The slightly chilly morning mist was ruffled into fine ripples by the cold wind in the forest. It first brushed over Joker's terrified expression, then blew into Victor's eyes and swept past his fingertips. At the tip of his pinky nail, a spot of dried blackish-red scab resembled a black hole beneath a sand dune.
"Damn it, go hold that corner down, or the blood will run into the cracks in the floor!" Anna's roar echoed through the office.
Victor stood by the door with both hands covered in blood, while Nora carried over a toolbox. After opening it, she handed Anna a saw. Anna cursed and looked down at the corpse at her feet.
The clock in the office pointed to six in the morning.
"We have half an hour at most," Victor said. "I don't want to be late for Schiller's party. Nobody does."
"Then cut faster!" Anna said. "This damn blind fool had to show up at a time like this. We'll need at least two big boxes to pack him away!"
"Why do you think he came for you?" Nora looked up. Her voice was gentle, but her expression was somewhat cold. Even the room's overwhelming stench of blood did not make her flinch.
"I..." Victor opened his mouth and said, "I'm sorry, but they must know that you're my only weakness. If they want me to work for them, they'll only come after you."
"It's a good thing you're all right." Victor knelt on one knee. "It's not that I insist on seeing you as a helpless little girl, but today was far too dangerous. If you hadn't noticed him following you and had simply walked into the market, then perhaps in some alley after you came out..."
"You're worrying too much, Victor." Nora sighed.