SNOW AS ICE

Derrick arrived at the location he got from the man. It was an abandoned warehouse. He came down after placing the gun in his back and wore his jacket. He stepped down and surveyed everywhere in one glance and he saw a man standing by the door.

Derrick knew that he was the man. He walked confidently to the man who was beaming him a smile. When he got closer, the man stretched his right hand for a handshake but he declined with a stern face . The man felt a bit disappointed, smiled and ushered him in. They both entered the warehouse.

"I need answers. " Derrick said , glancing for anything amiss. He didn't trust this man for anything.

"I will. Are you ready to make the right decision?" The man asked and Derrick stopped midway, turned and rushed him. He held him by the neck and pushed him to the wall. The rage he had been holding in was beginning to lose itself.

The Man gargled and struggled to breath. He tried to break free but Derrick had the upper hand. When Derrick saw that he was losing consciousness, he realized that he was about to take a life.

The Man slumped to the ground gasping for air. His purple face slowly returned back to normal. He tried to stand up but his heavy body pulled him down.

"You have a strong grip." He told him.

"I don't have time for all this. If you pissed me off more ,I will make sure that I am the last person you will see before you die. " Derrick said with anger while pacing around.

The man stood up and adjusted his clothes. He was pretty dusty because of the floor. He took a deep breath and gestured for him to follow him. They both climbed the rusty stairs and entered a small wooden room. From the background, Derrick knew that this was where the video was being made.

"By the way, I am Charles." The man spoke and requested for a handshake. Derrick threw a scoff and walked past him, leaving his hand stuck up in the air.

"I must say that this isn't nice but I can understand. We are here for deep business. Charles replied and faced him. Derrick was going through some of his things. Paper files were stacked up. Empty food packs and other junk stuff were littered everywhere. He must be here for a long time. The room shows that this has been his research lab. Derrick looked through, passed him and sighted a distinct object by the side.

"What is that?" He asked and the man turned, then smiled beautifully.

"That is my work of art. I called it the ultimate detector. This was the device I used to detect them. Those evil creatures. " Charles exclaimed with such tenacity. Derrick felt disgusted by his mannerism.

"Look I don't care if you are after something that is not supposed to exist but I am here to warn you to stay away from me and my daughter. If you come as close to her hair, I will make sure I hunt you down like an animal. Is that clear?" Derrick snapped, holding the collar of his shirt to instill the fear in him. Charles was amused by his raging emotions and pondered if he could join his cause to hunt down those creatures.

"But she is a wolf. " Charles said and he got punched by Derrick who couldn't stop until they heard a voice. He stopped and turned to see a young boy pointing a gun at him and he seemed so serious. From the look of it,he might know how to use the gun.

"Drop it!" Derrick ordered and let go of the man who was bleeding from his face.

"That is my son, Eric. Charles replied to him from the floor.

"You teach your son to use a gun?" Derrick asked, baffled by his weird way of home training.

"A man gotta do,what a man gotta do!" Charles replied with a scoff. Not minding his bleeding nose.

"Hands up!" The boy yelled, prompting him to put his hand up. Charles stood up and searched him,locating the gun on his back. Charles brought it out and waved it in the air.

"Give me that!" Derrick warned.

"You came prepared. " Charles laughed and held onto the gun pointing it at him.

"Stop it, don't do that!" He begged, moving backward slowly.

"Eric, you can leave. Daddy got this under control . " Charles told him and the boy retreated his gun and walked away with a scorn in his eyes.

"So what are you going to do now?" Derrick asked but got knocked down with butt of his gun. He fell down with pains. His head spinning hard.

"That is for the punches . I must applaud you,you have a good grip. Now, sit up!" Charles commanded, pointing his gun at him. Derrick complied and sat upright on the dusty floor.

Charles felt dominance and tied him down. Derrick was waiting for the time to strike. He just needed to know what he was planning.

Charles sat in front of him,still pointing the gun at him. Derrick sat still waiting for him to speak.

"You know, my father was a hunter. A great hunter and you know what he hunts for. He hunts for wolves. I thought he was just maniacs but some years later, I got to know that some pack of wolves, bigger than a normal wolf, hunted and killed his family. He was the only one surviving. He said, they looked at him with scorn and left him there. My father wanted to die but you know that it would have been a waste. So he became a huntsman. He trained hard and killed every wolf he could. He didn't care. I was scared of him,always coming home with blood stains and scars. He was bloodshot. I know myself that I wouldn't live that kind of life until my best friend, David, was stolen and bewitched by her. After we discovered that she wasn't human. My mind went to my father's suffering. Then I knew that I might have the bloodlust running through my veins." He said with all tenacity.

"You are sick." Derrick spat out in front of him. To pissed him off but the man smiled and continued his speech.

"..... My friend went after her and never returned. I searched for him but it all led to a dead end. I refuse to give up. I was so angry that I made a vow to hunt them down. I researched and made weapons fit enough to destroy them. I have killed some along the way but I need to eradicate them all." Charles said with all bitterness. His eyes showed how angry he was. The pain was etched inside his heart.

"My daughter is not a monster. She is just a child. " Derrick pleaded. His eyes showed that he was serious. He can't let anything happen to her.

"what if I can prove to you that she is a wolf?" Charles whispered in an intimidating voice. Derrick went mute and couldn't say anything. What if he was telling the truth because he found her inside the forest.

"Prove it!" Derrick yelled.

"Good. Use this. " He showed him.

"A whistle ?" Derrick scoffed, obviously thinking he was expecting something better than that.

"This is not an ordinary whistle. This whistle is designed for dogs. They can hear this sound from miles away but when you blow on it. Humans will not hear anything. If you blow this, she will come to you instantly, begging you to stop because they are sensitive to sounds. " Charles explained with confidence. Derrick couldn't say anything. He wouldn't believe him.

Dinner was unusually quiet. Their minds were preoccupied to notice that they were both anxious about something. Snow played with food and her father wasn't even eating. The whole house looked gloomy . No loud chattering and compliments.

Derrick looked at her wondering if she was actually not a human. How will he take it?. Would he abandon her?. He couldn't think more about it. He was deep in thought when he heard her calling out for him.

"Papa." Snow called him in a sad tone.

"Yes,what is it baby?" He asked, showing a fake smile.

" I wanna tell you something and I don't know…" Snow wanted to spill when they heard a knock at the door. They turned to the direction of the door wondering who might be knocking.

"Are you expecting someone papa ?" Snow asked and he nodded in disapproval. He stood up and walked to the door. His heart was beating faster,hoping he wasn't the lunatic. He looked through the hole to see that it was Ajah. His colleague from work.

He opened immediately, puzzled about his visit . He had never been to his home before. Ajah walked in with a smile. Snow had a confused face when she was a stranger in their home.

"Your home is nice, sorry for the intrusion. The boss was worried that you didn't show up for work today so I decided to visit. " Ajah explained and Snow gave her a quizzical look, wondering where he was if not at work.

"Urm.. I took a day off. I had somewhere to be. " He lied but Snow wasn't convinced. She couldn't believe her father would lie about his whereabouts. She looked away and focused on her food.

"Woow, I like the aroma, can I have some before I go? I haven't had dinner yet. " He asked, salivating at the palate in front of him.

"Sure you can, we have more where it's coming from." Derrick pronounced and ushered him to a seat. He sat down and kept looking at his daughter.

"You must be Snow. Your father talks about you alot. " Ajah responded, trying to be nice but Snow only nodded and continued eating. She quickly hurried up and carried her plate to the kitchen sink. They just watched her as she left the dinning.

"Is she mad at me?" Ajah asked.

"No… she just had a bad day. Eat your meal." Derrick offered and continued eating. Atleast, Ajah's presence could distract him from thinking wild.

They finished their meal and did the dishes together. They both converse noisily and even had some beer to go.

"I need to use your toilet. My bladder isn't compiling. Ajah muttered, holding his groin in pain.

"Oh…. Go to my room on the left. Hurry before you flood my balcony . " Derrick mocked and laughed, seeing his funny movements.

Ajah located his room and entered. He quickly ran to the toilet and relieved himself. He felt much better and flushed. Ajah noticed that his colleague was very uptight about neatness. Everything was neat and in place. He stepped out to see that his room was very neat. His bed was well arranged and everything was perfectly kept in the right order except one thing.

A black whistle was laying carelessly on the floor . He bent down and picked it up. The whistle was unique and different from other whistles he knew.

"No man can be this clean and Derrick isn't an exception. " He smiled and dropped it on the table. He walked to the door but curiosity couldn't let him still. The whistle was tempting. He took it and gave it a blow. No sounds came out.

Ajah took it out from his lips to see if it was broken. Everything was in place. He tried again, blowing with so much force when Derrick opened the door .

The shock on their faces was different. Ajah was stunned to be caught by his colleague and Derrick was shocked to find the whistle on his lips. He rushed into the room and dragged it out of his mouth.

"How did you get THIS!" Derrick flared at the top of his voice.

"Woah… chill ,I found it on the ground. I am sorry. " Ajah apologised, feeling bad.

"you don't know what you have done?" Derrick yelled at him when they started hearing dogs barking from every vicinity. It was too loud and in synchronisation.

"Stop the noise!!" Snow screamed at the door. Her growling could be heard. Her eyes showed a rage, Derrick hadn't seen before about her. She looked so pissed by the door.

Derrick froze when he saw her growling in front of him and the truth was out. Ajah was scared and hid behind his colleague.

"What is happening? Why are the dogs barking? What is wrong with her?" Ajah asked all at once.

Snow stepped forward and every step shook, sending them shivers. Derrick couldn't recognize her. Her soft eyes,her smiles and her warm nature but the person in front of him was different.

"Is she drooling?" Ajah asked when he noticed it. One look from her made him whimper and she came closer.

"Baby, calm down. It's me Papa!" Derrick called, stretching his hand to her. Snow looked at his hand, sniffed it with her nose and growled loudly.

Ajah couldn't take it anymore and made to move but Derrick held him down and Snow used the opportunity to jump and pounce on him. Derrick was swift, took to action and held her down. He made sure she couldn't move. She struggled, almost biting him in the process. Ajah took to his heels and ran out of the room.

When, Ajah opened the front door. He was shocked to see dozens of dogs barking and howling at the front lawn. He screamed and locked the door. Fear gripped him, regretting why he ever came here.

"Baby, baby . "Derrick begged, holding her in place but she kept growling and fighting him.

Derrick remembered something the man told him. He recalled and called her full name.

"Snow Brooks! Listen to your father. " Derrick yelled at her and she became quiet. Her eyes closed and opened. The expression she had turned to a softer look.

Then he knew she was fine. The barking stopped instantly and everywhere became calm. All the dogs ran away. Neighbours around were scared and couldn't come out. Few called Animal Control Service.

Ajah left afterward. Derrick helped her to her bed. Snow kept on weeping. He comforted her and assured her that she would be fine.

"Papa, I don't know what happened. I heard a loud sound from your room and I went there but I can't remember what happened afterward. Is there something wrong with me? You have scratches on your arm. Did I do that?" Snow asked in tears.

"It's okay. I am here for you, I won't let anything happen to you." Derrick told her. The atmosphere was solemn and gloomy. His thoughts racing through his mind.