Hmm... Is it just me or am I getting less creative with Chapter titles?

Chapter 9: Restless Night

The rest of the day had gone by uneventfully, thank goodness. curled up in her sheets on the hard floor in the back room. Like most of the people in town, she had temporarily moved into the inn for the night. After all, they would be safer together. She had done her duty to the town today, when she overheard Harris accusing Zack of the murder, she made sure everybody knew.

It didn't sit right with her, Manna had thought for certain that Jack was the murder, but then again, Harris was a professional. Zack and Jack were two of the few people who hadn't decided to sleep in the inn. It was no wonder though, people were picking sides, and pretty much the only thing anyone was talking about was why they thought which of the two was the murderer.

Manna gave Duke a half hug, just to help comfort herself. It was a bit crowded, but it was warm and safe. She was glad for her safety.

Upstairs, Mary was having trouble sleeping. Everything was so overwhelming to her. She quietly slipped out of her blankets, being careful not to wake her parents, and crept downstairs. There were so many people sitting around at the tables talking, others, like her, that could not sleep. Mary sat down at an empty table and cried.

Somebody placed a hand on her shoulder and Mary jumped. She quickly looked up to see Carter, with an obviously forced yet still warming smile upon his face. Mary fell into his arms and cried on his chest. It was too much, just too much for her to bear

Carter held Mary, doing his best to comfort her. She had lost all control of herself and was shaking vehemently. To help calm her sorrow, he quietly hummed a little lullaby his mother used to sing to him, and slowly but surely, Mary calmed down. He knew this had to be hard on her, and this was the first chance she had to release what was inside of her.

When she had finally regained her composure, Carter kissed her on the forehead, "I may not be in my confession booth, but I will make an exception now. So tell me child, confess to me all that is bothering you, and I will do my best to alleviate your pain.

Mary held him close to her, "Oh Carter, I think I may have driven Jack to do this. I'm so afraid that it was me that pushed him over the edge. I didn't want to hurt him. I don't want him to hurt. It's my fault Won is dead. It's all my fault." She started crying again.

Carter was shocked, but it wasn't like he shouldn't have expected this. "Mary, it is not your fault at all. Look at me." He took her face in his hands and forced her to look into his eyes, "I mean it, look at me! You did nothing wrong. There is no blood upon your hands."

"But that isn't what it feels like! I feel like I'm all alone now, that everyone is blaming me. Why did I have to mess everything up?"

Carter put as much warmth in his voice as he could, "You are not all alone child, nobody is blaming you. Everyone who knows you loves you."

"Not Jack... he said he hated me..."

"What Jack said he said in anger, he does not truly hate you. I give you all the love I can give, but if that is not enough, I have only one choice. Under the circumstances, I will forgive you if you go and sleep with your future husband Grey, but keep everything clean now. Just take comfort in his love."

Grey did love her? Didn't he? Mary felt happiness begin to bubble up inside of her again. She put her arms around Carter again, but this time in happiness, "Thank you Carter! You are the best priest ever! I mean it!"

Carter watched as Mary skipped off towards where Grey was sleeping. Sometimes he had too much of soft heart for his own good. He sighed. Just like with Jack...