After our conversation with Susan we weren't sure how to proceed. I was pretty convinced she knew that her Dad's an alchemist and thankfully he didn't recognize me from that night in the woods but Chris and Karen were still on the fence about it. The following week Chris and I arrived at school, there was so much chatter in the hallway, whatever was going on seemed to grab the attention of the entire school, small and large groups of people clustered together talking, even teachers were gathered in the hallway. I could tell something was up.
Karen walked up to me and Chris "We need to talk, now"
"What's going on? Why is everyone so tensed?" I asked.
"I've always said it" Bob yelled. "These supernaturals are nothing but a bunch of wild animals, there's no sense in giving them rights. Especially the werewolves in this town, they belong in cages"
A werewolf kid got angry "What did you just say? Did you just call me a wild animal?"
Karen rushed over to calm the werewolf kid, we followed. Teachers noticed the commotion and started heading towards us.
Karen grabbed the werewolf kid and held him back "It's not worth it, it'll only look bad for us" She said. The kid walked away in anger.
Bob continued his ramblings "You all saw it, he almost attacked me"
"Shut up Bob" I yelled.
"That's enough" Mr. Park voiced. "All of you should head to class now"
The crowd began to disperse, Susan walked over to us "Karen, I heard about the incident. I just want you to know I don't believe what people are saying"
"Thanks, It means a lot" Karen responded.
"Fred and I are still in the dark, can someone please tell us what happened?" Chris said.
Susan folded her arms "Two bodies were found early this morning, it looks really bad. Apparently there are claw and teeth marks on both victims, one victim survived though, I heard he was taken to Stowe general"
I sighed "So it looks like werewolves did it?"
"It wasn't us" Karen said. "I heard they also found bullet holes on tree trunks and some metallic container that had some kind of chemical in it"
Karen was trying to say that the Alchemist was involved in whatever went down and we understood.
I glanced at Susan "I remember you telling me your Dad got a transfer to Stowe general. He's a doctor, he must've seen or heard something"
"Uh… he got called in early this morning so I haven't heard anything from him"
"So what's going to happen now?" Chris asked.
Karen stumped her foot nervously "My Dad and other members of the pack talked to Mayor Stowe this morning, it's no secret that he isn't fond of supernaturals. Anyways the decision was that given the nature of the incident, the Anti Mystical Unit has been alerted and they'll be in town later today to head the investigation"
"This could be a good thing right?" Chris asked.
"It won't look so good when the AMU rounds up all the werewolves for questioning" Karen responded as the school bell rang.
"I need to drop somethings in my locker, see you guys in class" Susan rushed down the hallway.
Karen turned "If you're right about Mr. Adler then we have to tell someone. I'm going to tell my Dad that Mr. Adler might be the Alchemist"
Chris immediately stood in front of her "Whoa, I know this is a difficult time for your pack but just really take a minute to think about this. The victims had claw and teeth marks all over them, I doubt an Alchemist could do that"
"It doesn't matter, he's clearly involved in whatever is going on. It should be him the AMU should be asking for answers, not my pack" Karen responded.
"Yesterday you didn't even believe that he's the Alchemist" I walked up to Karen and put my hand on her shoulder "I can't begin to imagine how this must feel for you. Remember what your Dad said last week when we hung out at your place about not judging a particular kind based on the actions of a few. If you tell the AMU about Mr. Adler being an Alchemist, it will for sure have a very negative impact on both his and Susan's lives. We don't know the full story yet, we don't know if he's a good guy or what happened in the woods but it would be really bad if we ruined someone's life with a hasty decision. That kind of guilt might be too much to handle"
Karen was quiet briefly "You're right about one thing Fred"
"What is that?"
"We don't know anything. It's time to get some serious answers, I'm going after the Alchemist" She responded.
Chris gave Karen an anxious look "Wait what? You can't--"
"What are you guys still doing in the hallway? Get to class" Mr. Park voiced.
After school was over Chris and I practically ran out to find Karen before she did something stupid.
"There she is" Chris pointed at her coming out of the main entrance.
"Why are you guys out of breath?" Karen asked.
"We were looking for you, we thought you might have gone to confront Mr. Adler" I answered.
"I am going to confront him, you were right Fred. We've been tiptoeing around this, we don't have answers about your powers, we don't know what the Alchemist was looking for that night and we're not a hundred percent sure if Susan really knows about her Father, that is if her father is even the Alchemist" Karen said.
"He is" I responded.
"So you're just going to walk up to him and be like, 'Hey I know you're an Alchemist. What are you doing in town?'" Chris said in a sarcastic tone.
Karen smirked "That's exactly what I'm going to do, and before you guys try to stop me, I just want you to know that I've made up mind so it's either you help me or get out of my way"
Chris sighed "Fine, but we need to make sure we don't slip up on anything that could give Fred away"
"Good point" Karen agreed. "With the AMU coming into town you need to keep a low profile and avoid anything that'll draw attention to you. I think you should go home. Chris and I will handle this one"
"No way" I responded. "I'm stronger than a werewolf, that's a polite way of saying I'm stronger than you, plus if anything were to go down you would definitely need me in a fight"
Karen sighed "Fine, but you only use your powers if he decides to attacks us"
We drove to Stowe general hospital, the plan was to wait till Dr. Adler got off work and then follow him to a quieter environment before confronting him.
Chris opened up a bag of chips as we sat in his car waiting "A werewolf, a human and a super powered boy confronts an Alchemist, what could go wrong?"
"The AMU just implemented a curfew, everyone is supposed to be indoors by nine" Karen said looking at a notice on her phone.
"That was obviously going to happen" I responded.
"It also means that whatever we are doing needs to be done early" Chris said.
"Great! None of us knows when Dr. Adler gets off work, guess we'll just have to sit here waiting" I said.
"Not for long" Chris pointed at the entrance of the hospital. "Susan is with him"
"What?" I sat up properly to get a better view. Mr. Adler and Susan were exiting the hospital and approaching his Black Buick.
"Are we going to confront him in front of his daughter?" Chris asked.
"Fred is pretty sure she knows how her father spends his free time. We are doing this" Karen answered.
Susan and her Dad drove out of the hospital parking lot and we followed, keeping a relatively safe distance so he won't get suspicious. They stopped at Joe's diner to eat, we stayed outside for almost an hour watching them after which they drove to town hall. Mayor Stowe organized a memorial gathering for the two deceased, people gathered to pay their respects. We watched as Mr. Adler lighted a candle at the foot of the monument wall that was already full with flowers and candles. After that we followed them for a while, it seemed like they were just taking a drive cause they were literally circling the town, we passed a lot of AMU trucks with well armed soldiers all through the town, we even spotted some news vans interviewing the locals. Mr. Adler finally stopped circling the town and drove towards the mountains, we drove till it was practically just our two cars on the highway.
"Chris fallback a little, he's going to realize someone's tailing him" Karen said.
Eventually they came to a stop along the highway, there was nothing to be seen on the road, just trees and the vast forest. Mr. Adler and Susan got out of the car, Mr. Adler grabbed a backpack from the passenger's seat and they both walked into the forest.
"Maybe they're hiking" Chris said.
Karen took a sarcastic tone "Sure! They decided to hike the same day two bodies were found in these same woods"
"Alright, let's follow" I said.
"Fred should go around us just in case" Chris said.
"What?" I asked.
"I'm trying to say let's not all go in one direction, you should go around just in case we're discovered. If things get crazy, we might have to fight our way out. We'll have a lightning yielding superhuman to create a diversion while we run"
"Not a bad idea" Karen agreed.
We all came down from the car and followed from a distance, I left Chris and Karen who were following the straight path that Susan and her Dad took, I went off the path, moving around trees trying not to get spotted. After some minutes I could see Chris and Karen stopped walking, they were standing in the middle of the woods, I noticed that I couldn't see Susan and her Dad anymore, my eyes sorted through the trees trying to figure out which direction they might have headed.
"Stop right there" A voice barked, I turned to see Mr. Adler pointing his rifle at Chris and Karen, I stretched my hand in his direction, ready to hit him with a bolt of lightning when Susan jumped in front of him.
"Dad stop, it's my friends" She shouted.
Mr. Adler put down the rifle "What are they doing here?"
I immediately took cover beside a tree to avoid being spotted.
"Good question" Susan concurred. "What are you guys doing here? Where's Fred?"
"He's not here" Chris answered.
Karen took some steps towards Mr. Adler "You first, what are you doing here?"
"You're the one following us" Mr. Adler said. "So I'll ask again, what are you kids doing out here?"
"We know you're an Alchemist" Chris said.
He was quiet for a few seconds "You guys don't know what you're talking about" he responded. Susan was quiet, it was hard to read their facial expressions from my point of view.
"No need in hiding it anymore, we already know" Karen said.
Mr. Adler tried to dismiss them "I don't know what crazy ideas you guys have but Susan and I just came hunting as you can see" he lifted up his rifle to try and sell his statement.
Karen snapped "The night of the full moon, I was the werewolf that did a number on you, you don't easily forget the face of someone you almost killed"
Karen didn't see his face that night, I did. She was bluffing and that seemed to do the trick.
Mr. Adler scoffed "So that was you"
"Karen you don't understand" Susan said.
"Make us understand" Karen responded. "What are you doing in Stowe? And how are you connected with today's incident?"
"He didn't murder those people if that's what you're asking" Susan stated.
Chris tried talking "We're not accusing him, we're just –"
"This doesn't concern any of you, walk away before you get hurt" Mr. Adler cut in.
"We just want to know what's going on" Chris tried explaining.
"I just said it doesn't concern you guys, now get out of here" he barked.
I could hear Susan growling, from where I was hiding I could see that her fangs and claws had shot out.
"Calm down, let's not do anything rash" Susan said. "Dad, let's explain everything to them"
"Easy Karen, we can sort this out peacefully" Chris tried calming Karen
"My family, my pack are being suspected for something we didn't do" Karen Growled. "If you won't talk to me I'm sure you'll have more fun explaining yourself to the AMU" Karen started to walk away and Chris went after her, they were headed towards the highway.
"Wait" Mr. Adler yelled. "I'll tell you what you want to know"
Karen and Chris turned around "Good choice" she said.
"Have you guys heard about the missing people in the surrounding towns?" Mr. Adler asked.
Chris nodded "I've heard about those. What does that have to do with this?"
"Alchemists have a way we communicate and share information, some people went missing in a town that happened to have an Alchemist, so he decided to investigate, in case it happened be supernatural, and turns out he was right"
"What's doing this?" Karen asked.
"A dire beast" Susan answered.
Karen didn't seem convinced "I know the world has been exposed to supernaturals but they're still somethings that are considered myths even to fellow supernaturals"
Mr. Adler sighed "I didn't believe it at first when the other Alchemist said it but I've seen it with my own eyes kid, this very morning. That monster is very real"
"Wait a minute" Chris said. "According to stories dire beasts are monsters of instinct, they kill anything in sight, surely something like that would draw attention, plus there's been no report of dead bodies found in any of those missing persons case"
"That's the thing, the other Alchemists found a ditch where it was burying his victims. This creature that is supposed to act on instinct is smart enough not to draw too much attention" Susan responded.
"Wow, you're like a junior Alchemist" Chris commented.
"Why didn't the other Alchemist report the bodies to the authorities?" Karen asked.
"Alchemists and authorities haven't had the best of relationships" Mr. Adler answered.
Karen sighed "If your story adds up then I'm guessing it wasn't able to bury it's victims earlier today because you interrupted it"
"You guessed right"
"How do we get this information to the AMU?" Chris asked.
Mr. Adler switched back to his harsh tone "There is no we, I've told you guys what you wanted to know, now leave. I'll take care of this"
Karen got riled up "You can't possibly-"
"Please" Susan interrupted. "We'll talk about this later, you guys need to go"
Chris and Karen were about leaving when Mr. Adler voiced "The night of the full moon, if you remember me then surely you remember the boy with the hoodie. He has some very unique talents, do you know who he is?"
Karen stared Mr. Adler right in the eye "No, don't know who that was"
"I believed Stowe to be a quiet town, guess you guys are just full of surprises"
"Hey" Karen called out to Mr. Adler who had already started to walk away. "If you ever bark orders or take that tone with me and my friend ever again, I'll finish what I started the night of the full moon"
I didn't have a clear view but I think I saw Mr. Adler smile, he then strapped his rifle on his back after which he and Susan walked deeper into the woods.