Anna stood before the simple wooden coffin silently. Taking a breath, she looked down to her shoes. The man that had been in the tower last night is the one now in the coffin. Anna remembered that she'd talk to him every-now and then... Travis was his name. He had a handsome face. Soft Black hair that was a bit wavy that fell on his shoulders. Anna often seen him outside, that was the reason why he had such a suntanned face that was slowly fading along with the summer. He had dark blue cheerful eyes. She remembered when he had his twentieth birthday celebration. That was just last year.

Feeling her mother's hands on her shoulders, Anna let herself be led away from the coffin that was slowly being covered by dirt. Looking over her shoulder Anna felt tears in her eyes thinking of last night. The bell had been ringing wildly, Travis was still alive then. She bit her bottom lip, remembering when she heard a cry and the bell suddenly stopped. She knew deep down that he was killed, but hearing someone else say it out loud that he was, was utterly shocking to her.

Before she knew it she was sitting at the long wooden tables that were often used when something happened that involved the village. Parties, Weddings, or ... funerals. Things such as that. She sat in between Ivy and Nicholas. Ivy was softly talking to Lucius. Nicholas was slowly eating a biscuit. She took a spoonful of potatoes and put it up to her mouth, but she couldn't eat it. It was too sickening for her.

Anna put the spoon back onto the plate and slowly looked around. The eyes of others were on her. They had heard from someone that they had seen her outside. As far as they knew or were concerned, she was in the forest and the creatures had seen her. To them, she was the one that had broken the truce with the creatures they do not speak of. But she had seen a creature before she entered the forest, before she crossed the line. She hadn't told anybody this yet. She would tell them though during the meeting.

She held her stomach and looked past Ivy to Lucius. Anna had heard that he too had crossed the borderline before. He had been giving her sympathy, he too knew what it was like to be too curious for your own good. Anna had picked red, as did her father.

"Are you feeling well,Anna?" Her mother suddenly asked her.

Anna shook her head,, "No..." She groaned. Anna was feeling sick to her stomach, but she was sure it was from what happened last night.

"She's looking sick." Nicholas said, leaning away from Anna.

"Do you want to go to go home?" Lucius asked, a concerned look on his face.

Anna nodded, "Yes..."

Ivy stood up, "Well come on then... I'll walk with you."

She stood up and took her mother's hand softly, walking with her back to their house.

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Anna stood before the people of the village in the meeting room. She had her hands folded together behind her back nervously.

"What were you doing last night?"

She frowned, they knew, but yet they still asked, "I was... I took a cloak and passed the forbidden line, picked a red berry, and was on my way back when I heard the warning bell." Anna said clearly, though she could feel her legs, hands, and arms shaking.

"Why did you go into the forest?"

"Curiosity." She said shortly, after all, it was the truth.

The elder that was asking the question was a balding man with a kind face, "That's all you have to say?"

"Well... I did see something before I went into the forest, I didn't pay much attention to it at the time though. I thought it was a deer..."

People perked up at hearing this, "It wasn't?"

"No... The way it moved...I've never saw a deer move like it. Nor have I seen a wolf, coyote, or bear move like it."

"What do you suggest it was?"

Anna sighed, "The creature we do not speak of."

Even though they knew she was going to say it, there were a few gasps.

"Do you realize what your saying?" The elder asked her.

"Yes... I'm saying that the creature came into the village before I went into the forest."

"What would be the reason for this?" He asked, more to himself then to Anna.

She shrugged, shaking her head, "I don't know...But I didn't cause the creature to come into our village."