Since our tavern wasn't the finest establishment in the area, its location wasn't in the best of places. It was built near the river, right on the outskirts of town. Although we couldn't really complain about lack of customers, since there were many roads close by where people often went for romantic walks or were just coming back home after finishing their work at the stalls in the shopping district, which was conveniently located for us as well, since people could go there to buy their everyday necessities and groceries and by chance visit the tavern. The police was very often patrolling the stalls or checking the credibility of district's sellers, so alcohol was one of those taboo products there.

The quarrel and cleaning up the place took some time, so streets were completely quiet and people were unnoticeable. Thanks to the flashlight, my father's gun and occasional barking from neighborhood's dog, I wasn't feeling so lonely nor scared. After some time of walking the dog wasn't heard anymore, but the forest became visible to the human's eye. Only another couple of steps and shed came to light as well. Before I was able reach the door someone yanked the sleeve of my server's uniform dress. In bewilderment I accidentally let go of the flashlight and it crashed into the ground loudly, probably scaring to death any animals hiding nearby. The fall shattered the flashlight's glass into tiny shiny pieces and the only source of light went out.

"Don't touch me" I hissed and jumped a few steps back, loaded my gun and pointed at the attacker. However the bullet never left the gun. "Mom? What are you doing here?" I said, astonished. I wasn't really expecting her to be here, rather Brich or one of his drinking buddies to make me regret my today's behavior. "Were you trailing me? Why?"

"I wasn't trailing you, I simply saw that you left in this late hour and I was worried that something could happen to you. I didn't want you to be alone, but earlier you seemed to be deep in thought, so I didn't want to startle you." She replied, the worry was easily visible and genuine from her body movements.

"I see, thank you for worrying. Father asked me to fetch some of his items to sell, but he also gave me his gun and flashlight. Well, now I only have a gun, but thanks to your company I won't be so scared in the darkness." I reassured her with a wan smile and held her hand.

"Still, I think that you should think twice before you go and just do whatever you've been told. Everyone in home loves you, you don't need to act on impulse or make yourself seem useful, you're already working so hard and I'm so proud of you. " She said with a smile and hugged me tightly. After that she continued with a more stern voice " Then let's go together and look for those products. And in the future, please don't go out so late just to do something so reckless. You could've gotten hurt. What if instead of me it was some drunkard? Or a wild animal? Or the Beast?".

"Mom, you're really sweet, but don't believe those rumors. True, people sometimes disappear in this area and even seldom die in unusual places or accidents, but things like that happen everywhere now and then. Just because since a few years ago it's happening way more often and closer to the place we live, it doesn't mean that I'm going to be the next to disappear."

At those words she looked at me strangely and said nothing. Instead she clutched my hand a little tighter and led me into the woodshed.

"Looks like some time has passed since someone was here. Firstly we will have to clean up here as well."

I wasn't that happy upon hearing those words, especially since earlier this evening I had to clean our tavern. I always thought of tidying up as a mundane task and usually left it to others.

Besides, even though a lot of time passed since someone from our family visited this place, it wasn't that badly preserved. True, the doors were slightly hanging on its hinges and it smelled weird inside, but I was expecting to see more dust and maybe bugs.

We divided our duties, mine were sweeping and checking the boxes piled up around the corners. She handed me the broom after she had gotten rid of a very fat spider that I was too disgusted to touch and said "You did enough working for today, you could just reject your father's request, he's all day away from home and after coming back he's sending his only daughter to look for some junk." She snorted angrily. "I hope Lawrence will be more considerate of his family in the future." She added.

"It's easy to say, but harder to do. I don't want you to take it the wrong way, but haven't you noticed that father is looking skinner and skinner these days? I think his work is stressing him out too much, look at that woodshed! I don't remember the last time someone came here, but now suddenly he wants to sell things stored inside it. There must have been an accident at work or he got himself into something dangerous like gambling."

Even though the words I said were rather harsh, she seemed to ease a little and even laughed "Ashlyn, sometimes you can be so silly! Do you really think Thomas is capable of doing something like that? Even if he did, I'd be the first to notice, I'm his wife after all. But you were right with one thing, he's almost all bones! I will talk to him tomorrow morning and ask what's happening. I tried to do it a few days ago, but he left abruptly before I had a chance. He's definitely being tormented by something, but it's not involved with any type of hazard. I'd rather believe that he started seeing someone else."

Oh no, I don't want to hear about my parents love life's ups and downs. "Don't worry mother, I'm sure it's nothing like that, you're definitely right and he's just too deep in his duties and job to stop and think about his family. Give him some slack."

After that we were too preoccupied to talk. I started sweeping vigorously and while I was at it I decided to give the floor a second polish of its lifetime and scrubbed at every place that didn't look like simple specks of dust. Some places were dark and smelled weirdly, I guessed it had to be blood, probably some stray cats or rats were fighting here and spilled a few drops of blood. That would explain the odor I've felt upon coming inside. Come to think of it, there were some prints in front of the woodshed, but it was too dark to check them in more detail. Besides, the noise I've made probably scared anything that was close enough to hear it.

People in this neighborhood truly loved animals, but only until they were obedient. It wasn't anything new to see your neighbor's pet with a completely new owner after a few days or even in the wild. Poor creatures had to eat something and that must've been the source of all those rumors about the Beast and whatnot.

I tried to convince my parents for a few years already to just take any stray dog from the streets, since it was homeless anyway and it could be of great help in safekeeping our property. Mother wasn't that much against it, but father always said that an animal is too much of a responsibility for us. Larry was going to the military soon and mom and I were too busy with our tavern, father was too often away from home on his business trips and was worried that us two wouldn't be able to walk the dog regularly nor afford for its food in the long run.

'I don't need a dog anyway... I can always use a gun if I need something to keep me safe. And if I ever feel bored I can just talk with my mother or some drunk customers. This much is enough for me.' I thought while I was finishing scrubbing the last dried pool of blood. This place looked so much better after cleaning. I turned around to see if my mother had finished dealing with the spider webs hanging from the ceiling and dirty windows, but I couldn't see her anywhere.

The door leading outside stood ajar and the night's darkness fused with the moonlight's light slightly illuminating the insides of the shed. When we entered we left the doors wide open since the moon was shining and we didn't have any other source of light with us.

"Mother? Where are you?" I asked a little puzzled. I wasn't that worried about myself, since the gun was with me and I could take care of myself, but what if something happened to her? She was antsy for the last few days and especially today she was looking even worse if it was possible. In addition, she was older and didn't have anything with her to defend herself.

I went out through the door to check whether she decided to clean the windows from the outside too, but she wasn't there nor behind the shed. I wasn't expecting other people to be here so I decided to yell with hopes that she would reply. "Mother! Where are you!" The longer silence lasted the more desperate my screams became. Now I started to regret being so flinchy just moments ago and breaking that flashlight. I stopped making any noise and decided to look near the forest, which wasn't that far away. I hadn't had a chance to take that many steps towards it when I heard a branch cracking between the trees inside the shadows.

"Mother? Why didn't you answer me?" I asked and took a few steps towards the place where I heard the branch. Instead of reply I heard a strange noise. It didn't sound like anything human nor someone's footsteps, rather more like a wild animal slowly getting closer and closer to its next prey.