Riding along a narrow path flanked by two woods with tall trees, things began to seem spooky to Kylie. Everywhere was lonely and silent, and all she could hear were hoots of owls and flaps of wings. Suddenly, from a distance, they sighted a number of men in black suits, standing on the way.
"Oh, shit!" Eric hit the steering hard. "Ferzy, not this time." He reduced the acceleration of the car until it stopped right before the mean-looking men.
"Who are these?" Kylie asked Brad.
"Some of my dad's rivals," Brad said.
She brought her voice down to the lowest and asked him. "They're werewolves too?"
Brad nodded, still looking at the men. Eric and Maria stepped out of the car and told Brad and Kylie to remain inside the car, but they could hear what they were saying.
"You should know when to block my path, Ferzy," Eric said.
"I could block it on your way to catch a flight so long you still are in possession of the mountain stone," Ferzy said. He had a long blonde hair, and bushy brows.
"I don't remember you giving me any mountain stone to keep. The one I possess is mine," Eric said.
"What's a mountain stone?" Kylie asked Brad.
"I'd tell you about it later," Brad said to her.
"I think you should utilize the time you spend in always pissing Eric off to find yours," Maria said to him.
Kylie looked at the other men that came with Ferzy. There were five of them, looking mean and ready to pull up a fight.
Ferzy laughed and walked close to Maria. "When I'm done with you both you'd know who really lost his mountain stone."
"Oh, you can do nothing Ferzy. You know you can. I could remember vividly how you lost it. Your greed led you to chase Greg, leader of the Green Hound pack for their time elixir, and you lost your mountain stone in the process," Eric said.
"And you still couldn't get the time elixir," Maria said.
"Well, a very good memory you've got. I heard Greg is having a birthday party today, where you're headed I guess. He still owes me the time elixir, and he knows. And as for you, I don't care if I lost my mountain stone or not. You need to hand the mountain stone to me, or you face a grave consequence." He looked into the car and smiled at Kylie.
Kylie gasped and looked away.
"For now, we take our leave," he said and cleared off the road.
Eric watched them while they left, then he sighed and got back into the car.
"Ferzy seems to be resilient on his demands for the mountain stone," Brad said.
"He'd keep demanding it till his demise," Eric said, starting the car again.
"But, what's the mountain stone, and why is it so special?" Kylie asked.
"Guess Brad has told you we are a family of werewolves," Eric said. "But you need not be afraid. With the mountain stone, a werewolf doesn't loose it's human heart and conscience. It could still control it's feelings, hurt those that should be hurt, and still be a friend to those that deserve the friendship."
"So, without the mountain stone, one who turns into a werewolf won't be able to control it's taste for blood and violence?" Kylie asked.
"Yes. And that's why Ferzy and his pack get dangerous and blood-thirsty when they transform," Eric said.
"Oh, wow. And what about the time elixir, what is it for?" Kylie asked.
"The time elixir could stop a werewolf from ageing," Maria said. "But it's not something that's so easy to get. Exists in a certain region inhabited by vampires. Vampires don't age because they posses this elixir. Getting it from them could be very deadly."
"And we don't think we're ready for that yet," Eric said.
"Where is this region?" Kylie asked.
"That's not something you should bother about, Kylie," Brad said. "You're human and it would harm you having thoughts of a region inhabited by vampires."
"Brad is right dear, you don't need to bother about that," Eric said.
Kylie kept mute, not wanting to ask further questions.
They arrived the venue of the birthday party when it neared evening. It held outside, infront of a beautiful house. The outside was grassy and serene. People stood outside chatting cheerfully with red cups in their hands. When Eric came out of the car, all eyes turned to him. In fact, he became the center of attraction, and Kylie wondered why. He walked with the family straight into the house and saw the celebrant attending to some cheerful visitors that came by.
He was a young man with a very good dentition, because he smiled at will. On sighting Eric, he left the people he was with and went to embrace him.
"The general," he said to Eric.
"How are things going Greg?" Eric said.
"Going so well. I see beautiful Maria, cute Brad, and..." He stared at Kylie.
"This is Kylie, Brad's friend," Eric said.
"She's human though," Maria said and giggled.
"Oh, wow, human!" Greg said out loud, and it made every eyes turn towards Kylie, which made her uncomfortable.
Brad held her shoulder. "You don't need to be nervous."
"She's beautiful. I've always known Brad to be a lover of humans. He associates so well with them," Greg said, laughing.
"That's how it should be, and that is how I lead the pack. We all should associate with humans," Eric said.
"Of course yes. I have one human living with me. I was once human too," Greg laughed, as well as the others.
It made Kylie's heart stop beating so fast. She got relaxed and blended with them.
The party started late into the night. Brad took Kylie outside to where Greg's son interacted with his friends. Just like Brad, they were accommodating and loving to her. They spent time, playing games, eating sweet fruits, and telling stories.
While Kylie spent a good time with Brad and his friends, she heard a loud growl from one end of the house. Everyone in her circle suddenly halted, then they began to transform immediately. Kylie gasped in fear and began to walk back.
"Stay here!" Brad said to her and transformed immediately, joining the others towards the place where they heard the sound.
Kylie, in fear, gently walked towards where all the werewolves trooped to. It was behind the house, a very wide field. There she saw two packs of werewolves, facing another in a threatening demeanor. It seemed like the opposite pack was a rival to the other two. They kept growling and charging at each other. She saw the leader in front on the opposite pack. He was very scary, huge, with long arms and sharp fangs, facing the pack that Brad was amongst. She saw the two alphas in front of the other two packs and she assumed that one of the alphas must be Brad's father. She began to wonder what had happened. Maybe the opposite pack came to cause trouble in the birthday party. The growls and charges from the other two packs got very intense and life threatening. They began to go close to the other one while they retreated, until they turned away.