After hearing about the Wilsons, Mira took off with the man.
"Wilsons? The heck?" Frederic asked, confused, exiting the house following the shouts and crowd.
"HEY, WAIT!" Autumn shouted before running after him.
Leo and Thomas exchanged glances, both hoping it wasn't another deadly encounter.
They then cautiously exited the house and headed toward the source of the commotion.
Upon arriving, there were a lot of villagers crowding a house, and they could hear a woman crying up ahead.
"I knew I heard something last night," a man said to another.
"Was it a bear?"
"They didn't deserve this."
"Where were the guards last night?"
The villagers were busy whispering amongst themselves. This made both boys curious.
After pushing and making their way forward, Thomas and Leo were shocked by a horrible sight.
The door of the house was completely shredded, and inside was a pool of blood that seemed to have dried after leaking outside.
There was a dead woman lying just a few steps from the house, missing her bottom half.
The woman had a deep gash on her chest and was missing an entire arm.
Suddenly, Mira was assisted out of the house by Autumn and a guard, completely in tears.
Suddenly, Mira threw up.
"MOM!!" Frederic shouted, rushing over to his mom.
While Frederic tended to his mom, Autumn made her way over to them.
"What happened?" Thomas asked.
"This family was just killed… maybe by an animal, but the guards inside said they were on lookout—and the one stationed at Mira's house didn't hear anything either," she said, worried.
"It seems Mira was close with that family."
Just then, two guards came out of the house and started telling the crowd to leave.
They all went and carried Mira back to the house.
Mira cried as she was comforted by her son and Autumn, but after some time she calmed down, only sniffling softly.
"They didn't deserve this," Mira said, trembling.
"Claudine was like a sister to me," she said, sniffling again.
Autumn rubbed her back gently. Suddenly, Mira started crying again.
"First my husband, my son, then the death of my friend and her entire family," she said, tears streaming down her face.
Suddenly, Frederic got up and headed to his room, not saying a word to anyone.
Leo followed.
"You good?" he asked.
"YEAH!! I'm great," he said sarcastically.
Leo stared at the boy for a good while.
"I hate seeing her like this," Frederic said.
"Was everything she said true?" Leo asked.
"Yeah..." Frederic said before sitting on his bed, head low, clasping his hands.
"That's strange," Thomas said while entering the room.
A slight nod of agreement was all they got from Frederic. He sat there for a minute before speaking.
"What's strange is, my father and brother had beast-like attacks related to their deaths."
Both Leo and Thomas exchanged glances before inquiring Frederic to tell what happened.
"My father was the first one to die, three years ago when I was thirteen."
"I don't know what happened, but he was hunting with two other men, and they never came back. After two days of searching, we found one of the men's bodies," he said, forcing back a few tears.
"Arkell… he was found near the Grimveil Forest, torn apart. The searchers said it could have been an animal. But… there's no animal around here that could do that."
"And no one dares go near the Grimveil Forest, MUCH LESS ENTER!!!" he shouted.
"I'm surprised they let you guys in here."
"Why would my dad enter or go near that forest after how he rammed the knowledge of 'not going there' into me and Frank's head?"
Frederic held his head in his hands, clearly frustrated, as he gritted his teeth while fighting back a few drops of tears.
"Then my brother… Frank. I don't know what happened."
"What do you mean?" Leo asked.
"I don't remember. I remember Frank wanted to know what killed his dad, so he memorized the guards' patterns and shifts so he could leave the village at night.
"But I tried talking him out of the idea. Every night he returned safely. He wouldn't listen."
"On the seventh night, he said he found something—the bones of my dad and the other man, Mr. Wilson."
"The point where he mentioned my dad's bones was when I somehow convinced myself to go with my brother."
"My brother led me past the fields into the woods, then to the entrance of Grimveil."
"At first I thought he was gonna enter, because that's where I would stop, but then he took a right turn."
"What I saw was a cave-like tomb with weird symbols on the wall. And right there I saw what could be my dad's bones and Mr. Wilson's," Frederic struggled, frustrated, to remember his memory.
"From how the bones were structured, it seemed one was carrying the other and entered the cave before whatever came for them."
"Then I don't know what happened next. The guards said they found me having a seizure right at the gates."
"Shit," Thomas said as a cold shiver went down his spine.
"Did you tell them what happened?" Leo asked.
"I did, and I even tried showing them where the tomb was, but it was gone… just like Frank…."
"That's some spooky shit," Thomas said.
"I didn't know you were going through this all along. I'm so sorry," said a soft, random voice.
Turning around, everybody saw Autumn at the room's entrance.
Frederic, embarrassed that he was being so vulnerable, looked away to hide his flushed face.
"Well… whatever," he said.
"Where's Mom?" he asked.
"In her room. I managed to calm her down… but she really took it to heart," Autumn answered.
After that, they didn't do much but sat gloomily under the roof of Mira's small house.
Some time passed, and it was now dark out. Leo lay on the mat near the corner, and Thomas closer to Frederic's bed.
All three were on their backs, gazing up at the ceiling, drowning in silence.
"Yo, Fred? You still up?" Thomas asked.
"Don't call me that."
"Fine, fine, but I was thinking," Thomas said. "I don't think this is a coincidence. Someone could be next."
"No shit," Frederic answered, still looking at the ceiling.
"We gotta do something… there have to be clues," Thomas added.
"What are you? Sherlock?" Leo suddenly asked.
"What the fuck is a Sherlock?" Frederic asked.
"Another reminder that this ain't Earth," Leo said grumpily.
"Earth? Huh… I think you need some rest," answered the confused Frederic.
"Good. Then shut the fuck up," Leo said, turning his back to them and folding on the mat.
With that said, silence lingered once more. Thomas sighed before falling asleep.
Soon, after everyone fell asleep, Frederic's necklace started illuminating the room.
The next day, Thomas was awakened by the sunlight, which finally woke his lazy ass.
He sat up, yawned, stretched at the same time, and made his way to the living room.
He then tried to leave the house, but as he was at the exit, a spear suddenly blocked his path, inches from his neck.
"Halt! You are not allowed to leave until the council arrives."
"I just want to wash my face," he said desperately.
"Not my problem, kid," the guard said.
Just then, a few laughs could be heard from the kitchen area.
Thomas headed over and saw Autumn laughing, with a cup of tea in her hands.
His jaw dropped when he saw Frederic smiling too.
"Huh? Oh, good morning," Autumn said, smiling at him.
"Finally decided to get out of bed, ain't it? Sherlock," Frederic added.
"You don't even know what that is," Thomas said.
"Don't care."
Just then, Autumn poured a cup of tea and handed it to Thomas.
"Thanks…"
"Now shoo," Frederic motioned, laughing awkwardly.
Thomas narrowed his eyes at Frederic before leaving with the tea.
He went back to the living room and saw Leo bouncing a very old ball on the wall while whistling.
"Yo."
"Sup."
Both exchanged greetings while doing their own business. Thomas sipped the tea while Leo kept bouncing the ball.
"Wonder what they were laughing about?" Thomas sipped.
"Who?" Leo asked.
"Autumn is giggling as hell… then Fred had the audacity to shove me out of their convo."
Leo stifled his laugh, then got serious again and began bouncing the ball.
"What's wrong?" Thomas asked.
"I can't stay here knowing guys like Alwich exist," Leo said.
"Yeah, you're right. That guy is crazy," Thomas said.
"What the hell are we even doing in this village?" Leo asked.
"Hey, we'll get answers from the council, remember?"
"Fuck the council. Won't trust anyone trying to help, not even Mira," Leo said, bouncing the ball.
"Let's just wait until they come, bro," Thomas said.
"Speaking of Mira, where is she?"
"Busy helping clean the Wilson house. I don't know."
After that, they spent the day locked in Mira's house.
The next day, a loud knocking was heard on the door, and Mira ran to her room.
"The council has arrived!"
As that was said, Thomas jumped up while Leo got up slowly. When they reached the living room, they saw Autumn putting on her slippers.
After they got ready to meet the council, they headed into the village square. What they saw was a chariot with two horses.
About eight knights surrounded the chariot, and they had way more equipment than the guards of Harrowford.
Just then, a knight opened the door, and an old man in a long robe slowly exited the chariot.
He had blonde hair, green eyes, and was very tall and upright. He also carried a small scepter with a red gem in it.
"WE PRESENT TO YOU, SIR TIMOTHY GLADWIN!" a knight shouted.
"This is the council?" Thomas asked.
"It's one of them. Now be quiet," Mira answered.
Gladwin walked closer to them, and Mira bowed briefly; the rest followed.
"So these are the kids I heard about?" He stared at all three of them like he knew their every sin.
"Doesn't look so innocent to me."
"And you said they came from the Grimveil Forest?"
"Yes, your humble sir," Mira answered.
The man studied the teens for a while.
"Fools… THESE ARE THE MONSTERS THAT ARE KILLING YOUR PEOPLE!!"
"ARREST THEM!!" Gladwin roared.
"WHAT!!?" Autumn shouted.
Just then, the knights unsheathed their swords and rushed toward Leo's group.
They then tried to cuff Leo, but he moved his hand and caught the knight's face with it.
He then threw the knight, sending him crashing through the roof of a house.
"YOU SEE? MONSTER!!!" shouted Gladwin, aiming the scepter at them.
With that, all the knights, guards, and even villagers rushed down on the trio, ready to take them out.