The Child's Plan by Audrey Walker (books to read this summer .TXT) 📗

is after you, and soon he will decide he has played around with you enough, and he will kill you. I am not going to lose you like this, Robin.”

He walked over to her and took her hand into his. Robin looked into his eyes and swallowed as her heart started to beat fast.

“I don’t know what the future holds, Robin,” he said. “We are too broken, the both of us, to trust anyone with our hearts. We both carry too much trauma. But one thing I know. I am your best friend, and I am not deserting you. Not now. Not ever.”

Chapter Nine

“Robin, are you sure about this?” Kyle whispered.

“We only have one lead right now,” Robin whispered. “And that is the child. If my suspicions are right and he is the murderer, then knowing this child’s identity is crucial. There must be something in my memory, something I can’t face without help. There are still so many gaps; I don’t know what to do.”

“This is very dangerous,” Kyle said. “We could get arrested for this.”

“I know,” she said. “But I am desperate. Honestly, I have no clues and no leads. This is the only hope I have right now.”

“Then let’s do this,” he said.

Robin nodded and unlocked the window using a special device that criminals use. She lifted the window and crept into the house, Kyle following behind her. Kyle had gone out of this way to disguise himself, using huge sunglasses and a hat to hide his face.

They spotted the doctor in her study, poring over some files on her table.

“Put your hands up,” Kyle said, whipping his gun out and pointing it toward Doctor Emily. “Put them where I can see them.”

“What’s going on?” the doctor asked, bewildered.

“You will do as you are told, and no one will get hurt,” Kyle said. “Understood?”

The doctor nodded, and Robin stepped into the light.

“You!” the doctor gasped.

“I need to remember,” she said. “I need you to hypnotize me again and take me down memory lane. I need to know what happened in that basement. There was a child with me in the basement. We need to uncover details about my numerous conversations with him, anything at all.”

“Do as she says,” Kyle said, “and we won’t hurt you.”

“Of course,” the doctor said, shivering with fear. “I will do it. Just don’t hurt me.”

Robin laid down and closed her eyes, and the doctor’s trance-like voice filled the air.

“Why did you do that?” Robin shouted. “Why?”

“I thought you would like it,” the child said.

“What you did was wrong,” Robin whispered. “You don’t hurt animals like that. Would you like it if I strangled you the way you did to that cat?”

The child shook his head, his eyes wide.

“Then, why would you do it to the cat? I never want to see you hurting animals again. It’s cruel and vicious, you hear me?” she said.

“What about humans?” he asked. “Can I hurt humans?”

Robin looked at the child in front of her, and she repressed a shudder. There were times that the child said such terrifying things that it scared her. It was clear to her that the child had a dark side. A side that she will have to teach him to suppress; otherwise, he will grow up to be a monster.

“No,” she said. “You shouldn’t hurt anyone. Didn’t mama teach you that?”

“Mama was too weak,” he whispered, looking away. “That man above is very mean. He used to beat her and hurt her. I miss mama.”

“Shush, it’s okay,” she said. “See? You shouldn’t hurt anyone. When the Butcher hurt your mama, you felt horrible, didn’t you? You don’t want to make others feel that way, do you?”

“What about people like him?” the child asked. “What if you could kill someone like him? Would you still let him go?”

“I would arrest him,” Robin said, feeling uncomfortable. “I would bring him to justice.”

“If you could,” he said. “Right this minute, you would kill him, wouldn’t you?”

Robin squirmed, not liking these questions.

“If you kill him,” he said, no one will ever have to suffer again. No one will ever have to hurt again. Would you? After all, he has done, would you?”

“I think it’s time we slept,” Robin said. “It’s late.”

She didn’t like the way the child was looking at her. There were moments like these when he looked less like a child and more like an adult. His eyes were discerning, and it seemed to her as if he could see right through her, maybe even see the thoughts in her mind. The child gave her an unsettling smile as if he knew that her answer was yes, that if she could kill the Butcher, she would do it right now, and she would get great satisfaction from it.

“Mama said she would have killed him too,” he whispered.

“I want to,” Robin finally said. “But I wouldn’t do it. There are times when you want to do wrong things, but you never must. Do you hear me? You have to fight the darkness inside and do what’s right.”

“Are you sure?” he asked. “Even if someone you loved were on the line, you wouldn’t kill him?”

Robin didn’t reply. Something about this child made her feel very scared. He smiled at her, and she had to suppress a revulsion. There was something inside him that was so evil; she felt like screaming at the thought of it. And then the ominous smile faded, and he suddenly looked like an innocent child again.

“I am sorry,” he said. “I won’t hurt animals anymore. Can I sleep with you?”

“Of course,” Robin said, feeling relieved. She opened her arms, and the child curled up, closing his eyes.

Robin looked at him, her mind conflicted. She cared for the poor soul, born to a monstrous father and torn away from his mother. Even though he did have his mother’s love for eight years, he also spent that time watching her being abused and beaten up. Worst of all, he had seen her