The Legend of Black Eyes 151 The Butcher of Sosalk - Part 3

We went down some winding stairs. They were also very small, narrow. I had to watch my step all the way down. When we got to the end, the tight space opened up to a vast room. It could allow at least a hundred men. There were three chandeliers on the ceiling that lit the place pretty well. What I saw in front of me made my jaw drop.

There must have been at least fifty beds, aligned next to each other. The walls in the room were pretty colorful, as opposed to the dark and gray stairway we just took. There were some doodles, poor imitation of paintings, on the walls.

Innocent laughter filled the place. Children, of all sizes, sexes, and different age groups, ran around the place. Some of them played knights and bandits, others played with dolls or told funny stories only kids their age could laugh at.

"What the hell is this place?" I asked.

"I will not allow you to hurt them," the woman whispered. "Try to make one move, and I swear to Aella and all the other gods –"

"Who do you take me for, woman?" I asked.

"Sister Emma!" a little girl with blond hair tied up in a ponytail shrieked.

All the other kids turned to see me and the woman by my side. They all smiled and ran toward her. She knelt down and hugged them all, tears still streaming down her face.

"What's wrong sister?" a plump kid asked.

"Nothing," Emma said, wiping out her tears. She shot me a quick side glance. I understood the defiant looks she'd been giving me. "Why don't you go play?" she asked them.

"Who's the new man?" the first girl asked. "He looks scary. Is that paint on his face?"

"It's blood," one of the kids said. "I've seen it before. Is he here to take us away sister?"

"No one's here to take you," Emma said. "We won't let you go unless we find a safe place for you, or a family member to take care of you."

"Emma!" I said, trying to keep my tone calm. "We need to talk, now!"

She turned to me and nodded. She still looked at me as though I was a cold blooded murderer. My heart beat in my ears. The sinking realization of what the mayor and his group were doing made me clench my fists. Emma dismissed the children, and I pulled her aside.

"Care to tell me what's happening around here?" I asked.

"What does it look like?" Emma said. "They're orphans. We take care of them until we can find a safe place for them to relocate to."

"Why keep them in an underground, hidden floor?" I asked.

"There are many organizations out there that profit from selling children," Emma said. She held her chin high, as though she were proud of what she had achieved. "It took some convincing, but I managed to make the mayor see reason. We hide them here while he uses his connections with the nobles in different cities to find acceptable hosts for these innocent souls."

'You poor stupid woman!' I thought. I would've loved to show her the truth, but I got a feeling she wouldn't accept it that easily. I couldn't accept it either. Kidnapping adults and offering them to demons was one thing. Adults could fight back…

Children though?! I couldn't allow this to go on any further.

I looked at the kids in that room. They seemed healthy, well fed.

"You provide them with the food they need?" I asked her, "and medication?"

"Thanks to the mayor's generosity, yes," Emma said, still frowning. "Why are you here?" she asked.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you," I said. "You need to get out of here, you and the children."

"Are you out of your mind?" she hissed. "They'll be in danger if they ever went out. Do you know how dangerous the world is for them?"

I chuckled. She frowned even harder.

"What's funny?" she asked.

"I don't have time for this…" I mumbled under my breath. "Who else knows about this shady operation you're running?"

"It's nothing close to shady!" she blurted out.

"Answer the question," I growled at her.

"I don't know," she said. "But I don't think many people know. The mayor doesn't want to draw attention to us. We're a peaceful small village, or we were, until you arrived."

"Doesn't this strike you as odd?" I asked.

"What's odd about it?" she said, her voice rising. "They need shelter, to protect them from the horrors of the world outside. Cristoph is the only one who understands." Her eyes were misty now. She was on the verge of tears.

'Oh the innocent souls…' the demons invaded my mind again.

'I thought we had an agreement!' I snapped at them.

'You can't blame us for drooling over delicious food…' the demons said. They all spoke in unison. Shivers ran down my spine. I started realizing how big this organization was.

'Shut it!' I mentally barked. 'Or our agreement is void!'

They all growled but kept their morbid thoughts to themselves. 'Don't think you can hold us here forever, human!' a lone voice said then they all went silent.

I straightened up and looked around once more. The children were happy, probably thanks to Emma. She didn't know what the mayor hid beneath his benevolent mask.

"This changes everything," I whispered to myself.

"What?" Emma asked. "I told you, I won't let you take them."

"Listen," I held the woman by her shoulder and dragged her toward the small stairs. "I can easily take you out. I'm sure you'll fight back with everything you've got, even manage to bite off one of my ears or something before you breathe your last, but I'll take you out all the same."

"Try me," she challenged. Her eyes were fierce now, like a lioness willing to rip anyone who dares approach her cubs to shreds.

"I'm not here to take them," I said.  

"Then what do you want from us?" she asked. "Why look for them?"

"I don't want anything from you or from them," I said. "I wish I never came here in the first place. I wouldn't have to live with the guilt that gnaws at me right now."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Can you take them out of here?" I asked. "Are they even allowed to see the sunlight?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"We allow them to take breaks from time to time," she said. "But they never get out at once, it would expose them."

"Of course it would…" I scoffed. "Do you care about them?"

"More than you can imagine," she said.

"This mansion is no longer safe for them," I said.

"No shit!" she scoffed. "You compromised the entire thing by coming here."

I sighed. There was no time to explain to her what the mayor and his band of merry Samaritans were actually doing to these children. I had to endure her hurtful comments though. I couldn't leave all these innocent children here.

"I'm going to burn this place down," I said. "If you care about them, I suggest you take them out now."

"Guards won't let them all out," Emma protested. "I don't know how lucky you were to get here unnoticed, but they're bound to find you. And when they do, you'll die a most painful death."

I smirked at her. My plan to divert Bodrick and the mayor's forces elsewhere worked perfectly. They were probably in the woods now, looking for the murderer that hid inside their leader's house. I wondered if they all knew about this place. If they did, they all deserved to pay for it.

"Do you think this is acceptable?" I asked, waving my arms toward the large underground chamber. "Look at them! Don't you think they deserve a bit of sunlight? Don't you think they deserve to see what the world outside really looks like? Don't you think they should be allowed to play outside, experience what real childhood feels like?"

"They do, and they will," she said, firmly, "as soon as we find a suitable host for them."

"Oh, you kind hearted idiot!" I snapped.

I couldn't take it anymore. Was she blind, stupid, or acting like one? My paranoia was taking over again. I suspected she had something to do with all this. Despite her reaction at seeing the dead guards earlier, I couldn't help but suspect she might have been a terrific actress. I decided to dig deeper, get to the bottom of things.

"Have you ever heard back from the kids you helped?" I asked. "They do love you. I don't suppose they'd forget about writing to the woman who saved their life, made their trauma bearable. The one they consider their big sister."

She chewed on her lower lip and looked the other way.

"Hit a nerve there, have I?" I said. "Does Cristoph forbid you from reaching out to them too?"

"You don't know what you're talking about," she said then looked at me.

Tears streamed down her full cheeks. The hurtful look she gave me… I felt as though razors had sliced my heart open. I looked at her, and at the children playing in the room. I was sure she considered them her own. Telling her what the mayor really did with them would cause her to lose her mind, or kill her.

"Fine, stay here," I said. I turned my back to her and went up the stairs.

"Are you going to kill Cristoph?" she asked.

"No," I replied. "I need him alive, for now. The rest of his buddies… not so much."

Chapter end