The staircase was shabby and was made up of wood. It had gotten worn off several decades ago.
When someone would step on it, it would make a squeaky sound; as Martha observed when the werewolf resting on the baluster went upstairs.
She wanted to find a way out of this gloomy environment; "a broken window or maybe some emergency exit I could find.
But it won't help since this bunch of dense hairs would be at great ease when catching up with our pace.
I have already seen their pace when one of these was nonchalantly blowing out the fire torches as our motor car moved. Running from them is not an option" she thought.
She kept on thinking about something to confront these werewolves when finally, the Alpha spoke for the very first time, "Let us discuss our agendas now" Everyone got wide awake as soon as the words escaped through the Alpha's mouth.
Martha too, immediately looked up to see Alpha. Its voice was gruff. It carried the impression of the leader of a wolf pack without a fail.
As tough as he appeared through his skin, so was his voice as well.
The heavy breathing was there at all events. Benjamin adjusted himself a bit and began to stand up. Seeing Benjamin rise, even Cindy attempted to get up.
Though she wasn't subjected to any sort of physical assault, it took her much strength to rise from the spot.
She had gotten weak because of this profound emotional breakdown. Martha could see the tears falling on the floor as her mother was getting up.
"Why am I getting this feeling that something very bad has happened?" thought Martha. Every time she would remind herself to remain strong, her surroundings would somehow compel her to pull back her strength and experience the fear that slowly crept on to her.
She could do nothing but listen to their conversations since even if she wanted to say something in between;
she couldn't since she doesn't know the crux of the matter in the first place. She could only make apprehensions.
Everyone was now standing except Martha.
She kept her head low so to avoid an eye contact with anyone, even her parents.
She placed both her hands on the floor as if she summoned the land to replenish some energy in her. After a second or two, she, through the support of her hand, rose from the ground and stood up, yet avoiding an eye contact with anyone.
Everyone had an eye on her and this was keenly noticed by Martha as everyone remained silent and didn't utter a word. She finally looked at her mother who already was watching her and said, "Mommy, I need some water" Her mother didn't respond but kept on staring her daughter into the eye. Her mother didn't have the control here but the werewolves did.
Martha too knew this thing and this is why spoke loud enough that each of the werewolves was able to hear her which they did.
The wolf accompanying the Alpha and who had earlier brought Martha on the brink of death angered,
"We are not at your beck and call that we would rush to find water whenever you need it! You little bitch, you keep standing silent here or you better die of thirst" Martha, as the werewolf spoke, maintained an eye contact with it so to convey that she is not really afraid of it.
She could also see through the corner of the eye a movement of somebody.
She had predicted that movement beforehand; it was Tyler's. She had hoped for Tyler to listen to her plea since it didn't pass her that evil smirk like every other werewolf did. Martha didn't respond to what the werewolf just said to her and kept her calm.
The werewolf was angry at Martha and got even angrier when it noticed Tyler approaching her with another tumbler of water.
It let out a huge groan and said, "You better not listen to her demands Tyler.
Remember they are not our guests but just slaves" Both Cindy's and Benjamin's eyes widened as they heard themselves labeled as slaves in front of their daughter.
Martha didn't show any signs of getting offended upon getting called as a slave since she believed she was smart enough to not register the bullshit coming out of the werewolf's mouth.
Tyler responded to the werewolf, "Be it guest or slave, everyone has the right to ask for water if they want it. Depriving them of something as basic as water would be too inhuman of us" The werewolf responded to this,
"That's where you get your answer! It is inhuman for us to serve them water and we are not humans!" it yelled.
Tyler looked at it for a fraction of second and chose not to give it a response.
Martha kept on looking at the back of Tyler as it argued with the other werewolf. All this while, it had his back to Martha.
Finally he turned his face towards her in order to hand her the tumbler of water. Martha finally saw its face its expression said nothing but rage and disgust.
He felt disgusting at the other werewolf's remarks.
Martha didn't shift her gaze from its face as Tyler extended its hand carrying the tumbler to Martha. Martha, while looking at its face, took the tumbler from its hand.
Tyler soon moved out of the sight and went upstairs. Martha opened the cap and began to have water whilst not moving her eyes from Tyler.
Her eyes followed Tyler as long as it didn't take her head to turn behind to see it.
Once it reached out of her sight, Martha didn't feel to turn her head behind to look at Tyler since once Tyler stepped on the staircase to move upstairs, she got to know where it was headed to because of the squeaky sound the stairs made.
Martha felt a bit uncomfortable as the sole werewolf that had helped him on a couple of occasions was no longer there now.
She was also intrigued by the appearance of Tyler as it was different from that of other werewolves.
She finally put the cap back on the top of the tumbler and Alpha spoke in a sarcastic manner, "Had your water missed? Shall I continue with the agenda now?" a hint of irritation was evident in its speech.
This startled the other werewolf a bit as it wondered how come its master was seeking permission from someone inferior to it.