Three days later when the clock struck midnight, Claire packed up her bag and went out to the stables. She untied Katerina and put the saddle on her back. She got on and rode into the center of the village.
"Claire?" A voice said.
"Marie?"
"What are you doing?"
"I was," Claire paused and hesitated for a moment, "I was leaving town."
"You were going to leave without even saying goodbye?" Marie said, slightly hurt.
"Yes. I thought it would be better so that nobody would try to stop me or follow me," Claire said.
"I understand. I wish the best of luck to you, Claire," Marie said.
"Thank you. You're so kind," Claire said getting off Katerina and hugging the girl.
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"I'm going to miss you,"
"I'll miss you too Marie. Maybe one day I'll come back. But for now I think it's best that I leave."
Marie nodded. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye," Claire said and rode off.
Claire eventually found herself in a forest, quite lost. She turned and found even more trees surrounding her. Since it was night, it was beginning to get colder outside. It was cold, but humid at the same time. She shivered slightly. Katerina pulled on her reigns nervously.
"Come on Katerina, it'll be fine," Claire said softly, patting Katerina.
A strong wind blew leaves around and made the trees shake. Thunder rumbled through the atmosphere. Lightning struck and hit a tree in front of Claire causing it to burst in flames. Claire screamed as Katerina neighed and bucked Claire off.
Claire hit the ground with a loud thump. When she stood up, her dress ripped all the way up to her knee. She groaned.
"Come on Katerina, let's go," She said grabbing Katerina's reigns.
They continued to walk further on. Claire stopped in her tracks when she heard a loud rustling. She turned around to see a pack of wolves. They all growled and bared their teeth.
"Oh my god!" Claire whispered as she trying to slowly walk backwards.
Slowly, she tried to get on Katerina. As she lifted up her leg, a wolf lunged at her and grabbed ahold of her leg in it's mouth. She cried out in pain and tried to pull her leg free. She broke off a tree branch and smacked it down on the wolf's head. It released her for a moment before latching back on in another spot. Other wolves gathered around her, ready to attack. One of them bit Katerina's leg. She reared up nearly knocking Claire down. She was feeling extremely light-headed. Claire looked down at her leg and gasped.
There were many puncture wounds and gashes all gushing blood. She tried to move and once again the wolf grabbed hold of her leg while another one lunged at her face. Claire screamed, held her hands up, and squeezed her eyes shut bracing for the pain.
Suddenly, two gunshots pierced the air. There was a whimper and a thud. Claire felt her leg get released.
She slowly opened her eyes to see Gaston.
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"Gaston?" She breathed.
"Are you alright?" He asked, not lowering his gun.
Claire shook her head, "No, my leg," She whimpered before passing out.
Gaston dropped his gun, ran towards her, and caught her before she could hit the ground.
"It's ok, I got you," Gaston said.
He lifted her up and placed her on her horse. Rain started pouring down as he walked her back into town.
