Following the pathway out to the lake, you noted the moon wasn’t as brightly lit tonight and it made you uneasy having the darkness follow you along. The air was cooler than it had been and you shivered, rubbing at your exposed arms gently.

You could tell you were spooked, heaven only knew what would wait for you at the end of this path. Your eyes were glued onto your surroundings for anything to jump out at you, knowing Yongguk was taking the other side of the garden right now. You could not even rely on him being in the shadows you passed by and if anything were to happen before you reached the lakefront, he would be too far away to save you.

Could you fight off a killer?

You were unsure of anything currently and the mere thought of rescuing Daehyun felt unreachable. Were you walking into a trap or had you baited Lord Wilsford enough to save yourself and the one you loved?

Your mind was troubled until you saw the water ahead. The lake was still, and you smiled, finding your motivation return.

You would not end with the same fate as your beloved Lucy had, and would catch the culprit responsible for ending her life short that night.

“Y/N,” Lord Wilsford breathed with a charming smile and you slipped into your well-rehearsed role once more.

“My Lord.” Giggling, you glanced around yourself as you stepped closer to him. “It is rather dark out here. Are you certain this would be the best place for our conversation?”

“Did I not tell you I would protect you?”

“And I do not doubt that you will. Still, I stood here just over three weeks ago. Perhaps I am weakened from that experience.”

“No, my love. You chose well to come to me,” he encouraged and you took a hold of his hand, nodding shyly despite his affectionate term making you burn inwardly with contempt. Lord Wilsford grinned triumphantly. “In fact, they all did.”

“They?” Glancing up into his eyes, you saw the predatory nature return, your smile falling short when you realised why you had been alarmed by this look last time.

Lord Wilsford gripped your hand more tightly, affording you no escape. “Of course, I am a man with many charms. And one by one, they came. Just as I expected you to. Now, I did have my doubts, my love, that I must admit to. You were always so adamant you would not fall for my endeavours and it was rather thrilling to keep priming you until you did.”

“Why, I do not quite understand what you are confessing to. I thought you were asking for my hand in marriage?”

“Now that would solve a great deal of my burdens,” he mentioned bitterly and you frowned as he raked a hasty hand through his hair. “Since I am merely a man with a title and nothing else to his name.”

“I do not understand, My Lord. You have everything and more, do you not? Your family has-”

“Been robbed of its rights and entire future!” he announced with a laugh that was evidently out of control. You shuddered and tried to pull away from him as he turned sharply to raise his free hand at you. Flinching away at his impending attack, you began to cry when his hand cupped your cheek instead. “Did you not know? My family lost its reputation thanks to an embezzlement ledger found by a man no other than your father. You made me lose everything I have, Y/N.”

“I have nothing to do with whatever you are talking about!”

“No, but your Daddy and Lucy’s father and Genevieve’s grandfather-”

“Please stop!” you begged, your legs losing their strength. You fell onto your knees and Lord Wilsford laughed victoriously.

“Just as they all had done, you too fall at my feet. Why Y/N, look at you now! Where has your confidence gone?!”

“You killed them!” you blubbered and then looked up to his thunderous expression. “You killed them all!”

“Now, why on Earth would I do that, you foolish girl?! It is laughable that you thought I would marry someone who was found here that night with a stable hand as a lover?! Your standards would never match mine.”

“Do you honestly believe I would want them to? You disgust me. You are The Pauper. That is your title, nothing more!”

“Dearest, I wish I could revel in that title, and I must admit, it is exciting to be given a name. However, I have killed not a single one of them.”

“You did, who else would!” you exclaimed, crying as Lord Wilsford pulled you up to your feet by your hair and then tossed you into the trees.

He smirked. “Stay in the dark this time. The lake was a bit dramatic, do you not think?”

It was then when you realised he had not worked alone. Hands grappled at you, uncaring of their strength from within the shadows and you kicked about wildly, hearing the man groan behind you. You attempted to get to your feet and move out from under the dense trees but your captor was quick to contain you once again.

“Help! Yongguk!”  

Biting down on the closest part you could manage, you stunned the killer just enough to scramble to your feet, moving back out onto the pathway. The man followed you, yanking on your hair and throwing you down on the ground. You yelped, feeling disoriented as a dark shadow loomed over you. Just as he went to plunge the weapon he retrieved from his coat into you, you felt a rush of air brush over you and heard the sickening crunch of knuckles sinking into a bone. Blinking off your haze, you watched as Yongguk apprehended the man, closing your eyes in relief.

You were safe and the real killer would end up in Daehyun’s place.

However, you were hasty in relaxing, snapping your eyes open when you were pulled back to your feet roughly. “You know, I did wonder if your easiness to concede to my desires came from a plan of your own. You little wench, I underestimated you.”

“Let her go, Wilsford,” Yongguk demanded and you attempted to fight off the strong arm around you. However, your energy was spent, and your head was spinning. You were certain you had knocked it in the fight to break free and felt a warmth seeping down your forehead. Reaching up blindly, you found the stickiness of your own blood and closed your eyes.

You were going to die tonight.

Despite everything, you grew limp. You accepted your fate, knowing at least with your demise Yongguk would have the authority to not only release Daehyun but name the real serial killer’s name. Although the man Yongguk wrestled with had done the dirty deed, Lord Wilsford had been wrong. The blood of all the women he had wrongfully killed stained him to the very core. He had orchestrated each move, coercing the girls to their deaths one by one.

Even you had fallen trap to his play now.

“Do you think I will? What are you going to do? Let go of the killer or come after me and Y/N? You only get one chance to do the right thing here, Inspector Bang.”

“I will go with him,” you declared, or at least you hoped you had out loud, slipping in and out of consciousness as the hold up continued. You felt yourself being dragged backwards, Yongguk’s cries following you until he fell away from your sight.

__________________

You could tell Lord Wilsford was taking you up to the hunter’s den by the way the ground grew hillier. The air was different up here, one you could never forget even if you were on the brink of death. You couldn’t help but smile, at least you would be laid to rest up here with the rest of your family when that time came. You hoped that it would be swift, the pain in your throbbing head making you struggle to stay alert. Eventually, you heard him open the door to the shack, dragging you over the threshold and then dumping you onto the stale bedding. It was colder than you anticipated.

“You ruined everything, you know!”

Opening your eyes, you attempted to focus on the man standing above you. “This is not how it was meant to go, Y/N.”

“Mm,” you hummed, smiling as best as you could. “I did warn you I held no interest in you.”

“Your improper conduct caused you to end up dying by my hands. You were never like the others. I once thought about taming that wild streak in you. Making you my wife and bending your will would have been quite the pleasure. It is a shame really; I won’t get to see the spirit of you leave you through years of entrapment. However, I will watch as it leaves tonight. Slowly, painfully, your body will lose all its life. Perhaps that will be enough for me to enjoy before I meet you in the underworld.”

“You know, I cannot let you do that.” The door slammed shut and you endeavoured to follow the movement within the room. That voice sounded all too familiar and you struggled against your incoherency to figure if you were dreaming.

If that was truly Daehyun, you had to accept you had already passed away now.

You heard the struggle between the men, the newcomer kicking Lord Wilsford until he was firmly upon the ground. “You see, I will not let you take my love away from me. Nor should you have the right to choose when you meet your death, my Lord. That will be at the mercy of police commissioner. You are lucky that I have just enough willpower within me to maintain that you stay breathing right now. If it were up to me, I would send you to hell myself.”

“Please, sp-spare me!” a gurgled plead filled the room and with a final kick, your saviour successfully knocked Lord Wilsford unconscious before working on tying his hands and feet together.

He then crawled over to you and dropped at your side, scooping you up into his arms. You didn’t need clear vision to know it was Daehyun holding you now, and you relaxed into his shaking embrace, vaguely aware of his tears raining onto you.

“Do not give up on your battle, Y/N. You fought this hard for me, now let me get you to safety. Keep breathing!”

You tried to reach out for him one last time, but your world grew dim, your hand falling short as you slipped away from him.