The humor drained from Elijah's mood as his father ran right past him towards town and his eyes found Jack's somber expression. "What's going on?" He asked, looking over his shoulder as if he could see Sebastian's silhouette as he ran silently through the woods.

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With deft hands, Marabelle quickly snipped Alice's tattered dress away from her broken body, careful not to catch skin or pull any of the fragile scabs that were barely holding her body together. "Oh, Alice..." She whispered, taking a washrag to her daughter's face and arms, wiping away the mess of blood and dirt, revealing the complex network of bruising that had been hiding.

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It took longer than she expected to get her cleaned, stitched up, and into fresh clothes, but once she did, the injuries weren't as shocking as they had been. Alice's face was swollen and pale beneath the purple splotches and angry red scrapes, and only time would tell how she would heal, but she was fortunate that nothing was broken. With a final glance at her sleeping figure, Marabelle left the room, wiping the remnants of blood off of her hands. Following the sounds of hushed voices, she entered the living room, "If you want to see Alice, you're welcome to go in there. She's as cleaned up as I can get her..." Sinking to a seat, the stress was visible on her face.