Lakkos. Ttrowtos. Qas Sogok. Erika. Black Death. Blue Death.

I wake screaming just as a creepy, swirling cloud of darkness swallows me whole. I am alone. In the dark. Ms Pink had gone somewhere with Helene for the past three nights and hasn’t returned yet. All three nights have me waking up screaming just as I did during the last week of my sixty-day separation from Ms Pink. It worries me.

Like the past two nights, my body is warm and the heat is building up from the inside, impatient to push through my skin. It’s like a fever but different. It’s more like a fever that is angry. A fever that wants to be unleashed. A fever takes almost an hour before it subsides, burning up all the strength I have in me.

When I finally get myself out of bed, it’s not dark anymore. Light has broken through and is lighting up the room. It’s a weekday. I have to go to work.

X

A lot has changed at Rainbow since I started working here. The exterior of the lobby, for starters, is now as luxurious as PINK’s lobby. An as-large-as-life rainbow literally looms up ahead as I climb the stairs. It glitters in seven different colours and I wouldn’t be surprised if it were visible from space, just like PINK is.

Upon entering the lobby, the illusion of the sky is painted across the ceiling and paintings of great fluffy clouds stretch over the walls, end to end. The reception counter is a cartoonish rainbow sitting on two fluffy white clouds. And above the head of the receptionist hangs the name of this subsidiary company, in case anyone hasn’t caught on yet. R. A. I. N. B. O. W. Each letter a colour of the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

The button lights up in running colours when I press it. The elevator doors are rainbow-striped while the interior is full of fluffy clouds again. Eight levels take just seconds in the elevator but my office is on the third floor so I get off on third and head for my office.

I don’t really know why, but I get an office all to myself. Maybe it’s because I’m the only product marketing designer. Maybe . . . it’s Ms Pink. But she had promised not to make any special arrangements for me. Then again, a princess vampire like Ms Pink is bound to break a few promises every now and then. Whatever the case is, I’m not complaining. Having an office to myself is awesome.

Taking out my personal set of colouring tools, I set up my design desk for the day. But before work can begin, coffee is required. A trip to the pantry and a casual chat with a co-worker later, a steaming hot mug of coffee sits on my writing desk. I sip at it, browsing the internet for ideas and inspiration. This is one of my slower mornings.

By lunchtime however, things are heating up. A of inspiration struck about an hour ago and I’ve been hard at work on my tablet ever since, after sketching the idea on my sketchbook. Now, as the clock ticks to one, I have produced, digitally, an entire set up for the display of a new line of cosmetics by playing around with curves and colours. I’m sure the team will like it.

After saving a copy of the files, I start the export process. This is usually the part that makes me a little nervous but this time, I feel something more than nerves. Something cold trickling down my back. Something chilling that completely unsettles me. The hairs on my neck and arms are standing. Something is wrong.

I stand and back up against the wall behind me. There’s something at the door. All my senses are pointing at it. Someone knocks on the door.

“Taeyeon, are you in there?”

I recognise the voice. It belongs to the receptionist. “Yes, I am.”

“There’s a couple of nice gentlemen here to see you.”

“I-I don’t have an appointment today . . . do I?”

“Yes, they have an appointment with you at one o’clock.”

The clock ticks to one right as she finishes her sentence but I’m pretty sure there is no appointment. “I don’t think—”

The door opens. Instinctively, I press my back up against the wall, wishing it would disappear and let me out. The man who steps in is remotely familiar. I have seen his heart-stopping handsome face before. But I can’t recall the time or place.

“Good afternoon, Ms Kim,” he begins with a bow as two more handsome men enter my office and stand behind him. “Do you remember who I am?”

I shake my head, unwilling to let go of the wall just yet.

The man steps forward again and the men behind him close the door. His wholesome grin looks suspicious to me. “I am Ariz. A member of the Sovereign.”

“T-The Sovereign? But why are you here?”

“I am here to invite you.”

“To a party?”

Ariz’s grin widens. “You are cute.” He takes another step closer and my heart thumps faster as I try not to panic. “It is not a party. But it could be, if you are wise.”

My eyes blink rapidly out of nerves and uncertainty. “I’m not wise.”

“You may surprise yourself.”

“It doesn’t happen to me.”

Ariz shakes his head with a smile. If I weren’t feeling trapped and in danger, I would probably be gushing over his deep set eyes of an unworldly swirl of green and blue and his chiselled nose that looks like a god personally designed and crafted it. “Ms Kim Taeyeon. You will not regret accepting the invitation.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It is a piece