Okay...we're getting closer. I wonder who can take a guess as to what discovery will be made later on.

I apologize if this is a shorter chapter than the last one; progress on any of my work in general has been pretty slow, especially since I'm juggling other projects alongside holidays and all that stuff. I'm pretty sure any reviewers I have can understand that as much as I do. Besides, multitasking is sometimes no cakewalk.

That being said, I hope you guys enjoy.

Constructive reviews are welcome. Rude comments are not.

I own nothing except my OCs.

Read, leave a review, but no flames allowed.

Chapter 19: Nightmare in Twilight Town

When Mary first woke up, she almost forgot where she was last night when her rest was hindered; but once she recalled that she fell asleep in the library and had not left the room since, that was when she realized that she had to pull herself together and get back in business before her sisters question where she's been. Although she had a suspicion that someone in the family will find her and want to know what she was doing anyway, so what's the point of bothering to hide her ulterior motives (for the most part)?

Sure enough, the door opened and Jane stepped inside, but then got a surprise to find that there was someone else in the room.

"Oh, Mary! What are you doing here? Did you fall asleep in the library?" Jane asked, her voice indicating how startled she was.

Mary rubbed her eyes a bit. "I suppose I did. Something kept bothering me last night, and I felt that I couldn't get any rest until I had done some investigating. Though, admittedly, it wasn't that simple searching through every book around the area…"

Jane shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I suppose I can understand that, what with our cousin's library being quite enormous in his book collection than other rooms within his abode. But, really, you should know when to get some rest after all that we've been through. Ever since learning about Caroline's demise and even after the funeral, you've been on edge for reasons I don't understand."

"You have no idea…" Mary murmured to herself, inaudible to her sister.

As much as she wanted to admit the truth to her elder sister, Mary had high doubts that Jane would be able to take in information on the notion of vampires running amok, much less want to relive those frightening memories. There was no doubt in her mind that the only way she would be convinced about such absurd ideas is if she encountered such creatures herself; even so, something would have to be done to prove to her that such things existed. For now, she would have to keep her intentions a secret until she has concrete proof that can help her and her family prepare for whatever evil comes their way.

"Well, why don't you go get yourself refreshed and dressed? I'll be heading to Mina's bedroom to wake her up," Jane said as she started to walk away. "If Terra sees you like this, I'm quite certain he will question your health at the drop of a hat."

Not wanting to get into that level of trouble, Mary immediately left the library and back into her bedroom without getting caught in her nightdress, and did exactly as her sister instructed her to. But after she had changed clothes and was about to leave, she quickly caught the nagging feeling that something was out of place. She had no idea what it was…that is, until she looked around the room, and then noticed that the old journal she had left on her desk was eerily absent. Fearing that someone might've noticed it and taken it in order to examine the contents written within its old pages, she immediately started to search around the entire upstairs of the house just to make sure none of her family took it to their rooms and left it for further examination.

However, despite her concerns and how thoroughly she searched, Mary found that neither her elder sister nor her cousin had ever gotten their hands on the journal; that meant only one possibility: her younger sister must've noticed it and wanted to read it out of curiosity. With that in mind, she made her way to Mina's bedroom to see if she was awake and talk to her if she could.

But oddly, when she knocked on the door, there was no response from the other side.

"Mina? Mina, are you awake?" Mary asked.

No answer.

She knocked again, a little louder this time. But still, she received no answer.

Uneasy about it, Mary slowly opened the door. "Mina, I'm coming in, alright?"

When Mary opened the door wide enough, though, she got herself a shock when she found Mina sprawled irregularly on her bed, hints of pain on her face as her head hung back; the journal that Mary was looking for was discovered to be on the floor, partially opened with the pages facing the carpet as though it had been dropped roughly. Not wasting any more time, the concerned sister hurried over to Mina's side to make sure she is alright. Fortunately, Mary found that her younger sister was alive, but she had reason to believe that she must've lost consciousness somehow. Although her medical knowledge was limited, she knew that she needed some help on waking her sister from her current state; at least she had just the person who could do that…

"Terra! Terra, come up here, quickly!" Mary called as loud as she could.

Within mere moments, hasty footsteps could be heard, and in an instant Terra arrived on the scene to see what the matter was.

"Mary? What's the matter?" Terra asked. But then he turned to see an unconscious Mina in Mary's arms, and grew alarmed. "Mina! What happened to her?"

"I don't know. She seems to be unconscious, but I don't know how that happened," Mary replied.

Like the doctor that he is, Terra immediately checked over Mina to make sure she is stable before determining the best solution; true to Mary's word, she had been rendered unconscious, so he opened his handbag and pulled a small bottle of smelling salts to help wake her from the forced dreamless slumber she was rendered in. With a whiff of the odorous material, Mina came to in short seconds, and started looking around in confusion.

"…Mary? Terra? Whatever is the matter?" Mina asked, puzzled at the situation. "Did I pass out or something?"

"That's what we would like to know," Mary answered her.

Her younger sister shook her head in uncertainty. "Last night…I saw a journal in Mary's room, and I couldn't help wanting to read what was in it. The last thing I remembered was seeing visions…apparitions, I think…and an unbearable pain in my head. After that…" She paused. "I wish I knew what happened afterwards. I must've passed out, I suppose."

In a way, it made sense to Mary – but at the same time, she wasn't sure what to think of what Mina went through. She knew that her sister was struggling to deal with the dark days within the family, but she never thought that looking in a journal would force her to lose consciousness.

But before she could ask Mina what she read in the old journal, Jane came up the stairs with a shocked look on her face and a newspaper on hand. This made Mary have a nagging suspicion that something is really wrong in town.

"Is everything alright, Jane? What's bothering you?" she asked with unease.

Nervously, Jane held the paper before her sister. "Mary…Terra…I think you should see this. It seems that something…awful happened in Twilight Town, and it's making the public very uneasy."

Not liking where this was going, Mary took the newspaper and looked at the front page in order to understand what Jane was talking about. Sure enough, the title of the big news along with the details of the mystery that has emerged to crack the tranquility of Twilight Town's humble society:

"Night Terror! Who is the Woman in Red?

"Early this morning, a young man was discovered in the alleyways of the streets with two small wounds on his throat along with the mysterious loss of blood. According to the survivor, he was traveling through the streets when he encountered a young woman who invited him to come along with her. After wandering through the streets, he was lured into an alley and subsequently experienced feelings of pain and weakness; unfortunately, he had no recollection as to what the woman did to him throughout the incident.

"After extensive investigation by officers and doctors, it stood reason to believe that there may be a potential danger attempting to creep its way into Twilight Town. All gentlemen are advised to never travel through the streets alone, especially after dark."

After she read the article, Mary's inner fears started to escalate; it stunned her to find that an attack had to occur shortly after her eldest sister's demise, and on an innocent man at that. What was happening now after all the hell her family has already gone through? Is there any connection to the suspicions of the interlopers within Twilight Town, with the very people that she really wanted to sever all ties with after peeking inside the Pandora's Box that lurked within the walls of Hollow Bastion?

Terra also took a look at this, and he certainly dreaded what manner of warning was being presented in the papers.

"How could something like this occur?" he couldn't help questioning, "If another attack happens within town, this will cause a panic and spark a fear of a dangerous villain lurking among them."

"What I would like to know is what manner of person is this Woman in Red," Jane admitted in fear.

Mina felt she was missing something in this. "What are we talking about? What mischief has crept its way into Twilight Town?"

While the rest of the family explained to Mina what she was missing, Mary quietly picked up the journal and left the room so she could gather what she had learned together without any disturbance. So far, from what she already knew and what she knows now, the family already experienced a personal tragedy concerning a relative whose mistake proved to be fatal and damaging to their stay in their new home.

But now there is confounding news of a stranger who made the first strike on an innocent civilian who might've happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the public has called her the Woman in Red. It was just not making any sense to Mary in the slightest: what was happening to this town?

There was no chance to answer these questions since only one person was attacked, and she couldn't point her finger to whosoever might the cause of the new problems. Because of this, she knew that it would be best – although she loathed the idea of it – to wait for another attack until something could provide her a lead as to where the attacker was coming from and how this person was able to target a particular individual when that one person was alone without any form of protection.

"Professor, have you read about the news on a mysterious seducer?"

The moment Eraqus heard Ventus ask that question; he looked up from his notes and examined the front page of the newspaper regarding that unsettling incident. Sure enough, he was quite surprised that something sinister would happen after Caroline's funeral, more so since the details indicated the very elements required proving in his investigation on the mysterious blood loss in Twilight Town. How this sort of event happened within a short amount of hours after the Chastain's tragedy was beyond him, but what he did know was that these new clues given to him were a warning that there was something new afoot that might cause more trouble if left unchecked.

"Things are getting much more complicated than I thought. It seems that as soon as one mystery is presented to us, another reared its ugly head at us," Professor Eraqus commented, "Still, the idea that someone is attacking a specific individual is something that needs investigation. For all we know, it might lead us to the real masterminds behind the illnesses baffling the average doctors."

Aqua looked up from her book, curious as to the information. "Did something happen last night? I must've missed it."

"A man was lured and then attacked last night after Caroline's funeral," Ventus explained, "It's got the town nervous about the survivor's encounter with a woman dressed in red, hence this name of the mysterious stranger."

"Oh, so the public is thinking that there might be a possible new murderer or seducer on the loose, and it might cause panic if the attack occurred again," Aqua deduced from what she was able to gather.

"Perhaps this new development may not be relevant to our investigation, or perhaps it might be a clue to crack this case wide open," the professor admitted with intrigue, "The only way we can investigate this possibility is if another strike occurred within the town. If at least one clue can be found that can lead us to who is responsible for causing more chaos than they already are, then we might be able to help the Chastain family understand what has been left unnoticed by society of today and protect them from the forces arranged against them."

It sounded reasonable enough in context, to be sure; considering how the sisters had originally encountered something dark about Hollow Bastion and its residents with mainly small glimpses that barely scratched the surface to their true nature, it's only logical that more information is needed to prove anything that would otherwise be dismissed as superfluous superstition or the delusional fantasies of an unhinged madman. However, since Terra was also involved as the local doctor of Twilight Town, he would have to be filled in on the situation as well as be given concrete proof that this medical mystery may not be a mystery if one searches in the right places. The difficulty, though, would be to know who to present the evidence to first after compiling all that they can acquire.

Over the course of three days, the mysterious attacks happened each night, giving the gentlemen of Twilight Town a very good reason to not traverse through the town alone. It was quickly realized by investigators and doctors that these newest batch of victims found alive but weakened from loss of blood by mysterious means were young men who are either in their prime or were eligible bachelors who've yet to find a lady to fill the holes in their lives, and that these men were easily seduced by the same Woman in Red into pursuing her with the promise of intimacy and passion. Because of these attacks on said specific persons, it gave every wife and fiancée a very strong reason to worry about their loved ones and had to establish an agreed curfew amongst them to ensure that nobody else was ensnared by the stranger who has brought trouble to their lives.

However, despite all of the efforts of the officers and the investigation teams, they were unable to find any leads as to where this femme fatale has been entering the town and certainly no indication as to where she would depart from the lonely streets under the cover of night. Without any witnesses to trace the whereabouts and hiding place of the Woman in Red, and without any evidence as to what she used to cause the strange injuries on the victims, any chances of closing the case were drastically dropping into the negatives.

On the fourth day after the string of attacks, Mary had just picked up the latest paper and was rereading all that was described in the articles regarding the attacks by the Woman in Red. She was in utter disbelief that official investigators were having problems finding a way to identify or trace where the mysterious lady was making her appearance and what there was to gain from seducing young gentlemen who have yet to find something to make their lives more enjoyable with the company of another person. Despite this, she knew that there was no way the protection force would be able to track down a person as seductive and dangerous as this strange woman, much less be able to bring said attacker to justice.

Still, something within the details of the attacks bothered her greatly: the two puncture marks that would be found on the victims were – according to investigators and journalists – heavily resembled that of an animal, and yet there's no knowledge as to what.

But then there's the matter of how this person was able to get away with these atrocities without getting caught by anyone – or be witnessed by anyone within Twilight Town, at the least. It was understandable that once night rolls around, not many people would want to walk around the streets without good reason and without companionship to ease the fears of being alone in an empty environment; it did make her wonder why the more daring would even think about going through town at night when everyone knows that there are potential dangers that come with the nocturnal territory. Then again, she wasn't too familiar with the lifestyle of Twilight Town in contrast to her family's old hometown, so there's no way she would be able to answer that question by herself.

"There has to be an explanation for this madness. There must be something we haven't paid attention to well enough," Mary said to herself as she tried to figure out could be done.

But then, something within the back of her mind suddenly forced her to remember the suspicion she had after Caroline was buried along with their late family members. Earlier, she kept having the nagging feeling that something was amiss about her sister, and she couldn't help thinking that something happened to Caroline the night she was attacked; Mary couldn't put her finger to it before, but after hearing about Eraqus's investigation into the mysterious anemias and her experiences with the uncanny things that happened in Hollow Bastion, she was becoming convinced that there was more to the events than she initially thought.

Looking out the library window, noticing the twilight giving way to the night, Mary decided that there was only one option left for her to do: she had to investigate the Chastain family tomb.

"Whatever it is that is giving my family so much pain and fear has done something to intimidate us, and someone has to figure out what it is," Mary said to herself, her voice giving off quiet determination. "If I can find a clue in the tomb, maybe I could see if I can get any help proving that I and my sisters are being targeted for revenge."

Her mind was made up: she would go to the graveyard tomorrow night, and – one way or another – she'll find a way to gain entrance into the tomb. And when she does, she will want to open Caroline's casket and find out whether or not she is human anymore…