[[[CP|W:250|H:190|A:L|U:http://file2./chapters/20111/11/46749634303864183312413735030.jpg]]] The stairs leading to the attic creaked.

Old Tom looked up suddenly, as vigilant as a frightened deer, and he held the six-and-a-half-millimeter Mann shotgun in his arms, the muzzle of the loaded shotgun towards the staircase, the sawn butt pressed against his chest. Whatever came up, Old Tom was sure that in a split second he could move his hand backwards half an inch, and a guy would be able to make a big chilling hole in his head or chest.

"It's me," cried the man when there were still seven or eight steps left, and at that time the top of his head had not even surpassed the line formed by the last step.

Old Tom breathed a sigh of relief, he was in his sixties, his hearing and memory were not as good as before, but he could barely connect the sound with the image in his head, he lowered the muzzle of his gun and let it run against the floor: "Why did you get here?" Is school alright? ”

"It's basically solved." The visitor politely replied, "The mayor is a little worried, so let me see if there is anything I need help with." ”

"Nothing we need help with." Like all old men who refuse to accept old age, old Tom cocked his beard: "But a sick, groggy woman and a six-year-old child!" Besides, aren't John and Richard still down there? ”

"What's the use of them, they don't care about anything when they play cards for money, even if you want to cut off their heads, just don't mess with their cards." The man said sourly, and walked up slowly, first with his hatless head, then with his shoulders, then his chest, then his thighs, calves, and feet, and he stood in front of old Tom, pacing up and down a little uneasily: "Be careful," he said dissatisfiedly, "that gun can easily misfire." ”

Old Tom moved the shotgun again, and his fingers shifted from the trigger to the gun belt: "Coward." He spat and someone came up behind him, as if studying the lock, "I warn you, boy. Old Tom said, "Don't use any crooked brains, don't you feel ashamed to deal with women when everyone else is going to deal with tigers?" Whoever has the merit gets it first, this is the rule. He tried to get up from that chair and turn around to threaten him with a shotgun, but almost at the same time, a heavy blunt object struck him on the back of the head.

The old man fell forward, blood quickly flowing from between his gray and sparse hair, and he instinctively raised his hands and covered his head: "God, God. He shouted, falling to the ground with his shotgun attached.

The first blow may have been a little hesitant, but when Old Tom squirmed forward and crawled forward to call for help, the murderer suddenly came to his senses, he ran over, and raised the murder weapon again, but the next few blows were more and more powerful, more and more resolute, the small steel axe used to chop grapes was heavy and sharp, but the murderer struck with the back of the axe instead of the blade, it first broke Old Tom's fingers, palms, and then the hard skull, again and again, until the blood splattered the murderer's long black rain boots, The cloudy yellow eyes protruded from their sockets, and their whole face was tilted to the side before they stopped.

He gasped for a moment, spat twice at the old man's corpse, and cursed in a low voice: "Coward! Then he dropped the axe for a moment, grabbed Old Tom's coat, dragged him up from the ground, opened the utility door in the hallway, and threw him in with the dirty mop and broom—in the process, perhaps a certain act was too rude, and the shotgun went off, and with a thud it shattered a one-foot-square parquet floor and the foundation underneath, and frightened the assailant to the core.

The accident made him murmur a few words, and it was with great difficulty that he had finally calmed down, and his heart was no longer beating and cold sweats—he went over and picked up the axe, and slashed at the latch and the lock on it—the old lock, which was easy to chop but sturdy, and it took him a great deal of effort to open it.

The young woman, wanted by the Agency, was half-leaning on a makeshift bed, and regrettably, instead of pajamas, she was wearing a cream-white square-necked shirt, underneath a pair of chestnut jeans with a knot at the corners of the shirt at the waist, a pair of black booties under the trousers, and the child beside her was neatly organized - as if waiting for him, the thought flashed through the murderer's mind, and the heavier desire and urgent need came back to him: "Take the child, come with me." He said, "Unless you want to die here, they denounce you." He said to Catherine with satisfaction to see a look of surprise and fear on the young woman's face, which was no longer so puffy because she had lost two meals.

He turned around like those heroes of Westerns, looked behind him out of the corner of his eye, and happily saw the pretty blonde woman grabbing the child's hand and staggering after him.

This is long overdue, he thought.

He was the first townsfolk to perceive the existence of the institution - the stupid woman trusted him, loved him, and revealed his identity and situation without scruples, and he was a fool who shut his mouth because of her tears and pleading, he thought that he could at least get a rich and pure wife, but as a result, at some point, her money, beautiful clothes, expensive jewelry, and furs were gone, and every woman and child in the town could cry and enslave her at will, And every man in town can enjoy her youthful body to the fullest - except him! Because he's her lover, oh hell, he's got a free biaozi lover, and the most ridiculous thing is that only he doesn't have the right to sleep with her, because he doesn't have a fixed home and job, and he can't provide her with any help and shelter.

Even Old Tom, because he provided dinner every day, was able to become her guest of the curtain.

He has nothing! Why couldn't he make that call? But the unfortunate part was here, when he was overheard by Mrs. Alain while he was using the hotel's toll-free number, and she reported it to the mayor, who then summoned all the townspeople, who forced him to hand over his phone number or drive him out of the town for the best of all. He didn't want to go, he spent the first half of his life in this town, he was born here, he was baptized in a church, he was confirmation, he went to elementary school, he was in middle school, he worked here. He thought he would continue to do so until he died, buried in the public cemetery behind the church...... What a fool he's aback!

He could have taken that woman away, just like he took away this woman now, tossing as much as he liked, enjoying it to his heart's content, and when he got tired of it, he would exchange it with the agency for a large sum of money! He could have traveled the world and spent the last few years of his life comfortably in a scenic, well-equipped nursing home with competent doctors and lovely nurses.

This is the real life!

***

Catherine was on the verge of throwing up.

She tried not to touch what this so-called savior had touched, but the other party's emotions were so strong that it was like sticking her hand into her internal organs without gloves, and the feeling of being dirty and sticky always swirled around Catherine's skin, difficult to peel off, but fortunately there was a sprinkle of sand, and the child's little hand was holding her neck, like the fresh fragrance of mint liqueur coming from her soft wool hair, rubbing her neck and cheeks, Catherine was able to control her disgust and hatred— At least don't let them show it on the surface.

A flake of chloria fell from Catherine's face, and she raised her hand to cover it slightly.

Mrs. Alain's graciously delivered oatmeal and quiche all went down the drain, and Sandy gave Catherine makeup with melted oil pastels and a box of expired eyeshadow found at the bottom of the closet to ill Catherine.

Since that day, their food has been generously donated by the rats - God knows, Catherine almost couldn't hold back her screams when she first saw Sasha sitting among the black-pressed rats, accepting their offerings with a solemn face - but it must be said that the rats were quite capable, and in addition to olives, cheeses, pies, breads, nuts, they could also carry packaged milk, cream, whole fruit, fine canned caviar, small bottles of sauce...... She and Sasha have actually eaten a little better than before in the past two days...... As long as you can ignore the silent wails that the cleanliness habit keeps emitting in the brain.

While they are eating, the rats will turn their heels and dance...... Apparently there is a place for entertainment.

To Catherine's greatest surprise, these gray, oily critters were able to follow Sasha's orders to go to every house in town and search for their personal belongings.

The objects they searched for were touched by Catherine one by one, and the emotions on them were felt, happy, happy, joyful, joyful, relaxed, relieved, sad, scared, restless, nervous, distressed, melancholy...... But most of them are as clear as pinprick desire and malice.

Sasha's request is that in addition to lust and malice, there are also "jealous" things, and then he picks out items such as belts, wallets, cufflinks, etc., which should belong to men...... After holding it in her hand and meditating for about five to ten minutes, the original object was returned to the rats - these "treated" objects Catherine could feel the emotions on them being forcibly amplified and intensified without touching them...... If emotions that felt like magnets were like magnets before, they are now real magnets.

It is not difficult to imagine what a terrible and insane poisonous wine these dark desires that have been vigorously cultivated and purified will brew.

Catherine hugged Sasha tightly, forcing herself not to pay attention to the brown smudge on the hallway floor and the pale hand that poked out from under the counter, its index finger stretched straight as if to accuse the murderer.

She is an accomplice, or rather, the mastermind.

……

"It's almost dawn."

The perpetrator of the murder said that even under the golden streetlights, his face was pale as if he were in a black-and-white movie, his fingers writhing spasmodically on the buttons of his coat, which contained his axe.

"Get in the car." He commanded roughly.

On the other side of the street, a fifty percent new black ramp-shaped car was parked, and Catherine only glanced at it in a hurry, and before she could even see the specific shape of the car, she was forcibly pushed up by the man behind her.

The man jumped into the car, ignited the ignition, and the car suddenly slid forward with two grumbling sounds.

The sound of the engine became louder and louder, the speed of the car increased again and again, and the town gradually showed its full view in the rearview mirror.

Most of the houses in the town were lit up, and the orange-yellow lights were especially beautiful and warm in the darkness of dawn – a scene that Catherine saw when she came here.

It's like an anglerfish lurking in the deep sea.

(To be continued)

Note: Anglerfish - a carnivorous deep-sea fish, with a long specialized spine on its head, and a light-emitting organ at its tip, like many deep-sea fish, the deep-sea anglerfish uses this thing to attract small fish, it swings this "bait" back and forth like a fishing rod, and constantly flashes, once the prey is attracted close enough by the "bait", the "angler" swallows it with its powerful jaw.

See the diagram on the right.