While thinking Pietro feels someone tap his shoulder. He looks up to see Alice holding her severed right arm. The skin is torn, the muscle is gone, the bone is dry. Thick chains cover her severed arm in a cross cross pattern, a small chain connecting her severed arm to her body.
She smiles, giving him her arm. "You can use this stick dad." Pietro, Hearing her call him dad, feels a slight pain in his stomach. Maybe I should scold her? He thinks.
...No. I should let her do what she wants this time. Even if it's not her, I can at least feel a temporary sense of fulfillment playing with it, Pietro thinks. He grabs it without hesitation.
Despite the chains her arm feels oddly warm. As Pietro holds it a pleasant sensation fills his body. And so Pietro and Alice spend several hours playing Tic Tac Toe.
"Why won't you let me win!" Alice grumbled after suffering her twelfth loss. Pietro just gives a smug smile in response. Alice, clearly annoyed, re-attaches her arm and begins to lightly hit Pietro.
She tries hard. Her cheeks puffed and her eyes shut closed but she's just too small. If she couldn't fly she wouldn't even be able to reach Pietro's chest.
Pietro lightly pats her head, messing up her silky hair. Alice gives him a slight glare but smiles after a few seconds. "Alright alright. Let's just say you won every game." Pietro said while still patting Alice's head.
Ignoring Alice's grumbling Pietro stands up and looks around. It's still night time, the moon completely unmoving. "Hey Alice. Do you know where I can find the nearest town?" Pietro said while looking at the seemingly endless plain.
Alice scratches her head, lowering her head and pinching her chin after a few seconds. "Umm. I think if we go that way we should find a small town." Said Alice pointing north.
Pietro gives Alice a light pat on the head. In response she giggles. Before Pietro can take a step Alice flies forward. She stops, doing a light spin, causing the hem of her dress to bloom like a fresh flower.
"Hey dad! Come on!" She said while waving her small arms above her head.
Pietro sighs. "Alright alright. Don't move too fast." He said as he stepped forward.
And so they travel for who knows how long. Even after hundreds of steps Pietro's feet remain fine. The moon and stars still unmoving as the father and daughter pair travel the wide plains.
Finally, after what felt like forever the pair find themselves in front of a small town. Seeing the Victorian style architecture mixed with the somewhat modern appearance of the gray paved roads with wooden carriages pulled by unknown beast covered in the pale yellow light provided by the oil flame steel lamppost she smiles.
"Look dad! Isn't that doggy cute!" Alice said as she pointed towards the nearest carriage. It seems to be made out of polished wood with its slight shine despite its dark brown appearance. The best pulling it covered in fur of a similar color.
It notices Alice. She waves her small hand towards it, just getting a small growl in response. Seeing this Pietro sighs, for in his eyes the thing Alice finds cute is hideous.
It's body is covered in a thick brown fur, it's four furless strangely thick dog like legs covered in tattoos of broken bones. All over its body are purple bruises. It has no tail and one of its eyes is missing. Strangely enough it seems to smiling.
To Pietro it looks like an abandoned dog that found peace without its masters, even with the scars they left.
Suddenly, Alice grabs Pietro's left hand and drags him towards the town. "Come on! Let's get you some clothes." She said with a smile.
Looking around Pietro sees other people. Every other person appears relatively normal, wearing some sort of button up with either an overcoat or sweater with matching pants and dress shoes. Perfectly normal.
At least, until you notice the deformed people or animals following them. On of the younger looking men is being followed by what appears to be a marionette carved to look like a young girl wearing a black wedding dress. It's mouth is taped shout, it's face unmoving.
Suddenly, the young man ask the marionette to do something. He grabs the tape off her mouth and gives her a light kiss. The marionette then lightly hugs the young man, her face expressing hopelessness and regret in that moment. After they finish the young man tapes the marionette's mouth once again.
An elderly woman is being followed by a small child dressed in a white dress and black dress shoes reminiscent of a nineteen hundreds housewife. The little girl looks relatively normal until you see the purple rope prints on her neck.
The elderly woman looks at her with a smile, her eyes completely devoid of life.
As Pietro examines his surroundings he doesn't notice what appears to be a young man wearing a formal suit walking towards him. "Hello there sir. I have to ask. Are you new here?" He said after gently tapping Pietro's shoulder.
Pietro jumps back, instinctively preparing to punch whoever surprised him. Seeing this both Alice and the young man sigh. "Dad, it's fine." She said while blushing.
Even so Pietro doesn't relax. The young man just sighs again in response. "Sir, if you want you can beat me after you put on some clothes. Follow me." He turns around and walks to a nearby single story building, making sure to look both ways when crossing the road.
Pietro hesitates but still follows. I don't have an ass or cock, why do I need to wear anything? Pietro thinks to himself. Even so he still enters the building. The exterior has a pleasant homey feel with the wall being made of red bricks, small oil powered lanterns hanging by the brown wood door on the left edge of the building .
A small sight labeled 'Corvin's Clothes' hangs above the door. On the center right of the building is a large window displaying the various clothes inside. Alice suddenly begins to fly around the building, twirling and spinning.
Smiling she begins to examine the various clothes. "Hey dad look at this! Oh, and this! Isn't this hat nice! Can I have this dress?" She said as she tried on various hats.
Seeing Alice so happy Pietro feels a pleasant sensation in his stomach. It's strong, and despite the pleasantness it's oddly uncomfortable. Suddenly, Pietro smiles. "Do I pay for the clothes?" He said.
The young man shakes his head before offering some brown trousers. "It's fine. First purchase is free. If you want to get something else you need to pay. Ah, you'll get temporary housing for a month." He said, clearly annoyed
Pietro grabs the pants and puts them on. Hearing the clothes are free for now he immediately grabs everything he can. He grabs several white button ups, three brown overcoats, several vest, with black dress pants and shoes. Seeing this the young man gives Pietro an annoyed look.
Pietro ignores the young mans glare. "So where am I living, how do I make money, and where am I?" Pietro said while lightly patting Alice's head.
The young man sighs, placing his hand against his forehead. "Follow me." He said, clearly annoyed.
And so Alice, Pietro, and the young man begin moving further into town. As they walk Pietro glances at the strange people and animals he passes. Alice occasionally points at a building or carriage, asking Pietro if he likes it too.
Eventually Pietro, Alice, and the young man find themselves in the outskirts of the opposite side of town. The buildings appear old, various scratches covering the red brick walls, dust lining the windowsills next to each door.
The young man stops at one of the two story houses. "Here you go. Just drip some blood on the door handle inside and it's yours." He said before walking off, ignoring Pietro's confused look.
Pietro gives the young man an annoyed glance before entering the building. Alice, the inside immediately begins to fly around, a bright smile plastered across her face. "Look dad! Isn't this place pretty!" She shrieked.
She flies to the light blue wood framed couch and begins to jump on it. After a few seconds she notices on the small table next to it is a small oil lamp. Immediately she grabs it, turning it off and on.
After she flies to the small tv hung on the wall and begins to play with it. The tv is about fifteen inches wide and twenty inches long. In the bottom center of the tv are several palm wide holes. After exploring the living room she moves to the kitchen.
It's rather small, only capable of fitting a single adult with the oven and stove taking up most of the space.
After playing with the oven she moves to the second floor. This time Pietro follows. If there's a kitchen does that mean there's a toilet? What would we eat, Pietro thought to himself.
Together they find a small bathroom with a sink, mirror, stone toilet, and tub. "I can still poop?" Pietro said while feeling his non-existent ass. After spending a few minutes making sure that he really has no hole he moves downstairs and gets dressed.
Of course he makes sure to toss the shoes aside since he just wants to rest on the couch. Seeing this Alice sighs. Pietro ignores her and continues to relax. "Don't you want to explore the town dad?" Alice said clearly annoyed.
Pietro once again ignores her. In response Alice puffs her cheeks and huffs. They continue to stare at each other for a few seconds before Alice gives up.
With a hint of sadness she continues to explore the house. Rubbing her hands against the walls and sliding her feet against the ground doing a small twirl every now and then.
Eventually she moves to the front door and begins playing with it. She repeatedly opens and closes the door. After a few seconds she stops and begins to touch and sniff the door nob
At some point she becomes visibly nervous. She glances at Pietro, making sure he's not looking. Her right pointer finger begins to split, a small chain flying out accompanying a large spurt of blood
Suddenly, the house begins to violently shake. The couch slides across the room and Alice trips over. Pietro immediately looks at Alice. "What did you do?" He said with a stiff face.
She immediately looks for somewhere to hide out of habit. Tears begin to fall from her eyes and her body begins to shiver. Seeing this Pietro immediately runs over to her. He hugs her tightly, repeating the phrase 'everything is okay.'
She begins to look around the room as if looking for something. Pietro lightly pats her head. Hearing his gentle voice and experiencing his warmth she looks at him.
Pietro smiles. Seeing this Alice giggles and smiles back. "Do you feel any better?" Pietro said with a concerned tone. Alice, still shaking nods. Seeing her nod he smiles.
After hugging Alice for a few more seconds he eventually moves her to the couch. They stay silent, Pietro moving to investigate the TV after putting the couch back in place.
Suddenly Alice ask something Pietro never expected. "Hey dad. Why am I special?" Alice said with her head down.
Hearing her Pietro sighs. At first Alice was scared of Pietro but after some time she grew to view him as a father. Even after witnessing his murders. Instead of growing more fearful she began to wonder why Pietro was so nice.
Why not just kill her like the rest? She thought.
Is he just waiting to kill me at the right time? She thought.
I wonder how he'll kill me? She thought.
Pietro made sure to feed her, taking care of her when she was sick. Even if she asked something ridiculous Pietro would still do it with a concerned look on his face. He would buy her whatever she wanted and play with her as long as she wanted.
Regardless of what Alice did, whether it be failing to kill an already injured person or breaking an expensive phone he wouldn't get mad. Instead he would forgive her and give her a light scolding.
Alice knows he's a bad man. Pietro is and always will be a monster. Even so, this monster is nice to me so who cares what it does to others.
But why is this monster so nice to me?
Pietro sighs and moves to the couch. He rubs his forehead, thinking about what to say for a few seconds. "I don't know. Maybe it's because your a kid? Or maybe because of how I found you. All I know is something about you makes me feel." Pietro said.
Around Alice he could feel happy, sad, nervous, scared, and annoyed. At first he didn't like it but after a few years, shortly after he cut off her head he began to truly appreciate the life she brought to his dull world.
I really should just let her call me dad, he thought to himself.
After hesitating for several seconds Pietro eventually speaks. "I'm sorry my precious daughter."