The Blue Eyes

Two old men smiled at their two 'guests' who came uninvited. At first glance, it looked like an ordinary smile, but if we look carefully, the smiles were two cynical smiles aimed at the two women in front of them.

A smile that was cynical and cruel, to the point that it made Blue feel intimidated that she moved slightly behind Selena's wheelchair as if seeking protection from a woman that much older than her.

Unlike Blue, Selena seemed to remain calm and instead returned the smiles of two men she hadn't seen in a very long time. She gave them a sincere smile, different from the smiles of the old men in front of her.

"It's been a long time since I saw you. You've changed a lot, Selena."

One of the old men broke the silence. He was the old man who was holding a wooden stick in his right hand. His eyes, which were no longer working optimally due to the age factor, were now framed by titanium-rimmed glasses. At first glance, the glasses looked similar to Kevin's reading glasses. It looked like the two men had the same taste.

"You've changed a lot too, Jos."

Selena responded to the words of the old man who was none other than Joseph Beischel.

Selena's words sounded funny to Joseph. The grey-haired man suddenly laughed loudly.

"My changes haven't been as much as yours, Selena. Look how your face has completely changed now. If you didn't come with Blue, I wouldn't have recognized you right away," the professor said in amusement.

Selena just smiled at her husband's words. Of course, she had changed a lot. She deliberately changed herself into someone else so she could hide for seventeen years.

"Is this how you treat guests, Jos?" Selena spoke again, and that made Joseph stare at her in confusion. "We deliberately came from the city to this place. You don't want to invite us in and offer us two cups of tea while we chat about the past?"

Blue was taken aback by Selena's question. Was the professor out of her mind? Why did she have to request to enter the tiger cage? What if they ended up stuck inside and couldn't get out alive?

Mike Allaband, who had been standing beside Joseph, also looked surprised to hear Selena's question. He did not expect that the woman he had known for a long time to have such courage.

In contrast to Blue and Mike who looked shocked, Joseph seemed relaxed at Selena's question. He seemed to have expected that his wife would ask that question. No one understood Selena better than he did.

"Ah, forgive me for being rude to the two 'guests' who came from far away," the old man responded to Selena's words while especially emphasizing the word 'guest.' He then continued, "We don't have tea inside, but if you don't mind, we can invite you to come in and have a look."

Blue was shocked again. She did not think Joseph would easily let the two of them enter his base. Mike was the same. He stared at the professor next to him with a look of incredulity.

"No tea is fine. We appreciate your good intentions, Jos."

And Selena's wheelchair began to move toward Joseph and Mike, who were standing in the doorway of what seemed to be their base.

Blue looked bewildered and hesitant, so she didn't move an inch. Should they enter the enemy's lair? But, Selena in front of her turned slightly with a smile, non-verbally inviting her to follow. The young girl ended up following the professor's wheelchair.

Joseph and Mike stepped aside to make way for Selena and Blue, and once the four of them were already inside the secret hill, the hill's giant door closed again automatically, bringing absolute darkness that got Blue panicked a little. But before long, the bright lights came on automatically. That was when they could clearly see what the place was.

It was a large laboratory with all modern and sophisticated equipment. Selena looked around and found that the equipment there was almost the same as the one she had in her laboratory, only she felt a little jealous because the place was much larger than her humble laboratory.

The lady twitched a little in surprise when she saw several giant vertical tubes with some creatures that looked like humans inside the tubes. Those were the object of the experiment. Joseph apparently hadn't changed at all.

"Welcome to my laboratory!" Joseph proudly introduced his laboratory to his guests.

Selena stopped looking around and stared back at Joseph. "It looks like you've been working here for a long time, Jos?" She tried to guess.

"You're right," Joseph replied. "I built this place twenty-five years ago and started actively using it seventeen years ago. This is my home for the past seventeen years."

Selena seemed to be surprised hearing Joseph's answer. It turned out that her husband had been preparing this place for a long time behind her back.

"Then, what are you doing here, Jos?" Selena asked again to cover up her surprise.

At a glance, the two genius professors were currently chatting in a very casual manner like a pair of old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time. The conversations were normal and full of a sense of nostalgia.

"It's still the same as before," Joseph responded. "I'm still trying to find a formula related to werewolves. I'm creating formulas to make them evolve and become stronger, and also creating a new formula to make the strongest werewolf because someone stole my formula seventeen years ago."

The warm atmosphere suddenly was replaced with a cold atmosphere after Joseph indirectly accused Selena. Of course, Selena was not stupid to take the meaning of her husband's subtle accusation.

"You've messed up the world for too long, Jos. I don't want you to keep doing that, so I have no choice but to steal the formula from you."

Selena's statement made Joseph laugh as if he had just heard the funniest joke. "You have a choice, Selena!" He sneered between his laughter. "You have two choices; the first choice is to stay on my side, and the second option is to betray me. Unfortunately, you chose the second."

Selena's wrinkled hands clenched into the armrests of her wheelchair.

"I've been holding myself back for too long by staying by your side, Jos. I thought there would be a day when you would realize your mistake and stop, but I was wrong. Decades have passed, but you still choose this path."

Blue and Mike were acting as audiences and listeners. Neither of them dared to make the slightest sound.

Joseph smiled wistfully at his wife's words. "Maybe from the start, our paths weren't the same, Selena. Maybe from the start, we shouldn't be together."

Joseph's words seemed to cut Selena's heart. It turned out that Joseph regretted their togetherness for decades. But, she actually also regretted everything. If they weren't together, the evil formula that turned humans into werewolves wouldn't exist.

"Now, what are you up to, Jos?" Selena again asked, choosing to stop talking about the past. "Are you now aiming for Kevin to conquer the world?"

The talk about Kevin actually made Joseph's expression change. There was a mixture of emotions on the wrinkled face. Longing, angry, hate, disappointment, and also love, all mixed into one.

"Why did you put the formula in your son's body? You know it could be life-threatening," Joseph once again spoke in a sharp tone.

"I'm his mother, and I know Kevin much better than you. I know what I'm doing."

Joseph's expression shifted again. He was now laughing loudly.

"It's up to you," he said. "But, I don't need Kevin anymore because I have succeeded in creating a formula that's stronger than what you put into Kevin's body. The strongest werewolf monster has been created, and today it will destroy the city."

Selena and Blue were shocked at Joseph's declaration. The female professor frantically turned to Blue, who was standing beside her. "Blue, go back to the city now and tell the news to Kevin and Kris. Tell them to get ready."

"But, how about you? I don't want to leave you here alone," Blue insisted.

Seeing a drama in front of him, Joseph laughed lightly and said, "There's no need to rush. It's certain that the strongest monster has started attacking the city, and maybe it will also hurt your son."

Selena panicked even more at that. She finally took Blue's skinny hand and squeezed it lightly. "You don't want to lose Kevin, right? Take care of Kevin for me, Blue. Use your power and go back to the city," she tried to persuade Blue.

The girl swallowed nervously. On one hand, she didn't want to leave Selena alone, but on the other hand, she also had to help Kevin, who probably was having a hard time. She had to make a decision!

And at the end, the girl bent down to hug Selena's body tightly and whispered in her ear, "I love you, Mother. Thank you for taking care of me all this time."

Tears fell from Selena's wistful eyes. She returned the girl's hug and whispered, "I love you too, Blue. I love you very much. Live well with Kevin and Kris. Tell them that I really love them."

The professor continued to whisper some affectionate words into Blue's ear, and some of her words got Blue shocked and her eyes widened.

The girl finally let go of her mother and looked at her for the last time. Her blue eyes were wet and looked very sad as they met Selena's gloomy eyes. At times like this, all the memories from the past resurfaced again. Seventeen years were not a short time. There were so many memories related to the lady, and now the memories felt so painful for the young girl.

Those beautiful blue eyes slowly closed as the tears falling from there, before finally, Blue's body disappeared from that place.

Selena closed her eyes to endure the tightness in her chest after Blue left.

"A sweet farewell. You're lucky you got a chance to say goodbye to Blue," Mike suddenly spoke up after a long time he was silent.

Selena opened her eyes again and looked at Mike sarcastically. "And you're unlucky not to have time to say goodbye to Blue. You will regret it after knowing the truth."