Childe felt nothing but absolute power. He had brutally beaten Mr. Black. He could hear a voice in his head saying, āDestroy him. Show no mercy. Destroy him.ā He kneeled down beside Mr. Black and with a faint smile on his lips, and he said, "You told me to be careful and take my time, but I donāt have any patience to wait. I want Stuart dead. He will die a slow and painful death."
"But Master.....You canāt....." Mr. Black groaned. "Madame told me....." he rolled on the ground and breathed heavily, wiping the blood off his face and spitting out disgusting fluids.
Childe interrupts Mr. Black without giving him a chance to finish what he was about to say. He laughed, but even his laughter sounded sarcastic. "Yes, I know whatās expected of me. You think I donāt know itās forbidden." He looks at Mr. Black with a crazy look in his eye. "The ultimate taboo is killing one of your own." His eyes were cold, with no redeeming touch of humanity in them.
Mr. Blackās body trembled with fear. His voice, still paralyzed by fear, strained to mutter the words, "No, Master..."
"I will never be able to rest until Stuart is dead. No one is qualified enough to kill him, only me. He will die by my hands." Childe laughed an eerie, crazy-sounding laugh. His voice echoed through the halls, sounding cold, cruel, and merciless.
Mr. Black managed to utter a few words, "Master...you canāt do this by yourself...youāre not thinking clearly.....Madame said...."
These two words set Childe in a rage, and he stood up and kicked Mr. Black in the stomach over and over again. "Fuck, Madame," he said. He was white to the lips, and his eyes blazed, he was shaking with a strong passion. Whether furry, hatred, or terror, it was hard to tell.
"Stop...Stop..." Mr. Black cried out twice, and his eyes squeezed shut in agony. He rolled away from Childe and curled into a ball, screaming in fear. "No more, please."
Childe started to walk away. He stopped, turned around, and looked at Mr. Black. "You go back to my mother and Rose and tell them what I told you," he said as he glared at him. "Stuart will always be my enemy and if anyone dares to touch him. I will kill them too!" he shouted. "Make that known to my mother. I will kill her or Rose or anyone who goes near Stuart! Do you understand?" Then Childe turned around and went up to the stairs of the castle.
One of the maids had taken Annie to a room that Childe had prepared for her. He entered Annieās room, and she rushed over to him. "Look at my room. Did you do this for me? Iāve never had anything like this before," she said excitedly.
Childe smiled at her. "It makes me happy to see you happy."
Annie blinked her big blue eyes. "Am I going back to the hospital?" she asked, sounding confused.
Childe sat down beside her. "Do you want to go back?" he said with a tone of disappointment in his voice.
Annie shakes her head. "No, I donāt want to. I donāt have any friends there. I like it here, and I have you," she explained.
Childe felt overwhelmed with different emotions like guilt, happiness, and anger. "Guess itās settled then. This is your new home."
Annie jumped into his arms and hugged him. "Thank you," she said. She looked around her room and remembered the sounds she heard earlier. "What happened downstairs? I heard someone shouting, and I got really scared."
Surprised by her words, he says, "Nothing to fear, my dear. This would never ever involve you. The man you heard was trying to solve a problem with one of my enemies, and I told him I would take care of it myself."
Annie shook her head in confusion. "Enemy?" she said with a puzzled expression on her face. "Arenāt they bad people? So, why donāt you want any help?"
Childe rubbed her cheek and smiled at her. "He is my enemy, and I will be the one who will defeat him. Iāve lived in his shadow my whole life, and Iām not going to anymore. Do you understand?"
"No....." Annie hesitated and shook her head.
"Let me see..." Childe says, trying to think of the right words to use to explain to a little girl. "It goes like this, and heās my problem. Therefore, no one else should deal with it, but me."
"Yes. Yes," she said excitedly. "I understand. Itās like when the other kids at the hospital did something to me, and I told the nurse. She would always tell me that I should work it out myself."
"Exactly," Childe dropped his hands to his sides, fists clenching so tightly, you could see the white in his knuckles and the blue veins lining his slender hand. As he turned his blazing red eyes in Annieās direction and grinned a big, toothy smile, that must have looked like Satan himself was staring straight at her. "Let the games begin since you wonāt kill me. I will kill you and everyone around you," he whispered.
"Who are you talking to?" Annie asked.
Childe smiled slyly. "No one. Iām just excited that the game is about to begin."
Annieās eyes widened in delight. "What games?"
"Defeat your enemy game," he said in a cruel and malicious voice.
***
It was Stuartās birthday, and Edie spent the entire morning in the kitchen baking him a cake. When she was finished, she called Ivan. "Ivan, would you mind coming over and picking me up? I have a surprise for Stuart," Edie asked, sounding very excited.
"Iāll be right over, Mrs. Yates," replied Ivan.
Edie thanked him and hung up the phone. She waited patiently by the front door for his arrival. Mr. Bates walked over to her and asked, "So, how did it turn out?"
"Good...I think...." she hesitates and shows him the cake. "I realized very quickly that baking is like learning how to drive or learning a new language. Itās basically a skill that takes time. In the beginning, the result may not be perfect, but donāt give up.
Mr. Bates laughed. "Very true."
***
Stuart had surveillance cameras installed on the Villa property. They were put inside and outside of the home. He also had one installed on top of the hill so the security could see the incoming vehicles. Childe stood not far away from the hill. He stared at the house, waiting for someone to appear. He watched it with a grim, bloodthirsty smile contorting his face.
At the bottom of the hill, there was a bus stop, and hardly anyone ever stood there. Childe took Annie there. He kneeled down beside her and said, "I need you to listen to me very carefully," His eyes grew wide with concern. "I want you to wait for me right here at this spot." He pointed to the bus stop. "Thereās something I need to do, and the second Iām finished, Iāll be back to get you."
Annie looked directly at him, his handsome face smiling. She suddenly felt a little uneasy. "No, I donāt want you to go," she cried. She grabbed his arm, and her fingers dug into his clothing because she could not bear to see him go. Her eyes saddened as she looked at him.
Annieās words and quick movement toward Childe surprised him. He bent down, but would not look her in the eye as though he was ashamed of something. "As long as you listen to me, Iāll be back to pick you up," he said. His voice was gentle, but hanging over him was a guilty conscience.
Annieās eyes filled with tears. "Youāre not coming back? " she asked, as her voice quivered slightly. She was terrified. This was the last time she would see Childe.