A/N: This will be a somewhat shorter chapter, especially compared to the last one. Originally, it was supposed to be much longer, but eventually turned out so long that I ended up having to break it down into two parts (though I had difficulty deciding where to cut it, haha). Anyway, thank you lovely readers for reviewing! It really makes my day every time I see the review alert in my inbox! And if you have any more questions regarding the story so far, feel free to ask away.

-CCM

Chapter 22: Breakdown

The following morning, Jack was all ready to go with his suitcase neatly packed and at the door, right next to his shoes. Claire had forgotten that her brother was leaving Sunshine Farm, and had almost expected him to stay in Mineral Town longer. It seemed as though he had been living there almost as long as she herself had, though in reality it had only been a matter of days since he first crossed the threshold into her cottage.

Claire half wanted to try and convince him to stay a day or two longer, but Jack was adamant. "I must catch the ten o'clock ferry back to the mainland, I have to be at work this evening six o'clock sharp. And I am certainly not one to skive off my duties, sorry."

After her epiphany the day before, Claire didn't really want him to go. Despite their frequent arguments, he was still her older brother, and she had always felt a sense of security when he was around. Though she would never dare to admit that to his face.

"So... You're not going to make me come back to the city with you after all?" she asked hesitantly, fingers crossed behind her back.

Jack sighed and scratched his head, ruffling his neatly combed brown hair with one hand. "No, I suppose not... I've decided that you're a big girl now, a woman, and the last thing you need is for your big brother to be telling you what to do, as much as I'd like to. You don't need that anymore. I can see you have a life here, your own life." He lowered his eyes solemnly. "And while I'm sorry about what's happened to you here, all of you, and probably don't even understand the half of it… I realize that you're invested in this situation, this town, by now, and there's no turning back. But if anyone can figure out what's going on, it'll be you, Claire."

He looked back up at his younger sister, giving her a small smile. "Just, as long as you promise to come visit your family every once in a while, all right? Mother and Jill will miss you."

Claire beamed gratefully, resisting the urge to tackle her brother in a hug. "Oh, thank you!"

Jack shrugged. "Hey, it's like I said – you're a grown woman now. I'll tell Jill and Mother where you are and how you're doing. I'll even leave out the bad parts so Mom doesn't have a conniption. Who knows, maybe they'll come visit next!"

A strange expression came over his face. "And I'll be back to visit again sometime, myself... Perhaps sooner than you think."

"What?" Claire asked in confusion. "Why?"

Jack shook it off, though the farmer girl could swear that his cheeks flushed the faintest shade of pink. "Well... maybe you'll find out eventually."

He glanced at the silver watch gleaming on his wrist. "Oh, I'd better be off! Don't want to be late. Good luck, Claire."

"Want me to come with?" Claire asked as her brother slipped on his shoes and hoisted up his briefcase. "I can walk down to the dock with you and wait for the ferry."

"No, I told Ann that I'd stop by the Inn to say goodbye on my way out."

Huh...? Ann? Why would Jack want to give Ann a goodbye?

"Oh..." As though a shining light bulb had suddenly appeared in the air over her head, it dawned on her. "You like Ann, don't you?"

Claire remembered the way Ann and her brother had been talking together after dinner the previous night. They looked as though they had been in deep conversation, which was a bit strange now that she gave it some thought… Jack, however, rolled his eyes. "She's just a nice girl, and after hearing about what happened to her, I wanted to make sure she was all right."

But Claire wasn't so sure that was the only reason her brother had such a heightened interest in her friend. "She does have nice, long hair... And her eyes are such a pretty shade of blue..."

"Claire!"

...He so likes her.

After Jack left, Claire finished breakfast with Bailey at her feet, the dog ecstatic to be finally freed from the confines of the bathroom, and then set off to complete her chores around the farm. The young farmer felt a twinge of sadness mixed with regret in her heart as she looked over the field where her crops once grew and skirted past the barn where she had once kept her first and only cow, Clementine, without daring to even turn and look inside.

I gained so much, only to lose it all...

Claire shook her head, hoping to quickly brush off her own pessimistic thoughts. She still had her beloved puppy, and a wonderful horse to take care of, and three hens that required her daily care and feeding. She couldn't give up after her first season of farming! Her remaining animals needed her, and she was certainly not the only farmer to ever face hardships. With hard work and determination, and a little bit of luck, she would be able to raise enough money to start again and help Sunshine Farm finally prosper.

But first, she thought to herself, I need to solve this mystery...

There was no way she could run a successful farm if she lived in constant fear of being attacked, but perhaps the mystery was already halfway solved. A deep knot of apprehension twisted in the pit of her stomach. Maybe I really do know what the creature is, and I just don't want to admit it, a small voice tugged at the back of her mind.

Oh, how she hoped she was wrong... That her mythological suspicions were just that, myths...Those were the stuff of horror films, not real life...

All the clues point to one... but it can't be true, can it? It just can't be... said the voice of reason in her mind. Or was it the voice of denial?

Shaking off her thoughts once more, Claire bent over to scatter feed across the ground for her chickens, who flocked toward her and pecked at the ground around her feet, clucking happily. How nice it would be to be a chicken, and live a simple life free from worry.

"Hi, Ann! How's it going?"

After her everyday work on the farm, which took a significantly lower amount of time due to the circumstances, Claire entered the Inn for some lunch and found Ann sitting behind the counter with a bored look on her face as she scribbled indifferently into a notepad, just like old times. Claire couldn't help but feel instantly better at the sight, and Ann smiled a bit wider than usual as she turned to greet her guest.

"Oh, hello Claire! I'm doing just fine… What's up?"

Claire shrugged. "Oh, you know... just coming in for some lunch. It's nice to see you working here again!"

Ann nodded. "Yeah, it's good to be back... It was getting really dull, staying in that Clinic for so long, just waiting for people to come visit me and distract me from my pain and boredom. And Dad sure is happy I'm home. I think he missed having me around to work the counter! He prefers to stick around in the kitchen and cook."

Claire laughed. "I'm sure that's not his only reason... You're his daughter! Of course he's happy that you're home and healthy again!"

"Yeah," Ann chuckled, "You're right. Anyway, what was it that you wanted?"

"Oh!" Claire quickly glanced down at the Inn's lunch menu perched on the counter, scanning the familiar items listed before settling on one of her favorite summer selections. "I'll have the fruit salad, I guess, with bread and butter on the side. Oh, and a glass of orange juice, please."

Ann winked at the farmer before sliding from her chair and retreating toward the kitchen. "Good choice. That'll be coming right up!"

Claire took a seat at the table nearest the counter and waited for Ann to return with her meal – luckily, she didn't have to wait long at all. Ann returned not fifteen minutes later with a bowl of fresh sliced fruits, buttered bread, and a clear glass of juice, which she placed on the table in front of Claire with a flourish. "Enjoy!"

"Oh, hey," Ann added as she scooped Claire's money from the tabletop and counted it between her fingers, "by the way, we're having a girls' night tonight. Me, Popuri, Karen, Elli, and Mary. And since you're a girl and an official citizen of this town, you're invited too."

Claire lifted an eyebrow. "Girls' night?"

Ann nodded. "Yep. It's basically a tradition we have going, as the girls of the village – a few times each season, we all have a sleepover and hang out one night. You know, a relaxing girls' night off type thing. We rotate through each of our houses to keep it fair, so nobody is stuck being the hostess every single time, and tonight's my night to host the party."

Claire nodded thoughtfully. This could be her chance to get to know her own neighbors even better, which was going to be vital if she wanted to make any truly lasting friendships in town. "Sounds like fun. I'm in!"

"All right, great!" Ann gave her an enthusiastic high five. "Technically, we should be having it at Popuri's place today," she added in an afterthought, "but she said we probably shouldn't go over there because her mother's not feeling well and Rick has been acting funny lately. Like, funnier than usual."

She twirled her pencil between her fingers absentmindedly. "Which is for the better, I suppose, because Rick gets really annoying when we go over there, always barging in on us and stuff, it's nothing new. Especially when Karen's around; honestly, I don't think he's all that good with girls. Besides, we have more room here at the Inn, anyway."

She looked back at Claire and smiled. "Only thing we have to worry about is Kai sneaking around, ha ha."

"Kai?"

"Yeah…" Ann nodded, "Kai rents a room here when he stays in Mineral Town during the summer. His room is right next door to my bedroom, actually, just so you know. Lucky me." She laughed lightly. "But anyway, enough about him. Feel free to come over at around six or so! Before the town curfew starts. You can join us here at the Inn for dinner!"

"Okay, sounds like a plan."

Claire shook her head as she left the Inn in the direction of her farm. Ann still didn't seem any different to her – perhaps Elli had been wrong? Although, considering the urgency with which Elli had divulged the injured girl's secrets, Claire knew that she couldn't completely rule out the young nurse's insider information just yet. Especially not when the proof could be right around the corner, seeing as how she was now going to be spending an entire night at the Inn with Ann and her other friends. Who knew what could happen then; what secrets might be revealed?

Little did Claire know, that within the course of a single night, she would soon learn a secret far larger and darker than she ever could have imagined.

Claire was the first girl to come to the Inn that evening in time for dinner. She had just wanted to get there early, before it started to get dark. Already, the thick, steel grey storm clouds were beginning to roll in on the hot, heavy air that always signaled the imminent arrival of one of those intense summer thunderstorms, and she could have sworn she caught a flash or two of jagged lightning out on the horizon over the ocean out of the corner of her eye. Additionally, there was no way she wanted to be walking around town after the sun had begun to set. Never mind the newly instated town curfew – getting in trouble with that silly little mayor was the least of her problems.

The Inn was oddly empty for such a normally busy time, and Ann was once again seated behind the counter as Claire approached the back of the room. For a split second, Claire wondered whether the girl had even moved since she had last seen her earlier in the day, but she quickly dismissed the ridiculous thought.

"Hiya!" Ann greeted the blonde cheerfully. "Ready for girls' night?"

Claire nodded, feeling in equally good spirits for once, though a question still nagged at her mind from that morning.

"Hey, I forgot to ask you this earlier… Did my brother come visit you this morning?" she asked casually, her eyes skimming over the dinner menu in her hands. "You know, before he left on the boat back to the city?"

"Oh!" Claire couldn't help but notice the prominent reddish hue Ann's cheeks took on as the redhead quickly turned around to pack a few stray glasses into the cupboard. "Yes… He did, as a matter of fact."

"What did he say?" Claire looked up from the menu, curiosity evident in her gaze.

"Oh, nothing in particular…" Ann said evasively as she whipped back around to face Claire and shrugged, her eyes shining. "He just wanted to tell me goodbye before he set off… I'm sure he did the same with a lot of the villagers. I'm nothing special."

But somehow, Claire knew that that couldn't be the case. Jack was her brother, after all, and after living with him for the entirety of her childhood years, she knew that he was never one to make friends easily, especially not after a mere few days. He was never big on introductions, or making small talk, and to those who didn't know him well, he often seemed much more antisocial and judgmental than he actually was. However, she decided not to pursue the matter any further at the moment; that could wait until later.

"Well, I guess I'll have a bowl of the soup du joir and a garden salad, with a glass of water please."

Ann nodded, still smiling in a vaguely secretive sort of way. "Sure thing… Coming right up, for a special guest!" She retreated to the kitchen where her father was most likely sorting out the cooking as Claire turned to sit at one of the dining tables.

Ann had only been gone a few moments when suddenly, there came a loud clatter from the kitchen, followed by the sound of shattering china, and a man's voice yelled out in frustration. "Goddess…"

"Dad!" Ann's uncharacteristically shrill voice rang out angrily, and there was another loud clang. "You idiot!"

Wanting to help in some way, but unsure of exactly what was going on or what she should do, Claire swiftly and soundlessly made her way behind the counter toward the kitchen door, taking a tentative peek inside.

"Calm down, Ann. It's not that big a deal."

The innkeeper Doug stood with his arms crossed, staring down at a bowl of vegetable soup that had fallen to the floor, shattered pieces of porcelain scattered in a puddle of amber broth and soggy greens.

Doug looked somewhat irritated, but his annoyance was nothing compared to the rage evident in his daughter's eyes. The red haired girl was positively fuming, her face red with fury as she glared hatefully at her father, eyes flashing. Claire froze in her tracks – she had never seen Ann break down like that before, and the manner in which she was now looking at her father actually frightened the farmer. It just wasn't normal.

"…Ann-?"

Ann whipped around, her hands shaking. "Oh, sorry about that, Claire… It was nothing."

"Did you…" The blonde's eyes trailed to a broken glass on the floor a few meters away.

Ann merely shrugged, the fiery anger in her eyes fading gradually. Behind her, Doug bent over to pick up the scattered shards of the bowl he had dropped, shaking his head in unveiled disbelief and utter confusion.

With an increasing sense of dread, Claire realized that maybe Elli was right about Ann, after all. But before either of them could say another word, they were interrupted by a high tingling noise, the sound of someone ringing the call bell on the counter out in the dining room.

"Oh," Ann's expression brightened. "That'll be the other girls. Come on, let's go."

True enough, Karen, Elli, and Mary were waiting in a huddle around the counter, all looking exceptionally happy. Ann greeted them with equal cheerfulness as though nothing strange at all had just happened in the kitchen, and Claire decided at that moment not to bring it up or ask any questions, so as not to ruin the joyful mood.

"Where's Popuri? She'd better get over here quickly."

"Oh, I'm not really sure," Karen answered. "But she should be coming. You know she'd never miss the chance to sleep in the same building as Kai," she added playfully.

As soon as those words were out of her mouth, the heavy wooden doors of the Inn were flung open, and a very familiar girl came running inside.

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late!" Popuri bounced into the room in a whirl of pink and rose, her face practically shining with cheeriness as she brushed her windswept curls back into place. "Get this – Rick almost wouldn't let me come to our sleepover tonight! Can you believe that? It's not like we haven't been planning this girls' night for ages! He's so weird sometimes, honestly."

She plopped down in the open seat beside Karen. "He really wanted me to stay home tonight for some reason, but I told him I'm plenty old enough to make my own decisions, as he very well knows! That sure shut him up."

At the mention of the pinkette's brother, Karen's eyes narrowed coldly. "Yeah, you tell him, Poppy."

As the girls all proceeded to take their seats around a table near the counter, Ann hurried into the kitchen to assist her father with their guests' food, her previous anger at him now completely dissolved as though it had never existed in the first place. When she returned with their meals ten minutes later, Claire turned away while the other girls chatted lightheartedly about the most trivial of topics, stirring the vegetables around in her bowl of soup thoughtfully. She just couldn't push the memory of Ann's unreasonable fury out of her mind.

Come on, Claire… forget about all that. This is going to be a fun night; you just need to relax. You deserve it.

But, however hard she tried, she just couldn't shake off the terrible feeling that things were about to go very, very wrong. And soon.

A/N: This chapter turned out so long that I ended up breaking it down into two parts (though I had difficulty deciding where to cut it, haha). But luckily, this means that the next chapter should be up much, much sooner than usual, since it's already pretty much written.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Any and all feedback is appreciated!

-Cotton Candy Mareep