All of Aria's injuries and bruises are gone, but her tattered shirt still remains. Johnathan pulls a blanket out from his jacket and wraps Aria with it. Andrew and Samuel show up a moment later and are lost their word for what they see. Near Grace is a giant grotesque corpse of a monster and two heads of young women. While meters away from Johnathan and blanket-covered Aria, there's the thug leader who died with an unsettling face and a gaping hole on his forehead.
"It seems that both of you already recovered. How's the taste?" said Johnathan.
"What did you do to him?" asked Andrew pointing at the thug leader while ignoring Johnathan's question.
"Not much. Just ate his brain clean," said Johnathan while tidying his outfit.
"You what?"
"Oh Inspector, surely you didn't surprise by it? Considering how much you witness tonight," said Johnathan with his friendly smile. "Anyway, I believe you know what to write. Right, Samuel?"
"I don't know about that, but I'll try," answered Samuel while looking away.
"What?! What are you saying? Are you saying you'll write a fake report?!" Andrew asked while grabbing Samuel at the collar.
"What can we do? Admit it Inspector, this case is far beyond what human can handle. Can't you see that huge chunk of monster's leftover? Do you think people will believe this 'fairy tale monster' if we tell the truth?" said Samuel, who then shoved Andrew's hands.
Andrew just grits his teeth because he knows it's impossible. Though reluctantly, Andrew agreed to do what Johnathan suggested.
"And for that, I'll help you with this," said Johnathan, raising both hands right in front of him.
Johnathan claps once, and immediately the ground all around them vibrates. The vibration is far more gentle than when Grace fighting the monster. Eventually, the vibration dissipates completely. Before long, the crystal barriers used by Grace are flying toward Johnathan from all directions. But before Johnathan collects it, the crystals clumped together into one big chunk of a crystal. As soon as Johnathan's hand makes contact with the crystal, the crystal quickly dissolves into Johnathan's hand.
"Everything that happened here is inside my barrier, which Grace made under my command. And I can change everything inside it. But don't you worry, the changes I made will help you to make the 'fake' report about this case," said Johnathan before pointing his finger at the monster's corpse.
Andrew and Samuel are surprised when they see the monster's corpse changed into several wolves that died from gunshots. They're also surprised when they see the thug leader's big hole in his forehead disappeared, and the wolf’s bite mark appears on his neck.
"That being said, I'm sure there's no problem, gentlemen," said Johnathan as he carried the sleeping Aria. "This girl is mine. And nothing you can do to change it. Gentlemen, I'll take my leave. Grace, don't forget the heads." Johnathan left Andrew and Samuel without looking back.
"Yes, Master," Grace replied before picking up the young women's heads.
Grace bows a little to Andrew and Samuel, showing her respect, before she disappears from Andrew and Samuel's sight. Andrew and Samuel are left not knowing what to do next and just look around them, hoping they might have some ideas for the 'fake' report. They extensively examine the wolve's corpses and the thug leader, as any tiny details will help them. After they think they have gathered enough 'evidence,' Andrew calls the Police HQ to send backup to their location. The HQ replies the backup will arrive in 10 minutes, so rather than standing around like a fool, Andrew and Samuel examine the area again.
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As soon as Johnathan and Grace leave the forest, his car is already out of its hiding. Grace opens the car's trunk and carefully puts the heads. Johnathan gently puts Aria in the back seat and sits right next to Grace in the front row. With everything set, Grace drives the car back to the mansion. Around 10 minutes on their way back, Aria wakes up confused as she looks around her. After a while, Aria realizes that she wears nothing inside the blanket. She's immediately conscious of it and closes all openings of the blanket.
"Relax, child. You're safe," Johnathan greeted Aria while reading his book. "I'm sure you remember what happened." Johnathan closes his book and turns around, facing Aria.
The moment Aria sees Johnathan's face, she feels an unimaginable pain in her chest and stomach. Aria recalled the 'nightmare' that happened to her throughout the night. She holds her chest and stomach as it becomes unbearable, making her want to puke. She frantically opens the window and coughing, but nothing comes out. She takes a long breath to calm herself down.
"So... What I saw and said when I'm at my death door... is real?" Aria asked hesitantly.
"Every second of it."
"Heh.... hehehe... I didn't expect my life to turn from bad to worse," said Aria as she covered her face with one hand.
"Relax, sister. You'll be alright. Master cared about us. Every single one of us," said Grace trying to comfort Aria.
"Sister?" asked Aria as she looked at Grace and Johnatan alternatively a few times.
"Well, you pledge yourself for eternity to Master. So... doesn't that mean we are sisters now?" said Grace.
"Rest assure, Aria. Your human body still the same as before. Though you might need some adjustment this." said Johnathan as he opened his book and continued where he left off.
After that, Aria kept her thoughts to herself along the way. She thought about whether her choice was correct or not. After spending a couple of hours, they finally arrived at the Mansion early in the morning, before the sun rose. Thea is already standing in front of the garage's door, waiting for the return of her Master. After the car is parked, Thea immediately closes the garage door.
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"Grace, show Aria her room. Thea, tell others to prepare the room for my meeting with Mr. Hamish, and you call him to come over," said Johnathan to Thea as soon as he got off from the car. "Tell him that I found his relative. It's in the trunk. Take them out and put them into separate boxes. Make it ready at the meeting room," Johnathan said as he left all three in the garage.
"Yes, Master," answered bowed Thea.
Grace shows Aria where her new room is. It's on the third floor at the end of the hallway on the right side of the Mansion. After arriving at Aria's room, Grace turns on the light and gives Aria a clearer view of the room. A neat fluffy bed, a fancy wardrobe, a study table set, and a bathtub. Of course, the bathtub comes with a couple of folded partitions. Aria takes a closer look at one of the folded partitions, and it was made with teak wood. Grace taps at the wardrobe to get Aria's attention. Aria quickly turns around, and Grace opens the wardrobe, revealing many of the same outfits. It's the classical maid black and white outfit, the same as the one Grace and Thea wears. Grace hands out one for Aria to change.
"So, any question, Aria?" asked Grace.
"I haven't got your name."
"Oh, right. I'm Grace. And the one who greet us at the garage is Thea," Grace answered with her thumb pointed behind her.
Grace wants to explain other things, but when she sees the little scared Aria, she stops. Grace lets out a little sigh and pats Aria's left shoulder.
"No need to worry. Master always took care of his belongings. That mean you, me, Thea, and other maids. Anyway, I'll leave you for now. Make yourself comfortable. I'm gonna help others." Grace walks towards the door and is about to leave the room. "Oh, you must be ready when Master summons you."
"Uh, but there are no phones here," said Aria, confused as she looked around the room.
"Well, you'll know. See ya," said Grace as she closed the door.
Aria is late to notice a mirror facing the bed, and she begins to try the outfit. She's surprised that the outfit perfectly matches her size, from top to bottom. Aria lost her word because the outfit didn't make her feel too cold or hot, considering it's a complicated outfit with many layers. While she's in awe of the outfit and the room she's in, Aria hears a voice that says, "Go to the Meeting Room," and immediately recognizes whose voice was.
"Yes, Master," said Aria as she bowed as if she had lost control of her body.
As Aria regains control of her body again, she wonders why she did that and feels relieved. But she can't dwell on that thought and make her Master wait and quickly dashes toward the Meeting Room. Aria feels her body is so full of energy yet nimble enough to take the shortest way possible to her destination. She made many acrobatic moves that she couldn't do in all her life before. Not only that, but she also knows the layout and every room in the Mansion like the back of her hand.
Aria stops right in front of the Meeting Room door and is amazed at how fast she did all that and still has the stamina to do something else. If it was yesterday, just running from the bad guys would be exhausting. Aria slowly grabs the doorknob but hesitates to open it. She steels herself and enters the room because she believes she has done nothing wrong. The first thing she sees is Johnathan sitting closely face to face with a middle age man, presumably Mr. Hamish, as Thea mentioned earlier. When Aria sees Johnathan, she feels relaxed, as if all her worldly worries have disappeared.
Johnathan casually chats with Mr. Hamish to lighten up the mood, and there are two boxes of identical sizes. For Aria, those boxes are an eyesore, but Johnathan doesn't even bring them up in the conversation with Mr. Hamish. After a small laugh, Johnathan signaled Aria to come closer to him.
"Mr. Hamish. As you've noticed them, open the box," said Johnathan reaching out towards the boxes.
"Um, what's inside?" asked Mr. Hamish confused.
"Nothing dangerous."
Mr. Hamish feels an ominous aura coming out from the boxes. He slowly takes one of the boxes and moves it closer to him. Mr. Hamish gulps his saliva to ease his anxiety and slowly opens the first box. As soon as Mr. Hamish knows what's inside, he immediately closes his eyes because of how unsettling it is to see a young woman's head. He gently closes the box and shifts it towards Johnathan.
"Who's the girl, sire?" asked Mr. Hamish as he put his gently clenched hand between the eyes, praying for her soul.
"Her name is Nina Barbet, and she's the second victim of the case I've told you earlier." Johnathan puts his hand on Aria's lower back and pushes her a little. "Let me introduce you to the survivor of said case, Aria Florence."
"N-nice to meet you, Mr. Hamish," Aria bowed a little.
"Uh, yeah, nice to meet you too, young lady," Mr. Hamish frantically.
"She have been living in terror in past few years because of that 'incident'. Along with Nina Barbet and another one," Johnathan added.
Mr. Hamish was shocked by what he had just heard. He looks at Johnathan and the unopened box back and forth.
"Then... are you saying... that... this is..." said Mr. Hamish as he tried to hold his tears.
"I won't say anything about what's inside the box. You need to see by yourself," said Johnathan with calm tone.
Mr. Hamish takes the second box with his shaking hand closer. He's trying his best to keep his thought calm, but his heart keeps crashing like a tidal wave. Mr. Hamish decides to open the box all the way. The moment he sees what's inside, he can't hold his tears anymore. He's crying while gently caressing the young woman's head in the second box, which belongs to Jodie Harris. It takes a while until Mr. Hamish calms down and closes Jodie's box. Mr. Hamish wipes his tears and tidies up his clothes before looking Johnathan in the eye.
"*ahem* So, how much is it?" asked Mr. Hamish with a raspy voice.
"Two years of your life. But the choice is yours." said Johnathan as he reached out his hand.
Mr. Hamish understands what Johnathan means but is still confused about what to choose. He peeks several times at Aria and Johnathan, then lowers his head and stops for a moment. Mr. Hamish lifted up his head after taking a deep breath.
"My life span. Take it," said Mr. Hamish as he took Johnathan's hand.
"Deal," said Johnathan with a brimming smile.
Johnathan and Mr. Hamish's hand is glowing gently red, like a wave. In Aria's eyes, as if there's an afterimage of Mr. Hamish gets sucked into Johnathan's hand. After Johnathan has his payment, he releases Mr. Hamish's hand. But Mr. Hamish is having trouble with his breathing after the process. Aria tries to help Mr. Hamish, but Mr. Hamish quickly waves his hand, telling Aria not to. Mr. Hamish coughed several times, but he managed to control his breath.
"That means, our business is concluded. Pleasure doing business with you," Johnathan said as he stood up and gave his hand again for a handshake.
"Uh, *cough* yeah. Thank you, sire. I'll take my leave," said Mr. Hamish as he bowed down and did not take Johnathan's hand.
Johnathan is surprised by it and quickly retracts his hand.
"You may bring the box, Mr. Hamish,” said Johnathan. “Grace will escort to the gate as soon as you exit this room."
"T-thank you. Have a good day, sire," Mr. Hamish said before took the Jodie’s box and quickly leaving the room.
After Mr. Hamish closes the door on his way out, Johnathan retakes a seat.
"Aria. All this might confuses you, but I'll try to explain it as simple as I can. Everything is this world, has a price. And the price is depends on how much you want it," said Johnathan. "I, provides a service that accepts any request, big and small. And the only payment I accepts are gold, and life."
"Then, what will happen to me? I mean, I've become your servant, right?" asked Aria.
"*chuckles*. Well, as long as you obey me, you will do just fine." Johnathan gets up and picks up Nina's box. "With you here, this Mansion will be merrier," said Johnathan as he patted Aria's shoulder.
Johnathan walks away from Aria and heads towards the door.
"Then, what should I do now?" asked Aria right before Johnathan opened the door.
"Get to know with my other servants. They'll know what to tell you," said Johnathan as he opened the door. "Oh, I almost forgot. From now on, you will address me as 'Master'," Johnathan then left the room and Aria inside.
Aria stands there, confused with that much information. But in all her confusion, only one sentence is certain for her.
"Understood, Master", answered Aria as she bowed a little towards the door.
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The next day, at the Central Police Station, Andrew and Samuel sit silently in front of the Chief of Police at the Chief's office. Whenever Chief looked at them, they always turned their face away. After fifteen minutes of silence and face throwing, Chief heaved a big sigh.
"This is why we need people like Johnathan to handle cases like this. Do you understand, Andrew?" said the Chief.
"Yeah yeah. Goddamn it. I'm going out." Andrew took his jacket and left the room.
"Samuel. I know that have been through a similar event like this. But I'm sure you're accustomed to it," the Chief continued.
"I do, Chief. But let's pray that Andrew will."
"You right. Samuel, you may leave the room."
Samuel simply nods and leaves the room. The Chief leans back on his chair and looks at the ceiling. He worries that it is a good decision to let Andrew goes off like yesterday, knowing well enough what Andrew saw yesterday may shatter him spiritually. The Chief frowns for a while and immediately grabs a blank paper. He begins making a note with several pieces of advice for the fake report that both of them will make.