Chapter 72

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Somewhere in the busy streets of Hope City at this wonderful night was a couple walking hand in hand, moving with their usual steps in a peaceful pace, not realizing how much they missed each other ever since they were forced to be away due to work obligations; enjoying their quality time together once again before spending the remainder of this night until tomorrow morning for work or anything else that came across their minds.

Harold, a nineteen-year-old young man with blond hair combed backwards while wearing a white collared shirt with jeans, was dating his one-of-a-lifetime partner, Jaylin, a pretty partner with curly black hair and a brown dress, who has been his girlfriend for more than half a year now after they met during college class in their sophomore year while also sharing an interest in books.

Despite their opposite personality traits, Harold never grows tired of being with her, appreciating her intellect and the beauty she is, while Jaylin admires Harold for his understanding nature and has him be her adorable boyfriend, whom she loves so much. From their first date to the simple moments they spend together, both of them knew they were meant to be together.

As they enjoyed this moment, something caught their eye: on the other sidewalk was a little girl, no more than eleven years old, who was seemingly crying all alone in the alleyway, appearing distressed and lost, along with her deformed stuffed toy being held close against her chest. Seeing this unfortunate child by themselves at night in a dangerous part of Hope City, Harold and Jaylin couldn't resist helping her out of sympathy and immediately rushed towards her without hesitation as they looked into the despairing girl's situation.

"Hi," kneeling down to her level while trying not to sound intimidating, Harold greets the little girl with a kind smile, asking calmly, "What's the matter? Are you lost?" Jaylin, along with him, did the same, wanting to aid this sweet and innocent child and hoping that she wasn't a runaway or homeless child that managed to sneak out of the orphanage.

Looking up at the kind couple, the girl nodded before saying, "My name is Emily." She sniffled with a tear running down her left cheek, using her free arm to wipe it off before introducing her toy, "And this is Muffin." A hint of smile was painted on her sad face as Harold patted her head gently, trying to cheer her up as best as he could.

His girlfriend then spoke up softly to Emily, wanting to know her situation and reason why she was alone here by herself. "It's nice to meet you and Muffin," Jaylin smiled warmly, proceeding to continue, "Can you tell us where your parents are?" Her voice was kind and gentle, ensuring Emily that both of them wouldn't hurt her but instead would protect her against potential dangers if there were any.

Emily shook her head, replying sadly with a heavy sigh, "Mom and dad...left me." Her expression saddens further from remembering their abandonment while the couple look at her with heartache, feeling empathy for this girl as she continues with a bit of hope still intact, "They told me to stay here and wait," her delicate finger pointed at the end of this alleyway, "they left through there but never came back," clutching Muffin tightly against her embrace, causing the girlfriend to comfort Emily by gently hugging her.

Harold turned his gaze to where the direction she had pointed was nothing but the entrance to another street across this alleyway, clenching his fists angrily at the irresponsible and selfish parents that dare left their child here to fend for herself, not even bothering to check her.

Jaylin glanced at him, comforting Emily with an affectionate hug while also voicing her thoughts to him. "We should bring her to the police," he mentioned with a serious tone, "or orphanage," glancing back at Emily with a reassuring smile, "don't worry," rubbing her small head in a gentle way, "everything will be okay."

However, Harold disagreed as he shook his head firmly in denial and disapproval, asking, "Do you know where they went?" Clenching his fists at these monsters who would dare abandon an innocent child, "because I want to have a word with them if I may," his voice was stern and determined, ready to give these parents the beating of their lives.

To their surprise, the little girl nodded and said, "They head back home, but I was told to stay here." She awkwardly said, causing him to sigh in frustration, and Jaylin had a similar reaction, continuing to comfort the lost child with a hug. Feeling sorry for Emily and her unfortunate circumstances, the couple couldn't bear to leave her like this.

"Show me your home; I need to talk with them," he told Emily, determination burning in his eyes. Harold stood up while offering his hand at her, "you can stay with us." His girlfriend also nodded in agreement, feeling happy that her boyfriend is doing the right thing by bringing this child to her parents before bringing them to justice.

"Okay," Emily said, smiling in gratitude as Jaylin let go of the embrace, resulting in the couple following behind the child with watchful eyes, looking around to see if there were any dangerous people that were going to jump on them out of nowhere. Fortunately, their walk towards Emily's house was uneventful, as the further they walked, the fewer people there were.

She can't help but feel strange about where this girl is leading them; the path to their designation was becoming worrying, and she was questioning whether this was a good idea. "Harold," whispering to his beloved boyfriend for support, "do you think this is weird?" The woman asks quietly while Emily walks ahead of them with Muffin in her arms, "I mean," glancing around their surroundings that are becoming more secluded and desolated than they should be, "don't you think it's too quiet?"

"Nonsense," scoffing at the idea, "she's simply a lost and innocent child, not a dangerous serial killer on the loose," humorously joking at the absurd notion, yet his girlfriend rolled her eyes from his light-hearted remark as Harold continued, "besides," glancing around their surroundings, "I have been in fights before," an answer that surprised her greatly.

"You fought before?" Bewildered at this revelation, Jaylin raised a brow in disbelief, having a hard time picturing her loving boyfriend punching or beating someone due to his normal personality. "When and with whom?" Curious of knowing the details of this fight, she crossed her arms while Harold chuckled from her disbelief reaction, smirking with confidence, "back in middle school," elaborating, "there was this bully who thought he could pick on anyone he wanted," his girlfriend listening attentively at his tale while walking further ahead with Emily as Harold continued, "he picked on a weaker kid," narrowing his eyes darkly from an unpleasant memory, "so I taught him a lesson."

Jaylin couldn't help but feel proud and amazed by this while also being relieved that her boyfriend is a strong man to defend those weaker than himself, commenting happily, "That's so heroic of you," smiling from hearing that Harold stood up against bullies and protected those who were unable to help themselves, "This is why I love you," leaning her head against his shoulder as he blushed from compliment.

Women—he never could understand them despite dating a few of them in the past, but he couldn't help but grin at Jaylin's loving comment as the couple continued following Emily further and further away from Hope City, unaware of the dangers and horrors that were approaching them until it was too late.

They eventually stop in front of an empty house; the exterior looks old and abandoned, causing the couple to glance around their location, puzzled and confused by seeing nothing else except a desolated neighborhood and seemingly abandoned houses. "This is where my parents live," she said, causing Harold to glance down at Emily as she turned to them, tilting her head with a look of dismay from seeing their expressions.

"Whats wrong?" Concerned from seeing their worry and suspicious gaze, Emily had tilted her head innocently, hugging Muffin close to her chest. "This is their home," she repeated herself while pointing at the house behind her, causing the couple to share a look of uncertainty and begin to question whether this child is lying to them.

But Harold nonetheless removed this thought, believing children to be pure and innocent, incapable of doing wrong and evil as they are simply naive and ignorant. "Nothing." Shaking his head, Harold smiled warmly at Emily, causing the child to brighten from his reassuring expression. "Let's go meet them," he suggested as the little girl nodded.

While his girlfriend couldn't help but have an unsettling feeling deep within her stomach, unable to shake off the sense of dread creeping upon her skin of being led into a trap, unlike her boyfriend, she is more of a logical person than easily trusting someone. Remaining cautious, they walk alongside Emily, entering the house.

The couple didn't question when the entrance of this house was unlocked and didn't ask further about the interior being dirty and messy, expecting an abandoned place to look like this: "Is your parents home?" Harold asked curiously, and Emily shook her head, answering hesitantly, "no." Jaylin couldn't help but narrow her eyes to this child's responses and actions, beginning to have growing paranoia. "They went out," she continued, "but they will be back." Her answer did nothing to calm the girlfriend's nerves.

Everything is so suspicious and fishy that Jaylin couldn't help but suspect Emily is tricking them and leading them into a trap while her boyfriend remains oblivious to this, not seeing the danger they are being put through by simply trusting a child and believing them to be incapable of doing wrong when in truth, evil comes in all forms.

She couldn't do anything as Harold is dense, missing all the red flags as Emily led them further inside. "The kitchen is over here," the little girl pointed in the direction, causing the couple to follow where she guided, cautiously walking in the direction before what they saw shocked them to their cores.

Two rotting corpses were sitting down on dining chairs with maggots and flies surrounding the decaying flesh and rotten skin. She screamed and quickly covered her mouth from the horror and shock, while Harold couldn't do anything but freeze and stare in dread at the sight of two dead bodies ahead of them.

Before they could do anything else, Emily, with a devilish grin, quickly used Muffin to hit the side of Harold's face, knocking him unconscious, causing Jaylin to widen her eyes at seeing the little girl's true colors, unable to cope with this sudden change of pace as she quickly turned and took a step back, staring fearfully at the child who was acting innocent before.

"I'm sorry," the first response made Jaylin pause as Emily smiled innocently, apologetic and sorrowful, confusing her to the point that her guard is down, "for not striking you first," adding with a sympathetic and genuine tone of regret, making Harold's girlfriend unable to believe of the child's words and action while Emily tilted her head innocently as she firmly held Muffin like a weapon, "its okay, I'll promise to have your turn."

"You..." Taking another step back, her waist eventually touched the table. "Your fucking sociopath!" Accusing this little girl, she couldn't help but be shocked and horrified by Emily's confession, not understanding why a child is capable of doing such evil and realizing now that she was right and that her intuition was correct all along.

"But don't worry, I'm not the one who's going to harm you," this confused Jaylin of the child's cryptic words, raising an eyebrow from Emily's explanation, "my papa will." Widening her eyes, she didn't have time to react when a thunderous clap of footsteps echoed throughout the kitchen before seeing a figure standing behind Emily.

She didn't have time to let out another scream when she saw a tall, menacing individual wearing a demon mask that stared at her in a predatory manner. The mask, however, was all she needed to know: "You're the Deviler!" Shock beyond belief, she couldn't describe how horrifying this encounter is to her.

This is not an ordinary serial killer or rapist she is going through; this monster wants her to live through excruciating levels of torture, a fate worse than death. "P-please let me go," she begs with a shaky tone and voice. The Deviler tilts his head in interest, causing Emily to turn and embrace him in love.

"Papa,' the little girl called him affectionately. This made Harold's girlfriend disgusted and terrified to see the connection the Deviler has to Emily, resulting in the serial killer gently petting the sociopath child with twisted parental love, "yes?" His eerily calm and collected voice pierced Jaylin with fear, seeing that this monster is more than a deranged human being who commits vile crimes by inflicting psychological and physical pain on his victims.

Emily released her hug and eagerly stepped aside while smiling happily. "May I watch?"

"Of course sweetie," proud of his adoptive daughter, the Deviler nodded in approval, making the woman unable to move anymore, frozen in absolute terror as her life is about to be ruined forever. Jaylin couldn't do anything but scream as loud as she could while her impending doom slowly walked towards the victim, causing the sociopathic child to cheer excitedly about having father and daughter time together.

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