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Anastasia felt utterly ridiculous, tailing her former employer down some old wooden steps. She waited for the Handler to be out of sight before starting down the stairs. Anastasia leaned against a dusty wooden plank out of the eye and earshot of anyone below her.
"Is that you, Vanya?" Anastasia heard Sissy ask in a hopeful voice.
There was no response as the Handler entered Sissy's line of vision. The Handler was a bizarre sight to the average person. She usually wore a flashy hat of some kind and color and was always dressed for the occasion. This time, it was leather from head to toe, like the dominatrix wannabe that she was.
"Who the hell are you?" Sissy asked softly.
"I'm his new mama," the Handler replied, mocking Sissy's accent.
Anastasia heard the Handler slap Sissy hard across the face. Sissy's unconscious body thudded to the hay-covered floor. The Handler cracked her knuckles as she stepped towards the little boy trembling in the corner, though protected by his forcefield. The Handler lifted her black netted veil out of her face and kneeled down toward Harlan.
"Magnificent," she said with an antagonistic smile.
Anastasia turned the corner to the stairs. She couldn't let this happen. Not to this little boy with no way to refuse and no one to protect him. Anastasia barrelled down the stairs. She whipped around the corner to face the Handler's back, towering over her and Harlan.
"Get away from him!" Anastasia screamed over the sound of the energy pulsating.
The Handler turned around and cackled deviously. "How foolish of you to come looking for a fight. But you always were the problem child, isn't that right?"
"I won't let you steal another child away from another mother," Anastasia snarled. She couldn't let the tears springing to her eyes show. It was a weakness that the Handler already knew how to utilize.
"Why? It won't bring back your son. So what's the point?" the Handler asked with a scoff.
"I'm not doing this for me. I don't want another mother to feel how I felt when I found my son murdered on the floor of my house because I turned you down," Anastasia explained darkly.
