12

Dominic said that there was nothing more to do. Even though he seemed to be just somewhat interested, Elizabeth gave him a pointed glare. All right then, you jerk, what am I going to do? she was thinking. What did you think he was going to say next? She was in the mood to be pushy, but he wasn't in the mood to tell her anything at all.

Dominic said that there was nothing more to do. He seemed only lukewarmly interested, but Elizabeth cast a peek in his direction.
regarded him with a stern look. All right then, you jerk, what am I going to do? she was thinking. What did you think he was going to say next? She was in the mood to be pushy, but he wasn't in the mood to tell her anything at all.

He became rigid, and then he turned. "Well?"

They stopped there for a split second, staring at each other, before the next step up the staircase was taken. Katherine had made her way back.

She stated it while blinking and seemed abruptly puzzled, "Katherine... you're harmed." He said, "Don't worry about me," as he wiped blood from his face with a torn sleeve. "I'm OK." Elizabeth remarked after a brief pause before eating, "What about Doug?"
"I don't know. He is injured. A lot of people are. That is the oddest thing I've ever seen," the man said. "A lot of people are."

Elizabeth went away from Dominic and into the choir loft, which was located at the top of the steps. She got the sensation that she needed to think, but her head was beginning to pound. The most peculiar item that Katherine had ever come upon... That was a rather bold statement. There was something eerie going on at Fell's Church.

She slid down until she was sitting on the floor, reaching the wall behind the very last row of chairs, putting her hand on the wall, and then sitting down. Things seemed to be muddled yet being crystal clear at the same time. There was something eerie going on at Fell's Church. On the day of the festival honoring the church's founders, she would have sworn that she didn't care about Fell's Church or the people who attended it. But at this point, she had a fresh perspective. She was attending a memorial ceremony, and as she looked down, she began to wonder whether maybe she did care.

And then, as the hounds attacked outdoors, she knew exactly what was going on. In a manner that she had never felt before, she began to have a sense of responsibility for the community.

Her previous feelings of misery and isolation seemed to have been put to the background for the time being. There was something more pressing going on than her personal concerns at the moment. And she clutched to that something, because the fact was that she really couldn't cope with her own circumstances, no, she really, really couldn't... So she clung to that something.

She heard the gasping half sob that she emitted then, and when she glanced up, she saw both Katherine and Dominic gazing at her in the choir loft. She felt as if she were waking up from a dream as she gave a tiny shake to her head and placed her palm to her forehead.

"Elizabeth...?" he asked.
Katherine was the one who did the talking, but Elizabeth directed her comments to the other person. She spoke with a trembling voice and asked him, "Dominic, if I ask you something, would you tell me the truth? I
I know you didn't try to run me off Wickery Bridge. I could feel whatever it was, and it was different. However, I want to ask you this: "Were you the one who put Katherine in the old Francher well a month ago?"

Dominic leaned back against the wall opposite him and folded his arms over his chest as he said. "In a well?" His expression was one of polite incredulity.

"After you revealed who you were on Halloween, which was the same night that Mr. Tanner was murdered."


for the first time to Katherine in the woods. He told me that he left you in the clearing and started to walk to his car but that someone attacked him before he reached it. When he woke up, he was trapped in the well, and he would have died there if Denis hadn't led us to him. I always assumed you were the one who attacked him. He always assumed you were the one. But were you?"

in the midst of the forest, for the first time to Katherine. He informed me that after he left you in the clearing, he began walking to his vehicle but was ambushed by someone on the way there. He never made it to his car. When he came to, he found that he was unable to escape the well, and if Denis hadn't brought us to him, he would have perished in the well. My assumption was that you were the one who assaulted him all along. He never questioned his assumption that you were the one. But you were, right? "

After hearing him say, "As a matter of fact, no," Elizabeth exhaled a sigh of relief.
"I can't believe that you said that!
"You have no reason to trust a word that he says!" Katherine exploded. "

Why should I be dishonest?

"Dominic has returned, and it's evident that he's relishing the fact that Katherine has lost control. "I readily confess to murdering Tanner. I drank his blood till he became as little as a prune, and then I killed him. And if it were up to me, I wouldn't hesitate to do the exact same thing to you, brother. However, a well? It's not really my thing at all."

Elizabeth said, "I believe you," as her thoughts raced ahead of her. She then looked to Katherine and asked, "Don't you feel it? There is something more in Fell's Church, something that may not even be human or may have never been human. What I mean is that it's possible that this creature has always been here. Something that was after me drove my automobile off the bridge after it was already there. Whatever it was that provoked the dogs to attack humans.
Some terrible force that's here, something evil...," Her voice trailed off, and she looked over toward the interior of the church where she had seen Denis lying. "Something evil..." she repeated softly. A chilly wind seemed to blow inside of her, and she huddled into herself, feeling vulnerable and alone.

Katherine said in a condescending manner that "if you're seeking for evil, you don't have to go far."

Dominic continued, "Don't be any more dumb than you can help. I told you four days ago that someone else had murdered Elizabeth. Don't be any more stupid than you can help." And you heard me say that I was going to locate that person and have a conversation with him. He uncrossed his arms and stood up straight before saying, "You two are free to continue having that private talk that I interrupted."

Elizabeth had been unable to stop the shiver that tore through her body and she yelled out to Dominic, "Wait."
when he mentioned dead. I can't have been murdered; I'm still here, she thought frantically, feeling dread begin to build up in her again. However, she forced herself to put the terror away so that she could talk to Dominic.

She said, "I felt it when it was pursuing me, and it appeared to cover the entire sky." "Whatever this thing is, it's powerful," she added. "I felt it when it was chasing me." I don't believe that any one of us would have a chance to win against it on our own."

"So?

"