But would I really do it now that so many questions remained unanswered?

- 'Your help, let's talk about it!' Daphnee scoffed. 'You didn't even know what you were an hour ago! No one knows anything about that, by the way. These are just desperate speculations and nothing more. I think your so-called help is anything but selfless. You probably intend to snatch as much information from us as possible, before selling it to the highest bidder tabloid!' she spat at me in a disdainful tone, her haughty and disgusted look reflecting all the good she thought of me. 'Why would you help us anyway? You don't even know us,' she added to hammer the nail and push her advantage.

- 'And for good reason! It was you who decided that I was not good enough for your precious community,' I violently said.

The word "bitch" burned my lips, but I managed to stop myself from throwing it at her head.

- 'You may be heartless, but I am not,' I finally said with a little more restraint, not wanting to provoke her unnecessarily.

I then straightened up to my full height and walked towards her with my hands on my hips, to avoid showing her that they were shaking.

- 'Charles claims I can help you... and if I can get my own answers in the process, so much the better. But I don't like to leave people in need when I can do something... unlike some. It's not in my nature, that's all.'

I held her gaze steady and showed her all the grief and resentment that all this inspired me. She didn't deserve it. She shook her head, angry, and came down from the stage like an offended queen to finally leave the room by slamming the door.

- 'Please excuse us,' Carla asked me nicely, before sitting down, visibly exhausted. 'This whole thing is plaguing us. We are so worried that we don't need much to get carried away.'

Strangely enough, I doubted it. Given the behaviour they had shown so far against me, I felt like I was in the middle of a family of degenerate sociopaths.

- 'The sooner you explain to me what I can do for you, the sooner I will be gone and we can all happily forget each other again! So get to the facts,' I replied in a weary tone, on the edge of exasperation.

I stood with my arms crossed in front of one of the corners of the table. I had rarely felt so exhausted, or even drained. However, I will not show any weakness. I will collapse later, away from their scrutinizing eyes. For now, I had to cope.

- 'But no, not at all,' Carla began with an embarrassed look.

- 'Don't bother, it's useless. So?' I said, closing my eyes for a short while and massaging my temples with my thumbs.

I was tired of pretending. I only wanted it to end as soon as possible so that I could take an in-depth look at everything I had just learned and that was eating me up. She was about to open her mouth again, when Charles beat her to it.

- 'Three of ours have disappeared in the last two months. We have tried to find their tracks.... without success so far.'

- 'Aren't you supposed to have overdeveloped senses?' I spontaneously said before I could hold back and erase the sarcasm perceptible in my voice.

Fortunately for me, no one noticed.

- 'Yes, but especially in our animal form. So it depends, partly, on the species into which we transform. We take all the characteristics of it, while keeping our human spirit. But despite this, we are getting nowhere!' he said in an angry voice, his tense posture betraying all the frustration he felt, before he continued his explanations by taking a few angry steps to let off steam. 'Moreover, living in a mixed community deprives us of certain powers and benefits that we could normally enjoy in our human form. Except for our aura and smell, which identify us as such with other shapeshifters, we don't have many resources,' he reluctantly stated.

Clearly, Charles Moore did not like to show his weaknesses. So that's what I felt earlier when I met Charles and then Daphnee? Their metamorphic "auras"! But why not with Hannah and Carla then? As my personal questions could wait for now, I preferred to focus on what I had just learned about their community. However, I was intrigued by this, and the desire to know more was itching. Nevertheless, it may not have been the best time to ask questions about it, but my mouth was faster than my brain.

- 'Why do you live like this then? Why don't you use other shapeshifters in full possession of their powers instead of me?' I asked, really interested in the answer.

The involuntary wince, as well as the hostile look that Charles did not manage to repress quickly enough, informed me, as I had already suspected, that he did not like at all to have his weaknesses highlighted and that it was better for me that I didn't underestimate him. I thought he wasn't going to answer me, but he put on his nice teacher mask and answered patiently.

- 'Because not everyone has the chance to be part of a clan. Some animal species are poorly represented and their members are not large enough, or organized enough, to form a group strong enough to survive on their own. There are therefore several communities of this type in the world that welcome those who wish to do so. And sometimes those who don't want it too. Because we unfortunately act as a punitive centre for those who behave badly.'

His tone was academic and his posture static and stiff on the platform that he had not left. Seeing that I was going to open my mouth again to ask more questions, he rushed to continue before I could interrupt him.

- 'We did not use other metamorphic clans for the same reasons I just explained. Once in an exclusive clan, the different species do not mix. They have no consideration for us and would not help us, even if we asked them to. What I will never lower myself to do,' he ended in a growling voice.

- 'So, if I understood correctly, you have to settle for me, without being able to turn to anyone else, because you are not part of an "exclusive clan". So you are considered pariahs by your people!' I exclaimed with disbelief and, I must admit, a certain unhealthy joy. 'Let me savour this moment of divine justice!' I rejoiced wickedly, while giggling in Charles' face, who had to make a superhuman effort not to throw himself at me and strangle me.

This was what could be called the height of irony! They had rejected me even though they were supposed to welcome all those who needed it. They had only told me the truth because they needed my help and they were up against the wall, which would never have happened if they had not been abandoned by their peers for the same reasons. That was what was called a poetic justice.

I forced myself to calm down and repress the immense feeling of rejection and loneliness that was trying to overwhelm me. I had to keep in mind why I was there: to learn as much as I could. So I forced myself to continue.

- 'I can already tell you that you are wasting your time. I don't have any of the qualities you're looking for. If that were the case, I think I would have realized it.'

- 'Not necessarily. As I have already told you,' Charles explained to me with increasing irritation, 'you have repressed your perceptions so much that you will have to make an effort of will to solicit them in the first place. Then with practice and habit, it will become like second nature that you can use without even thinking about it. I don't think you track down missing shapeshifters every day, do you?' he sneered.