4. Just an accident
I race down the hallway, following one of the guards who directs me to where they've taken Tyler. My mind is racing faster than my feet. The enormity of what's happening—what could happen—makes my stomach churn.
The guard points to a door at the end of the corridor. "In there. His aunt's with him."
When I push the door open, I find Tyler hunched in a chair, his aunt's arm wrapped protectively around his shoulders. They both look up when I enter, their faces mirrors of the same bone-deep fear.
"Hi again," I say, trying to sound calmer than I feel. "I'm Alara, the new Communicator."
The aunt's eyes narrow. "There is nothing communicating will do now."
Before I can respond, the door swings open again and a man storms in, dragging a teenager by the arm. The second boy looks just as terrified as Tyler—this must be Ivan.
"Found him trying to leave town," the man—presumably Ivan's father—says through gritted teeth. "Told him he'd better face what he's done."
The room falls into tense silence as the door opens once more and John enters. Tyler and Ivan both stiffen, their eyes dropping to the floor.
"YOU GODDAMN IDIOTS!" John erupts, slamming his fist against the wall. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU'VE DONE? THE ENTIRE TOWN COULD BE MASSACRED BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID—"
"John," I interject, stepping between him and the boys. "This isn't helping."
"Helping? Helping?" His face contorts with rage. "Nothing is going to help if those wolves decide to—"
"Maybe if you stepped outside for a moment," I suggest firmly, placing a hand on his arm and guiding him toward the door, "I could talk to them and get the full story."
"There's no time for—"
"There's no time for shouting either," I reply, my voice low and steady. "Please."
Something in my tone must reach him because, after a moment of glaring, he allows me to usher him out of the room saying "I will call back up right know, they might get here tomorrow".
When I close the door behind him, I lean against it for a moment, gathering myself.
Then I turn back to face the boys.
"Okay," I say, pulling up a chair to sit in front of them. "I need you both to tell me exactly what happened. Every detail matters now."
They exchange nervous glances.
"We won't be in more trouble?" Ivan asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
I almost laugh at the absurdity—they're already in the worst trouble imaginable—but I keep my expression gentle. "Right now, I just need the truth. That's all."
Tyler takes a shuddering breath. "We were just playing around in the woods," he begins. "Ivan's dad let him borrow his hunting rifle to show me. We weren't going to shoot anything, I swear. We were just messing around."
Ivan nods vigorously. "We were just pretending we were guards, you know? Protecting the town."
"And then what happened?" I prompt when he falls silent.
"We were by that old creek," Tyler continues. "The one about half a mile past the North side. And then... then we saw it."
"The wolf," I supply.
He nods. "It just... appeared. Like, one second nothing was there, and the next it was standing twenty feet away, staring at us."
"We both freaked out," Ivan adds, his hands fidgeting in his lap. "I've never seen one that close before. It was huge, and its eyes..."
"I grabbed the gun from Ivan," Tyler admits. "I was so scared. My hands were shaking. I didn't mean to pull the trigger, I swear. It just... went off."
Ivan's father makes a strangled sound from where he stands by the window. The aunt tightens her grip on Tyler's shoulder.
"And after it... after it was hit?" I ask carefully.
"It fell," Tyler whispers. "It made this sound... I'll never forget it. Like it was surprised. Then it just fell over."
"We ran," Ivan says. "We didn't know what to do, so we just ran. I went home, and Tyler—"
"I came here," Tyler finishes. "I knew it was bad. Really bad."
The door bursts open again as John storms back in, followed by the two guards from earlier.
"Time's up," John announces. "We need to make a decision. Now."
"These boys say it was an accident," I reply, standing. "They were scared and the gun went off."
"You think that matters to them?" John scoffs. "A wolf is dead. Period."
"We could give them Tyler," one of the guards suggests tentatively. "Maybe that would—"
"No!" Tyler's aunt shrieks, pulling him closer. "He's just a boy!"
"A boy who may have doomed us all," John snaps.
Ivan's father steps forward. "It's not just Tyler's fault. My son was there too. And it was my gun."
"So what, we hand them both over?" the second guard asks.
The room erupts into chaos—everyone talking over each other, voices rising in panic and desperation. I try to interject, to bring some order to the madness, but no one is listening.
The shrill ring of a telephone cuts through the din like a knife. Everyone freezes.
John's face drains of color. He turns and races from the room. I follow close behind, dread pooling in my stomach.
By the time I reach the room with the Phone John already has the receiver at his ear. He listens for only a moment before his eyes find mine.
"We warned you," he says, repeating the words he's hearing. "And we are coming."
The line goes dead in his hand.
"Everyone out," John orders, his voice oddly calm now. "To the town border. Now."
We rush outside, John frantically dialing his cell phone as we move. "What do you mean in two days, in two days we might be already dead."
I breath in deeply. I wasn't prepared for this on my first day.
Tyler, Ivan, and their families follow behind us, along with the guards and a growing crowd of townspeople who've sensed that something is terribly wrong. Word spreads quickly in a small town.
When we reach the northern edge of town, the sun is already beginning to set, painting the sky in shades of orange and red that seem too beautiful for such a dire moment.
"There," one of the guards whispers, pointing.
Three figures emerge from the tree line.
They're dressed in what can only be described as uniforms—dark gray, almost military in their precision, but with insignias I don't recognize.
Wolf representatives. We know so little about their hierarchies, their structures of power, but these must be sent by the one I spoke with earlier.
John steps forward, but I move past him. This is my job. The reason I'm here.
I walk toward the three representatives, painfully aware of how inappropriate my sweat-stained summer dress is for this moment.
Professional indeed. John's earlier criticism echoes in my mind.
If I'd known my first day would involve an inter-species crisis negotiation, I might have worn something. .. sturdier.
"I'm Alara" I call out when I'm close enough. "The Communicator"
The tallest of the three steps forward. "Where is the human?"
"What happened today was a terrible accident," I begin, choosing my words carefully. "The boys were frightened. They didn't intend—"
"Intent does not revive the dead," another representative replies, voice cold. "We don't care about their fear. We care about justice."
"And you deserve justice," I acknowledge. "But these are children who made a terrible mistake."
"A mistake that cost a life," the third one says. Their eyes are unnervingly focused, tracking every small movement around us. "Our kind of life may not matter much to you humans, but it matters to us."
I can feel the tension building. The guards have their hands on their weapons and the wolf representatives have noticed.
"Your guards should consider carefully before they draw," the tall one says. "It would not end well for them."
The situation is escalating quickly. One wrong move, one wrong word, and everything will explode into violence.
"Give me one chance," I plead, looking directly at the wolf representatives. "Only one to prove I actually want to find out what really happened. I want justice just as much as you do, and I will do anything to stop unnecessary bloodshed."
"Will you?"
The new voice comes from the trees. A fourth figure Tall, broad-shouldered, moving with a fluid grace steps out. I recognize the voice immediately—the one from the phone.
His eyes find mine, dark and unreadable. "Will you really do anything, Communicator?" he asks again, the title sounding almost like a slur in his mouth.