Father Agustin finally finished listing off the children one by one.
Emma looked broken. She quivered, but nevertheless forced herself to continue the questioning. Father Agustin already resumed his usual bright shallow warmth as quickly as he dropped it. He looked at Emma shaking in her boots and snorted. A child is a child after all. No matter how competent she was, she could not possibly be as experienced as he was. He's seen everything in life. He used to care. He used to be like her. But life is not generous towards people who do care.
"Is there any specific reason for why you did not report any of this to the authorities?"
Father Agustin rolled his eyes.
"I did. But since no one was concerned, I stopped after the seventh child. Do you even realize how many times have I told and retold how each one of them died? After a while, it's sucked all the emotions out of me."
For the first time, the man in the corner was surprised. He walked grabbed Emma by the shoulder and dragged her out the door.
"Thank you Father Agustin. You were very helpful today. You may go and we won't be bothering you much longer for now. Thank you for your help and cooperation."
He bowed and went his merry way, dragging Emma along the way.
As soon as the man exited the door he completely stripped. He took off his wig and took off his nose ring. He put on his glasses and proceeded to take off his police uniform to reveal a neat suit beneath.
Emma was confused, but nonetheless followed him into another room and watch how his delinquent atmosphere completely changed.
"I'm sorry I didn't do a great job."
The man glanced sideways.
"You did ok. Now change we're going somewhere."
Emma looked down to the floor where the man threw his wig and sighed, "Even after all the preparations we did he ended up not falling for any of them."
The man thought for a second before responding, "Nah, he completely underestimated us for most of the questioning. It just didn't work because he has a cautious personality. And he believed everything we told him about his colleagues, though we did try ruining his confidence by telling him his colleagues were telling 'inconcictanancies', it didn't work. Personally, I blame the uniforms. It's such a shame that we have to wear them when we interview people. Just imagine the things we can pull off without them."
Emma pulled off her wig to reveal shining silver hair.
"Really? I thought we almost sold it. He might not have figured it out if I wasn't so sensitive."
"Meh."
The man pulled out a pair of shiny shoes and started putting them on.
"Shouldn't there be some kind of law to prevent what's just happened?"
The man paused.
"Any law surrounding children tends to fall short when only two-thirds of the children make it to adulthood. Not to mention that they're orphans. We should be celebrating that half of them isn't dead."
Emma looked lost.
"But that man clearly doesn't care about those children. I doubt any of them died the way he said they died."
"That's what we are about to find out dumb-dumb."
The man sighed.
"Emma, I'm not saying that the man is not guilty. I'm saying he's a dead end. He thought everything through. No matter what we throw at him, it won't bring him down unless we have evidence. So let's look somewhere else. Like his colleagues. We should try to crack them down some other time. Right now we need to go look at records first and then go see if our lackeys have caught any children yet. We stalled most of the staff for almost a whole day."
Emma washed her face to reveal her silver eyelashes and eyebrows. She quickly finished and hurried to catch up to her boss already walking away.
Meanwhile, Father Agustin was a bit grumpy. He had to recall something useless. But he had to admit that he underestimated the cops severely. Why do they even have so much power in the first place? They could just take anybody without reason and keep them at the police station as long as they wanted to. Maybe there was a time limit. He didn't know though. Despite studying a few laws surrounding and related to his specific situation, he didn't really look into it in more depth.
Father Agustin decided he was going to stop thinking about it. Truthfully he was stressed or else he wouldn't have been so rash. He lost his temperament a bit when the officers were so stubborn. Father Agustin was also confused. Why would they take any interest in the children? The police weren't this soft-hearted when he was a kid. They were more terrifying than the criminals back then. Father Agustin shivered. He really didn't want to think about it.
He hurried along to the orphanage. He just missed the sunset. Those detestable cops kept him all day. Now he had to walk home in the dark.
It took some time but he soon arrived at the orphanage but was greeted by something he didn't recognize fully. He almost thought he missed the stop, but no, it was the orphanage. What happened to it? There were no blinking artefacts anywhere. Anything that even ever dared to blink was gone. The sliver knocker on the door. The wind vane on top of the roof. Even the bronze window frames were gone! To make it worse, no light was lit inside the orphanage. It made it look eerie and dark.
"Hello?"
Father Agustin didn't know why he called out for someone. Maybe it was because of the shock, but boy was he creeped out with the response. Nothing. There was no response. Maybe it's because he lived with a bunch of loud children that were constantly screaming, but when he got no response, everything started getting on his nerves.
Father Agustin slowly approached the door of the orphanage. He was about to use the handle, only to find it gone. Instead, the door creaked open on its own.
"Hello? Children?"
The inside looked even worse! Everything was gone! There was nothing left. It's like the whole place was taken apart. The lights weren't even spared. It was all gone, leaving only a cold dark hall seemingly leading nowhere. Nonetheless, Father Agustin already built up the courage to walk down the hallway. He was anxious. Were the things in his room still there? It was incredibly important. He was confused about what was going on but he hurried along the hallway as quick as he could. Was the hallway always this long? Are the statues crying? What's going on?
If the items weren't gone it was creepily staring at Father Agustin. He walked faster and faster until he came in front of a big door. He sighed a breath of relief. The door handle was still there. It's fine.
But as Father Agustin reached for the handles it was already open. Anxiety hit him like a brick. He was panting heavily. How was it opened? The lights were already on the inside. There was only one key and it was with him all the time. He rummaged through his pockets. But he didn't find it!
Father Agustin's heart raced and his blood pressure soared. He slowly ever so slightly, opened the door. His heart was in his neck. Was it still there? Was it gone as well?
And it was... all still here? Father Agustin dropped to his knees. He was almost crying in relief. He stood up had slammed the door open and rushed to his bed. He rummaged through the cupboard beside it. Where was it? WHERE WAS IT? He couldn't find it.
"Looking for this?"
Father Agustin's heart jumped out of his chest. His head snapped back at Eliot who was standing in the bathroom doorway, half-naked, holding a single file of documents.
"Eliot?"
But Father Agustin couldn't speak another word, his voice was trapped beneath layers and layers of cloudy thoughts.
"Father, don't you love me?"
"Wha...?"
No proper words exited his mouth.
"You said you love me."
Father Agustin didn't know what to do. He was confused, stressed and anxious.
Eliot stepped closer to father Agustin frozen dead before the cupboard. Eliot only needed to give Father Agustin a slight push, to push him down onto the bed.
"Is it because I'm ugly? Is it because I'm too big? Did you only love me when I was small?"
Eliot lightly stroke stroked Father Agustin cheek. His hand lightly caressed him from his ear to his chin. And then Eliot slipped something in Father Agustin mouth. Like a mousetrap, Eliot snapped Father Agustin's mouth shut. With all his might he twisted Father Agustin's head upwards and clung onto him for his dear life.
Father Agustin was startled. He tried to throw off Eliot, but he didn't budge. Eliot used his feet to tie Father Agustin's hands down. There was a big struggle and Father Agustin used his knees to kick Eliot in the back. Eliot groaned in pain, but he held on.
"Swallow it or choke!"
Eliot clung so hard that Father Agustin bled wherever Eliot's fingers touched. Finally, after what seemed like an hour's struggle Father Agustin lost his strength. Eliot writhed in pain. Unfortunately, he made the single mistake of deciding to let go of Father Agustin's hand. Father Agustin's hand shot up like a snake scratching Eliot on the cheek and pinning him to the bed. Quickly the tables turned and it was now Father Agustin that was on top of Eliot, choking him. Father Agustin had the intention to kill.
Eliot managed to slip out a few words though.
"You can't kill me. They'll know."
"I don't care! What did you give me! Tell me!"
With no answer, Father Agustin threw Eliot to the side and stick his finger in his mouth planning to throw it up.
Coughing, Eliot laughed, "It's no use."
With bloodshot eyes, Father Agustin turned back to Eliot again. Seeing as he can't just throw up what he's eaten, then killing Eliot to keep himself safe is his top priority. But chances are that the other children also took part in this. Then keeping himself safe will be impossible. It only took a second but he made up his mind.
"If killing you will be pointless. Then I'll do the most destructive damage possible. I'll make you feel something worse than death. I will make you like me. And you will hate it for the rest of your life."
Father Agustin closed in like a bullet. Eliot didn't even have the time to recover from the choking and he was bleeding from his cheek where he was scratched. Father Agustin grabbed Eliot by the hair and threw him on the bed. He grabbed Eliot's pants and forcefully tried to pull them down, but Eliot was two steps ahead. Eliot clung to his pants for dear life. He used his feet to push Father Agustin back.
"Don't you dare old man! You think I don't know what you're capable of?"
But Eliot truly didn't know what Father Agustin was capable of. Who knew he was so capable with his hands? Like little snakes, Father Agustin's hands slipped beneath Eliot's legs and pulled his pants down from the other side. Eliot who was still clinging onto the front was outplayed and his hands slipped off.
"Shit!"
Eliot sat up straight trying to prevent Father Agustin from slipping his fingers somewhere he is not supposed to, but was instead greeted with another hand trick. Father Agustin's fingers slipped up to Eliot's chest, his other hand slipped down, by his hips and then he forcefully pushed on both, flipping Eliot right round and butt in the air. The only thing between them now was a pair of underwear.
Eliot's heart pumped in his chest and his body was overflowing with adrenaline. He's felt a terror he's never felt before. From beneath the pillow, he pulled out a knife.
He was about to plunge the knife anywhere, just somewhere, but the old man's hand grabbed Eliot by the wrists and pulled him up.
"Do you feel it? The terror? Do you feel the adrenaline? Savour it because you will remember it for the rest of your life."
He didn't see it! The old man didn't see the knife. He still had hope. Eliot felt his face well up with tears.
Father Agustin laughed. He saw the tears wiggling down Eliot's face and he licked it.
"I want you to feel the hopelessness and the pain I felt. I want you to feel utter despair. I want you to feel the absolute horror. This is my legacy and I pass it on to you."
Father Agustin pushed Eliot's head down onto the bed. He couldn't breathe. He felt Father Agustin's hand sliding over his nipple. His hands were almost already at his stomach. Eliot's heart was echoing through the room. It threatened to burst.
Eliot stuck his hands beneath the pillow. Where was it? Please where is it?
"Are you looking for this?"
Father Agustin lifted Eliot up by the hair with his second hand playing with the knife. Eliot's heart twanged with a jerk. Father Agustin had the knife. And for a single slither of a second, Eliot felt what true hopelessness was.
"It's funny how our roles have flipped."
Father Agustin chuckled and pointed the knife at Eliot's stomach. He lightly traced the knife up Eliot's chest and playfully traced it around his nipple.
"Have you ever seen someone without nipples? I haven't. Don't worry, only women need them."
Father Agustin slowly placed pressure on the knife and its tip sunk into Eliot's flesh, about two centimetres away from his nipple. Was he going to cut it out? Eliot tried using his hands to stop Father Agustin, but it was no use. Eliot pushed Father Agustin's hands away with all his might, but could ultimately only follow Father Agustin's movements as he plunged it deeper into his flesh.
By now, Father Agustin was re-evaluating what he was doing. He felt the drug starting to take effect. He had to start now or not finish. Father Agustin chucked the knife groggily to the side and pushed down Eliot. But he underestimated how quickly the drug affected him. He thought since it took a while for it to start taking effect, that it would also take some time for him to be completely immobilised by it.
Eliot felt the rapid change in strength and immediately struck back. He broke loose and kicked Father Agustin off the bed. It took a while to calm himself. He thought he was about to die.
A minute went by of Eliot just clutching his chest. His heart just wouldn't calm down. Eliot felt the blood trickle down his neck from his cheek. He hurried to a mirror and caught the blood as it fell. He examined his wounds. He completely forgot about his back. It was bluer than his eyes. And that was saying something. Father Agustin kicked him a few times and the pain only came back to him now, burning like a fire.
He examined his chest. The wound wasn't as deep as he thought it was. Maybe it's the feeling of pushing the knife into himself that made it feel so deep. Eliot looked in the cupboard beside the desk. He found some bandaids, but not really anything else. He wrapped his chest beneath his armpits and wiped off the blood on his cheek. He didn't have anything to stop the blood dripping down his cheek, but it didn't matter, he could fix it later.
Eliot sat down in the chair facing away from the window right next to the desk. His heart was pumping at a speed it's never pumped before. He sat down and tried doing a breathing exercise, anything to make him calm down.
From his chair, Eliot looked down at Father Agustin huffing and puffing on the floor. He cracked a smile.
"It's my turn now Father Agustin."
After unsuccessfully trying to calm himself down, Eliot quickly went to wash his hands and face in the bathroom. He took out a variety of tools such as soap, anything liquid and scissors. He returned to Father Agustin's side and dragged him into the bathroom.
"Are you in pain? Don't worry I won't kill you, that's someone else's job. You'll meet them very soon."
Eliot dragged him into the empty bath and started filling in the water.
"Father Agustin, will you sink?"
Eliot glanced over Father Agustin's figure.
"You don't look like you will float, but I still have time so let's test it."
The bath started filling with water. The water was rising painfully slowly. It climbed past his ankles and heels. It was making its way past his legs, but Eliot wasn't satisfied.
"How hot can this thing go?"
He cranked up the heat as far as he could.
"O, a hundred degrees Celsius? It's that where water almost boils (In this world). It's a big bath after all, if it couldn't go up this high it would have been a disappointment."
Eliot watched carefully as the bathwater became warmer and warmer and higher and higher.
Father Agustin trembled as he watched the water consume him. He slowly got to see how it climbed up and up.
"You know how long we've planned for this?"
There was a second of silence before Eliot continued.
"Of course you don't. You didn't even know I had silver hair. It was a coincidence at first because my hair and my face were always full of mud, but soon I started wearing wigs on purpose."
"Did you like it? It's pretty isn't it? My hair is just like my mother's. It's a shame yours isn't like your mother's."
Father Agustin's eyes widened with shock.
"Your mother had long silver hair like mine didn't she?"
Father Agustin's eyes filled with terror. Eliot cracked a second smile. Father Agustin should be terrified, afterall his mother died 40 years ago. How did Eliot know what she looked like? It's like having a stranger come up to you and start reciting your address and personal details.
"You loved your mother, didn't you? It's a shame she didn't love you as you loved her. She loved you for something else."
Eliot watched as the bathwater grew greater and greater and warmer and warmer. He looked at Father Agustin's pitiful fat figure trembling.
"If only your mother taught you better. She only taught you useless things, didn't she? She only loved you when you helped her. She only loved you once you did little 'tasks' for her. You didn't understand what you did until you got older, didn't you?"
Father Agustin started crying.
"Did you think it was a coincidence? You're so naive. Out of all the children here, why do you think I'm doing the job? I look like your mother, don't I."
Eliot started laughing.
"How else would a smart man like yourself let your guard down? How would you ever let me approach you in such suspicious circumstances? You could have killed me but you didn't. You held back like a retard and now you are soup."
Eliot snorted. He saw the water starting to steam. So he poured a bottle of shampoo into Father Agustin's mouth, to stop him from screaming. He didn't miss the eyes of course.
"Just because I looked like your mother, you hesitated. You thought of her when you wanted to pass along your legacy, right? You thought of her when you slipped your dirty fingers over my body. You thought of her."
Eliot quieted down once the water came past Father Agustin ears. His body was red hot like a tomato. He looked as ugly as one too.
He started screaming very soon, but only succeeded in choking on the shampoo. His tears only worsened his condition. Father Agustin's eyes and throat turned bright red. He was struggling to breathe as he swallowed up the shampoo. But Eliot didn't make it easy, he just continued to top up the shampoo after Father Agustin swallowed a bunch so that it would never run out.
Soon the water reached above his nose and he couldn't breathe. He didn't float. It was to be expected. Eliot sighed, he didn't want the old man to die yet. He still had a few things to say. So he stopped pouring in the water, washed off all the shampoo on his face and pulled him out of the water.
"It's funny how you thought you had everything in the bag once the police showed up. We were laughing at you behind your back. You thought you knew us well. You thought that we wouldn't be troubling you. Did you know that the moment you were taken away, everything was already over?"
Father Agustin did not look great. His eyes were burning red and he was breathing out bubbles with each breath. Not to mention the blood leaking from his mouth and eyes. He truly did represent a tomato. Ugly, red and gross to eat. But Eliot knew people that didn't care.
"You are so stupid sometimes. You underestimated us because we are kids, so you took our money. Did you think we wouldn't notice our stomachs grumble? Did you think we would just be ignorant every time a child disappeared?"
Eliot looked at the tools he had. He grabbed the scissors.
"You wanted to pass on your legacy right?"
Eliot's eyes fixated on Father Agustin's crotch. This was going to be fun.