Winter rubbed her chin, allowing Lucas' words to sink in. The man he saw on the scene had to have been the hypnotic. "What did he look like?" Lucas glanced towards the door, "I don't know. I never saw his face." Winter pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes, thinking. The girl who distracted Sam fit the description of an instigator, which meant that it all led back to the headmaster. Since it was he who orchestrated the mock wars. Lucas walked up to her, brushing her hair out of her eye, "Ali I know you know." Winter blinked, "What? I don't know what you're." He cut her off, "We're twins. I'm the one person that you can't hide anything from." Lucas pulled her into a tight hug and Winter sighed, "Don't tell anyone." Lucas looked at her, "You're going to try to break the spell first." He took a step back, "Who else have you told?" Winter narrowed her eyes at him, "Just Leo." An unknown emotion was hidden in his expression, "I agree with your decision to keep it a secret." Winter studied him without saying anything else. He stared back. There were so many things she wanted to ask him, but now was not the right time. Instead, Winter made sure the coast was clear before she pulled the hood of her cloak back over her head and left the room.
On her way back to Leo's dorm, Winter replayed the story of the second mock war in her mind to see if there were any significant details she'd missed. She turned to face the direction of the headmaster's wing. She had to find the connection. Something about it all didn't sit right with her. Winter's head throbbed as she glanced down at her ring. She had to find out what.
When she got to the dorm, a fly began buzzing around her face. Winter swat it away. The moment she did, Xae materialized in front of her. "Sorry," she smiled coyly. Xae lowered his head, "I have news." Winter gestured and he said, "Mandy was hurt." Winter's eyes widened as the words reached her ears, "What?" Xae kept his eyes downcast, "A few moments ago a monster attacked her. She's resting in the infirmary now." Winter sprinted out the door thinking, "Please be okay."
Mandy laid on the bed silently as Layla leaned over her. Winter approached them. Layla gasped, "Winter?" Winter walked to the bed and grabbed Mandy's hand gently, "Tell me what happened." Layla looked down, "We went for a walk through the halls in the east wing and we were attacked by monsters." Layla lifted the sleeve of her shirt showing giant gashes in her arm that looked like claw marks, "One of them bit Mandy's leg." Winter grinded her teeth. A healer scurried in, "Excuse me." Winter stepped to the side as the healer moved the blanket that was over Mandy, displaying the teeth marks in her leg. Mandy winced. The healer placed her hands over it. Slowly, the wound began stitching itself up. When the healer finished, she approached Layla. She crossed her arms and said, "I don't need it." Winter scoffed, pulling up the arm of Layla's sleeve. The healer immediately got to work as Layla glared at Winter. She shrugged, "I'm not going to let you stay hurt because of your pride. You both got attacked. It was an accident. No one would blame you." Winter gestured her hand towards Mandy, "I'm sure Mandy doesn't." Mandy looked at Layla with a loving smile and Layla relented. The healer bowed and left the room. Mandy sat up, "Since you went into hiding, it seems like there have been more and more monsters." Winter furrowed her eyebrows, "Have there been any other attacks?" Mandy shook her head and Winter contemplated the significance of the monsters acting out in aggression. She turned to leave and Mandy pulled her onto the bed and into a hug, "When are you coming back?" Winter hugged her tight, "Soon." When she pulled away she surveyed her friends, "I'll come and find you when I can." They nodded and she left the room.
Winter ran into Leo in the hallway and motioned her head. They made their way back to his dorm. "I know Mandy got attacked." Winter blinked, "How?" He met her gaze, "I watched it happen." He grabbed a piece of paper with Lucas' drawings and pointed to the tall one with eyes all over its body, "It was that one and two other monsters neither of you described before." Leo sat down at the desk and drew them. One of them stood on four legs and looked like a mix between a wolf and a dragon. The other one was the teller. Winter pointed aggressively at the second image, "You saw this?" Leo nodded, tilting his head, "It was there with the monsters that attacked Mandy and Layla." It worked with other monsters? Why was it interfering with the timeline again? Winter gnawed on her thumb nail. His eyes remained on hers, "We have to do something." She needed to orchestrate a plan with her friends in order to find out more about the monsters during the trip. Staying in hiding didn't give them many opportunities to talk. Winter stretched, cracking her knuckles as Leo eyed her. She stripped off her cloak, "It's time to get caught."
Winter strolled through the halls nonchalantly, undisguised. Suddenly, two of the shadow men appeared in front of Winter, "Come with us." Winter rolled her eyes, "I was expecting more action when you found me. How anticlimactic." She followed them to an unfamiliar hallway. They shoved her into one of the rooms. Winter fell to her knees and looked up to see Della towering above her, "Winter Knight. You finally decided to grace us with your presence." Winter grinned, "Well I thought it would be rude to keep you waiting any longer." One of the shadow men backhanded her across the face. Winter tasted a pang of iron in her mouth. When she spat, blood splattered on the ground. Della yanked Winter's hair back, forcing her to look up, "How did you do it?"