32. Too Late!

Noon came, the couple pulled over at the restaurant along the road and had lunch there. After half an hour of resting, they continued their journey, wanting to arrive at their location before evening came. Despite driving a little bit too fast on the open highway, they arrived at Lashpar Village at 5:30 in the afternoon. They parked the car in a clearing on the outskirts of the village. There are about ten wooden houses nearby. "Where is Marina's house?" Alpha Callum asked, eyeing the dilapidated house a few meters away from where they parked their car. "It's the wooden house under that white oak tree," Clarice pointed at the house in badly need of repairs. Her brows furrowed. Wait a minute, the last time she came here, the house didn't look like that. What's going on? "Why are the houses here looking like they have been abandoned for a long time?" Alpha Callum asked in bewilderment. "Are you sure that is Marina's house?" he asked in disbelief. "Yup. I'm sure. I've been here several times," Clarice said confidently. This is definitely the place... but something was wrong with the picture. Worry and fear gripped her mind and heart. Usually, at this time, children can be seen playing outside the house. But now, there's no one around! Where are the children? Why are they greeted with silence and eeriness? Did something happen here? They left the car urgently and walked to the house. Before they reached the house, the previous houses they passed by looked empty. Some doors were already ripped open. Alpha Callum's forehead was creased. "This looks like a deserted village," he commented. His tone tensed. Anxious, Clarice also noticed the quietness of her surroundings. She could no longer bear the suspense. She walked faster towards the house and knocked on the door several times. "Marina, please open the door! Marinaaa! Are you there?" she asked aloud. Still no response coming from Marina or from her husband, Carlos. "No one is answering, maybe no one is inside the house at this time," Alpha Callum said, peeking through the crack in the door. "I see nobody inside. Something is seriously wrong here..." he said worriedly. Clarice looked around the area, trying to understand why the house looked empty, and they hadn't seen a single soul after arriving at the place. Alpha Callum saw the mud inside the house. He quickly pushed the door hard and it opened freely. "Let's go inside," he said. The moment they stepped into the house, they finally understood the reason why the house looked abandoned. The floors were covered with thick mud. The whole house is no longer fit for living. All the wooden furniture inside was coated with mud. "The house looks like it was submerged in a heavy flood for a few days," he said despondently. "Oh, no!" Clarice gasped in panic, fearing the worst. "There is a river nearby. Do you think it overflowed during the typhoon? A deadly flood took place here?" she asked. Her mouth quavered due to nervousness, as her face went pale. "Damn! It looks like you are right," Alpha Callum said grimly, his heart beating rapidly for his son's safety. "I hope Marina, her husband and our son are safe somewhere," he said, shaking his head apprehensively. Fearing her son's safety, Clarice's heart began to beat rapidly. She was deeply worried about Caden's whereabouts. "I hope they are safe. I hope our son is safe!" she said anxiously, tears forming in her eyes. "We need to find him! We need to find them! But where!?" she asked hysterically. Alpha Callum saw tears flooding Clarice's face. "Babe, calm down. Let's not think negatively. Maybe they transferred somewhere, relocated to much safer ground," he said convincingly, enveloping her in a tight hug, comforting her. Clarice could no longer hold back her tears. "If something bad happens to our son, I will never forgive myself! Never! I shouldn't have left him here alone. It's all my fault! I'm a bad mother!" she said between sobs, her heart was stabbed repeatedly with feelings of guilt and regret. She broke down in Alpha Callum's arms, fearing for her son's safety. Alpha Callum rubbed her back gently, consoling her. "Shh, calm down, babe. I hope no one was hurt when the heavy flood ravaged the houses here. Based on what we see right now, a deadly flood has taken place here. I think the water from the river overflowed due to the heavy rain and entered the homes, which is why the people here evacuated and left their houses," he said, shaking his head sadly. "But... but where can we find them? No one is around to answer our questions," she said, weeping hard. She couldn't breathe due to the severity of the situation. "We will go back to the entrance of the village and ask where the owners of these houses have relocated. Maybe someone knows where they are, and they can bring us to the relocation site," Alpha Callum said optimistically, refusing to accept that his son and the couple died during the heavy flooding. "OK," Clarice replied sorrowfully, wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hands. The couple exited the house. Alpha Callum looked at the oak tree and noticed mud reaching the branches of the tree, almost 4 feet tall. Damn! He had started losing hope already. He didn't dare say what he truly felt right now. But the evidence he saw inside the house and the scene outside gave him a catastrophic scenario. His heart was filled with dread for the safety of his son he hadn't met yet and the safety of the people who took care of Caden. It's hard to imagine that his son was one of the casualties of the flood. But the possibility is real, torturing his heart right now. Since he already knew the devastating effect of the landslide happening on his own pack, he slowly prepared himself for the worst-case scenario. He knew full well that the flood spared no one when it came down heavily from the mountains, rushing down to the villages at full speed, destroying everything on its path. The destruction is scary and catastrophic. But despite the heavy odds, his heart refused to give up on his son. Alpha Callum took the grief-stricken Clarice back to the vehicle. "I hope our son, Marina and her husband are safe," Clarice said in a distraught tone, fighting back tears from leaving her eyes. "Let's not dwell on the negative side, babe. Let's hope they are safe," Alpha Callum said calmly. He started the engine of the car and drove back to where they saw a few houses with people relaxing outside their houses. They stopped at the first house where an old man could be seen sitting on the wooden rocking chair outside the house, staring at the horizon, wearing a blank expression on his face. "Good afternoon, sir. I would like to ask what happened to the houses near the river? Why is no one living there anymore?" Clarice asked. The old man looked at her for a few minutes, slowly processing her questions, then he answered, "All the people near the river died because of the heavy flooding that occurred during the super typhoon," he replied calmly. Clarice froze in shock. "Nooooooooooo! This can't be! This is not real!" she screamed in sorrow and despair. The color drained out of her face as an avalanche of tears rolled down her face. Alpha Callum shut his eyes upon hearing the bad news. He felt like his heart was being squeezed painfully inside his rib cage. He was grieving right now. He couldn't accept that the son he was excited about seeing was already dead. He enveloped Clarice in a tight hug, wanting to shield her from the pain and sorrow of losing their son. "No! I can't accept this! This is not real! My son is still alive!" Clarice sobbed uncontrollably in his arms. She felt miserable and heartbroken. The thought of her son dying alone without her by his side filled her heart with guilt and regret. Alpha Callum noticed Clarice's body went limp in his arms. Damn! She passed out due to the severity of the news. His heart was filled with desolation. He could only groan in pain. He was fighting back tears, refusing to cry on the spot. He can't show any weakness right now. Clarice needs him more than ever. He needs to be strong for both of them. Dammit! He growled in pain and despair. Losing his son feels like a huge part of him has already died. They came too late to see their son, and it's the saddest feeling he's ever felt in his entire life.