The Aftermath I.

"I... what happened? Where am I? Why were we fighting?" Kristensen said, her voice breaking with confusion.

There was a gap in her mind, more precisely, the pictures playing in her head were as though she was watching someone else, someone who looked like her.

She... she fought with Trudy and Vince, or she did the attacking while they defended, trying not to hurt her from the looks of it.

What happened?

Vince and Casey exchanged a glance, uncertainty flickering in their eyes. They approached cautiously, ready to intervene if necessary, forgetting they couldn't pass through but lucky, weren't blocked that time.

"I don't know to call you brave or foolish." Vince reprimanded, his boorish voice tinged with worry. "Didn't you know you were already in the early stages of bloodlust? How could you carelessly play hero?"

Kristensen's blinked innocently at Vince. She tried to remember when they'd gotten so close or if more had happened during her blackout. He was a little too concerned, wasn't he?

But, she really hadn't thought about it. She'd made an appointment regarding her bloodlust with Ocean and had considered a nonexistent problem. Who would've thought...

Alas.

Vince inched closer to her, "Do you remember what happened when you forcefully interrupted the ritual?"

He wasn't being insensitive on purpose - it was just that - how had she forcefully made her way in and made her way out forcefully again and ended up in the state she did?

Vince simply couldn't contain his excitement. Perhaps she'd discovered something that could further their look for Ryder.

Forcefully interrupted the ritual? Kristensen thought of those people blindly pouring everything they had to the blood moon and cringed. Even then, far away from that space, she could remember the fervent worship on their faces as they gave their lives away.

Interrupted? She hardly did anything other than getting captured and tortured half to death. What was it that she did?

"Kristensen!" Vince called, waving her hand over her eyes.

"Huh..? What?" she looked at him confusedly.

Vince, Casey, and Trudy looked at one another, worry evident in their eyes and turned to Kristensen.

"Let's get out of here first. We'll talk about everything once we're out." Casey said, standing up and taking Kristensen along.

Vince let out a snort as he followed behind. Despite knowing that getting out of the hell hole was the best suggestion, seeing Casey cowardly lightened his mood.

There was a sight he was used to...

"I heard that." Casey snapped, making Vince laugh harder.

"I didn't say anything." said Vince, turning to Trudy with a raised brow he continued, "Did you hear anything?"

Trudy could only shake her head at Vince's childishness. Was it really the time?

They made their way out of the chamber, Kristensen walking behind them with her eyes a little unfocused. Her mind swirled with question and fragmented memories. She had a vague feeling that she'd missed something... something...

"How long was I out?" Kristensen asked as they made their way through.

They didn't answer.

It wasn't that they didn't want to answer but that they didn't know how long? Besides panicking, they had also tried to find other ways to break through the barrier made by the ritual - unsuccessful as they were - they were busy to keep track of time.

How long? No one could answer.

They emerged into the mural room.

The one who felt relieved the most was none other than Vince. He felt he'd lost a good number of years of his life in the damnable building. It was good to see light - natural light. It was so good that a goofy smile graced his face.

"Never again am I going to get curious about any messes your House of Caston creates." Said Vince, opening the window and sticking his head out.

The happiness of surviving calamity traceable in his voice. "I learned my lesson. I'll just watch the show from afar. Being a busy body isn't easy."

Vince was busy fooling around while Kristensen, Trudy, and Casey watched the new images in the mural shook.

It changed again.

Now, there was an image of two wolves facing one another under the blood moon, and it was the same blood moon that Kristensen saw when her consciousness was pulled into that space.

The two wolves, they were her and Trudy?

"When, when did the image change?" Trudy asked in a low voice, her voice shaking - she said to no one in particular.

Wasn't that the situation that happened underground? But, what was that blood moon, and why did it give her a bad feeling?

Tate and Winnie didn't think much of it - they thought the image was better than the one before of those people falling dead one by one.

"Not too long ago?" Winnie responded with confusion.

They didn't know who the wolves were, so they didn't feel much, but Casey, Vince, and Kristensen it made them feel chills to their bones.

Why, how and why were they there? What was that mural, and what did it mean for them to be on it?

"We need to leave quickly. Let's go..." said Casey, his hands reaching for Trudy and Kristensen at the same time.

He was on the move...

The group hurried out of the building, and only when they were close to the door did Vince realize they were on the move. He cussed under his breath as he hurried after them.

"Wait for me, wait for me..." Vince ran after them.

They didn't stop along the way or look back, along they way back, no one said anything, and the mood was somber. Too many things happened...

It was only after they entered the The Camp and went to the area where House of Caston was did they breathe a little easier.

After they sat down, the room fell silent. They had different thoughts, but the focus of those different was one thing - that person from House of Caston poked a hornet's nest.

What kind of group or person did he pledge loyalty for power? It went without saying that everyone in the room hated and wanted to beat Isaac to death. Was he stupid or what?

"Alright. Let's start from the beginning," Vince said, his voice firm. "Kristensen, do you remember anything before you woke up and fought Trudy?"

Kristensen furrowed her brow, trying to remember what happened after he jumped into the circle the pseudo alpha's symbol was.

Images flashed through her mind - the blood moon, the mysterious ritual, and the pain and torture she underwent at the hands of that masked figure.

However, she couldn't tell if they had really happened or if it was all her imagination. Kristensen was absolutely sure she hadn't gone through all of that in the physical sense...

Could she say what she saw, would they believe her?

"I... I remember waking up in the middle of some ritual," she began slowly, choosing her words carefully. "People staring at a blood moon and chanting something, it looked like a ceremony of sorts."

Vince and Casey nodded thoughtfully, their minds racing with possibilities.

"It seems like you were drawn into the ritual somehow. But why and what did you see?" Vince asked.

Kristensen raised her eyebrows at Vince. The look on her face clear - didn't I say already?

"There was someone else besides me, but they were wearing a mask, I'm sure they were in charge. He tried to forcefully make me turn." Kristensen responded, her voice turning cold towards the end.

The others shifted uncomfortably when they heard that.

Kristensen narrowed her eyes as she continued, "That person is an alpha, might be the one behind what was happening."

After that statement, the mood in the room plummeted. It was what they feared - someone being in charge of the ritual. Wouldn't that mean it didn't end?

"Did you see anything else that might help us investigate or something... anything distinctive?" said Casey impatiently.

Kristensen resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she stared at Casey, yet what he said made her remember. Right, the masked figure said someone was coming before everything went blank. Did that count?

But she did say that to them. Her silence made them sigh. The situation was too tricky with too many unanswered questions.

"What about the pseudo alpha's symbol? Did you see it, and where is it now?" Vince prompted as he threw Casey a reproachful glare.

Why was he being forceful here? If he had the ability, why didn't he interrupt the ritual himself?

Kristensen's eyes surveyed the room silently and sighed. She was exhausted, emotionally, and physically. If that person hadn't been interrupted and left abruptly, wouldn't she be dead now?

What were they asking her these questions for? It irritated her a little. They knew about this world more than she did, and they thought she might have noticed something, what... what exactly?

Her previous patience for saving her and trying their best not to put her down in her bloodlust state was wearing thin.

They did nothing and now were bombarding her with meaningless questions. What would that do? Would they bring all those people back?

"I don't know. I didn't see it. Anyway, that person left midway, so..." Kristensen said, the tone of her voice different from before.

Vince and Trudy noticed the change in her voice, and Trudy stepped forward, placing a hand on Kristensen's shoulder. "It's alright, Kris. At least the ritual stopped, and now we can try to find out more. Someone has to know something and we'll find them."

Kristensen hummed her acknowledgment.

She didn't care about any of that, her purpose was to find clues about Isaac, and she didn't find anything about his life or death, other than that he was the one introduced her to that person.

Wasn't it a waste to have gone through that torture for nothing?

Kristensen stood up and made her way out. At the door, she turned around, "I think Ocean was there. The person that figure said was coming and left to see, I think it's Ocean. At least, that's my guess. You go and ask him."

She left.

It was her intuition, and she was becoming more in tune with her instincts.

Ocean...

She made her way to her dormitory, lost in thought. If she was right and he'd been there, then Ocean was more than meets the eye.

The masked figure tried to hide the terror of that someone coming, but Kristensen picked up on it.

To make someone in charge of something as cruel as that ritual feel fear, how terrifying was he?

But Kristensen threw it at the back of her mind as she threw herself on her bed.

What a day...

On the other side of The Camp, Ocean stood in front of the floor to ceiling window, overlooking the whole place.

"Your majesty... he's dead." came from behind Ocean, it was Drew.

The night had silently crept in, and The Camp's beauty was enhanced for some reason that night, Ocean thought.

Ocean smiled hearing what Drew said but didn't turn toward her. He said lightly, "They're a little late."

His eyes glowed crimson gold, and they shifted toward the direction of Kristensen's dormitory.

"It's fine that he died. Let House of Caston find him tomorrow. Don't change anything, let them find him as he is." said Ocean after some time.

He placed his hand on the glass, closed his eyes and opened them again, and turned towards Drew.

"It's about time we left. There's nothing here anymore." Ocean said, tossing the pseudo alpha's symbol to Drew. "You can leave."

Drew raised her head from the pseudo alpha's symbol and stared at Ocean as though she had something to say but decided against it.

"Yes, your majesty." She responded.

Drew retreated.

Ocean watched her leave, his eyes squinting.

"I'm sure my pub will appreciate this gift..."