Abigail didn't pay attention to where they were going. It wasn't that she didn't care, she just couldn't focus long enough to form an actual plan. Her only goal had been to get Adrian and Clare away from Julia. She wasn't caring for them properly, and thus had to be removed. At the moment, all they could do was keep moving, and maybe inspiration would strike. It was too late to take them back. Julia wouldn't accept this little outing in the dead of night. They arrested people for this, right? Abby couldn't go to jail, not until she found Jeff. If Jeff wasn't looking for her, she'd find him.

She would kill him for leaving her...

Wasn't that a bit extreme? They could talk about it. Something must have happened, something to keep him away. He wouldn't just give up their little game they had going. He was too invested.

Screw the game. The game was terrifying. What was she even thinking starting something like that with him? She didn't want to die.

But didn't that make it so much more exciting? She had something to lose. Hunt him down and play one more round. See which of them got out of it alive.

Wouldn't it be better for him to die anyway, if he was a murderer?

No, no, she couldn't hurt him. He was her friend. Besides, she'd known going into this he'd be her murderer. That fact still stood, even after everything. He was still a serial killer, their entire relationship was founded on the agreement that he would be the one to end her life.

Was it fun, what he did...? Was that why he was so drawn to the violence? He enjoyed it?

Of course he enjoyed it. She'd seen him, seen the light shining in his ruined eyes as he'd stabbed another human over and over. But it wasn't just that. She could tell. If it was simple pleasure, he wouldn't have to fight so hard not to kill her too early. She wondered what it...

Fucking asshole just abandoning her like that, sending her off to the hospital and just forgetting she existed. Was he bored? Was that it? She was just a toy to abandon the first chance he got?

"Abby? How far away is the ice cream?" She started, her eyes flying down to snap on the boy's face, her fingers tightening around her knife, hidden safe out of his view within her pocket.

"J-just a bit longer. Why? Did you want a break? Sorry, I'm sorry, I remembered it being closer than this."

They were a good distance away from the house, close to an open public park. Unlike the fenced in dog bark, this place was just fine to enter at night. She changed direction, heading for it before he'd even answered.

"Yeah...sissy and I are getting tired..."

"We-we still ice cream?" The younger whined, her eyes wide but her posture drooping with fatigue.

"Yes, of course," Abby answered. "But we need to stop first. Let you rest. Rest and then we'll..."

Then they'd do something. She'd do something.

Maybe she should just cut their throats and be done with it. Teach Julia to neglect her kids. Even better, teach the parents to throw their kids at someone who would neglect them just because they didn't have time.

Was that fair to the kids, though?

Doesn't matter. Kids are animals. Instinctive. Might as well be killing a pair of mangy dogs.

But...they were kids. Innocent. Trusting. Bet they wouldn't run even if they did see the knife. They wouldn't think she'd hurt them. Wouldn't be expecting it. Smiling right up until she plunged the blade down.

She shook her head. She hadn't brought them out there to kill them. Focus, need to focus. Where was Diablo? Wasn't this when he'd pop in with his, 'oh I can help you' crap he was always popping out? For being the devil, he wasn't exactly good with getting himself souls. She smiled to herself. He'd heard that, hadn't he? Weak little traitor, watching her even if he didn't say anything. He was probably still pissed. Going to wait until she was begging for help. Too bad for him she wasn't going down that road. No deals. Her soul was hers.

What was Jane even up to? Nasty demon, making Diablo burn her. She probably had it out for her, too. Funny how she hadn't shown up yet. Still upset about Mary. Creepy, scary Mary. Told her to stay away. Warned her. She'd warned her and Mary hadn't listened. It was hardly her fault.

Poor Jane, having to watch the woman die in front of her like that. They must have been close, considering the fight had ended the moment her body hit the ground. she felt bad. She didn't have to kill her. Maybe just break another rib and leave her to squirm there.

Ah, and what a lovely sight that would have been.

"Here we go." She said, sitting them on a park bench. "Relax a bit. Maybe take a nap. Then we'll get ice cream."

She tried to watch them doze off, but couldn't keep her focus trained on them. Every few moments a sound caught her attention, and she drew away, looking over at the playground, or toward the road back the way they'd come.

She hummed a little, quiet, but the noise was enough to make the boy stir. She hushed him with a pat on the head.

Maybe she should just take them to the police before anything happened. Then again, with murderers like Jeff on the loose, why should she trust them to keep the kids safe? She might as well just drop them off back at the house and make a run for it. She shouldn't have been sent there to begin with. Her parents were idiots for trusting her to someone like Julia.

Her parents...how disappointed they'd be in her. Perhaps they'd even hate her.

They here dead. They couldn't hate anything. She bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes.

She missed them so much. She wished they could still be there...at least long enough for her to tell them she loved them while actually meaning it.

It was funny. Now that she could feel, they'd probably hate her. What was she becoming? Why was it even happening? After all those years, a lifetime of struggling to learn, of working so hard to understand, why was she only just starting to experience emotion? Was it really Jeff? Had he done something to her, unlocked something with his presence? The human brain didn't work like that, but she couldn't figure out any other cause, anything else in her life that was both recent and different.

A sigh left her and she wiped at the moisture from her eyes. It was probably linked back to Diablo again, which might explain why he'd been so eager to make a deal with her in the first place.

When she lowered her hand, she saw it. A figure, standing across the street, lit by the streetlight over it's head.

It appeared to be a man in a clean, black suit, with snow white skin...and no face.

This was the man who'd been stalking the children.