Jered wished he could use 'Cleanse', but there was not an ounce of mana left in him. The room was way too messy to clean by using normal methods, and they had around five minutes before Jane realized Jasmine was nowhere to be found, "Come with me," he said, not giving her time to process his words. He just stood up, grabbed her wrist, and dragged her out of the room. As long as they weren't in that butchery, they could wheedle their way out of Jane's suspicion.

He carefully closed the door, locking it for good measure.

The problem was the bloody footprints they left behind. He took his shoes out and scooped Jasmine up in his arms. Though that was just a temporary solution. Her whole body was caked with blood. She was a bit startled, but didn't say anything. Jered turned around the corner and sprinted towards the bathroom. He quickly put her down, "Look. Mom thinks you're in your period. We can use this as an excuse, but you need to collaborate with me. I'll leave now. You close the doors, take your clothes off, and clean yourself. We'll take care of the corpse once mom goes to sleep."

She was still a bit dizzy; nonetheless, she complied.

Jered wiped the sweat off his forehead and walked out. He was tired. Immensely tired. The backlash of using mana when he had barely recovered some were giving him feverish symptoms. Jasmine promptly closed the door. Just in time too. Less than ten seconds later, Jane ghosted in from the corner, a frown on her face. She stared at Jered, and then at the sounds coming off the bathroom, "What's going on?"

"Hm, what do you mean?"

"I've checked the bathroom one minute ago, Jered. One minute. She wasn't here, but now, exactly one minute later, she's showering..." Jane crossed her arms, "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"Not at all, mom. You just missed her..."

"Just missed? The house is not that big. There is no way I didn't see her walking around right under my nose."

"I didn't see her either. Just heard the noises, and came to investigate. Jasmine got both of us fooled, huh?"

She narrowed her eyes, somehow not buying it, "You look... pale. Are you okay?"

"Oh yes, I'm fine... don't worry. What about you though, don't you ha—"

He was interrupted by her hand on his forehead. She hummed, "You're lying, idiot! You have such a high fever! Come with me!"

"No, no, no, mom... I'm fine!"

"You're not!"

"..."

At least he managed to get her attention off of Jasmine.

Jane made him sit down on the couch and slipped a digital thermometer under his tongue, "You know I can do this myself?"

"Shhh!"

"..."

One minute, and a resounding beep later, she pulled it out. She sighed, "Gosh. 38 degrees."

"Mom, I can take care of myself. But don't you have to work tomorrow? You should go catch some winks... I'll take something for the fever and then go to rest, I promise," Jered pointed out. It was deep in the night, and she had to wake up early. He capitalized on that, "Jasmine is fine, she has her tampons and enough knowledge about human anatomy to know how they work. As for me? I'm fine. The ibuprofen is in the first drawer. You don't have to give up on your sleep to mother us. We'll be fine."

She hesitated, but after seeing the determined glint in Jered's eyes, she acquiesced, "Alright..." she ran a hand through his hair, "I'm sorry. Sometimes I forget that you're a growing, mature young man. Hm. Fine. I'll go to sleep. But if you need me for anything, you can wake me up anytime you want," she planted a kiss on his forehead, placed the thermometer back in the drawer, and headed to her room.

Jered loosened out a sigh of relief. As soon as he heard the door of her room click, he dashed upstairs. His harsh movements almost caused him to fall. His mana regeneration had slowed down considerably. Not surprising. Still, he could hardly walk around without staggering. He was drowsy, tired, his bones aching. He wanted to lay down and sleep until the sun went up and then down.

Using the wall for support, he shambled his way to the bathroom, and thumped on the door, "Jasmine..." even his voice was strained. It was definitely a mistake driving over to Kenny. Carter was not much of a threat, while his sister's condition was. Jered should have had the forethought of not leaving a volatile, highly cannibalistic Jasmine alone. He groaned, his legs giving in to exhaustion. He slumped down on the floor, resting against the wall. His mana fever had reached a high pitch.

He was on the brink of passing out.

The noises of Jasmine's showering stopped. A shuffling of feet resounded, then the door was unlocked, "Jered!" she gasped, kneeling in front of him. She didn't have time to clothe herself, so she had hastily coiled a towel over her modesty. She grabbed his wrist, pulled him up, and slung his arm over her shoulders, "Come on, bro... I'll get you to your room. You must be very tired. I'm so sorry!"

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"It's... okay..." he mumbled hazily.

Jasmine caught her lip between her teeth, "It's not okay!" Jered could barely follow her pace, so she had to drag him along. Fortunately, his room wasn't far from the bathroom. She opened the door and helped her brother lay down on his bed. She removed his socks, his jackets, and folded them over a chair, "How are you feeling?"

He blinked, trying to hang on that thin rope of sobriety, "I'm feeling a bit better now. Thank you."

She shook her head, "This is all my fault," she cradled his hand, "I'm really, really sorry... I thought I could have handled it... and for a minute, I was fine. I could control it. B-But then my head hurt, and I could hear its voice, Jered. The Shadow. I could hear it!"

"..."

"The Shadow said some bad stuff. It said I could get whatever I wished as long as I listened to it. As long as I fed myself with human flesh..." Jasmine squeezed his hand, staring at the floor. Even in his sleep-laden state, Jered was not oblivious to the guilt dripping off her eyes. Why? Because Jasmine, for some reason, had listened to the Shadow.

He knew that she wouldn't be able to handle an 'It's too late now. There's nothing I can do.'

It was like an unwilling human-turned-vampire feasting on fresh blood for the first time. If you do taste it, you'd be automatically cutting off any point of return. And that's what Jasmine did. Now she was struggling to come to terms with it, "Jered... am I a bad person?" she asked, looking deep into his eyes.

"Such a tricky question," he chuckled weakly, his smile fading into a thin line, "Yes, Jasmine. You're a bad person. You ate someone alive. No amount of blame-shifting can excuse you for what you did. You killed and ate someone. You did say you were in control, but for whatever reason, you gave in. It might not have been your intention—at least, you were not conscious of it. But it happened. How can you make up for it? Well, you can't. Why? Because you'll do it again. You did it once, you'll feel like a monster, you'll be in denial, you'll be an emotional mess... then you'll be resigned, and then accept it. And tell me, what's going to happen when you do accept it?"

"..."

"This is why you should have held back at any cost," he yawned, "This is not like doing drugs. There's no rehab center for it. No cure. No magic pendulum that can hypnotize you out of it. And do you know what's the worst? That you not only fed yourself, you also fed the Shadow. I don't know what that entails, but I doubt you'll be able to live normally again..."

A tear trickled down her cheeks. She sniffed, gritting her teeth to keep her mouth shut. Wasn't Jered supposed to be her only ally at the moment?

"But..." he squeezed her retreating hand, "... if you word the question a bit differently, such as 'Do you think I'm a bad person?' then you'd get a different answer," she wrinkled her nose, biting her bottom lip, "No, Jasmine. I don't think you are a bad person. As a matter of fact, I don't care what atrocity you do, there's nothing that would make me paint you in a bad light. You're my sister. We're supposed to look out for each other, especially now."

She smiled. A simple, quivering, curl of her lips. She choked back a sob, turning it into a laugh.

Jered smiled back, and continued, "And I sincerely hope, Jasmine, that no matter what atrocity I do... you would still view me as your brother, as someone who would go to greater lengths, more than anyone else in this fucking world, for you. You did something bad, but it's fine. Because I don't give a fuck, and I'm sure mom wouldn't either if she knew about us. You don't need anyone else but your family."

"Thank you..." Jasmine rubbed her eyes with the heel of her hands, blinking away the leftover tears, "You have no idea how relieved I am right now... like, I could cry again hahaha! Oh gosh, I'm sorry for being so emotional... I mean, I was really scared you'd hate me..."

He rolled his eyes, "You have such a flair for the dramatic," another yawn tore his mouth wide open, "Anyway, Jaz. I'm super tired. I'm barely conscious right now. I know we have to clean your room... but I'm afraid we'll have to postpone it to tomorrow. It's going to be hella hard getting rid of the blood without using magic."

She was aware of that, which was why she didn't raise any objection, "Yes, it's okay... umh..." she hesitated, "Is it a problem if I sleep here with you? I don't want to go back to my room..."

Jered's eyes were already closed, but he still managed a nod, "No problem. Your room is locked anyway..."

Her face lit up in happiness. The room was already dark, so Jasmine didn't need to turn the lights off. She scooted to the other side of the bed, tucked herself underneath the sheets, and then it suddenly clicked on her, "Oh, fuck! My clothes!" she blushed heavily.

It had completely slipped off her mind due to the urgent situation.

She stabilized her accelerated breathing and stole a glimpse at her brother. He didn't seem to have noticed. It was both relieving and disappointing. Then again, he was not in the right condition of mind to crave any kind of incestuous desire for his sister's body. It made her feel slightly better. But just slightly. However, Jasmine was caught in a conundrum.

Any sane person would never consider sleeping half-naked next to their sibling, unless they were of very tender age.

Of course, any sane person wouldn't eat another person either. And Jasmine didn't really consider herself sane anymore. Her mental condition had reached a breaking point, where the belief of having certain feelings for her brother didn't seem weird at all.

Jasmine relaxed, not giving a damn if her towel was slowly coming undone, "Jered... are you awake?"

No answer.

"Psst, Jered!"

Silence.

Something snapped in her mind. Something that made her think it was fine to do it. It was not her room, and she wasn't alone either. But oh God did that make it even more exciting. Her emotional turmoil had left her confused, stressed, and with a burning desire in her stomach. Feeling a little less guilty, she slid a hand down her belly. The tension grew the closer she was to her forbidden fruit. She couldn't help but tease herself—that's what she thought Jered would do if he were on top of her right now.

A gasp hitched in her throat.

Her fingers found the slit hiding between her thighs, still damp from the shower.

"Fuck!"

Jasmine clenched her jaw as her wrist moved in circular motions. She knew she wouldn't have been able to keep it down the moment a whiny moan tore through her throat. It was so, so wrong! But with her brother quietly sleeping next to her, in the darkness of the room, where her imagination was more vivid than ever... only one thought survived the onset of steamy images about Jered.

'Well, aren't I cannibalistic, incestuous little bitch?'