The whistling sound of the north wind suddenly sounded in Fagal Taylor's ears.
Taylor stared at the three children who disappeared in the orphanage ten years ago. Not only did the wind ring in his ears, but there was snow falling in front of his eyes.
The memory was so vivid that it brought him back to the past almost instantly.
However, every time he recalled that night more than ten years ago, for some reason, Father Taylor always felt that that experience was a bit unreal.
Just because of the scorched yellow face illuminated by the moonlight, with the facial features constantly changing.
Rather than saying that it was a face, in Taylor's eyes, it seemed more like some kind of ominous symbol...
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The knock on the door was like someone who had died unjustly and was knocking on the lid of his coffin. This sound echoed in the ears of the priest in the lower city again after more than ten years.
At that time, Father Taylor suddenly turned his head and looked in the direction of the door - he had a younger face than now.
The north wind was howling that night, and in the corner of the window illuminated by a kerosene lamp, one could see large swaths of snowflakes being blown away by the wind.
Fagal Taylor felt a little irritable.
Night was his peaceful time. At the moment, he just wanted to sit in front of the fireplace, read a book, and drink a glass of hot milk before going to bed.
Not wanting to be disturbed, he just stood up when another life-threatening knock came from the door.
Bang bang bang!
"Here we come!" The priest suppressed the impatience in his voice and walked to the door.
He opened the door, and Beifeng and Feixue poured into his room like refugees.
An indescribable smell hit him, and a pair of eyes raised with fear and confusion.
Standing at the door was a woman wrapped in a headscarf. She held a baby in her arms and held a girl wrapped like a penguin in her right hand. The girl held hands with her other brother, who was also well-dressed.
"Mrs. Dorlings?" Taylor didn't expect that it would be her who came to visit late at night.
The Dolins family came to New Landall by boat from Lyon about two years ago. The family lived just east of the lower town. The priest knew them because they often went to the church where Fagar Terro held services.
"Father Taylor..." Mrs. Dolins called in an almost pleading voice.
Only then did the priest realize that there was something strange about his wife.
Her old cotton-padded jacket was stained with large amounts of blood.
The left hand holding the baby held a strange-looking wooden sculpture.
The wooden sculpture is a seated man covering his face, with eyes all over his body.
"He's coming...He's coming!"
Taylor quickly invited Mrs. Dollins and the children into the room.
The warm room instantly melted the snow on the wife's body, and a bloody stench came out.
"Madam, where is your husband? Who is here?"
Mrs. Dollins seemed to have gone crazy, grabbing Father Taylor's arm and saying as if gibbering: "The old people said that the Dollins family... must serve him from generation to generation...
"Jiu Ke and I...Jiu Ke and I came here just to help the children avoid such a fate...
“We thought the things in the forest couldn’t get on boats and make it to the other side of the ocean!
"But he's still here! He's here!"
"What's coming!?" Taylor grabbed the hysterical wife's shoulders and tried to inject clear spiritual power into her body - but such efforts were like using his own body temperature to warm the whole body. Like a snowy night.
"That thing in the forest..." The wife's eyes were blank, as if she saw some ghost, and her lips trembled, "That... thing that plays the flute.
"He killed Jack..." the wife sobbed.
The baby in her arms was still asleep. The girl and boy behind her were holding hands, as cute as two little shadows.
As if she heard something, Mrs. Dolins stood up straight and placed the baby in Father Taylor's arms.
Then, she looked at the weird wooden sculpture in her hand, swallowed her saliva, and placed the wooden sculpture on the baby: "Father, there is no other way - please take care of them!"
Taylor was confused, and his wife suddenly became anxious. She grabbed Taylor's arm in turn: "You can take care of them, right?"
In order to appease the other party's emotions, Taylor said: "Of course, madam. But, you have to tell me what happened..."
Seemingly not hearing Taylor's words, the wife kissed the baby in his arms deeply.
Then he knelt down, hugged the girl and boy, and kissed them on the cheek: "Gray, Michael... take care of your brother...
"Don't blame mom and dad." There were tears in her red eyes, "We tried our best."
After saying this, she actually stood up, opened the door, and rushed into the wind and snow again.
Fagal Taylor could only put the baby on his bed and asked his sister and brother to wait here.
The two children were surprisingly calm, just staring blankly with their eyes open. It seemed that he had gone through too many drastic changes, so even when his mother ran away, he still didn't cry or scream.
Without enough time to change his boots, he picked up the oil lamp, picked up the cast iron key and rushed out of the door - he locked the door to prevent the children from getting lost.
Outside, the wind and snow became lighter.
Ms. Dolins' figure had disappeared. From a distance, it looks like a dirty snowflake.
Fagal Tailo carried the oil lamp and chased forward, his feet in slippers were so cold from the snow on the ground.
The weather suddenly changed, and the north wind lowered its pitch as if it heard that the devil had entered the city.
The snow-covered streets at midnight were as quiet as a dead city.
The dark clouds seemed to think that the snow here was thick enough, and they walked quickly together under the urging and pushing of the wind.
"Mrs!"
"Mrs!"
Taylor's voice was particularly clear under the gradually clearing night sky.
The lady who seemed to be going crazy had no intention of turning back and just kept running forward.
The priest was already a little angry. He vowed to clear things up.
Mrs. Dolins, however, seemed determined to escape.
One person runs, another person chases...
Until both were out of breath.
Getting closer to Mrs. Dollins, Taylor was about to shout to stop her, but when he raised his head, the shout was swallowed.
Fagal Tero saw something strange.
The clouds passing by in a hurry occasionally reveal the waning moon, and the confusing moonlight casts on a corner of the city...
It illuminates a figure standing upstairs.
It seemed to be an upright goat, with a burnt yellow face, but what appeared on that face was a face that was constantly changing and blurred.
Although it had a strange appearance, Fagal Taylor could feel that the thing was not a wraith, but something of a higher level.
It seems to be something that came out of ancient legends and was once worshiped by people.
Taylor instantly understood that Mrs. Dolins' "madness" had a reason.
This animated idol's attention is focused on the poor mother in front.
Suddenly, he jumped into the darkness as if he were jumping into the sea.
Then, he took away the woman who kept running away.
When the young priest chased him to the scene of the incident, he could only see a suddenly interrupted footprint...
——
In the priest's room, a fire crackled in the fireplace.
The elder sister Gray and the second brother Michael sat next to the youngest brother Tony who was sleeping peacefully.
The weird wooden statue was right next to Tony, as if it was covering its eyes and crying first.
The sister hugged Michael, her eyes sparkling.
The flames in the furnace crackled, like a cracking sound.
In her hand she held a black and white photo.
That was when Tony was just born, the Dollins took them to the photo studio to take a photo.
In the photo, the family smiles warmly. Nicole, the Bernese mountain dog wearing a maid's hat, is sitting next to them, grinning widely and sticking out her tongue, and seems to be smiling too - her father once said with a smile that Nicole is their family member. "servant".
"Don't be afraid, Michael..." She hummed softly, staring at the photo, and the suppressed emotions seemed to finally find an outlet, making his vision blurry.
"Do not be afraid……
"Mom, Dad, and Nicole...are always by our side."
