Episode 5
1270 Words
Alice walked alongside Hans, heading back to her house, her face twisted in annoyance.
“I don't understand the people here, why they so readily believe in werewolves. Even the police confirmed Darren died from a wolf bite, not a werewolf," she muttered.
Hans just listened in silence, a faint smile on his face. He understood how frustrated Alice was with the townspeople for accusing him of being a werewolf, a notion that had been causing a stir in their town lately.
"If you still don't turn into a werewolf when the full moon rises, I'll be the one turning into a wolf. And I'll rip them apart one by one," Alice ranted again.
At Hans' laughter, Alice's steps halted, and she turned to him with a furrowed brow.
"What are you laughing at? I'm serious, I'll rip them apart for accusing you," Alice said, her voice laced with annoyance.
Hans, still chuckling, stopped walking and gazed at Alice, his hands gently grasping her shoulders.
"They're just worried. What they're doing right now is to protect each other," Hans said soothingly.
Alice sighed. "It's still annoying. They shouldn't just accuse you like that without any proof."
Soon after, a woman shouted for her 5-year-old son. The little boy ran with his tiny steps towards Hans and Alice.
“Noah, stop! I tired of feeding you while running," the woman said, chasing after her child while carrying a plate of breakfast.
The little boy had already run past Alice and Hans. The mother, still chasing after him, accidentally bumped into Alice, causing the spoon on the plate of breakfast to fly onto Hans' body.
"Ahhh, that hurts," Hans winced in pain as the spoon accidentally hit his hand.
The woman was shocked when she saw Hans in pain. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me," she said to Hans and Alice.
"It's okay. I'll help him," Alice said, allowing the woman to hurry off and catch up with her son.
With a smile, the woman picked up the spoon that had fallen before hurrying off to catch up with her child.
"Hans, are you okay?" Alice asked, her gaze returning to Hans.
Alice's eyes widened in shock as she saw Hans' hand was irritated, looking like it had been burned.
“Hans, your hand! Come on, I'll take care of it at my home," Alice said, her voice filled with worry as she quickly led Hans towards her house.
When they arrived at Alice's house, she let Hans sit down on the sofa while she went to search for medicine in the drawer near the kitchen.
Alice quickly returned to Hans, carrying a topical ointment that could treat burns.
"How did it get like this?" Alice said, surprised.
With care, Alice began to apply the ointment to the surface of Hans' wound.
"I don't know, my hand suddenly felt like it was on fire," Hans said, recalling the moment when the spoon hit his hand.
"Was it because of the silver spoon? The spoon fell and hit your hand, didn't it?"
Hans paused for a moment, lost in thought, before nodding slowly. "Yes, the spoon did hit my hand before it fell to the ground."
“Is this why you avoid things made of silver?"
Hans nodded again. Alice, who had finished applying the ointment to Hans' hand, then handed the medicine to him.
"Here, take this. Apply it twice a day. And make sure to clean your wound before applying the ointment," Alice instructed Hans.
"This is yours. I'll get my own later," Hans said, refusing Alice’s offer.
"You need it more right now. I can buy it again later,"
Hans smiled and said, "Okay. Thank you."
Shortly after that, Hans decided to return to his house. Meanwhile, Alice lay down on her bed, playing with her phone.
While engrossed in scrolling through her social media feed, Alice suddenly wondered how a spoon could cause burns on Hans' hand.
"Was the spoon hot?" Alice wondered aloud, "But that's highly unlikely."
Alice locked her phone's screen, placed it on the bed, and then got up to head to her desk, where she opened her laptop.
Her right hand began to move the mouse, and then she used both hands to type in the search bar about werewolves.
As she was reading through the article, Alice's eyes widened in surprise when she came across a sentence stating that werewolves are considered weak against silver and can be killed or injured with silver objects.
"Not way," Alice said disbelievingly.
Alice had only known Hans for about a month since he moved to the city. Although she felt like she had gotten to know him well, Alice still didn't really know much about Hans' family. All she knew was that Hans was an only child who had decided to leave home and start his own life after his parents officially divorced.
Hans was a typical introverted guy who didn't open up much or share his troubles. He had been a good listener in Alice's life, while Alice was the one who tended to do most of the talking.
***
The night of the full moon had arrived, and as per the agreement among the residents, they would once again confine Hans and monitor his activities through CCTV. However, this time, no one, including Donald, was willing to sacrifice their home to be used as a testing ground for confining Hans
"You guys want to prove that Hans is a werewolf, but you're also the ones who won't give him a place to stay," Alice protested to the crowd of residents gathered outside Hans' house.
"We do want to prove it, but we also don't want to take any risks," Donald said.
Alice laughed mockingly, "This is ridiculous.”
David took a step closer to Alice, "Hey, how about we lock Hans up in your house tonight? Even if he turns into a werewolf, I doubt he'd hurt you," David said with a mocking tone.
“Go ahead, bring him to my house. I'm not afraid!” Alice challenged.
Hans, who was standing right next to Alice, spoke up, "No need. To avoid worrying anyone, I'll lock myself in my room, and you can put up CCTV cameras to monitor my activities."
David now gazed at Hans, "Okay, if that's what you want."
After successfully installing the CCTV, the residents began to leave Hans' house. Some returned to their own homes, while others, including Alice, Ann, and Cole, headed to David's house to monitor Hans' movements together.
They were all now gathered inside David's house, watching the CCTV feed from the cameras installed in Hans' room.
Alice, who was sitting next to Ann, began to feel anxious. Although she believed that Hans wasn't a werewolf, she couldn't shake off the feeling of unease after discovering the strange reaction between Hans and the silver spoon.
30 minutes had passed, and the people watching the CCTV feed still hadn't seen any suspicious signs. They had only seen Hans sitting on his bed, reading a book, which was making them feel bored and slightly sleepy.
"Isn't this all pointless? I think Hans really isn't a were...," Donald said, but then fell silent as he noticed Hans' movement. "Hey, look at that!" Donald exclaimed.
Alice and the others refocused their attention on the CCTV monitor, watching Hans' room intently.
"W-will he transform?" Ann whispered.
Everyone in the room became increasingly focused and frightened. Alice's heart was racing, and she finally let out a scream as she saw Hans start to convulse on the screen.
"No way. Hans?!!!" Alice screamed.
- Writer
