"Look at you. Becoming a werewolf expert already, are we?"
I ignore her, and we keep walking along the seashore. Unlike Liam and his bike, Ben had to park a bit farther away than where we wanted to enter. The docks are privatized, for the most part, making me think this is also the Sea Moon Clan's doing. I keep glancing around, but there are no other wolves in sight. Ben is calmly trotting in front of us too.
As we keep walking, Kelsi is a bit excited to see a part of the city she had never been to before, and we chat about the fish market and the little shops around. It's a nice area, except for the fact that it makes me sick by nature. Finally, I spot Nina's diner and stop.
"This is where we ate. The hangar that got burnt must be in the area..."
Before I can look around, Ben is already one step ahead of us, heading farther down the street. He probably smelled it before us, but now that we've been following him for a few more minutes, I do notice it. The smell of cold ashes. My heart starts beating a bit faster, and I get anxious. I have no idea what I'm going to find there. What am I even looking for?
I bite my thumb, but Kelsi grabs my wrist and gives me a little smile to help me calm down. I feel a bit better because she's here with me, and Ben too. The two of them are so... normal, compared to me. It helps me keep my feet on the ground.
We finally spot a large building, and it really stands out compared to the rest. It's pitch black, although most of the roof seems to have collapsed inward. It has been burnt so badly there's nothing but the studs of the walls, even the metal was scraped, layer by layer, by the flames... The local authorities put a little security perimeter around it, some fencing panels, but it is not much of an issue. As we look around, I can tell even the nearest buildings barely escaped the flames. They have large dark spots, where the flames touched.
Kelsi gasps next to me.
"It looks like that building from the other night... No offense, girl, but I've seen enough fire for a lifetime."
I nod. I had seen the picture from that news website, but it's still more impressive to see in person. There's the horrid smell too. It's clogging the air and so thick, I feel like I'm breathing in a full box of soot. Thankfully, the sea breeze is enough to make it breathable, but still. Even Ben has his ears down, sniffing around the area with a cautious stance. I don't feel too good about this place either.
Kelsi looks around, but the closest buildings are apparently deserted at the moment. They are probably used for storage, there are dozens of boxes and empty fish traps piled up around. There aren't even that many boats on the port, and none near where we are. This seems like a rather isolated area. ...Why would I have come here in the first place? There are no habitations nearby, no real public areas either. Aside from fishermen, I don't know who would come here.
"...Shall we try going inside?"
Kelsi is whispering, and I can see why. This whole burnt building has something rather solemn and intimidating about it. I just can't tell why. Maybe it’s because we both know three people died inside... I can't really forget that information, somehow. I take a deep breath and walk closer to the entrance, ready to go in. Something scares me about going inside that place. Will my memories come back if I do?
As if he could feel me hesitate, Ben suddenly crouches down and squeezes himself under the fencing panels ahead of us to go in. Seeing the red-brown wolf go inside before us gives me a little bit of courage, and Kelsi's grip tightens around my arm too. We help each other climb over the fencing panels, and we quickly step inside. As expected, it’s a bit of a mess in there. With parts of the roof collapsed, we have to be careful to not step on fragile pieces of wood, or make anything collapse even more. It is probably still a dangerous area, as mentioned outside. It's larger than I thought, though. It looks like this was a two-storey building, but I can't see how to get upstairs. It probably wouldn't be a good idea, anyway...
"...So, are we looking for anything specific?" asks Kelsi, still looking a bit worried.
"I have no idea," I sigh. "Let's look for the origin of the fire. They said they couldn't find what started it."
Ben stops and glances at me with his big black eyes, and I can tell exactly what he means even without him speaking. I roll my eyes.
"Ben, from what we know, Clarissa Garnett had no signs of being a Fire Witch before this incident, and there was no Mara either. I want to see if something here can explain what the hell happened."
He growls softly but speeds up inside. Kelsi nods and finally lets go of my arm to start looking around as well.
"It's going to be hard to tell," she sighs. "Everything is charcoal now. I bet even the firemen had to use some specific tools to find any clues about what happened in here..."
I stop.
Well, maybe they are not the only ones with specific tools. My fire had a strange reaction in that other fire already, maybe I can do something here as well? I extend my arms and glance at Kelsi. She knows me well enough by now to back away before I light the fire in my hands.
My flames appear, bright red as usual. I glance around, but of course, nothing really happened just because of that. I have to be careful to not restart another fire in here. I walk ahead, trying to see if I feel something. There is no magic circle here, but there has to be a clue...
Suddenly, I feel it. As if my flame is attracted to one specific point. It's faint, but there's definitely a slight pull, like a magnet on the other side. The problem is, it’s directed toward an area filled with collapsed parts of the roof. Kelsi grimaces next to me too.
"I guess the two of us and Ben can squeeze under there, but–"
"No, let me go alone," I retort. "I'm not going to risk you guys being injured if something falls or collapses. Just stay back, I'll try to clear the path a bit."
Kelsi hesitates but eventually nods. I know she wants to help me, but she's human and she can't be as reckless. Ben, however, already has his snout in a little gap between the pieces of wood, sniffing around and testing it with his front paws.
"Ben, I'll take care of this alone," I protest.
He ignores me and starts grabbing a piece between his fangs to tear it away. I sigh. He's probably going to play deaf... The two of us start pulling the chunks of burnt metal or wood out of the way, careful about the overall structure. Kelsi helps behind us too, trying to push away the pieces to the sides so we don't end up having too much around us. We get a couple of scares as all of the other debris grinds and trembles, but I'm ready to jump to the side or throw some fireballs at any moment. Ben is on alert at all times too, even sending glances to Kelsi's side from time to time, making sure to know where she is.
"Ben. Here."
