For the rest of the day Ryan and Thomas finished unpacking the van and relaxed a bit.
Later, in the early evening, while Ryan was preparing some dinner and Thomas was still unpacking and adapt in his room, a knock was heard on the door. Ryan wiped his hands and made his way to the front door. He opened the door to reveal a woman wearing a business dress suit and holding a briefcase.
"Ryan Munding?" She asked as she looked up at him.
"Yes?" He replied. "And you are?"
"Samantha Twist. I'm the town chancellor. I presume that you and your brother moved in today."
"Yes... that's correct." He answered.
"Before you ask, or get surprised, as the town chancellor, it's my business to know about these things. Honestly, with everything that's been going on recently, my job's been a bit busy. I'm here to go over a couple of things about the town. Would it be all right if I came in and spoke with the two of you? It shouldn't take very long."
"Of course. Please, come on in."
He motioned to Samantha to enter into the house. She smiled in thanks, before she walked in. Ryan followed her into the house.
"Please, have a seat..." He said, motioning to the couch, after they entered into the living room.
"Thank you." Samantha replied as she sat down and put her briefcase on top of the table.
"Unfortunately, we don’t have much things right now, but can I offer you something? Coffee? Tea? Mineral water?
"Oh, thanks... I think, I accept a glass of that water." She said.
He stepped to the kitchen and seconds later came back with two glasses in his hand. Putting them onto the table, he sat onto the couch.
She took a sip, then continued.
"I can see from your paperwork that you've already registered to the local police station. I'm glad to see that you're keeping up with things here.
"Yes, I finished on the academy last year, got a job in our previous town immediatly, but then... it happened. Our parents were driving home, when they collided with a drunk driver and... they didn’t survived."
"I’m sorry to hear that..."
"Yeah... It was a great shock especially to my brother, after two months I even had to quit to take care of him. Then, when I wanted to go back to work, the job was unfortunately filled... but they were nice and told me, that in this town they are looking for a policeman and... here we are."
"I see and I'm glad they found a candidate to that job and of course, you have found a job again."
"Yes... thank you, Mrs. Twist... oh, sorry, I almost forgot... Thomas! We have company!" He shouted.
A moment later, Thomas stepped in shyly into the living room. Samantha smiled at him, as he sat down next to Ryan.
"Hello, young man. So, you’re Thomas."
"Nice to meet you, ma’am..." He said after a long moment of silence, when Ryan hit him with his elbow.
"Okay then..." Samantha replied as she took another sip and opened up her briefcase.
"So, let me tell you the reason why I'm here. This town is a special place. It has a rather unique citizenry here. You see, most of the people here are were-creatures of some sort. Most are werewolves, but there are others were-species here, such as werefoxes, weretigers, werebears, werecows, and other species. I, myself, am a were-cat."
The two brothers exchanged a glance.
"Um... What?" Ryan could only reply. There was a rather quizzical look on his face.
Thomas just sat there silently. I secret, he was fan of mysteries, like she was talking about and that even Ryan didn’t know.
"Let me show you..."
Samantha stood up from the table and took off her suit coat. The two brothers could only watch as Samantha closed her eyes and concentrated a little. Hairs started to grow all over Samantha's body as her nose and mouth changed into the form of a cat. Samantha's strained a little as she grew in mass and height. A cat's tail peered out of the back of Samantha's dress, and Samantha's ears travelled up towards the top of her head. When she finished changing, she had the appearance of a tabby cat, yet still had human features.
"As you can see," She said after she finished changing, "We're quite real."
Both of them were speechless and looked confused, but they didn’t seemed scared or shocked, maybe Ryan a bit.
"You mean... even werewolves are real?" Asked Ryan.
"Well yes. My adopted son, Ben is one of them."
"That’s so cool!" Exclaimed Thomas suddenly, much to his brothers surprise. His shyness suddenly disappeared.
Samantha smiled.
"I’m glad the young man are accepting the facts. Very few of newcomers reacted like this. As I said, this town is special. It's a sanctuary for us weres to keep us safe from people who are afraid of us and who want to do us harm. We'll do anything to protect this sanctuary and the secrets that are contained within."
"Let me guess; we have to become... weres as well?" Asked Ryan.
Samantha sighed.
"Thank God, there are some normals, like you, whom I don’t have to arguing or to convince."
She took another sip, then continued.
"First of all: we're not mindless animals, as much of normals thinking. While we will do anything to protect our town, we don't kill without reason. However, there are laws in place concerning relations between normals and weres. First, no one can change you into a certain were without your permission. So, no one will force to change you without your permission, but there is one exception. We have a law that all families living in this town must have at least one member a were. This is to protect the secret of this town, as it would make the risk personal. If a family member was a were, it would put that family member at risk if that secret were revealed. It's a way of tying your fortunes in with the town's."
She paused a little, then continued. "Answering your previous question, yes, at least one of you must become a were. Helping to make a decision, I brought you these..." She took some pamphlets from her briefcase and placed them in front of the two.
"These will give you more information about the were community. We weres are much stronger, then normal humans, rarely get sick and heal from all sorts of things, so as a soon to be police officer, I would suggest you to joining to our were company, Mr. Munding, it will make to do your job and protect our people much easier, but of course both of you will be warmly welcomed."
"Um... yes, you're right... I think..." Answered Ryan confused, while Thomas was already searching among the pamphlets curiously.
"So, seeing your reaction, am I suppose there won’t be a serious problem to integrate." She said, while closed her briefcase, drank the remainder water and stood up, preparing to leave.
Ryan stood up, as well, as she walked towards the door.
"Thank you for your time, Mr. Munding. I hope when next we meet, you will be in your police uniform. Bye!"
"Yes... thank you as well, ma’am. Goodbye!" Said Ryan, still a bit puzzled.
"Bye!!" Shouted Thomas from the living room, reading deep the pamphlets.
She walked out and Ryan closed the door.
"What is this place, bro?" Asked Thomas, a bit shocked, but not afraid when Ryan was sitting next to him again.
"I don’t know..." He said, trying to process the things they have seen and hear.