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Another hit. More, coming heavy and fast.

Opening her eyes she was greeted by beads of rain. The sky opened, pouring its abundance angrily. The drops were sharp against her tender skin. Sitting up, she blinked against the curtain of raindrops.

It was pitch black but for the light of the moon. The torches were bare of any ember or glowing flames as she remembered them.

She scanned the circle hastily, as if scrambling for something. A thought just on the edge of her memory, a shape murky and out of reach.

There was no one there but her. The large rock was bare. All seven platforms were empty.

“Vera,” a voice called out of the dark.

“Teddi?” She spun. “Teddi?” She called louder, unable to see her.

“FBI!” “Get down on the ground!” “Federal agents!” The mixture of voices cut through the night, startling her. Flashlights danced wildly as they emerged from the forest, cutting through the rain and across her face.

Reaching up to cover her eyes from the burn of light, her hand moved too fast, expecting more weight to be in it than there was.

“Oh God.” Memories floated up like a body that wouldn't stay sunk. She’d been holding… holding… what? She’d been standing over Sheriff Malis’ body and she... she’d watched the women beat him, cut him, slice him apart until he was mangled and begging for a swift death. She’d been in the circle and Elaine said something. “There’s nothing shameful about wanting power, Vera. You just have to stop fearing it enough to realize that it was within you all along.” In a heave, all of the air left Vera’s lungs like she was punched in the gut. She handed her the knife.

A heavy hand landed on her shoulder, shoving her to the ground with enough force to rattle her bones. Vera could feel nothing. Not the stabbing of grass against the skin of her cheek nor the rain soaking through her shirt.

Had she killed him? Had she stabbed Sheriff Malis? He wasn’t there. No one was there. Looking at the ground by the rock, she found it turned to plain mud. Empty of the pile they made of his appendages.

“What…” she murmured breathlessly.

“Stay down.” Someone barked the words into her ear but the metallic bite of handcuffs never came.

Had he deserved it? She thought of what Lizbeth said about Sylen. How it was so accustomed to violence that it was in the ground, in their blood. What the women went through day after day, year after year, and generation after generation. They were violated, beaten, robbed, raped, belittled, devalued. There was no justice for them inside the confines of the law and they accepted that. The black of Sylen wasn’t just a geological anomaly, it was showing her what Sylen was at its core. It was rotted and vile and it needed to be cleansed.

“Let her up, right now.” Like being yanked from deep sleep Vera heard someone call her name and tried to follow it back to steady ground.

Mackey. Mackey was there, pulling her up as the weight abated from her back.

“Mackey, what’s happening?”

“You two, get her to the ambulance, now.” It was an order. Vera turned to find her pointing down at someone a few feet away.

“Teddi.” J knelt beside her, speaking quietly. There was a long cut along her cheekbone where blood mixed with dirt. An agent’s flashlight settled on her. She was covered in a mixture of black and red from top to bottom. Her clothes were tattered, as if they’d been burned. Flesh could be seen across her belly, sternum, and shoulder.

FBI agents in dark jackets swarmed the area, their lights moving around the entirety of the glade. A large circle of them hovered nearby. They were staring at the rock.

“Where is it?” A baritone voice asked.

“No idea. Intel said they were here,” A woman remarked. The rustle of jackets sounded as they walked around it, around her. She didn’t recognize any of them.

“Vera?” Sam’s face came into view as she nearly came nose-to-nose with her. “Holy fuck, are you ok? That was…”

“Be quiet.” Mackey’s tone was biting, cutting off the teen. “Keep your mouth closed until I come and find you, do you understand?” She spoke too quietly for the agents to hear. A shocked nod was all she got in return.

Before Vera could ask, she was being pulled away and out of the circle.

“We’ll talk, just not here. C’mon.” When she kept tripping over her own feet, staring back at Teddi, Mackey’s tone softened. “She’s alright, I already checked on her. Just some superficial wounds.” Mackey was about to walk them through the tree line when Vera heard two people talking.

"What the hell is that?" The agent’s lights pointed at the trees as they stepped closer.

"It looks like someone carved it into the tree with some kind of tool."

"How many are there?"