Even though the sun was just rising above the horizon, Christina had already been up for some time, getting ready to sneak out. The last thing she wanted was to start the day with yet another fight with her father. She packed her bag with medical tools and supplies, put it over her shoulder, grabbed her hat from the nail on the wall, and quietly opened the door to her room. Holding her boots in her hand, she snuck through the hallway, trying not to make any noise. When outside, she quickly sprinted to the stables and started to saddle her mare up. Just as she was finally ready to leave, she heard her father walking out the front door. “Christina?”

Crap. Christina jumped up on Betsie’s back and left the stable. “I’m going to check on Mary.”

“Hmm, fine,” Carl grumbled. “But be home before dinner, Boyde is coming to visit and he is bringing Billy with him. In fact, you are the woman in this house now, you should make that dinner.”

“You know I can’t promise you that, dad. If Mary goes into labor, I might not come back for a few days. And you know I’m a horrible cook.” Her father was furious that after her mother died, she refused to stay at home, cook, clean up after him and her brother, and wash their dirty socks. They argued for days, but after Christina threatened to run away and join a brothel, he caved in and agreed to hire an old Hispanic lady to do those chores.

“You need to start taking life seriously, Chrissie,” he sighed. “I will tell Billy you said hi.”

Christina snorted. “Please don’t. See ya.” Short wave and she rode off. Finally, some freedom. She nudged Betsie to go faster and enjoyed the wind in her hair. Billy Boyde. Ugh. Yes, he was handsome and a decent blacksmith and he would inherit his father’s shop in town. But that was the end of the short list of positives that boy had. Billy Boyde was a dick - he was arrogant and about as bright as the hammer he kept swinging. He would often spend the evening in the Lone Heart Saloon, get wasted, and then pick fights with other men. That was the man her father wanted her to marry? She would rather hang herself.

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“Well, it doesn’t look like you will be in labor any time soon.” Christina was washing her hands after examining her friend. “But you know that can change fast. You should really take it easy,” she added, seeing Mary grab a bucket full of water and dragging it to the kitchen. 

“You know that is much easier said than done,” Mary replied, straightening her back for a few moments and wiping sweat off her forehead. “Ah. This one’s a kicker.” She placed her hand on her huge belly.

“You think it's another boy?” Christina smiled at her.

“God, I hope not,” Mary laughed. This was her fourth pregnancy. Two healthy boys were running outside. A girl died of fever when she was just four months old. 

“Well, you never know.” Christina wished there was more she could do. She and Mary were the same age and had been friends for as long as she could remember. Christina loved Mary, but she couldn’t imagine living a life like that. “Hey Mary, can I pick some of the anemones from the backyard?”

“Sure, pick away,” Mary smiled and waved at her, knowing what Christina wanted the flowers for.

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[right][sub][i](Addressing: [@Nobodyman123])[/i][/sub][/right]
Carefully holding a colorful bouquet of various flowers, Christina was heading towards the Black Mountain cemetery to visit her mother’s grave. Even though it had already been almost two months since she died, Christina kept coming there almost every day. She liked to just sit there and talk to her mom, hoping that somehow somewhere, Marija was listening.

As she was coming closer to the cemetery, she noticed a large commotion of people there. Weird. She didn’t remember there was supposed to be a funeral today. By the size of the crowd, someone really important must have died. But to hold a funeral that fast? It was all too strange.

Christina got to the cemetery gate and tied Betsie to the fence. The people were already leaving, most looking fearful and crossing themselves, some seemed angry. Christina ignored them because she could already see why they gathered here. She stood still, staring at the empty graves in horror, unable to understand what was happening. Suddenly, she realized why she came here and her eyes scanned the place. “NO!” she yelled out and sprinted towards her mother’s grave. “NO, no, no!” It was empty too. She knelt at the side of the empty hole, desperate, the flowers she brought slowly descended into the dirt. She could see a piece of the cross her father carefully carved with his own hands. It was broken, pieces of it scattered around.

She noticed Sheriff Reilly standing nearby and headed towards him. “Sheriff?” Her voice was trembling. She ran her hand over her face, trying to wipe off the tears that wouldn’t stop appearing in her eyes. “What happened here? Why would anyone do this?” What kind of evil has arrived in their town?