I panickly grab ahold of Perry's wrist without intention when I catch the man beginning to stomp in my direction. I'm frozen, even though I know he is not coming after me at all. Koda follows after him, not removing his eyes from the man for a second. 
When he is too close for comfort for Perry, he responds by pulling me to the other side of him. The man stops only feet from us and gives Estelle direct eye contact. His lack of blinking gives me goosebumps; and not the good kind.
"My daughter, how have you come to our home planet? Your mother told you, didn't she?" He scoffs.
So Estelle's not human after all?
She's frozen, "My mother is dead!" I hear her choke back tears. "I found it on my own."
The man has no reaction, "After being raised human you found it?"
Estelle becomes emotional, "You lied to us all? My brother and I aren't human!"
"I had to, your mother was human."
I'm uncomfortable being in the middle of this conversation so I grip Perry's arm for moral support.
"How could you?" Tears begin streaming down her face.
"I'd like you to come with me, so we can talk alone." He words aren't a question, it's a demand.
"NO!" Estelle shouts between fits of tears, suddenly a flash goes out in the sky.
When I blink up, I rain falls upon my face and the air has become quite cold in a second. The strike of lightning flashes again, followed by a clap of thunder so loud that I feel it in my chest and it shakes the ground.
Estelle spins around and stomps past my uncle, making all of us turn our heads. The front steps of the home make a creaking sound as she runs up them. Her feet against the wood are just as loud as the rumble of thunder above our heads; or is it because of the dead silence that looms over us?
When she's gone I can hear her crying becoming harder, entirely hysterical. She doesn't care to muffle herself even inside the home. I hear her movements, running into the living room and standing for a minute, the floor boards settle. After a second she starts pacing across the carpet; back and fourth. I still hear the sound of her heart, its frantic and reminds me of mine when I was being punished in the Hunters base of operations.
The rain comes in a rush, making me pull Perry towards the front porch at an attempt to not get drenched. The rest of the group does the same, running and pulling each other to get to cover first. Perry and I turn out to be last, our drawback is my stiffened leg and its inability to fully bend to go up the steps.
Already soaking wet and in no way shape or form entirely under the cover of the porch Perry helps me up the top two steps. Finally by the front door I find a heavy strand of hair stuck to the right side of my face while the remaining pieces loose their tight curl and fall loosely, saturated in water.
My attention goes to the street, even though I'm irritated by the rain running down my back in a stream from my hair. The stranger stands still, only watching us from afar and allowing the rain to encompass his body. His clothes turn darker, soaking in the water.
Over the rain Koda yells to the man, "This is just a lot for Estelle right now, but I know she's going to want to talk to you soon."
The man doesn't respond, he only stares.
Koda continues, "I suggest you leave and come back to meet us in a few days when things have settled."
****
Settling is something I needed after an eventful evening out, but having to change out of sopping wet clothes is not what I meant. Originally I was ready to escape to my bedroom at the end of the hall but for a different reason; I wanted to hide away and talk to Perry.