A/N: I'm not even going to bother putting a real warning on this chapter, because if you the read the previous chapters, you should be fine with this one. It's just a little gory. Only a little.

-CCM

Chapter 11: A Possible Clue

Keep walking, keep walking, don't look behind you. Slow and steady, that's it.

Just a few more steps, easy now. It's right ahead, I can see it from here.

Huh? Oh, no... oh, no! Run! Run, it's coming! C'mon, let's go!

Just a little more! Hurry, hurry, hurry – run faster! We're almost there! Just one more step -

AAARGGGHHH!

It-It's right behind me!

Claire! No!

Claire awoke with a jolt, nearly falling out of bed with the blankets tangled around her. She groaned and pressed her face to the sweaty pillowcase before flipping around onto her back, waiting for her unnaturally rapid heartbeat to return to normal. Damn nightmares.

Crumpling her hair with one hand as her heartbeat steadily slowed, Claire sighed before finally rising from the bed and untangling herself, Bailey yapping away right at her heels. Despite herself, Claire giggled. "Looks like somebody's hungry!" she said in an attempt to sound cheerful. It didn't quite work.

Bailey let out a single happy-sounding bark, and Claire prepared his breakfast as usual before stepping into the bathroom to wash up and change into a set of worn working clothes. Snatching a few slices of bread and some wedges of fruit from the kitchenette to make a fruit sandwich, Claire munched her breakfast at the table while watching Bailey attack his bowl of puppy chow with vigor, before throwing her messy blonde hair into a ponytail and heading outside to begin a new day of farm work.

Outside, the early morning rays of sunlight were already very bright, making Claire squint. Her newest nightmare was already beginning to fade, and her mind wandered to thoughts of the night before as she left to grab her watering can from its place in storage.

That festival was fun... and all the townspeople seem really nice. Most of them, anyway. Claire smiled at the thought of all the friends she had already made in Mineral Town, but her grin faded slightly as certain problematic memories came flooding back.

Urgh... keep it together, Claire. Just forget about it, that's not important right now. Farm work is your top priority at the moment, and you don't want to be distracted.

Claire sighed as she crossed the yard to fill her watering can with fresh water from the tap. Great, now she was talking to herself. Just awesome.

Watering can now filled to the brim, she headed for the patch of tilled soil where she had planted all her seeds the other day. There were no signs of sprouts yet as far as she could see, but they would come eventually. All in good time.

Claire whistled an indistinct melody as she watered her garden and then turned to the barn. Upon entering the large, slightly weathered building, she approached her cow Clementine and set to work, refilling the feed bin, milking the cow, and brushing her coat. The young farmer cooed at the gentle animal as she gave her a loving pat on the head.

"There, now... good girl!"

Claire smiled as Clementine rubbed her nose against the farmer's shoulder affectionately. Perhaps owning a farm wasn't as difficult as she had once thought, after all. She just needed a bit of practice.

Stepping out of the barn and into the stable next door, Claire approached Thunder and brushed the horse as well, allowing him to munch an apple from her hand while she groomed him. A sudden idea struck her, and she grinned at the young stallion.

"Let's go out riding again, okay, boy?"

The horse whinnied in agreement. At least, that's what Claire liked to think. Strapping on his saddle and other tack, she led the dark brown horse outside into the sunlight. Claire released a breath of air – it was another gorgeous day, a perfect day for a horseback ride. That was one definite plus to Mineral Town – both the weather and scenery were amazing. And a ride on her horse through the sunshine would definitely be worthwhile, in more than one aspect.

The blonde farmer had just hopped onto Thunder's back and was debating where exactly to travel when she noticed a figure in brown standing near the entrance to Sunshine Farm. The man looked familiar from Claire's position on the horse, and her eyes widened in slight surprise. He had never seemed like the kind of person to come for a visit for no reason in particular.

"Cliff?" she called.

The man glanced around at the sound as Claire approached him on horseback, and a faint hint of pink tinged his cheeks. "Oh, uh... hello, Claire..."

Claire had never been an especially outgoing person, and she often had some difficulty in keeping a conversation going, but Cliff's awkwardness around others made her seem like a complete social butterfly at times. She stifled a giggle. "What is it that you came here for...?"

Cliff merely stared at the ground, scuffing his feet along the dirt.

"I-I just thought I'd... visit you, I guess. You probably don't get many visitors... you're still new here, and I...I-"

Up on her horse, Claire twirled a loose curl of blond hair around her fingers and nodded. "Sure... we could go do something, if you like. But... I was just about to go for a horseback ride..."

She trailed off as an idea came to mind. "Cliff... have you ever gone horseback riding?"

He shook his head, and the farmer smiled. "Well... why don't you come with me?"

Claire knew she didn't have another horse for Cliff to ride, but that was no problem. She gestured to the empty spot behind her on Thunder's back. The horse let out a whinny right on cue, as if giving his equine permission.

"Hop on!"

Her visitor's eyes widened at the suggestion, but he shook off his shyness and, with a bit of help from the farmer, stepped up to climb on behind her. Making a quick decision, Claire took off toward the bridge leading into the woods. Cliff blushed as he wrapped his arms around Claire's slim waist, but Claire didn't seem to notice.

Actually, she noticed it all right, but chose to ignore it for Cliff's sake.

They crossed the bridge and rode on into the forest. Upon coming to the three-pronged fork in the road, Claire had a sudden compelling urge to take them down the path toward the mountain, the one path she had avoided completely during her time in Mineral Town so far. For some reason, she felt that she needed to go down that path. With a quick glance at Cliff, she turned past the roads leading toward Gotz's home and the Goddess Pond, heading down the center road instead.

Together, Claire and Cliff rode along in a serene sort of silence on Thunder's back, Claire well aware of the young man's arms resting cautiously against her abdomen. She let out a faint cough before finally opening her mouth to break the quiet.

"Cliff... what was the real reason you came to visit me? ...I mean, you don't seem like the type to just show up at someone's house out of the blue... Not that I mind, don't get me wrong. It was just kind of unexpected. And I doubt you came to simply ride horses."

Claire felt the young man's fingers tense. "...All right, Claire. I-I came to... I came because I needed someone to talk to." His face flushed, but his eyes remained sad. "You see... it's Ann."

The blonde stiffened at the mention of the innkeeper's daughter. "Ann? Why... what's wrong?"

"It's just... she's not doing too well. Her stomach... the gashes, they've gotten infected. Ann... she's in so much pain, and she's almost always asleep every time I visit her, barely moving. She hasn't spoken once yet... except to moan in pain. Ann used to be the one person I could talk to, but now..." He sighed. "In all honesty... it's been stressing me out. I-I'm just so concerned for her, I can't even sleep... And what if it happens again, to someone else?"

Now that he mentioned it, Cliff did have some unusually dark circles under his eyes, as if he were seriously lacking sleep. And Claire had many things she wanted to say in response, mainly regarding the connection between the attack on Ann and the mysterious shadowy creature, but she instead hung her head in silence for a moment. Neither spoke, until Claire finally made an effort to change the topic.

"Well... are you enjoying yourself now, at least?"

Cliff nodded his head once, his expression brightening slightly, before he realized that Claire couldn't see him from her position on the horse. "Uh, I mean... yes."

Claire reached forward to rub her hand against Thunder's mane affectionately. "Maybe you should get a horse, Cliff. They're nice animals."

The brown haired man beside her laughed once. "…And where would I put it, exactly?"

The blonde grinned. "I'm sure Doug wouldn't mind keeping him at the Inn with you – he has plenty of extra beds," she said jokingly, "...Or he could stay with Duke and Manna! Give Manna someone else to talk to at home, since I don't think Duke really listens to her... You could leave him in the vineyard, haha."

"Yeah, and watch him eat all the grapes," Cliff snorted. "...Do horses even eat grapes?"

Claire laughed, and the young man blushed a bit, embarrassed. Her laughter cut off abruptly, and he craned his neck to see around her.

"Hey... what is this place?" Claire asked in wonder.

The woods had suddenly ended, and the path came out into a bright, sunshine filled meadow. Claire squinted, unaccustomed to the blinding sunlight after their ride through the dimly lit forest. She took a second to allow her eyesight to adjust before urging the horse forward.

"Whoa..."

Claire could only gasp in astonishment at the sight that unfolded before them. The sun beat down upon a lake, a gorgeous shimmering lake, whose surface sparkled in the sunlight like scattered diamonds. At the very center of the lake was a small island, just barely visible from where they were currently standing. For some reason, the entire scene reminded Claire of an image on a postcard.

"This is... not what I had expected, honestly." She turned around to face Cliff. "I thought this path led to the mountain."

He nodded. "Yeah... yeah, it does. Mother's Hill is up there."

He pointed a finger at a spot beyond the lake, and Claire peered past his arm to see the small mountain that stretched out not too far away. "I see..."

The mountain wasn't as big as she had expected, but even at this distance, there was a kind of menacing quality about it that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Shaking her head in an attempt to rid her mind of any bad feelings, Claire pushed Thunder to walk nearer to the edge of the lake. She quickly dismounted the horse, then helped Cliff make his way down.

"I would have thought you'd have ridden a horse before."

He shrugged. "I have... just not in a while. I-I guess I'm a little rusty."

Claire nodded and turned to approach the very edge of the lake, staring into its glassy, mirror-like surface as if transfixed.

"You would almost expect a... a mermaid, some kind of water spirit, to live here, down beneath the surface. It's so beautiful, so peaceful."

She stepped back quietly, and on an unspoken agreement, she and Cliff moved on past the lake toward Mother's Hill, leaving Thunder to wait for them in the meadow.

The walk toward the mountain was quiet, with very little conversation involved, but Claire still couldn't shake off her strangely growing feelings of anxiety. Something was calling her here, but she didn't want to know what it was, or why. Her heart beat faster. We really shouldn't be here... Something bad is going to happen. Something bad and unexpected, I know it.

They entered a small copse of trees, and Claire stopped without warning. Caught off guard, she staggered backward, not hesitating to release a gasp.

"What...?"

Just beneath the closest tree, almost hidden from sight, lay a deer. A doe, to be precise. However, it was barely recognizable as such.

Blood. Blood was everywhere. Splattered across the nearest tree trunks, pooled in the surrounding grass. A mess of shredded fur, torn limbs, and savaged flesh. Claire gripped Cliff's arm in disgusted astonishment, and felt him stiffen beside her.

The only evidence proving the victim to be a deer were the remains of the doe's head, nearly untouched. Claire stared, unable to move as her mind had become a muddled mess. Two cold, black eyes stared back at her, staring but never seeing, not anymore.

Smears of blood were congealing in the animal's remaining fur, and streaked across the grass and dirt around it, but the puddles still looked relatively fresh. Immediately, Claire was reminded of another similarly gruesome memory, and she fought the urge to vomit as the images came flooding back into her mind.

Blood... it's everywhere...No! She cringed. Chickens... Popuri...No, Clementine-

"...Claire? Claire, snap out of it!"

A firm hand took Claire by the shoulder, and Cliff turned her around to face him, only to see that her eyes were full of tears threatening to spill over.

"Gotz!"

As nervous as she was about approaching the carpenter's house again, Claire figured that if anyone could help them figure out what killed the deer, it was the woodsman himself. He must be able to help us out...Right? Perhaps he's seen things like this before...

She knocked on the door with one hand, her horse's rope in the other. Cliff stood a few feet behind her, looking distinctly unsettled. "Gotz?"

The door suddenly swung open as Gotz stepped out, his eyebrows furrowed. "Huh... Claire? And Cliff? What is it?"

The two younger adults looked at each other, still shaken. It was Claire who spoke up in a quivering voice, as Cliff occupied himself with nervously pulling loose threads from the bottom hem of his vest.

Together, they led Gotz back to the location of the attack near the lake, explaining what they could, though it was hard to put such a horrible scene into words. Once he saw how shaken the couple was, Gotz wasted no time in accompanying them through the forest.

"Well..."

They came to the same thicket of trees as before. Cliff nervously pulled Gotz forward, while Claire stayed further behind with her horse. She couldn't bear to see it, not again.

Gotz stared at the scene in complete silence, not bothering to search around as they had expected him to. He simply stroked his beard and stared, not speaking, his only reaction to the brutal slaughter.

He turned to look at the younger couple, a strange expression on his face that Claire couldn't quite put a name to. He looked... concerned, but there was something else to it... as though this were nothing new to him, as though he had seen it all before.

"Go home now. It's not safe in the forest. I-I can't tell you... but there's something wrong here. I've seen it before. Just go home!"

His voice was rough, and his eyes cold. Startled, Claire took a step back. "Uh..."

"I'm serious, you have to leave!" He sounded... almost angry. And an angry Gotz was not something that Claire wanted to contend with.

Has he gone insane? Claire wondered. Regardless, she mounted her horse and helped Cliff get on behind her. Without a word of farewell or even a backward glance, they rode away. It was just too unsettling. She narrowed her eyes in thought as they rode on in silence, but for the soft, repetitive clop of Thunder's hooves.

Was that... could that deer have been a clue? Maybe she should have looked around more, search the grove of trees for more clues, but that was one thing Claire really didn't want to do.

Despite any misgivings, she took Gotz's advice, and after saying her farewells to Cliff back at Sunshine Farm, Claire locked Thunder up in the stable and headed indoors. Cliff told her that he was going to go see Ann at the Clinic again, and promised to pay a visit to Officer Harris concerning the new attack. As much as Claire wanted to join him, something held her back. She realized just how tired she really was – all her sleep had been haunted by nightmares, ever since her initial move to Mineral Town.

I really need a nap... She yawned, her mind already growing fuzzy.

And so, Claire went back to bed, hoping for peaceful slumber as Bailey nestled against her stomach. Maybe a good, undisturbed rest was what she truly needed.

A/N: So, I realize this wasn't the most action-packed scene, especially in the beginning, but I hope you enjoyed reading regardless! I honestly don't know what the pairing would be yet for this story, or if I'll actually include one at all, but I guess Claire and Cliff had a bit of a moment there. And that whole thing with Claire looking into the lake was actually kind of an allusion to the Kappa, and my other MFoMT fanfic Cucumber, if you've read/are interested in reading that.

-CCM