Episode 3

•Later That Night•

The beautiful moon was shining so brightly on the elegant duplex, which was located solitarily at the heart of the woods.

It's a very beautiful house, but it's not that solitary because there are still some houses that could be found just a few steps away from the house. However, the specialty was deeper in the forest, with many beautiful vegetation around it, all smiling under the moon.

Alice was inside her room in that house, holding her books in her hand, trying to grasp one or two things from it in order to face tomorrow's school project based on debate.

But what happened earlier was really a distraction to her, as her mind kept reflecting on it. She couldn't just get it off her mind even though she was trying.

So she ended up setting the book aside out of frustration, took a deep breath, and then a knock sounded on her door. She could think of no one except Juan; she knew Aaron wouldn't dare knock on her door, not even now that the pressure was higher.

She gently stepped down from the bed, reached the door, and found Juan standing there as she expected.

Unprepared to listen to Juan's words, as she already knew what she intended to say, Alice tried to shut the door on her.

"Alice, please wait, we need to talk," Juan pleaded urgently, causing Alice to pause in her attempt to close the door, shrugging her shoulders..

"Talk," she said as she folded her arms, giving an intense gaze at Juan.

"May I come in, please? There's something important I need to discuss with you, and I need your ear," Juan requested. Alice lowered her folded arms and opened the door wider for her.

Juan stepped inside and headed towards the window, gazing outside the house as if she was expecting someone.

Alice patiently waited, leaning against the door as she anticipated Juan's next move. Juan, in turn, turned towards her, nervously licking her lips and taking a deep breath, clearly unsure of where to begin.

"Alice... it's about Aaron..." Before Juan could complete her statement, Alice immediately interrupted her.

"I know!" she interrupted, shrugging her shoulders, as Juan paused for a few seconds and then continued.

"Please, you need to give me some time to work on him. The truth is, whatever he did out there wasn't with his clear eyes, but he will be better very soon," Juan said, but Alice was only looking at her with a confused facial expression. She didn't understand what Juan was saying. 

"I don't understand what you are trying to say," she responded, folding her arms.

"Yes, he's not truly a monster. He's a werewolf, but he's under the control of the wolf whenever he transforms. He cannot recall his actions afterward, and he fears changing into his wolf form because he's terrified of harming people," Juan explained, gazing at the floor before taking a deep breath and meeting Alice's eyes once more.

"I was actually the one who asked him to save you. He hesitated because he knew it was going to be dangerous, but I had no other choice. I had to persuade him because you were almost being killed," Juan finished her explanation, waiting to hear what Alice had to say.

Alice too was almost speechless, seeming intrigued yet stubborn to give in and let Aaron be.

"Juan, I still don't find your statement helpful because I didn't see how this will stop him from terrorizing the community. Werewolf or not, what matters is that he is the monster!" Alice said, taking in a deep breath, blinking her eyes, and continuing as she made her way towards the bed and sat on it.

"He is the hunted and dangerous monster! People don't believe werewolves exist; they can't catch a glimpse of it, only the casualties he has caused, so they simply call it a monster. It's all the same," she added, while Juan still looked at her surprisingly, wondering if Alice had heard the explanation she had made at all.

"I told you, you can't be sure that those death casualties were caused by him. It's true he is always being controlled by his wolf, but he is sure that his wolf will not harm innocent people who have done nothing to him. It only goes after the bad guys!" Juan said, stepping closer to Alice with curiosity on her face.

"Bad guys, you say! You mean those students! Those..." Alice was still speaking, but Juan interrupted, not allowing her to complete her statement.

"You might not know! There may be more to this. There could be other real monsters out there feeding on people's blood! If you can calm down, we can help..." Juan was still speaking when Alice interrupted her, just as she had interrupted her before.

"That's what I'm doing! Helping out! If Aaron dies and the killing continues, then we will know there is more to it. How are we supposed to know when we have a real monster living among us?!" Alice yelled out as she stood up from the bed she was sitting on.

"He doesn't need to be in our midst, not to mention living with us. I just hope that you didn't come back home with him," she added, already leaving the room to go check if Juan actually returned with Aaron.

"Don't bother stressing yourself; he didn't even agree to return. You have finally made him homeless," Juan said, lowering her voice and looking into Alice's eyes. "He is an orphan; he has nowhere to go," she added, but Alice only shrugged her shoulders.

"He is a monster, Juan, and shouldn't be among humans. His background shouldn't justify that," she replied, leaving Juan gazing at her, pondering the type of heart she possesses—whether it's akin to a human heart or if she harbors a stone within.

"Alice, you just want him dead. Do you not have human sympathy?" Juan asked.

But Alice only gave a brief, sad smile, stepping closer to the door and gently opening it. "Of course, I sympathize with the families of his innocent victims, and that is why I care to protect the people. I'm sorry, but I will expose him to the hunters; he has done enough," she said, pointing at the door, indicating she was tired of discussing this issue and wouldn't continue.

She had already made her decision clear and was not ready to change it.

Juan, who understood what she meant by pointing at the door, silently walked out of the room after gazing at her for a while.

She went straight to her room, climbed into her bed, switched off the LED light beside her bed, but couldn't sleep. She was battling with thoughts.

"I can't believe Alice is like this. Why would she be that wicked to someone who saved her life? And I can't even hear her talk about those gang hunting her, and of course will definitely come after her again," she muttered to herself, gazing at the ceiling of the house.

It was unimaginable for her how cold-hearted Alice had become towards Aaron, who hadn't offended her in any way. It was crazy to think deeper about it. Even before that day she discovered Aaron was a werewolf, she had been hating on him for no reason. Now she saw a way to hurt him, using it as an excuse.

"She's been talking about people's safety, and she's not even safe at all. These people coming after her are people I don't even know what business she has with them. But I pray they don't come after her again because if they do, she will have to beg for help by herself this time around," Juan murmured, then tried to change her sleeping posture only to catch a glimpse of a shadow passing through the window.

Then she gently stood up from the bed and approached her window, gazing outside.

 "Aaron?" She called out, hoping that it was Aaron lurking in the shadows.

"Aaron, is that you?" she called out again but received no response. She couldn't even discern the movement clearly and began to think it could be her imagination.

Just as she was turning to return to the bed, she noticed the movement of the shadows again; it seemed like there were two this time.

And then she realized it was those gang members hunting Alice who had returned.

"Here they are, Alice," Juan muttered with a low voice, immediately overtaken by fear, slightly moving backward from the window.