"Who—Who are you?" the man cried.
I just smiled, flipping my blade in my hand. "I am vengeance."
He just scrambled away, making me giggle.
"Where do you think you're going?" I asked him, stepping closer as he whimpered. "You can't run far with that leg, can you?"
He quickly stood, making my head tip to the side. "Nothing's wrong with my leg, you psycho!"
Right before he could sprint, I sprang toward him and sliced my dagger deep into his thigh.
He screamed, falling to the ground as I laughed.
I slid the dagger out, flipping it toward me as blood sprayed all over the streets.
The man just cried, struggling to breathe through the pain as he attempted to crawl away.
I just set my foot on his thigh, smile widening when I pressed my heel into the wound.
He let out a choked cry, writhing against the ground as I started chuckling.
"Ah, little men," I said, slicing it deeper.
He screamed, tears slipping from his eyes.
I tipped my head to the side. "So weak but they act so tough. Who knew?"
"Please!" he sobbed, unable to move. "Please, let me go!"
"Mmm," I replied, "no."
He struggled against me. "What did I do? What did I do to deserve this?"
I smiled a little. "What didn't you do, Jacob? What didn't you do for years? And now she's dead."
He gazed up in alarm. "How did you...?"
I pulled away from him and caught him by the back of his hair, making him cry when I pulled him to meet my eyes. "She was two, Jacob. Your own daughter. But you were so fed up on how your wife left you that you blamed her. And you refused to feed her for too long. Now she's dead, and it's your fault."
I threw him to the ground, hearing his body slam and his breath cut.
"Ah, so sad," I said then, giggling. "You never thought someone would find out, would you? You made it seem like it was some freak accident, right?"
"I don't... want to die," he sobbed. "Please."
"She didn't want to die either, Jacob," I replied, glaring. "She was a baby. She relied on you to care for her, and yet you never grieved for her, did you?"
He gazed up at me then, face covered in sweat. "You can't do this."
I kneeled down, twining his hair in my fingers and forcing his head back.
And I pressed the reddened knife to his throat.
"Please," he begged, "please, I'll make it up to you. Please!"
"Empty promises," I sang. "EMPTY."
I then sliced the knife across his throat, hearing him choke as his body collapsed to the ground.
He shivered and shook, spasming as blood bloomed and slipped down his neck.
I just turned and pulled the hood of my cloak over my head.
And I found the man in the mask standing a few feet away, wearing the same mask he'd always been wearing before. The masquerade one gone.
Elias.
I stepped over to him, keeping my hood pulled over my hair when I stopped and stared into his eyes—like I did every night.
Because whenever I killed, he was always watching.
He pulled his hand up and brushed his thumb under my eye, wiping away a drop of that man's blood as I stared up at him.
"Are you going back to the castle?" he asked me quietly.
I shook my head.
"Why not?" he said even though he knew the answer.
"Because father expects me to cut my arms infinitely," I replied. "And I do not want to."
Elias tipped his head to the side. "Where will you go?"
I just stared at him, unblinking.
He just dropped his hands to mine, leaning forward to whisper, "Be there before dawn."
My eyes flickered to his before he pulled away and stepped over to Jacob's body.
"What will you do with that?" I asked him.
Elias looked back at me. "Dump it on the king's doorstep. Like I do every night. Along with the nights when you and I kill, I'd dump two bodies."
Why did the thought of him murdering sound so hot?
I wondered how he did it... did he use knives? Swords? Poison?
I wasn't sure, but I was very curious.
I just stared at him, and he hauled Jacob's body over his shoulder, immediately walking away from me and toward the castle.
I then turned toward the direction of the forest, lashes lowering.
Once you go there, you're never coming back.
I didn't want to come back. I wanted him.
I wanted him to take me.
74Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJjZWRjgXV
