The Scientist

Snowstorm

Scott pov

It was nearly the dead of winter when Mumbo made the announcement about the villa project he had been working so ambitiously on. The area he’d wanted to build in wasn’t available after all. Apparently, it had become a makeshift home for much of the town’s homeless population, and Mumbo, with his usual heart of gold, couldn’t bring himself to displace them, especially not in the harshest part of winter.

I could see the frustration in his face—he’d put so much time into planning, designing, and dreaming of the villa that would bring everyone together. But he knew he couldn’t go through with it, not like this. "We’ll have to figure out something else," he’d said, his voice heavy with disappointment.

So, I suggested we just stay where we were. We had made this old apartment building livable, converting it into something that felt like home, even if it wasn’t perfect. Sure, the villa was supposed to be in town, a central place where everyone could gather and feel connected. But looking around at our little community, I didn’t know if the grand plan really mattered all that much.

We tried talking to everyone about it, gauging how they felt, but the reactions were mixed. Most people didn’t care where they lived. They were happy here, comfortable enough in the apartment building we’d put so much work into. It was warm, sturdy, and had enough space for all of us to share. There were only a few outliers who weren’t as content, and of course, Hels was one of them. His answer, as usual, wasn’t straightforward—he just wanted to go back to Xavier, wherever that poor man was. He never seemed fully settled here, always looking for something or someone, his mind elsewhere.

Jimmy had returned about a month later, looking a little worn but safe. He told us that he had been taken care of by a man in the woods not too far from here, which set off alarm bells in my mind. The same guy from before, the one with the red hair and strange eyes. It made me suspicious all over again, but Jimmy reassured me it wasn’t anything bad. He said he got caught in one of those finch traps, but luckily, his wings weren’t broken. Still, the idea of someone setting traps that close to our home had me worried.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility of wild animal hunters lurking nearby. We had a lot of people who could shift into their full animal forms around here, and I didn’t want them getting hurt. In their shifted state, they were vulnerable to those who didn’t understand—or didn’t care—that they weren’t ordinary creatures.

As winter deepened, so did my concern. The villa project was put on hold, and for now, this old apartment building was home. But with Jimmy’s close call and the ever-present risk of hunters, I knew we had to be more careful. There was no telling what else might be lurking in the woods, and I wasn’t about to let anyone else get caught in a trap.

One day, though, everything erupted into chaos. Everyone was freaking out—panicking, shouting, scrambling for answers. The reason? The Knight brothers were missing. Hels and Wels, the inseparable duo, had gone on one of their usual nighttime excursions but hadn’t come back. And with the sun already setting and the temperature dropping fast, the worry in the air was palpable.

The cold was unforgiving this time of year, especially at night. The forecast had warned of an even colder night than usual, and if the brothers were trapped somewhere in the snow, there was a real chance they wouldn’t survive. People were frantic, pacing, checking the windows and doors as if that would somehow bring them back. The problem was, no one had any idea where to even start looking.

I turned to Jimmy, hoping for some kind of guidance, but he just shook his head, his face pale with worry. "I can’t fly," he said quietly. "And neither can my brother."

It hadn’t occurred to me just how bad the cold affected them until then. Jimmy and his brother were supposed to be able to fly, to migrate south like any bird would in the winter. But they hadn’t, and now their wings were practically useless, stiff and frozen from the cold. If they tried to fly, they’d just end up in worse shape, or worse, stuck out in the snow like Hels and Wels.