~*~

It was morning, a beginning of a new dawn.
The villagers started their day by releasing a yawn.
Getting out of bed to start their routine of making ale and bread.
Some villagers start their day with a prayer instead, in case any evil rears it's ugly head.

~*~

Elizabeth already got dressed, then wrapped her headscarf to keep her hair covered in order to wash her face with wood ash. After washing her face and hands, she cooked her porridge. After eating, she got to work. Three hours had passed.

Well that's odd? Barbara usually comes by this hour. Elizabeth thought before resuming to her work. Another hour passed before she heard a knock.

"Coming!" Elizabeth had to put the needle through the fabric of the dress she was working on before walking to the back door. Turning the on the rusty doorknob, she opened the door. "Good morning, dearie." She greeted Catherine, the blonde entered wearing a blue scarf and found it unusual given to the fact that it was hot outside.

"Good morning, Elizabeth." The blonde greeted back, adjusting her scarf.

"I didn't expect to see you today. You should be at home, recovering." Elizabeth said.

"Worry not about me. How have you been?" Catherine asked, feigning concern.

"Working as usual. I just need to finish making the second dress. I haven't made the sleeves yet." Elizabeth responded as she went to sit down on a footstool to resume sewing.

Catherine went to another room to find the thread that matched the color of the dress, and spotted the rod of the spindle. "You finally got a new spindle." Catherine smiled as she brought the thread, needle and shears.

"Barbara bought it yesterday." Elizabeth said, not taking her eyes off of her needlework.

"Of course she did." Catherine drawled, almost in a bored tone.

Marvin scried on the crystal ball, the image through the crystal rippled and distorted. He saw a curtain blowing to the side, and blew back down showing a dark, hairy object. Upon a closer look, it was a head laying on a corner of the bedroom, and saw that Barbara was unconscious with a cut above the left side of her monobrow before the image rippled once more and saw a cloak flapping for a brief second before he saw to women arguing, or to be more specific, he saw Barbara and Elizabeth bickering. No words came out, the image rippled and faded to black. He thought that he finished scrying but no, through the crystal ball he saw two stars that grew brighter and brighter before lighting like white flames. As the light of the flames got further and further away, the white flames belonged to a silhouette. The white fiery eyes held an eerie light so strong that levitated the crystal ball 3 feet in the air. The light turned into a white flash, blinding him with such force that he fell from the back from the chair, shielding his eyes as the crystal ball fell on the table, rolled to the edge and fell on a bucket full of water. Marvin wiped his eyes before blinking and adjusting his vision to the dim lighting of his caravan. The only thought came to his mind after recovering is that he had to find Barbara.

Catherine helped Elizabeth sew the sleeve on the dress. Though she saw that Catherine was sweating more than usual, she went to the kitchen to give her a glass of water. The blonde took the chance to take off her scarf to wipe off the sweat from the palms of her hands, and the beads of sweat from her forehead. When she was wiping the sweat from her face, Elizabeth brought the glass of water, she saw the hands prints on her neck. Elizabeth brought the glass of water to her.

"Your water, dearie." Elizabeth said, as she saw her wrap the marks with her scarf. "You don't have to hide anything from me, y'know. I used to do the same thing when I was with my husband. Hiding the bruises that he used to give me. Blaming me for being infertile, I had to keep quiet because I depended on him for receiving income, to turn a blind eye to his infidelity." She then looked at Catherine.

"No no no no, Edwin didn't-"

"I used to do the same thing. I blamed myself for being a terrible wife, for making him angry." Elizabeth added. "If he is the one hurting you, you should end the relationship before he ends up killing you."

"But-"

"You don't have to tell me anything. Now drink, we have work to do." Elizabeth interjected.

Marvin got off of his caravan, he set his foot down on the sullied terrain of Croaker Swamp. He changed his get-up to wear a mettalic armor with a silver sheen, the chest plate has a carving of an serpent's eye, his gauntlets have the same carving. Though he wore a beige cloak to cover his armor. He knocked the door of the swamp house.

No response.

He turned his heel and walked down the steps from the swamp house until-

Clank!

He turned around to find the source of the noise, Marvin climbed up to a tree to get in through the window and saw that the room was plain as ever. Dark, torn curtains swaying in the wind, the sound of humid creeking floorboards beneath his feet as he walked down the hallway to check if Barbara was in the living room, it was a mess. A small, wooden round table turned to the side with the table cloth draping to the floor with melted candlewax ruining the crochetted doily. He found the white porcelain vase shattered to pieces, as he went down the stairs, he saw that the furniture had been scratched and torn open, exposing a small pile of feathers scattered around. Books opened and dropped on the floor, next to the bookshelf, a mirror that was cracked on the upper right corner that was designed to hold three candles, each one unevenly melted.

Marvin went to the kitchen, surprisingly untouched except for two partially cracked plates displayed on the counter he went to the door to the basement, he opened the door of the basement with a swift kick. No sign of her either, now he was really getting worried. He ran upstairs to check the rooms one by one.

No.

Just a simple room made to house a guest.

No.

An old room to store household items.

No.

The privy, a room that has hole on the floor to throw out the waste that one expels from the bowels. He went upstairs to search for the rooms.

No.

A room with the furniture covered in blankets.

No.

An empty room that only has a window to look out of the swamp. Marvin walked away backwards, scowling before the curtain hid his face. He turned around to check the last room he hadn't check, Barbara's bedroom.

He went inside and found a pentagram on the floor, dry bloodstains on the wall, a cracked mirror with drops of blood and a broken window. He looked at the corner of the bed to find the same head of hair, the same unconscious face, the same cut above the left side of her monobrow as the curtain swayed. Her jaw was also cut and she had small shards of the mirror on her neck.

"Barbara!"