Worried

Emma was now with her family after her meeting with a fellow mermaid, Arielle. She realised that there were many new abilities she could potentially access, and that she was going to need them when confronting any werewolves.

After dinner, Emma heard the doorbell ring. Her mother Lisa answered it, and Emma saw that it was a woman dressed in a suit. Beside her was the same blonde lady Catherine who she had previously met both at UCLA and when exploring the stone circle in the woods.

"Hi, I'm just here to greet all the new residents to San Bernadino. I'm Eleanor Field, the mayor of this city but you can just call me Ellie."

"Nice to meet you, Ellie." Lisa replied.

"By the way, this is my daughter Catherine."

Catherine saw Emma standing in the hallway, and she tried to force her way inside but couldn't get in. Eleanor saw her daughter try to enter the Gilbert's house, and she scowled which led Catherine to stop and return back to her mother's side.

"Oh ignore my daughter here, she's just eager to try and make friends with other people her age."

Catherine simply opened her mouth, which exposed her fangs. She called out, "I'll find a way to get you!"

Emma returned to her room, and thought to herself "Why couldn't that werewolf enter our house? Do I have some special hormone that resists werewolves?"

Back at UCLA

Emma was keen to avoid the two werewolf ladies and mostly kept to herself. Whilst walking in the corridor, she bumped into a young man. He had short brown hair and seemed to be quite muscular.

"Oops! I'm so sorry," said the man.

"No problems," replied Emma.

The man looked at Emma's arm and noticed the bite mark. "Encountered any wild animals recently?" he asked.

"Yeah, I did. But I don't think I was bitten by a wild animal," said Emma.

The man was worried, as he spoke "Listen, just meet me at the campus library at 4pm today. We can talk more about it then."

Later that day, at the campus library

Emma had arrived at the campus library, where she met the same man she had bumped into earlier. The man greeted her and extended his hand. "I never really introduced myself properly. I'm Steven and one of the guides on campus."

"And I'm Emma Gilbert," replied Emma as she also extended her hand. The two shook hands with each other and then walked inside the library. The two went inside a quiet room, as Steven began the conversation.

"As you might be aware, this city is home to werewolves. Powerful beasts that can attack any humans on demand. They transform every full moon, but outside of that time they simply pose as regular humans."

"Yeah, I was unlucky enough to stumble upon their hideout in the woods one full moon, and I was bitten." Emma spoke.

"Well you probably need some protection," said Steven as he brought out some funny looking weapons. One of them looked like a silver dagger, and there was also a vial of black liquid.

"Werewolves are weak against metal, so if one does attack you then simply point a knife at them. They are also vulnerable to certain herbs, including wolfsbane." Steven showed Emma the vial of liquid, and continued "This bottle contains ground wolfsbane. Simply throw it at a werewolf and it will burn their skin."

Emma was curious as she responded, "So are you a werewolf hunter?"

Steven was embarrassed as he answered, "You could say that. My brother and I have patrolled the LA hills for many years now, aiming to keep those wolves in check."

Emma then replied, "Well that's good to know. By the way, I also found that a werewolf couldn't get into my house."

"Yeah, that is another form of protection. Werewolves in their human state cannot enter other people's homes. They must be invited in by the landowner," said Steven.

Emma then left the library and was walking back home. As she was alone, she saw a car stop beside her. In the driver's seat was the mayor Eleanor with her daughter Catherine sitting on the passenger's seat. Emma was scared and began to run away. She saw Catherine then speed up and catch up to her. Catherine knocked her to the ground and restrained her.

"Listen here girl! You better not have told those hunters to come after me!"

"Relax Cathy, I'm not here to hurt you. I just want to live my life alone," replied Emma.

Catherine was not amused, as she scowled "Only my close friends get to call me that! My name is Catherine to you!"

"What do you want from me?" protested Emma.

"I'm sure that you are hiding something," spoke Catherine as she brought out a bottle of water and opened the lid. She then threw the water directly at Emma. Emma panicked and without thinking, quickly raised her arms which froze the water in place.

Catherine saw Emma use her magic powers and was getting annoyed. "So it was you!" she exclaimed. "A mermaid who won't leave us alone!"

"Why do you hate my kind so much?" questioned Emma.

"Don't you know girl? For centuries, mermaids and werewolves have always fought each other for dominance over the right to have the power during the full moon," replied Catherine.

Emma was getting irritated, as she then spoke up "But I'm not a true mermaid. I just accidentally became one when I happened to fall into a sacred pool during a full moon."

"Yeah right!" said Catherine. "How come you have access to magic then?"

"My powers are very limited. I've only mastered cyrogenic spells and certainly not the full range of abilities that other mermaids can use."

"Well you better not be seeing any other mermaids! Or else I'll unleash my full power on you!" exclaimed Catherine. She then reluctantly left Emma alone and returned to her mother in the car.