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“What game are you playing this time.” Ms Pink’s displeasure is radiating from her in waves and I can feel every oscillation in my body.

“I’m not playing a game, my dear.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“All I want is to see you.”

Ms Pink scoffs. “What do you want from me.”

“I want the best for you.”

Ms Pink pushes me as she backs from Helene. “You want what you think is the best for yourself.”

Helene smiles at me. “Aren’t we the typical mother-daughter, Pan Ni and I?”

“You’re not my mother. And I’m not your daughter. I am-was, at the most, your protégé.”

Flames flicker around Helene but they appear only for a split second and I’m not sure if I imagined it. But her eyes turn fiery red and her skin flushes like blood rising to the surface and Ms Pink is pushing me behind her back as a blast of flames nearly scorches my skin. Oh my God. The room around us turns into an inferno as Ms Pink turns and wraps me within her long charcoal black coat. I throw my arms around Ms Pink’s waist and hold her tight but it doesn’t stop the soles of my feet from feeling the burn.

“You are the strongest princess I ever turned. You are the daughter I love most. But don’t, for one moment, think you are above reproach.”

Right then, Ms Pink’s body heats up like an oven, and it almost hurts to stay this close to her. “You saved me. You made me who I am. But don’t, for one moment, treat me like your string puppet.”

The heat increases two notches, making me flinch even though Ms Pink’s coat manages to keep most of the heat from me.

“You know you need me. You will still come to me in the end.”

The trembling in Ms Pink’s body is alarming. “No. No matter what you do, I will never be your puppet.”

“You are a disappointment.”

Ms Pink shakes in her silky blouse of pink lilies. “You are the disappointment.” The flames grow in their ferocity and it’s almost more than my feet can bear when Ms Pink lifts me flush against her and walks to Helene. “You can kill me now. Or let us out.”

A smile breaks out across Helene’s face and the fearsome flames vanish from around us but Ms Pink does not let me go. I watch in stunned silence as Helene turns and returns to her throne. She sits with the grace of a royal queen and places her elbow on the armrest, wearing the same disturbing smile the entire time.

“What if my humble abode is only willing to let one of you out today? What will you do?”

“You will let her out.”

“No!” I scream. “Let Ms Pink out!”

“Shut up,” Ms Pink snaps at me.

Helene laughs, a terrible sound that reminds me of the angst of death and pain of birth. “My, my. A claim who defies your orders. Is this karma?”

“Taeyeon defies me to save me.”

Eyes, golden and black, flash and narrow into slits like a cat’s as the rest of Helene stiffens. “You fool. You are turning back into the useless sap you were before.”

Ms Pink shakes her head. “I will not join the Sovereign, Helene. You might as well kill me since I am useless to you.”

“You will join the Sovereign eventually. And that day will come sooner if this human of yours stops distracting you from your purpose.”

“My purpose.” Ms Pink laughs a little. “I know what my purpose is, Mana. But do you know who your imposter is?”

“There is no such thing.”

“Someone, something put on your appearance and entered Taeyeon’s dream.”

Imposter? The Helene I saw in my nightmare is an imposter? Why didn’t Ms Pink tell me that earlier? Is that why Helene turned into a man at the end? I open my mouth to add the last part since Ms Pink didn’t mention it but a quick squeeze of my hand stops me. I look at Ms Pink. She is entirely focused on Helene, not letting her eyes off the woman for even a second. Ms Pink squeezed me for a reason, right?

Helene’s eyes lock mine down. “Is this true, Kim Taeyeon?”

I find myself nodding unable to stop until Helene looks away from me. Oh my God. What kind of power does Helene possess that allows her to pull the truth out from humans like me? And if I weren’t more resistant to her power, would I have told her the extra bit as well?

Sneaking another look at Ms Pink, I finally understand why she’s completely focused on Helene. It must be her way of sustaining herself. Her way of keeping her thoughts clear. Her only protection from Helene is Helene herself. How ironic. But how did I know all that? Is this increased knowledge a sign of my Erika-ness growing? Just as how I had simply known that Ms Pink must be a vampire, things are coming to me as though they’ve always been somewhere inside of me—hidden from sight.

“What did the imposter ask in your dream.”

I give Helene a recount of my dream the best I can, leaving the last part out. Flames flicker all over the room, over the black walls, velvety carpet, as she listens.

“The eyes reminded you of a snake, you say.”

“Yes,” I say with a nod. “A snake.”

Helene turns to Ms Pink. “How do you know it is an imposter and not I?”

Ms Pink smiles. “I am your protégé, Mana. And sometimes, your daughter too.”

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