Robin furrowed his brow and released Colin.


    Colin turned and bolted, motioning for Ste and Robin to follow suit.


    Panic surged through me as I tried to stop Ste, “Ste, don’t trust him, he’s a murderer. Don’t go,


    please!”


    But how could Ste pass up such an opportunity? She was desperate to find me.


    “Freeze, Colin!” Ste chased after him, her voiceden with urgency.


    I followed in panic as I called out to Robin, “Hurry up, man! Keep her safe; I’m begging you.”


    Robin snapped to action and gave chase, both of them trailing Colin.


    Colin looked hobbled but I could tell he was running as hard as he could. The blood was trickling down


    hisnky calves and it was shocking to see.


    His pants were too short and tattered. No one knew where he scavenged them.


    I couldn’t help but wonder if he truly was from the Langley family, and if they were so good to him and


    treating him like a prince, why would they let him wander homeless?


    Perhaps the Langleys despised him too.


    I didn’t know what kind of life Colin had led, nor did I want to empathize with a serial killer, no matter his


    past. Murder was inexcusable.


    “You’re hurt?” Robin’s brow creased as he grabbed Colin’s arm. “Where are you taking us?”


    Startled, Colin shook off Robin’s grip and tumbled to the ground, then scrambled up and continued


    running. His shoe came off, revealing feet marred by ghastly scars, as though he’d tread on blistering


    coals.


    Witnessing Colin stumble and fall, I was struck with horror. What had he endured?


    “What happened to his feet?” Ste gasped, observing Colin’s determination to rise after fall. His feet


    burned, so each step would cause him an infernal pain, right?


    What was he persevering for?


    “Burns,” Robin muttered, a frown etched on his face.


    When Colin fell once more, Robin approached and offered a hand.


    Colin just looked at Robin and didn’t take his hand. He was seemingly ustomed to solitude. He got


    up again and limped forward, leaving a trail of bloody footprints on the street. Ste’s brows knitted


    together, “How on earth did he get those burns on his sole?”


    “I suspected him of being a killer before, so I did some digging,” Robin said gravely.


    I stared at Robin in shock–he had suspected Colin. “He is the killer! Look Into It more, pleasel” | cried.


    “Colin’s a pitiful soul. He grew up in an orphanage and Brendan never acknowledged him as his


    grandson, never thought to bring him into the Langley fold. It must be karma; Brendan’s kin are all


    gone, and the old man can’t continue the Langley line, and then he remembered Colin at the


    orphanage.”


    Robin followed Colin, lighting a cigarette as he walked.


    “A servant from the Langley estate I know mentioned that Colin was resistant since arriving at the


    Langley home, always trying to escape. He’s got a strange temperament, quick to anger and violent. To


    prevent him from shaming the Langleys again, the old man tried many things, such as breaking his


    legs, locking him up, and imprisoning him like a wild beast in the basement. They force him to extend


    the family lineage.”


    “You mean…” Ste covered her mouth in shock as she gazed at the limping Colin. “His foot injuries


    are deliberately inflicted by Brendan to prevent him from running away?”


    Robin remained silent, his eyes filled with pity.


    So what if he’s the son of a rich family? To Brendan, the odd and solitary Colin was not a person but a


    breeding tool.


    Once he produced an heir with the woman chosen by the old man, Colin could vanish from Sea City


    forever.


    I followed behind Robin, my gazeplex as I looked at Colin.


    “Don’t sympathize with a killer…” My voice was hoarse. “He may be pitiful, but the women he killed are


    even more so.”


    I had no idea what Colin intended by luring Robin and Ste out, nor if he had aplices, but with


    Robin there, it felt safer after all.


    Còntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org


    After what felt like an eternity, Colin staggered back to the derelict orphanage.


    I was shocked by the surroundings; I remembered I faintly felt someone dragging me after I was


    drugged on Tangle Lane–that happened in this orphanage.


    Was Colin really revealing the crime scene?


    “What’s here?” Robin’s frown deepened, his gaze wary.


    Colin ignored him and forced open one dormitory door after another.


    Nothing.


    I thought he was feigning insanity, but finally, in an abandoned dormitory on the second floor, we saw a


    figure in a red dress.


    The silhouette resembled me, donned in a red dress, standing there as if gazing out the


    window.


    13-17


    I was breathless and trembling all over.


    I didn’t know if that was my body.