"The baby looks adorable with the same hair colour as you, Theressia." Louiss snuck a word as he stepped inside the room, his eyes fixated on the baby in the craddle.
Theressia turned around, looking quite surprised from the sudden entry then replaced it with annoyance which didn't change her soft expression.
"Gosh louiss, please knock whenever you come in, you could startle him." she scolded him lightly, lifting herself from the mattress in the middle of the room.
Louiss looked with slight doubt, at his wife then at their baby. "The name hasn't been decided?"
Theressia shook her head, her fingers intertwined with each other as she lowers her hands. "no...not for now..." she said in a saddened manner.
"i'm afraid, dear." she admitted out loud, in an obliged manner rather than telling it on her own will. "what if we lose this one as well?"
"it won't happen." louiss paused, "each food given to him will be tested precisely, including yours."
"we aren't test subjects, dear." she cut him off, voice growing terrifyingly soft as if she suppressed her frustration. "thanks to you, we have lost more than one child from these tests. i suggest-"
"I want everything to be perfect, Theressia." he spoke wearily cold, a hint of care and unconcern mixed in his words that can't define his true intentions. "Perfection, and a great frame is a must in this field, dear. i hope you understood this before we had set our wedding."
She sighed, her hand holding onto the fabric of her gown. "I understood, but please, separate business and family life."
Louiss didn't speak anything after, glancing at the baby and sighing as well. he fixed his blonde hair occasionally, then kept a hand in his pocket as he turned away.
"Forget this conversation. please conclude a name for the baby, theressia." he spoke vigilantly, leaving the room after.
theressia watched as her husband left the room with a cold expression, doing everything illegally perfect for a good frame in public. She sat down in the mattress, at the side near the cot.
She took the baby who had woken up moments ago, his lively blue and yellow heterochromic eyes staring with wonder at his early stage of consciousness, as she smiled at him.
she cradled the baby in her arms, thinking across the room at the same time. "your dad wanted a perfect family, but would such a perfectionist understand that his loved ones are human too? that they have learnt to grow with mistakes?"
The baby waddled and moved around his mother's arms, doing anything at its primary point. "i've always wanted your dad— my husband, to never worry about such petty things with the complicated position he holds."
she paused for a moment, "rather than a wall, I can atleast rant about anything to you till you reach maturity. you will succeed in living longer than your early brothers or sisters in the most normal way to mankind."
She froze upon hearing creeking sounds of the floor-boards, her mind racing for any scenario that can occur as she held her baby tight. her hands relaxed as the sound faded in the distance.
She rose up from the bed, keeping the baby in the crib and rocking it gently, till it oscillated on its own, as she left the room.
A faint voice called out to his mother, "i'm home, mom!" as he rushed home with a glistening face, as Theressia welcomed her son with an aging, pale and weak appearance. she smiled as she guided him to his room, followed by a butler.
"i got some of your favourites in the dining. change into your home-wear and head downstairs." she said softly, her voice far from her looks.
A few minutes flew by as the kid came downstairs with energy, leaning by the frame as he set foot in the dining hall, laying eyes on the chaos between his parents.
"m-mom..?" he dreaded, watching his mother smiling with a butter knife on her throat. louiss froze, his hands trembling with a mix of anger and fear. he gazed at his son, words stuck in his throat being unable to explain such a situation to a kid.
He attempted to walk over to his son, when the kid moved back momentarily, fear etched in his face.
Theressia choked, and spoke with large gaps in her words, "remember...what i told you..?"
The kid listened, while also being more wary of his father, "r-run...a-away-"
he almost made a run for it before his father caught him, and pinned the kid down. Louiss held his son down on the floor tightly, his expression mix with regret.
"trust me, please. That was utterly unintentional." he muttered as he aimed a knife at his son, choosing to have no evidence of today rather than forgetting it on his own.
Theressia came in middle before the knife could touch him, and was stabbed vitally to her death. she looked at her son, who was visibly traumatized, his jaw and hands shaking involuntarily.
The nightmare woke Alixis up at what supposedly looked like midnight, sitting up and breathing heavily. it didn't take a minute to calm himself down, as he picked up his phone the next second from habit.
he scrolled through a bunch of videos just to forget himself, before going back to sleep, then he saw the time and dreaded slightly. "it's already 6, damn it."
he got up from the bed and did all his necessary tasks— brushing his teeth, taking a bath, dressing up— and walking out of his room with a bag.
He strolled in the pathway early in the city, with a calm atmosphere and no traffic— or so he thought. the city bustled with the sound of horns and engines occassionally roaring amidst the crowd. Alixis looked sick in the morning and rushed through the crowd.
"was an everyday morning always like this?" he muttered to himself, pushing through till he finally could catch a break, standing near a supermarket and going inside.
the doors slid open and closed as he walked in, the cool air inside the market hitting his sweat-beaded forehead, making him more refreshed as he sat near the counter.
"If mornings are like this every weekday, this is the first time i'm glad of my misfortune of waking up late to school." he sighed, having a sandwich for breakfast.
after what seemed like a perfect time to reach school, he left the market and walked calmly, occassionally focused on his phone more than on the road in front. it was merely chance that not a single vehicle had hit him mid-way.
he stopped at the café he used to visit, and entered inside just to see rinae as the first worker in sight. his eyes glistened, more like feeling blessed for looking at such a beautiful aftersight in a rigorous morning.
His first motive was to tease her, then suddenly noticed the slightly dreaded look in her calm face, and his mood slipped momentarily.
"hey, you good?" he worried, his voice startling rinae from her mind. she looked at him with a positive mood before it shifted as she continued dusting the table.
"why aren't you talking-"
"why am i involved in your business?" she strongly asked, looking frustrated as if it was alixis's fault. it partially was at one point.
"what do you-" he stopped asking, then remembered his father's controversy in the café last night. "that...i could remember that happening, but what does it have to do with-"
"your father sent me threats. saying he would kill me, or even abuse me." she cut him off, eyes watering a tiny bit.
Alixis froze, not arguing a word after. he stepped back, keeping a fair distance and gritted his teeth, particularly blaming himself than his father.