Predator l 27

April listened to the footsteps echoing through the apartment, no doubt heading to the living room, where everyone awaited her brothers appearance. When Eric's eyes fell on Charles, he immediately froze on his spot without even properly stepping past the doorframe.

Eric looked surprised, to say the least. He didn't expect Charles to pay him a visit- no one did. Out of all of them, he was probably the one who was surprised the most. For moments everyone remained silent. All eyes were on Eric, while he was looking at Charles with eyes that swirled with confusion.

"Charles," he breathed heavily. It took him long moments and several heavy breathes through his mouth until he regained composure. It was obvious that he was struggling to form simple words with his mouth. "What are you doing here?"

Charles mouth lifted up into a grin. He got on his feet and approached him, his open arms inviting him for a hug. "To see how you are doing of course," he answered. They gave each other a quick hug, patting on each others backs.

"How come you didn't warn me beforehand?" Eric asked. A small smile graced his face once the shock vanished completely without any trace left. "Could've given me at least some time to expect your annoying presence!"

Charles chuckled. April however wasn't amused. Charles unnerving words still swirled through her mind and she couldn't help but harbor great dislike towards him. She didn't like seeing her brother with him in such a friendly manner. Not when the same man who is now grinning like a fool was insulting her minutes ago.

"You already met my sister, I see."

"I did, indeed. "Charles nodded, eyes briefly glancing at her. An unnerving smile formed his lips when April's eyes narrowed into slits and glared at him. "Yes, a charming person, truly. Quite lovely, just like you always described her." April felt the urge to roll her eyes at him. "But do you know what she was doing with that savage over there?"

He nodded his head towards Nikolaj, who just like April, wasn't quite amused by his words. If anything, he was starting to get furious again. She squeezed his hand, a silent reminder that she was here with him and hoped it was enough to keep him from doing anything stupid.

Eric frowned in confusion, his head shaking slowly. "What do you mean?" He asked cluelessly. April felt uncomfortable, she didn't want him to know about the moment she and Nikolaj had in her bedroom. It was kind of embarrassing that her sex-life was discussed in front of a stranger. Eric sniffed the air. He picked up the smell and his frowned vanished in a matter of seconds. His eyes widened in shock or disgust, April couldn't tell.

"You fúcked my sister?" His voice was tight and sounded so strange to her ears. She didn't like how calm he was. Eric's mood could be just like the storm after the calm. His hands were curled into tight fists, shaking madly. "You fücked my sister," he repeated again, only that this time it wasn't a question, but a statement.

"Eric...," April started hesitantly. She didn't know what to say and she sure as hell wasn't going to make some lame excuses. There was nothing to excuse or apologize for, since she did nothing wrong. He was her older brother, but he had no say in her private life. It wasn't any of his business, but Eric seemed to disagree on this matter.

"You motherfücker." Eric then lunged at him, eyes burning with fury. "You're a dead man, Rozanov!"

A scream fell from April's lips and she jumped in surprise. She watched in horror as her brothers fist landed in Nikolaj's face. Nikolaj didn't seem affected by that. He didn't even try to fight back, he was just defending himself by blocking and dodging his punches.

Why wasn't he doing anything?

April titled her head to Charles. He was sitting on the couch, legs crossed and lips smiling in amusement, as if he was watching the most amusing television show. She didn't know what made her angrier- the fact that he was smiling like he had no care in the world, or that he was just watching and did nothing to keep her brother from causing any serious damage on Nikolaj.

"Aren't you going to interrupt them?" She asked hysterically.

"Nah," he answered in a bored manner. "They are adults, there is no need for me to interrupt," he reasoned and leaned back, dismissing April with his silence. Instead, he continued to watch Eric and Nikolaj fighting like yappy dogs- the two so called adults.

It was only when Eric threw Nikolaj against the table that made Charles smile slip from his face. The loud noise of the table splitting to half was like a sudden stop in time. A deadly silence passed over them. No one dared to say something. Eric's harsh breathes were the only thing that could be heard.

The atmosphere changed to the worst, if it wasn't already. April hurried to Nikolaj, mouthing him if he was okay. He nodded only and let her help him standing back on his feet. She was thankful that her foolish brother hadn't caused any serious damage on him, other than his forehead bleeding slightly from the tiny cut.

"Don't even think about it," Charles warned in the harshest tone of voice.

April lifted her eyes and looked up to see her brother being restrained by Charles. Apparently, throwing Nikolaj against the table and destroying his furniture wasn't enough.

"I'm really pissed at you," April finally spoke. "You can't just hurt time because why might have did something you do not approve of. Which, if I may say, is ridiculous. We're adults. I don't know why you behave like this."

Eric frowned, furious eyes now deep with sadness. "April.. he isn't good enough for you."

She had the sudden urge to roll her eyes. "That's not for you to decide."

He was sounding so immature. It was her decision to judge whether he was good enough for her or not. April was old enough to make her own decisions and carry the consequences, if there should any.

Charles clapped his hands. "Good that we sorted this out. Now, let's discuss a matter of more importance."

Eric's tense shoulders sagged down, though he was still nowhere near being calm. "You mean the reason why you grace us with your presence?"

"Yes."

"I thought you wanted to see me," he joked, but April could see that he still wasn't over the situation with Nikolaj. His attempted joke was only a cover up for his sour mood.

"You're very funny," Charles replied sarcastically with a monotone voice. "I'm sure that it didn't miss your notice that there is someone turning humans into Lycans."

April's ears immediately perked up.

"We already know that," was Eric's response. He shook his shoulders, unimpressed, like it was no big deal. "Things like this happens often, but we're investigating."

"But it doesn't happen to this extent," Charles sharply replied. He went back to the couch where he previously had taken his seat.

"So you're here because you accuse Viktor of creating all those humans?" Eric scoffed in disbelief, his arms folded over his chest. "That's ridiculous!"

April shot Nikolaj an unsure glance. He returned her gaze and squeezed her hand, just like she did just minutes ago.

Her mind drifted back to the Lycans that attacked them on the street. She shuddered. Where they created by the same person they were talking about? An unnerving feeling washed through her. She couldn't forget the horrid night. She won't forget it for a long time.

"Of course not. Viktor isn't foolish. He would never waste drops of his saliva to turn just whoever is crossing his path. He is smarter than that, you should know it."

April frowned. She might not know as much as them when it came to Lycans and the world of the supernatural, but still, everything sounded very odd. Only full-blood Lycans are able to turn humans, if she recalled correctly.

"So it's someone else," April suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone. Charles raised his eyebrows, curious to hear her theory. "There is another full-blood Lycan turning humans, am I right?"

If it wasn't Viktor who was turning humans into Lycans, then it meant that there was someone else, another full-blood Lycan turning humans. There was no other logical explanation.

"Interesting theory," Charles replied when no one else did. "But not particularly right. I doubt that this is the case. Viktor does turn humans into one of us, occasionally, but he does not turn just anybody. He selects human who he thinks are strong enough and useful enough," he explained in a serious tone. "The humans that were turned recently? They are neither of it. They are simple humans- weak, unintelligent and unable to survive in our world."

"I don't understand," April muttered. Was there something they were missing?

"It is one of us," Nikolaj replied after being silent for a long time. He stared to nowhere in particular, eyebrows furrowed and his mind deep in thoughts. "It is someone who is trusted," he finished his thoughts.

Charles sighed. "This is quite obvious, don't you think?"

"Viktor keeps samples of his saliva. He injects humans with it," Nikolaj admitted.

Charles chuckled dryly. "Of course he does. That bastard is probably too lazy to bite every single human, so he let's other do his dirty job for him."

"It still doesn't make any sense," Eric whispered, mostly to himself. "What's the point in turning humans into Lycans? None of his is making any sense. Maybe, we have it to do with a psychopath," he wondered aloud.

"Or just a foolish fellow," Charles answered with a frightening look on his face. His eyes drifted back to Nikolaj. "Do you by any chance know who has access to the saliva he stores?"

"Viktor trusts no one," Nikolaj answered in a gruff voice. "When a human is going to be turned, he only gives enough amount of his saliva for one human, only."

Charles nodded. "This is a dead end, it seems."

"What exactly is your plan now? What are we going to do with a piece of information that isn't even useful to us?" Eric asked with a hard expression. "It's not even an information, it's just a theory," Eric corrected himself.

"We can start by paying Viktor a visit. I haven't seen my old friend in years and it would be rude to step into his territory without at least paying him a visit."

__________

Sorry for the long wait. I have no other excuse than being unmotivated, like alway. I started to post the word count of the next chapter on my profile.

So if you notice that the word count doesn't change after days, feel free to remind me to work on the next chapter. I know that I always say this, but I will try to update soon. And I forgot to thank you all for over 400 votes on the first chapter, and almost 200 on the last!

Thank you for reading.