Author's note: this is from Seraphina's point of view

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WARNING! Violence trigger. Read at your own discretion.

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I barely got a glimpse of my elongated claw-like nails when the man slapped me, and my head swung to the side violently. The momentum of that hit affected the rest of my body and I was falling.

What happened to my strength? Why am I back to being a ragdoll? Wasn't I pushing him away with ease just a moment ago?

Instead of letting me fall, he grabbed my left arm and yanked me up.

On instinct, I clawed at him. My sharp nails sliced through his firm chest like it was tofu, leaving gory gashes behind.

He whimpered for a moment before growling and then he slapped me again at an angle that made me bang the back of my head in the wall.

With all that mess, I heard sounds of rushed steps on the cobblestone street, and somehow I knew those were Ruby, Willow, and Adelle, moving with urgency toward the square where the party was ongoing.

With them leaving, I had only myself to rely on and I was not willing to give up without a fight.

My hands flailed toward the man, and pure horror struck me when I realized that my nails were back to normal and my desperate struggle didn't have any effect.

Things were happening so quickly that everything turned into a blur.

He was enraged by my attempts to resist him, and the air left my lungs as he punched me in the stomach. The piercing pain told me that at least one of my ribs cracked, and then I felt a grip on my neck.

I clawed at his wrist while the last fraction of my strength left me, and then everything turned dark.

I thought that when a person dies, there will be flashes from life, like important moments and people, but there was nothing.

To be honest, part of me was relieved that it's over. Did I have any regrets? Maybe I did but I couldn't think of any as my mind was engulfed with a complete void.

My eyes snapped open, and I heaved for air while looking around in panic. I touched my neck, to confirm that no one is choking me anymore and I rubbed it in an attempt to scrub away the uncomfortable feeling of the man's hand on me.

I was completely drenched in sweat and it took me a few seconds to realize that I'm in my room, sitting on my bed, and then my gaze fell on the spiky measuring device which showed, 46… 45… 44…

I forced myself to focus. If I lose this chance, I will not get another one!

Closing my eyes, I concentrated on my fear and the energy it produced. Feel it… hold it… embrace it… control it…

The eluding feeling became tangible, almost like a stream of air that started from my navel and I could manipulate it by opening and closing invisible hatches within my body.

After an unknown measure of time, I opened my eyes and looked at the gauge on the spiky device which showed 17. With a little mental effort, the gauge showed 10, then 7, 18, 13… a big smile bloomed on my face. I need to talk to Aldus!

I leaped off my bed and I stumbled, as my legs were stiff. Who knows how long I was sitting in that position?

I realized that my clothes were sticking to me. Oh, right! I sweated so I should probably shower first.

After freshening up, I took the spiky device which now showed 5. I tried again moving the gauge and I grinned when I saw that it reached 12 within two seconds.

Yup, I'm ready to see Aldus and brag.

...

"Good progress…", Aldus praised me. "One alchemy session in the lab and it worked. Just as I advised."

I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Actually, it was Krob."

Aldus was not happy that I was taking away his credit. "What did Krob do?'

"I spoke with him and realized that the more I tried the same thing, the probability of succeeding was less. How many times can you get scared by the same incident?"

Aldus nodded in agreement before asking, "What did you use this time?"

I inhaled a choppy breath as images flashed in my mind. "I remembered how I died."

Aldus's interest was piqued. I knew that he was searching for my murderer and it was obvious that he was hoping to get some clues from me.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Sure.", I responded, but so weakly that I was unable to convince myself. I didn't want to look into those memories, but I was aware that it's inevitable so it's better to get over with it sooner than later.

"Did you see who did it?"

"One man.", I responded and decided to go straight to the point. "I believe that I was killed by a werewolf."

"A werewolf?", Aldus asked in disbelief.

"Why do you sound like I said something crazy like aliens abducted me?"

Aldus's eyes moved as if he was remembering something. "I found you covered in bruises and if not for being choked, your injuries were relatively light. When a werewolf kills a human, the scene is different."

I didn't understand. "Different?"

"Unless it was a calculated assassination, the attacker had a rush of adrenalin, and werewolves are not known for their self-control.", Aldus paused, and I could see that he was picking his words. "Compared to werewolves, humans have fragile bodies and a fight between them ends with gore, like torn limbs and internal organs scattered around."

"What if I was not human?", I blurted out.

"What?", Aldus asked with a smile, obviously thinking that I'm joking.

I watched as his smile fell in slow motion and he asked, "Are you serious?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. I must have gone crazy…"

"How about you tell me the story from the beginning?"

I narrated to Aldus how I saw myself in Venice with my three classmates from college, that they spiked my drink, and I ended up with some guy who was there to pretend that we were dancing and having a good time so that my so-called friends can take photos. "He took me to an alley and then things turned weird…"

Aldus listened attentively and asked me if I remember any details about the alley.

"Hmm…", he hummed and rubbed his chin after I was done talking.

"What are you thinking?", I asked after some time, breaking the unbearable silence.

"There are several things, so let me address one thing at a time.", Aldus said and looked at me seriously. "First, your story confirms that someone was plotting against you. I don't think they wanted to kill you, because it sounds that the guy lost it, but they definitely wanted to ruin your reputation."

"Pft…", I shook my head as a mocking sound escaped my lips. "Ruin my reputation? What am I? A celebrity? A nun? I was just a regular girl from London. Who would care if I was dancing or kissing some guy on a vacation? I was a single grownup woman, so even if I slept with him it shouldn't be a big deal."

Aldus agreed. "It shouldn't. But your friends made an effort to drug you so that they can take those photos."

Aldus made a valid point. However… "We are looking at news from the UK from gossips to police reports on missing persons and there were no photos of me."

"Exactly!", Aldus exclaimed. "And now we are back to the point how those girls were on a mission to ruin your reputation, but things went off track. They wouldn't dare to expose photos that might put them close to the crime scene."

My mouth formed an 'O' as I realized that Aldus was right. No matter what photos they had of me, since I died, it would implicate them in murder, and they were not stupid to reveal that I was with them. If possible, they deleted all photos and traces that we were together that evening.

After giving me a few seconds to digest what he said, Aldus continued talking, "Second, what you told me about your attacker, it definitely sounds like a werewolf. The part that I'm trying to make sense of is toward the ending. You said that he started transforming, howling at the moon, and attacking you viciously."

I confirmed. "He inhaled my scent, just like Lazarus did."

"Dogs do that.", Aldus said with disgust.

Aldus pressed his lips into a line and took a deep breath through his nose. "And then there is the third thing. You pushed him away, grew claws, and hurt him."

"Yes. His left pectoral muscle was bleeding." I was proud of my knowledge of human anatomy. I learned names of muscles and bones from one of the books Aldus gave me.

"Can you describe how your claws looked like?"

I started gesturing. "Like long sharp nails. Grayish in color. Do you think that my imagination mixed with memories?"

Aldus shrugged. "That is a possibility. Is there anything else you can remember?"

One more thing popped into my mind. "He tasted my blood."

"Did he bite you?"

"No. He kissed me, and my lip was bleeding."

"When did that happen?", Aldus continued probing.

I thought for a second before responding, "Just before he started transforming..."

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