𝕌𝕟𝕥𝕚𝕥𝕝𝕖𝕕 [𝕂. ℍ𝕖𝕚𝕤𝕖𝕟𝕓𝕖𝕣𝕘]

Chapter 2

The group stayed up after Christina and Michael gone to bed. Those who left the farm spoke about their venture around the village. Among the hesitant villagers, the girls had met a few friendly locals while out gathering supplies. Many of them discouraged visiting the castle. Like Y/n, no one gave a specific reason. Although the news disappointed Monica, one farmer allowed her to pet his cow for the bad news. In her eyes, the outing wasn’t a complete waste. Her face lit up. She talked about the animal’s bubbly eyes.

Once Alexa finished showing off some goods she bought, everyone looked at Y/n, expecting a story. She spoke about the church and the piano inside. She rubbed the back of her neck, picking her words carefully as she explained how she agreed to play a song at the next sermon. As expected, the news that they couldn’t leave in the early morning split the group. Some were fine with a few extra hours of rest, while the others were restless.

She then moved on to talking about the man lurking outside the church. It didn’t occur to Y/n how much her friends would worry when she spoke about her unusual escort back to the farm. She revealed her arm, and they saw the beginnings of a bruise forming where he had laid his fingers on her.

Noah slid off the bed and joined the girls in their little nest on the floor. He leaned forward, examining her. Their worried questions trapped Y/n between wanting to calm her friends and wanting to defend the stranger. Tight grip aside, he neither treated her inappropriately, nor did he lie to her and lure her somewhere else. However, she had to endure his off-putting personality.

She felt awkward seeing everyone staring at her. Y/n held her arm to her chest, away from their concerned gazes, and cleared her throat. “I’m gonna go to bed. I gotta be ready to play in the morning.”

Noah got back onto the bed and Y/n laid down on her piece of the collected blankets on the floor. She closed her eyes and listened to the four talk about their next stopping point after her performance. One by one, everyone retreated to bed, leaving Y/n the only one awake.

She sat up. Light from the moon flooded into the small bedroom. She glanced down at her arm and grazed her fingertips over her skin. Her skin stung as she touched the bruise.

She huddled back under her blankets. Her eyes fixed on the wooden wall in front of her. Y/n’s eyelids grew heavy, and her breathing slowed. As she drifted off to sleep, a dull pulsating emanated from her arm.

Y/n and her friends sat on one of the long benches in the church, tucked away in the back corner as to not disrupt the sermon with their presence. She listened to a man standing before the other worshipers praise Mother Miranda. Meanwhile, she looked down at her arm. Multiple deep purple marks clustered together where the stranger had grabbed her. Y/n felt a dull pain whenever she moved it. Otherwise, she was in perfect condition.

The minor injury was her only reminder of the stranger. She couldn’t wait for it to fade away. Y/n scanned the faces in the church as the attending villagers prayed. His parting words the night before rubbed her the wrong way, and left her glancing over her shoulder all morning. His gruff voice still clear in her mind. See you at tomorrow’s sermon.

She soon realized that he wasn’t in the building. Assuming he spoke with no intention of ever showing up gave her a sense of relief. It seemed to be a joke to scare the foreigner girl.

“Hey, wasn’t that prayer kinda creepy.” Alexa’s voice disrupted her thoughts. She leaned in so close that a tender warmth radiated from her skin. She absentmindedly nodded in agreement.