A/N: Warning: This chapters contains a bit of blood, though nothing worse than in the chicken massacre chapter. Just thought you should know anyway. Enjoy!

-CCM

Chapter 8: Stay With Me

Manna's words rang out into the air like a gunshot. The Inn had gone completely silent at her dramatic outburst. Claire could practically hear her heart beating through her chest, and she began to feel nauseous. Ann...?

Beside her, Gray's face had gone pale, and he set his fork back down on the table beside his unfinished plate of apple pie and curry bread. Everyone in the room could only sit and stare at Manna as she began sobbing into her husband's shoulder, and Duke wore an expression of mixed discomfort and concern.

"What?!"

The moment of shocked silence was interrupted by a shout as Doug came rushing out from the kitchen, looking frazzled. "What happened?"

Manna lifted her head from Duke's shoulder as Doug approached her, her face streaked with tears. "Ann-" she choked out.

"What?! Ann? My girl! What happened, where is she?"

Duke patted the innkeeper on the arm in an effort to calm him and glanced at his wife, looking strained. "Calm down... Manna, please, tell us what happened."

Manna attempted to dry her face with her shawl, but to no avail, as the tears kept coming, smearing dark eye makeup down her face in the process. "I-I was just going to walk down here to the Inn to make sure that you-" She pointed at her husband, who looked sheepish, "-weren't drinking too much. And I thought I heard something... But when I walked outside, I came across her body... Ann..."

Doug made a motion as if to run to the door, but stopped himself as Manna continued. "Ann... she was on the ground, off on the side of the street, near the opening to the woods... just lying there... and the blood-"

She stifled another sob. "Hur-hurry! She... she's just outside the winery, you have to come help her! She's badly hurt!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Doug turned to dash out the door, but Duke grabbed his arm.

"Wait...someone, call the mayor! He and Harris have to get over here, quick!"

Anna quickly jumped up from her chair in response and rushed toward the telephone that Doug kept behind the counter, dialing the mayor's number as fast as she could.

"Stay here, Manna. We'll be back soon."

Duke settled his wife into the nearest chair and then dashed out the door with Doug. Right away, Sasha ran over to try and comfort her distressed friend, dragging her husband Jeff along behind her.

Claire caught a glance of Manna's face, silent tears streaming down her cheeks as Sasha hugged her shoulders and spoke to her in hushed tones. Karen took this as a chance to join Claire and Gray at their table, and a few seconds later, Mary left her father and came to join them as well.

Karen plopped down into the chair to Claire's right, and Mary took a seat on Gray's left. The black-haired librarian's eyes were brimming with tears behind her glasses. "What... what do you think happened to Ann?"

Claire spoke up nervously, unsure of herself. "I... I don't know, but... I'm going out there. I need to see what happened to her."

The blonde struggled to get up from her chair, as Karen had grabbed her arm in a tight hold.

"Oh, no you don't, farmer girl! What if the killer is still out there?"

Claire ripped her arm from Karen's grasp, shooting the girl a disgusted look. "Killer? But Ann's not dead! She wasn't killed!"

The other three stared at her disbelievingly, and Claire snorted. "Whatever, I'm going out. Come with me if you want."

She turned and stomped across the room. Gray and Mary simply watched her go, Gray looking shocked and Mary now crying outright. Karen, however, making a split decision, rose from her chair and followed the blonde.

"Wait, Claire – I'm coming too."

The two girls made their way out the door just as Mayor Thomas and Officer Harris entered the Inn, no doubt to ask the inngoers what had happened.

Once outside the Inn, Claire's brief moment of anger faded. The sky was dark, but in the light of the full moon, she could see the forms of two men down the road – Doug and Duke – crouching over... something. The blonde felt an inexplicable wave of fear wash over her, and she tugged on Karen's arm, directing her over to the scene.

They approached the men just as Doug let out a sob that made Claire freeze in her tracks.

"Ann... my daughter, please... no..."

And that's when Claire caught sight of the body. Ann lay on the road just outside Aja Winery, her eyes closed. One might assume she was sleeping, if it weren't for the long gashes that tore through her side. The girl's clothing was haphazardly ripped and stained with deep red blood, exposing the torn flesh of her midsection. Fresh blood from the wounds continued to pool into the street, staining her skin and clothing even further. Her white bow, the one that was always tied to the end of her long braid, lay on the stones beside her. For a moment, Claire was afraid that Ann was dead, until she noticed the faintest rise and fall of the girl's chest.

Claire struggled to keep from gagging at the gruesome sight, and she grabbed Karen's hand to steady herself. She could feel Karen stiffen beside her as the other girl took in the terrible scene, her eyes wide with uncovered shock.

Someone came running up behind them. Officer Harris and Mayor Thomas had arrived.

"Oh-Oh, my... what happened?"

Doug glanced up at them without actually seeing. "Ann... We need a doctor! Hurry! Please, call Doctor Trent!" He let out a shaky breath, his face scrunched up in pain. "…And to think I was just ranting about her being late to work…"

Officer Harris set a hand on Karen's shoulder. "Karen, go back to the Inn and call the Clinic. Tell them that we're taking Ann over as soon as possible... prepare bandages and antiseptic. She's going to need stitches... that is, if she makes it through." He added in an undertone, barely audible.

Karen nodded, her expression clouded, and dashed away at top speed without a second thought. Harris leaned down to study Ann's body, and then turned to the other men, who were watching anxiously. "I really hate to move her, but we're going to have to take her to the Clinic... there's not enough light here to fully assess the damage, and I'm no doctor by any means."

Doug nodded and bent closer to Ann to whisper in her ear, though she couldn't hear him anyway. "Ann... stay with me, please... you'll be fine. It-it will be all right."

He and Duke tenderly lifted the girl from the street. Blood dripped from her open wounds onto the road, and again Claire fought the urge to vomit. Doug ripped off his vest and wrapped it around his daughter's abdomen in an effort to stem the bleeding, and together he and Duke slowly carried her off down the road toward the Clinic, doing their best to keep her as steady as possible.

Mayor Thomas and Officer Harris simultaneously turned toward Claire. Both wore grim expressions, and the mayor kept twirling his mustache nervously with a finger.

"Who could possibly have done this? Ahem... Claire, do you have any idea?"

Claire shook her head with some regret – truthfully, she really didn't have a clue. The Mineral Town attacks were as much of a mystery to her as it was to them, if not more so.

Sighing, the mayor and Harris left to return to the Inn, but Claire stayed behind for a moment, staring at the puddle of blood before her. Gingerly, she bent down to lift the bloodstained white bow from the street. Ann...

Claire might not have known the girl for very long, but she had always been so welcoming and friendly toward her. A tear rolled down the blonde girl's cheek as she stared down at the piece of white ribbon in her hand, disregarding the blood that had rubbed off onto her fingers. She recalled the hospitality Ann had shown her at the Inn, and the willingness with which she attempted to become friends with Claire and make the new farmer feel at home, despite their initial awkward introduction.

Finally, Claire wiped the tear away, her gaze resolute. She needed to solve this mystery more than ever now.

As soon as she reentered the Inn, Claire could feel the heavy tension clogging the air around her fellow villagers, like clouds of foul smoke. The mayor and Officer Harris were further questioning Manna in the corner. Sasha, Jeff, Anna, and Basil huddled around their table, discretely listening in. Each person wore an expression of mixed fear, worry, and uncertainty.

Claire approached the table in the center of the dining room where Mary and Karen sat alone. Mary glanced over at the blonde as she sat down, and her eyes widened. "Claire... y-you have blood on your hands." Her voice quivered dangerously.

Claire ignored her. "Where's Gray?"

"He left," the librarian answered quietly. "He and his grandfather went back home."

"Oh."

The three girls sat in uncomfortable silence, until Karen finally spoke up angrily, "What the hell? Why would anyone attack Ann, of all people?"

Mary grabbed Karen's hand in an attempt to calm down the furious girl. "Hush, Karen... We don't know what happened..."

The look in Karen's eyes hardened. "I can tell you what happened – some mentally unstable murderer has been targeting and attacking Mineral Town. And who knows who's next on their list?"

She stood up from her chair, addressing Claire and Mary, but drawing attention from the other villagers in the Inn. "There's a murderer somewhere in Mineral Town! A cold-blooded killer, and it could be any one of us!"

Mary bit her lip nervously, and more tears threatened to spill from her eyes. "Please, Karen... you're overreacting. I think you watch too many horror movies. No person-"

Karen interrupted the librarian, looking agitated as she turned toward her. "You know, Mary, not everyone in town is as good and purehearted as yourself. Why-"

Irritated, Claire threw her hands down on the table with a bang, startling Karen and Mary in the middle of their argument. "Will you both just shut up? Quit arguing! This is not the time! Ann is seriously injured, and you're going to sit here bickering like fools, when you should be doing something to help?"

Both Mary and Karen looked rightly ashamed of themselves at Claire's accusatory outburst, and the blonde farmer rose from her chair, her voice now much gentler.

"I...I'm going over to the Clinic. I want to see... I want to know if Ann is going to be all right."

"But we can't-"

Claire silenced Mary with a look. "I'm not going to bother her... I just want to go speak to Elli about it. You guys can come too, if you like."

She turned and walked back out the front door. The other two girls exchanged a quick glance before rising from their seats and following her, and together they made their way down the dark road toward the Clinic.

Every sound, every movement, every shadow seemed threatening to Claire's fragile state of mind, but nothing out of the ordinary happened, and the short trip to the Clinic was quick and uneventful. Perhaps the attacker has retreated for the night...

Hopefully that was true.

Elli approached the three girls as soon as they stepped foot through the front door of the Clinic. Her normally cheerful face was marred by tears and an expression of fear as she addressed the visitors. "Mary, Karen, Claire... please, come in, come in. And hurry."

She ushered them into the room, where they each took seats in the small, cushy armchairs gathered in the waiting area. Here they sat quietly in a circle, nobody daring to speak. Claire glanced down at her hands and realized that she was still holding on to Ann's hair bow, her fingers turning purple from clenching it so tightly within her fist.

Suddenly, the Clinic door burst open, and none other than Cliff came running into the room. His face was flushed, and concern was prominently displayed upon it as he frantically searched the room. "Ann- I just heard- what-?"

Elli stood up from her chair and lifted a hand to stop him, speaking in her usual gentle tone. "Cliff, calm down. We can barely understand you. Just take a deep breath."

Cliff breathed in deeply and ran a hand through his tousled hair, which was falling out of its normally neat ponytail. Honestly, he looked a mess, which was exactly how Claire felt at the moment. But she had never seen Cliff in such a state (though that wasn't saying much, considering she had only known him for a few days), and from the looks on her peers' faces, they had never seen him like this, either. The young man's usual shy, quiet demeanor had been taken over by frantic anxiety.

"All right, I'm all right... I just – I heard what happened to Ann… I was up in my room at the Inn, but I-I came downstairs to eat dinner, and saw Manna crying with Officer Harris in the dining room... Sasha told me what happened... I came running here straight away, I was so worried."

Karen nodded, the movement accompanied with the faintest hint of an eye roll. "Yeah, we all are."

She turned to face Elli, her voice now deadly serious, but with a twinge of uncertainty that showed in her eyes. "So... Do you know... Is Ann going to be all right? Is she... she's not dead, is she? I mean, she's alive, isn't she?"

"Yes."

Doctor Trent spoke up from behind them, causing Claire to jump – she hadn't heard the doctor approach. "Ann... I'm quite sure she's going to be all right. She's just unconscious right now – she has a large, raised lump on the left side of her face, near her upper forehead. There's some serious bruising as well, on various sections of her body. We think she was knocked over by a strong opposing force and hit her head on the hard pavement. As soon as she comes to, we'll have to interrogate her about her attacker."

He sighed, looking especially strained. "We cleaned up the wounds as best we could, but we'll have to examine them more thoroughly in order to determine what exactly caused them. Though it was a very dangerous decision to move her, she's lucky her father and Duke brought her in when they did – she could easily have died of blood loss, those were some nasty gashes in her side. They'll definitely need stitches… Not to mention the fact that she may have a concussion, as well." He lowered his voice. "But it was most likely better that she wasn't left outside in the open when her attacker could still be nearby, perhaps waiting to finish the job."

Cliff, who had been staring down at his feet as the doctor spoke, looked up at the mention of Ann's father. "…Where is Doug? I... I'd like to speak to him."

Doctor Trent nodded toward the door in the right wall. "Ann is in there, on the bed. You can go in there, but then the rest of you will have to wait. Doug is sitting with her, and Duke is there as well, trying to comfort him. Doug... he's afraid for his daughter, and I don't blame him. She's in a bad condition, all right."

Cliff acknowledged the doctor's words with a nod, tears in his eyes, and was about to enter the room when Claire caught sudden inspiration.

"Wait... here, Cliff, take this." She lifted her hand, uncurling her fingers around the stained ribbon for Cliff to see. "Give this to Doug... it-it's Ann's hair ribbon."

The brown haired young man nodded in understanding, carefully lifting the crumpled bow from Claire's palm before turning to leave, Doctor Trent right behind him.

"Thank you, Claire."

Mary, who had been completely silent for the entire duration of the conversation, finally spoke up. "I-I'm going home. I've heard all I needed to hear, and I don't want my parents to become worried. I-I'll see you all tomorrow."

Karen nodded as the dark haired girl got up to leave as well. "…Tomorrow's the first day of summer, isn't it? I guess I'll see you all at the Beach Festival, then. That is, if it isn't canceled." Her voice took on a slightly acidic tone. "I... I think I'll stay here a little longer, keep Elli company. What about you, Claire?"

The blonde hesitated just a moment. "I... I just want to go home, really. Today has been exhausting. And... Ann hasn't woken up yet. I'll have to come visit tomorrow, if that's all right, Elli."

The young nurse bobbed her head in understanding. "That's perfectly fine."

"Okay… see you guys."

Claire's voice sounded especially weary, and she glanced up just as the clock on the wall chimed twelve o'clock midnight.

Well... this was an interesting start to the summer, she thought bitterly.

And as she walked the road back toward Sunshine Farm by herself, Claire couldn't shake off the feeling that someone – or something – was watching her from the shadows, plotting their next move.

A/N: I believe this is the longest chapter of the story so far! And although I'm the one to write this, I still feel really bad about putting them into this situation. I can't even begin to imagine how horrible this must be for Doug, who fears he may now lose the second love of his life, his only daughter. And it also seems that Claire has a bit of a temper... But summer is fast approaching, and with it comes Beach Opening Day, which should be slightly more lighthearted! Or so we hope. It also calls for the nearing introduction of a new character- Kai! I've been waiting to write about him.

-CCM