’ll race you to the house,” I challenged. It’s time to see how fast I could run. He grinned and got into position to run. “Ready, set, go!”

            Sam was in the lead, and then he tripped after losing his balance. “Hah, watch where you’re going,” I said when I passed by him. I used the energy I stored and ran like I was a bullet train.

            I stopped running when I heard my iPhone buzzing in my pocket. Sam looked at me in his tiger form. I held my finger at him and he nodded.

            “Hello?” I said.

            “Sophia?” I heard mum’s voice.

            “Yes, mum.”

            “Are you in a forest? You knew about the legend?” she asked worriedly, yet in a panicking voice. How did she know? Must be the natural sounds that came from the forest.

            “Mum, calm down. I’m watching a movie of zombies. Now is the time the zombies escaped to the forest. Plus, Alice bought a new LED TV so the sound effect was loud and real. What makes you think that I’m in a real forest?” All those time that Val taught me how to make up a lie to protect our identity did pay off.

            “Oh, okay. I’m sorry. Philip is driving me nuts. Now he wants to talk to you.”

            “Put him on,” I insisted. It was quiet for a few seconds than I heard Philip’s voice.

            “What’s up, my lovely sister? Did you get my Nintendo?” he asked.

            “Yeah, the latest edition was cheaper than the older one.”

            “Splendid. Are you okay? You don’t sound well.”

            “I’m okay. It’s just that I’m watching a zombie movie that was about to eat someone’s intestine.”

            He made a disgusting sound. “I wish I could go to Australia,” he told me softly so mum couldn’t hear him. I thought mum wouldn’t want anyone especially Philip now to come here. I suddenly thought of Robin Hood.

            “No! You are not. I have to go. Bye.”

            “Sure, bye.” Philip hung up.

            Sam was waiting patiently.

            “I won,” I declared.

            He blinked like he didn’t understand what I said. I knew he was pretending. I knew him too well.

            “Don’t give me those lamb eyes. I don’t want a rematch.”

We found a wolf wandering around. Sam shifted into human form.

            “Are you crazy or do you want to get both of us killed?” I asked him in a hushed voice so the wolf couldn’t hear us.

            “I want to learn how to hunt in my human form. Why don’t you teach me instead?” he whispered back.

            “This is stupid. Your tiger could protect you.”

            “What if I can’t be one?”

            “That will never happen. You can’t destroy the tiger in you.”

            The wolf growled and I shot it dead. I handed him a gun and I was left with a bow and arrows.

            “I think that one day, I will destroy the tiger. I hate it because I could kill anyone including you, every second of my life. I had to kill animals just to stay alive,” Sam explained.

            “Please, don’t say that. I need you. Alice needs you.”

            “I doubt Alice needs me. She hates me for who I am.”

            “But you saved Val from the black wolf. If you kill the tiger in you, you might kill yourself instead.”

            “This thing in me killed my mother. Anyway, can you teach me how to shoot?” he finally asked.

            I agreed at the end. I told him to get nearer because he couldn’t see as far as I could. He was able to kill his first prey with a gun and he seemed to be enjoying it more than I did.

            “This is fun. Better than hunting as a tiger,” he said.

            I said that it was getting late and it was time to go home. He didn’t protest because we were both tired.

            “Daniel look nice,” I told Sam, walking back home.

            “Yeah, he was Adam’s creation. Daniel found out about sabre-toothed tigers when he was human. He begged Adam to change him into one of us because his parents were dead and his uncle treated him badly and abused him. Poor guy but that was his mistake. He shouldn’t have asked Adam to do that. Adam sometimes told me that he regretted stealing his life that he always deserved from him.”

            “Who else do I know is in your group?”

            He shrugged. “Maybe you could meet them when you come to my house again.”

            I smiled. “That’s a deal. I saw a picture of you in your house.”

            “Which one? The black-and-white one in the living room?”

            “Yeah, what year was then when it was taken?”

            “If I’m not mistaken, the year was 1945. Just after the World War 2. I was eighteen when I joined the war. I lied about my age and fought against Hitler. I was in France.”

            “You’re French?” I asked in disbelief. He doesn’t look and sound like French at all!

            He smiled faintly. “Yes, I joined the war to get enough money to buy food for my mother. I didn’t know Adolf Hitler was a wolf until your grandmother told me. Anyway, when World War 2 was over, I went home. My mother was my only family left after the war.

            “Three months after the war had ended; I came home from my new job as a newspaper boy. I found mum staring at something. She was smiling, her eyes were half crazy. When I turned to look what she was staring at, I saw my father. He was supposed to be dead. The war telegraph stated that he was killed in a battle in Strasbourg. I looked back at mum. I could see that she was bitten on her hand. Blood gushed out of her wound. She kept smiling.

            “I wanted to help her, carry her to a hospital but I couldn’t move. My father wasn’t there anymore. There was a huge creature, a sabre-toothed tiger standing at my father’s place. He bit me. I transformed into one, but mum was still human. She couldn’t shift like us. She died not soon after that.

            “‘Elle morte. Venez, Pierre,’ he said. I was crying. My name was Pierre Ledoux that time. I felt angry for what he had done to me and my mother. I was angry for who I am. I should have just run away the moment I saw him there.”

            The way he said the French sentence made him look more french than Australian. I stayed silent for a very long time. That explained how he got the beret. It looks like he had many secrets that he hadn’t shared it with anyone until now. “My father tried to teach me to hunt humans. I’ve tried once. The blood was so sweet that you wanted more like you’re drink salt water. The more you drink, the thirstier you become. But I was able to control myself.

            “My father gave up on me a few months later. He said I was like my mother. He abandoned me in the forest. I was on my own. People think I’m dead and not exist in this world. I had to kill humans because I thought there was no other ways to live. 

            “I saw my father sometimes. He was trying to make a group of tigers and he wanted be the leader. He invited me to join. I refused to join him after what he done to me and mother.

            “After a few years, I was wandering in Asia. A tiger found me. It was Adam. He told me another way to live. I tried having animals for a change and he was right. I joined him to find Hunters. He explained everything to me. We made a group. I didn’t bite anyone but Adam did. I hate it but I didn’t deny because it was the only way to survive. I got a new identification card and passports. Adam insisted on my name to be Sam, after his son’s name. His son was killed by wolves, months before he found me.”

            “Your mother’s death wasn’t your fault,” I pointed out.

            “No but I stood there and watched her die. I should have brought her to a hospital. I should have killed my father. I shouldn’t be who I am now. Adam was the only one who understood what I was going through. Adam and Nick were hunting one day; a black wolf came out of nowhere and killed Adam by surprise. Nick managed to escape. It was shocking because wolves are dumb. How could the black wolf found out our strategy after generations? We found Adam’s body under a tree. All the tigers elected me to become their leader soon after what happened.”

            “How long have you been their leader?”

            “Ten years, not long after your grandmother died. This job is really stressing me out. Daniel was the most trouble but I like him. He sometimes makes sense in his theories.”

            “What kind of theories?” I asked cautiously.

            “He suggested making new tigers, to increase the number of protectors. There are not enough of us to protect everyone in this area. I didn’t want to make new ones. I have spent more than seventy years as a tiger and I think humans need their chance to survive too.”

            “I think you should. Just a few though. It depends on our safety and survival.”

            “No, you don’t get it. Some new tigers prefer to go on their own way and kill humans,” Sam said in an angry voice.

            We reached my house. He handed me my gun.

            “Keep it. I have many at home,” I lied. I had only one more left and the one he was holding on to was my favorite. He nodded and put it back into his pocket.

            “Thanks,” he muttered.

            “For the gun or for listening to your story?”

            “Both. I had never told anyone about my father before, so thanks for listening.” He stiffened and then entered the house suddenly. I was about to ask what was going on then I saw Alice. She was sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The way she lied down on the sofa was so scary. It was like she was in a hospital instead. Val was by her side. What happened to her?

            “What happened?” Sam echoed my thoughts.

            Val shrugged but answered him, “I found her faint on the road when I was hunting. She was in a shock just now. I think she saw the black wolf because I saw a black wolf running away from her. I wanted to go after him but I need to bring her home. She mumbled something like dad’s name and then she collapsed. She kept repeating dad’s name in her dreams,” Val explained. “I think she was imagining dad in the forest with the black wolf.”

            Alice kept saying her husband’s name, Richard. This was bad. I knew this because Gran written down what happened to Alice’s husband in the diary. Richard disappeared a year before Gran died. The police took one week to look for him but failed. He was pronounced dead. He was walking in the forest on his way home after work and suddenly disappeared. Val was very young that time. Alice had mental problem ever since. She cried in her sleep and screamed wordlessly. One day, she stopped doing anything, refused to eat or drink or anything else. She stared at a portrait of Richard in the living room with an insane smile. Gran had to take care of Val and Alice. Gran forced Alice to eat and drink, but she was still empty. I thought after Gran’s death, Alice had to take care of Val. Alice was back to normal.

            Sam left after Val’s explanation. I had to cook dinner for Val and me. When Alice was awake, she was staring at Richard’s portrait and kept repeating Richard’s name. Val and I feared that she could have gone insane again just as Gran wrote in her journal. At bedtime, I couldn’t force Alice to eat or go to her room. She slept in the living room. I woke up several times because of Alice’s scream. This was bad. Val was too young when Alice was sick but now she knows how sick she was.

            Sam offered to take care of Alice while I and Val went to school on the next day. Jamie asked me why I didn’t come to school these past few days. I lied to her and she believed my story. Henry was absent for a very long time, but today he came. He came to my desk today.

            “I’m sorry for what I did the first day you were here. Will you forgive me?” he said. Jamie pretended as if she didn’t hear my conversation and stepped on my foot to answer him.

            “That’s okay. It’s history now.”

            He bent down to whisper into my ears, low enough so Jamie couldn’t hear, “I’ll be there if you need me.”

            He gave me an odd stare and went to his desk after that. The short conversation was awkward. What was that all about? What did he mean by he’ll be there if I need him? Was he talking about upcoming examinations? Maybe it’s because my Mathematics results were poor.

            “You missed your chance!” Jamie told me. “It was a very good opportunity!”

            “Jamie, believe me that I’m with someone now,” I told her.

            “Wait, what? Why didn’t you tell me? Who is the lucky guy? When did you start going out with him?”

            “I can’t tell you.”

            She begged me to tell her but it didn’t work. “Anyway, I’m dating someone too. His name is Robert. I’m going out with him tonight. Do you have any tips?”

            “I’m not much of a date expert,” I told her. I felt something suddenly that made me stop talking for awhile. I had a bad feeling about Jamie’s date, Robert. He could cause trouble to Jamie. Even if I’ll tell Jamie about it, I know she will not pay attention to me because she was blinded by love. The dismissal bell saved me from my long silence.

            It was a very early Saturday morning when Bibiana’s call woke me up. My eyes refused to open so I had to search for my phone with my eyes close.

            “Hello?”

            “Sophia, why aren’t you at school yesterday? You don’t sound sick.” She sounded very awake. My eyes were opened to her voice. Why would Bibiana call me at five o’clock in the morning?

            I didn’t go to school on Friday because I had to take care of Alice. She became from bad to worse. She refused to eat so I had to force her. I forced Val to go to school even though she wanted to stay and take care of Alice. I didn’t want Val to skip school and miss a lot of classes. I wanted her to be someone successful in life other than hunt wolves without receiving pay. Now that Alice was sick, I had to be the head of the family. I wanted to tell mum about it so she could take over. After sometime of thinking, I decided not to tell her because she would turn things around instead. I thought of an excuse. “Alice went to Sydney for a meeting at work yesterday and had to stay there for three days so I have to take care of the house. She is so sensitive and fussy over her valuable from getting stolen.”

            The only part of the sentence that was the truth was Alice wouldn’t let anyone to touch the portraits.

            “Anyway, I’m calling to ask whether Jamie is with you yesterday. She didn’t come to school yesterday.”

            “No. The last time I saw her was a few days ago when she said she was going out with someone called Robert,” I told her.

            “Whoa. She’s lucky to date that guy because anyone will fight just to win a date with him.”

            “She must have been sick,” I assured Bibiana.

            “Perhaps, perhaps. I’m just worried of her because she had never missed school since ever. She even got a free pizza for attending school everyday last year. I even tried to call her phone but no one picked it up. Her mum was worried too.”

            “You mean she ran away?” I tried to make sense but failed. Why would Jamie run away? She has everything every girl ones, her parents were nice and she wasn’t bullied.

            “I don’t know. Her mum called me and asked. No one knows where she is.”

            “Did they call the police?” I questioned.

            I could almost imagine Bibiana shrugged. “I guess so. Do you think she is at Robert’s house and . . . you know?”

            “Impossible. I know Jamie well and she couldn’t do this to me.” I felt a stung of betrayal. She said she wouldn’t do it until she graduate from university or start working.

            “Give me moment. Someone is trying to reach me.”

            “Okay.” Then I wondered who would try to call Bibiana at this time of the day? No one would wake up this early just to call someone. Except if there was an emergency.

            There was silence on the other line for awhile until she said, “Sophia, turned on CNN.” Her voice was afraid.

            I ran down to the living room and quickly turned on the TV. I saw Jamie’s face on the front screen. They took picture of her room and blood was on her bed. I could feel my blood was no longer in my head as I paled. Her window was open. No signs of struggle or weapons around. The police chief said that they were sending the CSI to look for her body. They showed a picture of her mother crying and her step father trying to hide his wife from the camera crew. This was worse than I thought. It wasn’t Robert who I had a bad feeling on. It was Jamie.

            I heard Bibiana sobbing. “Are you doing well?” I whispered. I was afraid she would be in shocked or pass out or anything crazy after knowing the news.

            “I will manage. I’m going to tell Maryanne. I hope she’s alright.” She hung up. When I put down the phone, I wanted to know who called Bibiana just now. I forgot to ask her.

            The police said that their prime suspect was Jamie’s long lost biological father. They were asking her friends if they notice a difference of Jamie in school. After the Jamie’s mum asked Bibiana just now, they were looking for Robert. They interviewed Robert but it was clear that he was innocent. Robert said that he sent Jamie back to her house before dinner and left on Thursday night. He hadn’t seen Jamie after that.

            “That’s your friend, isn’t it? I saw her with you during recess every day,” Val asked from my back. I didn’t see her coming. Alice was sleeping on the same couch we let her sleep last night.

            “Yeah, I hope she’s still alive. Why don’t you go to sleep?”

            She sat on the couch next to me. “Can I ask you a question?”

            “Sure, what is it?”

            “What is your plan for the upcoming Solstice?”

            What was she talking about? Solstice? Did she mean summer and winter Solstice?

            “What’s Solstice? I know there are two types of Solstice that are summer and winter,” I said. That was my only knowledge of Solstice. Were there more?

            “Solstice 21st June is the time werewolves try to form a pack and kill more people than usual. I don’t know why but it’s been like this since they existed,” Val explained.

            “Is it something like full moon?”

            “Something like that but it was more dangerous. It will go on every year. Mum planned many ways to destroy the wolves before you came. Now that she’s lost her mind … You have to think of a plan. You’re the head of the family.”

            “Do you think it will be a good idea to tell my mum about all of this?” I asked.

            “I don’t know. It’s your choice. If it depends on me, I wouldn’t tell her but I’ll tell your brother. What is his name? Philip, right? I have a feeling he will be a Hunter.”

            I didn’t want that to happen. I didn’t want Philip to spend his life hunting werewolves and risked his life every single day.

            “Don’t worry. I’ll think of something,” I assured Val and hugged her. “Let’s go to sleep. Next week we won’t hunt; we will have to go to Sam’s house and plan.”

            Val nodded and let me go. She kissed Alice in the cheek and went up to her room. I stared at Jamie’s picture on the television and started to sob just like Bibiana. How was this possible? Why Jamie? It was just two days I last saw her. I’ve known her for two months then she suddenly disappeared. I imagined her smiling at me when she was drawing a Japanese manga. She introduced me to Bibiana and Maryanne on my first day of school. I drew my attention back to the present.

            Solstice 21st June. We have another three months before Solstice. What terrified me were the black wolf and his pack. What if they were able to kill us and Sam’s group? They will be able to take control of the town. Slowly getting powerful and who knows they might be able to take over the world. I wondered what Alice’s plan was before I became a Hunter.

            We must get ready for anything that was going to happen after Solstice which was either victory or death. What will happen after Solstice? What if all of us die? Will Alice gain conscious of what was going on around her and regretted for leaving Val and I alone? Or will her condition worsen?

            Mum. Will she blame Alice for our deaths? She will ban Philip from coming here. She may think of what she had done before and regretted not spending enough time with her mother before Gran died. Mum was responsible of continuing the family tradition and not let it extinct. Mum was supposed to be a Hunter. Why didn’t she be one? Why didn’t Alice be one? Mum was the cause of the extinction of Hunters after generations of hunting werewolves and stopping them from changing every human on this planet.

            Why didn’t we tell everyone that werewolves exist? Anyone could be a Hunter. Humans could stand on their on feet to survive, not depending on us every time! Why did we have to keep the wolves’ presence a secret? Anyone could be a wolf too. The presidents, the prime ministers or even the Queen could be wolves just like Hitler. No human was a Hunter left in this world. No one except Val and me. We only had hopes and determinations to destroy every living wolf. Our determination that we might never accomplish.