Chapter 87 (1/2)
It was the night of a full moon; the night Raven 12345 reckoned that Lily would go through with her transformation. Hao Ren and his tenants had been busy making preparations for the event since the break of dawn.
Although truthfully, no one knew exactly what to prepare for. Lily was a vagabond who had never met her kind before. She only knew that her kind were called werewolves from TV. Y’zaks too had never seen a werewolf in his world while Hao Ren’s knowledge of the lycanthrope came from movies. The only person who had any inkling (however little) of the ritual was Vivian. Yes, the vampire who was a bitter enemy of the wolfen.
Vivian had taken leave the previous night to look for herbs and other peculiar ingredients. She knew of some remedies from times long past, which were used by the werewolves during special rituals. Most of the remedies revolved around pacification and mental control, given that they were a race that went berserk very easily. Training their mental fortitude was a big challenge in all their rituals. Given this particular need for their kind, the werewolves were rather proficient in making herbal poultices for the mind. Vivian had a long and difficult relationship with the werewolves. Through that, she managed to get hold of some of their secrets. As a precaution against Lily losing control at the height of her evolution (to be honest, it was more like they could not and would not trust Raven 12345’s words), Vivian labored the entire day to prepare the poultices.
As for Lily, she was the most carefree of the lot. By Hao Ren’s instructions, she was to sit at home and relax. She was even forbidden to go out and play with the dogs in the streets. She was supposed to rest up so that she would be able to withstand the strain of her evolution. Furthermore, to appease the hyperactive pup, Hao Ren prepared a giant pot of roasted pork ribs for her and the pup was now glued to the television munching on the ribs.
Hao Ren supposed that it was for the best.
As he and Y’zaks had zero idea on how to deal with a werewolf, they went to town to get some essentials for the night.
Lily’s transformation was expected to take a few hours at least. The prevailing theory was from moonrise to sunrise and she cannot be left alone during the evolution. Hence, Hao Ren, Vivian and Y’zaks had to be present. Having to stand watch under the stars guarding a rampaging werewolf was not something to scoff at and the necessary preparations were needed.
No one was sure how or what Hao Ren had looked up on the internet but, he somehow managed to cobble together a ‘to-buy’ list. The list included a cheap and sturdy mat, a disposable tent, a camping lamp, a huge bundle of rope and a box of snacks. When he first showed the list to Vivian, it gave her a shock. At first, the vampire thought Hao Ren was going to perform a field delivery for Lily and run off with her. She was finally convinced by Hao Ren that he was merely preparing some survival tools
.
While the Southern Suburbs was a small locale, the supermarkets there had pretty much all the items Hao Ren had indicated in the list, except for the tent. It was a given since it was not something you would normally use. Accompanied by Y’zaks as he went about shopping, both of them quickly ticked off the shopping list, except for the tent.
Y’zaks was lugging two big shopping bags as they stepped out of the supermarket. The bags were stuffed to the brim with the items they just bought. Since they could submit a claim to Raven 12345 later, Hao Ren did not not spare any expense.
“Mr. Landlord, why are those people staring at us?” Y’zaks felt uncomfortable at the looks the crowd was giving him. Hao Ren supposed that the great demon had still not fully recovered from the traumatizing experience in his own world. Moreover, Y’zaks had pretty much been cooped up at home for the past two days. The moment he went out with Hao Ren, a sense of discomfort threatened to overwhelm him. “Besides, why did the cashier hold her hands in the air the moment I stepped into the store?”
Hao Ren could only look at the seven-feet giant of a man who had a vicious look eternally plastered on his face. As for the vibe he gave out? Much like a murderous devil who had been under lockdown for years. Hao Ren muttered to himself, “It’s not ‘us’, it’s you and that face of yours.” Y’zaks could consider himself lucky for not getting locked in the slammer by the local police.
Moreover, the way the demon carried himself was extremely direct. The moment they stepped into the supermarket, Y’zaks, without as much as a word, slammed the shopping list onto the counter and commanded at the top of his voice, “You lot, get me the items on this list here!”