Mrs. Palmer

"Get away from here! I already told you not to come back!" The lady screamed stick holding tightly on the trigger of the gun, her hands shaky as her eyes glared in anxiety. I could see the fright hidden in the tough demeanor she tried to put up.

The bullets she fired had hit on the wall behind me, shattering the glass of one of the picture frames behind me. Luckily I was only scratched a bit on my left arm by one of the bullets.

"Calm down Mrs. Palmer, we just want to talk." I held on to my arm as it bled gradually. I didn't think I could have been shot at by an angry old lady. Drake had already raised his hands up surrendering. Surely I hoped she didn't shoot at him too.

"Who are you? The Alliance? The Police? The bank? I already told you all I know!" She barked, her eyes widened as she took few steps backwards still holding on to the trigger of the gun. She looked really shabby, her long hair rumpled with patches of dirt, her white sleeping gown showing evidence that it had been worn for a long time unwashed. She was barefooted. More like a crazy old lady. 

"Wait! You are one of them. You are a Werewolf, you are evil!" She was frightened, her breath panting frantically as she saw the scratch from the gunshot healing gradually and within seconds, my flesh was completely closed up as though nothing had happened.

"Get away from me! Get away!" The old lady tried to load the riffle to shoot but her hands were really shaky, her legs shivering as she tried to reload the gun.

"Noo! Get away from me.' Screaming as she saw me right in front of her, she turned towards the door behind her in an attempt to run but I held on to her hand drawing her closer to me.

"Calm down Mrs. Palmer, we just want to talk. I wont harm you I promise." It seemed my words had some effects on her. She gently lowered the gun still shaking, her eyes looking cautiously at me then to Drake and back t me. I noticed the large scar she had on her chest. The wound seemed to be don't by a claw.

"Are you with the Alliance." Softly she asked, her voice a little above a whisper. She seemed to be afraid of someone or some people.

"No we are not. We just want to talk."

"I already told them everything I know." She turned away and walked slowly into the room looking behind with her side eyes to be sure that I didn't sink my canines into her.

"My father disappeared seven years ago and I think the Alliance have something to do with it."

Mrs. Palmer raised her face quickly when she heard what I said. I could see signs of fear and sympathy in her expression. She seemed to know something.

Drake appeared seconds after I had followed the old lady into the room, he peeped slowly as he walked in.

"My name is Lyla, and this is Drake."

"He is a Werewolf too?" She noticed that Drake didn't have the coldblooded attitude which I had plus he seemed to be cautious of the gun she had in her hands. I shook my head in response to her question.

Mrs. Palmer sat on the large bed well fitted with a white bedspread with dirty patches. I sat on the couch in front of her while Drake stood at the door watching carefully, his hands folded. Mrs. Palmer took a careful look at us, then she slowly reclined the gun on the stand of the bed still looking at us. Then she took in a deep breath and exhaled sharply.

"I thought I knew everything about Leo, clearly I was wrong. Married to him for thirty eight years I never imagined he could hide such a huge secret about himself from me."

Mrs. Palmer paused for a few second, tears had clouded her eyes and she sniffed exhaling almost immediately.

"He was a sweet husband, the best father to our child. Oh my poor Clara!" She sobbed slowly covering her mouth with both of her hands. I could feel the pain in her voice. I was eager to hear everything she had to say. When she had wiped off some of the tears streaming down her cheeks, she adjusted her posture, turning towards Drake as though she expected him to say something but he rather remained mute ready to run out of the room through the door if she dared try to shoot at him. 

"I thought they were regular medications, I didn't know they were some kind of suppressors to avoid him turning into a wolf at night. But he couldn't hide for long, they found him and started sending blank letters for years. We continued moving from place to place, running from what he refused to talk to me about."

More tears flowed as she spoke, her hands shaking slightly probably from the memories of the experiences she had. But I was ready to wait as long as she had something to say.

"One night, they came into the house. Leo turned into this horrible beast! It was really scary. And they killed him." She could no longer control her tears, she wept bitterly. I stood up from the couch and walked towards her in order to console her.

"Its ok Mrs. Palmer." I resisted taking in much of the odor oozing her her body, she must have abandoned herself to pain and sorrow.

"Thy took away my Clara. They said she was one of them too. Oh my poor baby!" I allowed her some time to get hold of herself as she seemed to be drowned in misery remembering all she had passed through in the past years.

"They took everything, burnt all the traces of them and anything that concerned Leo, the letters they sent, his laptops, his phones, his files, his cars and even our life savings. They are very powerful people!" She seemed really concerned for Drake's safety, taking pitiful glances at him.

"You don't know what you are up against. They are evil!"

Drake seemed not to be bothered about her warnings, he had already seen enough to keep him firm. He looked straight into her eyes unperturbed by her utterances.

"The Police came back but they found nothing. At the end of the day, it was tagged a robbery gone wrong. They said there was nothing they could do and even with the bite marks and claw marks on his body, they said it was the work of a dog."

"For two years I have been having visits from Journalists, the police and the bank Leo managed asking me questions regarding the disappearance of everything about him. I told them all I knew but no one seemed to believe me."

 She laughed in agony as she placed her hands on the bed and pushed herself up. Then she walked towards the window and glanced into space.

For a while I waited for her to turn around so that I could ask her some questions but she seemed to be lost in thought , I was gradually becoming impatient and had to kill the silence. 

"I need you to tell me anything that could help us locate the Alliance. Anything that could be of help. I really need to know what happened to my father."

Mrs. Palmer slowly turned around and looked at me for a while without saying anything.

"Mrs. Palmer?" I could see her drifting away in thought, not sure of what exactly she was thinking about. She exhaled sharply and walked slowly back to the bed. Then she sat and turned towards Drake with the same amount of intense concern in her shaky voice and hands.

"The Alliance cant be found. They only find you but you cant find them. They said Leo defiled their rules by marrying me and living a normal life and when they tried to make him bring our daughter to them, he refused. He knew that they could harm her."

"Do you think they killed my father? They sent five of these letters to him and even these messages." 

Mrs. Palmer gasped, frightened beneath her bones when she saw the message in the phone and the letters I pulled out from my pocket. She hid her face away immediately pushing the letters away with fear. It was very obvious that she had seen them. She looked straight into my eyes, gathering enough courage and strength to say what she had in mind.

"If your father was hiding something from them before his disappearance and refused to abide by their rules, then that means they may have gotten to him."

My heart sank, I didn't want to believe in what she said but the evidences were clear, well written in the details of her encounter. I looked at her not so eager to give a response and when I tried to speak, no words came out. Only the painful thoughts of the inevitable.

"Sorry about your father, I really hope you get to find out more about hi disappearance."

I could see that she was done speaking to us, her expression showed signs of dismissal. I turned towards Drake who signaled to me to get up so that we could leave. Taking one last look at Mrs. Palmer, I wiped my nose as though there was something on it but that was just me trying not to cry. Then I got up and started to walk away slowly.