Charlie watched as Kleoff fell to the ground, time seemed to have slowed and his hearing dulled. Almost as if he was forced to only focus on what was happening in front of him. He gritted his teeth and felt the muscles of his entire body contract and expand.

  His heart beating faster than what he would like and his breathing was rigid and quick, similar to that of a wolf. Charlie's mind turned empty aside with the sole purpose of attacking Nolan.

  The pain from his stomach seemed to have disappeared, he stared at Nolan at first before deciding to charge towards him. Still blinded by anger, Charlie didn’t have any plans, he merely ran straight through their assailant with only his emotions with him.

  Nolan on the other hand seemed to have noticed this, He slowly turned around and faced him with a smile.

  Charlie wound up for a punch but when he finally closed the distance Nolan just stepped to his side completely avoiding his attack. Nolan then used the knife that was still on his hand to stab Charlie at his side.

  Charlie coughed some blood, feeling his internal organs scream in pain. However instead of showing this he used two of his hands to grab Nolan’s arm that stabbed him, keeping the knife to his side.

  Nolan tried to pull it out however his arm didn't budge, he looked at Charlie and noticed him staring straight at him.

  That moment a gunshot was fired which Nolan Barle was able to dodge, grazing the side of his face.

  It was Adam with his own pistol raised and directly aimed at Nolan who clicked his tongue as he wiped the blood trickling from his cheeks.

  He then signalled the grey to attack Adam by just simply looking at it, it strangely seemed to be able to understand his commands without any verbal cues.

  Adam, noticing the creature’s attention directed toward him , turned to face the winged grey and fired three more shots and before the grey could manage to reach him he was able to land a fatal blow sending the monster to the ground.

  After ensuring the monster was no longer able to fight Adam looked at Kate’s direction to see if she was fine.

  Kate simply nodded as she clutched his own stomach, she seemed unable to move probably due to some broken bones.

  Adam then turned around to Nolan once more as he raised his pistol. He pulled the trigger however to his disappointment all he heard was a click.

  That was when Nolan burst into laughter.

  “It’s useless, there’s nothing you could do“

  Just as he said these words he pulled Charlie closer and hit him with his own head. The impact had made Charlie fall to the ground flat and let go of Nolan's arm, leaving only the knife stuck in his side.

  Nolan was still laughing as he walked towards Adam.

  He seemed to be taking his time, feeling that he had already won.

  Adam thought he actually might have, they might have underestimated him.

  Just as Nolan took another step he paused, he turned to his back and realized that Charlie was holding on to his leg.

  Nolan looked at him and felt something strange, something stirring and for a flicker of a moment he saw Charlie with green eyes.

  Nolan blinked and when he looked again it seemed to have returned black. That’s when he felt something sharp poking through leg.

  Charlie's glove seemed to have been punctured by his own nails, revealing grey fingers with sharp claws.

  Surprised Adam kicked him in his face but Charlie didn't seem to feel anything, he slowly stood up and tackled Nolan to the ground.

  He then removed his gloves in both of his hands, showing them completely covered with grey crusted skin.

  Nolan pushed him to the side rolling as he stood upright. Charlie however did not do the same, his back stayed hunched and his eyes seemed to reflect shades of green.

  His hat had fallen off during the brawl but he didn't seem to notice it, his entire attention was only focused on Nolan.

  Adam was watching as it happened, he had to stop Charlie before he crossed a line he couldn't return, he didn’t know what caused his change to speed up but he was sure he had to stop it.

  “Charlie!” He shouted.

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  However Charlie didn't seem to notice nor recognize the name, he simply stared at Nolan baring his now sharp teeth.

  Nolan burst into laugher

  “he no longer hears you- In fact he probably don't remember you, look at him”

  Adam did, the grey skin hasn't completely enveloped his entire body aside his hands and arms but the way charlie act and move don't feel the same at all, if anything it feels that of an animal, something that works solely on instinct.

  Charlie produced a low growl before charging at Nolan once more, he used his hands to launch himself forward similar to a way a cheetah runs.

  In almost an instant Charlie managed to close the distance and scratch Nolan however despite his fury of strikes Nolan seemed to be dodging every single one of them and landing counters every now and then.

  Charlie on the other hand took these hits head on, he dont seem to feel pain. Adam thought he probably doesn't realize the knife still pierced at his stomach.

  Hits after hits and Charlie kept attacking Nolan but he was the only one getting exhausted.

  Charlie stopped and took a deep breath, just then he looked down and noticed the knife stabbed to his side. He gripped it with his grey hands and plucked it out, throwing it to the ground.

  “That’s it?”

  As Nolan spoke these words he stepped forward and grabbed Charlie by the neck, lifting him off the ground.

  “too bad i had hoped for more-”

  Before Nolan could even finish what he was saying he caught a figure swiftly approaching behind him.

  He felt a sharp pain on his back as he turned around and realized it was Althea, stabbing him using the knife Charlie had left on the ground.

  Surprised, Nolan had dropped Charlie to the ground and inspected Althea.

  She seemed to be carrying a glass bottle of sorts on one of her hands. The knife however was left plucked at Nolan's back.

  He shot a glance at Charlie who seemed anxious to further attack him.

  Then, he focused on Althea and took a step forward.

  “So you no longer fear me?” Asked Nolan.

  Althea didn't answer, instead she took a small step away from Nolan.

  Her cheeks had a splatter of blood from when he stabbed Nolan and her eyes seemed unable to look directly to their assailant’ eyes.

  “I thought so- you realize all of your efforts give you no progress right?”

  Nolan sighed as he took another step forward.

  “You would lose every one, you already lost your old friends”

  Another step forward.

  “Your help wouldn't make a difference, in fact you should have just ran”

  Another step seemed to echo from the now quiet shore.

  As Nolan took his step forward Althea took a step backwards.

  “When would you all realize?”

  Another step, this time Althea didn't took a step back.

  “You can't win”

  Just as Nolan finished his words Althea raised the bottle, gripping it at its top half and tried to hit Nolan.

  However, Nolan casually caught Althea's arm preventing her from completely hitting him.

  “That's it?”

  Nolan asked with a smirk.

  Althea trembled, she tried to use all her strength but Nolan's hand didn't seem to budge.

  She wasn't even able to pull out her hand nor to run away. For a brief moment she even thought that Nolan was right, that she shouldn't have returned, that she should have ran away instead.

  That's when she heard a gunshot, directly hitting the bottle Althea raised.

  Liquid from the bottle splashed to both Althea and Nolan as the small shards of glass scattered to the ground

  Surprised, Nolan let go of Althea, allowing her to get some distance from Nolan who seemed annoyed.

  He clicked his tongue and turned around to see Adam with his pistol raised.

  “Wouldn't you just give up?”

  Just as Nolan's attention was directed to Adam, Althea used the opportunity to pull a lighter out her pocket and clicked it two to three times before a small fire finally sparked.

  Nolan realized what was happening and was quickly approaching Alhea, however Althea already managed to create some distance that before he could get to close the small flame already hit him.

  His entire body burst it to flames, him completely and charring his already grey skin.

  Althea was almost hit by the flames, her cheeks had been burned but he fortunately didn't catch on fire.

  She fell to her back as she watched Nolan burn screaming. He was still moving towards her despite being on fire.

  Althea immediately tried to stand or at least crawl away, but she was still hit by the flammable liquid that if Nolan got too close she would also be on fire.

  Thankfully, Nolan was no longer as fast as he used to be as Althea managed to run away even picking up her bow and arrows.

  Nolan however continued to march towards them. His features were no longer recognizable but he seemed to still have the strength to charge forward.

  Althea, seeing this, loaded her bow with an arrow.

  She pulled the string as much as her strength could allow her before she finally let go.

  She managed to hit Nolan at his thighs, with the arrow remaining pierced to the burning body.

  Althea then fired another one.

  And another one.

  She drew her bow one last time, the last arrow and released it, this time however was different.

  She aimed directly at Nolan's head.

  The arrow flew, cutting through the air and hitting its target.

  Nolan had stopped moving and his body had fallen to the ground, still set on fire.

  The entirety of his skin had been burned and fire still crackled weakly for a few seconds before slowly dying away.

  Adam sighed, they did it. They have succeeded.

  He kept his pistol back in his jacket and got closer to check Kleoff.

  His breathing was stable and the arm's wound was closing but Adam thought they still needed to bring him to the island.

  Charlie was beside him, he didn't speak nor got too close, he simply stared at them.

  Adam wanted to talk to him, to see if it was still Charlie in front of him but they needed to get Kleoff medical attention.

  Kate was standing, slowly approaching them while clutching her stomach.

  Althea, however, had her back turned away from them, she seemed to be staring at Nolan's dead body.

  Worried, Adam approached to check her, he placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her around only to see that her eyes had turned green.

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