Stella stumbled over to Claude's old bed and leaned on it for support, wincing and holding her side. Looking to Claude as Tom's question was suddenly cut off, her eyes widened at seeing the apple red face of Tom as he clawed at Claude's hand. Sinking down to the floor as she saw him throw Tom to the balcony, she quickly squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away. Not wishing to see Tom's death, she tensed as Claude let out a guttural roar. Peeking through her fingers, she saw Tom's begging look and had started to reach out in order to tell Claude to let him go. But as she caught another look at the knife sticking out of his shoulder, she turned her head away again and squeezed her eyes shut.<br/>~~~~<br/>The villagers stopped fighting against the servants as another roar echoed through the castle. Some of them wandered back outside to look up at Claude's balcony. Gasps of shock left them as they pointed and the rest of the villagers ran out to see what the commotion was about. One of the men raised his gun but another quickly forced it down. "No! You might hit Tom!" he said angrily before looking back up at the scene on the balcony.<br/>~~~~<br/>Thunder loud enough to shake the castle, cracked overhead and lightning split the dark, gray clouds. A light shower of rain drummed against the castle roof and walls, washing away all the dirt and grime that had built up over such a long time.<br/><br/>Stella slowly let her eyes slip closed as she listened to the drumming of the rain, drowning out any yells of help from Tom or Claude's roaring in anger. Hand falling away from her side, she slowly fell over onto the floor as a black tidal wave of unconciousness crashed into her.