here you guys go! A brand new chapter! sorry for the long update. basketball season just finish so i have a bit more free time now but i still have school and school projects and updating events to take care of! so i hope you enjoy this 3183 word long chapter!

Chapter 6: With Me

Esther looked and saw wolves as they bared their noisome teeth and snarled at her as they surrounded her. She dug her heels into Philippe's sides to make him move. He turned away from the wolves and cantered down into the woods as the wolves chased after them. Philippe leapt over a fallen tree, which was covered in snow, and they leapt over it as well. He galloped up a slanted rock, which seemed to be growing out from the ground, and jumped from the edge of it. His hooves landed in the soft snow and then he continued to canter.

Some of the wolves had begun to catch up. They were practically nipping at his heels. One wolf managed to get on the side of Philippe. It jumped upwards and went to bite him. Philippe let out a terrified whinny. Esther pulled and jerked his reigns to make him move to the left, the side the wolf was on. The wolf had no choice but to move to the left as well and in doing so he hit the tree that he didn't see.

Esther made Philippe run a bit more straight down the path. They came to a clearing. It was covered with white powdery snow. The wind and snow still whipped her face. She turned and saw the wolves as they bounded after them. She looked ahead again to see that they were in the clearing. However, she soon found out that it wasn't a clearing that they had reached, but a frozen lake! The ice had cracked under Philippe's weight and Esther had screamed. The wolves still continued to chase them. The freezing water was up to both of their necks. He frantically swam forward to shore.

The some of the wolves were smart enough to get on the rest of the still frozen ice around Esther and Philippe to continue their chase, but others weren't as fortunate as they whimpered and tried to swim in the freezing water.

Philippe managed to get to shore. He climbed out of the water and ran down the path in the woods. The weather was even colder now that their bodies were wet with cold water and the whipping wind wasn't much help. Esther looked ahead and saw that there were still more wolves after them! They stopped in front of Philippe and barked and growled at him. He stopped immediately and because of the sudden stop, Esther was thrown off of his back. She flew in the air and landed on her stomach into the cold, powdery snow. Her once tied back red-hair had fallen into her eyes. She looked up and saw that Philippe's reigns had got snagged on the low branch above him.

The wolves barked and snarled as they stood in a circle around the horse. One wolf, who was behind Philippe, jumped to attack him, but he kicked it away with his back legs. Another wolf jumped on top of his back on his saddle and barked at him.

Esther took action. She broke a branch off the nearest tree to her and charged at thee wolf that was on Philippe's back. She hit it away and it flew off. She reached up and grabbed the snagged reigns to free them. She pulled on them, but they wouldn't budge. She looked back at the pack of snarling wolves. She tightened her grip on her stick as she narrowed her eyes at them. She will fight them if she must.

The slowly approached her. Some licked their lips. One went to nip her heel, but she hit it with her stick. She swung her stick at any wolf that approached her, until one wolf was smart enough to bite the stick and break it. She gasped. A wolf bounced and dug its teeth into her cloak. It pulled her down as she spun around awkwardly as she rolled her ankle. The pain rose up her leg as she winced. She looked at the wolf that held in its mouth her cloak. She tried to pull it away from the wolf, but it failed. She heard the snarling of another wolf. She looked at her feet to see another wolf as it approached her. She screamed at the wolf as it bounced onto her. It dug its claws into her clothing and skin. She screamed some more. Red liquid began to stain her clothes and the fresh, white snow. "ABEL!!!!! HELP ME!!!" She shouted inside her head.

Suddenly, the wolf was hit away by something red. Esther looked up to see Abel as he stood there in front of her. A blood-red scythe was in his hands and his black wings were curled a bit around him. He looked down at her. Burnt-red eyes met her sapphire ones. He quickly turned and looked at wolves. It was like he was her shield, her guardian. He growled at the wolves and swung his scythe. It hit––not cut––half of the wolves and they were pushed away. He swung again and this time the wolves were flung into the air. One wolf crept up behind him and attacked him. It bit his right shoulder.

Abel roared at the pain. He grabbed the wolf and flung it off of his body. It landed in the snow, on its back. Another wolf jumped and bit his arm while another bit his leg. Esther watched in great horror at the battle. Philippe had run away. Abel had cut him loose with his scythe.

Abel flung the wolves off of his body. They landed in the snow and yelped. They knew that they weren't cut out for the battle and they ran away with their tails between their legs.

Abel watched them retreat for a while; then, he turned around to face Esther, who was sitting in the ground. He breathed out and his breath was like fog from the bitter cold. He looked at her face: it was pale and it showed great pain and concern, along with a bit a fear. His burnt-red eyes returned to normal and he approached her. "Are you all right?" He asked.

She nodded gently, amazed at what just happened. "I think so." She said as she started to get up. She managed to stand on her two feet. However, she became light-headed and her vision blurred. "Thank you." She whispered as she fell forward.

He quickly ran and caught her body before she had hit the ground. "Esther!" He gasped. He turned her body over to get a look at her face. Her eyes were closed and she was pale but her cheeks were as red as her hair. "Esther, please wake up. Esther, answer me. Esther!" He called to her as he shook her body. She didn't answer. She had passed out.

. Abel looked up into the sky. The snowstorm had stopped, but the sky was still cloudy. He spread his wings and leapt into the air. He flapped his wings a few times as he ascended into the sky. "Esther, please hold on."

Abel kicked open the front door of his castle. He walked inside and looked to see Catrina, Kate, William, Leon, Noélle, Ion, and Vaclav all standing in the entrance way.

"You found her!"

"Oh thank goodness!"

"Is Miss Esther okay?"

"Thank God, Abel! I was so freakin' worried!"

"We were all very worried."

"Miss Esther isn't hurt now, is she?"

"What can I do to help?"

Each one of them asked at the same time. Abel rolled his eyes and shouted, "Get me some hot water, a cloth, a new set of cloths, and medicine!!!!" He plowed through the group of Methuselah and took off toward her room.

When he reached her room, he kicked the door open with his foot and walked over to her bed. He set her down on her bed gently. Immediately, he reached for the clasp to her cloak and undid it. He pulled it away from her cold, wet body and tossed it away, onto to the floor. He unbuttoned the buttons in the front of her green dress and pulled that soaked with blood and water dress off of her. He tossed that aside as well. He looked at her body. She had on only her slip on. He could practically see her sink through the white slip because it was wet. He looked away as Kate, Catrina, and Noélle rushed into the room.

Kate pushed Abel out of the way as Noélle followed. They took off her slip. Esther was breathing heavily and sweat covered her face. Catrina placed a hand on her face and onto her own brow.

"She has a fever." Catrina told them as William, who had a pot of hot water in hands, and Leon, who had a bucket of well water, came inside.

"How is she?" William asked as they passed the pot of hot water and the wooden bucket of cold water to Noélle and Kate. Kate dipped the cloth that she had into the open pot of hot water. She pulled it out and rung it over the pot. Then she placed it onto Esther's wounds.

"She has a fever and some cuts."

Leon clenched his fists and furrowed his brow in anger. He looked at Abel, ashamedly hung his head, and walked up to him. "This is all your fault! If only you were nicer to her!" He yelled.

"Leon, stop it." William said as he walked over to him.

Leon looked over his shoulder, "No!" He looked back at Abel, "I can't believe you! You bastard!"

"Leon, that's enough!" Noélle snapped as she looked up from bandaging Esther's cuts.

"No." A scratchy, yet soft, voice said. They all looked at Abel as Abel looked down at his claw like fingers. "He's right. Absolutely right. If only didn't shut her away from me. Now look at what I've done." Bloody tears ran down his cheeks. "I'm so horrible, sohorrifying, that I don't even deserve to live."

They didn't say a word. They didn't know what to say or even how to say it. They just continued to fixed up Esther and give her the proper treatment.

Once they were finished, they let alone with her. He had pulled up a chair and sat in it right next to her bed. She was tucked in her bed and breathing some what normally. Her face was still pale and a wet cloth was on her forehead. He regretted that he drove her away. Now all that he wants is that she will be okay. "Esther, please wake up. Please." He said as he grabbed her hand.

She was running. She didn't know from what, but she did know that she was scared. It was dark and cold. She fell and landed on her face. She turned to lie on her back. She heard snarling, coming from two creatures, each snarl was beast-like.

Hurt. She was hurting. Her ankle killed.

Cold. She was cold, so very cold.

Numb. She was beginning to feel numb.

She looked down. She saw something red. It was a red liquid. It was on her chest and stomach. She touched it. It was blood! She was bleeding. Suddenly, she felt sick, so very sick. Her head and ankle throbbed and she wanted to puke. Her body was so cold and numb. She thought she was dying. She blinked slowly in tiredness. She felt warmer. She reopened her eyes to see silver and black feathers surrounding her.

Esther…

Someone was calling her name. The voice surrounded familiar.

Esther, please wake up. Please.

It sounded so worried. Whose voice is this?

Please, Esther, don't die on me now. Please. You can't die.

"I'm not going to die. Not now." She said.

Wake up, Esther! Wake up! I'm begging you!

Esther slowly opened her eyes to see a blurred image of a ceiling. She blinked and adjusted her vision.

"Oh thank goodness." A voice said, a rather scratchy voice. She turned her head to see a very worried Abel as he looked down at her.

"You… You saved me?" She asked as she recalled the moments of what happened.

"Yes. Yes, I did." He replied in a dazed manor. She looked down at her hand to see that one of his clawed hands held it. He looked down as well and he released her hand. "Sorry."

"It's fine." She replied as she looked away.

"How are you feeling?"

She looked up at him. "I'm okay." She sniffled. She felt a lump form in her throat. She swallowed hard to get rid of it, but it didn't disappear. Tears formed in her eyes. All the shock and drama swept through her like a ton of bricks. She let her tears fall. One by one, they rolled down her cheek. "I…I…I was so scared! I thought I was going to die!" She shook a bit as she sobbed.

He looked down at her speechless. He grabbed her right hand and squeezed it. "It's all right now. It's over. You're safe with me."

Meanwhile, while all this had been taking place, a certain man, who sitting at a small table in a dark corner of a local tavern, took a drink from a glass of filled with red wine. There was a shorter man sitting next to him. He too also had a cup of wine in his hands.

The taller man set his glass down on the table as he smiled slyly at the man across the table from him. This man was paled-skin and had long blue-black hair. His eyes were narrow and he wore a crooked grin on his face. In his hand, he held a goblet-like wine glass that had pure red-wine inside.

"I don't usually leave the church in the middle of the night," the paled-skin man spoke as he moved his hand––that held the wine glass––in circles, making the red-liquid inside of it turn and swirl, "but he said that you'd make it worth my while." He lifted the glass to his lips and formally took a sip from the glass.

Dietrich reached for his belt and removed a sack from it. He looked at the man and tossed it cross the table. As it was thrown, coin jingled inside. It landed in front of the man. The man set his glass on the table and opened the sack. "Interesting," he said as he pulled out a golden coin and examined its luster, "I'm listening."

"It's like this," Dietrich said as he leaned over the wooden table. He looked around the room in the corners of his eyes to see if they were truly alone. They were. He looked back at the man, "I have a certain girl whom I wish to marry. Her name's Esther." He drew back and rested his arm on the table. "But she needs a little… persuasion, if you may say."

Porter chuckled as he grabbed the greenish bottle of red wine. "That woman turned him down flat!" He said and poured some more wine for himself. Then, instead of putting the bottle back on the table, he took a drink straight from the bottle.

Dietrich glared at him and elbowed him in the head, making Porter slip some of his wine. Dietrich looked back at the man and continued, "Everyone knows that her mother is a witch. Just yesterday morning an explosion came from her house of black smoke. Yet the house isn't burned."

"Laura is harmless."

Dietrich stood up and banged on the table. "Magic! That's what she was doing. She was practicing magic!"

"Mr. von Lohengrin, please. Your composure."

Dietrich settled down. As he sat back down, he said, "Forgive me, Mr. von Kämpfer."

"Not at all. Continue."

"The point is that Esther would do anything to keep her from beginning burned at the stake." Dietrich said as he gained his business composure back.

"Yeah, even marry him." Porter remarked as he drank more from the bottle.

Dietrich glared down at Porter once again and prepared to slap him upside the head. Porter cowered in fear as he moved a bit away from him.

"So you want me burn her mother at the stake, unless she agrees to marry you?" Isaak Fernand von Kämpfer said as ran his fingers through the pile of golden coins in the sack, making each coin jingle as he picked it up and released it.

Dietrich crossed his rest in front of his chest and smiled slyly at him.

"Oh, that's despicable." Isaak said as he pretended to be sorrowful. He laughed mincingly. "I love it!"

Back at Laura's house, Laura was busily knitting a scarf for herself. She was in her living room, warming up next to the hot fireplace. She was impatiently waiting for her adopted daughter's letter to arrive. Suddenly, she heard a familiar whinny. She looked up from her work and gasped, " Philippe?" She stood up and set her work on the table. She rushed out her house and shouted, "Esther!"

Laura came out of her front door and looked at the path in front of her house to see Philippe. She ran over to Philippe and asked, "Philippe, where's Esther? What happened? We have to go find her!" She said and raced in side. She grabbed a warm winter shawl and a bag. She threw a bit of necessary supplies inside of it and rushed outside to Philippe. She mounted him and rode into the ominous woods.

Laura hadn't realized it, but just as she left a carriage pulled up to her house. The driver pulled on the horses' reigns and stopped them. They neighed as they stopped. Dietrich hopped off the seat next to Isaak, who was the driver, and ran up the stone steps to Laura's house. He pounded on the door and when no one answered, he opened the door. "Esther! Laura!" He called, but no one answered, because no one was home.

"Oh well," Porter chuckled as he came into the dark house with a lantern, "I guess it's not going to work after all." He began to walk back outside.

Dietrich came up behind him and picked him up from the collar of his shirt. "They have to come home sometime," he said as he walked down the stairs, "and when they do, we'll be ready for them." Dietrich wasn't on the stairs anymore. He turned and dropped Porter into a pile of snow next to the stairs. "Porter, don't move from that spot," Dietrich turned and hopped into the seat next to Isaak on the carriage as it began to move, "until Esther and her mother come home."

"But, but… I," Porter pleaded as he watched the carriage drive away. "Aw, nuts!" He exclaimed at he hit the small tree behind him. The snow that was once on top of the tree's branches slipped off and landed on top of Porter's head, completely barring that poor fool.