Ethan watched as Kyia cradled the pistol in her hand. The LEMI was not an overly large firearm by any means, but the block of polymer and metal felt weighty in the dainty palm of the slender brunette. Her green eyes stared down at the weapon nervously, as she was unsure of what would happen if she gripped it too tight.

"Ethan," she said. "I am scared."

"It's okay," he reassured her of everyone's safety, showing her the magazine in his hand. "It's unloaded."

"Very well…" Kyia tried to pull back on the slide as he had demonstrated, but the amount of strength she put behind her hand was minimal. The woman was clearly outside of her comfort zone, but to him, this was something that needed to be learned.

Their survival was at stake and each one of them had to be prepared to fight if needed. The thought of having to watch yet another innocent soul perish was simply too heartbreaking for Ethan to bear. He had held on well enough since his journey through the village in his world. From his first steps onto the freezing snow and into that horrid castle, he hardly let his inner emotions steer him along.

He kept quiet and to himself, as there was a mission at hand that needed to be done. But, seeing that young woman die as she reached for her father…

Not again, he decided.

"Here." Ethan gestured for her to give him the pistol, which she was eager to do. Within a second, the gun was back in his hand and away from her. He pinched the back of the slide between his thumb and forefinger, yanking it back as hard as he could before a positive click signaled it locking in place.

"See?" He said, just as he flicked the release lever and sent the slide forward instantly. The loud sound of the metal dashing ahead caused Kyia to jolt. This was going to be an arduous task, Ethan thought. He could just tell.

The gun was placed back in Kyia's possession, where she reluctantly began to pull on the slide as hard as she could. The barrel began to grow more visible as the block was drawn backward, but it was still not enough,

Ethan gave her one more suggestion, "You can put your entire hand on the top of the slide if you need a better grip. It works for some people, so there's no definitive way to go about it."

She said nothing as her focus lay solely on the firearm. Kyia did just as he had recommended, turning her hand around and gripping the stubby gun to the point where her pinky finger was an inch away from the muzzle. With a swift swipe, she dragged the slide back until that familiar click sounded again.

In an expression of pure shock, the brunette held the locked pistol in front of her. "I did it!"

"Good job!" Ethan smiled as he looked on. "Now, when you release the slide, be sure to –"

It was already too late. Just as he was mid-way through his sentence, Ethan witnessed Kyia adopting the same grip that she had on the LEMI as she did when she locked it. As soon as her thumb hit the release lever, the slide shot forward – and entrapped the tip of her middle finger into the breach.

Her eyes split open with pain.

"Ow!" She screamed. "Get this damn thing off!"

It was tricky to get ahold of the gun when her hand flailed about wildly, but clutching onto her thin forearm was a smart way to close in. Ethan had experienced the same problem once in the past. 'Slide bite,' as they called it, was not fun by any means. Seeing the pistol dangling from her finger was a stark reminder of just that.

Kyia's lips were pressed together, curled under her wrinkled nostrils. A loud, sharp groan in her throat bellowed out as he carefully pulled the slide back and set her finger free. She retracted her hand immediately and cradled it against her chest.

And just like that – she was in a terrible mood again.

"I do not wish to partake in this anymore!" Kyia closed her eyes and bared her teeth as she stood up, preparing to retreat to whatever corner of the room was away from him. "This is not enjoyable and I am not comfortable! This damn thing hurt me!"

She withdrew her hand so that she could glance at her bruised fingertip. Another groan was all he got the second she laid sight on it.

Kyia reached down to grab her book before she promptly walked away. Ethan spared Bela a glance as she did.

The blonde had been sitting in the same corner as before, casually turning an eye to the spectacle as it played along, but keeping her words to herself. However, her thoughts would only stay buried for so long. "You're wasting your time," she said.

With a sigh, Ethan shook his head as he re-inserted the magazine and chambered the first round. "You know, I think both of you can stand to learn a thing or two about guns right now."

Her amber eyes narrowed in on him as she squinted her eyelids. Obscured by some of the shadows and the dark hood that hung over her head, Bela's face was ominous but still identifiable. It only served to make her glare even more scrutinizing. "Do not drag me into this, Ethan."

"I'm just saying," he replied.

Before she could even get another word out to scold him, Bela quickly found her attention drawn to the brunette who was still huffing about the injury to her finger.

Kyia curled her fingers as she shook her fist at her side. "This still hurts, Ethan!"

I've just about had it with her…

"Will you shut up, for once?" Bela called out to Kyia. "I'm not in the mood to hear you complain."

Like an angered cat, Kyia shot a hateful glare at the blonde on the other side of the room. There was a lull in the noise as the room fell silent. The brunette looked like she was trying to keep all her contempt bottled up, but the bottle would only hold so much.

After a few seconds, she spilled her words, "Perhaps you should mind your own concerns."

Bela sat up, stirred by the onset of the looming confrontation. "How can I when I have to hear you whine like a little child?" She began to imitate Kyia in the most immature, childish voice possible, "Ow, my finger hurts! The big, mean old gun almost cut it off!"

The brunette rose to her feet at that very instant. "Enough! I am tired of your insults!"

Bela began to get up as well, though her exhaustion slowed her movement in comparison to her counterpart. Still, her wrath would not be diminished. The bitterness that existed between them kept her heart ablaze. Every interaction was sprinkled with discontent and the animosity only grew each time. She wasn't at her breaking point, yet, but this was cutting it close.

The blonde shouted back at her, "You earn them at every turn! The fact that we have to babysit you at a time like this is ridiculous! You're useless! If I threw you outside these walls to Vikcia, it wouldn't make a damn difference!"

Ethan was the one to settle the air, albeit only briefly. "Enough! I'm not going to have you two fight!"

Kyia, unwilling to be talked down to in any form, directed her anger toward him, "Do not blame me when she is the one who started this!"

Bela was quick to point to her. "That's exactly what I'm talking about." She scoffed as soon as her sentence ended on her breath. "I swear, even my sisters were not as aggravating as you are."

The brunette shifted her eyes toward Bela with a raised eyebrow. "Well, they aren't here, are they?"

Did she just…

Bela's voice carried itself under a tense growl as her rage boiled, "What…did you say?"

Ethan had already caught onto the fragile nature of the blonde's emotions. Whether Kyia had known it or not, she had just pulled the pin on a grenade that was about to go off. He spared no time interjecting himself into the conversation again, lest the women became entangled in a physical fight. They already had enough to deal with. The last that they needed was to battle one another.

"I'm not blaming anybody," Ethan said as he walked into the center of the room. "This just needs to stop! Kyia, I'm sorry you got hurt. I should have warned you about that beforehand, but I forgot."

Bela seemed less poised to run across the room, now that he was there. However, that did not do much to settle her frustration. She continued to glare at the brunette with a vicious look, and the man not too far away from her was not immune from transgression. "And she can just say whatever she prefers about my sisters, is that it?"

The blonde shook her head as soon as she heard what she had said. "You know what? Forget that! I'm not going to belittle myself by having to ask permission for anything. Unlike this lady, who is as old as you are, man-thing, I know how to act like an adult."

Kyia spoke more calmly, though her anger was still audible under her words, "I'm sure you would love to believe that."

"Do you want me to hurt you?"

Ethan turned toward her. "Bela!"

Kyia merely nodded with a slight grin. "Yeah…that's what an adult does."

I'm going to kill her. I swear, she is going to die.

Bela had just realized that her composure had momentarily slipped. If she continued to play the part of the violent one, then Kyia would be right. For the sake of not defacing everything she valued, she opted to bottle up what was left inside her. The cork would just need to be pushed in a little tighter this time around.

"Yeah, that's what adults do," Bela pressed her lips as she exhaled her words, sitting back down in her corner. "I'm not going to entertain this any longer. I don't like you and you don't like me. That's fine. I'm not going to talk to you, but you owe me the same as well."

Her amber eyes carved a path of fire directly at her. "But, make no mistake: If you can't control yourself when Vikcia or her brood comes knocking, I will kill you myself. Not out of hate, but necessity. You're going to get us all killed at the rate you're going. I suggest you change that."

Kyia's mouth opened for her to toss out another comment, but Ethan approached her and stopped her as soon as he could. His hands found themselves on her forearms, which helped ease her posture and simmer her nerves.

His voice was low, yet fatherly, "Let's not. No more, okay? Let me handle this."

Bela wanted to spit on the ground as soon as she laid eyes on the two of them.

You care about her so much, but when it is just me and you, you act like I'm not the bitch you speak to me as when she's here. Go ahead and comfort her, Ethan. Act like I'm not in the room. You're really getting on my last nerve with that.

"Kyia," Ethan said. "Even if Bela brings up her family, do not address it. Just leave it be."

"But, if she –"

"Kyia, please!" His hands tightened around her just a bit more, which caused her green eyes to lock onto his. He had her full attention, if not just for the moment. "This entire city wants to tear us apart. Let's not do its work ourselves. We're all angry, I get it. I'm not asking you to be friends with her, but let's make it through this, alright?"

Her eyebrows flicked upwards, just as her eyes diverted away, along with the direction of her face. "Okay." She looked like she was beyond aggravated, but remained reasonable enough to allow the argument to diffuse. Nonetheless, her agreement did not come without the cost of her cold shoulder.

It was clear that she would be keeping to herself for the foreseeable future, yet again.

Bela turned her eyes back to the ground as she watched them walk away from each other. The fallout of an argument was never something that she enjoyed. It reminded her of the times when she and her sisters found themselves at odds. Cassandra was often the instigator, but Daniela had her moments too.

The middle daughter had a track record for her outbursts. There was always the perception that life wasn't fair and that she wasn't being treated accordingly. The more Bela thought about it over the years, the more she deduced that her lack of empathy toward the brunette was spurred by the perception that she did not care at all.

And indeed, Cassandra did not.

The woman was the messiest of the bunch. That was no secret. Evening dinners were often ended with a tablecloth stained in sauce and wine. She could not balance a glass around her lips to save her life. Her chewing was absurdly loud to the point where it even drew the ire of their mother. Deer carcasses were left to hang and rot, occasionally putting good food to waste. She left a wake of disaster wherever she went and her lack of concern for picking up after herself made it difficult to see her in good light.

Bela believed that every errand she performed for their mother helped her earn the place as the most respected child. She had to live up to the demands of being the eldest daughter. Simply kicking up her feet like she did not care would not have been as acceptable for her as it was for Cassandra. Sometimes, a child could hide when they're in the middle. The oldest is always the first one the parent remembers the most, she believed.

Cassandra may slip away, but the blonde was always the focus of Alcina's eye.

There was no room for breaks.

That amount of work had to have created some sort of rift between the two sisters. Why should Cassandra be treated equally if she did not pull her weight? That would not be fair, either. Still, Bela could not help but think sometimes that she did have a point.

Even when Cassandra didn't do something wrong, she was often treated as if she did.

Kyia may have been mad at Ethan, but how did she see things? Then again, did Kyia see things the way Bela did? Likely, the answer was no, but Bela's anger was too great to delve into such thoughts any further. It went beyond just this little argument and she did not intend to lay down and allow this woman to walk all over her.

It was bad enough that Ethan catered to her nonsense.

You know, I try to be nice to you. I genuinely tried. But, when it all comes down to the first thing that sets you off, it all just goes away, doesn't it? I guess that's the way it goes. Build a damn castle as high as you want. It's worth nothing if something as small as the wind can knock it down.

She sighed as she raised her legs and sought comfort in her own posture.

It's just not worth it, is it, Ethan?

.

A short bout of time had passed by since the fight, but Ethan was not content with staying in place. With the possibility of getting back home linked to those metal fragments, he had found a ledge to hold onto. It was his only slice of hope in this hopeless world.

That was why conflicts like these bothered him so greatly. There was no progress being made. It only caused them to work against each other. As the hours turned into days, their resources would dwindle into nothing. They would need more food. More ammunition for their weapons. It was a losing battle that they would have to fight just to mitigate their disadvantages.

Too many risks to afford losing focus, he thought.

Ethan sat there as he cleaned his guns, ensuring that they would be operational for the coming encounters that would surely go down. Bela would routinely draw her eyes toward him, but only for a short bit. Sometimes, it sounded like she was asleep. Perhaps, she was.

He wouldn't ask.

Kyia, as usual, dug her face into her book. She abstained from any eye contact or acknowledgment of the presence of the others. She could have been so engrossed in whatever was written within it. Or, more likely, she was just using it as a vessel to obscure her discontent.

He wouldn't ask about that, either.

Silence was the only thing that they all practiced. It provided Ethan with the opportunity to think about his daughter – for better or worse.

The man found his mind scrambled with a million what-ifs and worst fears. He had only just set foot into that frozen village several hours before he was abruptly taken out of the universe he knew. It felt like there was so much he still needed to uncover. Rescuing Rose would have appeared simple, at first glance, but Ethan was no stranger to perilous nightmares involving those he loved.

Finding Mia inside the Baker house some years before invited its own catalyst of torment. At first, he believed that it was the easiest thing ever. She had been located inside that makeshift jail cell. While she acted somewhat odd, everything seemed normal. He was ready to get her out. It was only when things went dark and she crawled up the stairs like a horror-movie demon that the beginning of his struggle began.

It took him through all sorts of twists and turns, putting him in places that he should have never been, fighting people that would never die.

Why would that village be any different?

There were four freaks of nature gathered all around him when he woke up. That priestess with the feathers gave off the impression of being their leader.

Miranda, as she was called. She had to have been behind it all. But, why? How?

There was no clear answer and it drove him insane. Bela's castle looked like it would have been the best place to search, but the blonde was adamant that his child was not there. He wouldn't have believed her for a second when they first met. Yet, after their joyous conversations and demonstration of a willingness to protect one another, she began to grow more credible.

Part of him still wanted to hold out hope that she was lying and that Rose was tucked away in there, somewhere. Another part of him was simply too afraid to accept that he didn't have a damn clue where to look now.

No, that wasn't just a part of him – it was all of him.

He had never been so scared before. The man just wanted to scream. It was these two women in this room that kept his emotions at bay. He couldn't let himself shatter. Even if the glass separated, it would have to be held together at whatever cost. If he gave up, then so would they.

"I'll be home soon, Rose," Ethan mumbled to himself. "Daddy's going to find you. I promise."

A sigh left his lips, as he felt more alone than ever.

After a couple of minutes of cleaning his pistol, Ethan found himself too invested in the act to even pay attention to his surroundings. Mindlessly scrubbing the metal resulted in him not even realizing that the carbon had already been eradicated from the surface. All he saw was darkness, which he kept trying to wipe away.

In truth, it was only the gun's bluing that he was working against.

Swipe after swipe. None of it would go away.

"Hey," Kyia's voice broke him out of his trance then and there. The brunette was standing right beside him. How could she have gotten so close without him knowing? Was he really that out of it?

With another sigh to carry on his exhaustion, Ethan set down his gun and glanced up at her. "Hey," he said back. She rolled her thin lips before her eyes scanned around the floor by her feet. She did not offer any words before she sat down beside him. In turn, the only thing he did was make room for her to do so.

"Look…" She rolled her head around, as if she was gathering the courage to move forward with what she had to say. "I'm sorry, alright? I've had the time to reflect on how I acted and I realize that it wasn't appropriate."

Kyia lifted her bony hands and ran them across the sides of her head, onto her bushy, dark bun. "Moments like those are not my proudest. I struggle with my anger." She raised her right brow as her green eyes floated to the corner of the room where nobody sat. "I fear it will be a lifelong struggle, as I haven't made much progress since I was young. Ironic, for a woman who fancies herself as a well-mannered adult."

Ethan could have said anything. In fact, that was what kept him hesitant at first. A dozen sentences balled up inside his mouth, nearly choking him as he tried to spit them out. Unable to decide on which one was best, he settled on the simplest, yet direct, answer of them all, "We all have problems."

The woman nodded as soon as she heard that. "I think we do." Her gaze returned to him. "We come from different lives. We are all far away from home. Some of us further than others."

"Tell me about it," he groaned, shaking his head to ward off the reminder. "How's your finger?"

She casually glanced down at the appendage in question. "Fine, now. I don't handle pain well."

Ethan thought back to all of the injuries that he had received throughout his life. Lately, it seemed as though they were more than any normal person should have endured. He was surprised to still retain most of his hands, given that they had been put through the wringer time and time again. "You kind of get used to it after a while, but that doesn't make it any less shitty."

"Shitty?" There she was not understanding curse words again.

"It means miserable."

"Oh." Kyia appeared to consider its meaning. "I would have to agree."

"Kyia," Ethan said as he rested his elbows against his knees, "I don't want either of you to get hurt. That's the point of me showing you how to use these weapons. I want you to be able to protect yourself, just in case I cannot do it myself. Hell, Bela saved my ass multiple times back there. I can't do this all by myself. Neither can she. We might need you, too. There are no second chances in this, is what I'm saying."

"I understand," she accepted his reasoning. "Again, I am sorry for the way that I have been. Violence is not something that I am fond of. I've survived this entire plague by hiding away. It worked, for a while, until I finally left my shelter to save you. Now…look where I am now. So much has happened in such little time."

Ethan gave her a look of understanding. She was not the only person in this room who had their life ripped out from under them. "I know, but we can't give up. I want you to survive this just as much as I want to save my daughter. I've watched too many good people die."

She hovered her eyes over his face, observing the tested skin of a man who had previously been through hell. "I believe you," she said, thinking about how he still managed to retain a semi-youthful appearance. "You speak like a wise individual, but you speak from the heart. That is what I appreciate about you the most. You do not deceive."

"What's the point of lying in a world like this?" He told her.

She shrugged her shoulder. "I don't know. Maybe lies are the only things some people have left to hold onto."

.

"We can't stay here," Bela remarked as she sat up. The last two hours had been filled with nothing but minor conversation between Kyia and Ethan. It made the blonde want to throw up, but she was still too stirred to even interject. Instead, she resigned herself to simply staying put where she was.

She needed the rest anyway, she figured. It had been a chaotic chain of events ever since they first entered this place. The constable station had to have some good resources for them to take, but the untold number of monsters running around had to be great.

Despite the risk of death, the complacency of this room itself was starting to get to her. Maybe it was Kyia's presence in her that drove her to want to move on ahead. It definitely didn't feel that way back with Ethan in the other rooms. Nevertheless, she knew that they would die here if they didn't act.

Ethan's head poked up at her, as if she had said something that he had been wanting to hear. "What do you have in mind?" He was quick to answer, which only solidified the perception of his urgency.

Bela's amber eyes rolled across the bottom of her eyelids as she stood up. "I'm not looking for another dance with death, but these are all office rooms. I feel like we haven't gone into the center of this building. There has to be some supplies stored back there."

"That's what I'm thinking," he agreed. "No police station in their right mind would keep a bunch of guns by the front. Anything of worth has to be by the center, if not further."

Kyia, who had already appeared flustered at such an idea, rose from the ground in protest. "Wait! Ethan, think about this, okay? We don't know what is waiting for us if we go that way."

Bela was about to address her, but her eyes met those of the man in front of her. She shielded her tongue with her teeth, sealing her lips for the time being.

He can explain this. I'm not going to deal with her.

Sure enough, Ethan had already turned his head to the brunette by his side. "There is nowhere safe right now. If we stay here, we'll get weaker and starve. If we go deeper, there will be monsters. If we go outside, there will be even more. We don't have food, nor do we have enough ammunition to keep fighting forever. We have to try."

"I…" She shook her head, unsure of what was the right decision. "I guess I'll just stay here. You two go on ahead."

Bela could feel her blood rising. Kyia's cowardice irked her to no end. If the brunette had been looking at her, she would have seen the woman's fists clenching at her side. She could barely stand this pathetic display. She wanted to say something.

Ethan took another moment to consider the thought. He was torn between keeping her safe and giving themselves a better shot. Kyia would still be a great source of information throughout their journey, but all it would take was one good hit from these infected people to end her life. Then again, it was the same thing for them.

If she could aid in the fight and end the threat before it could do so, then her presence was worth it enough.

Decisions, decisions. Both with great consequences.

Ethan turned his head to the blonde. "What do you think, Bela?"

Just shoot her and walk away…

"Let her stay," Bela answered without emotion, barely even glancing at Kyia. "The last thing we need is to have her getting hurt." Her eyes sharpened on him, instead. "It's better for you to focus on staying alive."

Kyia shifted her gaze between the both of them, seemingly relieved, yet, curious, nonetheless. "Is…is that truly alright with you, Ethan?" She spoke with fear in her voice, as if she was afraid that he would try to compel her to venture with them.

Ethan shut his eyes, but he gave a firm nod. "Yeah…yeah. Just, stay safe in here, will you?"

Kyia broke a faint smile. "Of course."

With another sigh, the man gestured toward the door that led back to the lobby. "On we go then," he said to Bela.

On we go…

Bela briefly set her sights on Kyia as she turned away to join him. The two women stared one another down as both their heads turned away. It was a silent rivalry that was still ongoing. She didn't like the brunette one bit, but the feelings were mutual.

As someone who is so 'concerned' with our safety, you're quite content to just stay back and let us die? Weak. Just…weak. Whatever, I'd rather be dead than to have to listen to your complaining.

Ethan turned his head over his shoulder as he approached the door. "I'll be back, Kyia. I promise."

"Thank you, Ethan."

Bela lowered her head, where she curled her lip under the cloak of her draped hood.

I'm beginning to not like you, again, Ethan, you stupid man.

.

Backtracking to the lobby ended up being a safe journey. The corpses of the infected that had been slain along the way remained dead. The path was still as dark as ever, but the light of the lantern that Bela held guided their way well. Stepping over the crimson pools was easy enough, though the freshness of the blood from some of the infected clung to their shoes, which left a fading trail of death as they moved along.

There was no telling just what had gone down in this place when Vikcia entered the world and unleashed her poisonous clouds against the people. The constable station must have been a bloodbath. As Ethan and Bela ventured through the rooms and halls, the dead began to tell a story that they had never noticed before.

Chaos had to have erupted the second those clouds appeared. The way some of the corpses were positioned indicated that they had fought one another. Some of them were so badly gored that neither Ethan nor Bela could determine whether they had been infected or not. It seemed as though the dust spores weren't effective at reaching everyone.

Friends had to have watched friends transform before their very eyes. Loved ones torn away as their families became monsters. This constable station was only a piece of a larger puzzle. The blue uniforms spoke for themselves. These were people who were working their jobs when this hell opened up on them.

Kyia had mentioned how the constables policed the beliefs of the citizens. She degraded them at every turn, remaining spiteful toward the lives she said they ruined. For Ethan, it wasn't his world to judge. Unlike her, he had not grown up here and experienced its culture.

Still – the magnitude of this disaster was unnerving.

He shuddered to think about what would happen if Vikcia had clawed her way into his world, instead.

Bela, meanwhile, kept to herself during the walk. While she eyed the bodies at her feet, the blonde appeared to be more preoccupied with something else, rather than dwelling on the death around her. Ethan had taken notice of it, but he wasn't sure if he should even address it. The woman's past lifestyle had to have hardened her to such sights, and the truth of that disturbed him to no end.

While they had been on friendly terms recently, he still could not forget the way she was when they met. Such actions of hers now served only to remind him in a speedy manner.

He glanced at the door ahead. The lobby was just right behind it. As soon as they passed through it, they would be searching for the next doorway that would take them further down into this building. Hopefully, if they were lucky, there would be something there that would make this journey all worth it.

"You ready?" He whispered to her.

She only shrugged her shoulder.

Yeah, he figured. She wasn't happy at all.

This wasn't the time to debate little squabbles and whatnot. There were more important matters at hand. They had to do what they could to stay alive and that meant keeping their minds in focus. Just as she was about to reach for the door, he prepared his gun to aim ahead. The same procedure as the dozens of other times they entered a room.

Only, he could see how distracted her mind truly was. Bela kept her vision on the ground as she went to open the barrier, as if she could almost care less. He didn't want to instigate any conversation, but he needed her to be focused.

"Wait," he said. Bela pulled herself back and waved her arms around her sides in the most frustrated manner. A sharp click of her tongue spat out of her mouth in response, but she did not look at him. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

"No." Her hand tightened around the door knob. Ethan could hear it creaking as she slowly began to twist it. This wouldn't be the time for arguments. The woman was determined to gain as much ground as possible right now.

"Okay." That was the cue for her to throw it open. As soon as the lobby came into view, Ethan stepped into the large room and swept his gun around. It was dark, but the windows up above offered more light than what they had before. It was enough to take away some concern about what hid away in the shadows. "Looks like it's just us," he told her.

Bela stepped past him as she waved her sickle around at her side. "Lovely. Some peace and quiet, for a change."

Ethan had been stirred by her complaining. The scorn under her voice explained it all. He wasn't about to play the guessing game with her or tip-toe around these passive-aggressive comments. "Can we just be adults?"

She stopped in her place, barely turning her head. However, that did not mean that her attention was not on him. On the contrary, he had all of it.

Ethan took the extra second or two to double-check his sectors, ensuring that there weren't any infected hiding around them, waiting to strike. "Is this all about Kyia? Are you still mad about all that?"

"And you're not?" She asked.

"It's all over and done with." There was a rising tide of irritability in the way he spoke. It was subtle, but still noticeable, elevating his words with an edged tongue. "I'm not going to harp on things of the past."

Do not raise your voice at me.

Bela's face tensed up. She turned her head to the side as soon as it faced him. With closed eyes, she pressed her lips and halted her arms from raising any higher. She slowly reeled herself back in, withdrawing from whatever conflicting statement she was about to utter. "I shouldn't have even said anything. Forget it."

"Bela, for once, can you just act like an adult and talk to –"

Her closed eyes burst into a wide fury, mixed with flashed teeth as she briskly approached him. "I am an adult! Don't you dare talk to me like I am a child!"

With urgency written all over his constricted brow, Ethan's gaze shifted all around the room as he pressed his finger in front of his lips, echoing a loud shushing exhale through his teeth. With a hissing whisper, those distressed eyes would not leave her, "Jesus Christ, you'll bring the whole goddamn city here! Control your emotions!"

"Oh." She pulled her head back and gave a sarcastic series of chuckles. "I'm the one who can't handle myself? You're just the one who's got it all, am I right?"

"What?" He shook his head, believing that she was playing another game with him.

Bela sighed as her false smile dwindled into the frown that belonged on her jaw. "Ethan Winters is perfect. Bela is just someone who can't get a hold of herself. That must be it."

"Bela, enough with this, alright? We have bigger things to worry about?"

"Like your daughter?" She gave him a stern look.

The look he tossed back was even more stern. "What did we agree on?"

She nodded with pursed lips. "I'm just going to get this out of the water and confess that I do regret mentioning your daughter, but, I had to. I've abstained from it before, haven't I?"

"What does my daughter have to do with any of this?" Ethan was getting angrier, but he tried to keep it together. He had to.

"If Kyia had said anything about her, how would you have reacted?"

Ethan hesitated on his answer, which was enough for her to come to her own conclusions.

"I thought so," Bela said. "It all makes sense. That's why I'm the bad one when I call her out for being as useless as she is. If nobody says anything, then it's alright."

"Bela…"

"Oh, no! Wait!" Her eyes grew wide again as her voice adopted that sarcastic tone once more, "Maybe I should be useless! What a wonderful idea!"

"Enough of this." Ethan couldn't take her rambling any longer. He began to walk ahead, searching for which door would lead them further down into the building.

That was when he heard the sound of Bela's sickle hitting the ground.

Ethan turned around, unsure of what the cause of it was. Sure enough, as soon as he did, he was met with the sight of the blonde standing there. Her eyes glared at him defiantly, as if she would not allow her point to go unnoticed. Tired of the games, he groaned as he laid eyes on her.

This ongoing series of her unbearable attitude was starting to get to him. If it wasn't one thing with her, it was another. While she wasn't all bad, it was times like these that overwhelmed what was good about her.

"Are you serious?" He asked.

She scoffed as soon as she heard that. The woman averted her amber circles and focused them elsewhere. "Of course. That is what you ask."

"You know…" Ethan turned his entire body back toward her. "I'm starting to get really sick of having to go through all this with you. This isn't some high school cafeteria, where all that matters is petty, little shit."

With her stare turned away from him, all Ethan could see was the corner of her mouth flash into a surprised grin. She scoffed again and shook her head. "Petty, little matters…"

"Bela…"

"No." Her eyes returned to him. "I've decided that I am not willing to deal with all these monsters."

His brows pinched as he cast a smile of disbelief. "What? What do you you're 'not willing to deal' with them?"

"I'm too scared too," she replied. "I don't feel comfortable. So, if you don't mind, I'll head back where it's safe. You don't mind fighting for me in the meantime, don't you?"

Ethan couldn't believe what he was hearing. He wasn't fooled by her words. No. The way she spoke was coy. There had been that slight trail of a teasing pitch at the end of every sentence. He knew better than to take them for truth, but the fact that she was even doing this at all was nauseating enough.

"Why don't you grow up?" He told her. "I'm not going to fight with you in a time like this."

"You can't make me fight." She raised her brow and reared back her head. "Just the same way you can't make her fight. So, what do you have to say, now?"

"Is this what you're going to ramble on about?"

I just want to punch you in that mouth of yours.

Bela's chest swirled with rage. She wanted to lash out at him, but her desire to remain composed was winning the fight. Still, she did not withhold her contempt from her speech, "I guess the truth does finally come out."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing good comes out of someone being as useless as her," she said.

Ethan's raised his voice, "Just fucking drop it, alright?"

"No!" She walked over to him and got in his face. "Why doesn't it matter if she willingly lets us do the dirty work? Why do you insist on treating her like she is the greatest thing ever while treating me like I am not worth anything? Huh? Answer me, Ethan!"

He did not move from where he stood. By now, their faces were only inches apart. He could feel her hot breath on his skin, as she was just as likely to feel his. "This is hell, Bela, not some popularity contest! I have bigger problems right now than whether or not you two like each other!"

"It's not about that, you unflinching idiot!" She began to scream back. "I pull my weight ten times more than she does! So, why am I treated as less? You hardly take my side whenever this happens, even though I have done more to keep you alive than her!"

He leaned closer. The tips of their noses touched. "I'm not letting her get killed."

"That's my point," Bela said as she laughed in his face. "You expect me to do everything. Why? I don't know, but you do. You know that we stand less of a chance without someone to help us, but you're willing to risk that. I can't stay behind because you would get killed."

He addressed her concerns accordingly, and in doing so, he inadvertently answered every question at once, "Unlike you, I am not okay with innocent people dying!"

Her eyes grew wide as her lips parted, but only for a second. She quickly regained her hateful expression as her eyes bore deeply into his. "That explains it all. I'm worth losing because I am such a bad person, aren't I?"

Ethan realized what he had said. "Bela, wait…"

"No," she said. "Sit down, so I can tell you about all the people I've killed over the years. How I chopped them up and ate them, enjoying a glass of wine in the process. Women, just like her, screaming and crying in front of me, right as I butchered them. We have all the time in the world, Ethan." Her eyelids narrowed. "All the time…in the world…"

"I'm done." He walked away from her at that moment, but she would not stop calling out to him.

"Yeah, that's right! It must drive you insane to have to depend on someone like me!"

He said nothing.

Bela continued, "Someone who you know is cruel, but you need them to save you over and over! And the one person who fills that role of 'good' is the person who is going to get you killed! So, you fight so hard to keep that false reality alive in your head, by letting them be out of the picture because you cannot bear the truth of how detrimental to your safety they are."

He spun around at that very second. "Not everyone is made for these sorts of things, Bela!"

"Well, I guess we are," she told him. "We're not innocent. Don't even pretend like you are because I hear that anger in your voice so well. You are such an angry human being, Ethan. Ah, so much rage! It must burn with all that fire you have building up inside you. I thought I was good at killing, but you?"

She giggled devilishly, "You can teach me a thing or two."

"Shut the fuck up, you witch!"

Bela pressed her lips and bowed her head. "That's it. That's it right there." She looked at him again. "I'm just a witch. You're just a man with a gun. A gun that you would place against my chin if I dared mention your daughter."

"Bela, I am warning you…"

"You think I don't know better?" She remarked. "You're more than just a man with a gun. You have a daughter that you need to save. You need to escape this world, so you can get back to ours. You had a wife and some happiness. You have a personality, bundled with hobbies and fears. I know enough about you to not act like you're some stranger, so why do you regard me as a witch?"

He remained silent, but the way he looked at her was nothing short of stunned. He had realized the error in his words once again.

"I'll shed some more light on myself, so that I'm less of a stranger, okay?" Bela parted her lips with her tongue as she rolled her eyes across the ground. "I'm so tired of having to be the one who does everything, while my sisters just sit around all day. I work so hard, but they don't. They get all the rewards, but I get nothing. Sometimes, I receive some praise and it makes me feel good. Sometimes, I live for it. But, sometimes, I just want to sit down and I can't. I'm expected to do the things that I do and there is no compromise. So, to see Kyia just being able to act and do the things she does with no consequence just makes me feel right at home."

She extended her arms out to her side. "Do I look happy? Is that what a 'witch' is to you? I've never forgotten a single thing you've told me, but you seem to have forgotten everything that I've said."

"Bela, I'm sorry."

"You're just locked in the idea that I'm your worst enemy, but she is the greatest thing ever," she ended that sentence with another scoff. "Bad people like me can only prove themselves in one way, and that is by dying. You're just telling me that that's all I'm good for – dying."

"Look…" He paused, knowing that he had messed up, again. Ethan did not want to be at such odds with her, though he now recognized just how easy it was to fall into his anger. Maybe, he thought, she was right. Maybe he was an angry individual. But, why? "I'm sorry. It's not that I think you're this violent monster, it's just that –"

"Ethan," she said with sincerity in her eyes, "just tell me the truth. Don't lie to me."

Like I have lied to you…

He swallowed his troubles, understanding that beating around the bush wasn't going to get him anywhere. If he could talk to her, then so be it. "I watched a young woman die back in that village. I've watched a lot of people die. Maybe not as many as you, but enough to make me not want to see it again. Kyia isn't helping us out by staying back, but not everyone can fight. If she dies, then that's on me. It goes the same way for you, but…I trust you to have my back, if you wanted to know."

Her face softened up a bit. Her eyes dwindled to a somber glow. "I guess I did want to know that."

"I know it's not fair," he corrected his earlier words. "I haven't been fair to you, at all. But, you're not expendable to me. God damn, if something happens to you, I'm just not going to be able to put that aside."

Her lips quivered and her nose crinkled – for only a fraction of a second. "Just, uhm…just give me a chance. I'm more stressed out now than I've ever been."

"Me too."

"Damn it." Bela looked down as she ran her hands across her cheeks, toward the rims of her ears. "I just want to go home. I hate this place so much."

"We're going to get out of this, together," he affirmed, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder. As soon as it landed, her eyes turned to his hand, which compelled him to pull it away. "Sorry."

Bela sighed as she pictured his hand back on her shoulder. She could still feel the sting of the unresolved turmoil swimming in her chest. This wasn't the time to sit down and chat, which meant that the heart of her troubles would still persist. Still, the reassurance that he gave a damn about her was uplifting enough. "You're kinder than I am," she stated. "I can see why some people would be so drawn to you."

"I'm…well, you're…" Ethan didn't know what to say.

"I already know what I am." Bela glanced at the sickle on the ground just a couple of yards away from her. She would have to go on to retrieve it before they ventured into the next section of the building. Once she did, matters such as these would have to be put to the side. This was her time to settle on what she wanted to say. "But, my evil is not going to harm you here."

She listened to him say nothing as she grabbed her weapon off the ground. She knew her words had hit deep. "I am more than you think I am, Ethan. If you want a monster, then you're in the right world."

Bela casually walked beside him as her eyes trailed down from his face, to the chest of his coat. "But, you're not happy here, so, I don't think you want monsters."

NOTES:

Conflict breeds compassion, right? Personally, I don't know. But, with these two, fights like these aren't deal-breakers. This world is full of tense situations, which has left them both on edge. Clearly, there is still some contempt between them, but Bela can see that they are not enemies any longer.

I wanted this chapter to linger more on jealousy, but Bela's gravitated toward a different kind. I think her character naturally holds some degree of dislike for her siblings if even just a little. She's someone who is not entirely happy with everything in her life, sounding exhausted at times. It seems as though the parallels of that life are not absent from what she must deal with in Serpenmoor.

While this ends on a hopeful note, where do we go from here? Well, we're finally going to go deeper into this building and discover more of what is hiding inside. Expect more lore and some overdue horror as this story moves closer to where it is heading.

That next chapter will be available on the 4th. Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter out! I needed some time after Flies was completed to rest and reset, while also working on this chapter. It took a little longer than planned, but since I didn't have a definite release date, I chose not to rush. Look forward to a more fast-paced release schedule, as this should now be a weekly update!

I just want to say thank you to all of you for supporting this story so passionately! I think of you all every time I work on it and I cannot wait to complete this one and continue the series further! Sorry if I haven't been as responsive as usual, as life has been busy, but also due to me taking some time away from my computer. Make no mistake, I never stop thinking about you guys and I am so thankful to have met you all! Stay safe and happy, and I will see you all very soon! 😊