After returning to the base, Brady was to have his wounds tended to before explaining himself to the boss, and he would surely not be pleased. Hell, Brady wasn't even too thrilled about it either, especially since he didn't know what he was going to say to the man. After all, how could he explain something even he didn't understand?
Where did the beast he fought come from? What was he even doing out in the forest? Why couldn't he remember?
Though getting beaten up was nothing new to him, this particular beating puzzled him the most from all the others he's had in his life. While he tried sorting out the facts in his head, he kept getting sidetracked by the cold stinging of pain as Jennifer dabbed the healing ointment on his bruises and open cuts.
"Ow, ow, ow! Damn it, that stings! Ooooowww!!"
"Oh, quit whining! You're not a baby!"
Jennifer Rynders was also a proud member of the clan, born into a bold family of werewolves. Her own transformation took years for her to master, but it was her abnormally bright blue eyes that got in the way, even when they could take any man's breath away.
She's the boss's only daughter, and as such, she is revered and overly protected by everyone in her clan. Never knowing why, though, it seems she's their precious gem that must be safeguarded at all costs. She doesn't like it because she rarely gets to leave the hideout and even when she's permitted she must be accompanied by at least two chaperones who are in fighting condition. As if she's a hunted prey, she wonders day and night what is it about herself that the clan is so desperate to protect.
Moreover, she's been the only one in the clan who's treated Brady fairly. Ever since he first came to them as a child, Jennifer helped look after him, ate snacks with him, played with him, sometimes slept in the same bed as him, trained with him, and even made trouble and disobeyed the adults with him. She was his first real friend, and he was hers.
To this day, Jennifer likes to think she knows Brady more than anybody else. But right now, she wasn't enjoying how Brady was complaining about such a mild medical treatment. She'd done this before many times, for him more than anyone else in the clan, and it always annoyed and worried her whenever he got hurt, but she also found it somewhat as an opportunity to comfort her friend. This time, however, was a little different.
"You know, it's not all that easy to patch up the wounds on you. Just saying," she started teasing him as she wrapped the white bandages around his arms, "I'm still thinking about my career for when my next birthday comes. Maybe I should become a doctor," she's been wanting to leave the clan for sometime and make it out on her own to live in the human society, but first she must persuade her father into letting her do so, which is far easier said than done, "It's a huge buttload of studying, but I'm sure it's worth it. Why can't I get through it, huh? I might even be one of those doctors who can fix even the worst beaten up people. I mean, I'm always tending to you after you get into a big ten-on-one fight."
Brady didn't respond. She found this troubling. He didn't even look at her. His gaze was fixated on the floor as he sat on a table in the middle of the room, with his eyebrows furrowed and an extremely serious expression on his face. Inside his brain were thoughts trying to make sense of the beast that he fought earlier. The usual aggravated glint in his eyes was replaced with intensive curiosity.
Jennifer didn't let it faze her, though. And so she continued making her smartass remarks towards him, just wanting to see him pout like a toddler because only that way she'd know he was his usual self. She always did this to reassure herself that her friend hasn't been broken.
As she was just finishing up, she took a big whiff of the air surrounding Brady. He reeked of a rotting corpse as residue from the beast seemed to have dissolved into his skin and thus created a stench far more worse than any body odor could emit. As a joke, she lifted his arm that was still in her hands to her face and sniffed a few more times while Brady watched in discomfort.
"P.U.! That's a horrible stink!" she exclaimed as she turned her head away and stuck out her tongue, "You couldn't have at least taken a shower before I patched you up with all these delicate, valuable bandages?! Nobody likes a smelly boy, you know!"
This surely would've made Brady lash out. But instead, he shifted his gaze back to the floor, his expression unchanged.
Now Jennifer was starting to get worried. She frowned and let go of his arm, and then immediately decided to take a different approach on the conversation.
"So, uh, before you go see my dad, do you mind, well, telling me where you've been?"
Only Brady's eyes moved back to look at her, and he remained silent. Deep down, he wished he could answer her question. He had previously overheard from eavesdropping on some of the other clan members from when he returned that he had been missing for almost a whole week. Though it wasn't uncommon of him to step out and practically go off the grid for days on end, he usually remembered what happened during those times. But no matter how hard he tried to recall the events between the moment he left the hideout to when he woke up in the forest, he just couldn't.
"I mean, you were gone for so long this time. A lot longer than you usually do. You still took care of yourself, though, right?"
Brady didn't answer.
"You didn't get sick, right? Did you forget to eat at all?"
She asked a few more questions regarding his well-being during his time out, but no words came out of his mouth. He acknowledged her questionings just by glancing at her several times. Even so, he didn't bother to respond.
Once all of his fresh wounds got patched up, Brady quietly thanked Jennifer for her hard work, and then he jumped down from the table onto his feet and made his way towards the door to exit the room and head on over to the boss.
This was making Jennifer anxious, frustrated, and concerned. It was on a rare occasion that Brady would act like this, but she felt she had to stop him. Just as he was reaching his hand for the doorknob, she grabbed his arm again and grasped it tightly in her grip to prevent him from escape. She even released her werewolf claws at her fingertips for extra measures, while making sure not to make him bleed again.
"Wait, come on," she began with, "At the very least, you can tell me where you went to and if you, well, you know, found anything out about…the thing."
She was positive this would reel him into a conversation because it felt like an eternity since their last one, but it was to no avail.
He didn't even look at her as he said, "Let me go. I'll be late."
"Since when is being punctual one of your strong suits, anyway?" Jennifer joked, "Just please tell me what happened to you this time."
Again, nothing.
And just like that, like a thread, already fragile and unsteady while flailing around in the heavy wind gusts, breaking in half, their bond seemed to break along with it.
"For the love of God, say something!" Jennifer finally snapped, "Hey, are you even listening to me?! Brady!"
All of a sudden, Brady turned his head to face Jennifer, and he yelled, "Oh for fuck's sake! Just leave me alone, will you?!"
"I'm just trying to help you!" Jennifer fired back, "You can't possibly believe you can handle everything by yourself! You have to learn to rely more on your allies while you still can!"
"I never asked you guys to help me!"
"That's because you were a helpless little kid who refused to talk to anyone!"
"Oh, shut up! I don't need you to babysit me all the time!" Brady's nerves were flaring.
He yanked his arm out of her grip, resulting in her claws scratching his skin and leaving white lines along the surface, but he didn't care. The problem wasn't that he wouldn't paying attention. He just couldn't be bothered with her stupid jokes. Not this time. Not while he was feeling this weird chilly clench in his gut, as if it's an indicator that something terrible is about to happen.
Brady then left the room with only Jennifer in it, slamming the large metal door behind him, and made his way to see the boss.
His stomping footsteps echoed through the underground concrete hallways. He kept his fists clenched out of frustration and rage swelling up inside and needing to be vented. But he bit down the urge. Any more damage to him or the hideout's walls would surely afflict him worse than these new scars ever could.
Once he arrived at the door of the boss's office, Brady gulped down his reluctance in order to work up the courage to turn the knob and push the door open. He found the boss, Nat Rynders, sitting on the edge of his chair with his elbows resting on his desktop and his fingertips on both hands lightly touching each other. The man saw Brady come in, as if he was waiting this whole time for the boy, and he immediately frowned.
"Alright, let's be clear, here and now," Nat Rynders wasted no time in getting down to business, "You and I both know that you can't lie to me. So why don't you just tell me what happened."
Brady slowly and watchfully approached the front of Nat's desk that sat in the middle of his office. Standing face-to-face with the boss is the only time Brady ever feels intimidated. For this was the same man who took him off the streets, rescuing him from a vagabond lifestyle. Giving him warm food, soft beds, and a semi-easy life. Through his intense and lustful urge for vengeance, he was subconsciously thankful for this man's subtle kindness and the continuous offer of having a place to come back to.
Also, it was only part of their deal that they went through this. After the boy had returned from his first disappearance in his quest to find his parents' killers, Nat Rynders made an offer to him. He can go out and search as long as he reports back what he experienced when he returns. Ever since, Nat hoped this would gradually make Brady realize that his insatiable desire for revenge won't get him anywhere. Revenge is stupid, and he should focus on how he will live his life. Surely, that's what the boy's parents would've wanted for their son. Even so, Brady continues down this path of hatred, anger, and violence, having not learned a thing, and it sickens Nat.
"Well, it's just…" Brady hesitated.
Knowing if he said, "I really don't remember", Nat would never believe him. In fact, he would scold him so harsh that the man just might lose it. But soon enough, after due consideration, he decided it was all he could say.
Nat sighed out of frustration, "Brady, I know you're stupid, but you're not forgetful."
Brady didn't know whether to take that as an insult or a warning. Being so preoccupied with his idea of vengeance, practically everyone around him believes he truly is blind to the rest of the world.
He was about to say something but was cut off when Nat Rynders said, "Look, enough is enough. I was hoping I wouldn't have to say that, but it seems it's come to this, after all. I've given you plenty of chances to seize this ridiculous path of vengeance you've been persistently on all this time and yet—"
"Who are you calling ridiculous?!" Brady interrupted.
A vein bulged on the side of his forehead. How dare this man thinks that all the pain Brady has felt from the brutal loss of his parents is ridiculous. From the loneliness he has felt all these years. From the regret he feels for not being able to save his family. How can anyone call one's actions of overcoming cowardice and trying to seek eye-for-an-eye justice for all he has lost ridiculous?! Brady clenched his fists even tighter from the anger building in his chest but kept his hands behind his back the whole time.
"What I'm trying to say, Brady, is you've gotten yourself into more than enough trouble as it is," Nat Rynders went on as he stood up from his chair and walked over to the boy, "I've made up my mind and I decided you're going to stop. That is, if you want to stay a part of this clan, or rather to ensure you have three daily meals and a roof over your head."
Brady looked at him in disbelief, "You can't be serious!"
"I'm dead serious, and don't you think for a minute you're getting off the hook for the foolish stunts you've pulled in the last couple of weeks."
"What are you talking about?!"
Nat didn't answer his question, and instead stared straight into Brady's eyes with his own eyes now glowing a bright yellow as they usually do when he is either furious or transformed and just continued with, "As for your punishment, you are not allowed to go outside this hideout for a while, so consider yourself grounded," Nat Rynders was finally pulling out his trump card.
Brady snapped, "You can't ground me! You're not my mom!"
Regardless, Nat continued, "If you dare leave this building for any reason at all, you'll get far worse than all of those new scars you have or the pain you've endured this time around."
"Hey! But I—" Brady tried to say but was cut off.
"No buts! I don't want to hear it!"
"But if you'd just listen to me—"
"I said no! Besides, what can you even tell me?! You already said you don't remember anything!"
He had a point there. As much as he didn't want it to be true, Brady was in no position to make any argument in his defense. It's as if someone or something purposely made him forget what happened in the past several days. It may be possible, and the idea almost came out to Brady's mouth to try to make an effort only for him to realize Nat wasn't going to believe him any further. He could see it in the man's eyes.
Once he had his attention, Nat resumed with, "This is for your own good, young man. Again, do not leave this hideout!"
"You can't make me!" Brady's voice snarled beneath his breath when he said this.
He hadn't meant to say it directly to Nat Rynders, but Nat interpreted it as such and instantly stood up from his chair and walked over to Brady. This made the boy back away by one step once Nat was merely inches away from him. The man leaned his face into Brady's and gave him a sinister glare to show his dominance over the boy. The expression on Nat's face was strictly stern, whereas Brady's was stricken of fear and worrying about what the man might do to him. It wouldn't be the first time Nat physically hurt him to teach him a lesson.
The silence between them was overwhelming until Nat finally gave Brady some space and said, "This will be the last word on this conversation: no more seeking revenge for you. Go now and get some rest. You look like you need it."
Before he even knew it, Brady was walking out the office door and heading towards him room in the hideout. Nothing could be more frustrating than this. Being told to stop pursuing his life goal is not a good feeling, and it's going to stick with him tonight while he tries to get some sleep.