Reborn In a Murderer’s Embrace

Robin furrowed his brow and released Colin.

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

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

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

“Freeze, Colin!” Stella chased after him, her voice laden 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 his lanky 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?” Stella 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 accustomed to solitude. He got up again and limped forward, leaving a trail of bloody footprints on the street. Stella’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…” Stella 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 gaze complex as I looked at Colin. Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“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 Stella out, nor if he had accomplices, but with Robin there, it felt safer after all.

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.