Numb. Numb. Numb. His skin, his tongue, his nose. His heart was turning to stone, faster than ever before. He sat on a toilet seat in the middle of winter, yet he felt nothing. The wall of the stall, the ceiling, the floor, and the toilet were dirty and disgusting, yet all he felt were minor discomfort. Not disgust. Not fear. Just worried for what he was going to do. A crime.

He waited there for an hour now, and his heart wouldn’t stop thumping. With a bag on his side, he waited for further instruction.

When did everything go wrong? When he left Iris? If he didn’t do that and stayed with her … Just as he was thinking about that, a new message popped up in his phone. Telling him that his victim had arrived and instructing him what to do.

As per the instruction, he grabbed a bottle of chemical from the bag and soaked a small towel with the content. He didn’t know but hoped it wasn’t chloroform like in movies. Chloroform was far too dangerous if not dosed properly, and it would still take minutes for the victim to pass out.

He pocketed his phone, picked up the bag, and stood up, making sure he left no evidence in the stall. The creaking of door told him that his victim had arrived.

Not yet. His target could still run away if he came out now.

The tap creaked, and water falling to the sink became his signal to start.

He slammed the door open and saw a lone woman facing away from him.

A girl, a high-school girl with brown hair, like Iris and Friede. He hesitated for a moment and almost let her scream. But he stuffed her face with towel and wrapped his arms around her body so she couldn’t run away.

The girl struggled. She thrashed around and tried to do everything in desperation, but thin and weak her assailant was, she wasn’t big either.

After minutes of useless struggling, of scratching and punching, Rein released the towel and the woman, her body tumbling to the floor.

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She was beautiful. He wondered how her life was going, how many friends she had, her relationship with her family, her hobby, what food she liked, did she have a boyfriend. She might not be the brightest or the best–or maybe she is, he didn’t know-but she had a future ahead of her. And that light of hope for a better tomorrow was snuffed out. Whatever the Dollmaker wanted with her, but she wouldn’t walk out of this alive.

His heart hurt, but he didn‘t have a choice. He had to save Iris and Friede, and for that, he has to kidnap two women. Trading life. But he had to do it, no other choice.

He carried her body in his arms and brought her outside. She was surprisingly light, or maybe he couldn’t feel muscle strain anymore. The numbness had been getting worse ever since the mark showed up.

Looking left and right, they were alone. They were in the middle of a dark park surrounded by trees on all side, giving no view of the street whatsoever. The Dollmaker told him he shouldn’t worry about the police finding him, but he still had to be careful with random passerby seeing him. He had o reason to trust The Dollmaker, but he also had no choice but to trust him.

He went into the bushes between the trees. Walking on the road illuminated by street lights while carrying an unconscious girl would attract unnecessary attention even if he didn‘t kidnap her. He walked around the park and crossed the street into a dark alley after making sure no one saw him.

After walking for a while, he reached his destination, a strangely placed dumpster. He opened the cover and saw it empty, confirming he wasn’t mistaken. He put her body inside and closed the cover and knocked on the wall three times as per the instruction.

The phone in his pocket vibrated. “Good job.” That was all it written at first, but then, “One more girl and I’ll return your friends. I’ll send you the detail tomorrow.”

His hand shaking and without realizing, he bit his lips so hard it drew blood.

He looked around the alley. As far as he could see, there was no camera or anything that would give the Dollmaker any knowledge about what was happening. There was nothing inside the dumpster. The only possibility he could think of was that the Dollmaker was watching him from not far away. But right now, that knowledge didn’t buy him anything. With his job done, he walked back home only to collapse after a few steps into the cold alley street.

Even as the freezing stone touched his cheek, the cold was barely perceptible. He cursed himself. Why? Why did this happen? When did everything go wrong? One more life. One more life to take to save Iris and Friede, and he feared by then he wouldn’t feel anything. That there would be no guilt in his heart.