The streets shone with the silhouette of the evening lights flickering against statues lining up those streets.
He descended down the slippery stairs, his rapid steps echoing through the cramped cellar.
"Took you long enough," a feminine voice greeted him when he finally knocked on the door at the end of the stairs.
The doors opened.
He didn't speak, instead, he quickly pulled off his scarf to reveal his scarred face, illuminated by the light of the candles littered haphazardly around the small room.
He saw her face.
And he stared.
He had never seen such exquisite beauty, such flawless face. He quickly shook himself out of his stupor in favour of decency, but she apparently had no such restrictions.
She seemed to examine his face for a long time. Long enough that he couldn't control the twitch of his left eyebrow. She smirked then, before finally meeting his eyes. "Alright," she said.
"You'll do it?"
"Yes. Come on in, lie down over there." She pointed at a bed covered with a fresh white sheet, in stark contrast to everything else in the room. The floor had never been sweeped, dust layered on top of itself because it couldn't find any other real estate.
He sighed as he kicked off his boots.
No names were exchanged, of course. You went to registered medical practitioners for that. Practitioners that demanded an arm and a leg for their time of day.
As he settled down on the bed, his eyes came to rest on the utterly dark roof above him.
"Enjoying yourself?" her question seemed so strange to him. Of course, he was enjoying himself. The candles were casting so many interesting shadows, they almost seemed to tell a tale.
His eyes again fell upon her, as she was carrying a bunch of ropes towards him. "What're… those… for…" His voice came out strangely slurred.
"For tying you up, of course." Her smile. Oh what a beautiful smile. Wait, what did she say?
"Huh?"
"Don't you worry, all your flaws will soon be smoothed." Her sweet voice was so very soothing.
"Thank you," he said.
By now she had finished fixing up his arms at the bed post.
"This will hurt a little, but be a good boy, and keep your voice down, alright?"
"Yes madam," he nodded dutifully.
"That's right." She smiled, and he had never seen something more beautiful. "Be a good boy for Aunty Em."
Her smile remained fixed as her hands poured the wax down his throat.
He had listened to her, she thought proudly, he hadn't screamed for more than a second or two.
"You will be my most beautiful piece yet," she told her latest project as he writhed around for a few minutes before he quietened down.
Nodding slightly, she started focusing on his ears.
The next morning, a new statue could be seen near the city park. It bore the name of "Perseus" on its pedestal.