Snowcon Forest

Rescued

"CHRISTINE!" The pain filled shout reverberated up from the lower levels of the manor, reaching the attic and in turn the inhabitants who were there.

One remained unmoved by the raw agony and grief that was present in the shout, unaware of exactly what the speaker was shouting about, but the other...

He recognized that voice, and that name.

The corrupted being in front of him let go, moving back so she could investigate the source of the noise, or she would have if Snatcher had not spoken.

"What did you do?" He whispered, horror clearly present in his voice.

Vanessa merely tilted her head to the side, obviously unaware of the volatile emotions that were currently filling the trapped shadow as he imagined just what that shout meant. His imagination ran wild and suddenly the image of Christine, his close childhood friend, frozen to death filled his mind.

Her warm smiles, the sound of her laughter when she shoved him into a pond, the serious expression on her face as she delivered the warning he had stupidly not heeded-

The shadow snapped.

"WHAT, DID YOU DO?" Snatcher roared, desperately trying to break out of his icy bonds to attack the apathetic creature that had been cuddling him moments ago.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO CHRISTINE?!"

xxxxxxxxxx

Moonjumper sobbed, cradling the oddly limp frozen corpse against him. He gently rocked the too still body back and forth. His tears trailed down his face, splashing as they landed against the lady's face.

Hat Kid watched the scene, feeling oddly numb at the sight in front of her. She might not have known Christine personally, only recognizing her from the storybook and Snatcher's tale, but she still mourned the loss of the woman her father had been friends with.

She seemed like a nice lady and was someone the child would have happily been friends with.

Meanwhile Mu, confused as to what her guardian was crying about, remained near the entrance of the room. She did not feel comfortable with getting too close to him, certain if she tried to comfort the weeping figure she would just say something to make him feel worse, so she kept her distance and hoped that he would feel better soon.

Ugh, looks like this old lady really messed everyone up! The hooded girl thought to herself, angrily picking at her clothes. I can't wait to beat the crap out of her!

But her plans would have to wait until they were able to figure out just where Snatcher was being held.

Mu growled and paced back and forth, hands flexing in irritation as she glanced at Hat Kid and Moonjumper. Hopefully her friend would soon speak up and help the sobbing figure before she had to do something...

How did Moonjumper know who the lady was, the hatted child wondered as she contemplated what to do next.

She supposed that he might have lived in the village with the flower girl, but then he must have known Snatcher too, which did not make sense since he had been hiding from the shadow when she first met him.

So what was the answer?

Suddenly an idea formed in her mind. It was outrageous, unthinkable, and yet...

The red outfit, the chains on his wrists, and even what he said to Snatcher all those weeks ago when he had first seen the shadow, about being him.