Marjorie tucked the strip of cloth under itself and stepped back, scrutinizing her handiwork for a moment before she took my sleeve and pulled it back down over my arm. "Alright," she said, collecting the coat I had been lent and resting it over my shoulders. "Now will you tell me how you got that cut?" I lowered my chin, huddling up in the coat as I stared down at the floorboards below me.

"I fell."

"You did not fall, Gabriella," Marjorie's voice was sharp. "Did someone attack you?"

"No." I shook my head, not meeting her eyes. Not anyone living, anyway.

It hadn't taken long for Marjorie to notice that I was injured, and she'd hurried me to the town's makeshift doctor's office. It was a simple and clean cut, as if I'd been struck by twin knives, and she had wrapped it up without much fuss. In spite of her questioning, I had stayed tight-lipped about where I'd gotten it thus far.

Null had appeared not long after we arrived, looking none the worse for wear, which was a relief. Entity had joined him not long after, and Herobrine, Jade, and Lick had trickled in after him. Bane had remained at my side, not willing to leave me alone after the attack, but due to Marjorie's presence she had yet to have been given an opportunity to explain what she had meant about warning me.

"Gabby." Marjorie bent down to my level, catching my eye where I sat on a wooden stool. "If there's danger in our town, I want to know about it. Do you think someone is going to hurt you if you tell?" I shook my head again.

"No." I just don't think you'll believe me.

I had been the sole witness to a number of strange, paranormal events in my life. Yes, occasionally one of the other kids would see a floating teacup, or a shoe tossed from an empty corner, or a candle that seemed to have lit all by itself, but I was the only one that claimed to see people that nobody else could. I had been open about these experiences up until I was seven, at which point I realized just what the people around me thought of me.

Waking up in the middle of the night was a fairly common occurrence for 7-year-old me. I would often wake up between the hours of one and three, and lay awake for some time, quietly contemplating the day ahead. Often my friend the shadow man would come and sit for me for that time, and neither of us would speak, just sit in each other's presence.

Tonight, however, I had woken up to voices.

"Hush, you'll wake them up," was the first voice I heard, which after a moment I was able to attribute to Nancy. Nancy was one of the oldest kids, sixteen years old, which meant that she likely wouldn't be here for very much longer. Usually once the older kids got to be seventeen or eighteen, they would either leave in search of a job or leave to get married.

"Okay," came another voice. Cathy, who was fourteen, was a notorious chatterbox, and I wasn't surprised that she had to be told to hush up. I was good and awake now, and since I didn't expect to be able to get back to sleep for some time, I simply settled into my bulging mattress and tuned into their conversation.

"Anyway," Cathy went on quietly. "I think we should talk to Madam Agatha about it."

"She already knows," Nancy whispered back. "I've talked to her. She says she's going to take her to the priest soon."

"What good is a priest going to do?" Cathy hissed back indignantly. "She talks to the walls. A priest isn't going to be able to help with that." A bad feeling crept up my spine, and I squeezed my eyes shut. Were they talking about me?"

"Yes," Nancy went on. "If she is mad. But that isn't the only explanation. She…" Nancy trailed off, and I could hear her shifting in her bed. "…could be possessed."

"Possessed?" Cathy echoed.

"Demon possessed. Perhaps she's not talking to walls, she's talking to the devil." Nancy's voice was low, and I wilted slightly into my sheets.

"Oh." Cathy was quiet for a moment. "Then she shouldn't be here."

"She's a little girl, Cathy, we're not going to throw her out on the streets," Nancy scolded her. "Madam will take her to the priest, and if he can't help, then… well, I don't know. We'll figure it out then."

"Okay." There was a beat of silence. "I'm going back to sleep."

"Okay. You'll be just fine, Cathy, don't worry." With that, they said nothing more, shifting around in their beds until they were comfortable before finally going still.

I felt a little sick, my throat tight, and I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. I wasn't mad, at least, I didn't think I was. And the shadow man wasn't the devil, he didn't mean anyone any harm. Other people had seen him picking things up and moving them, I wasn't crazy!

A dark shape blocked the window at the far end of the bunkroom, and I blinked up through tears to find the shadow man sitting down beside me. I just looked at him, my throat too tight to speak even if I wanted to. He tilted his head at me, his glowing eyes staring down at me in unnerving silence. I just shut my own eyes, burying my face in my arms and trying not to wake anyone with my tears.

"I swear I fell," I repeated. "I needed some air, so I went out for a walk, and I tripped and cut my arm on a rock." Marjorie frowned at me, clearly not believing my story.

"Alright," she finally said. "I think you should stay inside for the rest of the night." I nodded at the floor.

"Yeah."

"You're welcome to sleep in here, if you'd like," Marjorie offered. "It's a little quieter here." I nodded again, looking over to a wooden cot with a thin mattress on the other side of the room.

"Okay. Thank you."

"Of course." Marjorie tucked the coat a little tighter around my shoulders, then walked out, leaving me alone in the building with a single candle to light it.

I waited until I heard her footsteps fade out of earshot, and only then did I turn to Bane where she stood beside the stool. "Alright," I said quietly. "Warn me about what?"

"About the ghosts." Bane's face was twisted into a grimace. "I- all of us, our spirits have lingered due to the nature of our deaths. Often a person who is killed in a violent or cruel fashion will stick around. Since this village was attacked and burned, I should have known…"

"But that doesn't explain why he came after me," I protested, my voice weak. "Nobody has before. I haven't even seen any ghosts other than you guys." The ghosts exchanged glances, and Bane finally caught my eye.

"That's because we've been keeping them away," she said. I stared blankly at her, and she went on. "Most ghosts aren't… as coherent as we are." My gaze flicked unthinkingly to Entity. "They're feral, like animals," Bane went on. "And, for whatever reason, they're attracted to you. And, as you can tell from tonight, their intentions aren't exactly good."

"Also," Herobrine spoke up quietly. "We can't hurt most people like that." He nodded to the cuts on my arm. "Not physically. But you- you're… physical, to us." He shifted, folding his arms across his chest. "Which is why they can do that."

"But, why…" I trailed off, realizing that they didn't have any more of an idea than I did. "I… ugh." I buried my face in my hands. Being able to see ghosts was one thing, but now I was being hunted by them?!

I felt a breath of pressure where Bane rested her hand on my shoulder. "It's okay," she said quietly. "We'll watch out for you." I didn't answer for a moment.

Finally, I took a shuddering breath, lifting my head to look up again. "Is he gone?" I asked. "The ghost?"

"I chased him off." Entity thumbed over his shoulder. "But I couldn't kill him. You can't kill a ghost, you see- we're already dead."

"Right." My shoulders slumped, and I hid my face again, my mind whirling for several moments as I processed this new information.

At last, I mumbled, "I can't stay here."

"Since we don't know how many lives were lost…" Bane trailed off. "No, I don't think you can."

"What are you going to do, then?" Jade spoke up quietly. I shrugged helplessly. I was caught between a rock and a hard place - stay here, among an unknown number of hostile ghosts that wanted to kill me, or attempt to make my way all the way to the capital by myself in mid-November.

"I don't know," I finally said. "I guess I'll figure it out in the morning."

Marjorie reached forward to button up the top button of my coat, then took a step back. "There you are, dear." I murmured my thanks, reaching up to feel at my neckline. "You have everything you need?" She went on.

"I think so." There was a knapsack that rested between my shoulder blades, containing a blanket, a firestarter - which I didn't need, but I wasn't about to tell them that - food and water to last me at least the next few days, and a slightly-oversized change of clothes, all of which Marjorie had been able to cobble together in the last four hours since you had gotten up and told her of your intention to leave. She had even given me a few silver coins. She had apologized for not being able to get me an escort, but the supplies she had given me were already more than enough - she even let me keep the coat.

"Thank you for everything, Marjorie," I said as I adjusted the knapsack straps over my shoulders. "I don't know what I would've done if you hadn't been here."

"Don't mention it, Gabby." She gave a pointed look in the direction of the cut in my sleeve, but I ignored it. She still hadn't given up on what had really happened last night. Unfortunately for her, neither had I.

"I should go," I said.

"You should," Marjorie agreed, then beckoned me with her, and together we began to make the walk towards the edge of the village.

My feet were numb beneath me as I crunched through the dead grass. Maybe, if I didn't have to spend it on a room, I could use the coins Marjorie had given me to buy myself some thick socks.

When we reached the outskirts, Marjorie stopped. "You be safe out there, alright?

"I'll try." I grinned at her, but it didn't reach my eyes. Marjorie offered me her arms, and I gladly leaned into her embrace. She reminded me of Madam Agatha, and a pang of loss went through my chest. What good fortune I'd had by running into Marjorie here.

"Alright," Marjorie said as she leaned back, and she pointed to the dirt road at the bottom of the hill. "Down the road to the east, it's about thirty kilometers to the next town. If you keep on your feet, you should be able to reach it by nightfall. Alright?" I nodded, gave her a final wave goodbye, and began to walk down the hill.

When I reached the road, I immediately sought out the tracks from the wagons, which had been preserved in the half-frozen dirt. It seemed like this road saw little use, at least during this time of the year. I gripped the straps of my knapsack, then looked up and over my shoulder to address the ghosts that followed me.

"Shall we?" I asked. In response, Entity strode forward to lead the way, and I fell into step behind him as we began to make our way down the road.