I gasped and tried to twist free, but another hand immediately closed around my neck, silencing the cry that rose in my throat.
Panic surged through me as I struggled against the stranger’s grip, but whoever had grabbed me was far stronger than I was.
I couldn’t see his face.
I couldn’t even tell where he was taking me.
All I knew was that I was being dragged deeper into the darkness, away from the corridor I had been trying to escape through.
I struggled against the grip around my neck, trying desperately to free myself, but the stranger dragged me farther into the darkness until I heard a door click shut behind us.
The sound sent another wave of fear through me, and I immediately reached out with both hands, trying to understand where I had been taken.
My fingers brushed against cold metal, and I froze when I realized what I was touching.
Bars.
I ran my hands along them, moving from one side to the other until the truth finally settled in.
I was inside a cage.
“What is this?” I whispered, my voice trembling as I stepped backward and pressed myself against the cold metal.
For several seconds, there was nothing but darkness…
Darkness surrounding me…
Then a faint light flickered somewhere in the room, barely bright enough to reveal what surrounded me.
Shadows stretched across the walls and shifted with the weak glow, leaving most of the room hidden from view.
I strained my eyes, trying to see the person who had brought me there, but the darkness swallowed everything beyond the cage.
My breathing quickened as I gripped the bars.
I had escaped from one locked room only to find myself trapped somewhere else, and this time, I had no idea who had put me there—or what they wanted from me.
“Mr…
Miss…
whoever you are, perhaps we can talk about this amicably, like two civilized people?” I said, forcing the words out despite the tremor in my voice as I stood inside the cage and tried to make sense of where I had been taken.
The faint light barely reached the corners of the enormous bedroom, but it was enough for me to see the luxurious furniture, the expensive decorations, and the cage standing strangely in the middle of it all, making me wonder whether it had been built for some kind of animal.
I had barely finished speaking when something moved behind me, so quickly that I didn’t even have time to turn around before two sharp teeth sank into the side of my neck.
A strangled cry escaped me as pain shot through my body, and I instinctively reached for my neck, but whoever—or whatever—had attacked me was already gone.
I stood frozen, staring into the darkness while warm blood slipped beneath my fingers and mixed with the blood that was still coming from my nose.
My hands were trembling as I tried to understand what had just happened, because there had been someone behind me only seconds earlier, yet there was no one there now.
“Why are you wearing that uniform?” The man’s voice suddenly came from somewhere in the room in echoes, deep and calm enough to send another chill through me.
I turned slowly, searching the shadows for any sign of him, but the dim light revealed nothing more than the outlines of the furniture.
I couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from, and that frightened me almost as much as the attack itself.
Somehow, he had already noticed that the uniform I was wearing didn’t belong to me.
“I had no other choice,” I replied, swallowing against the dryness in my throat as I held onto the bars.
“I’m being accused of a crime I didn’t commit.
I was brought here against my will, and I need to find evidence that will prove my innocence so I can leave.” I looked around the room again, desperately trying to locate him, but the darkness seemed to swallow every corner I searched.
“I don’t want any trouble,” I continued, my voice softer now as I fought to keep myself from panicking.
“I just want to get out of here.” For a moment, there was no response, and the silence that followed was somehow worse than the man’s voice.
Then I heard a slow breath somewhere beyond the cage, close enough to make the hairs along my arms rise, and I tightened my grip around the cold metal as I realized that I was not alone in the room.
Whoever had dragged me here was still nearby, hidden somewhere in the darkness, listening to every word I said.
“Hahaha…
How could my overpriced pet possibly expect freedom?” The voice echoed through the darkness, followed by a low, unsettling laugh that made every muscle in my body tense.
I couldn’t see him or even determine where he was standing, yet his laughter seemed to surround me, coming from somewhere beyond the faint light and the shadows that covered the enormous room.
I instinctively looked down, but before I could understand what was happening, something cold suddenly tightened around my legs, and I felt heavy chains coil around my ankles and wind their way upward.
The golden links glimmered faintly in the darkness as they tightened against my skin, leaving me completely bewildered because I hadn’t heard them move or seen anyone approach me.
Why couldn’t I see him?
Why couldn’t I even see the chains moving?
“Please…
let me go,” I begged hoarsely, my voice trembling as I struggled against the weight around my legs.
For a moment, there was only silence, until the man’s voice returned, this time so close that a shiver travelled down my spine.
“Mmm…
you smell really delicious.” There was no trace of amusement in his voice anymore.
Whatever playfulness had been there before had disappeared, replaced by something cold and devoid of warmth.
I instinctively pulled away from the darkness, but before I could move very far, I felt a strange sensation spreading through the wounds on my neck.
The two punctures that had been bleeding only moments earlier suddenly began closing before my eyes, the torn skin slowly sealing itself until the bleeding stopped completely.
Almost at the same time, the blood flowing from my nose ceased, and an unfamiliar warmth travelled through my body, leaving me feeling strangely stronger than I had when I first arrived at the Mills Estate.
I stared at my hands in disbelief, unable to understand what had just happened to me or how he had stopped the bleeding without even touching me.
Instead of reassuring me, the sudden improvement frightened me even more because nothing about this place made sense, and I had no idea what the man in the darkness was capable of.
“Can you please let me go?” I begged again, gripping the bars as tightly as I could while searching the shadows for even the slightest glimpse of him.
A quiet chuckle answered me, and something about the sound made my stomach twist.
“I still don’t see any reason why you should be free.” His voice remained calm, almost conversational, but the words sent a chill through me.
“You can’t even last four months without dying,” he continued, speaking about my condition with a certainty that made my blood run cold.
“So perhaps you should spend those remaining months pleasing me.” I swallowed hard, unable to understand how he knew I was sick or why he spoke about my death as though it were something he had already accepted.
I remained pressed against the bars, afraid to move and even more afraid to ask how he knew.
“Don’t worry,” he murmured after a moment, the faint amusement returning to his voice.
“When your time finally comes, I might even allow them to bury you properly.” His laughter slowly filled the darkness again, and I stood there frozen, listening to the faint clinking of the chains around my legs while the meaning of his words settled over me.
He knew I was dying.
And judging by the way he laughed, my death wasn’t something he feared—it was something he was already looking forward to.
“Fine…
It’s not like I’m afraid of death,” I mumbled as I slowly lowered myself onto the floor.
To my surprise, the floor was covered with a thick carpet, and despite the darkness that filled the room, the temperature was surprisingly warm.