It was quite late as he came into the center of the empty village; most sensible folk would be sleeping by this time. Or doing things most sensible folk saw as not so acceptable under the cover of darkness, as humans were want to do. It seemed safe enough during the day, but as it was with places, night was when the true essence of things 'came to light' as it were. And humans were a confusing bunch, as he had seen from his more recent observations and general ideas from stalking them on All Hallows' Eve. When better to see the hidden side of humanity, during the time when the veil lifted!

It was for this reason the skeleton was concerned for her safety, cradling her unconscious body in his long arms, not wanting to simply drop the poor thing off in the village and leave her be. Lest that man find her and possibly do worse...He'd rather not think of what. She had made small whimpers here and there as he had carried her along, her body shaking slightly due to the chill, but she showed no real signs of stirring anytime soon. Which slightly worried him; had he scared her that badly? The skeleton felt guilty at the idea, he had only meant to help her. Concerned, he gently laid a bony hand across her neck, checking for a pulse just to be safe.

It was quiet, but he did feel the throbs of life under his palm, though her skin was still quite chilled. He lingered there for a few moments, simply to make sure that the beats did not change in any way, worried that they may stop altogether. He soon found himself traveling upward, his hand brushing a lock of hair away from her closed eyes, cupping her cheek delicately. Her hair was still damp, wetting his phalanges slightly as they treaded through the thick, tangled curls, and her skin was cold, possibly clammy even as the tips of his bones began to lightly caress her flesh. He was confused by his actions, but was careful to not leave any further scratches on her marred face, marveling at how the skin had already begun to develop a deep black bruise underneath. Humans certainly were delicate creatures if they could be hurt so easily! It made a surge of anger rush through him then, remembering the man who had done this to her, and what more damage he possibly could have inflicted on the poor woman had Jack not intervened.

All the more reason for him to get her home safely, he supposed. Her family could patch her up, and maybe by then she'd regain consciousness enough to inform them of what had happened. Then, he hoped, they would do something about that horrible lout they had tried to marry her off to. At least, that was his hope as he trudged through the darkened streets, avoiding any signs of human or animal activity lest he be discovered holding an unconscious body. It only took him a few minutes of careful searching to find the house, the inside of which showed no sign of activity, no lights or flickering candles to show people were still up and about.

With a quick, yet harsh tapping at the door with his bony knuckles—hopefully enough to catch their attention—he carefully set the young woman down onto the ground, before he hid in the tree line then, not wanting anyone to see him. He hoped her family would help her, which was why he had chosen to bring the poor thing back home in the first place. It would be better than leaving her alone somewhere, certainly!

Thankfully—after heading back and rapping on the door a couple more times—lights began to turn on in the house, footsteps soon heading towards their position. Hiding into the bushes, Jack waited with anticipation as the door creaked open, a figure holding lit lamp peeking out of the frame. A horrible shriek rang out, the older woman staring at the body of her daughter and panicking, nearly throwing the lamp. The father arrived soon after, his usually stern features twisted with anger and confusion as he beheld the sight in front of him.

The skeleton thought he saw something else smoldering in those sunken eyes, an emotion he couldn't quite identify—then it was gone. He was able to calm the older woman down enough so that they could get their daughter inside. Jack still did his best to listen, worried about her condition, creeping as best he could towards a window that had been left open near the kitchen—to let bread cool, of all things.

He heard the sound of grunting and shuffling, most likely the father carrying her up to her room, the mothers panicked sobs following. It continued for a while, how long he could not exactly say—before he heard the sound of a door shut quietly, and pairs of footsteps move closer to where he was situated. It was dark out, and he was hidden quite low to ground, so he highly doubted either of the humans could see him. That didn't stop him from being overly cautious as he listened to the humans speak, interested in every word they had to say. He was concerned for the young woman; hopefully they might assuage his worries a small bit.

"W-What happened...to our dear daughter?"

"I'm not certain...She did run off into the woods. The young man we had made her suitor went after her. But, he returned earlier, horribly shaken. And our ungrateful daughter was not with him."

He heard the father say, and felt the venom in his voice as the man admonished his offspring. Maybe the undead monarch had no right to an opinion, being an outsider and interfering as he did, but he felt that her father was being somewhat harsh on the poor girl. It certainly made him uneasy, an odd feeling rising to his chest as he heard the father continue his rant.

"We set up everything for her to lead a happy life, and she wishes to throw it away for...scribblings on paper and the foolish idea of 'true love'! Damnation!"

"Oh dearest...She's young, and naive. Maybe we should let her at least try to pursue her dr—"

He heard the loud smack of something hitting a surface then, along with a pained gasp from whom he could only assume was her mother. Anger flares through him then, his lithe form trembling against the darkness. How despicable this man was, to lay a hand upon his wife! Now he understood why her father had not made too much of a fuss upon seeing his child's blemished face; Jack wouldn't be surprised if he himself had inflicted similar injuries in the past. Pity coursed through his being then, a hand unconsciously moving up to cover his chest, sockets closed slightly in silent contemplation. Until he heard the soft voice of the mother, somewhat strained compared to before as she tried to speak again.

"B-But...but if she was not...brought here b-by Lord Keogh, then who? G-Gods, do you think…!?"

"I do not know! We should simply take care of her for now, see that she is behaving. If—rather when—she wakes up, if she is still in her right mind, we can decide whether to send a priest or not."

There. It was settled for him. He should stay and watch the small family, for the young woman's sake. He felt worried, however, and this stopped the skeleton from moving away from his hiding place just yet. He swore he could hear soft, quiet sobs, coming from somewhere above him. He knew who they came from, but understood he could not go to comfort her, however much his principles yelled at him to never leave a woman in tears. Hearing the parents footsteps move away from the room, the discussion apparently finished, Jack also decided to take his leave, vanishing once more under cover of darkness. His mind was abuzz with thoughts, pestering him as he walked onward.

He was glad he had helped her, even if it was just this once. Even if they could never actually meet. Even if his chest ached with an indignant fury at the idea of leaving her with that monster of a human being. For he was a spirit, one of the dead, and she was living. It would be wrong of him to interfere further. At best, the most he could do was watch, make sure she came to no further harm. He told himself this over and over, almost like a vow, a litany that he would not break. He would not get involved. He would simply watch, and hope things turned out well for her…

Things, of course, did not turn out well for the young woman as the days turned into a week. Was she simply cursed with horrible luck, he wondered? During that time, she had rarely left the house, as he had watched her carefully when he was in the area, still wanting to take stock of the rest of the town. Just because—or maybe it was the reason—he was concerned for her sake didn't mean he could slack off at watching the other humans in their daily routines. Which seemed to have shifted slightly, he noticed, as many of them began to gossip with one another, not as focused on their work as before. He would catch whispers about the 'ungrateful girl', so lucky to have such a suitor, and how she deserved the slap across the face for rebuffing him. He was a Lord, after all, and she simply a commoner.

Or they assumed the blow was from 'the demons', the small cuts that graced her legs seemingly being the monsters' claws or tree branches that she had held onto as they attempted to drag her off. Some whispered she was touched, or and He had heard her parents speak of possibly asking her suitor to bring a priest in using his connections to the clergy—being a noble as he was—the two sides oft intertwined. That way they could make sure of the claims, and assuage their own worries at the same time. Either way, the rumors being spread did little to help her reputation. Every time the young woman went into the small village square, usually with the purpose of shopping—eyes were turned her way, whispers now surrounding the young woman who had rebuffed a Lord. She didn't confront them about it, either because of her bad sight unable to notice the leering gases shot her way or because she was purposefully ignoring it, but he noticed that she became more exhausted as time went on, bags slowly forming under her small eyes. Maybe the emotional and mental strain was starting to take its toll on her health?

He usually at least had the foresight to hide himself in one of the nearby neighbors fields, pretending to be a scarecrow so that he could get a good vantage point on everything and yet not attract too much attention. Thankfully they left him well enough alone, for he was smart enough to use a pumpkin to disguise his skull—glad his vegetable carving talents had finally been put to some practical use after decades—and for that he was lucky. Other than the racket of crows, the pumpkin wearing skeleton shooing them away with a hard glare, the humans didn't bother him, though the old couple who owned the farm was confused about the oddly spindly scarecrow at first.

When Jack wasn't stalking about the house, he crept through the village, sticking to narrow alleyways and dark corners. The spaces between the houses was not too great, where he could make out things with not exact detail but enough thanks to his inhuman sight. He had done this several times before while scouting for information. Not to mention while scaring folks for Hallows Eve numerous times before; it was one of his more favorite tricks. Though rumors had begun to surface of an entity that stalked through the village at night, slinking through shadows and lingering in the darkness. Which made him more than a little concerned; was he losing his touch? Or were these new rumors simply overlapping with the ones that had been bubbling up; and for that he felt worried. He wasn't causing more trouble by trying to watch out for her, was he? He simply wasn't sure, and things soon escalated too quickly for him to find out.

A few days after she had been returned home, around a week—right after he had hoped everything would settle down—some of the villagers, as well as her suitor came knocking on her family's door. This troubled Jack greatly as he watched from his perch in the nearby field; hopefully nothing much would come of it. Knowing humans however, he doubted it would be that simple. They tended to over complicate the most simple of things. And her suitor was...a despicable man, if Jack had anything to say about it. He hadn't left a good first impression on the holiday monarch, at least. And this was souring him even further in the skeleton's sockets. For now, he could do nothing but watch, strung up somewhat uncomfortably to keep up the illusion he was immobile. Though part of him wanted to give the humans a good fright, so that they would trouble her no more, he understood that would only harm her further.

Was it my fault? Maybe I should have left them well enough alone...No! And let that poor woman be subjected to...No. I did the right thing. She'll be fine; they are probably just worried for her health. Although seeing him here makes me have my doubts…

He could barely pick up their conversation, straining to hear anything that might give a clue as to what was going on. He did notice though, that the parents easily gave way for the noble to step inside, which made a chill go down his spine. He was worried, even more so when he noticed the man nearly drag the young woman out of the house, her footsteps somewhat halting as they followed along. The villagers kept their distance, yet surrounded the pair so as to keep them boxed in.

Wasting no time, the skeleton quickly abandoned his post, easily slipping down to the ground and replacing the scarecrow with its parts as he usually did when he needed to leave for a while. He stalked after the group, making sure to be as quiet as the night as he went, not wanting to attract any undo attention lest he make things worse.

They soon came upon a building, one he had tried to investigate several times but found no way inside. It stymied him, but before he had paid it no mind, too intent on people watching as he was and learning their ways. Now, he started to regret that mistake. He watched as they led her inside the large building, the door slamming shut with an ominous bang. The skeleton waited a few moments before creeping forward, seeing as it was daytime and there was the possibility he could be spotted. He came as close to the building as he dared, slinking into the bushes nearby.

He wished to hear them, surprised he could not pick up even the slightest trace of their conversation inside through the building's thin walls or windows. From what little he had seen of the man, he was dangerous. Still, that was when the two of them were alone; maybe having more people around would temper the man's ire. At least he hoped so. He crept toward the door, hoping maybe he could sneak inside to watch what was happening, feeling an odd buzzing in his skull as he did so. He could a feel a power radiating from it, one unlike anything he had felt before when he had examined the place, which grew stronger the closer he attempted to get. Putting a hand to the wood surface of the door, the structure denied him entry, as he felt a force push him roughly backwards, making him land on his backside.

Now he was even more curious; none of the other buildings gave him that type of reaction before, so why had this one? He looked up at the towering ramparts, noticing that this building was constructed quite differently than the others. Where they were plain and simple, this was ornate and eloquent. He'd wager it was the most impressive looking building in the village. The lanky skeleton wasn't sure of what its usage was, but considering they had brought the girl here to be questioned, maybe it was similar in function to the Town Hall back home. It was certainly more decked out than the Town Hall, he noticed.

So he hid in the shadows, barely able to see what was going on because of the odd colorations of the window, hoping that they weren't treating her too harshly. He had simply wanted to help; he didn't mean to cause this amount of trouble...