The second blade

Axel entered the room with a glass of water in his hands which he gave to Hannah. She drank it obediently and returned the cup to Axel who placed it on top of the bedside drawer before going back to sit on the bed. "Are you alright?"

Hannah nodded in a yes and Axel relaxed.

Once again, his eyes spotted the box of sweets and he frowned slightly. When he checked the last time, it was definitely more than this, so how…

Axel was on the verge of losing it but he held back as the image of her choking surfaced on his mind.

"Penelope wants to go out". Axel began after inhaling deeply. "She doesn't want to stay at home all day every day".

Hannah just blinked twice before shrugging. "You can take her out if you want. I don't have a problem with it". Hannah remarked as she stretched her hand to pick another sweet but the stabbing glare of Axel stopped her.

Axel stared at Hannah speechlessly. He thought he was going to have to persuade her and even threaten her if things come to the worst but she agreed instead, and so easily at that.

Seeing the confused face of Axel, Hannah said, " I would have taken her out myself but…" she pointed to her face and Axel could see a hint of regret in her eyes. "But if you are going to take her out, I don't mind. In fact, she will be very happy to go out. You can take her to the park, I remember how happy she was that night when you sent her to the park. She couldn't stop talking about it for weeks…."

Axel listened as Hannah kept talking about how happy Penelope was. She had a look of nostalgia in her eyes as she mentioned the places Penelope said she would love to go then there will be sadness and regret mixed in her expression when she speaks about how she could not fulfill the child's wishes and how disappointed she was in herself.

"... but I know it will be alright if you take her out. You will take very good care of her". Hannah said confidently.

"You are right. I will take very good care of her". When he finished speaking, Hannah stood up and opened the lower drawer by her bedside. We brought out a piece of paper and passed it to Axel who looked confused.

"I prepared a list of the places Penelope would like to go. You can take her to this place today, tomorrow you take her to this. place and…"

At this point, Axel was already staring at her in bewilderment. She really prepared a list? What made her think that he was going to agree? He had a lot of work to do, how was he supposed to take Penelope out every day?

"I don't agree!" Axel said firmly, interrupting Hannah. She stopped talking and looked at him.

Hannah thought that Axel was going to agree

After all, Penelope was his princess. "Too bad… your little princess will be disappointed if you refuse her…"

Axel was speechless when he heard Hannah. Why does she have to say it like that? And little princess… what was that?

"But don't worry," Hannah continued. "I'm sure she will understand I tell her that you refused to take her out every day. She will probably cry for days but she will come around at some point…"

Axel was dumbfounded. Was this emotional blackmail? He already promised Penelope that he was going to convince Hannah which he did but now, Hannah wanted him to take her out every day.

"Fine! Axel agreed before a smile curved upon his lips. "But what do I get in return?" His eyes shone mischievously as he saw the confused expression on Hannah's face.

"What do you mean?" Hannah asked and Axel just shrugged.

"I have to make time out of my busy schedule to take Penelope out, I need something in return don't I?"

Hannah nodded in understanding and sat back on the bed. "What do you want in return?".

Axel tilted his head to the side. Well, that was quick. He thought that she was going to argue for a while before agreeing.

"I want the second blade".

Second blade?"

"You said there were two of them yesterday. I want the other one".

What followed after axels words were complete utter silence, and the atmosphere was suddenly tense. Hannah stared at him wordlessly for a while and she blinked twice before saying "No".

"No?"

"I can't give that blade to you. Ask for something else". Hannah said.

She wasn't going to give that blade to Axel.

Frankly, she regretted it after giving the first one to Axel the night before.

Axel pursed his lips and nodded. "It's fine, I want nothing else". He said in a low voice that sounded pitiful to Hannah.

She thought she sounded too cold when she rejected him. As such, she spoke gently this time, "You don't have to tell me right now. Think about it carefully before you tell me".

Axel only stared at her for a while before he fell back on the bed. He was now lying on the bed. "I really wanted that knife…" Axel mumbled and sighed then he tilted his head to look at Hannah. "Change into something appropriate, we are going out".

Right now, Hannah was wearing a loose beige shirt and pale green pants. As far as Axel knew, this was the only color he had seen on her other than grey and black.

"Where are we going?" Hannah asked.

"To see Penelope's new caretaker, I told you yesterday". Hannah nodded immediately. Axel had indeed told her yesterday but she forgot about it.

She immediately jumped down from the bed and ran inside the bathroom.