Sin of Lust

CHAPTER 41

Mildred crouched down to meet his eye level she holds each of his shoulders and look at him straight in the eyes, “Max…” she called him by his name. “That’s not it, Max”

“Then what is?”

“Please listen to me, listen to me very carefully. But before I tell you something will you believe me?”

“Yes, I will believe you. I’ve always been.”

“Max, everything I will tell you is the truth. I want you to brace yourself as I say everything to you.” Mildred said with absolute gravity in her tone making the young man clenched his fists as he learned everything. Max's eyes shoot wide open as he heard everything she had to say, “Is that true, Mildred?” he asked with his voice quivering from fear.

The girl could only nod. And as expected he asked the same thing she asked before, “What about our siblings, are they safe?”

Mildred only grips his shoulders tightly and bitterly look at him in the eyes. They don't need any words to understand what that means. Max’s knees buckles, resulting for him to drop on the ground. Mildred immediately engulfed him in her arms, to which he hugs her torso in return. Both of them are silent, not a single word came out of their mouths just gentle subs and soft cries.

“Max, that is the whole truth we have been hiding all these times, please don't hate us.”

“Mildred, don't apologize you are just doing what you need to do and that is to save us. I'm so proud of you and amazed at the same time.” Max told her, “You’ve always been so brave of handling things we can’t. That’s why I admire you the most.”

With one last hug they finally came out together from the linen room and join the others to their breakfast. “Everything is getting lighter.” That's what Mildred thought because one by one they are exposing their secrets to the others and heaviness of harboring those feelings are all decreasing. “I’m sure, this will be over.”

The secret they are harboring are one by one getting expose and they proceeded to do their everyday routine. After the everyday game of group tag, the group are now changing their members. People under Mildred are now under Lino, and his member are now under Stephen, and Stephen’s member are now under Mildred’s.

“Everyone! We have a little reshuffle in our groupings, okay?” Blanche shouted with excitement.

“But why? I am getting used to being with Dean.” Pand playfully whined, provoking Dean in the process.

“What do you mean getting used? Huh?!” Dean hollered, rolling his sleeves up to his elbows.

“Nothing~”

“Guys, we’re not going to reshuffle the members, you’re just going to work under a different captain.” Blanche clarified with an exhausted smile.

“I see, we are just going to train under another captain, is that it?” Pand hummed as he strokes his imaginary beard.

“So, who will be under who?” Dean asked, not bothering to look at Pand’s idiotic expression.

“Mildred’s member will under the new captain Lino, and Lino’s members will be now working under Stephen, and Stephen’s crew is now working under Mildred. Is everything clear?” she told them.

“Yes, sister. Everything is good.” Dean replied with excitement in his face as he yanked Pand to their team’s side.

“Okay, I want you to run away from me and don’t let me catch you!” she chimed.

“Oh yeah!” they cheered start of to run.

Lino is now with Mildred’s previous members and is currently walking in the middle of the forest. Now that Lino has noticed his new members, he saw that his group is mostly contained of girls. “Okay, girls…” he said to catch their attention.

“I am a boy.” Max pouted.

“Ah, sorry about that Max…” Lino apologized right away, “alright, ladies and gentleman, I will tell you that we are going to be the last one being found.” He grinned. “I will have the undefeatable record of being the last group to be found and I will hold on into that.”

“Woah, Lino, I never thought you were that competitive.” Luka commented on his unusual behavior.

“Well, I am never competitive this is just a habit of mine. I don’t want to be beaten to the things I think I am good at,” he spoke.

“That’s it, that’s the meaning of competitive.” Luka told him with deadpanned expression.

“Where are we going to hide?” Kanna proceeded to ask.

“We should hide, yes, that is right.” Lino said as a matter of fact. “But we must also hide our trails.”

“Trails?” Max and Rani both tilted their heads to the side, a sign of confusion.

“Yes, trails, you see even though we are hiding the marks that we left behind are actually not that hard not to notice and with that we can be easily track down.”

“What should we do about it?”

“We can’t hide it, but at least we can do is to make fake ones that will lead the others away from us.”

“Oh, I see this is getting exciting.”

They started to move and finding a place where they can hide.

“Here, Lino over there, a place was never that easy to find.” Kim suggested to a place under a dead shallow tree.

“Yes, good hide out, however, that location is upwind, sister Blanche will smell our scents if she came here.” Lino said.

“Then why don’t we go and hand a perfume of what opposite to our location so we that would take time sister by surprise, she will think that we go that way but we’re actually hiding here?” Max suggested.

“That’s… a … smart move my boy!” Kanna chimed and twirls him around.

“Thank you!” Max laughed, Lino on the other hand is smirking as the thought that Max is getting smarter every day.

“Keep it going, Max!” he internally cheered.

“That’s a good idea. Now who will lend me their clothes so we can hang it up?” Lino asked but rather receive deadly glares from the girls. “Okay, I will.”

In the end, Lino ended up putting his outer layer of clothes upwind and is now only in simple shirt, away from the comfort of his long sleeves. While they are on the move, Lino can tell that these girls are surely not breaking a sweat and just easily hopping from any obstacle they face and they have incredibly silent footsteps. Though footsteps are not 100% inaudible, but still, it doesn’t have that much sound.

“Mildred did the job, their stamina is rocket high, even the little Max is going nice and easy with them. Even though they are wearing heavier clothes than me, they seemed to be unbothered by it. You have my complement, Mildred. Please handle the others well.”

Meanwhile, Stephen is now with Lino’s previous members, “Now, I can tell that you got various ideas came from Lino, so I will let you decide where we’re going to hide, so where do you want to hide?

“We barely hide, we are always on the move so we can be as far as we can from sister Blanche until we can find a place where we can stay.” Minna said nonchalantly.

“Yeah, the place where we stay doesn’t necessarily a hiding place, sometimes, it just an open space.” Tantan agreed.

“Okay, that’s settle then we will go and be always on the move,” Stephen said to them, “I will let you go first and I will be the last guy in the line.”

Everyone was confused at first but then they decided that they will just go with his words since they knew it was for their own sake. And so being said, they went with Stephen’s idea as the last man, while Stephen is on the last point of the group it is easier for him to observe everything from the back of the group.

“Minna and Tantan grew so much as a person, they are looking out for the signs of any danger and they are looking out on the younger ones as well. Tramp and Carl serve as their right hands when it comes to decision, Zei became the center of communication from behind to the front. And as for Choi and Ladi, I can tell they’ve really grown so much, they are aware of the things they are doing and what things they need to avoid.” Stephen internally analyzed. “Very well, Lino. Very well!”

They move very precise and silent at the same time to which made the leader smile since that is the very first thing they need, they need to be as silent as the crow in the night, blending with their surroundings. They are even using hand signs in order to communicate silently and even the whistles that resembles a sound of bird. “You have my complement, Lino.”

But there’s one thing that caught his attention, “Wait.” He spoke out of nowhere making the members jolt from the sudden loudness of their voices.

“What is it, Stephen?” Tantan asked in a hush tone as a habit, “lower your voice, please”

“I’m sorry but…” he then pointed his finger on the trail, and they look on the location under his thumb but they find nothing on it.

“What about it?”

“Look closely.”

They look closer and see their footsteps embedded on the ground but with their expression he can tell that they are confuse and doesn’t know what he meant. “You will be easily caught with these trails, I suggest that you look after these kinds of tracks, sister will immediately notice them.” He spoke and they all finally understand and went to cover their tracks by stomping their feet to flatten the ground,

“Now that we know this place has softer ground we can use to our advantage, what can we do with it?” he asked a trap question to see if they are really using their heads.

“We can make another set of footprints!” Choi and Ladi exclaimed out oud from excitement.

They were right, but Stephen’s only response is a wink and a finger on his lips and the two lively children immediately threw their hands on their mouths to shut their voices. They began to work together to set footprints that will mislead the enemy. When they are finally done, Stephen gave them a firm nod as an acknowledgement of what they have done.

At Mildred’s place, they are having difficulty moving around, “I’ve heard from Stephen that they were focusing on getting away and thinking about how to get their habits out of the way while they are on the run, that’s why their physical aspect is left behind, however, their minds can really get the best out of them.” She internally dismantles the information in her head. “Hey everyone, you want to rest for a while?” Mildred asks as she sees them sweating profusely while she’s all dry and haven’t had any sweat from fatigue, “we have all day to move around but this terrain in this part will surely take most of our strength,” she sighed.

“Yes, please!” Alli exclaimed with her ragged breathing.

“We were usually on the move, although it’s usually slow we still managed to go and get away with it and when we’re in a place where we can drink, we are just going to hide there, so this is actually tiring for us,” Dean said, “Please let us take a moment to breath.”

“Drink?” Mildred asked herself, “Water… River… ah! I see, so Stephen is taking them to the place where they can recuperate from the run, they making them familiarize the route where they can rest. Stephen you cool kid.”

“But as of now, stamina is out of the list.” Mildred put her thumb over her mouth to give it a few bites as she thinks how they will be able to fight without stamina and endurance, “We can’t do that, we have to strengthen their bodies, that’s the job I will have to handle.”

In the end Mildred did what has been told, she proceeded to guide them through the rocky route since this place will truly get the best train to all of them but she gave them some tips so they can last a little longer even though their bodies are not trained enough, “Guys, just a little tip. This may help you or may not, but still, I’ll tell you this. If you are on the run, make sure that you are breathing right.” She said.

“Breathing right? What does it mean to breath right? Am I not breathing right all this time?!” Alli was stupefied from the thought that she’s not breathing the right manner.

“Calm down, Alli, that’s not what I meant.” Mildred reassured her, “what I mean is when you are in the run, make sure that when you breath you are filling your lung up, in that case your body will not lack in oxygen and your blood will be oxygenated. In this case you will not feel tired that much… but you will eventually get tired though.”

“Are you all alright now?” Mildred asked them if they all recovered from their fatigue.

“Yes, we have rested enough, let’s go!” Dean chimed and they started to move again. While they are on the way through the rocky route, Blanche appears with her mask.

“My preys!” she laughed loudly as if she’s in character. “I will seize you all!”

Mildred let out a loud whistle, indication that danger is coming and they should hide in that instant, everyone jumps through the cracks and spaces between the boulders, Blanche growled internally, “Come on, man! Why do they always have to go through the spaces and cracks, they knew I can’t fit between those.”

But still she went and proceeded to catch them, however when she’s on her move she slipped on the rocks that weren’t strong enough to handle her weight. “Oh gosh!” and with that another whistle was blown, in that moment, Mildred and Luka came rushing down to blow some dust on her nose to make her lose her balance by sneezing.

While she’s busy with her nose, she then heard footsteps from everywhere, this is another way of fighting, they were using echoes to their advantage.

“I am getting scared with these children; I don’t know if I will be able to handle them without Luxuria—” she halted from her own thoughts when she realized that she was being too dependent on finding the children using her weapon.

This made her angry from the fact that she wanted to save her own siblings and because of that she was brainwashed to killing Daleon with her very own hands, but that’s not the issue now, because as this moment, she, herself is making a move letting Luxuria getting in to her.

“I am…” she gritted her teeth and decided to get up and let her frustration out by finding the children. “I will not let him, that was just one time. But this time I will not let him in again.”

They are all in the middle of training when they heard the bell rang from the house, indication that there’s another urgent news that needs to be transmitted in that instant. Without asking anymore question they all went back to the house.

Mildred, Stephen, and Lino have their eyes narrowed from the fact ringing the bell in the middle of the day is actually rare and the last time they heard the bell rang at this hour the mayor came. So, hearing it is almost a sign of bad omen. However, they still proceeded to go, and just like what they have been expecting hearing the bell is really a bad omen because once again the mayor came without any announcement.

“What the hell is she doing here?!” ask Lino in a harsh tone, his jaw is clenched tightly. “I never thought that she will come again, like, what the hell is wrong with these people?”

Steven on the other hand nudged his arm to make him stop before saying, “Shut it Lino, we have to pretend that we don't know anything or else this will be the finish line of our own.”

Lino only grunted from his response, “But still, what is she doing here?”

His question was answered as he if the mayor can hear him, “Hello once again my children how are you these days? have you miss me?"

“I don’t want to see you ever again.” Lino grunts, but he was immediately shut up by Stephen by nudging him a little harder.

Some of them once again cheered at her, but most of them are just pretending that they are happy to see her because the three of them already reveal to most of them what's really going on and now that she's here again they are sure something is going to happen.

“Hello mayor, I never thought that you will come back here sooner.” Mary Jane gritted her with the usual gentle smile she has, but this time Blanche can tell that there’s something going on in between the two, probably because the fact that Mary Jane knew that she was the one who hurt Stephen.

Ester only laughed at her, “I thought so too, I never thought that I would come back here as soon as possible.” The mayor chimed and then pulling Max up from the ground and twirl him around. That simple gesture made him laugh out loud, “But these children… I can't get them out of my head.” She said as she is scanned them, especially the oldest three.

That simple glance gives the three children goosebumps as shivers crawl up to their spine, but they still force themselves to smile.

“I don't like this feeling,” Stephen said through his gritted teeth, yet his lips are curved up.

“Do you want to know why I am here once again?” she asked them out loud but, she didn’t let them speak since she answered her own question, “I am here because I want to play a game with you again!” Ester said with a wide grin. “But this time I am not the one who is going to play with you.” She added.

This made them curious to the point that they think and concluded things on their own thinking that the one who will chase them are the security guards but they are wrong because Ester introduced someone who will be the chaser.

“Everyone! please give her a round of applause my new bodyguard Carmelle!” She introduced the girl with a boisterous voice, everyone is curious but the certain people around are not that impressed but instead they are more concerned than amazed. She stepped aside only to reveal a woman with petite body and small stature and on her face, she wears a gentle smile on her lips and her eyes are sunken and lifeless as if she's never sleeping at all.

The petite girl greeted them with a small smile without saying any word and this made the little ones grew curious about her, and they started to ask in hushed tone, “Will she be alright?”

the mayor heard their questions and answer on behalf of the girl. “This girl is just fine as you are, she's just a little petite and not saying much what she's good she's really, really good. And do you know that she has magic.” She added.

The last sentence she was spoken brought the elders into shock and the children who knew all about these are as confused and shock as them.

“Another wizard…” Mildred hissed through her greeted teeth.

“What's her magic?” ask by Max.

He knew that they are all enemies but at least he tried to gain some information. The mayor hummed in response, “Do you really want to know?” she grinned at them. The children didn't hesitate to yell yes.

“Well then if you insist the mayor started and push slightly the petite girl towards the audience and said, “Come on show us what you got.”

The girl then bowed politely and they began to lift up the chairs and tables using only her hands without even breaking a sweat this made the children gasp in amazement. “Wow, she's so strong!” they all cheered and clap some of them are bouncing up and down from astonishment.

“She's awesome like sister Blanche,” Rani exclaimed out loud. And her statement made the mayor's ear twitched especially when he heard the familiar name. In that moment, Blanche breath hitched-up.

“Did you just say Blanche?” she asked with her eyes narrowed towards the child.

“Yes! Sister Blanche is really, really good too! She can find us as if she has magic!” the child chimed once again, her words are made Blanche flinched and a sweat cascaded from the side of her face.

Scanning the new nun, her eyes are narrowed as if she is a predator, Blanche tried to keep her composure, however, she wasn’t able to control her throat from swallowing the lump forming in her throat.

“You are Blanche?” Ester trailed dangerously low, “I thought your name is Shaira?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am.” Blanche flinched.

Mary Jane sensed that there’s something going on in between them and Blanche can’t handle it and so, she intervenes between them and she said, “Ah! Yes, she is referring to Shaira. They have a big sister before and her name is Blanche she was kind and beautiful and somehow, they grew closer together, that's why they started calling Shaira by that name.” Mary Jane easily muttered the lie as if she's telling the truth.

“I see,” Ester muttered dangerously low. “I thought she's someone I know. But let us now put that aside. This is my surprise for you guys, we are going to play game of tag all day and Carmelle will be the chaser, run from her and the last one she will find will be the winner, is that clear?”

“Yes mayor!” they yelled in unison.

“And of course, the winner will be rewarded!”

“Woah! What’s the reward? What’s the rewards?!” the younger ones screamed in delight and excitement.

“That is a secret for now, okay? The reward will be given straight after the game!”

“Awe~” they whined.

“Don’t pout now, my children.” Ester cooed, “Do you really want to know what’s the reward?”

“Yes!”

“Okay, but promise me first that you will give your best shot to win this game.”

“I promise!”

“Well then, the reward is not as exciting as what you all are expecting.” She said, “but the winner can ask for one thing in return if they managed to win.”

“Ask one thing?”

“Yes, one thing.”

“Anything?”

“Yes, anything they want.”

The children began to get excited again, thinking what they are going to asked if they managed to win. On the other hand, the three oldest are not that excited from the fact that ‘anything’ is only limited to the material things.

“We can’t let them know that we are doing something,” Mary Jane whispered to them.

“Ok now we are going to start.”

All of the children are in the backyard or the forest but as they wait for the chaser to come Mildred, Stephen, and Lino are talking with the children they are telling them not to use the method they are doing in the past few weeks because that would raise suspicion. It's better for them to get defeated in this game rather than being the winner but exposing their plans.

“But what about the price?”

“Price is nothing compare to the things we will achieve together.”

The game started and everyone is running through the forest individually, each of them are running and using their old habits to run away from the chaser in that case the chaser will never see the plan they were scheming all these days.