“So, do you want to let the other neighbors know now?” Leena asked Diwa, who was still looking around the house. "I mean, you did say that the house has no electricity and water now because Mason had it cut off to avoid paying for the utilities while his brother and his family were staying with you, right? It's going to be real dark inside and there's only the two of us..."

“I think we should try and see for ourselves first. If there’s too many people around, they might get scared and run away again. Besides, you did tell Jack to get here as soon as he can, right?”

“Okay then, how do we get in?” Leena said decisively as she rolled up her sleeves to get ready. 

Leena's characteristic strength and willingness to help easily countered those character features that were NOT so common within their neighborhood, AND THAT'S WHY MANY DIDN'T LIKE HER.

But Diwana found it refreshing.

Her neighbor, who was a mother of twins with enough money to hire a nanny and house helpers, lived in one of the largest houses in the village. She didn't have a job, or at least the townspeople did not know of her ever working at all. All they knew was that she had a mysterious husband that THEY hardly ever saw, and that she had no filter at all.

People pretty much ran away from Leena, either in fear for what her “real” story might be. Due to all that mystery surrounding her, or just because they had big ass secrets that could easily get them in big trouble once they're unlucky enough for Leena to Discover them. 

Even when she barely talked about it, she was still quite formidable in their eyes. 

And that's a certainty in that village, where most of the inhabitants were not who they seemed to be or were quite backwards with their opinions about strong women. Diwana, on the other hand, found this kind of honesty and sincerity as something that she needed from the people around her.

One of the things Di could never complain about her husband was that he was a liar. Even in the most uncomfortable or painful of situations, she could say that he never told her anything but the absolute truth… 

At least that was in his favor… 

“Right now, I think the doors are locked, so they must have gotten in through a window. We can try entering one of those on the first floor,” Di said, still looking for the lights that Leena had reported to her earlier.

Leena was breathing deeply then, almost panting, making her worried neighbor wonder what was going on with her. However, whatever Leena was up to, Di would not ask her. Not in regular circumstances, and especially not in these extreme ones.

“I think we can get in from here,” Leena said, pointing at one of the windows that actually didn’t seem to be fully closed. Upon looking at it closely, it showed some fingerprints on the glass. 

Only very strong observation skills could point that out though, and in that poorly illuminated place, Diwana found it more than curious that Leena did see it.

“Wow, that was lucky. I believe you either have the best eyesight I have ever encountered, or you should try playing card games at a casino…” Di murmured, shining her mobile phone's flashlight on the small, slightly larger, and even larger handprints decorating the window's glass panes.

“That was just probability… or yeah, maybe luck that I happened to notice them,” Leena replied, smirking, and knowing more than she was allowed to tell, but hoping that Di would not notice then. “Anyway, let’s get inside as quietly as we can, and then split to search for them.” 

Diwana nodded, then put her phone away so she could use both hands to help Leena through the window. When Di looked back at her friend to help her up, she was surprised to see Lee leaping high on the window's ledge. Her neighbor then silently landed on the floor like a cat on all fours, then stood up as if she was used to doing such things on a daily basis.

Diwa tried not to care much about what she just saw through that window. In the past, she even found Leena's feats funny and sometimes even wanted to be able to do it herself. She trusted her neighbor enough to know whatever Leena felt, thought or knew, she would tell her for sure if she needed to. 

But these were the other reasons why many people in the town avoided the strong woman like the plague.

Meanwhile, Leena could have spilled so many secrets about all of them, she didn't care so much about them. She was not that interested in other people’s lives, or at least not in the way she cared about Diwana.

And that's not just because neither of them grew up in the village, which was only one of the things she had in common with Di...

“It’s funny how I know so little about you, Leena… I think you’re one of the very few people I have things in common with, and yet I scarcely know you,” Diwana said after watching Leena easily get inside the house without much of a struggle and an almost unnatural agility.

“Well, just saying that makes you a unique person around here, too. Everybody seems to think I'm weird,” the helpful neighbor responded in an almost proud tone, while offering her hands towards the worried mother to help her get up on the window's ledge, through the opening and into the house.

Upon landing on the floor, Diwana brought out her mobile so she could use her flashlight. Meanwhile, Leena was still doing this weird action that seemed to Di as if her neighbour was sniffing something in the air...

But maybe she had a cold, or maybe she smelled a gas leak? Who knows...

Diwana just dismissed it. 

Suddenly Leena froze as if surprised by something unseen, and when Diwa finally got close to her, she whispered very low.

“Ok, we’ll go separate ways, so we can find them faster. You go upstairs, and I’ll check this floor and basement, then go after you, agreed?” Leena asked, looking everywhere around, as if she was aware of someone nearby, maybe even feeling eyes on them? 

Di felt this uneasy feeling running down her spine. But if there was anyone out there, it would only be the children… right? 

Nothing to worry about…

“Ok, that sounds like a plan,” Diwana whispered back, dusting her dress, since she didn't even have time and was too angry at her husband to change into proper search-and-rescue clothes...

Leena nodded, and both stealthily walked away from each other, trying not to make too much noise on the creaking wooden floor. Di noticed that her friend moved like a silent shadow. She couldn't hold back her amazement while wondering about this lady’s past. 

“Still, I like her more than many other people here. She may be mysterious and all but she’s still a lot more genuine than the lot of them,” Diwana thought, trying her weight on the first step of the stairs that led to the second floor. “Now let's see. The children could be in their rooms, or maybe in the basement as Leena said… maybe in the attic? Sigh, there’s no saying where, I guess… so let’s go slowly and surely and check out everything, room by room.”

Resigned to do things the hard way, Di then started walking through the second floor's dark hallway with just her mobile's flashlight in hand.

Leena, on the other hand, had noticed something moving on the other side of the first floor, right when they were entering the house through the window. A very small creak on the wood under one of the other windows in that area alerted the lady, who was now searching the house with her friend, the Wolf lady, looking for the Wolf children with her heightened senses.

“Wolf lady... What an irony,” Lee thought, smiling but still alert.

Her well-trained body stepped exactly at the right places so she could move around swiftly while remaining undetected. She managed to easily approach the wall that divided the living room from the dining area, where she was hearing the very, very low sounds that showed changes in the weight imposed over the wood. 

Leena could sense that it was someone heavier than her, but not much taller, as she was quite tall herself, standing at about 5’7” in height. However, she's sure that he's way heavier than her. 

She suddenly stopped, took out her emergency hair scrunchy from her jeans back pocket and tied her long, straight, ashen brown hair, and got ready for whatever she felt was there in the darkness.

“I don’t think Diwana noticed her being followed, but this doesn’t look good. Who the hell can be after her in these circumstances?” the amazon-like woman thought while her hands flew up her head, creating a quick messy bun that would allow her a bit more movement and freedom.

She crouched, expecting that the person on the other side of the wall would not look down if he - she was almost sure it was a ‘he’ - checked his surroundings. People subconsciously usually checked only at their own height during a search...

Then she peeked.

The tall, muscular shadow showed shorter, messy, dark hair. He was indeed slightly taller than her. But, well, only a few guys in the village were like that. 

Also, he had a very peculiar and expensive cologne, which made it easier to recognize who he was.

Leena stood up again, letting out a sigh of relief. Without making a noise, she quickly walked towards the shadow, who had his back to her. 

As she stood right behind him, the relieved woman whispered to him, “What the hell are you doing here?!”

Jack’s heart skipped a beat when he turned and saw the slim, ivory skinned lady with the messy bun. Her form in the shadows, with her dark clothes, definitely seemed like an apparition even while he flashed his mobile flashlight at her.

“Leena, you almost killed me just now… Damn…” he let out a short sigh and deeply inhaled, letting out the air slowly so he could calm himself down. “I thought of what I would do myself if I was a kid that just lost his parents, and the only logical answer was to go back to my old house. So when you called me, I was already on my way here. Is Diwana with you too?”

“Yes, she went up to the next floor, but… wait,” Leena said, pausing and turning her head to the side. Another noise, and this one was not as quiet as Jack's. “Do you hear that?”

“Yes, but that doesn't sound like a child… Who could be here?”

“Well, besides us? I wonder if another person had come to the same conclusion and got into the house as well, but the way this individual is carelessly making noise makes me think that they’re not looking for the same thing as we are.”

The steps moved upstairs in a seemingly rushed manner. 

Leena and Jack looked at each other, slight alarm in their eyes. In silent agreement, both nodded, went towards the stairs and tried to stealthily climb them with as little noise as possible.

The unknown noise kept moving right ahead of them. The darkness and the unknown environment were not helping the two protectors who were now coorDinating their movements almost like an experienced assault team.

Ahead of them as they reached the next level, Leena could now easily identify the lighter weight of Diwana, who vigorously walked in the darkness. But the other one, she could not make out; and the growing uncertainty was making her surer by the second that the other person in there had no good intentions for her female friend.