Part 19 - Gretel: Only One Way
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Part 19 - Gretel: Only One Way

A man moved behind me, a flicker of gray, tall and gaunt, coat like a shadow that enveloped him. I could see Ivan’s face over my shoulder, the strain of his years, the sickness that lingered behind his eyes. The animal that he was, like a wolf that carried off the children of fairytales. Like the wolf that carried away Hansel. Like the wolf I left on his battered leather couch, teeth glimmering in the neon.

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Part 6 - Goldi: The Three Bears
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Part 6 - Goldi: The Three Bears

I tried to get my facts straight in my head on the ride to the station, but all I could think about was my last moments with Red: how her lips parted in a silent, wet gasp, her blood hot and slick on my skin, her still form splayed on the disgusting concrete of that alley behind Smiley’s. Her face pale, eyes wide open and staring up at that goddamn light bulb, snug in its metal mesh.

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Part 4 - Ivan: The Beanstalk
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Part 4 - Ivan: The Beanstalk

I watched as the Giant beat a man to death. I could have joined in, but this was why I paid a man (a beast?) such as the Giant. I needed someone to do my dirty work for me, to be the brawn behind the brain, to be the jackboot behind my personal ideology. Anyway, I was too old to be using my fists in such a violent manner. I was хилый стариk: a frail old man. Too tall, too thin to act thus. There were those who say I smiled too kindly to be the vicious thug lord they’d eventually find out I was. It was not for me to discuss how I looked. I was who I was. Vicious when I needed to be; kind too, when the occasion called for it. But the way business had been these last few months, there had been precious few moments of kindness.

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