A Tale of One Deviant (Book One)

Chapter 161: Beginning Some "Tasks"

"Fi-Firea," Magaris breathed, back against a wall as I approached. I deliberately did not look into the snow in front of her. "I'm-"

     But her lips could not make any words though they moved. Her head was shaking, as if rebelling, saying that she couldn't say what she didn't know. The ponytail on the back of her head was smushed up against the wall, hands flat on her stomach, just trying to keep the rest down.

     "Go home, Magaris."

     "What?" her head rolled to the side. "What are those..."

     "Children. Take them with you."

     They were bundled up in blankets, one on each shoulder. Their tiny bodies didn't exactly match their ages, but some good care would take care of that over time. It was disturbing to hold them when they were so light, though I'd quite literally dealt with hundreds of slaves before. Maybe over a thousand already, I wasn't sure. I never kept count.

     "They will sleep until I'm back, don't worry."

     Magaris wiped her face clean with her gray ribbon sleeve, not caring too much about formalities while hurriedly accepting the two bundles from me. Not even the tips of their ears could be seen, they were so tied up. It wasn't meant to simulate their bad experience again, but shield them from the outside world like being in a cocoon where they'd only come out better on the other side.

     "Where are you going?"

     "Oh," I shook my head. I couldn't work up a smile. There were few times when Knight was actually serious, and that one was one. "Nowhere."

     "...be safe."

     "Sure."

     I blipped her away from Newone, where I was starting to regret taking her. I was weak to her insistence and didn't think I'd run into a case of siblings that would try to tear up my heart. Overall, just bad timing.

     I'll clean her memories later.

     But that moment-

     That one-

     Give them hell.

     I had it reserved for other purposes.

     "Hello there. We've never met before, but I'll spare you my introduction. I hope you're ready, boys and girls. It's going to be a long night."

     "Who-"

     "It's the witch! Run!"

     Ribbons whipped out in the bar, wrapping around each of their waists like spirals of ink curling around dots on a page. Ribs cracked and broke and slid out of place when the spirals tightened, and none at the tables expected the excruciating way they'd so suddenly cry out. It was a room of screams within seconds, below seconds, and they were already on the move to their next event as their neighbors watched.

     They all lifted into the ceiling with a flick of the wrist, squashing themselves squishy into the wooden boards of the building. Some of them tried to use magic to counter, but I thoughtlessly brushed it off and kept on my regimen.

     "Is it hell?" I asked the air, standing at the entrance of the bar. Blood was spurting out from the bodies that had heads attached, but not in the correct ways. Twisted, snapped, but still intact by flesh. "Is it painful?"

     The ceiling certainly had a strange color scheme. When dropping those bodies onto the ground, releasing the ribbon, I realized that perhaps I'd ruined it. They died too fast to feel anything. Or, they had felt something, but it wasn't long enough. They didn't suffer long enough.