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The silence that permeated through Hanna's mind was like a sickness, making her almost hyper-aware of her surroundings. It reminded her strongly, too strongly in her opinion, of the day when this whole mess had started. She could easily remember the eerie quiet that had descended on their once pleasant house when they had left.

"Why did you take him from me? He was my child…my baby…" she murmured sluggishly to herself, still clutching her body as fine trembles coursed up and down her spine. Her thoughts drifted, remembering the incident as clear as day.

"Malachai! I said that you are not to go to the village without me! How many times do I have to tell you that?" Hanna demanded, frowning deeply at her son. Too many perverts, too many evil people that would take her precious child from her made her wary of letting him outside without her to protect him.

The boy looked rather sheepish, scuffing his bare feet against the floorboards as he refused to look at his mother. "But…Mama…I went out to buy you a gift. I wanted to let you know that I was thinking abut you," he responded innocently, looking up at her with those impossibly innocent eyes. She thought about letting it go with a gentle scolding, until his next words hit her ears. "Daddy said it was all right…"

That sent the normally calm woman into a fit of rage. How dare her husband go behind her back like that, undermining the authority she had as his mother? Before she could stop herself, she reared back and slapped the boy across the cheek, sending him to the floor with the force of the blow. "As if this isn't the first time your father has done something like this to me. Don't you see? He's using you to spite me! I thought you loved me!" she practically screamed at him, watching in morbid satisfaction as he scooted quickly back against the wall to get away from her. Now maybe he would learn not to disobey her anymore.

"B-But…M-Mama…I-I…" he stammered hurriedly, his hand resting on his bruising cheek as a trickle of blood peeked out the corner of his mouth. He didn't bother wiping it away, for fear that it would bring about another violent reaction. This was not the first time his mother had raged at him for something so simple, having learned a long time ago that it was useless to try and protest.

Hanna barked out a laugh, preparing to land another blow on that seemingly innocent face, until a firm grip on her wrist stopped her. "That's enough, Hanna. You've gone too far this time," a gruff voice behind her stated calmly, though the molten edge of anger and disappointment lay just beneath the surface.

"You! This is all your fault! It's all your fault that he's turning into a disobedient brat!" she raged at her husband, ripping her wrist out of his grip and giving him a blow of his own. Her nails raked across his face, drawing blood.

Again, he calmly grabbed her, subduing her from hitting him anymore. "He's no such thing and you know it. He's a good boy. You're the one who's out of control," he whispered, hurt radiating from him as he turned to his son. "Malachai…go pack a couple of things. We're leaving." The boy's golden eyes widened, nodding only once before scampering off to do as he was told. His father had mentioned that he was thinking about leaving, but apparently this incident had been the last straw. Her moods had become increasingly violent as of late, and he was more than happy to get away for a while.

"You can't take him! He's my baby! My child! Not yours!" Hanna screamed on, desperately trying to lash out at her husband in retaliation. Her own eyes were wild, and Kenzo felt a trickle of fear move down his spine. This was not the woman he loved; she had become a monster, and he needed to protect his son.

Malachai returned moments later with a modest bag slung over his shoulder, anxiety written all over his face. He didn't have to say anything as his father nodded sharply and released his mother, his voice practically a command. "You're out of control. I have to take Mal away from here to protect him. Until you stop this madness, you won't see him anymore."

Hanna's blood ran cold at that, quickly reheated with renewed anger at this outrage. How dare he! "Just try it. Just try and see how far you get," she threatened, her face contorting into that usual sweet smile that she always wore when speaking to her precious child. "Malachai…you don't really want to leave your mommy, do you? Only bad children abandon their mommies when they need them the most," she cooed, attempting to stretch out her hand despite the man's hold on it.

The boy looked lost for a second, looking from one of his parents to the next as though truly debating what to do. However, with renewed confidence when he looked to his father, the boy said clearly, "I don't want to leave you, but you can't keep hurting me and Daddy. We have to go away until you can stop hurting us."

That was certainly not what she was expecting to hear. "You've poisoned his mind, you bastard! It's all your fault!" she screamed, lunging for her husband once more before he easily tossed her aside. Grabbing Malachai's hand, they ran for the front door and were gone, just like that.

By the time Hanna regained her senses from the bump on her head, the little carriage was gone. She had no hope of chasing it down, falling into an almost welcome numbness as she stared at the partially open door. "Kenzo…I hope you rot in Hell," she murmured under her breath, still unable to fathom that they were gone.

Three months passed, before she received word that her bastard of a husband and her precious Malachai had been killed in a demon attack not too far away from the next village over. Naturally, she had refused to believe it, convincing herself that her darling child was wandering around and looking for her. How fortunate she had been to find that boy and the doctor, shaping him into being the child that she had lost. It didn't matter what she would have to do, even if she had to erase his memory every single day, in order to keep the boy as her own. She would not lose her child again

Now that the priest was looking for the boy, she knew that she had to get rid of him. After all, who would miss that Sanzo and his demon companions? No one. She just had to decide how to do it, yes. How would she kill the man intent on ruining her life a second time? "Just like Kenzo," she muttered, that familiar dark mood overtaking her once again. Maybe Sanzo was Kenzo in disguise, acting against her like he always had. Yes, that had to be it. A cruel, calculating smile crossed her face, banishing after a moment in favor of her sweet smile, getting up to go and find Malachai. First, she would set things right with the boy, perhaps use him to lure Kenzo out of hiding so she could destroy him. Yes…that sounded like a sound plan indeed.