I quickly regained my wits and felt around the floor to look for the gun I was holding before. When I felt a similar plastic shape my grasp around it tightened and with the second hand I tried to pull the man closer to me before something happened to him. However, the Beast was faster than me. It snatched him with one of his front limbs, snarled at me and dragged him outside the building.

Unexpectedly, it had a tail. Very bony, the skin was so thin that it looked a lot more like membrane than flesh.

I shot right where it was located, hoping that this action would distract the Beast and it would release Brich from its clutches. Unfortunately, the bullet didn't hit the intended target, but the door frame. The creature hissed and quickly scurried away, waving one last time its tail and hitting my head.

The world suddenly became full of brightly shining stars and I felt a sharp pang of pain before falling down to the cold dirty floor. The last thing I heard were desperate screams made by Brich.

When I woke up I felt pain in places I've never felt before in my whole life. Sleeping on the floor god knows where definitely wasn't something I'd want to do ever again.

"Is it morning already? How long have I been unconscious?" I muttered to myself while getting up and tidying my uniform. My whole body was sore and my head was on fire. The thing and its tail must have been made of steel, how else could I pass out after getting hit only once? And it definitely left a bruise. Before work today I'll need to check my body's condition. If people see me like this, some of them may start to think that I'm the one responsible for recent killings. I didn't have an ounce of doubt that the Beast was the one behind them, but no one would listen to me in this state, especially since I already had a reputation of a madwoman.

I decided to leave the barn and think about everything that happened last night, after I calmed myself down and ate something.

'Wait. I almost forgot the gun.' I halted midway to the door and turned back to snatch the weapon. Thankfully it didn't break, I don't know what I would do if it did.

With that I could finally leave this abandoned place and go home. I was planning to look around outside and check whether Brich miraculously made it through the night too, but the pool of blood near the hill leading straight to the forest said otherwise. I didn't really want to go and look for his body, so after saying a quick prayer from far away I turned and went home. In the daylight it was easier to find my way back than it was during the night.

After a walk that took a while I finally reached the familiar area. The sun was up, but not so many people were around so I deduced that the hour must've been still rather early. It was a fortunate turn of events. If there were more eyes to see the state I was currently in, the rumors would start circulating faster.

The wife of the victim would definitely soon notice that he's missing, and since he was a regular visitor in my place of work, I'd be soon questioned by police or other people. My whole credibility was very dubious, since I couldn't name anyone who was with me, so my alibi would be a one man's show full of plot holes.

"Finally at home." I sighed with relief when I entered the tavern.

"Hey, Ash." Said a familiar voice.

I flinched and looked around to find its owner. It was my brother, Lawrence.

"Larry, what are you doing here?" I asked cautiously.

"I woke up not so long ago and saw that nobody was here, so I decided to wait until someone came. You know, in case someone decided to rob us while everyone was still sleeping" He shrugged.

"Don't lie, you were waiting for Caroline while everyone else was still asleep, isn't that right?" He never was able to tell lies, his face and tone of voice always gave it away. This time even though he was talking about a possible robbery, the smile was visible in his eyes and face. He was also knocking on the counterpart, it was one of his nervous tics. I tried to teach him in the past how to do it properly, since I was better at it than him, but he never took my lessons seriously.

"You got me." He smiled mischievously. "Yesterday's date was really great, I think she's the one for me. She even said that she's willing to wait until I come back from the army. I told her that it's a tough decision to make on a whim, so she can think it through for longer. But guess what! She said that we can meet each morning in the early hours and she's going to say the same thing every single day" He said happily.

"That's so nice of her." I could sense his joy, but I wasn't really able to share it, not after everything that happened during the night.

He noticed that something wasn't right and immediately became worried "Did something happen? You look like you had a very rough night. Why were you outside so early?"

"I couldn't sleep, I wanted to go for a quick walk around the neighborhood to catch a portion of fresh air and pet the neighbor's dog, but I tumbled down a few stairs before that." I lied. How could I tell him what was hiding in the forest? True, he probably heard some stories about the Beast already, since it showed itself a few years ago, but hearing and seeing it are two different things. 'Wait. Before I met Brich I was with my mother in the woodshed. Where's she?'

"Are mother and father still asleep? Did you check up on them?"

"Your mother's gone." Said another depressed voice. Larry and I looked at the stairs at our father who stood there, one hand was clutching the railing and the other was shaking violently.

"What do you mean she's gone? She went to buy milk and other groceries?" Asked Larry, who still didn't grasp the gravity of the whole situation.

"She's not here. Not in the tavern. Nor anywhere outside. I searched for her for the last three hours and she's nowhere to be found."

"Ash" Said Larry, turning back to me "When you were on your walk, did you see or hear something unusual?"

"No" I didn't know where she could be. I didn't. 'Don't ask me. Just don't. I don't know.' Maybe she went to visit one of her friends or father is overreacting and she truly went to buy milk and other groceries.

"Then... Why do you clutch so tightly this gun in your hand?" He asked, pointing at the thing I overlooked.

"I took it with me on a walk to have something to protect myself if anyone decided to attack me. It's still very early, so not many people are around and someone can try to do something stupid. Father lent it to me yesterday and I simply decided to hold on to it for a while."

"Really?" He said full of doubt. He didn't want to be suspicious of me, but keeping a gun to yourself without a good reason definitely was a questionable thing to do.

"It doesn't matter, it's not that important." Father interrupted. "You can have it." He nodded towards me. "I'd rather have you arrested for having a gun than you lying dead in the bushes. I should've bought one for your mother as well when I had a chance."

"Don't say it like she's not with us anymore." I said. "I'll help you look for her, I'm sure she's not so far away, probably she visited one of her friends or went to make a delivery to one of our clients."

"You said you didn't get a good night's sleep. Stay inside and try to rest. I and dad will go search for her." Larry was trying to earn a favor with father, anyone blind would be able to see that. He was worried that he wouldn't approve the possible marriage with Caroline, since she was raised in a wealthier family and father doubted that people with more riches than him could be trusted. Mother said that he wasn't always like that, but her parents made him come to this conclusion with their behavior after he married her.

I didn't want to make a fuss so I agreed and sent them off. Father went first and Larry right behind him. Before leaving he turned to me and said "If Caroline decided to pay you a visit, tell her that I'm looking for mom and I will meet with her later."

It wasn't a hard thing to do so I nodded and closed the door when they both left. Finally I had time and space to myself, thanks to that I could think about what happened last night and what I should do with it.

'What if Brich wasn't the only person that died that night? What if mother also...' i shouldn't even think about it, it was too horrible to even imagine. She would be safe and sound if only she didn't go after me. If only she didn't worry that much about me. 'If only I stayed home instead of going around and acting so reckless' No matter how hard I'd wish to turn back time, there was nothing I could do.