One moment there was unexplainable silence, and in the next, it nearly got wiped out of its previous existence as the piercing cries took hold of it.

The crowd broke away like a discovered army of ants. There were people either running or collapsing on the ground. My brain appeared to slow everything down, forcing me to endure every moment. My body felt like it had been beaten down right on the floor, as I struggled to move. The crowd started to get violent and I had to move away before they turned me into their dart board.

My guardian angel came in the form of Daine, who whisked me away like a cog in a machine before the crowd could hurl anything at me. My heart ached. All our sacrifices are down the drain, yet a question remains: was it all for nothing?

Things like this remind me of how delicate we all are, yet how magnificent. What sort of miracle must a person's intellect be to create such flawless beauty? In our ordinarily little importance, we have learned the power to elicit unexplained emotions. It makes me believe that all other creatures must feel inferior to us, and that must be why sirens were our ultimate disaster.

A sinister chuckle slipped past my guard. No one ever told me delusions were a symptom of flickering sanity. But for that, no one had ever known that there would be a phase in your life where you realized all you had done was for nothing. Nothing. In name, we might have killed thousands of sirens, but whether they were dead was another question.

My heart clutched so hard that it weighed a hundred pounds more than it was like a boulder was set free. It hurts. Tears build up in my eyes, playing house as they rise higher and higher, just like us, only to slip out and drain while I don't even attempt to catch them.

The crowd faded, as did the loud cries. Our group of five remained silent. It made me realize that even silence could be so loud that it could make ears bleed. Daine still had a firm hold on me, gripping my shoulders so hard that they might tip apart while I tried my best to act like I couldn't see her trembling, even though the watery lines of tears sliding down her cheeks betrayed her.

No one said anything. Not even an attempt to console. We kept walking towards the carriage stop, our legs moving purely on muscle memory as it directed us to the place where the hunter's carriage awaited.

We are all humans after all.

I turned around and was met with four pairs of soulless eyes. Everlee didn't even attempt to hide anything, smiling crazy like some unhinged psycho with widened eyes and fisted palms. Jasper's face spoke of fear; he walked almost unnaturally still as if walking on leaden legs, his pupils dilated and his respiration shallow, trying to settle himself so hard that I was widely concerned.

My eyes drifted to Delaney, who stared ahead with a darkly shaded emotion. April's face spoke nothing, maintaining her stoicism even now as if what had happened meant nothing to her, and I hoped I was wrong.

When the carriage appeared, I halted, followed by the sounds of eight other boots emitting squelchy sounds as they were dipped in overgrown grass on the ground that was heavy with dew. And one by one, we loaded ourselves into the carriage with soundless movements. The driver of the carriage frowned at us before he started on the route to take us back to the site.

And then Delaney broke the ice, "Alec." My heart ran an unmeasurable amount of beats as I heard him. Delaney spoke of him as if the mere mention of Alec's name had burned his throat. "He's the one to blame. He's the one who made those ridiculous weapons. He's the one who gave us hope."

April replied almost instantly with the click of her tongue. "It's easy to blame people when things don't go your way. But mind you, it's a coward's way."

"Are you saying Alec's innocent?" Delaney fired at her. He was trembling with rage. His eyes helped put a name to what he was feeling, which were anger, resentment, and another one that resembled childish hurt.

"It's still too early to make assumptions; it all happened too fast. We all need to wait and let this settle down a bit." Daine replied, trying to soothe the already wired-out atmosphere.

"We're heading there anyway, and Alec is there. We need to ask him from which insect he got that salivary killer weapon." I said on cue.

And then silence ensued again. No one said anything anymore, and I took it as silent agreement with what I had just said. Before it dawned on me.

We are going to interrogate Alec. Alec of all people.

But my malicious demons decided to remind me of it. My heart felt even heavier, as if it had blocked my lungs and made it difficult to breathe. The world suddenly seemed very foreign, as if we were nomadic people trying to find hearth in a stranger's land.

I let myself zone out as I focused on the view from the slightly shielded window of the carriage. Through the woods, the sun's mottled light cast enigmatic shadows. A light breeze caused fluffy white clouds to glide lazily over the blue sky. Dust particles appeared to dance in the slanted afternoon sun that entered the hallway through the window.

The air smelled of thick sweat and the rotten smell of wet clothes, which came from me. Despite the mood, I tried to ignore April, holding her nose with a grimace beside me. But my red cheeks were one of my biggest snitches.

Jasper sank into his seat so low as if trying to dig a hole in the side of the carriage room. All the rest were either too quiet or doing nothing worth noticing as I felt my eyes starting to hood. My lack of sleep and body fatigue permeated my body like slow-killing poison.

At least one side of the truth about what is happening will be revealed when we meet Alec. My heartbeat raced up a notch as I had a very uncanny realization: What if he didn't tell us? What if Delaney was right and Alec was a traitor all along?

If Delaney was right, then the easiest person Alec could blame it all on would be me. Since he is the only one who knows of my side businesses in this research work, and to be real, I very well know that Alec must have his ideas and guesses about what I am up to. Granted, with his wits and high adaptation skills, he will no doubt easily frame it with independent corroboration.

He must even have evidence to support his case. My eyes peeked at others. Would it be that all of them believed him? Will I be the framed culprit? The Senate would not even blink an eye before believing it, and maybe even the crowd would be eager to have someone take the blame. But would they? My stomach made a flip inside me, and I fisted my palms.

Not now.

If that were to happen, then I would know what to do. I will find a way out of it, even if it means getting my hands dirtier than they already are. Plus, I am overthinking; all this would happen only if Alec was the culprit, and if he was, I don't think I would be his only means of escape.

And with that, my eyes completely shut with a tiny reassurance I had scavenged for myself.

******

I cursed hard when my head hit something hard. My eyes slowly tried to peel themselves open with what felt like one of the longest nights I have ever had, even though it might have only been a few minutes since I had slept.

Most of my companions were asleep except for Jasper and April, where the former was now looking more livelier and better than before and the latter was dimly staring out, as lifeless as a rock. I followed her line of sight.

The main house came closer to our site as if it were sprinting towards us. A wishful part of my mind imagined racing to be the first to console us, just like it has for its old residents.

The distance towards the main house felt longer and longer as I anticipated what would happen when we met Alec.

And then the carriage halted at a stop. I was the one to jump off the carriage, my legs feeling wobbly as I tried to catch my balance. And then, as I took the next step, I felt the crunch of my wet clothes.

"Put on something dry first, Cassia. We all have to change too." Daine interjected.

"No, I don't care. I want to know what is happening, and the answer to it all is sitting inside this house. I don't know about you guys, but I find it very tempting to avoid it."

"We all want to know. But being bedridden with a fever won't help the case."

"Then I'll be sick, I guess." I was about to step on the steep steps leading to the main house's ground floor.

"Step on that with your reek-full, wet shoes, and then the Senate shall have you wipe clean every inch of it." That left my leg hanging in mid-air as I contemplated it.

Maybe I could make a change. I do smell, though. I felt Daine smile for the first time since what had happened.

"You are a child," Daine said as she strolled to her private cabins, while my cheeks flared up with embarrassment. That might have been a bit childish.

I have never changed quickly in my life. The temptation of having the very answer I craved so badly right beside me made me extremely anxious. By the time I reached there, I realized I wasn't the only one. Everyone sat by, waiting on the cushy red Victorian sofa in the living room of the main house. April picked up a necklace with one of her blades and was the first to notice me but said nothing.

"It took you long enough," Daine said as she stood up.

Everyone followed suit. With the way they all seemed still visibly tensed, I summarized that there had been no contact with Alec yet and that they had truly been waiting for me. I felt slightly comforted by it. And then we all walked into the naturally lit hallways as I scanned for Alec. I saw no signs of him, but I guess that we will find him in his office.

"We all need to be calm; no rushing, shouting, or any form of violence," I spoke firmly for good measure, personally directing it to Delaney. "Alec, for all we know, can only be the victim of our doubt and not the mastermind behind the folly that happened."

Everyone nods, and then the silence veils again. And we stick to the path to his office. When we reached just outside his door, I saw Daine, who had been leading us, falter with doubt. So I walked past her and knocked on the door.

Nothing.

I knocked again before getting the bitter reminder of his deafness. But before I could turn the handle, I heard Alec say, "Come in."

I did. And everyone else pours into the room behind me. My eyes first laid sight on Alec's ear, which now had a hearing aid hastily worn by him that hung loosely. Alec read my sight and fixed the aid more firmly.

Before Alec could say anything, I beat him to it. "I want to know about the origin of the slashing threads."

Alec widened his eyes, fully expressing his surprise at my sudden inquiry, before he suited himself and answered, "But that is highly classified information, Cassia, and you know it."

I felt Delaney huff behind me. I ignored it and said, "But we also know that the effects of the slashing threads are temporary and that they don't kill. What do you have to say about that? Or is it another classified piece of information?" I was too late to catch up with my words and realize how cocky and defiant they sounded. But it was said, and it can't be taken back. So I followed suit and gave him a cocky brow rise.

"I don't know what happened to you guys to think that way, but whoever told you that the slashing threads don't work is a hoax," Alec said, and my cheeks burned as if I was the one to say it.

"No one needs to tell us. We saw it with our own eyes, Alec." Delaney sneered at him, his disdain expressed in its purest form, even startling all of us.

This is not how I wanted it all to play out.

Alec sighed. "Alright. Just this once. What do you guys want to know?"

Or maybe it was not that bad.

"Those insects that you said you grow in your lodging, whose saliva you use to make those threads," I beat Delaney, who was about to shoot another retort.

The sirens I had killed, or the ones I thought I had with those threads, were the only ones to come back. Even the impact of the Scarlet bombs remained, which leaves me pondering: all weapons were the mastery of Alec and his father before.

So to think he would betray us now after decades of service was the biggest pitfall. This is exactly why I wanted to see it for myself, not on mere accusations that we were currently looping ourselves on.

"Follow me then," Alec said, surprising me with his readiness and cooperation. Which could both be bad and good at the same time.

We left the site, and Alec took us down a cobbled path when we reached Colchester Street. This part of the street was crawling with darkness and held an ominous stillness and quietness. As if liveliness here had ceased long ago. Broken shacks and houses lined the streets. Something squirmed at my feet; I almost fell back before I kicked it further away from me. It squeaked before taking a flight away from me.

Rats.

My eyes scanned the streets, and I froze at the familiar style of this architecture. Oarkale Street was not far from here, and I could smell the reek of death from the closet borders of Colchester alone, the neighbourhood street. I kept a close eye around for signs of a disorder, disturbed co-webs, water churning under, or any slight movement that could be enough to know what awaited us in the dark.

"Where are you going?" Jasper asked him firmly as he held Daine by his side. His tone was harsh, compared to how he once used to speak to him. Alec was someone I fully respected and always held in high regard, and most of all, he was the closest to a father figure I had after being orphaned. One moment, a mere doubt, is all needed to break all that trust we held. Is that how fragile human bonds are? Or is it just me?

Alec, of course, has noticed the change in tone. Jasper spoke to him more than he would to a criminal in interrogation or someone who had begun working for the cause decades before him. I wondered what he was thinking right now. Would he think just the same? that we are no longer his company? Would he treat us all indifferently now that we have doubted him as a traitor despite all he has done for us?

"Here." Alec halted. "Look around; it is everywhere." He spread his hands out to show us.

No one attempted to move, as if suddenly we were frozen to the ground. I caught a small glow of light, braved myself, and neared it.

Small shell-like creatures were crawling into almost every nook and cranny of these streets. And I looked back at Alec as if he were crazy enough to show us that this creature was what made those weapons. If I were to take them up on my hand, I would not, but I believe they would not even measure up to my thumb.

"They are similar to silkworms in many aspects; just like how we get silk from silkworms, we get the material for slashing thread from these creatures. Though, unlike silkworms, these creatures beg to differ. They are highly intelligent and fast when they need to be. They also have great agility, and I believe they have some emotional intelligence too." Alec explained as he motioned it to me again when I realized he was asking me to take a lot of looks at it.

I moved even further from the pack behind me, which was starting to disperse as April and Daine were the next to step out, and I even saw April take one in her hand, proving my assumption of its size.

I looked at it again and took in its intricate details and the slight patterns on its hard shells. It looks almost similar to a turtle in structure but has the locomotion of a snail. But what irked me was its shell; it was like glass glimmering with the moonlight.

Something was wrong with them.

I closed even more distance, my curiosity getting the best of me. Something doesn't add up, and I feel it in my bones. And with it even closing the next few steps, it clicked into a place like a key in the lock. It glowed. And the more I neared, the intensity of their light increased.

I moved away a bit, and as expected, their light dimmed. My lungs suddenly started struggling to breathe as a familiar sensation began to take over. No. There is something else. I felt my breath hitch.

Sirens.

It held the same aura as the sirens. I realized shell was not an ordinary, hardened substance but a fluke of a siren's tale. And it was trying to lure me in. But why? What can a fluke of a siren with possibly no claws or teeth do to me?

There is only one conclusion I could draw. This creature held a more manipulative aura. Usually, I was more aware of their presence. But this one was sneakier and stronger in defence. Which can only mean that it cannot harm or maybe less harm. At least, that is how much I can comprehend till now.

I almost felt like my throat thickened, leading me to take a gasp for air. What If sirens could breed through their flukes or something? That would mean that the fluke of a siren's tail is a progeny of it and we would be in an even greater crisis.

No, it can't be.

I immediately turned to Alec and asked, "Did they grow?" I asked out of the blue.

Alec frowned but replied. "Yes, but they seemed to have stopped now; they haven't grown an inch for months now."

I was astonished when I heard him say 'month'. How long had he been doing this?

I have hunted down and salvaged a lot of them. During the fight, many of them had shed a lot of their flukes, and not even one of them had shown any signs of rebirth. Diane had even assembled those flukes for her artistic works and merged them with what I had gathered from Alec. I concluded that it wasn't a progeny of it. At least for now.

"What happened to this place? The water rise only affected Oarkale Streets alone but not Colchester borders." I heard Daine ask.

"It hasn't been affected directly, but this place got evacuated the moment Oarkale was down. The entire town of Colchester was cleared out at first, but with time, the fear of the public dwindled. So some of them kept trickling back to the streets and their old lives except for the people who lived near the border, thus this place remained isolated. And there weren't a lot of haunted stories or legends here to inspire teenagers to do courage tests so this place was less approached. That's exactly why I bought it here. And these creatures need dark, damp, and quiet places to grow." Alec explained and I was again astounded at the knowledge he held of them.

"I see." Daine drifted off as she saw my expression.

"Found something?" I heard Alec ask, genuinely curious.

"No, it's all fine," I blatantly replied, but I looked at April cautiously, who nodded and pocketed one of them.

Everlee was scribbling notes into her book while Jasper assisted her. Only Delaney stood behind, still madly staring at Alec from the side.

"Alright then. Great to hear that I am cleared." Alec smiled, and I meekly nodded at him. "It is getting close to midnight now; we've got to leave before the clock strikes past it."

I just kept nodding in response before taking my leave.