Tw : There's self harm in this chapter

Ezra left her house that night to stay at the graveyard. She brought flowers with her to leave at Amelia's and Weast's graves. After she set the flowers at their graves, she found a bench to lay down on and sleep for the night. For some reason, she didn't feel comfortable in her house.

Ezra woke up from her sleep on the bench the next moment and realized something was different. She made sure the flowers she left were still there. Then she walked around town, making sure everything and everyone was still there. She noticed Masky was missing. Ezra searched for her 'adopted' daughter and realized, Masky was gone, the occult had killed her while Ezra was asleep.

Ezra was almost broken, her family here was being killed one by one. Would she be the next one to die from the occult? This was too much for her to handle, even if everyone killed came back the following cycle. Ezra ran to her house and locked the door. She rushed to her room and grabbed her dagger from a drawer. She threw off her black jacket and sat on the floor, looking at the dagger. 

Ezra plunged the danger into her hand then dragged it across her palm, watching her deep red blood trickle down her wrist. She bit her lip to stifle her moans of pain and gripped the hilt of the dagger tighter. The grip was hard enough to leave marks on her palm from her fingernails, being longer than in the apocalypse with no need to cut them. Her black hair fell forward into her lap when she did this. The ink black waves cascaded over her shoulders. Ezra pulled the dagger out quickly, choosing to trace her name on the back of her hand using the tip of the dagger. She inhaled sharply as she continued to make the harsh jagged cuts. She ran out of room on her hand so she continued to make the marks, moving up her arm.

When she was satisfied with her pain, she thrust the knife to the side, covered in blood. Her hand was soaked with the viscous liquid, oozing down her arm and staining her green crop top.

"You deserve this, you fucking useless bitch.

You could have helped them," Ezra muttered under her breath. 

Ezra got up to clean the wounds and the dagger, not realizing that Katie was still there and the noise the dagger made had woken her up. Katie jumped down from the rafters after shifting human.

"The fuck did you do?!" Ezra jumped at the sudden appearance of Katie.

"WHEN DID YOU GET HERE?!"

"I slept in your rafters...remember? More importantly, what did you do to your arm and hand?" Ezra looked away and grabbed her injured arm.

"O-oh...What I did doesn't matter" Katie grabbed Ezra's injured arm, being as gentle as she could.

"Jesus, Ez......why?" Ezra went silent, not wanting to answer the question as Katie grabbed her bandages and ointment. Joey stuck his head through one of the open windows.

"Is everything alright?" Joey's eyes widened at the sight of Ezra's arm and Ezra jumped again.

"I can't lose you guys too..."

"W-What are you doing here Joey?" Katie started to apply ointment and bandage Ezra's arm and hand.

"I heard you both yelling" Katie glanced over at Joey.

"She's worse than you are" Ezra turned her head towards Katie.

"No I'm not, and I told you, I'm fine," even with that statement, Ezra continued to let Katie bandage her arm. Katie shook her head.

"How y'all survived without me..." Katie started muttering about infections and idiot people while Joey made a funny face.

"Hmmm, you guys are kinda close, huh?" Ezra looked down and started thinking about something while Katie glanced at the teenager again.

"Shut up and get over here so I can redo yours, idiot child"

"I haven't seen two girls look at each other like that since Meg and Susie" Katie went back to wrapping Ezra's arm while Ezra ignored the comment.

"I don't know what you're talking bout, pineapple head" Joey took off, yelling something about Katie being a 'Tsun' while Katie muttered about idiot children and losing hands.

"Katie?"

"I understand you can deal with infection, but still...you shouldn't have to"

"It doesn't matter now I guess, that place is gone to me unless we find a way back"

"Yeah..."

"Anyways, I'm glad it's gone. No need to worry about groups and betrayal now" Ezra attempts to smile, but it doesn't seem to work. Katie looked at Ezra, upset but understanding.

"I may have lived in a forest my whole life, but I know about feeling hopeless and out of control"

"Well, at least you understand, that always helps. I do need to talk to you though, since you slept inside my house last night," Katie's face turns a light shade of red.

"Yeah...sorry bout that"

"OH! No! It's not about that...it's um.........it's...about Masky" Katie's face shows sadness.

"I know where this is going. You don't have to say anything, I figured something happened by this," Katie makes a gesture towards Ezra's arm she had just finished wrapping.

"Yeah......She kinda felt like a daughter or niece to me," Katie moved into the kitchen.

"I'ma make some tea, want any?"

"Tea? Um, sure! Maybe something peppermint if you have any?" Katie glanced back at Ezra.

"It's real herbs! Not that pre-packaged crap"

"That's even better to be honest" Ezra got up from the chair she sat in so Katie could wrap her arm and followed the other woman. Katie reached into her pack and pulled out a teakettle and some herbs.

"I got peppermint, lavender, oolong, chi, dried peach, and some dried blueberries. What do you want?" Ezra thought about it before answering.

"Maybe peppermint and lavender?"

"Okay, probably want some chi in there so it's not so sweet. We shouldn't need honey with this," Ezra leaned against a wall in the kitchen and watched Katie make the tea. She lit the fire in the stove, put the herbs in the kettle and added water, letting it sit until the kettle kissed.

"So, while we wait......" Katie shifted into her wolf form so she and Ezra could cuddle and make Ezra feel better. Ezra slid down the wall to sit on the floor, making it easier to cuddle.

"Thanks Katie, you really do know how to make people feel better"

"Mmrr" Katie's eyes glowed a pale blue. As Ezra started to feel better, she started petting Katie. This action led to Katie rolling over and demanding belly rubs, which made Ezra laugh but did it anyways.

"You really like this, don't cha?" Katie seemed to smile, or what looked like a smile to Ezra. She couldn't really tell due to Katie's skull currently being a skull.

"Woof" Ezra stopped talking for a minute to decide her next words

"You know, you're really cute Katie" Katie rolled over to stand up and looked at Ezra in the eyes before speaking, surprising Ezra

"Thanks. And yes, I can talk like this, not much," Katie shifted into her human form while she spoke. "I can part shift my throat to speak if needed, takes a lot out of me though." Katie started grinning like a bobcat. Ezra continued to sit on the floor, but began to blush.

"W-what? Why are you grinning?"

"Cause I love the surprised reaction people give me when I do that. I think you're cute too" Katie sprinted off, leaping out the window and shifted into a raven in mid air. Ezra continued to sit there confused and flustered.

"W-what just? Did she? Huh?" After Ezra's momentary confusion, she quickly got up from the floor and grabbed her jacket before racing out the door, forgetting all about the tea.