*Bez Soznaniya Krasa* Mistik Refuge (BurningWillows & Georgie_Leech)

Derek found his way back to the cafeteria at the same time Taryn did. She looked tired, sudden bags appearing under her eyes, and she dragged herself along. He took it was a side effect from stress but he still felt obligated to ask if she was okay.

She blinked, looking surprised that he was standing in front of her beside the doors into the cafeteria.

"Uh, yeah. Just a lot on my mind, you know?"

He nodded, agreeing with her. As they walked in, he immediately spotted Drew sitting at one of the tables in a sea of empty ones, and herded Taryn towards him.


A smile crept onto his face as he stood over the body, blood smearing his bare arms. Blood pooled around her body, tainting her perfect blonde hair. She'd been so easy...too easy. Alas she was just a pawn to a bigger prize. A symbol of what was to come.

He admired his handiwork a few minutes longer, letting the pool grow until it almost reached his shoes. One step back. Another minute of admiring. Then another step back. Finally he turned and stalked away, clutching the bloodied saw in his left hand as he pulled out a cell phone from his back pocket.

Three easy buttons. Two rings. Then a females voice came on, asking what the emergency was.

He took on a shaking breathless tone, "There's a body. I found a body."

"Sir can you give me the address?"

"Outside Toronto...it's at my condo complex...there's blood everywhere. Oh god!"

"Sir I need the exact address."

He rambled off the name of the complex and hung up before she could respond. Dropping the phone on the ground, he crushed it under his foot before picking the pieces up and carrying them to his car. Tossing them and the saw in the trunk, he climbed in and drove off, the sounds of sirens already blaring in the distance.

This should drag them out.

*NOTE: Georgie_Leech's post. Computer failure, using my account to post until fixed*


Mor started when he heard the door to the mess hall open. With everything he had to worry about, his first reaction was that the dryads had come early to get the drop on them. Quickly though, he realized it was just Derek returning. To his suprise, Taryn followed behind. Drew had worried that the stress would have triggered one of her powers, and that she would be long gone. He noted that she did look exhausted and pale, but that could be for any number of reasons and he didn't have the patience to ask and find out.

The start helped shake Mor out of his thoughts. He took stock of himself; holding himself still and not letting himself act on his fear and anger had left him stiff and tense, like a coiled spring. His hands ached from clenching, and he realized his eyes were wide and starring, like a cornered animal. In short, he was a wreck. He made an attempt at a grin as the two approached, though in truth it came out rather bleak, more as a grimace than anything.

"I don't suppose either of you have had any good ideas? I haven't been able to come up with much."

Not nothing though. As an awkward silence stretched, Mor took a deep breath.

"Actually there is one thing. I need you to do one more thing, Derek. When the dryads get here, I can't do the talking."

Derek listened intently, nodding along, “You need me to do the talking? I can do that. And Drew...don't worry too much, okay? We have to remember she is tougher than she looks, she can do this. Remember they are in their element here, but so is she. If given the chance, she’ll make a run for the woods. And if she does, I’ll need you or Taryn to follow her, while I keep the dryads at bay. Okay Drew? Taryn?... Taryn?”

Taryn had her head down, her mouth set in a frown as she stared at her phone. Derek had to call her name twice more before she finally looked up. She blinked at him confused for a second then held her phone up.

“We may have another problem,” Taryn handed her phone directly to Derek, chewing her lip as her eyes moved to Drew, “Another body showed up…but it’s different.”

“How so?” Derek asked warily, skimming the article on Taryn’s phone, "And is it really important now?"

“Blonde girl bled out in a parking lot in a condo complex, and it looks creepily like Nina.”

Derek could see it: platinum blonde hair, pale skin, tall, thin body. Her eyes were closed to hide the fact they weren't gold. Around her was a pool of blood, and Derek could see several knife marks covering the body. He reread the article and his breath caught, catching the address.

“This is my condo complex,” he explained, “This happened right outside where I live. Shit, this is a threat.”

“That's what I thought. And she isn't on the list either,” Taryn continued, “I memorized the names, and they identified her…but she isn't on the list Jess constructed. He killed a human.”

“He’s challenging himself,” Derek sighed, pinching his temples, “Normal serial killer M.O…he is getting bored so he’s changing his routine, trying to add a challenge to himself. Fuck, why now?”

“Well what are we going to do?” Taryn asked, exasperated, “We don’t know how he found this girl, or why, other than to target Katerina. And she is in enough trouble already!”

A headache was starting to grow between his eyes, “This happened only this morning. Drew the crime scene is probably still there. If we left now, we might find something…but we can’t go because of the fae.”

“I can go,” Taryn offered, looking sure of herself, “You two can handle them, and I’ll sneak into the complex. There isn't much else I can do here. Drew?”

Mor said goodnight and softly closed the door behind him. He suspected that after today, Nina wouldn't want to be alone and would ask Derek to stay. Sure enough the door remained shut.

Before he himself could sleep, Mor had a few housekeeping tasks. He made a call to the number Aras had left on file and reached an answering machine. A quick message was left stating the "little wolf" was back safe and sound. Aras didn't need to come into work due to the temporary closure, and he assured that the kitchen would remain clean while he and those staying at the refuge used it.

That done, Mor descended the stairs to his basement office. Once inside, he checked his bonsai to see that it was in good condition. It wasn't a conscious choice on his part; doing so had been a matter of habit for some time now. Satisfied as to it's health, Mor booted up his computer to make an adjustment to his new website. Rather than tinker with the new design, he simply redirected traffic from the main page to a much simpler page. A blank background with a generic construction and repair image, caption with an error message. Normally this was the error page that displayed when there was a bug, but Mor altered it to read "Mistik Refuge temporarily closed, try again later".

Mor would have preferred to invite everyone back immediately, but aside from making his guests feel safe again so quickly being highly unlikely, he couldn't afford the distraction. The refuge will just have to wait.

Mor returned to his cabin and mechanically got ready for bed. At first it seemed he would quickly fall asleep. When his head hit the pillow though, he started to shake. Mor had nearly lost everything today. Katerina had been abducted, and he'd been powerless to do anything about it. She could've been killed easily, and all to get to him. Her stubbornness, the way she never shied from reality, even as it scared her; it could have all vanished in an instant. And then he'd been given a chance to save her, take her place, and he'd fought against it. He'd antagonized her kidnappers, threatened them, escalated the situation, and risked her life. All for what? So he didn't have to go with them? Was his disgust and fear so great that they came first? Did his anger have such a strong hold on him that Katerina didn't matter?

Did he have any right to call himself her friend?

On top of everything else, it seemed his father was still a big factor in his life. Despite everything he'd done to avoid it, this man was still affecting him, still influencing the world around him. In hindsight, it was easy to see that Mor hadn't just been running from his father's legacy, but from the dryad in himself. Moving across the country, living underground, trying to disassociate himself from who he was had all been in vain. Oraien made one decision in a world not quite part of this one, and still the ripple effects turned his life upside down. Could he really do anything to stop that, or was he doomed to end up under Oraien's thumb regardless? That possibility frightened him more than he cared to admit.

There was a part of him that was tired running, that wanted to fight back. To do whatever he could to upset his father's plans. This terrified him more; that urge to break free from the fae had let him justify doing horrible thing to so many. Even the fact that he'd saved one of them, Nina, couldn't absolve him of those sins. He'd been telling himself all along that it wasn't just for him, that his research could save others. In the wake of everything that had transpired tonight though, such an argument rang hollow. If he gave into that urge to fight, what more would he sacrifice in its pursuit to ending all this? Would he give up his morals again? Risk Nina, Taryn, and Derek? Or worse, would he use them? Take advantage of their friendships and use it as a tool to attack his father? Like pawns for his own selfish ends.

Just as his father had done.

It was uneasy dreams Mor had all night. Dreams filled with bloody thorns, dead wolves, and hideous, mocking laughter.


The next morning came and Katerina still hadn't gotten a second of sleep. After Derek had passed out beside her she moved to perch at the end of the bed for a while, then tip toed to the balcony. For hours she stared at the stars, replaying the last few weeks in her head, just to make sense of it all. When the sun began to rise, she stirred from her statuesque state. Without thinking much on it, she climbed over the railing and jumped, landing perfectly on her feet. The height would have broken several bones in any normal human, but her werewolf strength and healing made it easy for her to fall from a second story building without so much as pulling a muscle.

Barefoot, Katerina walked through the dewy grass, heading towards the familiar trail at the edge of the refuge, not sure where she was heading. As she stepped onto the trail twigs and rocks scrapped her feet, but it didn't slow her stride. She continued on, stopping at the beautiful waterfall only to Change. It came quickly, her body desperate to return to its preferred form. She lay there after, feeling the spray of water on her back as the sun rose. After a few minutes Nina continued onward, deep into the forest. At some point she lost the trail, continuing on straight, feeling the warm sun slowly creep up her back as it rose. The deeper she got, the more relaxed she felt, as if the farther she strode from civilization, the safer she was.

Eventually she stumbled on another trail, and turned left, following it up a short hill. Knowing by now she was lost in the forest, and not caring a bit, she followed the trail until it opened to a small parking lot, which led to a road. Nina stuck to the trees, so no one would spot a tall, sinowy white wolf loping around. The sun had fully risen now, and she knew Derek and the others would be awake soon, and panic if she was not there. Picking the direction she thought the refuge would be in, she followed along the road, hidden by the forest.

She didn't recognise this road at first, but soon enough she hit a familiar T-intersection, where if Katerina turned right she'd find the highway. She continued forward, knowing now she was heading in the right direction.

She was almost at Mistik's driveway when she stopped and crouched down. Across the street and a few trees ahead was a car that had been pulled off the side of the road. There was no sound of the engine, and no lights flashing, but the smell of gasoline still hung in the air, meaning it had only arrived in the past few minutes. However, Katerina couldn't see anyone in the driver's seat, no anywhere in the car. Creeping forward with her belly flat to the ground, she got as close as she dared and still saw no one.

It's too close to Mistik. Even if it is just a coincidence, I can't let my guard down.

Backing up until she was completely masked by the trees, she continued to the driveway, keeping silent and hidden. Her eyes never left the gravel road beside her as she walked parallel to it towards Mistik, all the while worried for Drew, Derek, and Taryn. When the clearing opened up ahead of her she felt her breath release, as if she had thought something terrible had happened in the hour or two she was gone.

Just because the clearing is empty, doesn't mean nothing happened.

Weary, Nina made a wide arc around the clearing, until she came upon Drew's cabin, fortunately nestled near the trees. Able to get up close without risking exposure to the whole clearing, she looked in through one of the windows at the back of the cabin. Sure enough, Drew was inside...asleep.

Do I wake him? What if it's nothing? But what if it is definitely something, and I fuck up again?

Her nose was pressed up against the cold glass, making two little circles of breath on the window pane. She pulled away and pushed her paws on the spots instead, letting her nails hit the glass. Sliding them down, they made a terrible scratching nose that irritated her ears. Inside, she could see Drew stirring, the sound penetrating whatever dream he had.

Suddenly a loud shattering sounded through the clearing, making Nina jump. Jumping back into the brush, she snuck around till the refuge was in her sights again and looked around. What could have made that noise?

She counted the windows in the main building, looking for a break. Nothing. the second floor also looked untouched. The sound had been far enough away too, that Nina knew it hadn't been any windows in the cabin. A small shadow caught her eye, darting between Derek and Drew's vehicles. The cars!

Not brave enough to venture into the clearing, she arched her way around the clearing again, back to the driveway which was the closest vantage point she had to the vehicles. Sure enough, the front right window in Derek's SUV was smashed into, glass lying everywhere. The shadow she saw had to be the whoever tried to break into the vehicle, and might also own the idled car on the road.

Again she scanned the clearing, now looking for moving shapes. Already she was growing weary of playing this game, and exhaustion had finally decided to start nudging its way into her brain.

Focus...keep focusing-THERE!

Around the right side of the main building she could make out a figure crouching in the shade, looking around. Her stomach dropped and her heart stopped as the figure's head slowly twisted in her direction and stopped...looking straight at her. Katerina flattened herself to the ground, her heart now pounding as she tried to convince herself he couldn't see her. But the figure stood and stepped into the light, a gleaming wicked smile on his face.

He was tall, like Derek, with broad shoulders and thick muscular arms. The rest of his body followed suit, making him looked like a he'd spent too many days in the gym, looking for that perfect body. His hair was shaved, his face clean cut, so all she could focus on was his dark eyes, staring directly back at her. He had a pretty face with high cheekbones and a square jaw, although age had sketched in a few wrinkles on his forehead. His face seemed familiar somehow, like she had seen it once before, but attributed that to his ordinary features she had seen on a hundred men in Toronto.

The man continued forward, passing the vehicles and getting within a few feet of her before moving along the driveway. As he got close his eyes strayed, and for a moment she thought he hadn't actually seen her.

"White doesn't camouflage, Katerina."

His words knocked the breath from her throat as it constricted and her stomach twisted in knots. He continued walking though, not even looking back. It didn't matter though; there was no way she'd attack him without help. This was him, this was the killer.

This man wanted to murder her.

He continued forward and she stayed rooted to her spot. When he was almost out of hearing distance he spoke again, "I don't normally play games, but you, little wolf need to learn your simply a toy. Follow me now, or that siren your about to hear won't save them in time."

From the clearing a wail suddenly blasted, filling the forest with the screeching sound of a fire alarm. Katerina's hair stood up on end, her body jolting to get up and find her friends. But his warning also rang loudly in her head. She knew his capabilities, knew without a doubt this man had the means to do as he threatened. Getting to her feet she stumbled into the driveway, pushing herself to follow the man, even though every step took her away from Mistik.

Mor shifted and woke, breathing hard and still half in the dream. For a moment, he felt the ivy binding him, lying on a bed of thorns, before he could get his bearings. He blinked, and his familiar room slowly reasserted itself. His bed was once more just a bed, and his restraints became his tangled bed sheets. The memory of the dream was fading. Mor was glad of that, as his breathing steadied. What a nightmare. He felt exhausted, as if instead of sleeping, he had been running through the night. Glancing at his clock, he realised it was about time for him to wake up. He wanted nothing more than to return to sleep, nightmares or no.

Perhaps it was some aftereffect of his dreams, but Mor had the nagging sense that something was wrong, or that he was being watched. He wasn't sure what it was; there was nothing obvious. He checked for his bonsai, before remembering he had left it in his office. A look out the window proved equally fruitless. There wasn't anything he could see in the trees, and the front window looked onto the empty main grounds. He almost thought he saw something moving at the corner of his vision, but he couldn't find it when he looked for it. Must have been my imagination.

The feeling wouldn't go away however, so Mor got out of bed and dressed, ready to go to the main lodge. As he was walking there however, he heard a faint sound, like breaking ice. It took Mor a moment to understand the implications. Or breaking glass. Shit! He broke out into a sprint, running to the lodge. He didn't see any broken glass or windows, but that didn't rule out it being on the other side of the building. As he fumbled for his keys to unlock the door, he worried about what was happening. Who would break in here? Could it be the serial killer? What are they hoping to accomplish? Nina is probably still vulnerable, though Derek is there... It's also possible they're after Taryn, to finish the job. Or...

My bonsai is in here.

Mor thought furiously as he opened the door. If the serial killer was here, he had to figure out where to go first. His every instinct was to rush to his bonsai, to protect himself. He couldn't give into that urge though. Making the wrong choice could get himself or one of the others killed. As much as he wanted to save himself, the others were just as important. Nina, Taryn, or the bonsai? They're on different floors, so I can't check them all at once. Nina is a fighter, but she's likely exhausted after yesterday, and Derek is an unknown element. Come to think of it, they could be after Derek, as another werewolf and to make getting to the rest of us more easily. They're both a definite possibility. Taryn isn't much of a fighter, but she excels at escaping, so far all her powers have been geared towards that. If it comes down to that, she could probably get away, just as she did before. And for my bonsai... well, if they have that, I'm screwed anyway. I can't do a thing to stop them from hurting me. Nina first then. He grabbed a key for her room and charged up the stairs, calling for her. He didn't care about the noise he was making; maybe it would spook the killer and they'd take off.

When he reached Nina's room, he didn't see three things. The first was the serial killer, which made him simultaneously sigh in relief for Nina, and worry that he had chosen wrong. The second was any sign of forced intrusion. The door was still locked and in fine condition, the balcony door was shut, no windows were broken.

The third was Nina. Derek was still in the bed, but Nina was nowhere to be found. Mor's heart nearly stopped. He rushed to Derek as somewhere in the building, a fire alarm started ringing. He shook Derek awake. "Where's Nina? Come on Derek, wake up! Where's Nina?!" Panic had crept into his voice, and it was working its way into the rest of him.

Derek was woken by Drew's panicked voice and a ringing noise. He rolled over, hoping it was a dream. The voice got louder and he groaned, patting at his side to where Nina should be.

"Little wolf," he mumbled, "Wake up. Drew's in a panic."

He couldn't feel her and he cracked open an eye. Beside him the bed lay cold and empty. What...where? He sat up, rubbing sleep from his eyes as he noticed the ringing noise wasn't in his ears either. Finally he opened both eyes, trying to gain focus on the chaos erupting around him.

"Drew," Derek cut in, "What is that noise? What the hell is happening?"


Katerina didn't know what to expect when they reached the end of the driveway. He could beat her and throw her in his trunk, effectively kidnapping her. Or he could just kill her here, on the road, and make it look like a accident. No one would bat an eye to a wolf being hit by the car. And Katerina wouldn't return to a human form once dead. You die a wolf, you stay a wolf.

They made it to the end of the driveway but he kept going, towards the car. Katerina kept a wide berth, pausing in the middle of the road when he got within arm's reach of the driver's door.

Suddenly a breeze came upwind and the smell of burnt leather and smoke caught her nose. It was coming from the refuge.

Katerina had the choice; follow him and risk her friends...or run from him and risk her friends. Neither choice had a positive outcome. Her paws dug into the ground as she halted, trying to make up her mind. The stranger only looked at her with amusement, as if he knew what she was thinking.

He leaned into the car and when he straightened he had a gun.

Nina stepped back, looking either way down the road. No cars...good, she thought. She circled around his car, trying to make it hard for him to aim. It left her on the opposite side of the road from the driveway, but she had to trust her friends to get themselves out if there was a big enough fire.

"Don't play games," he snapped, aiming at her, "Get away from the trees."

His plan was kidnapping or a staged roadkill. If she raced into the trees, he risked the chance of misfiring. But then she'd be leaving Drew, Derek, and Taryn vunerable to him.

He came out here for you. He's been on the hunt...for you. Would he really let you slide for the others? No, his pride wouldn't let him loose his prey.

Without giving anything away she dropped and rolled, sliding into the brush. Jumping up she danced between a few trees, hearing the loud popping sounds as the gun went off three times. She dodged all three bullets and wedged herself between two trees, peeking above a bush at him. His eyes were scanning for her, having lost her in the commotion.

"Have it your way then," he yelled, looking pissed, "Let's see how fast you can run."

He shouldered the gun, then locked his car and started walking away. She thought he was baiting her, until the strong smell of gasoline hit her like a slap in the face.

Der'mo.

She bolted, running blindly only seconds before the car caught on fire then blew, catching the trees. From there she knew the fire would spread quickly, engulfing the forest. Drew, Derek, and Taryn? They were on their own now. She hoped they could get out on their side of the forest. Because she was in deep trouble on hers.

Mor was starting to panic. "I don't know. It's- It has to be one of the fire alarms. There's a fire somewhere." He turned and ran out the door, calling back, "Get up, quickly, if it's in the building we need to get out. Move!" He had always hated fires, and the thought of being in a burning terrified him.

Nina was gone, Derek was safe, next was Taryn. Mor ran to Taryn's door before realising that in his haste he had only grabbed the key for Nina's room, and that his master key was still in his office. He cursed, and pounded on her door. "Taryn! Are you in there? It's Drew, something's going on, you need to wake up!"

She rushed to the door, unlocking and flinging it open midknock, staring at a wide eyed Drew.

"Don't just stand there!" she barked, pushing him back as she raced through the door, "I'm not getting trapped in another burning building! C'mon!"

She took the lead as Derek bolted out of his room too and the three of them descended the stairs like a maddened stampede, rushing to get outdoors. Taryn didn't pause to make sure they kept up; she surged forward until she was through the glass doors, and then well into the parking lot before she dropped her hands on her knees and wheezed for air.

"What's happening?" she coughed between labored breaths, "and where's Katerina?"


Derek bolted out of his room in time to see the brunette head of Taryn flying past him, quickly followed by Drew's blonder mess. He followed them down the wooden steps, keeping pace with Taryn as they beelined for the front door. He heard Drew yell something about his office, and for them to keep going, so they surged forward. Neither him nor Taryn slowed till they were well into the parking lot, when Taryn paused and knelt over to catch her breath, and Derek looked back for Drew. Derek's heart hadn't even gone up a notch, although a knot in his stomach was growing with every passing second he didn't see Nina.

"I don't know where she is," he replied mostly to himself, running his fingers through his hair, "Maybe she went for a run. She'll hear all the racket and come back. Or maybe it spooked her and she high tailed it out of here. I need to track her...Taryn. Taryn? You okay?"

She nodded, looking paler and more terrified than she had moments before. He explained quickly his thoughts on tracking down Katerina, and she agreed, while also agreeing she'd sit tight in the parking lot for Drew, and they'd wait for Derek to return. He left her there and circled the clearing, watching for signs of fire or the smell of smoke. Finally he caught a whiff of Katerina behind Drew's cabin. Bending down to sniff the ground he caught the heavier musk of her wolf form. Derek could track in his human form, but his tracker skills weren't as honed as Nina's; every few feet he lost her trail and had to back track again. She had stuck to the woods and he kept his head down, smelling and bending to sniff until finally he broke from the clearing.

He was a few steps into the driveway leading to Mistik Refuge. Her scent wandered away from it, but it was still fresh, as if she had only been there minutes prior. Following the trail, again it took him agonizing minutes but he finally got to the main road, only to feel his heart stop in its tracks. Across the road the forest danced with fire, the hot flames licking up the trees. Her trail headed straight into the wildfire, telling him not only was she in trouble, but they were about to have a natural disaster on their hands.

Fear gripped him for Nina and he turned and bolted back towards the refuge, needing to get Drew and Taryn to safety, fast.

Derek was safe for the moment, and so was Taryn. Mor, however, still needed to get to his bonsai, and he was growing increasingly worried that the serial killer could have somehow known about it. "You two, get to the parking lot! There's something I need from my office!" At first, he had considered asking for their help. He reconsidered after a moment's thought. If the killer is in there... There won't be anything I, or anyone else, can do. If he's going to kill me, I'd rather those two not see it.He ran down the stairs two at a time, grabbing his office key from his pocket. In his haste to get the door open, he was too unsteady and dropped the key twice. On his third try, he got the door open.

To his relief, Mor's bonsai was right where he left it on his desk. There wasn't anyone else in the room, and he quickly snatched it up. His relief didn't last long though. Everyone in the building was accounted for, but Nina was missing. To Mor, that was a clear indication that the killer was still after her, and might have already gotten to her. He rushed up the stairs and outside, hoping to find Derek and Taryn so they could find her.

Before he left though, he stopped by the phone on the front desk, planning to call 9-1-1. He could only hope that the killer hadn't thought to cut the phone line.

Derek got back to the parking lot just as Drew exited the refuge, tiny tree in hand.

"You went back for that?" he asked, confused, "I thought you were going to call the cops or something."

They didn't have time for him to wait for an answer so he pressed forward, "We got to get out of here...now! There is a forest fire coming our way. I don't know what is on fire here, but it won't compare to the what's coming."

"And I found Nina," he continued, leading them to his SUV, "I don't know why she was outside, but she got caught in the fire, and couldn't come back. She's probably far off now, running from the flames. I hope."