It all happened so in the rush that Samara couldn't understand what to herself do in such situation. Hearing about all the ten soldiers of the Prince's tale had gotten out and we're loose, the villagers had gotten terrified. Even the parents of those soldiers, their families couldn't believe it. Every one was traumatized.

Violet being alerted on the moment too started running towards the big doors of the hall, where everyone else was running away ignoring the Prince's orders who was telling them not to panic and stay together. Both the girls knew that by doing this, the crowd was giving the beast a greater chance of capturing any of his victim tonight.

"Samara, we have to go. Come on," yelled Violet while pulling on her arm but Samara protested.

"No. Samuel is still out and so is Nathaniel. I can't," she shook her head while looking wide-eyed at her.

Violet stared at her worriedly while looking around. The crowd was getting away, turning to the corridor which would lead them to the staircase to get down and run for their carriages parked out away in the grounds.

"Rodwin and Logan care for your brother. Davis too was concerned for Nathaniel. He is Lord Commandant's Son, Samara. Besides, because of the crowd, our parents have lost." She shakily looked around through the people who too were confused like them.

"I am scared to even being away from my father in such moment. Let us get away from here, Samara. Men will be taken care of, later."

Suddenly, a loud growl came by from so near to them. Samara screamed so hard along with Violet who started running towards the corridor and this time Samara too was contributing.

"He is somewhere here," screamed Violet whose face had turned red. She screamed again at seeing nothing but darkness in the corridor. "No torch," she whimpered.

Samara was terrified to the core when she heard muffled screams from the people all around. But slowly, it all was turning silent when they started running right in the middle so they want bump into anything.

"S-Samara," stuttered Violet. "We cannot die by the beast. Please."

Samara shuddered while hugging her friend from the side when they finally realized how silent it had became in the dark corridor and all the muffled screams were now far gone.

"Are we at some restricted area? Is there not the way where the crowd was running to?" whispered Samara while feeling chills running down her spine.

"I don't know," whimpered Violet. "When I heard that growl, I didn't think of that direction at all."

Samara gasped and both their hearts were jumped up to their throats as they gulped repeatedly. But just as they heard loud cranking of iron door hitting something else, both of them gasped loudly.

Violet whimpered while running blindly along Samara. Samara even looked back to see but nothing was visible in the darkness. Only harsh chilly wind was coming through, giving the deadly feel to the environment as if it was ready to freeze and dry the victim's blood, tonight.

Violet stopped all of a sudden and breathed harshly. "Stop. I can't," she kept holding her hand tightly.

Samara gulped while looking back. She twitched her lips and waited for Violet to catch her breaths while she stepped ahead slowly.

Her hand reached out for the railing and when she focused downwards on the floor, she could see yellowish light coloring the wall.

"We found the staircase." She exclaimed.

Violet choked, "What?" They both looked at the wall and Samara nodded. The girls started stepping down at each step, carefully while holding their skirts too.

Step by step, Violet started sobbing. "It's not the one we had to go through. It won't take us to the main hall downstairs to get to the carriages."

Samara stopped and shuddered immediately. "What did you say?" she breathed harshly and could feel her legs shaking. "How do you-"

"This is a round staircase. Those were straight paths to the ground floor. We are going somewhere else."

They both stopped properly and hugged each other to sob softly for themselves. "This is cruel. Rodwin and Logan had warned us to stay with the Prince. We should have listened to them," said Samara while breathing shakily.

"But what about our parents. They are panicked. We couldn't have just let them ran for their lives into the beast's path only," choked out Violet, completely defending her actions.

"What do we do, now?" asked Samara while looking back at the wall with yellow light flickering on it faintly. "I see the light coming from downstairs. At least, we would be down to somewhere. Not where the beast was growling."

Violet nodded while they both started stepping downwards again. Both were holding each other's elbows and wiping their tears frequently. Just as they took the last turn of stairs, they entered a corridor which had only one torch lit, that even very high on the wall from their reach.

Looking around, Samara could see nothing but a corridor of pillars lining up. Behind those pillars from the left side, she could see the grass and trees.

"We are out somewhere in any garden." She exclaimed in relief. She turned to Violet and smiled through tears. "We can now find someone under the moonlight. Come on."

But all her hopes went down when she gulped nervously at seeing Violet not moving. Her eyes were at something far in the front.

"There's someone on the floor," she whispered shakily while pointing forward, far at the floor.

Samara gulped while walking forward. "Do you think he's dead?"

Violet shook her head. "No. Don't. The beast could be closer."

Samara widened her eyes and stopped immediately. But just as she did, a loud growl ripped through the corridor coming from behind them, through the same staircase. They screamed hard while running leftwards to the garden.

Violet tried to pull Samara towards the tree but she shook her head. "We cannot leave the man. I saw him moving. He is trying to crawl ahead. He is-"

"Do not repeat the mistake. The beast is coming," whimpered Violet.

But Samara pushed her chest and freed her hand. She ran towards the man crawling on the floor between the pillars, while Violet stood stunned. She worriedly looked towards the stairs and the heart in her was stopped immediately at the sight of two bright glowing eyes following Samara.

She gasped and pressed her lips tight, her whole body shaking as the hair on the back of her neck risen. She clenched her legs tight and tried hard to not move and even stopped breathing for real to not catch the beast's attention since she was right out under the moonlight.

Claws and Canines. A pair of glowing eyes. Violet didn't move and watched his furry black figure walking right towards Samara's direction.

"Samara," she wanted to tell but ended up whispering in pain. This could be the last time, she was seeing her. "Run. Please run," she whispered shakily.

Samara was wiping her eyes while reaching the man. "Do not worry, Sir." She recognized his royal suit. He was one of the Lords from the royal council.

Bending downwards, she held his underarms and groaned while dragging him to take support of the pillar. He was almost unconscious and was breathing harshly. Before he could even thank her, he passed out while Samara slapped his face, sobbingly.

"No. No. You can't die. You must not," she cried while noticing blood running out of a long scratch on his thigh. It was the claw mark, she recognized from the dead body she had seen near the well on that village morning.

She lowered her head and sobbed while suddenly realizing that Violet and her gotten apart. She looked back to check if she was somewhere visible but let out a blood-curling scream when her eyes met a pair of golden ones.

Her jaw dropped and eyes were close to coming out of her sockets. Her heart had dropped somewhere lost in her stomach. It wasn't beating anymore, she was numb. She could feel herself shivering. Her arms were painfully being prickled by goosebumps that were raising and raising as the beast kept coming closer while saliva hanging thick on his bloodied canines.

Samara's lips trembled as she palmed her chest. Her heart had returned finally and now it was pounding hard as if to give the last performance before it could get ripped out by the beast. She shuddered wildly.

The beast stepped forward, his each step so heavy and powerful as if showcasing truly who the predator was. He was giant. His black furry body was a mix of a wolf and a bear. He walked like a human with his claws so sharp and longer.

The blood painted on the canines was enough to show his deadliness. Samara could see her whole life running through her eyes.

Her childhood, her parents, her brother, her dreams, her happiness. Her sorrows, her pain, and at last she was reminded of this wonderful night. The most precious moment she lived before dying.

Kissing Rodwin. She closed her eyes, letting tears fall while recalling his each and every word. At least, she was dying peacefully after she had sorted out their true emotion for each other. They might be enemies but for him, she was his eternal love.

But now she knew, she too wished a longer lifetime with him. She regretted wasting her time so much. She wanted to give him more love. Her family, her brother, her friends would be devastated.

But Rodwin would be as dead as herself. She was taking his heart with her after all. She always had kept it, was always aware of it but still rejected him all the time because of his jolly moods and teasing nature.

But now, she knew how precious he was.

Sniffling softly, she opened her eyes. Her mouth parted for last inhalation of fresh air but even that was stopped by the beast's face right in front of hers.

He could snap her face, with his canines so easily. She shuddered wildly, fisting her hands and hiccuping while the beast watched her with his faint growly breathing.

Only if the fresh air had not fastened around them, her hair hadn't flowed wildly behind her, and she wouldn't have been nearly close to falling on the floor—he wouldn't have hovered her. But to her horror, it all happened and there was nothing she could do.

She closed her eyes when he sniffed closer to her face, almost failing her pounding heart then and there. She wanted to pray continuously but those people would pray at this situation who hadn't lose their hopes.

She had.

Because she had seen the dead body herself on that morning. It was brutally ripped, cut and tortured. She knew that she was close to become the same.

"Stop your breaths," someone whispered from just beside her and from the corner of her eyes, she saw the Lord awake but not moving. "He will go if you don't move."

Samara tried hard to not move but hiccups and sobs were making her shake violently. She gulped and stoned herself. It happened on its own even when the beast even started growling faintly while hovering his jaws right over her stomach.

She was frozen.

But some angel right from above threw a stone far ahead in the garden somewhere that the beast was distracted immediately. He was immediately fascinated by the victim taking risk right under the moon rather than both the shaking souls right under his nose.

He growled faintly with closed jaws, and walked from over Samara while she was expecting him squeezing any of her body part by his bigger paws. When he was completely out of the sight, Samara could hear him howling loudly.

"Maybe, he caught another one." The Lord muttered while grunting and moving his leg. Samara shakily got up and saw a sobbing Violet tip-toeing towards them. Her eyes were on the way where the beast had gone.

"I threw the stone that way. Will he know it-it was me-me?" She hiccuped.

The Lord laughed humorlessly while Samara immediately hugged Violet. She sobbed heartily while cherishing this new life immediately. "I am so blessed, Violet." She cried.

"I am so blessed."

The Lord breathed out, "Yes, you are dear." He nodded towards the footsteps and they watched the royal knights running with torches and weapons towards them.

They recognized the Lord and the fear on ladies' faces, helping them by picking the man immediately and leading the ladies towards the hallway that lead them to the other part of garden which was conjoined with the great entrance of the castle.

The crowd was collected there and Samara screamed at the sight of her brother. Samuel gasped out and threw his arms around her, picking her almost in relief.

"You are alright," he murmured along with his father who had approached with the mother too.

Samara pulled away sobbingly. "Yes," she cried. "You too are." She held his shoulder and he nodded too.

Logan hugged a shocked Violet who was not really crying as she was traumatized from the fear of losing her best friend right in front of her eyes. Her parents came and helped her in immediately taking her to the carriage.

Samara too jumped in her family's carriage when she suddenly realized, "Rodwin." She gasped and looked at her brother. "He was out to find you, Samuel. He is in danger. Davis too."

Her father shook his head. "I had caught him holding an unconscious Nathaniel for Lord Commandant. Davis was there too. His parents fought over taking him back to home and consequently, Lord Commandant let him go when Nathaniel was finally put in his own carriage too for home.

"But Rodwin?" She asked worriedly.

Samuel held her hand. "He is going home in Davis's carriage only."

Samara looked at both of the men. "But, who will catch the beast. He is still out there." She wiped the corner of her eyes while shifting closer to her mother who rubbed her shoulder.

Her father wrapped his own arm around Samuel, who was breathing slowly because of the pain in his stomach wounds again. "When we cannot kill, we do defence. Right now, we are in no power to defend or protect ourselves. But at least we can run, to live for longer. Till another full moon night."

Samara whimpered and stared at her father. "Even Lord Commandant left with Nathaniel. What of people in the castle?"

Her brother shrugged shakily. "There are knights and already two were dead when we had left. How much can be his thirst? Blood lust will be calmed at some point. The night will be over soon, Samara."

He breathed harshly while leaning more on his father. He even opened his shirt's buttons, revealing sweats all over his skin and Samara could feel her blood curling immediately.

So much cold was the night, so was it's nature. But her brother was feeling enormous heat. She gulped at feeling strange about it.

The soldier has left the hall, people. He who couldn't control the inner heat, the blood lust. He who couldn't control the writhing beast.

The Prince had announced very well and when she thought about Nathaniel, he too was unconscious for some reason. Which meant something had truly happened with him or her brother. Both were strange on the night.

Both were out of the hall for a reason.

"The Lord Commandant couldn't care for the beast, rather left to save his son like any father would do." Her father said while pushing away little curtain of the little window to have some air for Samuel to breath finely.

"So, I save mine."

Samara sighed while breathing in the fresh air coming in. For now, she wanted nothing but to snuggle up into her furs on her bed, safe in her home. But this very thought vanished when her mind was blown by Samuel's words. All this time, she was forgetting something.

"Wish, Jeffrey's father has saved his son too. He is unconscious and was rested in his uncle's room who is cook at the castle only. His parents left without him in extreme terror," muttered Samuel while showing concern for his best mate.

Samara looked out of the window away from her father squeezing her brother's shoulder in consolation. She truly had forgotten that there were three soldiers out of the hall in the first place.

"Can't blame them, though. This was truly a terrifying night. A cruel one," her brother completed.

Samara breathed shakily, remembering every third person yelling the same from the crowd in the hall, even her own friend Violet. She too leaned her head on her mother's shoulder while praying well for every person's health. Especially, her own.

After all, she was the only one to survive the meet with the beast without even a single scratch on her skin.

______

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