Lydia

"...And then they became friends! " he exclaims holding two dolls up in the air.

"Right...of course," I say as I yawn. I know I did agree to play with him but it's been 3 hours! I'm at my limit here.

"Aren't you tired now?" I ask him.

He looks at me and shakes his head "Not at all." Little kids have so much energy.

I look back at the television running in the background. It's just the advertisements right now. I was expecting the Kidnapping issue to be in the news but unfortunately, it never came. I suppose they haven't made it public yet. Reputation, I guess?

It's not like Liam was a neglected child in his family. He was the most beloved one. He was so pure and oblivious to the dark side of the world that his family didn't want him to end up like them. There was once a time when they would post pictures of him on social media or bring him to parties. But their dad...he was one of the higher-ups of his company. Liam had once gotten Kidnapped. The family had to pay a huge ransom and got the police involved. Eventually, the perpetrator was caught and turned out to be a stalker. Since then, the family had kept him hidden and protected.

He gets up and goes over to the T.V. pressing the remote button, he sits on the couch and starts to watch cartoons.

I sigh and start tidings up by picking up his toys.

Now that I think about it, he hasn't once told me he wants to talk to his parents on the phone.

"Hey, Liam. Quick question. Why haven't you asked me to call up your parents for you?" I ask him curiously.

He looks at me and then back at the screen.

"Mom and dad told me never to call them while they're at work or on a business trip because they're busy and Jessica just gets mad at me." He answers.

"Really? I see..." That's odd. I thought Jessica really loved her brother even though she's not at home most of the time. Also, I told him his parents are on a business trip but what about Jessica? He didn't even think about her. Maybe since she isn't home a lot he doesn't care.

As I pick up his toys, I hear my phone ringing in the bedroom. Putting aside the toys, I walk towards the bedroom.

I look at the screen as I pick up the phone. It's an unknown number.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Lydia. It's me. I'm calling from a phone booth" Replies Richard. Thank goodness. Finally.

"Richard! Where have you been!? Why didn't you call me?" I ask him in a worried tone.

"You lied," he says bluntly.

"What?"

"You said that guy was fragile! That it's going to be a piece of cake! You didn't say anything about him having good reflexes and a stun gun!" He says. Clearly upset.

"Sorry about that. Although I did tell you that he's smart. Anyways, where were you?" I ask him as I look out the window.

He sighs "he hit my head. Good thing I woke up before the cops showed up. After that, I went to a hospital, needed stitches and spent the night there. Didn't have time to call."

"Right. Zane found your phone by the way. Ethan took it and brought it to him. It's in the lost and found section of the police station." I say to him.

Suddenly Liam comes into the room and before I can tell him to stay quiet he starts talking.

"I'm tired so I'm taking a nap" he declares and heads off to the bathroom.

I facepalm myself.

"Wait...was that a kid? His voice sounds familiar. Where are you right now?" He asks curiously.

I take a deep breath. He's gonna know sooner or later.

"I'm still at the hotel and that was...Liam." I answer. He stays silent for a minute.

"What? What did you just say? Liam? As in...that kid!?" I can tell he's genuinely shocked.

"Yeah. That's him." I walk over and sit on the bed.

"Are you out of your mind!? You went and Kidnapped him!? Lydia, this wasn't part of the plan." He's raising his voice. I bet people must be staring awkwardly at him right about now.

"I know. It's just...I don't wanna wait for long. It's getting worse. Initially, I wanted to kill him in the hospital but...I couldn't." I say.

He sighs heavily "You really should have killed him if you wanted to speed things up by messing up the plan. Why is he still alive?"

I look towards the bathroom door "I wanted to. I really did. But I couldn't. I don't know why but for some reason I can't bring myself to kill him. But it'll be fine, trust me."

"Lydia, listen to me. You need to kill that kid. I'm starting to feel that it's going to distract you from our goal." He says in a serious voice.

"You're wrong! I'm telling you, it's going to be ok. I can handle it. The kid IS going to die. I just need to find the right time." I say nervously.

"Just when, huh? Are you expecting this to be on the news so that Jessica knows about this and spills the beans?"

"That's what I'm going with. After I receive the news that Morgan has reached my family home, I'll to kill Liam. So I'm going to keep him alive till then." I answer.

"Lydia. I can see where this is going. Keep in mind that you're hands are already stained with a lot of blood. These feelings you starting to have...you don't deserve them. People like us who willingly commit crimes and take lives don't have a right to such humane feelings. We are monsters, remember? " He says calmly. This makes me frown. I know what he's trying to say. But it's not like that. I'm not getting weak.

"I'll do it after Morgan reaches my home. He'll be useless to us by then. I had never killed a kid before so...I guess it was hard but trust me...I will kill him." I assure him.

The bathroom door opens and Liam walks out wiping his face with a towel.

"Ok, I'll call you. Later." I say to Richard and hand up the phone before he has a chance to say anything else.

Liam places the towel on the chair and walks up to bed. Strangely, he seems kinda quiet.

"Everything ok?" I ask him.

He looks at me, surprised. It looks like he was deep in thought " oh! Yeah...I'm fine. Just kinda tired." He yawns a lays on the bed.

"Ok then, I'll be outside if you need anything," I say and get up.

As I'm about to walk out of the room, he suddenly calls out to me.

"Wait!...can you tell me a story." He asks me with a smile. I pause and look back at him.

"Umm...I'm not really good with that. Sorry." I say apologetically.

"Make one up. Pleeease? Just one" He begs me with glittering eyes. I sigh and walk over to him.

"Ok fine. But just one." I say to him as I sit on a nearby chair. He grins widely and pulls up the covers to his chest. I think for a second what to say and then I get it.

"Well, let's begin. Once upon there was a great king who ruled the land of...Azmer? Yeah, Azmer. He was a powerful king who people loved and adored. He was kind, intelligent, had excellent leadership skills and was respectable. But what the people didn't know was that the king had a dark side to him too. He was an extreme perfectionist. He would go to any lengths to make anything flawless. He had a son named Arthur who was said to be the next air to the throne."

"How was he like?" Liam asks me.

"He was...obedient. very obedient. Responsible, understanding and hard working. He knew he was going to be king and knew of the Responsibilities he will be burdened with. So he worked hard to make his father proud. He had a brother who was only a year younger than him, named...Carlos. both the brothers loved each other very much. They spent a lot of time together and were almost inseparable. But one day, Prince Arthur was attacked by a bunch of monsters. They left him completely deformed. Horrified by his appearance and disappointed, the king secretly banished the prince into the dark woods, never to see him again"

"Wait...why would he do that to his own son?" Liam asks confused.

"Well, that's because the king in reality was cruel, cold-hearted and loved control over things. He cared mostly about how people saw him. He was a person who cared about perfection more than anything else. How could he let people see that the future king of the land looked like a hideous creature." I say as I roll my eyes.

"What happened to Arthur?"

"He was left alone in the forest. Arthur was so devastated and broken that he cried so much. His own father had abandoned him. But he knew of a tale about the kind witch who lived in the forest. He thought if he found the witch, she could help him get back to normal. With new hope, he set out on a journey to find this witch and soon he located her. But...it turned out that the witch wasn't kind at all. She drove him away and threw stones at him. She threatened to curse him. He begged her for help but she called him names and left him wounded...and helpless." I say as I feel myself getting frustrated.

"Then?" He asks innocently.

"With nowhere to go, no one to help him, injured and unable to move, he got so angry and cursed. He cursed his father, the witch and everyone in his final moments to die a horrible death."

"What happened at the kingdom? Didn't the people see that he was missing?"

"Ah, the kingdom. The king faked Arthur's death so that Carlos can be the new king. People were sad that Arthur had died and knew they had to accept it. Meanwhile, Carlos, who also thought his brother was dead, had missed him very much and cried day and night for him. That was until later he found out the truth and was enraged. He couldn't believe his father would do such a thing. He went to search for him and sadly found Arthur dead. After that, he swore revenge on his father and everyone who was involved with this scheme. The end." I say and get up.

"Wait, that's it? Although it was a horrible story, I still wanna know What happens next?" He calls again.

I glare at him and simply close the door. I already said I'm not good with stories.

I sigh and look at the round decorated mirror on the wall.

There's this saying that people are like actors on the world stage. We enter, play our part and then leave. But in my view...sometimes..., if an actor is unable to play the role they are assigned to, then that role is given to someone else.

...I feel like cutting myself again...

I touch my sulking reflection and observe it.

Have I changed a lot? I don't remember how it was before. Am I looking at a mask or is this my true self? I sometimes find myself asking that question.

I keep staring at the mirror until a thought crosses my mind.

I want to go see Judy.

I pick up a yellow sticky note from the shelf and write.

'Be back in a bit. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR FOR ANYONE AND DON'T GO OUTSIDE. Don't call anyone either'

I open the bedroom door and slowly walk inside. He's already asleep, huh?. I stick the note firmly on the bedpost.

Going over to my coat stand, I grab my coat, purse and quietly walk out of the room carefully closing the door behind me.