'Thank you, Professor Henderson.'
Kai shook a middle-aged woman's hand firmly. He also glanced at the two teenagers to the left and right of the woman. He heard the three talking in Korean for a few minutes, ending with a peck that the woman landed on each of their foreheads.
The woman escorted Kai to the front door, followed by the two teenagers pulling the suitcases. Arriving at the door, the woman bowed and thanked Kai once again.
'Leon, take good care of Beatrice, mom entrusts her to you,' said their mother.
'Okay, mom.'
Their mother hugged Leon and Beatrice in turn. A tear almost fell from Beatrice's eye when she hugged her mum. Kai gave the family time to say goodbye. Beside him, Julie just stared at Leon.
'You didn't hypnotise their mother, did you?' Asked Julie when Kai was standing in the same line as her.
'No, I didn't. Their mother voluntarily sent Beatrice to Cedarwood. She already knew that her ex-husband was a werewolf, and she was grateful that there was a school that could understand Beatrice's circumstances. What are you going to do with Leon?' Kai explained.
'You said Leon's scent is unique, not like a normal human. Your nose doesn't recognise human blood wrongly, does it? I will find out the truth.'
'Don't put too much pressure on yourself, Skyler. Enjoy your teenage life. Go hang out with him. It's been almost a week since Beatrice's first shift, but you haven't done what normal teenagers do.'
Julie was silent, neither denying nor agreeing. She had a lot of important things to think about at the moment. Julie led the way to Kai's black Range Rover. She opened the front left door and sat down as she waited for them all to get in.
As they travelled from the suburbs of Birmingham, Julie could only hear the siblings talking in their own language. It made her uncomfortable until Julie decided to cast a magic spell to understand what they were saying.
'Auscultacio!' whispered Julie as she cast the spell.
'She keeps glancing at you,' said Beatrice to Leon.
'She has eyes and uses them well, Beatrice'
'She likes you, Leon. I'll bet'
'Shut up, you're so loud. We're riding in their car; be polite!' Leon replied with a stifled voice.
Beatrice snorted rudely. She turned her gaze towards the window. Leon left his sister in that mode until she fell asleep with her head banging on the window. Leon pulled Beatrice's head and rested it on his shoulder.
Julie, who understood their conversation, smiled slightly. Kai turned the wheel to the left, entering the rest area to refuel their car. While Kai refuelled, Julie got out of the car to buy some snacks at the convenience store.
'I'll buy snacks for all of us,' Julie said briefly.
'Are we there yet?' Asked Beatrice who suddenly woke up.
'Professor is refuelling. I'm going into the convenience store. Would you like to leave anything?' Julie asked Beatrice.
'Diet coke and crisps, please.'
Leon walked towards the convenience store. He intended to help Julie and buy some lemonade for himself. Just as he was about to open the door, Leon felt his body being pushed by someone who walked hurriedly into the convenience store. He chose to give in and stepped in after the man.
He saw Julie in the beverage's aisle with her blonde hair sticking out from among the cans. He moved his steps towards her, ready to help the girl if she needed it.
'Here, let me help you carry it.'
'Thank you.'
Both heard bullets being fired. Julie immediately ran towards the direction the sound came from. She saw a man pointing a gun at the cashier. His loud voice and the muzzle movement of the gun pointing directly at the cashier made Julie brace herself with open arms.
The cashier kept the money in her drawer. She shook her head vigorously as if pitting her mental toughness against the man.
'I said hand over the money or I'll shoot you!'
'No way!' said the cashier firmly.
The man pulled the trigger. Before the bullet had penetrated the cashier's body, Julie had already swung her hand forward and chanted, 'Prohibere!'
Julie stopped the bullet in mid-air. Suddenly, the incident made the man gape in disbelief. In the midst of his disbelief, Kai came at him at lightning speed, punching him right in the face and knocking him to the ground, causing a chain reaction on the shelf behind him to fall on his body.
Julie cast her eyes around, taking in the scene inside the convenience store that was being visited by two elderly couples. Both of them were gawking, including Leon, who was not far behind Julie.
'Ad Somnum!'
Julie swung her hand back at the mugger. A second later, Julie saw that the man had fallen asleep due to the sleeping spell she cast.
'Uncle Kai, I need your help,' Julie exclaimed.
Kai understood. He immediately approached the two elderly couples who were in the food aisle. Kai put on a friendly smile and compelled, 'You saw that man fall down because he slipped. He was so stupid that you guys laughed at his stupidity. Nice day, isn't it?'
'Yeah, you're right.' The elderly couple replied and continued laughing.
Kai moved towards the counter. He leaned over the counter and whispered in the cashier's ear, 'Your cheeks are flushed after seeing me, saving you from that pervert... Harper, love.'
'Thank you,' said the cashier, with a blush on her face.
Julie rolled her eyes at Kai's silliness. Her attention was diverted when she heard Leon's footsteps approaching her.
'You're a witch too?' Leon whispered.
'Yes,' Julie said briefly as she pulled out some money from her jeans pocket.
'You know. You were so cool just now,' Leon complimented her in a low voice.
'Erm...teens. If you'll excuse me, I can't stand it,' Kai said as he blinked with one eye.
Kai grabbed the mugger's hand and led him out of the convenience store. Julie followed Kai's movements with her eyes. She knew what Kai was going to do with that man. She could see Kai's eyes turning blood-red.
'Professor...his eyes...'
'He just wanted to teach him a lesson.'
Leon felt the goosebumps on the back of his neck. But he tried to look as normal as possible so as not to attract attention. Both of them stepped out of the convenience store with shopping bags in Leon's hands. They got into the car and waited in silence for Kai to return from the toilet.
'Wasn't that a gunshot?' Beatrice asked.
'Julie has already handled it,' Leon replied.
Suddenly, the car door opened to reveal Kai who was about to close the door again. Kai looked at himself in the rearview mirror. He wiped the blood that remained at the corner of his lips.
'Sorry to keep you waiting.'
'You didn't kill him, did you?' Asked Julie to make sure.
'Just anaemic, more or less. I've become more civilised after being a mentor at school.'
Kai started driving the car. He accelerated their journey by picking up speed. Kai managed to travel in forty minutes with his car and stopped right in front of the tall black gate.
'Welcome to Cedarwood Boarding School for Gifted Youngsters!'