Dead silence.

My jaw hangs open as Praneso picks himself up from the floor. “What was that.” Shaking his head as though to clear his head, he looks around with a wild look in his grey eyes. “Who’s there!” He presses a button, opening the hole that Seo was locked in and looks. A cry of rage billows from him and he picks up the whip from the floor, marches to Ms Pink and lashes her. “Where is your subject!”

“How would I know,” Ms Pink says airily despite the lash that Praneso punishes her with.

“! No more games.” Praneso whips out a device and speaks into it. “The secretary escaped. Find her and kill her.” He puts the device back in his pocket and breaks into a grin that sends chills down my spine. “My dear Princess, you’ve come to the end of your road.”

“No!” I cry as Praneso pulls a gun out from his jacket. Gleaming matt grey, it exudes a cruel coldness not unlike its owner.

Be quiet.

Praneso turns to me, his eyes narrowed. “You.” He walks towards me, stopping in front. “There’s something about you.”

I told you to be quiet, stupid human.

I don’t want you to die.

He won’t kill you. He wants my claim to be slave to him. It’s the only way he can satisfy his erted need to dominate. But you will be able to overpower him once you understand how you can control your energy.

I just don’t want you to die.

I’ve lived for more than two hundred and seventy years, Taeyeon. Death isn’t scary anymore. But your life is yet to come.

Tiffany Pink, I don’t care what you say. I’m not leaving this place without you.

Then be quiet. We might have a chance as long as he is kept ignorant.

Oh, I get it now. Yes, Ms Pink!

“Why are you smiling.” Praneso grabs my face and shakes it without care. “Why are you smiling!” He looks straight into my eyes, searching for something. A colour perhaps. “What are you.”

“A bait.”

“That force was you.” Praneso pushes his nose up against my neck and sniffs. “You are not just a bait.” He turns to Ms Pink. “Where did you get her from.”

“She walked into my office.”

“Bull.”

I look away as the whip hurts Ms Pink once more. The pink in her eyes is molten like liquid neon light. How much more can she take from this monster?

“Tell me,” he says, as he points the gun at me, “or I’ll shoot her.”

Ms Pink smiles. “Please shoot her,” my eyes pop wide open, “and end her suffering right now.”

Oh . . . I get it, I get it. You’re calling his bluff.

Stay quiet.

“Or perhaps the whip will treat her better.”

“Be my guest.”

The whip cracks twice and I whimper and flinch, closing my eyes in fright but nothing hits me.

Praneso laughs. “Whipping this claim will be a lot of fun.” He flicks the whip, catching the side of my arm with the tip and I shriek. “Adorable,” he says. “I see so much potential. I’ll soon have her crawling around like a dog, serving my every need.”

“You’re no better than a dog yourself.”

The laughter that follows is the kind that will wake you up from your darkest nightmare.

“Too bad I couldn’t have you. My brother always gets the best of everything.” Praneso raises his gun to Ms Pink’s heart. “Goodbye, Princess.” I watch, stunned beyond words as he squeezes the trigger. A grey bullet hits Ms Pink with a dull thud. Her eyes fly open wider than I’ve ever seen and the look on her face spells trauma. Her head slumps as blood begins to stain her chemise.

I scream.

X

My face feels scratchy as I open my eyes. My neck is sore. My arms are aching. I scrunch my face, breaking up the stiffness of dried tears on my cheeks. A hollowness in my stomach threatens to make an unnatural journey up to my mouth. But nothing compares to how still my blood runs when I see Ms Pink hanging by her wrists, lifeless and bloody.

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