In the backyard of Anderson's house, Laura and Alice lay in hammocks.
It's rare for Laura to come here on a weekend afternoon. Spring was coming to an end, the Porto City High School Football League was drawing to a close, and the Beavers' games are over. And that's the end of Laura's path to earning extra credit. But as summer was approaching, Laura was inexplicably excited.
It's a pity that Anderson's men were not here, which made Laura a little disappointed. The two girls chatted while basking in the afternoon sun.
"There's another accident at the bus station." Laura's eyes turned to one side.
"What's the matter?" The Banshee looked at Laura. She had seen a trace of remorse on her friend's face.
"Yesterday, the police went to [Park Primary School] to investigate, and two people disappeared there," Laura whispered.
Alice thought for a while and carefully identified where Laura's self-reproach came from. After a while, she realized that it was just the girl's rich imagination. She patted Laura on the shoulder comfortingly, "it's not your fault."
"Well, I know." Laura sighed. "But there's always a strange feeling. If I hadn't turned that place out, maybe none of this would have happened." Laura looked more and more depressed. "And I know them."
Alice watched her friend's self-reproach turn into worry. At least Laura didn't take it as her own responsibility. She was a little relieved, "who is it?"
"Actually, I just met the Qwest couple who got married on Monday. Do you know that?" Laura asked.
Alice thought for a while. On Monday, the atmosphere in Anderson's house was still very tense. Ryan kept pouring blood to help Ian with his treatment. Benjamin's transformation near the full moon. Gust and his wife were preparing for the fight against Papa Midnight. But Alice remembered this surname. It is very famous in Porto. It is located at the junction of the North and South districts. The 'Q' on the signboard of the largest retail supermarket represents this surname.
Alice shook her head apologetically. The Anderson family was busy these days. Even old Hank didn't have time to read the newspaper.
Laura shook her head and put aside her worries. Her eyes fell on a bicycle in front of Benjamin's warehouse. She seemed interested: "does Benjamin ride?"
Alice glanced at the old bicycle. "Oh, that's Matthew's."
"Matthew? Who is Matthew?" Laura asked curiously.
"Yes." Alice thought about the words. "Benjamin's Apprentice."
Werewolf has an official position in Anderson as a Steller... Considering that Benjamin carves gravestones with his claws, this is a very apt statement.
"Oh." Laura lost interest.
In the Western tomb area of Anderson's house, not far from the northwest, a 'funeral' was being held in the church here.
Now Anderson is busy with the relocation of the west side cemetery. As he had expected for a long time, Ryan had already coordinated the customer's appointment, which would not make Anderson feel really busy. Only some people with special requirements, such as the re-customization of the coffin, made old Hank complain.
Today's client asked for a new funeral, so all the procedures had to be repeated. Of course, the process of looking at the remains must be removed. A large number of flowers surrounded the newly made coffin, and strong incense was added to the base to cover the rotten smell.
Ryan and Benjamin were at the back door of the church. They listened to the people inside one by one. God knows if they read the speech again. Everyone present looked calm and gloomy. After all, this was not a real funeral, but a form derived from the living to express the guilt of the deceased.
Benjamin noticed that Matthew was always ready. He was a little funny: "don't worry. After the speech, these people will spend some time socializing. When they leave and only relatives are left, we will take the coffin to the cemetery for burial."
Twenty-year-old Matthew is also a tall and strong man, which meets the criteria for werewolves to select their descendants. After contact, the vampire can also understand why Benjamin's wolf body chose him, but what the vampire doesn't understand is that Benjamin actually left this guy with him.
"Oh." Matthew, with a trace of natural simplicity, is actually the most common quality of the rural people in the Southern District. His work is hard-won. He is a very hardworking young man. These days, he had been following behind his two predecessors and learning about the work of the funeral home. This was his first time to attend the whole process of a funeral. He was always worried about what he would do wrong.
"Don't worry, we won't fire you." Ryan narrowed his eyes and looked at Benjamin. He was testing.
"We won't." The werewolf looked back at the vampire and said yes.
Matthew felt a bit ominous, "I..."
"You can wait in the car." Benjamin waved to Matthew.
When Matthew left, Ryan and Benjamin faced off.
"Why did you keep him?" Ryan frowned. When Benjamin said he hired Matthew four days ago, he thought it was just a joke.
Benjamin asked flatly, "why did you keep Louise?"
"Louise is not a vampire yet," Ryan replied with a frown.
"Not yet." Benjamin pushed the vampire back at will.
Ryan waved helplessly, "you know, I don't mean to express this. I'm not jealous that you have a 'son'."
Believe me, Ryan is telling the truth. It's really not his own 'son' who followed Papa at midnight and left him. But Benjamin and Matthew have such a good relationship that they never seem to be separated!
"I know." Benjamin raised his eyebrows and smiled at the vampire. "I just remind you that you are not fit to ask me this question."
"But I must ask." Ryan sighed. "You don't know what he wants to do. Matthew was born on purpose."
It's Benjamin's wolf. You don't think that someone will survive after being attacked by a wolf-like a bear, do you? Moreover, according to Matthew's own memory, after he was torn off his bicycle by Benjamin's wolf, they looked at each other for ten seconds, and then the huge mouth that was enough to chew off his head, just took a light bite on his shoulder gently.
So even though honest Matthew swore at the post office that he had been attacked, no one would believe him.
"Did you stab it with a stick?"?! Matthew, you let us down! You're fired! "
Benjamin looked at Ryan and smiled, "I think he was just retaliating. That morning, I suppressed it tear you up, so it deliberately made trouble."
Ryan shook his head. "I don't think it's that simple." Ryan looked at Benjamin. "It's your half body. As alpha, you shouldn't despise yourself so much."
"Then it just wants to rebuild the wolves. It's no big deal." Benjamin said indifferently.
The vampire explored the werewolf's eyes and found that Benjamin really didn't care. He frowned, "Ben, you have changed."
"Ryan, I haven't changed. I'm alpha. I can control my group. I won't let him touch you."
Ryan continued to shake his head, his eyes narrowed. "He can't touch me even if he wants to. He's not a threat to me. I'm his threat."
The werewolf looked at the red light in the vampire's eyes, his fingers twitched slightly, and he didn't speak.
Ryan returned to normal and looked at Benjamin seriously, "it is pulling you out of Anderson's house. This is the first step. When you are used to leading the clansman, the second, the third... You will become the alpha again, and you will leave Anderson."
Benjamin pursed his lips. He knew this. No one knows his wolf better than him. As each full moon approaches, the beast is clamoring for him to leave Anderson, establish his own group, and once again become the alpha who leads the wolves.
So werewolves have offspring, and vampires have offspring are two completely different things. Vampires just think 'well, it's a good idea to give this person eternal life. With his or her company, the future life may be more interesting'. After completing the teaching, the relationship between the two people can develop in any direction, or they may be classified as strangers or even enemies. So vampires have clans similar to human society in order to restrain themselves.
For alpha, 'I am the king, let me make my own people'. The connection between werewolves is much stronger than that of vampires. Alpha is their leader and master. They are a family with supernatural cohesion.
"But now I can remember everything." Benjamin also looked at Ryan seriously, "I can feel every thought and action. I won't let that happen."
Ryan's eyebrows wrinkled again. Is it because Benjamin felt he could control the curse from the full moon?
"No, Benjamin, this is dangerous. You are understanding its behavior, but it does not understand you. In this confrontation, you are backing away from its actions, and you will lose."
Benjamin bowed his head and thought for a while before he said lightly, "maybe, but at least now I can know what it is going to do. What do you want me to do? I can't ignore Matthew. He is implicated by us, and Anderson needs to be responsible for him."
Ryan thought for a while, but he still didn't say 'throw Matthew out of Porto'.
The guests at the 'funeral' finished their speeches and socialized with each other to leave the church. After motioning to their families, the Anderson family lifted the coffin and moved to the hearse.
Matthew, who was waiting for help, was stopped by Benjamin. "You drive."
Matthew sat in the driver's seat of the hearse and drove to the cemetery.
Ryan had been paying attention to this new Anderson member. Matthew is still very blunt to Ryan, just like subordinates to superiors. Ryan shook his head. "Forget it, trust Benjamin's education. Wait until Benjamin tells him about the history of vampires and werewolves, and then see his reaction."