Kira didn’t move after Baba Razz disappeared. She simply remained there, kneeling on the ground as her legs grew numb beneath her.
Her hands were now rested on her lap, stained with Baba Razz’s blood, her mind scattered and overloaded.
Flashes of everything that had just happened kept replaying in her mind, and for that moment, she knew she needed to stay put, at least just for a little while before she would get up.
There was too much to do, too much to understand, and too much to process.
She felt that if she tried to figure everything all at once, she might be a danger to her own mind.
She lowered her head, staring at her blood stained hands and where Baba Razz had been. He was gone now, completely gone, and she was all alone again.
Kira sat there for what felt like an eternity, that even blinking her eyes seemed to have stopped. It was like her brain was trying to arrange everything into their given folders, process it all and then bring out to her what she had to do next, even though she already knew what.
Slowly, Kira pressed her hands against the ground and pushed herself up.
She was done processing now.
Her legs felt weak and heavy, but with a little stretch and twist, it felt better.
With an expressionless face, Kira turned and walked back to the cabin, following Baba Razz’s words.
When she finally reached the cabin, she stepped inside and without wasting a second, she headed straight to the kitchen, her mind set on one thing.
A knife.
And as soon as she reached the counter, she grabbed the sharp knife, turned and headed straight to Baba Razz’s room.
His room was obviously quiet, his scent still lingering in the air. His scent had something unique in it, “But of course, why wouldn’t it? It’s Baba Razz’s room, something must always stand out or come off as mysterious when it comes to that old man,” Kira thought while she looked around.
She still felt sad and upset that he had been killed, and she could not protect him, but remembering the things he had told her, she sincerely started to feel a little better.
However, seeing how serious he was, there was no time for her to have such emotions. And not wanting to dwell on it anymore, she grabbed the bedspread and yanked it off, just like her thoughts. Then, she drove the knife into the mattress, ripped it open, and started searching.
Foam spilled out, littering the floor, but she kept going, tearing and searching. She dug her hand inside, shoving the stuffing aside as she hoped to feel for something.
But… she found nothing.
“Where is it?” She muttered and then drove the knife into another part of the mattress, tearing it deeper and searching, until finally… she found it.
Kira pushed her hand deeper, grabbed it and pulled it out, only to find out it was a small black bag.
The bag was made of thick, durable leather and seemed slightly worn but was still good.
“Not exactly what I thought I would find,” she said as she took a good look at the bag, her grip on it tightened. “But then again, not sure, I was even thinking to start with.”
She was about to open the bag to see what Baba Razz had left for her inside, but something told her to wait, and so she saved that thought and action for later, leaving the room with the bag.
Now back in the living room, Kira dropped the bag on one of the chairs and turned away from it for a moment, her mind calculative.
“It would be best not to leave anything telling,” She thought and stepped outside, her jaw clenching as she moved toward where the bodies of the men who had attacked her and Baba Razz were.
She stood over them, her arms crossed over her chest. Their faces were still covered by their masks, hiding their identity, but she knew they were werewolves, and even the scent from them was wrong and odd. It smelled rotten. Foul. It was definitely not a scent of a normal pack or any pack at all. It was just too bad, and it made her feel disgusted.
“Alright,” she motivated herself and bent down.
“Who do we have here?” She muttered and grabbed the edge of the first man’s mask, yanking it off to reveal a scarred face with a pale skin. But he was unfamiliar.
Then, she moved on to the next one.
It was the same off-putting scent and by the time she had pulled the mask off the last attacker, she had confirmed all that she needed to confirm.
They weren’t from any pack she had ever encountered, not even the rogues, and since Baba Razz had told her not to worry about them, she decided not to.
One by one, Kira lifted the bodies, heaving them over her shoulder, her muscles flexed as she carried them into the cabin and dumped them on the floor with a dull thud, until she had all of them inside.
After she was done, she stood in the center of the living room, her hands on her hips, as she stared at the lifeless bodies she had just dragged inside. She dusted her hands off and exhaled, feeling proud of herself.
Despite everything, despite the pain, she had handled it well. And now, she had to find answers to her questions.
Although before that, she remembered that Baba Razz had told her to burn down the cabin.
“How am I even supposed to do that?” she asked herself as she ran her hand through her hair, ruffling it up while looking around for anything that could start a fire. “He didn’t even leave anything with all his preparations.”
Sighing, she headed to the kitchen and searched for anything flammable she could use. She opened the cabinets, checked the small storage space, and even looked under the sink. But still, nothing. She even went back to the bedroom, flipped things and searched around, but there was nothing useful, and it was starting to feel frustrating.
“This isn’t working,” she thought and stomped outside, her eyes scanning her surroundings. “There has to be something. But where?” She asked herself and then decided to check the back of the cabin.
To her surprise, she found something partially hidden in the grass. An old metal keg.
“This should be it,” she said and walked up to it, picking it up and brushing the dirt that was on it, off it.
There, something caught her eyes.
It was a label that read, “Check in the kitchen for some matches.”
“Of course. If it isn’t Baba Razz’s doing, who else?” She scoffed, grabbed the keg by its handle, and hauled it inside.
The smell of kerosene hit her nose, confirming what was inside the keg, and the minute she got into the kitchen, she started searching for the matches.
She checked the drawers, then the near back of a small wooden shelf, before she finally found a tiny metal tin.
“Got you,” she muttered when she opened it and found a matchbox inside. “This should do the trick.”
Fully ready now, Kira grabbed the kerosene from where she had dropped it in the living room, opened the cap, and started pouring.
She started from the bathroom, splashing the kerosene onto the wooden floor, then from there, she moved to Baba Razz’s room and did the same thing.
The smell was so strong and instead of it bringing her discomfort, it brought her comfort as she was certain it would burn very well.
Next, she moved to the kitchen, poured it along the counters, across the floor, on the dining table-everywhere.
And while she did all that, memories of her time with Baba Razz flooded her mind. She could not help but feel unhappy about everything, but still, she tried not to dwell on it and went to the living room.
Kira poured the kerosene over the dead bodies, the liquid soaking their clothes. She made sure they each had a desirable amount on them, the strong smell of the kerosene mixing up with the stench that oozed out from them, making the air feel heavier.
Then, as she reached the chair where she had kept the black bag, she paused and picked up the bag, tucking it under her arm before resuming her kerosene pouring.
Soon, she was done and after making sure the entire place was well soaked, she walked to the front entrance, poured the last of the kerosene over the doorstep, and then tossed the empty keg inside.
“This is it,” she muttered and took a step back, preparing to light up the place.
She pulled out the matchbox, took one stick and struck it against the box.
Immediately, it sparked and without hesitation, she threw it inside, watching as the fire came alive, and spread rapidly across the floor. It even moved faster than she had expected, and it was perfect.
Soon, the bodies, the chairs, every single thing started burning, and she took a step back, watching as the fire burned the place that had felt like safety to her in such a short time.
Giving it one last look, Kira turned and walked away, and then…
BOOM.
A sudden burst of flames as something exploded inside.
It wasn’t even up to ten minutes, and she could already hear the distant sound of voices.
Knowing the villagers would be coming soon, she ran into the woods, not wasting a second.
She had no idea where she was going or where the path she took would lead her; all she knew was that she needed to get far away from that place and settle somewhere.
Meanwhile unknown to her as she ran, new plants sprung from where her tears had hit the ground.