The Crumbling Kiss.

~Scarlet~

Quietly she lingers in the darkness. Tonight the hunt would begin in the shadows. The man she worked for was strict on timing and choices. Scarlet watched as families big as small exited the local theater. She needed to find the perfect one for her job to be complete so she could go home.

At this age Scarlet had already forgotten about her previous life. Her parents long erased from her memory. In place only memories of Sir. Sir was not a bad man he had never done anything mean or inappropriate with her. Sir only offered her a life outside of poverty and opportunity. With graduation being next week she was running short on time.

A boy age 4 was playing with some toy cars with no adults in sight. He was small for his age with blonde hair and blue eyes very similar to her own. He had on what looked like thrift store clothes. Sir would give him nicer clothes than that undoubtedly. Now was her chance slowly she approached him.

"Hey, I'm Stephanie. Whats your name?" she asked. Knowing her name wouldn't matter much after every thing was done. Before the boy had a chance to answer a woman ran out of the movie theater screaming.

"NICHOLAS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" She was a short petite woman with long brown hair and brown eyes. If scarlet would have dyed her hair and wore contacts they would have looked identical.

The boy began to tell his mother what he was doing and his mother cut him off " You know better than to leave my side after what happened. Last thing I want is to loose you like I did Scarlet not again."

Scarlet had ran off into the darkness again. Crouching behind a trash can she thought to herself 'Impossible. Sir told me i was taken cities away from here and that nobody would look for me. But that was the woman i had seen in my dreams...my mom.'

She shook her head making her hair fly into her mouth. It simply couldnt be. They never cared enough to even look for her. At least thats what Sir had always told her. So many questions raced through her mind.

Why now? Why today?

If she didn't find a replacement she would be stuck within his walls until another was found.

As she made her way back home she had realized she had forgotten her backpack. Which would have been fine if she hadn't been hiding the news article of her disappearance from 16 years ago.

"I was starting to worry." said Michael as she came running up to the porch. "Empty handed I see. Looks like your stuck with me forever." he teased. Michael was a small boy for his age. Although he would never admit it he was Sirs first victim.

"Just because you like it here does not mean I do." she huffed frustrated. She had been out all day looking for a replacement and couldnt find anyone. "Do you think our life is normal? He gives us a specific list of targets. While he sits at home reading our test results."

"Thats just how it goes. After all these years you would think you would just be used to it." he sat down on the porch swing next t0 her and gazed at the moon."At least you have a list. And a way out me well Im still waiting on mine. Maybe Im stuck here."

"You cant think like that at least not out loud. You know he listens to everything we say." she motioned towards the window where Sir usually sat every evening but tonight he wasn't there.

The door suddenly creaked open and a low voice muttered "Time to come in"