Tares City

25. Life's Patterns

ARROW BERLIN

"Start talking. Start explaining!" Arrow says in an agitated manner to Ezra, who watches her calmly.

"Out here?" He says gesturing to where they were standing - In front of Arrow's home.

"I'm not inviting you into my home if that's what you're getting at!" She replies.

"Oh, come on-"

"No! I don't know you and quite frankly, I don't trust you!" Arrow argues, cutting him off. Ezra shrugs, moving away from her and walking to his car. Arrow watches as he goes to lean up against it, arms folded in front of him. He raises an eyebrow at her, making her groan as she walks to him.

"Explain!" She demands, getting annoyed with his antics.

"How about you ask me what you want to know," He says to her.

"Okay, fine. What work were our dads doing together?" She asks him, folding her arms.

"Lycanthropy research," He begins making Arrow's eyes widen. "But on a more cellular level. Looking at the genes, DNA, what causes the mutation, and how it interacts with other DNA. Crazy science stuff."

"What?! Not possible!" Arrow mumbles out.

"My dad had a former partner. A Lycan that he started this research with," Ezra informs her. "But then they stopped seeing eye to eye. The other guy got carried away. Started doing experiments instead of pure research. Mixing things, creating this and that. When my dad tried to pull out, he took everything and bolted. So my dad had to start over from scratch. He also made it his mission to find a way to counteract his partner's experiments. He met your father some time along the way and they started working together."

"Hold up, hold up!" Arrow says holding out her hands in front of her. "How long?" She asks Ezra.

"A couple of years," He answers with a shrug making Arrow's jaw drop.

"Years?!" She repeats, her voice slightly risen.

"Yeah."

"They've been carrying out Lycan experiments for years? My father?" Arrow says out loud in disbelief.

"Well no," Ezra interrupts. "Not quite.  They've been trying to re-research all the findings my dad lost when his partner went off the rails and started doing the experiments. Your dad mainly helped with the research although my dad was...Well is, interested in the experiments his ex-partner was carrying out."

"This is a silly question to ask so late into the conversation - But you and your dad are hunters, right?" Arrows says with a sigh.

"Yeah, we're hunters. Just like you and your brother," Ezra answers.

Arrow goes to ask another question but the rumble of a motorcycle stops her. Turning around, she sees Beau on his bike, heading towards them.

"Friend of yours?" Ezra asks as they watch Beau turn off his bike.

"Uh, give me a second," She tells him, walking off toward Beau. She reaches him as he dismounts the bike, taking off his helmet.

"What are you doing here?" She says to him.

"Well hello to you too, Arrow. I'm fine thanks for asking," He says to her teasingly.

"Right sorry. Didn't mean to be rude, just a lot is on my mind right now. Hi Beau," Arrow says to him. "But what are you doing here?" Beau goes to speak but stops when he notices they have an audience.  "Who's that?" He asks his eyes on Ezra who was looking at them.