Karsen's lashes flickered, sighing as the pain from her neck shot throughout her entire body, causing her to whimper as she attempted to adjust her position. Using her peripheral, her eyes scanned the room for Derek, not being able to find a single trace of him anywhere, not even hearing him in the echoic bathroom.

She felt stuck, needing a morning cigarette urgently, though the wooden box was on the opposite side of the bed. The girl didn't know how desperately her body longed for nicotine, contemplating whether she should skip on the tempting morning ritual.

As she was wondering, the door swung open to reveal a rather excited Shay, happily strolling up to the bed her friend was laying down on.

The brunette's eyes widened as she saw the blonde, not being able to get forget about the memory of her wrapping those painful fingers tightly around her neck, and with such force that she felt as if her vocal chords were going to burst. Karsen's body immediately triggered her to cower away from Shay, despite how much it hurt to move a muscle. Her light gasps could easily be mistaken as fear making itself known, however, it was just her body's reaction to the immense pain she was experiencing.

"Karsen, what's wrong?" Shay inquired concernedly, knitting her brows together.

She felt more scared that she'd just forgotten about the whole incident, acting as if nothing had ever taken place last night. Though a normal person would have calmed down, Karsen's paranoia began intensifying the thoughts in her head, leading her to believe that Shay only forgot about the quarrel because she had something much sinister planned.

"Karsen," The blonde called out again, slowly reaching to the petrified girl as she rested a faint hand upon her arm. Shay felt like she was trying to subdue a rabid dog by showing it she wasn't harmless.

Although her mind urged her to fight on, the unbearable sensation of her lower body throbbing discouraged her, begging her to stay still so the muscle tissue would be able to recover.

"Derek's calling us down in the basement, he asked me to come get you." Shay kindly spoke, discreetly beginning to pull up the defeated brunette.

Karsen allowed her to slowly pull her out of bed, not having the energy to resist. She helped the brunette down the stairs of the platform, leading her out towards the door and eventually the hallway. Once the two women reached the door of the basement, Shay slowly pushed it opened, supporting the girl by draping a helpful arm around her shoulders and walking into the darkened room.

The only source of light was currently being lit, almost blinding the two women as it shone brightly in the unlit room. The cornflower blue backdrop contrasted with the rather eerie and somber atmosphere of the basement, causing Karsen to aimlessly look around in both curiosity and confusion.

Meanwhile, Derek adjusted the softbox lighting, making sure it was at an appropriate exposure which wouldn't cause the images to come out over-exposed. He quietly instructed Shay to stand Karsen in the middle of the backdrop, to which she obliged.

"Hey," Shay walked over to Karsen who was occupied with exploring the dust coated corner shelf.

She turned around, wiping her dusty fingers on the side of her silk robe.

"Come here, we're going to take pictures." The blonde requested, holding onto Karsen's wrist and stringing her along with her.

She was confused as to why the two of them would be participating in an impromptu photoshoot, but Karsen remembered what Shay had told her about questioning Derek. As much as her curiosity intensified, she had to suppress it and do as the man requested.

The brunette nodded in agreement, standing in front of the backdrop, not knowing how to pose or what exactly she needed to do.

"Alright," Derek looked up from his camera, walking over to the confused girl. He placed his hands on her shoulders, positioning her to stand in the middle of the 'set'. "I just want you to look into the camera, a faint smile would be ideal." The man added bluntly, walking back to the camera as he fixed it onto the tripod.

Once he was done, he leaned into the viewfinder, making sure she was right in the middle of the frame. Derek was satisfied, lifting up his fingers to countdown from three as he clicked the shutter-button.

The intense flash partially blinded Karsen, causing her to step back and blink rather repeatedly. Circles of white floated as her eyes shut momentarily.

"Sorry about that," Derek said offhandedly, turning off the flash feature on his camera before going back to take another shot. He waited for her temporary flash blindness to go away, watching her stand in her original position. "You ready?"

Karsen nodded, still finding it difficult as the softbox lights weren't helping her retinas. Nevertheless, she repeated the same faint smile she'd flashed the camera before, hearing the clicking of the camera ring throughout her ears.

The woman didn't know whether it was the intensity of the flash, or her general state of being anxious and confused but her stomach began twisting itself, causing the bile to rise up to the surface of her throat. She attempted to hold it in, swallowing the lump threatening to come out. Thankfully, this time it suppressed itself.

"Alright, you're done." Derek stated, shutting off the camera as he began to pack up his things.

"What about Sh-"

"We already took pictures," The blonde interrupted, not giving Karsen the chance to finish her sentence. "When you were asleep." She added, gaining a satisfied nod from the girl.