...I hadn't been on this for a while.

And that's kinda sad. Does anyone have any thoughts on this story, is at all? Am I doing well on it? Does anyone have something to say? I'd love some constructive criticism on this project, just don't be harsh, please.

I own nothing except my OCs.

Read to your heart's content, leave me a review, but flames are unacceptable.

Chapter 17: The Bitter News

Something is completely wrong.

That is the first thought that kept crossing Mary's mind.

When morning had made its appearance in the sky, it was immediately noticed that the sky has become dulled and clouded by the dark clouds that clashed above the roofs of the town. Due to the grim sight, Mary couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong today; though she couldn't put her finger on what might be bothering her, she knew that something awful must've happened and it was something she dreaded since arriving in Twilight Town.

The morning hours passed by, but it felt so slow for her as the thoughts still haunted her. Even as she joined her sisters for breakfast and settled in the library, she still couldn't shrug off the negative vibes running through her system.

Eventually, both of her sisters caught on that there was something on their sister's mind.

"Mary, whatever is the matter? You've been quiet since you woke," Jane asked in concern.

Mary shook her head slightly. "I'm not sure…I just cannot shake this feeling that something terrible happened. Noon is almost upon us, and we haven't heard word from Kairi or Xion regarding Caroline. For that matter, I have not heard anything from Caroline herself."

"Do you suppose she might've had an accident?" Mina questioned nervously. "She does get into trouble more often than us when she is left alone."

"I don't know…Has Terra heard anything?" Mary answered with a question of her own.

Jane shook her head. "No, he hasn't. Since Caroline hasn't shown up, he has been on edge as well. We have yet to hear from anyone, and we have no knowledge as to where she could be. I only hope nothing awful happened to her…"

Suddenly, a knocking on the door was heard, making all three turn in surprise.

"Well, now who could that be?" Jane wondered.

"I'll go see who it is," Mary offered as she got up.

Immediately, Mary hurried across the hall and opened the door to find out who is there to meet them. When she did, she was quite surprised to find a tall, hulking man with frizzled hair in an officer's trench coat and a shorter man with light flowing hair in a black officer's uniform at the stairway. If these two peculiar people are here, that was the first warning in her mind something was off today.

"Um…can I help you, gentlemen?" Mary asked nervously.

"Excuse us for bothering you, Miss. I am Officer Ienzo, and this gentleman with me is Detective Aeleus," the shorter man said. "Is your family here? We would like to speak with everyone personally."

"Yeah…sure… Come on in," Mary said, gesturing them to come in. Then, she hurried to fetch the rest of the family. "Terra! Two men want to speak with us: and officer and a detective."

Her cousin arrived in time to see what's going on. "Detective…Officer…What brings you here so suddenly? Is there something wrong?"

Now, it was the detective's turn to talk. "There was a horrific crime committed within Twilight Town. Just this morning, we discovered the body of a woman. She was brutally murdered."

The instant he said this, Jane and Mina turned in shock at the bad news. Mary turned pale from dread, and Terra was no different from her in the fear of what they'll be finding out very shortly.

"And…was there any way to identify her?" Mary asked.

"As far as we could find with her personal belongings, the woman had initials sewn in on her cloak reading 'C.C.'. One witness that discovered the scene could only remember that she was called Caroline," Officer Ienzo explained, "We were informed that Dr. Lander would be able to confirm the name if we spoke with him, and that he has a family staying at this home." He turned to Terra. "Doctor, are you familiar with Caroline, by any chance?"

Terra gave a curt nod. "Yes…her name is Caroline Chastain. She's one of my cousins, from my mother's side of the family."

"What happened to her? What happened to Caroline?" Mary demanded to know.

Detective Aeleus remained silent for a moment. Then, he spoke. "…Perhaps it would be best if you come to the morgue and see for yourself. We'll explain everything as best we can."

This was something that Mary was not looking forward to, but given the circumstances surrounding the tragedy that happened, she had to know about Caroline's fate and the cause of her sister's untimely demise. Though, since they were being asked to come in and inspect their sister, there might be the possibility that other fellow associates – such as Professor Eraqus and his apprentices, and their cousins Kairi and Xion – would be called in to be informed about the misfortune that struck them.

The atmosphere of the morgue was even darker than when news of a tragedy came in, and Mary quickly noticed this after they arrived to meet with the person running the place. She couldn't help seeing just how morbid the offices are in contrast to the outside atmosphere, more so given the dull colorations that might as well be no different than the undertaker's lodgings close to that of the ancient cemeteries outside of the civilization of Twilight Town. The environment around her was mostly darker in that there were not only few people involved in the midst of the repulsive job they were doing, and it was easy for her to tell that these people are not as bothered by the presence of death within the building than everyone else.

Shortly after arriving at the morgue, they met with the detective and the officer again, and after repeating the brief discussion they had to make sure they knew what to expect were led into the examination office where they met with the doctor in charge of the dreary place. Said person was an elder man with platinum blond hair and dulled grey clothes, with faint traces of dried substances that indicate he's a hands-on individual with the examinations of any victims that are brought to him.

"Doctor, ladies, this is Dr. Even Snow. He runs the morgue," Detective Aeleus introduced him.

Dr. Snow looked up from his desk, and extended his hand out slightly. "Glad you could come, Dr. Lander. I see the family is here. You wanted to see Caroline?"

"Yes, we're here to know what happened," Terra replied gravely.

"We were told you'd be able to explain what you've found on Caroline," Mary added while biting her lip, "We want to know whatever you can tell us."

Before anything could be brought up, the door to the room opened, making everyone turn to find that the rest of the group had arrived to get the update on the news form before. Professor Eraqus was there along with his pupils, and Kairi and Xion were right behind them, all of them clearly showing either worry or a sense of knowing that only an adult could comprehend.

"We're sorry for being late. We got the message from Miss Kairi that you were on your way to the morgue, and we got here as quickly as we could," Eraqus apologized humbly. Then, he turned toward Dr. Snow with the intent of acquiring answers. "Tell me, Dr. Snow, you were about to explain what you've found regarding Caroline's conditions?"

"Yes, I was just about to. Though, I'll need to remind you that what I am about to explain in detail is not for the faint of heart," Dr. Even replied coolly, looking toward the other women in the room as though he wasn't sure whether they should be listening.

"Just tell us. Tell us everything," Mary insisted bluntly. "I want to see what happened to our sister."

Knowing that there was no chance for dissuasion, the doctor reluctantly removed the sheet nearly halfway so that the party could see the face of the victim. Sure enough, the sisters could easily recognize the blond hair and what colors she was wearing when she died: it was Caroline Chastain!

Horror rapidly spread on the faces of those who saw her terrible state; Jane turned away and began to cry quietly while Mina could only look upon the body of their eldest sister in pure terror, and their young female cousins could only hold each other tightly as they finally came to see how horrid the fate of their relative was.

Ventus and Aqua were just as horrified, but not to the personal extent that the family was going through at this moment.

With a deep breath, Dr. Even proceed to explain what he knew. "As far as I could find with this poor woman, she was undoubtedly stabbed several times within her arm and leg limbs. But what certainly was intriguing about it was the fact that the marks were extremely precise, and how deep those marks had been left there. To our knowledge, nobody saw who was responsible, but some of the witnesses who discovered her had reason to believe that she wasn't randomly attacked. If she were, the stab wounds would've been much wilder in contrast to the precise points."

"We were called to the scene early in the afternoon, when one passerby described seeing a river of blood flowing out from the alleyway she was found in," Officer Ienzo added, "When we arrived to investigate the matter, I will not deny that it was quite a shock to find such a gruesome scene. Oddly, despite how violently the poor woman was attacked, we found that nothing of her was stolen, so robbery didn't seem to be the motive for her death."

"But that doesn't explain what could've happened to Caroline," Mary insisted, "There has to be something more to Caroline's death than just murder."

During all of this, Professor Eraqus and Terra took the liberty to examine Caroline's body to confirm the cause of her unfortunate demise. Both could easily tell that she indeed had been stabbed several times, and the wounds were very deep; not to mention, a few marks indicated that the weapon actually went completely through her limbs.

"I can't believe this had to happen," Terra murmured glumly, "What will happen to the rest of the girls now?"

"I won't deny that it's alarming to know someone failed to listen to wise words," Eraqus agreed, "But there's something else going on here. Caroline's death cannot be a coincidence. There must be a reason she is dead now…"

But then, in the midst of close examination, Eraqus turned Caroline's head to the left to find two punctured wounds on her neck. His eyes narrowed with suspicion as he looked closer at the peculiar wounds left there, not healing up as they should've been. He had to wonder where it came from, and what could've done this. Is it possible that…

"I noticed those strange wounds on her neck as well," Dr. Even pointed out, "I've never seen that type of injury before in all my years of examining of the dead."

"Was there any sign of an animal?" Terra asked out of curiosity.

Detective Aeleus shook his head. "Not to our knowledge. No animal could've left the stab wounds like that along with the punctures."

On Mary's part, her initial suspicions have only begun to increase after hearing everything that the men were saying right now. There was no doubt in her mind that Caroline had been cornered under the cover of night, and someone was able to corner her and kill her just like that. But she can't say for sure; she needed stronger evidence of the person who caused the untimely demise of Caroline, which made her wish she knew where exactly to look for such elusive proof.

In any case, her family will be having a funeral now that they've learned about Caroline's fate. All she could pray for now is that more danger doesn't come their way too quickly…

Later on, after the meeting in the morgue, the entire surviving family gathered together to discuss matters privately at Terra's home while he oversaw procedures for Caroline's funeral with close associates. Though, it was pretty clear that not everyone was prepared to take the shock of losing a loved one so suddenly, let alone just after a potential chance of new happiness was around the corner for them.

"I still can't believe this had to happen to her," Kairi said as she shook her head sadly, "If only she listened to us…"

"Am I to assume that Caroline got angry when she came to her senses, and then decided to depart alone while she was still in her angered state?" Mary asked her cousins.

Xion nodded. "Unfortunately, yes, she did do that. We tried to warn her not to go out alone, really we did. We even told her that the professor wanted her not to traverse through Twilight Town alone under the cover of night. Sadly, she refused to hear us out and continued to make accusations against you."

Jane lowered her head sadly. "How horrible…We came here to live a happy life, but instead we are greeted by death."

Mina didn't say anything throughout the conversation; Mary could easily understand why she would be like this, especially since she wasn't used to experiencing so much personal loss even after the loss of their parents some time before. And now that their eldest sister was no more, that meant the three of them are the only survivors who have to find a new life for themselves since Caroline won't be able to.

But there was something more on Mary's mind about the things that happened within less than three days. The arrival of the people she and her sisters met at Hollow Bastion a few days ago, their intrusive meeting at their cousins' mansion, Caroline's sudden and brutal death… Where she was standing, none of this could be pure luck or coincidence. She always feared that her family was being targeted for an action that would've gotten them killed if they had stayed any longer, but she never imagined that the horror they escaped from would follow them to torment them yet again.

Now what will she have to do to protect her remaining family?

Unbeknownst to everyone within the small abode, two hooded figures were watching the window revealing the library where Terra was talking to his acquaintances about the latest state of affairs and going over the funeral arrangements. Though their voices were inaudible, the two strangers were able to somehow pick up what is going on from outside and could easily assume that plans were being made for the process of burying Caroline. Underneath the shadows provided by the hood, Xigbar couldn't help looking with a satisfactory look on his face while Xaldin simply looked on.

"Ah, so now the whole family's been hit by an unfortunate loss," Xigbar said with a small smirk, "To think that what you did to Caroline is going to leave the rest of the sisters wide open for the picking, Xaldin. You really pushed your revenge quite a bit, didn't you?"

"Caroline had it coming from the beginning. Did you think for one minute I was going to just kill her?" Xaldin shook his head. "No, that would've been rather dull. I thought I'd make things a lot more interesting for those pathetic girls, and give them a little something to fear should they think about investigating again."

Xigbar shrugged a bit. "Sure thing, but you remember that the youngest is the one the boss wants…Preferably alive. Plus, if memory serves, Saix has a grudge against Mary, and I can guarantee that he'd rather be the one to kill her if she gets too nosy."

Xaldin let out an indifferent 'hmph' at that. "He can do what he wants. And I know what the master wants. What happens to the youngest doesn't matter to me. Besides, we've got a few days until those girls learn their place."

Upon hearing that, Xigbar couldn't help but chuckle at the notion of the Chastain family experiencing a roaming monster who used to be one of their own. This was something that would certainly spice things up for their hunt.

"Well, in any case, we'd better head back and let our master about the arrangements for Caroline's funeral. I'm pretty sure he'd want to see the results of your attack," Xigbar said as he started to turn back, "Who knows? Perhaps that little flavor you left will make things more amusing for him."

It was late in the evening by the time Terra had finished making the arrangements for Caroline's funeral with additional help; Kairi and Xion had to leave to take care of other things, but promised to be there for the burial. Though, it was clear that they, too, had to come to terms that they've experienced a sudden loss and need time to collect themselves.

When it was down to only the remaining Chastain sisters, Terra, Professor Eraqus, Ventus and Aqua, a very serious discussion was done as to how things will be working out regarding the funeral as well as the matter of what will be done with Caroline's personal belongings; it was pretty clear that the whole process was going to take over the course of a few days to a couple of weeks to resolve, but it was something that had to be done if they were to be able to keep on going despite the tragedy. Still, this was a lot for the three sisters to wrap around their heads since the loss was a lot more personal than others; sure, they were able to come to terms about not having their parents to look after them after the crash that killed them, but since this was their sister they were talking about, it was much harder to deal with.

"…I can't help feeling rather ancient after hearing about all of this," Jane suddenly commented.

"We understand what you mean, Jane. We're very sorry that all three of you had to know about all this," Aqua reassured her with sympathy, "But we're certain that, one way or another, we'll find the truth behind Caroline's brutal demise."

"Still, I can't shake off the feeling that there's something wrong about her death," Ventus admitted nervously, "Don't get me wrong, the way she was killed off like that was cruel beyond words. But the puncture wounds…why do I have the feeling that something worse might've happened to her?"

Mary turned to the professor when she heard this. "Professor, do you think there's something missing in all of this? Could something else have happened that not even the investigators are aware of?"

Eraqus shook his head gravely. "I can't say for sure, Miss Mary. I'll need to look into this further before I even confirm any possible suspicions."

An uneasy frown set on Mary's face when she heard this. She wondered if there's any way she can investigate into the matter herself, preferably while everyone else is preoccupied at their own affairs. Of course, she had the old journal; perhaps she might be able to find a clue as to the circumstances of Caroline's death and of the villains pursuing them like hunters against their designated prey. She had already read about the writer's past life and that person's desire to supposedly make others suffer what he had suffered so long ago after the death of his love; perhaps there's more to the story than she thought. At this point, the truth is all she wants to find…something that can free her family from this darkness that has clouded them.

"I just don't understand…why did we have to go through this?" Mina suddenly asked sadly. "It's just so painful that someone who is part of our life is no longer with us. I know that Caroline wasn't the best sister, but she was our sister all the same. She didn't deserve to die like that."

Mary understood what her little sister meant. "As much as I hated Caroline's attitude and selfishness, I won't deny that this is wrong. That's something I can agree on, Mina."

Terra turned to his former mentor. "Professor, do you intend to do more investigations after the funeral? What do you plan on looking into?"

"I do intend on looking into Caroline's death again, see if I can find any evidence as to the true cause of her demise," Eraqus replied cryptically, "If I find anything, I'll inform all of you at once. But until then, I must ask all of you to continue staying safe at all costs. I have the feeling that whatever is out there is not done yet…"

Though everyone else didn't understand what he was talking about, Mary had a feeling that he might have an idea as to what's going on; there was no doubt he was taking what he learned from her into account and intent on finding more proof so that Terra and her sisters would be willing to hear him out on his speculations.

In the meantime, she can take the liberty into commencing her own investigations. She had to find something that can prepare her for the next nightmare to come their way, hopefully to be ready for their pursuers should the need to fight back arise…