Father and Larry didn't come back even when it was finally time to close the tavern. I was worried that Caroline would accuse me of lying to her about my brother, but she said that she understands and to call her if I needed any help or just felt lonely and needed someone to talk to.

I thanked her and waved until she disappeared from my sight. It was six in the evening, they were gone for ten hours already.

'What if the Beast killed them both and I'm next on the list?' I shuddered. After Caroline left, the tavern became strangely empty, but the area around it still had a few people passing by or strolling aimlessly. One man noticed I was looking around and came closer.

"Excuse me, sir. We just closed, if you were hoping for a pint of beer or something stronger then I'd advise you to try again tomorrow in an earlier time." He didn't seem to be the type to drink that much, judging from his appearance he was in his late thirties but still well preserved.

"Thanks, kind missy, but I'm here for a different reason. I'm Brich's co-worker from the factory. I just met with his wife by an accident and she said that she hadn't seen him since yesterday, after she ordered that drunkard to sleep outside. From what I know, he got drunk in this very fine tavern, as he used to call it. Is there a chance that he came back later to drink more?"

"No, sir. He left just before we closed. I think it was around five and a half in the evening, a little bit earlier than it is today. His home is not that close to go to and fro to have time to drink more."

"Isn't it quite an uncanny hour to close the tavern? Do you always close it so early?"

"We're not the type of an establishment to keep our customers up late. If they want to drink longer or in later hours, they can do it at home." I said but inside I agreed wholeheartedly with him. It wasn't normal for any vicinity selling beverages to close so early, but after my mother started managing the tavern some rules got modified. Starting and closing hours were one of it. Another change was that we started serving simple meals, like sandwiches or baked nuts mixed with cheese and potatoes. People were bemused by it in the beginning, but later they got used to it and some customers even started to order our food more often than drinks.

"I hear you. Okay, last question. Why do you look like someone who got hurt in a fight?" What a straightforward lad he was.

"If you're wondering whether Brich attacked me while being drunk, fret not, I did this to myself. Last night I slipped and fell down the stairs." He probably thought that the old man hit me under the influence of alcohol and I did something to him to retaliate.

"Is that so? Well, thanks for hearing me out, little missy. I was just worried for a friend, that's all. You know, since people love to talk about some silly stories with monsters preying on humans."

"We don't know each other that well to call us friends. I don't feel the need to keep conversing with someone who's rude enough to not introduce himself. If you finished talking, then leave." I wasn't really interested in whatever he was saying. He was a stranger to me, so his concerns weren't worth my attention.

Upon hearing that, he understood that I'm not the one to small talk with, he apologetically nodded towards me and started to walk back to the place where he came from.

"Wait!" I called out after him. "Why didn't Brich's wife come to me by herself? It would be way more logical than sending someone else in her stead."

"You don't really have a nice reputation amongst people." He replied. "And I can see why."

Ah, that's right. I almost forgot about that. His words didn't move me at all, but since he seemed like he wanted to say something more I decided to humor him a little.

"When you said monsters, did you mean the Beast?" I asked curiously.

"Yeah, I was kinda hinting on it, you know, I have my own theory about that."

Everything became clear to me in that moment. This man just wanted to share his theory with someone else and used his missing friend as an excuse to approach me and say whatever he wanted to say. I wouldn't be normally interested, but since I had an opportunity to see an alive specimen in the wild yesterday, he piqued my curiosity.

"And that theory is?"

"I think that the Beast is actually a human tormented by a curse."

"What made you think so? And why?"

"First of all, all rumors picture the Beast as a being that human's eye have never seen before. It's supposed to look very bony, with a tail and sharp claws. And I believe that every rumor has some grain of plausibility. Secondly, those attacks started a few years ago, if I'm not mistaken it was like six years ago. There was a witch visiting our town by then."

The description of the Beast was lacking in some parts, but the piece about a visiting witch was something I've never heard about before. Not even from my customers, and I work in the tavern where peoples tongues tend to loosen faster than my shoelaces.

"Oh really? Sounds like a far-fetched theory to me. I've never heard anything about this visiting witch before. Are you even able to describe how she looked like?" A man like him would more readily spill the beans if the person he was trying to convince was doubting his words. It would make him want to elaborate further and thanks to that, say way more than he intended.

"You're lucky, missy, my memory becomes only better and better with the passage of time. I heard that the witch was a young woman and had a nutty hair's color.

"You've praised your memory so much and yet this is all you have to say about her."

"That's not all, don't you dare to interrupt me, little missy. She was said to be enchantingly beautiful."

It didn't matter to me, people always called Larry handsome but when I looked at him I couldn't see anything special. I couldn't comprehend what Caroline saw in him appearance wise. She was out of his league in this regard. Her beauty could be compared to the sunflower, her skin was tanned and hair in a color of the sun. A polar opposite of mine and Larry's appearance, we were both taller than her and pale in comparison. Our dark hair mixed with our skin tone made a bad impression on other people. At least he was lucky enough that his skin wasn't as tarnished with freckles and falling into gray undertones as mine.

Maybe I was so harsh on him because we were related by blood, but I've never felt anything more looking at other guys too. It must have been because of my line of work and things my customers, usually men, said and did while being drunk.

"Don't you have a wife waiting at home for you? It's not appropriate nor kind of you to keep recalling how a woman from a long time ago looked like."

"I'm not like Brich, little missy. I wouldn't want to be chained up for my whole life and only love one woman. It's better to never be too invested in relationships, just another small piece of advice from an old man. Besides, I prefer older mature women. "

"I see. But come to think of it, why would you accuse the poor girl of casting a curse on someone? Not every witch is known to be evil and since she wasn't even from those parts of the world, wouldn't it be strange for her to just curse a stranger? I can't see what she would gain by doing that."

"I'm not a witch, how can I know what one of them thinks? They're definitely not human, so they probably think differently than us. Their magical powers that they are born with probably mess with their heads and cause them to do vile things." He replied with audible bitterness.

"But isn't Cherrytown rather big? Wouldn't it mean that a few of its residents were witches? Or that curses and enchantments would be an everyday occurrence."

"I'm not an expert in that field of knowledge, but if you're interested, I heard that a few days ago a suspicious old woman set up a stall close to the rear gate of the shopping district. She's probably gone for today already, since police patrols are known to be more frequent in the evenings and I doubt that she got a permit to sell anything there. People say that she used to be a witch."

"But aren't witches born with magical powers? And they have it until their last breath."

"As I've already said before, I'm not sure what they can do. You can treat my words with a grain of salt. But hey! If you have more to gain than lose, why don't you give it a try? I don't want people to look crossly at me, otherwise I would go there myself, but your reputation is already in shambles. If you decided to go to her, maybe you would be able to hear more about the curse and the witch that casted it."

This man was shamelessly insulting me straight to my face. I wanted to argue with him, but before I had a chance I felt something slightly warm and rather firm touching my shoulder. When I turned back I saw my father's hand and the rest of him standing right behind me.

"Father, welcome back. Have y-" I wanted to know whether his search was successful, but he silenced me and said. "We will talk about it in more detail at home." And after that he nodded to the man, whom I still didn't know how to call since he didn't introduce himself at all, signaling to him that the conversation was over and he should mind his business.

He nodded back, sent me a knowing look and went his way. Father led me inside our tavern and said, "We couldn't find her. Close to the afternoon Lawrence and I decided to split and look some more on the outskirts of town and nearby hills. It was getting late and I didn't want to leave you alone for the entire day, but your brother decided to search some more." He sighed with resignation easily audible in his voice.

Even though the winter was only starting and snow hadn't even fallen yet, the outside was already quickly getting dark. Any searches in this darkness would wind up without any results. Larry probably went to visit Caroline and explain everything to her. There wasn't anything else he would be doing this late without father and especially me knowing.

"We will talk some more about it tomorrow morning, after Lawrence comes back and everyone gets a good night of sleep." He said, but I couldn't believe his words. How could he think that anyone could sleep when mother was missing?

"And I think it'd be better if you didn't talk with so many suspicious people" He must have been referring to that guy from before. "Who knows, maybe he was the one responsible for Roxana's disappearance. I don't want to lose you as well."

He really must have been worried sick if he called mother by her name. He usually called her pet names or 'your mother' while talking to me and Larry.

I didn't want him to brood over this matter so I agreed with him, but in my head I was already planning to go tomorrow to the shopping district and look for that suspicious used-to-be witch.