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The body of the boy fell to the ground beneath like a doll thrown away. It was a moment of victory for the woman, but it was her miscalculation. The scene was witnessed by a man of blue eyes. Sasha was alarmed and shouted from where she was, claiming that it was an accident. Taurent, eyeing the lifeless small body of Rea right in front of him, filled his mind with anger.

The scene was seen by the servants, who were having their dinner in the kitchen. Because the kitchen was directly below the art room, they could see Rea's body hit the ground. The girls screamed in terror and the boys rushed outside. Jean fell on his knee, picking up the pale boy who was lying on the ground near the bushes. Blood flowed from his head due to the hard impact and Oli stood there in disbelief with what had just happened.

"I – I should call the doctor," Oli stuttered and rushed back inside. The lady in red covered her mouth with her hands, her legs shaking. She had promised him to look after the kids, especially Rea. She had planned for this and made it seem as if Rea was being careless. Taurent came at the wrong time, she didn't act fast enough. Her jealousy brought her to her own misery.

Taurent marched up the stairs. Scared if anything bad happened to the lady, the girls followed behind him. The twins waited outside as he closed the space between him and his wife. Sasha frantically tried to explain her actions but was stopped with a hand on her face, squishing both of her cheeks.

"Taurent," Sasha pleaded with her sweet voice, she intended to stir him from whatever he was thinking of doing to her. Taurent moved forward as she progressed backward to the same window Rea fell from. Her back on the window sill, her hair danced with the wind. She struggled, trying to peel off the man's grip from her face.

"This will be the last time. I will not tolerate you any further. Don't push me Sasha," Taurent warned.

"But, Taurent!"

A slap went across her face by the time she opened her mouth. She stumbled and crashed to her canvas, holding her reddened cheek. Her husband walked outside, and the twins rushed in to aid the lady. Sasha was still in shock as he dared to hit her.

"If only he was dead. I want him dead!" She punched on the floor and started to wail. The two girls tried to calm her down, afraid the master would go into a frenzy of anger if he lost his patience.

It wasn't long for the doctor to come and tend to Rea. The atmosphere was gloomy. The lady spent her time in the room she shared with Taurent and the master stayed in Rea's room. The servants had nothing to do as the adults did not need anything from them. The children spent their days worrying over the other three.

It had been a week and Taurent never once went to his doll room or made clothes. He kept fondling on the two artificial legs he finally finished. While Rea was still recovering, Taurent was working on them. On that day, he attempted to put it on for the boy. It was perfect, and he put on a faint smile.

He looked intently to the boy's face, studying Rea's features. He let out a sigh and walked out of the boy's room. He planned to take a stroll that night and maybe he could smoke some cigarettes, even though he was not a smoker. He did it a few times to change the atmosphere around him.

Taurent peeked through every door of the children's rooms, which were located upstairs next to Rea's room. They were all sleeping. He also went to check on Sasha in their room downstairs, but it was locked. Taurent didn't try to knock, he understood if Sasha refused to see him at the time, or perhaps she was merely sleeping. Maybe next time he could try to make peace.

Then, he ventured out right after he grabbed his coat and put a gun and a knife in the pocket of his coat, just in case anything happened. The night was cold and no hint of life was detected in the neighborhood. His surroundings were calm, it helped him to settle down.

He stopped under a light pole where the lightbulb was flickering. The electric sound of the alternating dark and bright caught his attention. Taurent lit a cigarette and puffed out fluffy clouds. The night sky had no stars. It seemed that it would rain at any time.

He looked around the place and started to walk again. After a while, he set his pace to a slow saunter. Breathing in the cold air relaxed him further. Then he noticed a familiar figure, a short man with a black hat on his head. It was the doctor that came every day to check on Rea. Maybe he could chat with him for advice. Suddenly, another man younger than him joined the older man.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Taurent, not wanting to disturb any conversation they were having, stopped and leaned his back to the nearest wall until he heard his name in their discussion. Taurent's eyebrows twitched, and he pushed himself off the wall. He kept his distance from the pair, but near enough to hear their dialogue.

"I never thought he was that sort of man, that Taurent. So much of his reputation. There were five children in total, and they were never heard of," the doctor spoke.

The younger one scratched his head, thinking, "Maybe they're his illegitimate children?"

Taurent kept calm and continued to eavesdrop their banter. The older man disagreed, saying that Taurent's attentiveness to Rea was a bit different, thinking that he might have a forbidden relationship with the boy. The doctor then accused him of child trafficking since that was what he was told by the blonde's wife.

Taurent then learned that the doctor was also tending to his wife as well. They talked about different things and how she asked the doctor to make a report against him. It seemed that Sasha persuaded him that Taurent was a child trafficker. Taurent didn't react, he was rather calm. It was true that he had not registered all of the kids to be under his protection, thus he was not surprised.

The blonde was still quietly following them with a cigarette between his fingers, he figured the younger man was the doctor's son. When the pair came to a stop, Taurent swiftly and silently concealed himself beside a wall. The doctor had arrived at his place. Then, the younger man continued to walk, blowing warmth into his hand. Taurent threw his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it before he sped up his pace to his side, greeting him.

"Fancy meeting someone walking in the night alone at this time," Taurent began. The man was surprised and let out a nervous laugh, stating he went out with his father to talk about some matter that had been in the old man's head.

"Oh, I wonder what kind of matter."

"A very amusing one. He planned to report a matter of potential child trafficking to the authorities tomorrow after he visited the suspected house." The man sure rambled his mouth off without thinking, but the blonde nodded his head as if he didn't know, pretending to be in shock. Taurent listened to the same story he had heard.

"The poor woman, she said she loves him, but she will go out of the house tonight to my father. Pretty good huh, to have the young wife of a well-known person to warm his bed."

Taurent halted in his tracks. The young man turned, asking if there was anything on his mind. The blonde's facial expression was unreadable.

Suddenly, an abrupt pain was felt to the side of the doctor's son's neck. Taurent then swiftly pulled his knife out and walked past him, not worrying about the other's condition. The man gurgled his final words as he turned slowly to the direction Taurent was walking towards, and fell to the hard ground. The sky rumbled and wet droplets touched the emotionless face of the blonde as he marched back home.

The sky grumbled as it cried heavily. Sasha stuffed her things in her bags and rushed to take her umbrella. She needed to go out in the middle of the night to prevent any unwanted occurrences. She covered herself with a heavy coat and fabric on her head. She twisted the knob of the main door, and as she opened it, a man of blue eyes stood still.

"T- Taurent!" She gasped. Taurent put his grip on the lady's wrist, not saying anything and brought her upstairs to his doll room next to her art room. The lady tried to shake his strong hold on her. She was harshly pushed inside the room. He then searched in one of his working boxes and pulled out some threads and a needle.

"Sasha, you sure can't keep your mouth shut, can you? Telling lies about me kidnapping those kids," Taurent stepped forward as she moved backward.

"You never wanted me Taurent! I could have given you prettier boys and girls but you keep on picking up some strays."

"How can we produce some beautiful beings when you yourself are conscious of your own appearance? You know your own worth and it is below my expectations, even though I thought you could be better."

Hearing that, she turned into a raging fit, pushing and punching him, but he didn't budge. Instead he took hold of her arms and twisted them until it turned into some unnatural angles. It was not hard at all, although Taurent appeared as a soft and gentle man, he was rather strong.

The sound of bones cracking came at the same time as the rush of agony. Irritated, Taurent put a fist in her stomach in an attempt to stop her ugly screams. She fell on her knees, grunting with tears continuously flowing down her face. Taurent took a scissor from the nearest table and he placed her on his lap as he sat on the floor

"Your hideous voice might wake the kids," he softly spoke whilst he caressed her face. He put on a glove before pulling out her tongue, she shook her head in denial but it was ignored as he swiftly cut it off. She let out unintelligible noises as her legs made frantic movements.

In exasperation, Taurent finally planted his knife in the middle of her throat. The useless resistance by the woman slowly died down. The red liquid looked darker in the night with only a faint light seeping into the room from outside. The hours of darkness were finally quiet again as he sewed the luscious red lips together. He hummed a happy melody.

"As expected, dolls are prettier when they are less noisy. I will make you beautiful again, Sasha," Taurent said to himself after he carefully stitched the two lips together. He then proceeded to fix the awkward angles of the arms.

During the very moment, Taurent was unaware of a pair of green eyes witnessing the very scene. The owner of the jade eyes gasped quietly as he locked eyes with the lifeless lady, as if she was blaming him. He crawled back to his room silently while a pair of wooden legs trailed behind him.