The Kraken

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

When they arrived at the large group forming around the wagon, Kate got on her tip toes to peek over the heads of the taller folk and get a look at the wagon. There seemed to be quite a fuss to getting the door open, and indeed blood was splattered across the window.

Staying on her toes, Kate watched as the men arrived with a crowbar to pry open the door. Screaming intensified as they did so, but the pulled on with determination. What they witnessed as the door finally broke open would be burned into their memory surely, as it was far too horrendous not to be.

A gasp escaped Kate and she turned away from the scene, her hand covering her mouth as she did so. Elijah quickly looked down at his shoes, his jaw clenching beneath the surface of his cheeks while he tried not to egg on a worse reaction from those around him.

Claire doubled over as she heaved up the contents of her stomach. Kate tried to focus on Claire instead of the bone-chilling scene laid out before them, so she held Claire's hair with one hand and gently rubbed her back with the other while she retched.

The thought that this event had occurred so close to Claire's wagon sent a chill down Kate's spine. What if Claire had actually slept in her wagon that night? Would the same fate have met her? It made Kate sick to think about, so she pushed the thoughts away and comforted Claire as best she could in the condition she was in herself.

When the police showed, the scene was blocked off and bystanders were told to make themselves scarce, save for a few they questioned as witnesses. Elijah turned to Kate and Claire and then motioned for them to move.

"Let's get out of here, ladies. This is certainly something that need not be witnessed any further." He put a hand on each of their shoulders and pushed them forward gently, herding them away from the bloody backdrop.

Kate took Claire's hand and squeezed tightly while they walked, now not wanting either of her friends to be out of her sight. Who knew if the maniac who committed the crime was still running around the tents, waiting for his next victim. She swallowed hard and kept a firm grip on Claire.

Elijah had pushed them in the opposite direction of the wagon camp, and they now stood just on the edge of the circus grounds. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face and around his neck. Thoughts were tumbling through his mind. As gruesome as it was, he could not help but come back to the image burned into his mind and wonder.

The woman had been bound and staked to the door... then whomever did such a task would have to be inside the wagon during, literally barricading themselves in with the woman on the door. Then how did they escape? To fit out the window, they would have to be a person of small stature, but they were strong enough to tie the woman up? None of it made any sense, and he shook his head.

"Do you girls need anything? Water, or perhaps maybe some heavy liquor?" His face was flush but he was trying to prevent them from freaking out further.

Kate shook her head, her hands were shaking and she was pale. Elijah went to fetch water anyways, figuring it might come in handy regardless. Kate turned to Claire and threw her arms around her, squeezing tightly.

"What if that had been you? Thank bloody God that you're so attuned to sleeping with Solomon now... That secret command you let slip may prove useful."

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

Kasai was relieved to hear a voice answer from the other side of the sac, but her moment of relief was soon squashed by the fact that Mio answered coldly and plain. A simple "no" sent all of Kasai's hopes fleeting out of her chest.

When Mio dug through the lining of the sac and appeared, Kasai had a natural reaction to gasp and cover her mouth with her hands. The stonewall way that the airbender spoke sent a shiver down her spine, and she held back losing the small breakfast they had in sight of a decomposing, yet still living, human being.

"Avani? Yeah she's fine, she's down there and we're gonna-" Her thought was cut off by the reacting sac wall and Mio's last words. "No, no, don't you worry. I'm gonna get you out of here and-" Kasai had to step back as the moving skin tried to stretch towards her, but before she could stretch her arms out to grab Mio, a blast of air sent her reeling off the top of the tree.

Hot tears could be felt wetting her face as she fell, her eyes were shut tight until Avani stopped her from plummeting to the roots below and instead lowered her to safety. When her feet hit the base of the tree, she nearly collapsed. Quickly wiping her face, she looked at Avani and shook her head, knowing that her expression was probably enough to get the message across.

"They're... gone." There was little time to say much more as a screech came from above, and winged spirits swooped down towards them. Kasai turned and tried to assure her footing on the slick tangle of roots. As several creatures dove at them, she sent her foot across her body in an arc and sent a wall of flame that expanded above the two women, scorching the incoming attack.

The defensive move did little as a barrage of spirits was headed in a bee-line straight for the two. Flapping wings and screams filled the air while the spirits circled them, swooping in and out as they tried to peck and claw at Kasai and Avani.

Bursts of flames shot from Kasai's palms and feet as she combined attacks to fend off the incoming flyers, but they were outrageously outnumbered for the time being.

"Avani, try the mud!" Kasai had no idea if earthbenders could bend the sediment from water, but stuck on an island in the middle of a lake didn't offer much more of a choice.

It was probably quite the sight from the lake shore, what would appear to be a flock of birds circling their prey as they struggled to survive. However, from within the mask of winged spirits, it was chaos. A spirit swooped down at Kasai from behind, and when she saw it from her peripheral, she attempted to dodge the attack.

Unfortunately, she lost her footing and her left leg slipped down between two roots. The spirit was coming in hot, but when she fell its attack was skewed, but not enough so. The talons of the spirits claws sliced Kasai's face, leaving a gash that formed a diagonal across her cheek and over her lips.

A scream escaped her and a metallic taste filled her mouth as blood streamed down her face. When she looked back up from the first attack, another spirit was now diving at her from the front. She shot a flame with one of her hands, but the creature was too close to be diverted and it hit her, sending her back.

A crack was heard as her body was sent back with force, but her leg still wedged between the roots. She screamed out even louder this time. The only partially beneficial aspect to the situation was that firebending was fueled by emotion, and right now her emotions were screaming at her with pain and rage.

Within seconds, a spark was twinkling between her fingers. White lightning had been channeled from her inner chi and now exited her being, arcing through the sky and shocking many of the spirits before she fell exhausted, at which point all she could do was try to free herself from the roots that were trapping her.

"Avani, get out of here. There's too many of them, we don't both need to die!"

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

Kasai had no time to think before she felt something hit her with a force on her back. By the time she had realized it was Avani, it was already too late. The pair were sent careening towards the water, all the while down Kasai could hear Avani laughing.

Bubbles rose to the surface before Kasai popped her head out of the water, her hair lying flat against her face and obstructing her view. She huffed and moved the locks out of her face before glaring at Avani and spitting out the water that had invaded her mouth when she had hit the surface.

For a moment it seemed as if Avani sincerely regretted the action, but then the conversation turned to one of a different nature and Kasai splashed water back in her direction. "Keep your head out of the gutter, kid. There could be catgators in these waters, ya never know." Kasai smirked and then started swimming towards the large tree, which only grew larger as the distance to it grew shorter.

It was difficult at first to navigate up the roots, but both had managed to stand firmly at the base of the tree after several attempts at climbing up. Kasai ran her hand along the trunk of the tree, feeling the moss and moisture that lay upon it. When Avani began questioning about rope, Kasai looked to the soaking bag at her side and pulled it off.

"You have so little faith in me, I'm stronger than I look ya know." Rummaging through the pack, she managed to find a bit of string, which she held up with a meager grin. "That's a negative. Hm..." She looked around, trying to conjure up how even one of them would manage making it to the top.

"I don't suppose you could just sprout some wings and fly us up there?" Laughing lightly, she looked up and noticed several vines hanging down from lower lying branches of the great tree. "Bingo."

It took her a moment to trust her footing enough to climb up the tree several feet and grab hold of a vine. She yanked on it, pulling down as much length as she could before severing it with a bit of flame.

Cautiously, she threw one end of the vine over the closest branch and climbed back down. When her feet hit the base of the tree again, she almost slipped. A nervous laugh escaped her before she handed one end of the vine to Avani, tying the other end around her waist.

"Okay, now I'll climb up and you make sure I don't fall to my death. Easy enough?" She approached the tree cautiously and began climbing up, careful to where she placed her hands and her feet. Glancing over her shoulder, she called out, "Try not to let the catgators get you. You aren't much good to me dead."

Steadily, she advanced up the trunk of the tree. Tension built up in her muscles at the thought of falling and cracking her head open on the rough surface below. She climbed over on to a branch that sat below the canopy of the tree and looked down. It was quite the drop, but she had made it to the top. She gave Avani a thumbs up, not all excited about what may happen next.

Cautiously, she made her way to the top of the canopy, peeking her head over the top. In the middle she could see two figures, trapped inside what looked like one of the sacs from the goo monster they had faced before. Checking to make sure there were no spirits nearby to attack her, she climbed all the way to the top and stealthily walked to the sac.

As she got closer, she could see one figure lying on the floor of the sac, and she knew it was Kieron. Swallowing hard, she kept her head straight and approached the trap. "Mio? Are yo in there? It's Kasai, are you guys okay?"

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Kate waved at Claire in between sips of coffee, and continued chatting with Elijah and the others at the table while Claire fetched her breakfast. When she came to sit down, Kate halfway smiled at her, knowing that she still was probably feeling the effects of the previous night's binge.

It shocked her a bit when Claire flung her arms around her, so she stiffened under her embrace until Claire whispered her apology to her. A sigh escaped her and Kate patted her friend on the arm with the one arm that wasn't binded by Claire's hug. "It's alright Claire, I'm sorry as well."

"Amen to that," Elijah chimed in, raising his cup in approval of her comment about not getting any sleep. He was feeling better though, the caffeine seemed to have helped actually calm his nerves while also waking him up a bit, which very well may be the opposite effect of intention.

Soon after Claire's mentioning of the crying woman, people around the commons tent began to grow more noisy. It seemed as if a rumor was spreading around throughout the tent, making its way from table to table. People began to get up and walk out with a brisk step, and Elijah looked around as the area was beginning to thin out rather quickly.

"What in the..."

Soon, the others who were sitting at their table began exchanging words about a woman, blood, screaming, and other frightening sounding phrases. They rose as well and followed the crowd out of the tent, and the three were left there with only the company of each other and the chefs.

"Claire, dear, would you hurry up and eat your eggs?" Kate said as she glanced out of the entrance to the tent. "I've a feeling that there's something we are missing out on."

Elijah cleared the table of his and Kate's dishes, placing them in the bin that was reserved for dirty wear. He returned to the table but did not sit down, "You watch tipsy here, I'll be right back." He exited the tent and followed the stream of people towards the wagons that housed the performers and workers.

He pushed through the crowd further into the camp and saw that the collection of people were surrounding one wagon in particular. Screams could be heard, and Eli could swear that blood was covering the one window that was visible from his angle. Men were struggling to get the door to the wagon open, pushing and pulling it to no avail.

Turning around, he headed back to the commons tent and found Kate and Claire again.

"Something's happened. There was blood covering the window, they couldn't get the door open, I... I don't know."

Kate straightened up where she sat, her eyes growing wider at the news. "What? No wonder all the jitters among the crowd... I wonder what happened."

She looked at Claire, who was still finishing her hangover meal. "I suggest you finish those before you lose your appetite. We should go see what's happening out there now." She stood and waited for her less than 100% friend to join her, and then headed towards the camp.

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

It was amusing how Avani seemed to be concerned that the charges brought against her were real. But the amusement was over after she caught on to the false accusations. Kasai smirked when she held on to her story that the hole in the coat was unintentional, though Kasai thought otherwise.

She was taken aback when Avani gently pushed her backwards. Backpedaling until she was pressed up against a wall, she kept her eyes on Avani while she spoke. A lump grew in her throat when Avani twiddled her fingers in the hole of the coat, and she swallowed hard whenever Avani ripped the hole larger and sent her hand down against her abdomen.

Her eyes followed Avani as she leaned in and pressed against Kasai. The regular pattern of her breathing caught a hitch when Avani kissed her neck. She exhaled and cleared her throat whenever Avani stepped away, looking down at her feet before looking back at Avani.

Kasai straightened herself up when Avani stepped back, looking at the now widened tear in her coat. "I guess I should hope that if anything attacks me, it won't try to aim at the fleshy bits." She muttered. Avani's hands appeared in front of her and her eyebrows raised in questioning. She half smiled and shook her head.

"I think if you were going to run off you would've done it already. Consider yourself lucky I left my cuffs at home this time." She laughed a bit and then pushed away from the tree, picking a leaf out of her hair.

"Yeah, yeah you're right. We need to get them and then get the hell out of here." She turned around and started walking again, clenching her jaw after she turned. She rubbed a hand over the mark on her neck that Avani left, and she bit her lip for a moment before blinking away the thoughts that had been interjected into her mind.

Instead, she focused on the task at hand. Finding the two who were lost was the most important thing right now, and they didn't need to waste anymore time in getting to them. She walked forward, flustered, but with the right mindset.

After about a half hour longer of walking, the forest began to grow less dense. Space spread out between the trees and it was easier to navigate as they moved forward. Soon enough, they were met by a water's edge. Kasai stopped and looked around. A large body of water expanded in front of them, and in the center of the lake was some sort of... tower?

It appeared to be one extremely large tree, stretching far above the canopy of the other trees that surrounded the lake. It seemed that there was an area near the top, which Kasai assumed was where Mio seemed to be reporting to them from.

"Whoa..." She rubbed the back of her neck and looked at Avani. "That must be it," She looked back towards the towering spire and shook her head.

"Hope you aren't afraid of heights."

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

When the giant tiger stood up at the command to attack, Kate's eyes grew wide and she took a step back from the cage. "Jesus Christ," she had no idea what to expect from the big cat, considering his loyalty to Claire. Much to her relief, he took the order with as little enthusiasm as possible and returned to grooming himself within his enclosure. "What ever will I do if that over-sized house cat decides to purr me to death..." Crossing her arms again, Kate's stare bore into Claire, challenging her to look up. It was obvious that she was well into the consequences that a night of liquor will punish you with, but the way Kate saw it, it was her own fault. "You look like hell," her head shook disapprovingly and she sighed. "Serves you right for drinking the night away." It wasn't uncommon for them to bicker over the topic of alcohol. Kate knew how to drink and have fun, she wasn't a stiff by any means. However, she believed in self control. The minuscule amount of her childhood that she could remember was spent in an orphanage, one that for the most part didn't take too kindly to the children there. And from what Kate could remember, whiskey had quite a bit to do with that fact. That's why she and Claire had decided to run away. It was hard leaving the few that were kind and caring at the home, but not worth living through more of the misery to stay with them. They found solace here with the circus, and so they remained. Kate had just never picked up drinking like the others seemed to have, to her it was more amusing to watch the drunken ones stumble in a stupor than to be one of them herself. Claire was still covering her face and avoiding the inevitable, so Kate simply exhaled and closed her eyes for a moment. "Very well, I'll leave you to suffer. No use in making your misery any worse with my presence." Walking away from the cage, she headed to the commons tent in search of a meal. She hadn't eaten after the show, and her stomach was beginning to call to her for sustenance. She entered the tent and found that there were several items out for the circus workers and such. They did not cook them breakfast, rather the cooks prepared tea and coffee and left pastries and dry cereals out for pecking. Kate grabbed a cup of coffee and a scone, then found a place to sit within the tent. Elijah had finally gotten around to cleaning himself up a bit, but his face still showed his utter exhaustion. Walking to the commons area, he hoped a cup of caffeine would aid him. Kate was spotted at a table not far from the entrance, so he took his beverage over and sat with her and a few other circus workers who were all making small talk over biscuits. Kate perked up when she saw Eli sit down, though he still looked rough. "You feeling any better? You still look a bit unwell." Shrugging his shoulders as he sat down, he took a sip of his coffee and then looked at Kate with tired eyes. "I'll be fine. Rough night," he held up his cup and smiled, "This should get me going though." It was a night filled with nightmares and little sleep, but he had suffered tough nights before and he could do it again. He sipped his drink and contributed to the small talk with Kate and the others as they casually ate their breakfast.

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

Raising an eyebrow, Kasai looked to Avani with watchful eyes. She had a mischievous grin plastered to her face for the last passing minutes in the shelter and replaced it after they had both exited the rock enclosure. It was a bit concerning, considering that Kasai had learned in the past 24 hours that Avani enjoyed trickery and jest as if it were first nature to her. However, she seemed to be avoiding any harsh consequences to continue her punishment of Kasai that had began the morning before, so Kasai relaxed a bit and enjoyed the fact that the two were actually getting along. Quite a transformation from just a day ago, when they were at each other's throats over a chest of food. There were always those stories about how a traumatic experience can change people, form unlikely bonds, and bring enemies together. Perhaps those stories had a hint of truth about them. "Romancing may be pushing it a bit..." a smirk grew across her lips and then she shrugged, "But, at least I had food to fit the occasion. Ya know, other than the whole giving you nightmares stuff..." She scratched her arm nervously, "Yeah, uh, sorry about that." Kasai watched as the shelters were destroyed and returned to their previous state, then she nodded and turned around, heading in the direction of where she hoped they would find Kieron and Mio. Traveling in silence, Kasai thought about seeing her friend again, it made her smile for a moment as she trekked forwards. A laugh came from behind and Kasai looked over her shoulder at Avani, who was up to something sarcastic again. Kasai was used to it now, so if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. She figured returning the teasing would be better than the alternative of hurt pride and hateful words. "Hm, so you're flattered and yet, here you are giving me enough cover stories to turn me off of ever cooking you canned meat again." Kasai laughed shortly and heartily, but then regained herself and continued walking, all the while glancing back at Avani while she spoke. "Well, to be honest I hadn't considered. But then again, I hadn't considered being within a ten foot radius of you yesterday morning unless it was for the purpose of strangling you." She shrugged again, her tone wasn't too negative or cross as she was just imitating the way in which Avani spoke. "Seems like that went out the window though. Did you ever consider that I'm a police officer though?" She smirked and turned around to face Avani while she spoke this time, pausing their forward movement. "I'm a detective," a cunning grinned played across her face as she took a step towards Avani now, "Which means I know how to take information I'm given, and sort through all the bull. I know how to find things out, get down to the real truth." She stepped closer again, keeping her eye contact steady. "So, if anything you said before was true, you would have some explaining to do to people other than myself. That must not be the case then, because you don't seem like one to have any commitments at the moment." She smile grew wider on her face as she took another step. "And if you're living it up in some bachelorette pad somewhere then you have got it made, let me tell ya. But I have this feeling..." the last gap between them was closed when she took the final step, "That that also isn't true. I have this feeling that you're guilty of seducing an officer of the law and assaulting her with intent." She looked down at the hole in her coat and then back at Avani, "So, how do you plead?"

Sacred World (Engel x The Kraken)

The sound of earth moving caught Kasai's ears, and she thought she heard Avani, or something at least, headed towards her shelter. She jumped a little when Avani's voice was produced above her at one of the air holes. Looking up, she had little to no time for speaking before Avani opened her own mouth and of course began the morning with mockery and jest. Kasai opened her mouth several times to interject, but was cut off at each brief pause when Avani again would begin speaking. She held the conversation with herself, then finally a door to Kasai's shelter was opened and Avani was quick to crawl inside. She donned a devilish grin and Kasai was left sitting there with a strange expression on her face, partly because of the strange nature of Avani's commentary. "But... I made breakfast. And you know what they say, the way to a person's heart is through their stomach. Isn't that what you wanted, a woman who can cook a mean canned spam?" She laughed briefly before the next comment made her shut up. Kasai looked down at the canned meat that she had heated up and frowned as well, sniffing for a moment and realizing it very well may have sent a bad signal to Avani's brain while she slept. She scratched her head but then shrugged, "Well I would hope for your sake that in the future you won't have to smell your own flesh burning." She smirked and then grabbed a plastic fork, sticking it in one of the cans of food and handing it to Avani before grabbing her own. There were a few slices of bread in the bag, so she got out a piece and split it in half, rationing their food because spirits know how much longer they'll be trapped in here. She took a bite, weary at first of the canned and seemingly untrustworthy meat. However, the flavor wasn't as bad as she had expected, and she managed to get it down pretty easily. She knew the calories and energy contained within the meal would be crucial for their journey for the rest of the day, so she ate as much as she could and finished off with her bread, which she toasted with her firebending. She looked at Avani and licked her lips of any remaining saltiness that the food had left, and then looked out the wall of the shelter. It was plenty light outside now, should be very easy to navigate. The map sat folded in the backpack, so Kasai grabbed it and unfolded it in between them. "We should be pretty close now. Not that far to go before we should be right on top of them, at least I hope." She shook her head and stared at the map for a moment more before looking again outside of the small rock space that they were both in. They both sat just inches from each other due to the small parameter of the shelter, and Kasai looked at Avani while she ate. "See, my survival cooking skills are clearly perfectly honed." She grinned and then started cleaning up the area, placing items back in her bag before getting out a canteen of water and taking a drink, then handing it to Avani. "Now just imagine what I can do with some quality ingredients, I should have been a chef instead." She laughed and finished cleaning up. "We should get a move on pretty quick. Don't need to waste any daylight," She grabbed the bag and began to crawl out of the shelter, dragging it behind her as she made her way forward on all-fours.

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Later into the morning, Kathryn finally stirred. Her body was well rested, but her mind was still weary. Rolling over to face her window, she squinted and tried to judge the time based on the amount of light flooding her living space. "Bloody hell... it's nearly ten." She muttered to herself, but then turned over and shoved her head back into her pillow. A knock at her door caught her attention, and she groaned. "Who is it?" She held her head up, eyes targeted at her door, but there was no answer. She grumbled and sat up in her bed, yelling this time, "Oi, I said who is it?" There was still no answer, but a steady rapping at her door. Frustrated with the mute who was summoning her, she walked to her door and pulled it open part ways, keeping her body behind the wooden frame because she was not properly clothed. "Alright, listen here you-" She poked her head out the door, but there was no one there. Her head stretched further out the door while she tried to glance around and catch whomever had been calling at her doorstep. But alas, there was no one to be seen around her wagon. She closed the door and scratched her head while she yawned. "I swear, I'm gonna kill those two." she murmured to herself, speaking aloud the thought that she believed either Elijah or Claire were teasing her. A flame was lit beneath a pot and the sound of water rolling in a boil filled her room as she got dressed. She made her tea, and sipped on it, allowing the caffeine to brighten her mood and wake her up. When she was satisfied that she wasn't going to pass back out, she put on her shoes and exited her wagon. Kate looked to the left, then to the right. Claire's wagon was to the left, and Elijah's towards the right. She weighed her options, but figured Claire was held up with Solomon anyways. So, she opted for Elijah's keep. She knocked on the door, not resting her fist until he answered. His hair was wild as the animals in the cages down the row, and his eyes were bloodshot and he looked like death itself had paid a visit. "Well, that eliminates one of my suspects." Kate smirked, but Elijah's expression did not change from the flat face which he answered her knocking with. "Uh, you alright there mate?" Kate frowned, and Elijah shook his head. He scratched his scruff and rubbed his hands over his face before looking back at Kate. "I'll be fine, Katie. I just need a bit to wake up. I'll be out later." He smiled weakly and tiredly, but did not give her another chance to speak as he closed he door. From the other side of the door he sighed and looked around. The night had not been good to him, and he felt it. But, he had things to do and he knew he had to get around to it. Kate stood there for a moment and blinked, surprised at her friend's reaction. Well, no use in dwelling on it. She turned on her heel and headed towards the big cat enclosures to accuse Claire of disturbing her and then running off. She arrived at Solomon's cage and saw the tiger protectively lying next to an apparently sleeping Claire. "Alright, nice try. I know you aren't asleep, good effort though." Kate laughed lightly, "Now, how about an explanation for running off this morning, huh?" She crossed her arms and waited for Claire to answer her, though it seemed she was trying to keep appearances up by not making a movement.

The Circus At The End Of The World (Engel X The Kraken)

Kate eyed Claire when she laughed at her concern, but realized she was probably overreacting and she sighed. Elijah shook his head and added to the conversation, "I don't know that those were illusions, ladies. Those weren't blood bags we were using in our act, and I have a terrible feeling that they weren't in that last one either." He shook his head, but held his tongue for any further comments. "Right well, let's not worry over it now. As Claire said, maybe we all just need some rest..." Kate rubbed the back of her neck and closed her eyes for a moment. They opened again and danced between each of her friends, "I'll take my leave then. Good night, don't let the ghosties bite." She gave a weary smile before headed away towards her wagon. Elijah nodded and looked to Claire and Solomon, "If I were you, I'd keep that guy close." He waved as he walked away, weaving his way through the various tents and carts that occupied the grounds. He kept his head low, looking at his shoes as he shuffled towards his own keep. From the corner of his eye, he could almost swear he saw a dark figure dancing between the tents. "No need to worry, Elijah... it's just your own shadow." He muttered to himself. He arrived at his wagon and stepped up inside, closing the door and locking it after him. Lighting the lantern that sat on a shelf near his bed, he undressed into bed garments and climbed into his cot. The nervousness consumed him, but he fell to slumber. However, his sleep was disturbed as he tossed and turned, the horrifying event that took place that evening replayed in his dreams, devouring his rest in nightmares. Kate had made it to her own room, but she had not failed to glance over her shoulder numerous times. The grounds were still quite a busy place, with some of the performers opting to celebrate the show with alcohol and social encounters. She ignored the sounds of people outside and allowed her body to relax after she crawled into her bed. She was unable to sleep, however, and she spent the next few hours tossing and turning. She could not put it past her, all that had happened was far too concerning. For some, like Claire, the experience had been an enjoyable one. But all Kate could think about was how a knife, thrown by her own hand, had pierced her best friends neck. The threat of him bleeding out right in front of her was all too real, and it sent a shiver down her spine. She tossed over in her bed and closed her eyes, begging for sleep to aide her in rest. She was finally met with darkness, and she slept through the night uninterrupted. When the sun peaked through her shutters the next morning, she did not wake. Her mind was far too exhausted to be disturbed by the sun's calling at her window. Instead, she remained where she were, tangled in her covers.