Chapter 9

Madam Yvonne hummed happily as she put some spices into the concoction she was brewing. Truly, she had underestimated that Nadine. She had been shocked when Nadine had come in a few hours ago and dropped off the vial containing some lycanthrope's blood. Madam Yvonne had tasted it and found out that Nadine wasn't shitting her.

For the first time in a long time, she had hope that she would get revenge on the lycanthrope who had scarred her face.

Madam Yvonne stirred her brew which contained the lycanthrope's blood and waited for it to boil.

A visitor entered and immediately, Madam Yvonne positioned herself in front of the brew, effectively hiding it from the person's view.

The visitor turned out to be Nick.

“Ah, Nick. To what do I owe the pleasure? Are you here in your capacity as a detective or an Alpha?” Madam Yvonne said jovially.

Ignoring her, Nick sniffed deeply, “I smell blood.” He said suspiciously.

Blasted lycanthrope, thought Madam Yvonne. Their sense of smell was so strong that they could perceive even the smallest amount of blood.

“Well, yes, I'm on my period.” Madam Yvonne lied smoothly.

As expected, Nick blushed, looking embarassed, “I'm sorry.”

“Whatever.” Madam Yvonne waved it aside, “Why are you here? Do you want to see what the future holds for you?”

“No. Madam Yvonne. Lycanthropes are getting killed. I hope you don't have a hand in that?” Nick asked.

“How dare you!” Madam Yvonne yelled with righteous indignation, “I'm a woman of my word. And I gave my word when I made a treaty with your clan; never to harm a lycanthrope.”

“I just wanted to make sure you weren't a part of this, because if I catch the killer, it won't be good.” Nick threatened.

“You have nothing to worry about, detective. I'm not the one hunting.” Madam Yvonne said, crossing her arms.

“That's good for you. We don't want a repeat of what happened the last time.” Nick told her.

Madam Yvonne sighed, “There is no need for threats, Nick. I've put the past firmly behind me. You can leave.”

“I'll see myself out.” Nick said as he left. He didn't know why he was still suspicious of Madam Yvonne. What happened between his pack and the woman was in the past.

Meanwhile, Madam Yvonne seethed with rage at the audacity of the mongrel, Nick. How could he barge into her sacred grounds? The lycanthropes had always disrepected her, right from the moment she'd met them.

*   *   *

Long time ago, when Madam Yvonne was just Yvonne, she'd always seen visions of the future. Yvonne would see someone dying and the next day, she'd hear that the person was dead. 

Yvonne was so confused that she made the mistake of telling her mother, who was a deeply religious christian.

Yvonne's mother had dragged the little girl along to see many preachers and exorcists who would charge them a lump sum and pray for Yvonne and then proclaim her healed.

One day, at school, Yvonne told her teacher that she would lose her father. Two weeks later, the man died.

Her teacher accused Yvonne of witchcraft. Yvonne became a pariah. Even Yvonne's mother was so scared of the little girl that she sent her off to stay with her younger sister; the family's black sheep who was a self-proclaimed shaman.

Unlike Yvonne's mother, her aunt encouraged her to use her gifts and opened a shop where people came to see their future and in return, paid Yvonne's aunt for Yvonne's services.

One day, when Yvonne was still in her twenties, she and her aunt went up into the woods to perform a 'sacrifice'; a parody of a real sacrifice which Yvonne's aunt swore helped her third eye.

When they got there, they saw a group of about fifteen scantily dressed humans converged there.

Yvonne was scared. Something about them didn't seem quite human. She closed her eyes and concentrated deeply. Yes, these people were animalistic.

“What do you want here?” one of them asked. This one was a young man.

“We want to hold a ceremony.” Yvonne's aunt said, unafraid.

“Well, you can't do it here.” Another young man said.

“I'm sorry, but who do you think you are? I've been holding this ceremony here for years. This land is a government reservation, it doesn't belong to you.” Yvonne's aunt said.

“Aunty, let's get out of here.” Yvonne pleaded.

“No, Yvonne. We won't. We won't cower before these people. Haven't I taught you anything?” Yvonne's aunt scolded.

“But Aunty, these people are dangerous. They aren't human!” Yvonne yelled.

An unnatural silence descended on the woods. Even the birds on the trees stopped chirping.

“She knows! She knows! She must die!” the second young man yelled.

“Calm down, Trent.” The first young man said.

“Don't tell me to calm down, Nick. She'll tell the humans and it will be over for us.” Trent addressed the people.

“I said shut up!” Nick told Trent. To Yvonne's bewildered aunt, Nick said, “Woman, take your apprentice and flee. Forget you ever saw us, if you say anything, I'll find you and kill you.”

Yvonne's aunt looked into Nick's cold eyes and saw that he was serious. She took Yvonne's hand and fled.

Some days later, Trent disobeyed Nick's order not to hunt Yvonne and her aunt by going into town to look for them.

Thanks to their unique occupation, it wasn't that hard for Trent to find them.

That night, while Yvonne and her aunt were watching TV, their door was knocked down and Trent in lycanthrope form jumped in, attacking them.

Yvonne saw that the lycanthrope was Trent and before she could tell her aunt, Trent clawed at her, tearing her dress and scratching her face in the process.

Yvonne cried out in pain. Her aunt hit Trent from behind and he faced her.

“Run!” She said to Yvonne.

Yvonne ran out of the house without looking back, which was just as well because if she did, she would've seen the horrific sight that was Trent ripping her aunt apart.

Yvonne holed up in a shelter for weeks, feeling so powerless. The newspapers carried headlines of an unidentified animal mauling her aunt.

She tried to report to the police but they didn't believe her and told her to get some therapeutic help.

Yvonne then went back to the woods and reported Trent to Nick and the council of elders. Trent denied it and produced some lycanthropes who corroborated his alibi of hunting for deer (the lycanthropes no longer ate human flesh since the 1800s as a means to stay unnoticed).

Yvonne was sent back with a warning never to disturb the pack again. There and then, she made a silent oath to avenge her aunt. 

Yvonne went back to her life as a seer and waited for an opportunity for her to get Trent.

Now, that opportunity had come in the form of Nadine and she wouldn't let anyone come in the way of it.