Chapter Fifty-Four: Aon:

I now have eight children. Seven sons and one daughter. Aon was born in October. He was quite a loud baby. I take it that he had some strong lungs. I do admit that he was kind of cute. Madonna lay asleep in bed with Aon in her arms. I looked down at the pair of them. They could be part of a beautiful painting. This should keep us together a little while longer.

Madonna didn’t complain during her pregnancy. She didn’t speak much, in fact. I didn’t see her cry. She just seemed so numb. I didn’t know what to make of it.

“Sweetheart, are you feeling okay?” I asked. She never answered me. In fact, my wife had a distant look in her eyes. I didn’t know whether to get her help or give her some space. It wasn’t all bad though. Madonna did eat and sleep normally. She mostly slept in the kids’ room at night. I had the feeling that the problem was me.

I shook my head. No, that can’t be it. She would’ve said something. Wouldn’t she?

I looked at Aon’s face again. I reached down and touched his little cheek. Judas and Camon were going to love their new brother. At the time, I thought that was going to be it. (I was going to be in for a surprise next year.)

There was a soft knock on the door. I looked up to see another subject poking his head in the doorway.

“Oh, is this a bad time?” he asked.

“Yes,” I mouthed.

“Oh,” he said. “I just wanted to say that we’ve caught more souls.” I gave him a thumbs up.

“I will see myself out,” he whispered.

“You do that,” I said. My subject backed away. I shook my head as I turned back to my family. And just like that, I was reminded that I wouldn’t get much time to enjoy them. When was this mess going to end?

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I did make life more manageable in 1943. We were still looking for those escaped souls. By summer of that year, we caught a quarter of them. There were still more to go. Some of them were easy to catch. Others… Not so much. We’re still trying to figure out how this happened. So far, no one has any answers. Either they don’t know, or they are too scared to say.

I sneered at my desk. I didn’t have time to break down the reasoning. I just needed to find the cause and fix it. That’s not so easy when the problems keep on piling up. It started to get to the point that some of my subjects started to quit. At least once a week, I started to letters of resignation. I should’ve been used it by now.

Another one was shoved onto my desk this morning. I looked up to see who it was this time. A confused look came over my face. This one was a female. I don’t think I’ve seen her before. I raised my eyebrow.

“And you’re quitting too?” I asked. She slowly nodded once. I scratched my head.

“I see,” I said. “Uh… who are you again?” She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“This is why I quit,” she said. “When did you stop caring about us?” I blinked at her.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You’ve been obsessed with that whore ever since you brought her here!” she shouted. I glared at her.

“What did you say about my wife?” I asked.

“It’s true!” the subject shouted. “This why you keep losing us! We’ve lost trust in you. She’s ruined everything just like Bayu and Kayako did!” I clenched my fists.

“Get out,” I hissed. She didn’t have any emotion on face.

“Goodbye, my lord,” she said. The subject bowed and walked out of my office. I sat, glaring at as the door closed. Her words filled me with rage. How dare she talk about the women I love like that. She’s wrong! They haven’t ruined anyway!

I was so angry that I didn’t notice a crow landing on my desk. I shot a cold look at the black bird.

“What?!” I asked. I noticed a light orange piece of paper in its beak.

“What do you have there?” I asked. I took the piece of paper from it. I opened it up and read it. My jaw dropped. I picked up my phone.

“Hello?” Madonna asked.

“Is it true?” I asked. There was a pause on the other line.

“Yes,” she said in a quiet voice. I sat back in my chair.

“How far along are you?” I asked.

“Three weeks,” Madonna said.

“Wow,” was all that I could say. We’re going to have another baby. I couldn’t help but to smile to myself. Looked like the family was staying together a little bit longer.