Now... I must ponder... How many times have I issued this warning? I don't know, but this story is up at a lot of places and I've had to say it over and over. Where I come from, Anna is considered the ultimate evil of Harvest Moon. I mean, come on, in the game, she laughs when her husband falls off a cliff! Expect to see some very disturbing stuff in the chapters to come.

Chapter 31: Showdown at High Noon

Step by step, Mary watched as her mother walked towards them. Even under the blazing heat of the sun, the air around them seemed to chill as she approached. Jack squeezed her hand tight. Mary heard him say to her under his breath, "You can do this." Despite herself, she began to quake in fear as Anna came to a stop in front of them. She knew she wouldn't be able to do it.

Anna stood there, glaring at the two of them. It took her just a brief moment to analyze everything before her, the blue feather, their tightly held hands, a bead of sweat upon Jack's forehead, a tear growing in Mary's eyes. Mary was shaking, and so was Jack to a lesser extent, as he did a much better job of hiding it. They were scared of her, and were wise to be so. Jack though, was scared only because Mary was scared, he didn't know the true extent of the fear he should have, the fear she had instilled in Mary, the fear that she would soon instill in Jack.

Yet still Anna waited, knowing the silence was ripping Mary up inside, crushing any confidence she had. A blow wisely struck before the battle had even begun, a poisoned enemy is much easier to defeat. She let the poison flow forth into Jack and Mary, the poison of doubt and uncertainty. A tear finally dislodged itself and ran down Mary's face. Anna smiled coldly, she would say simple words, but words infused with such venom of pure hatred as to grind them into the dust. Yes, that would be most effective, "Good day Jack," She spat into the dirt, "Good day Mary."

Jack wasn't going to have anything to do with these false pleasantries, "Say what you have to say and be done with it."

Anna gave Jack an innocent look and brushed a nonexistent tear from her eye, "Why Jack, I thought we were friends. How can you talk to me so cruelly?"

"Cut the crap Anna. We know what you are up to, and we won't have none of it."

Now Jack was messing with her fun. Fine, he wanted her to get on with it, then so she would. He wasn't aware of the extent of her control over Mary, "Fine, so be it... Mary what do you think you are doing with that bastard Jack? I forbid you to marry him." She raised her voice to a near scream, "You are to let go of his hand and walk over here right now or suffer dire consequences."

Jack laughed, like she honestly expected that to work, "Come on Mary, let's go." He looked over at Mary with her head held low, "Mary?"

She didn't want to look at either of them. Mary didn't want to have to suffer from eye contact with Anna, but even worse she couldn't bare to see the hurt in Jack's eyes. She wrenched her hand free from Jack's and whispered under her breath, "I'm sorry." Mary slowly walked to her mother. Jack grabbed her from behind, tried to hug her, hold her tight, bring her back to him. Mary tried to control her crying. Why did he have to make it so hard on her? Mary squirmed free from Jack and went to stand by her mother.

Jack slowly sunk to his knees in despair, "No... no... it can't be..."

Anna grinned evilly. She loved seeing people grovel before her, "How does it feel Jack? To know that nobody in the world loves you? To be all alone? To be the most despised creature on the face of the Earth? You see it now don't you? Nobody loves you."

Jack looked up at them. Mary still won't show her face to him. Anna was overjoyed. He didn't know what to do, "But Mary..."

"Oh, like you honestly expected my little Mary to love you? She's just on the rebound from Grey. Give her a few days and she'll be completely over you. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she's over you already. Tell him Mary. Tell him how much you hate him. Tell him he's worthless. Tell him you never loved him."

Jack buried his face in his hands at the onslaught. He didn't see Anna raise her hand threateningly at Mary. He didn't see the tears Mary shed over him. He didn't see the confliction between what Mary said with her mouth and what she said with her eyes. He wasn't capable of feeling the love she felt for him despite her words. All he heard was the words she spoke, "Jack... I... I hate you. You... You are worthless. I never loved you."