*Intense sobbing*

“Aw, Shut up!” he kicked the young boy again. “Trying to play the hero, eh? I swear, kids these days…”

Leo dragged the now screaming kid to the room where he put the others. He tossed the kid into the room and quickly locked it with a chair.

The screaming and sobbing redoubled.

Geez, they were loud when they wanted to. He picked up his two full bags over one shoulder and his large axe over the other and left the house.

“How was this one?” Marc said.

Leo packed his bags in the carriage, “Bah… No girls… How hard can it be to have girls these days, I swear–”

“For fuck's sake, Leo…” Marc sighed. “... How was the loot?”

Leo climbed into the passenger seat, “Oh, That. Bah… Good enough, I guess. Anyway, who’s next? And do tell me this one has girls,” He said, giving his friend a knowing look.

Massaging his wooden leg, Marc muttered something, then said, “... Next house is about 15 min from here. Apparently, they have two kids, and both parents should be at the meeting. Not a rich family, but has rumors about an inheritance of decent value. They–”

“Girls?” Leo asked the important question.

Marc stared at him, rolled his eyes, then looked at his notes again, “Kids’ gender unknown.”

“A surprise then,” Leo signaled onward, and they took off toward their next target.

About 20 minutes later, Leo hid in the forest with their carriage. Tonight was a dazzling night. He looked up and saw the almost full moon completely unhindered by the clouds. As he looked down, he saw Marc wobble his way toward him, flinching every time he walked on his wooden leg. Leo shook his head in disapproval. He understood his friend wanted to prove himself useful to get his share of the loot, but did he not understand that what he was doing was a complete waste of time? He could be in there already… But no, Marc insisted on doing his dumb recon mission. Just to be sure, he always said. And sure enough, it was all for naught again.

“I spotted only one of the 2 kids, but the carriage is gone and no parents are in sight,” Marc said with a strained breath, climbing on the carriage.

“How unexpected…” Leo rolled his eyes, “I could already be on my way out of there if you just listened to me.”

“If I listened to you, you would skip every house not having girls, even if the loot was guaranteed to be good.”

Leo had to give him that one, but it didn’t change the undeniable truth. “Change nothing to the fact that you playing scout is a dumb waste of time.”

“A waste of time?” Marc seemed exacerbated. “What if our intel was false? What if the parents had asked a neighbor to come and watch the kids? How dumb must you be to—”

“Wow, wow,” Leo said, lifting both arms in surrender, “Calm down, calm down, buddy. I understand ‌you want to be useful–”

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” Marc’s voice grew by a pitch, “If it wasn’t for the fact that I knew you would lose patience and go in there before I came back, I would still be scouting. I only saw one out of two, the other one is an unknown factor…”

Leo phased out of his friend's unending monologue. Seeing his friend letting his emotion take hold of him again, Leo inwardly shook his head. He would have to teach him how to control them better in the future. Leo grabbed his axe and a pile of empty bags and then hopped down the carriage.

“... Who do you think gathered all this intel–Hey! Come back in there I wasn’t finished–Aaah,” In a laughable attempt to stop him, Marc fell down the carriage, “God fucking dammit!” he heard him say as he walked away.

Strolling his way to the front door, Leo chose his favorite break-in method. Knocking. Why bother breaking windows or doors when a kid could just open them for you. Taking the time to hide his axe behind his back, Leo knocked with the friendliest smile he could muster.

“Max! Go get the door,” As he heard the voice, Leo’s smile took a devilish tint. Mystery solved, the second kid was a girl. From the sound, she probably was on the older side, but eh, it was good enough for his first one today.

Sure enough, the door opened, revealing a brown-haired young boy behind it. If Leo had to guess, he would give him around 12 to 14 years old. He was quite tall for his age–eye level around his chest–but he would give him no trouble.

“Hello sir, how may I help you?” The boy presumably named Max asked.

“Well, hello there. I came looking for a chat with your sister.” Leo patted himself on the back for his flawless improv skills. Normally, he would just grab the kid to lock him up somewhere—less running and all—but this time, he wanted to make sure the girl didn’t run away.

“Sister?” the young boy frowned, “Sir, I don’t have a sister. Sure, Nox may look like one, but to mistake him for a girl is a little much.”

It was Leo’s turn to frown. As he was about to ask about the female voice, the answer suddenly came into sight. And man, it was a sight. His words died, but his mouth stayed wide open. She was standing tall in the corner of a doorway at the far end of the house; tin waist, decently sized breast, pitch-black long hair, and soul-piercing eyes. And to top it all off, she was in her undergarment. For Leo, the signs couldn’t be more clear, it was love at first sight.

She was brushing her hair, “Max, why didn’t you let Mr. and Mrs.Ellis in the room already—” She stopped when she first saw him. Leo instantly straightened up and puffed his chest. She scanned him and Leo gave her his best smile. They made eye contact, then to his surprise, her eyes widened, “Max, come to me NOW!”

Stolen novel; please report.

Leo was taken aback, a little hurt. Why did they all react this way… He was a complete chad when it came to women. The youth ran toward his not-sister. What was she, anyway? A babysitter or something. If Marc ever heard about this, he would never hear the end of it.

“Mommy, who is it?”

Leo blinked. His gaze fell on the source of the voice on the opposite side of the room. In front of a small hallway, he saw another little boy. That one was visibly much younger, with his short black hair and smaller stature. He was in his pajamas, hugging a stuffed horse. Then the kids' words sought in.

He looked at the kid, then at the girl. Then at the kid again and to the babysitter. No… It wasn’t obvious with the older one, but with this one, it was hard to miss. The damn kid looked like a youthful version of her. She was their mother? He almost gagged.

“Nox, Stop right there, do NOT get close to him,” his mother almost screamed from the other end of the room.

Crap… Marc is gonna– Leo dismissed the train of thought instantly. Who cared what Marc thought? He was the one doing the dirty work. He was the one in charge. Leo took another look at the mother. He shivered at the word. But maybe, just maybe, she was worth it.

Seeing her frightened look as she desperately looked for something to defend herself with. Seeing part of her leg as her undergarment robe shifted. Seeing her uncovered cleavage and neck, all the doubt in his mind progressively faded. Yeah, this was going to be good. For an appetizer, at least.

Leo’s stance finally relaxed. Showing all his teeth, Leo smiled. He unveiled his axe from behind him and entered the house.

…

This was completely unfair. Nox walked into his room and changed into his blue pajamas. Why was he the only one being punished? Max woke up late this morning, shouldn’t he be punished too? Sighing, he jumped on his bed and started playing with Mr.X.

After a short while, he heard the faint sound of a knock. Must be the guests. Max was so lucky... Strangers almost always brought small gifts for them and apparently this time they were old, so it was almost guaranteed. Nox was ready to bet that even if they brought him one, his mom wouldn’t allow him to play with it. Just because he was punished…

“Max, come to me NOW!” his mother said, raising her voice. A devilish smile creeping in, Nox quickly got up and ran outside his bedroom with Mr.X in his arms. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be so bad after all. Eager to see what his brother did to anger their mother, Nox entered the living room.

Max was running toward their mother. In the front door stood an unknown man. Disheveled short brown hair, a plain dirty white shirt, and Nox counted multiple black spots on his smile. A weird feeling rose in his gut. Suddenly unsure of the situation, Nox clutched Mr.X, “Mommy, who is it?”

“Nox, Stop right there, do NOT get close to him,” his Mom said in panic.

Then Nox had a sudden realization, “Mommy, is he a bad guy?”

“Yes Nox, he is a bad guy. Max, go lock yourself in my room with Nox.” She picked up a chair. “Nox, go hide with Max.”

Nox felt a wave of relief wash through him. It was just a bad guy. Why was his mother reacting this way? She said it herself, good guys always win. Nox ignored his mother’s direction and focused on looking for the hero.

Nox couldn’t believe it was real. He was going to meet a real hero. No way he was going to miss his entrance. He kept his eyes wide open on all the spots the hero could take to enter; the door, the window, then his eyes lit up the attic. He did a quick 180 to check.

“Nox!” his mother screamed again, and she started rushing toward him.

As he was about to tell her to leave him alone, Nox heard a voice behind him, “Not a sharp one this one, eh,” He felt a hand lifting him up by the collar.

He didn’t get the chance to react. He heard his mother yell, and he was sent crashing into the wall.

Nox swallowed a scream. In an attempt to sit upright, he felt a sharp pain in his elbow. Fighting hard to hold back tears, Nox managed to look at his aggressor. His eyes grew wide.

The man was on the floor, his mother on top of him. She was smashing him with a chair. She screamed again and again, striking him harder and harder. The man’s axe laid just out of his reach on his side. He tried to defend himself with one arm and reach for his axe with the other. Nox looked at the scene in awe. His mom was so strong!

But then the scene in front of him shifted. The man managed to take hold of his axe again. A sense of impending doom struck him. His brother must have felt it too, because Nox saw him rush toward the fight. Nox tried to do the same, but his body wouldn’t move. He suddenly grew dizzy and felt a sharp spike of pain in the back of his head.

The world seemed to slow down. Nox saw the backhanded strike coming toward his mother’s leg. His brother screamed and ran toward her even faster, but Nox could see he wouldn’t reach her in time.

His headache spiked again, all sound merged ‌in an unending high-pitched scream, but Nox didn’t even flinch. Nox watched with wide eyes, unmoving. The axe struck his mother’s leg.

She fell to the side, clutching her wound. The man twisted himself on top of her and kept fighting with her. Nox watched unblinking, the ground under them quickly filled with blood. His mother’s blood. Max tried to help, but the man was too strong. His every attempt resulted in him crashing somewhere else in the room.

His headache spiked once more, but this time it was different. It felt like his entire head wanted to explode. Out of his daze, Nox couldn’t hold back his tears anymore. He looked around, one more time in search of the hero. He wasn’t there.

His mother had stopped moving, but the high-pitched scream never stopped. The man was still fighting with her, he even had lost his pants in the midst of the fight.

Then something shifted in Nox. The heroes wouldn’t come, they never would. Good guys don’t always win. His mother had lied to him? His head grew foggier and foggier. Why did she do that? What else had she lied about? The animals? the gates? He grew light-headed, his breath sped up. Flash of all the times his mother told him the ‘truth’ came into his mind, were they lies too? His mind went blank. Nox passed out.

…

He saw the shadow of a monster in a doorway, their doorway, he realized. A sense of impending doom fell upon him. The scene shifted. The monster was fighting another figure. He tried to make sense of the figure’s form, but every time he tried to focus on it, the scene grew foggier. For some reason, he felt close to the figure, yet… The more the time passed, the more the figure felt distant, like it wasn’t what it appeared to be… wasn’t what it was meant to be. Then the figure opened its mouth. He expected it to scream or roar, but it did none of those. It made the screeching sound of a boiling kettle? He didn’t get the chance to frown, that it all clicked. The figure was–

Nox sat up straight from his bed, sweat all over him. It was just a nightmare. Nox tried to dry the sweat off his face but winced when he tried to lift his arm. Did he fall in his sleep? Wait. He didn’t remember ever going to sleep. Frowning, Nox searched for an answer. He had been restricted to his room for the night. He had heard the guests knock, but after that, he couldn’t remember clearly.

The rest felt almost dreamlike–the dream! Just before waking up, he had felt like he was about to remember something important. As he searched for an answer, he felt a small headache creeping in. At first, Nox tried to dismiss the pain, but as time went on, the headache only got worse. Sensing something wasn’t right, Nox called for his mother, “Mommy.”

The pain kept increasing. Nox called for his mother again. The pain came in waves, each stronger than the one before. He felt like each wave was trying to split his head apart. Nox clutched his head. It didn’t help. His ears started ringing. He couldn’t hold it anymore and Nox started crying.

“Mommy!” He wept.

Nox felt like his head was about to explode. He kept calling for her for what felt like an eternity. He wept and screamed, but nothing seemed to help. The pain became unbearable. At some point, he thought he saw someone come to his side, but he couldn’t think straight anymore. After a while, Nox lost consciousness again.

…

“Mommy, mommy. My head hurts,” he heard Nox wept, “Mommy!” then Nox started screaming and weeping again, calling for his mother.

Nero was sitting alone on the sofa, clutching his head between his knees. It was the sixth time tonight that Nox had one of those episodes. The healer had inspected him but only found a light bruise on his elbow and on the back of his head; perhaps explaining his weird headaches. The healer said it will go away with time. He heard his son's agonizing scream stop and his heart clenched. He must've lost consciousness again.

Compared to Nox, Max had it much worse. He had bruises all over his body and a broken arm. Apparently, Mr.Ellis had found him unconscious while hugging his mother. He hadn’t woken up yet, but his life wasn't in danger.

Thinking of Livia, he looked up toward their bedroom. The healer was still in there with her. She said that thanks to Mr.Ellis’ quick treatment, she might keep her life, but the leg had to go. Apparently, part of her leg had already started to turn black.

Might… He tried to make sense of that word. Why? Why use that word… As if there was a chance Liv could—his eyes welled up for the hundred times that night. Nero fought them back. No. Liv would live. She had to. Even if the healer said that she needed to amputate her leg, as long as she lived, everything would return like before…

The meeting had been going well. Their Chief had been saying that the abominations kept getting weaker, and that they seemed to stay further and further away from the village. The trades were good. Some folk had even sent him invitations for their wedding. Good news all around, until Mrs.Ellis had come in screaming for help.

The ride home had been nerve-wrenching. Mrs.Ellis had told him ‌they'd arrived after the events. Her husband had quickly rushed in to inspect everyone, and he'd told her to go search for the healer. Upon hearing Nero’s inquiries, she'd described the state of everyone in the house as best as she remembered, quickly followed by her word of compassion.

Nero looked at the freshly cleaned spot on the floor in the middle of the living room. Mrs.Ellis did a good job but no matter what she did, she couldn’t get rid of the red-ish tint. An eternal reminder that he wasn’t there for his family when they needed him the most. But Nero was incredibly grateful. Thanks to their action, his sons were alive and the healer could arrive in time to treat his wife.

He couldn’t imagine what would be his reaction if he was the one who opened the door to that scene. If that was the case, his wife would definitely be— At the thought, his breath sped up. The thoughts he suppressed all night resurfaced.

He should’ve listened to his wife’s gut feeling.

He should’ve stopped her from returning home.

No. He should’ve returned home with her. If he was there, none of that would’ve happened.

It was his fault. He was the one who put his family in danger.

He was the one responsible for Liv’s death–

He heard the door of their bedroom open. There, he saw a woman walk out. With red eyes, he made eye contact and instantly regretted it. Tears started to fall down his cheeks.

“Mr.–"

"No," Nero stood up and rushed toward their bedroom.

"Nero, I’m sorry–”

"Liv?" he said, brushing past her. He then knocked on the door.

”Liv? I’m home,” he said, his voice quivering. Hearing no response, he fell on his knee.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered, forehead against the door.