Catherine closed the door at eight o'clock and began to clear the floor, wipe down the walls, the counters, and the jars of all kinds, and she stepped on the stool, stretched out her arms, bent over, knelt on the ground, hooked her head, and tried to polish every piece of wood and glass, the skin on her fingers was white and wrinkled from too much soak in the sewage, the flesh in her nails was swollen, her knees were blue and purple, and her heart ached with every movement.

The clock in the hall struck nine o'clock slowly—and suddenly the doorbell rang, and Catherine was taken aback, and Mrs. Alain had said that she would not be back until about ten o'clock, and she thought she had plenty of time, but now she had to drop the jug and the rag, and scurried to her feet, and limped to the door, and even then, the piercing knob doorbell had already rang three times—she lifted the latch, and before she could say good evening, the two doors inlaid with glass and iron bars were struck open by a force of brutal forceThe door struck her directly in the chest, swept the tip of her nose, and she burst into tears.

People poured in, Catherine was pushed against the wall, punched a few times, and then her arms were twisted by a pair of pincer-like hands, and someone hit her on the back of the head, pushed her shoulder, and forced her to follow the man in front of her. Her ears were ringing, her eyes were full of tears, she couldn't see anything clearly, but she subconsciously lifted her feet when she touched the steps, so as not to be dragged down by the rough drag - in front of her head was a huge ass, covered with a black lace skirt, Catherine felt familiar, because this hand-woven lace of 20 yuan per inch was specially purchased by Catherine directly from "Burano" in Venice through the Internet, and she rushed a few nights to carefully embellish Mrs. Alain on her beautiful black velvet skirt.

***

The door was kicked open with a loud noise, and Sasha looked up from her sketchpad and leaned quietly into the corner.

The boy's red hair stood out against the light and the light bedding, and the shadow cast by the tall Mrs. Alain enveloped him, and the boy did not sleep peacefully, but the sound and the violent change in light suddenly woke him up, and he let out a soft scream, and jumped up from the comfort of his bed.

Mrs. Alain threw herself forward, and took her youngest boy in her arms, kissing and caressing, and pouring out words of gratitude to Dade with her mouth like a flood.

On the contrary, the people who came with her suddenly fell silent, and at some point they had let go of Catherine, who had been dragged into the room, and stood there as if nothing had happened, and some of the men were still smiling at Catherine indifferently.

"How can you run away on your own? God testifies that the whole town is looking for you! "Enough touches, enough kisses, Mrs. Alain put on a posture of slapping him whenever she wanted.

"I ...... I have a headache. The little boy hung his head, his red hair wet with sweat oozing from his sleep, sticking to his wheat-colored cheeks and forehead: "I have a headache...... Headache. He tossed and turned as if he had only learned this phrase since birth.

Sasha noticed that he was doing his best not to see his mother...... and others.

"Sasha?" Mrs. Alain turned back suddenly, and she called out the other boy's name in a soft, even gentle and kind tone: "I want to ......" Her eyes flashed: "He didn't disturb you, did he?" ”

"Nope." Sasha replied calmly, "He seemed to be very tired, and he crawled in and fell asleep." ”

Mrs. Alain stared at him for at least a minute or two, and then she smiled, "You're a good boy, Sasha." She happily said, "If only my children could be as obedient as you." ”

She picked up her little boy and turned to walk out of the room, not forgetting Catherine, who had been dragged up: "Sorry, Catherine," she said, "you have to be considerate of me, as a mother, you know how anxious it is to lose a child." What's more, she looked at the sheriff who was following behind: "Something happened - a madman wanted the lion to bite us to death...... An out-and-out murderer. ”

"Yes, it's not peaceful outside," Sergeant Abel tugged at his hat and straightened out the badge he hung on his belt: "He still has a lot of helpers, and the guards in the town have been dispatched, and everyone's mood is a little unstable, in order to avoid ...... Danger, you'd better take my advice, Catherine," his fingers moved around the holster, "Don't go out," he said meaningfully, "don't worry, it's going to be solved in the next two days." ”

"I don't need you to be on duty all night today, you can accompany Sasha well." Mrs. Alain magnanimously added.

The words were like some kind of powerful signal that the matter was over, and the men and women laughed without embarrassment and walked down the stairs, leaving Catherine and Sasha alone in the attic.

***

Before Catherine could make any sound, Sasha held up a hand over his lips, and then he gestured for Catherine to close the door first, then pulled open the drawer and pulled out a piece of chocolate. "Some chocolate?" He asked.

Catherine sat down, not wanting to eat the chocolate, her nose was still throbbing, her chest was stuffy, she was distraught, no, she didn't have any appetite at all, but Sasha stuck to the child's stubbornness, and shoved the chocolate into her mouth.

Catherine's teeth ached from the chocolate strike, the sand was a lot of force, and his movements were more like stabbing the dagger into the enemy's mouth than feeding.

Perhaps he was an enemy in his eyes, Catherine thought.

The corners of Catherine's mouth were blue, her nose was a little crooked and very swollen, and the white turtleneck shirt had been pulled up to her shoulders, and although it had now been pulled back, most of the buttons on it had disappeared, and from the cracks you could see Catherine's beautifully shaped room with large bruises on it, her beautiful blond hair was messy and knotted, her neck was covered with sweat, and her skirt was full of footprints and sewage, and she sat there like a pile of dirty and crooked goods.

"Is the chocolate good?" Sasha held up the sketchpad and quickly wrote on it: How do you feel? PS: Don't say what you think, I don't know if our words will be heard!!

“…… It's nice and delicious. Catherine hesitated, then took the drawing board—if she had been able to make a fool of herself before that, then the strong malice she had been exposed to today was enough to overturn everything she had felt in the past—and she wrote on the board: Very bad, what is going on?!

"You were beaten by the bad guys?" - Catherine, think about it, why did you choose this place?

"It's a misunderstanding." - I heard it from my roommate, a town like a paradise.

"Misunderstanding?" - Roommates?

The corner of Sasha's eyes lifted slightly upward.

"That is...... They didn't want to do that, so Mrs. Alain and I apologized, didn't she? "—My college roommate, a girl who has lived here for a long time.

"Oh, I think I get it." - College roommates? What it looks like, I mean, do you remember what she looked like? Be clear and detailed, e.g., do you remember the clothes she wore when she described the town to you? - "Do you hurt, Catherine?" ”

"It's fine. Just a little bit bumped. - What to wear? She likes to sleep naked.

"Band-Aid?" - Think about it.

"No, I want to ......" Catherine's head ached faintly, she gritted her teeth and shrugged her shoulders: "I...... I don't need to. She turned pale, she didn't remember, it seemed like she had a roommate, and she did like to sleep naked, but did the girl say that? Those words.

"But," Sasha said, taking the drawing board, "blood is coming out." Need my help? "—you've been hypnotized. He wrote quickly on it.

- As I thought, Catherine, even if the "Agency" were only a semi-official loose organization, it would not allow those with special abilities under its jurisdiction to run around as they pleased, let alone some of them become new criminals at any time; Catherine, their so-called tracker is just a gimmick, they don't control any kind of creature with a little brain on this kind of thing that everyone knows.

- They have a way to get you to go where they want you to go, and you don't need to cast a wide net of tracking and surveying or posting pictures of you and bounties all over the world, you're going to run into the cage and stay there waiting for them to find you.

- Actually, I think it's too crude and simplistic, perhaps because the abilities you have aren't too threatening (or maybe because you're stupid).

"No, I said no," Catherine snatched the sketchpad, "I just need to wash it." "-Then why didn't they come to arrest us yet!?

"It looks like it hurts, Catherine." - Have you ever fished for an eel?

- There is a way to fish for eels called live fish bait, eels like fresh small fish, mix them with plant ash, take a small amount and put them into the bait tube, stuff them into the bait tube with mud and straw, gently put the cage into the bottom of the pool, the smell of meat will slowly spread out from the bait window, and the eel will come to the bait and swim into the bait tube - okay, the guy who put the bait can have a delicious meal!

- This town is the bait, and we are the little fish...... (Sasha narrows his eyes) You know which two eels they want.

“…… I think I need to wash it up. ”

Catherine replied.

***

Sasha heard the loud, rushing sound of water coming from the small bathroom attached to the attic, and the cold, humid air rushing through the door, and he thought that Catherine was probably taking a cold shower.

It's time for her to clear her mind, she hasn't been normal since she came here, even Cinderella who longs for crystal slippers, roses, and Prince Charming doesn't necessarily have as naïve and stupid as her, at least that guy won't be wishful thinking about stepmother as a prince and abuse as a caress.

It only took a little attention for her to notice the anomalies in the town—the most obvious of all: the money they were spending didn't match what they were supposed to earn.

The townspeople, who survived on olives and spices, and who should have earned about 1,000 to 1,500 yuan a year, although they did not own golf, tennis balls, yachts, or horse racing (although they also hunted a lot), could sustain a huge market selling dozens of cheeses, fresh fruits, special flowers, delicious wines, and even expensive truffles and sea fish (in this case, inland); Every woman and man Sasha met, the children were dressed in wool, silk, cotton, and all sorts of animal skins, and the man-made synthetic fibers that were often seen in other towns and villages were extremely rare; Mrs. Alain's three-storey building has a fully furnished bedroom and an en-suite bathroom, a kitchen with an oven, dishwasher, refrigerator, freezer, water purifier, garbage disposer, plumbing that can be turned on and off with remote control and scheduled times, a complete selection of hand-painted bone china dishes and brand new silver cutlery in the cupboards, her boys spot-welded iridium fountain pens, a fully automatic electric pencil sharpener, and a hand-sewn leather notepad – the oil pastels in Sasha's hand came from the boys. It's a world of difference compared to the shoddy paper that Catherine mail-ordered for him.

Catherine wasn't the first, just didn't know if it would be the last.

It's not that the town will suddenly be completely covered in ash in a matter of hours, as Pompeii did, or that the townspeople will one day reject cash or loans from the "institutions" – the latter is less likely than the former.

After all, the inhabitants here are so "conservative", "proud", and "brave". Everyone was on the side of "justice" and "morality", staying in the warmth and safety of their homes, watching the lowly "fugitives" stupidly being called around by them, and receiving a large amount of prize money symbolizing glory and pride without difficulty, all satisfied and beaming with joy - except perhaps for the red-haired boy who was still ignorant.

They don't want to, can't, and won't.

…… About five minutes later, Catherine came out, still wearing the same clothes she had worn before, her hair was wet and sticking to her body, the wound on her cheek was flipped and white, her nose was even more swollen, and her whole body was cool from the inside out.

But the eyes are very good, sharp, calm, and full of courage.

- Catherine, I believe you - Sasha tilted her head to indicate where her towel was, and lazily consumed ivory and anthracite oil pastels on the plaster board—but never let anyone know about the eel.

Looking at the townspeople's performance, Sasha thinks they don't know enough about it, at least not that it has become a dangerous "bait".

But it's also a matter of time. Because of this, he had to make Catherine come to her senses as soon as possible, his mind could cross thousands of miles in an instant, but his body couldn't, he needed Catherine, in Anthony. Before Dr. Hopkins arrived.

Don't say it, Catherine. - he reminded again.

We'll be torn apart.

(To be continued)

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