Despite the alarming events that Silva had gone through the following week was quiet. In the back of her head, Silva still had some worries that she would be found, but she could spend her days only so long with high strung nerves. For now, she had found peace in the streets of Oldsteel, just wandering around.

The past week had been very monotonous. But not at all the same as in the past. Now even when they could not meet she still could chat with her friends, which had done a lot to alleviate her boredom.

Mika had found some time to meet up, despite her parents wanting her come home earlier as they were renovating one of the rooms and wanted Mika’s help. Steven, however, had his hands full with whatever he was doing in his free time. He had not specified, Silva only knew that he had his football club and some other business after.

Today was the first time since, what felt like forever, that all three of them had time to meet up and from what Mika had said she would let Silva and Steven have some alone time before her arrival so that he would finally tell her about his situation.

There was something else to talk about as well. Despite her week being uneventful there still had been a steady stream of new videos of extraordinary animal seeings around the globe.

Before the wolf appeared in the vicinity of Oldsteel Silva had not really noticed it, but there had been such cases dating back to several years, maybe even more. Now that everyone had a good camera with them where ever they went these kinds of video proofs seemed to grow in numbers. Or that how that should be.

Despite everything cases where like what had happened with the wolf were extremely scarce. Not only there had been an alleged victim, but the video even went as far as to appear on TV.

In fact, they were so scarce that despite her’s and Mika’s search they had stumbled only a couple other cases where such videos had gone on air in a national TV.

There had been a case in America a couple years ago when a traffic camera had witnessed a boar ramming a driving car. The car was trashed, a family of four dead. The size of the boar was nothing unusual, but the force with which it had collided was massive. And the worst part was that it had just walked away from the crash.

Then there was another case in South America last year, where locals had recorded an assault on their livestock by what seemed to be an alligator. The report said that there were more than fifty dead cattle, but no human victims. Most of the cattle had been found half-eaten. There also had no new cases afterwards. Just like with the wild boar.

So when a couple of hours earlier, while they still were at school, the wolf was found again it was something new. Eyewitnesses claimed it had taken a whole sheep and ran off to the mountains. It was really hard to imagine how such a big creature could hide from the search, but it had managed to. There would be a helicopter search conducted as the council of Oldsteel had announced almost right after the incident itself. ‘’At least they are doing something...’’ Silva sourly thought to herself.

As for the Refugees, Silva had tried her best to avoid any contact with them. Or to be more precise, she avoided people even more than she usually did. There had been a case where she had seen a familiar face. One of the guys that she had seen at the Refuge and he and his friends seemed to be looking for someone.

Silva happened to overhear them as she was exiting a shop. She knew that someone they were looking for was more than likely her. She swiftly left the place not taking any risks. At least this proved the fact that they still did not know who broke in their base that night, which was comforting.

Finally, as Silva was getting tired of waiting she received a call from Steven, and after a short verbal spar, which she decisively lost they agreed to meet up at ‘Shan-Tea’. While it was the place all three of them had their first real conversations at she still had a split opinion about the place. She only hoped that Steven would not order anything for them and leave the choice to her.

When Silva arrived at the place, she found Steven already sitting at the table sipping, what from his expression, seemed to be his favourite tea. When he noticed her he waved at her enthusiastically.

Silva gave him a small wave back and seeing that Steven had the common sense to not order anything for her, she went to make an order.

With a freshly acquired strawberry tea, she headed to Steven’s table and sat down at it. She still could not stomach how Steven could drink those strange tasting teas. Or how he could tolerate the horrid decorations this place had. Admittedly this place did not make her bored, but if she risked looking at one spot for too long she could become blind from all the colours that assaulted her senses.

This place also had the habit of adding new decorations, as every time Steven got them to come here there was a new gaudy addition to the palette. For example, the new painting on the wall picturing what seemed to be a monkey with all of its proportions done wrong. It also was bright yellow.

The one nice thing about Steven, besides his looks, was that Silva never had to start the conversation.

“Hi, hi! I heard Mika will be joining us later. She lectured me about being more open with my friends because the said friends did dangerous things otherwise.” Steven started. “So I guess we are doing that now.”

“Um, yes, if you want to… I know Mika is kind of forcing you, so…” Silva did feel guilty about her friend’s insistence.

“Yea, well, what can we do. You suck at talking and she got dirt on me, so I can’t really say no.”

“Huh, that’s terrible! I… I’ll speak with her so that she stop doing that!” Silva was surprised by Steven’s claim and she already reached for her phone.

“Wait, no, that’s a joke!” Steven immediately stopped her. “Though it would be interesting watching Mika squirm under your scolding… But the consequences would be too dire. For both of us.”

“You should not joke like that.” Silva gave him the most condemning look she could manage. It did not have any effect.

“Whatever! Still, I have to say you have some balls. I did not expect you to break into a den of muscle headed men for a vague hope of helping me out. I am grateful, but...”

Silva winced. She had reflected on it properly and there were no excuses for her actions.

“I am truly sorry.” Silva apologized.

“You how worried you made me feel? One moment you are the silent mysterious type, the next you try to usurp my position in the group as the courageous daredevil. That is my shtick I tell you and I’ll fight you for it if necessary!” Steven complained making Silva feel silly for apologizing. It was a mystery to her what was happening in the boys head.

“I certainly did not try that.” Silva decided to not feel insulted, that’s how magnanimous she was.

“What did you even do afterwards that night?” Steven was curious. “Mika said that you met her and what you had done and what you had found, but she eluded anything else.”

“She did not tell that I stayed over at her place?” Silva was puzzled. “I-.” But she was interrupted.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Wait, wait, wait! You stayed at Mika’s house?” Steven excitedly asked.

“Yes?”

“For the whole night?” Steven inquired again.

“Doesn’t that what staying over means?” Silva was confused.

"Oh! Oh! Ho-ho-ho, really now!" Steven started to rub his hands in glee. "And what happened next? What did Mika do?"

“Do? She helped me to get ready for the sleep and when we woke up, she made breakfast and then we watched a movie. Oh, we also saw that wolf video while we were eating.” Silva did not see where Steven was going with this.

“Same room?”

“No, I was sleeping in the living room.”

“And that’s it?” Steven seemed disappointed.

“Should there be anything else?”

“Apparently not!” Steven threw his hands in the air. “I’ll have to grill Mika after this.” He muttered afterwards.

“Speaking of Mika, did she say when she will come?” Silva asked. It was not that she hated to be alone with Steven, but the implications of seeing a boy and a girl together like this made her feel restless.

“Nah, not really.” Was Stevens answer. “Say, Silva, have you thought what we should do?”

“About what?” Silva had a foreboding feeling that she would not like the answer.

“You see, we are clearly people of quality. We can do so much good. We only need an outlet where to pour our abilities into. So, I was thinking…”

“Uh-oh!”

“That we should see if we could hunt down that wolf! Well, of course only if no one else manages to.” Steven finished, looking very pleased with his idea.

“Are you insane? No, don’t answer.” Silva looked at Steven full of disbelief.

“I don’t want to be told that by you!” Steven pouted. “I still can't believe you got me beat in the craziness.”

“That is your reasoning?” Silva barely restrained herself from rising voice. Normally she did not have problems with her temper but right at this moment, she felt like she understood why Mika was sometimes so harsh on Steven. “And I am nowhere as bad as you!”

“But I need to trump your move somehow!” Steven whined.

For the next fifteen minutes, they argued back and forth. When they finally run out of tea and went to get more Silva finally found a chance to ask Steven the question they had presumably arrived here to discuss.

“So, can you tell me why those ‘Refuge’ guys chasing after you? As I said, only if you are ready to tell…” Silva trailed off.

"Eh, well, I did not want to be a downer, and we did not know each other that well before, so… You know..." Steven then took a short pause. Silva knew she was grateful for how quickly they had accepted her, but it was no wonder that there were still some hiccups in their friendship. They had not known each other for all that long.

After the pause, Steven was ready to speak.

"It's because of my father... He… The whole family is in debt to some unsavoury people. My father… Is not a very likeable person… Violent too."

Silva did not really know how to react. She had thought that the problem was induced by Steven himself, but now it seemed that it was much more serious. She felt uncomfortable in her seat but managed to not fidget and listen carefully.

"He likes to posture, to have a better car than his co-workers, to eat in a better restaurant than his peers. To gamble more money when visiting a casino. He likes the casino, he said that it makes him feel like a winner." Steven smiled bitterly. “And also to have his kids excel at sports, have good grades, not to be too noisy. The same extends to my mother. She is a week woman, but she loves my father.” he sadly shook his head. “I can’t really get away too. My siblings and mother need me, otherwise, I would have long been gone from that house.”

“That is-”

“Tragic, right?”

"Yes." Silva agreed, feeling even worse for asking. "Is there anything-"

“No!” Steven again shook his head. “If there was something you could do Mika would have already done it. And no offence, but you sometimes get the strangest ideas, so I’ll repeat myself. It is fine. I can manage.” Steven reassured her. “And those Refugee guys are not even bad. They all know me, well, I assume they do, but there is only a couple that comes to pick a fight with me. And you know me, I am very durable. No, those guys are fine. It’s those who come with legal means that are scary.” Steven grimaced, apparently remembering something unpleasant.

They sat for a few minutes in silence, only disturbed by a message from Mika, who was finally heading over. Steven seemed to be deep into his own thoughts. The silence continued until Steven drank the last drop of the current cup. It seemed that he had finished his brooding by then and Silva rushed to take this chance to speak.

“Thank you for telling me.”

“Well, we had to get this over with sooner or later.” Steven still had a bitter look to his face. “And Mika will be here in a moment. I’ll go and grab some more tea for us.”

“Blackberry one for me.” Silva requested.

“Sure, and the good old ‘Pound’s bottom’ for my pal Mika.” Steven left to make another order seemingly brightening up. Silva did not risk to ask what ‘Pound’s bottom’ was. Silva could not hold the quiet laugh that escaped her. Maybe it will be funny.

--

It wasn’t.

“So” Mika gave them both a scathing look. “Whose idea it was to get me this stinky shit?” her eyes moving from Steven to Silva. “And why the other one did not stop the perpetrator from carrying out his vile plan?”

Silva saw a sweat bead roll down Steven’s forehead. That made her realize that she too was suddenly very sweaty. It appeared that Mika was not in a good mood.

“It was Silva’s idea!” Steven suddenly succumbed under Mika’s pressure and pointed at Silva.

“No! It was his!” The sudden accusation could not go unanswered. “He thought it would be funny!” Silva returned.

“It was funny! You laughed!” Steven panicked.

“I-, I did not!” Silva’s voice turned high pitched in panic.

“I heard you did!”

"There is no way! I did not do it that loudly!" Silva then realized that she had made a mistake. She felt Mika attention settling on her. Then Mika sat down and pushed the horrid smelling tea towards her.

“Any last words?” Mika asked sweetly. Her lips had a delightful smile on them, but her eyes reminded Silva of arctic glaciers. These eyes could solve global warming.

Silva wanted to say no, but under the petrifying gaze, she grabbed the cup instead. A deep breath and a mouthful of the tea later she discovered that the horrid stench had a taste. How such a brew could be produced was beyond Silva’s imagination. She could only imagine that it involved sacrifices to the elder gods to concoct it.

Silva felt a tear rolling down her cheek and then it was over. Only a dull, unfeeling tongue was left after the brutal assault.

“You actually drank it?” Mika showed her disbelief, but after a brief moment, she pushed the ‘Pound’s bottom’ to Steven. “That means you have to finish it!”

Steven, who was sharing Mika’s shock withdrew his eyes from Silva’s face to make a plea. "M-m-my queen! I beseech you! Have leniency for this humble one! It's too much for such as I to have the honour of emptying this vessel of its otherworldly beverage!" Steven looked in horror at the almost full cup. “Have mercy of this poor soul! Forgive my wrongdoings!”

Silva could almost feel Mika hesitation, but when her friend took another look at her face she steeled her heart. With a sway of her head, she dashed all of Stevens hopes.

“Drink it.”

Seeing no way to escape Steven finally grasped the cup and brought it to his trembling lips. With a quick swing, he emptied the cup. Under Silva's compassionate look he collapsed in his seat. His empty, unblinking gaze directed at ceilings told Silva a story of dread and cruelty.

“Good! Now, how have you been Silva?” Mika sent a smile her way.

Silva let out a sigh, she did not know how the tea had upset Mika so much, but it seemed like the storm was over. She glanced at Steven who still had an out of body experience. He did not seem like he would be coming back anytime soon. So, Silva decided to repeat their earlier conversation, to see if Mika had anything else to add.