I felt water splash across my face.

“Huh, w-what’s going on?”

Suddenly, memories came flooding down like a river.

Rose!

She’s dead. That’s why I lost consciousness. Merely remembering that moment was enough to make me want to stay wherever I was and die, but I gathered some courage and opened my eyes.

I was lying on the kitchen floor and Petra was in front of me, waking me up with a bucket of water that I had no clue where she had found.

“Finally, you’re awake! You’ve only been out for a couple of minutes, everything should be alright. Can you walk?”

I stood up without an issue, yet I still couldn’t forget the sight of Rose’s corpse leaning against the puke filled toilet. I knew it would haunt me for the rest of my life.

Just as I thought things couldn’t be worse, Lucia showed up without a warning.

“Oh, you’re awake? Splendid. I’ve already explained this to everyone, however I need to give them time to mentally prepare themselves since Rose’s death struck them particularly hard."

I also needed a lot of time to function normally after what I saw, but Lucia kept talking while I looked at her without changing my expression.

"Basically, the traitor isn't the one who killed Rose, one of you little rascals did it. Lucky for me, I had a plan for this exact situation. I'll give everyone time to investigate whatever place they want and later whoever wants can participate in a discussion to find the killer. Whatever happens after that discussion will stay a secret. I'll only let you know that bad things might happen if the people at the meeting get it wrong."

After the next time I blinked, she was gone. I was overwhelmed again, unable to think properly. The only thing I did was accidentally stare at Petra, I didn’t have much else I could do in a situation like this. I’ve never seen a dead body or investigated a murder before, same as every other normal teenager.

“Are you alright?” Petra asked me as she noticed my sorrow filled eyes.

“H-how am I supposed to be alright? You were closer to the body than I was, how are you still talking so calmly? Are you insane? Do you not feel fear?”

“What are you talking about? Of course I’m scared. I’m terrified, but it’s something I need.”

“I’m confused.”

“Everyone needs fear. It tells you that there’s danger ahead and lets you prepare. Of course, it’s bad if you let it take over you, but you should always be afraid in dangerous situations. I’m pretty sure we’d all be dead by now if nobody was scared.” Very philosophical… I have a feeling that Petra doesn’t actually mean that, she probably just wants to calm me down.

“A-Alright, I’ll go.”

Where to go? What to investigate? The only possible cause of death is poisoning, even though Alex and I threw away all the poison in a place where it surely lost all effects, plus, nobody can reach it.

Petra interrupted my thinking.

“I can take over the investigation for now, but it would help a lot if you went to the second floor and got their entire group down here. We found Dante and Eden while I carried you to the kitchen and they said that they had already met you. Since they didn’t even see the corpse, they were already prepared to help out. Dante wasn’t even scared, he went off to investigate saying that the Gods would protect him or something like that.”

“Alright, I’ll do that.”

And with that, I left the kitchen and went to the second hall through the staircase in the main hall. Since the staircase had two ways to the second floor, one leading to the right wing and the other to the left I had to make a choice of where to look first. Remembering that the right wing of the first floor had stairs, I realized that the rooms on the right wing couldn’t be large enough to have four rooms so I went to the left wing.

Unlike the first floor's left wing, there was only one door to enter which led to a big hallway with two available directions, left and forward. I came up to the door closest to the main hall which was on the path forward, on my left. I grabbed the doorknob, but before I could open the door I heard an unfamiliar and monotone voice.

“Hands in the air.”

I quickly turned around. On the other side of the hallway was a girl with a blonde bob haircut, wearing a dark white t-shirt and a green skirt. I started to slowly put my hands up after seeing her, but she was too impatient.

“I said hands in the air,” she said and pulled out a glock from behind, which she probably kept between her back and skirt.

I froze in place with my hands back up not knowing what to do.

Are you kidding me?

“Your name?”

“A-Adam.”

“Why are you in this mansion?”

“W-Well I was, I-I mean-”

“Just give me quick answers or I’ll blow your brains out.”

“Lucia trapped me.”

“Then how come you weren’t with us since the beginning?”

“Lucia separated us into groups. Please don’t shoot! Dante and Eden will confirm it for you.”

She put her gun down, though I could tell she still didn’t fully trust me.

“What are you doing on the second floor? You weren’t here yesterday.”

“Someone from my group was murdered and we want everyone to investigate and discuss who did it.”

“So, finding the traitor? I’m in.”

“The culprit isn’t the traitor. Lucia confirmed it.”

“Then don’t waste my time.”

She walked away without giving me a chance to convince her to join us.

At least I didn’t get shot.

I kept looking around the second floor hallway, completely forgetting about the room I wanted to enter and, without much effort, I found the bedrooms. They occupied the part of the left wing that was closer to the main entrance, the hallway containing them was above the dining room as well as some unused space on the first floor.

Each room had a nameplate above, just like the bedrooms for my group.

Amy.

Blake.

Dante.

Eden.

So, Blake’s the only one I haven’t met? That’s good, I think at least.

I knocked on Blake’s door.

“Who is it?” I heard a somewhat sickly voice from the other side.

“Adam.”

“I don’t remember there being an Adam, how’d you get here?”

“There are more than four of us here. Lucia put four on the first floor and four here.”

“Really? And why am I only now hearing about it?”

“I met Dante and Eden earlier today so that’s how we found out, I’m also here because we need help.”

“You haven’t even seen my face and you’re asking for help?”

Before I was even able to say anything Blake kicked the door open. He was fairly buff and had shoulder-length blond hair. His outfit was rather casual, nothing more than a dirty t-shirt, black sweatpants and pink slippers.

"Alright, now you've seen me. What kind of help do you need?"

"Well, one of the people in my group got killed and we want everyone to investigate."

"Just look for clues around the entire first floor?"

"Yes, nothing more."

“Then see ya!” he coughed and then waved before turning around.

“Wait, before you go, I have a question.”

“Ask away.”

“Before I found you, I ran into Amy and she pointed a gun at me. I want to know how she got her hands on it.”

“Oh, that? There’s a storage room you probably passed when you entered the left wing, there are a ton of weapons there. You can grab one for yourself if you want.”

I remembered that place I planned on entering before Amy interrupted me.

She must’ve thought I was going to grab a weapon, though I was still confused as to how they let each other have weapons. Nevermind, I don’t have time to think. I have to search the mansion!

The first person I saw downstairs was Alex who was walking through the main hall. He was shaking, I doubted that he had any will to continue.

"Hey Alex, do you need help?"

"N-no, I'm just trying to find some clues. Did you find anything?"

"I haven't started looking, Petra told me to find the rest of the other group on the second floor."

"I thought finding a murderer here would be so easy. How wrong could that be? It took us over a day to even discover that there weren't only four of us in this mansion. Damn it all!"

"Please calm down at least a little bit, I can barely even walk because of all the stress, but we need to find the murderer. Tell me, where do you plan to go now?"

"T-the kitchen and then the room with the dumpster."

"Alright then, you go to the dumpster and I'll take over the kitchen."

"Thank you Adam, I knew I could count on you."

The first thing I had to check out was the fridge. Alex and I had thrown away the poison bottles yesterday, but I needed to see if there were any left.

Nothing unusual. There was no poison inside, only food and normal drinks, nothing that pointed to the culprit.

Dante entered the kitchen shortly after my search began.

“Oh, Adam! Are you feeling better? I prayed while you were unconscious for you to awaken soon and to regain all your energy. I’m glad that you beat off the darkness and got back here safely.”

“Thank you for the kind words, I needed them.”

“That is no problem, you have a strong will, I don’t doubt that you’ll get through this case.”

“You know what? You’re right! Do you have anyone you suspect?

“I am not sure who committed this sin, it’s such an unforgivable act that it’s hard to believe any one of us could be so vile, most if not all of us have not even reached the age where the law would let us become drunkards. Although, even with that, I do have someone who I think had the biggest chance of committing this outrageous act. Alex.”

“Why him?”

“I talked with lady Petra while she searched the shed in the backyard and she had told me how you and Alex heaved away the devil’s liquid from the kitchen. That narrowed me to you two as main suspects. Quite fortunately, she brought up that it was Alex who gained the idea. Sentin, the God that protects us, has not spoken to me yet, so I cannot confirm if my doubts are true, but beware, there certainly is a risk.”

That was enough to tell me where my next destination was. The trash room.

While I was walking through the hallway on the way there, I didn't run into Alex. I assumed he was still inside the trash room, so I entered expecting to see him there. Instead, I was greeted by nothing but emptiness and the faint smell of garbage coming from below. I looked down to see if the bag with poison was still down there.

Nothing changed. I scratched my head and before I was able to make my next decision the door opened behind me.

"Oh, you've come to check here too, Dante?"

"I have arrived here for multiple reasons. I decided to check if you trusted my words of suspicion about your dear friend Alex, although I still cannot guarantee your innocence. If sinners like these were fools, they'd merely wonder about the mansion akin to a headless fly. Sadly, they are not fools, they know how bad of an act they committed, and they must hide it well."

After he said that, Dante was about to leave, but I stopped him.

"Wait, you said you came here for multiple reasons. Don't you plan on doing something else here?"

"I actually do, bless you for reminding me. I opened the drawers in the kitchen right after you left and I found something quite intriguing."

Dante proceeded to pull out a syringe from his pocket.

"Take a very close look at this syringe. Do you see it?"

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I brought my eyes close to the syringe and immediately noticed that it was used because it had a bit of liquid inside.

"There is no doubt about it, this syringe was used to carry out the act!"

This could’ve been used as a weapon. It didn't give away any hints leading to the killer, yet someone could probably connect it to a clue someone else found.

Out of nowhere, I heard a loud sound.

Wait, I recognize that noise. It was the clock in the main hall. Maybe we were done investigating? No, it was too early for that!

I went out to the main hall and Dante followed me. I doubt he knew about the clock, but then again it was definitely loud enough to be heard from the second floor.

I already expected to see Lucia in the main hall, although this time I wasn’t happy that I was correct about something. She waited for everyone to show up, although that didn’t take too long.

"There you are. I’m here to inform you that the time for investigation is over. If you are interested in participating in the discussion, you may head over to the dining room.”

“Already?” Petra said, confused, “You said you’d give us a lot of time!”

“I know, I know, I just got bored waiting. Head over to the dining room or don’t. I don’t care as long as there are at least two people who choose to come.”

I looked at Dante, my face filled with shock yet again. I didn’t want to admit it, but I was afraid. Afraid of the truth, afraid of what Lucia planned to do during the discussion. Dante didn’t say a word, he merely tipped his tophat and started walking towards the dining room and I followed him.

We went inside and sat down, one after another. I took a look at everyone that was inside. Even Amy was there, I assumed she wouldn’t do anything after our interaction.

Let me see… I checked if everyone was there. Petra, Alex, Dante, Amy, Blake… Wait, Eden isn’t here!”

The door closed behind me and Lucia entered.

“This is nothing short of amazing, Eden was the only one who refused to participate, I honestly expected way more of you to be more cautious of me. Well, I won’t question it, losing a friend, even after knowing them for less than a day must hurt, right? Hmm, now that I think about it, I don't think some even had the opportunity to meet her. How depressing."

“You’re telling me Eden refused to participate?” Dante stood up, “Why would he do such a thing?”

“Sit down.” Lucia replied with a stern voice and, without hesitation, Dante sat down even though his face still showed his disappointment.

“Alright, now that everyone has sat down I can begin explaining how the discussions work. During the discussion I will stay here in case people start interrupting each other. Everyone needs to get their opinions in, so I absolutely cannot let anyone talk over anyone else, please keep that in mind. Next, I should probably explain how to actually get a conversation going since I doubt you had ever discussed a murder, though it is pretty simple. Just bring up the time of death or murder weapon or someone who could have a possible motive, anything you can think of that could help you get closer to the killer. Once the majority agrees on a culprit, I’ll end the discussion and what happens afterwards depends on the culprit you selected since I know who did it.”

"Wait, can you elaborate on the part where you said what was going to happen after the discussion?" I asked Lucia, my body shaking slightly.

"Of course not, the element of mystery is important for a good discussion. Now, let's begin."

“Understood.” Petra said with a calm voice. She lost her optimistic attitude, but not her cool.

“The Gods tell me that we first must figure out what killed the lady before anything else, the murder weapon if you will.”

“This might make us the prime suspects,” Alex said, “ although I have to say that it was definitely the poison Adam and I carried out yesterday.”

“So you already admit your deeds. Not even I would expect such a hasty confession.”

“No, I didn’t commit the murder, I’m simply bringing up that the poison was used in some way. I have no clue how anyone could’ve gotten their hands on it, maybe someone else knows.”

Amy raised her hand.

“What stopped anyone from getting their hands on the poison?”

“We threw it in the mansion’s dumpster, a giant hole in one of the rooms on the first floor. It’s too deep, if anyone tried getting down there, they’d break their legs and most likely die.”

“Are you pretending to be dumb for your own safety or are you actually that stupid?”

“Huh?”

“The rope, you idiot. Didn’t one of you discover it before the murder occurred. That’s what I figured.”

“Rose and I found it shortly before her death, but nobody went in that room before us then.”

“I can’t talk with someone this senseless, can someone else explain to him how insanely stupid that sentence was?”

Blake finally decided to join in.

“Amy, do you know something we don’t? You’re starting to seem suspicious too.”

“Isn’t it obvious? How can anyone be sure that nobody entered the room before?

“Maybe you guys on the second floor did it differently, but everyone down here made sure to have someone with them at all times. That’s why I was with Rose and that’s how I know Petra and Adam couldn’t have entered. If one did, the other would know.”

“At all times?”

“Yes, what’s wrong with that?”

“That would have to mean that you shared rooms, rooms with a single bed too small for two people. I find that quite unlikely. I mean, one person could’ve slept on the floor with a blanket underneath, but I feel like you would’ve mentioned that detail already, were that the case.”

“Of course we didn’t share rooms, there wasn’t enough space for that.”

“Then anyone could’ve snuck out last night.”

Alex didn’t say anything.

"So you've shut up," Amy continued, "then someone must’ve snuck out at night, grabbed the rope and went down the dumpster, took some of the poison and put it in the meal you planned to have the next day if I'm not mistaken."

"I shall agree with this." Dante took off his tophat and placed it on the table "While I took a peek at the kitchen I found a used syringe. The sinner had to have used it to take the poison since the glass bottles broke from the impact of the fall."

When everyone thought they figured something out, I pointed out how wrong that was.

"No, the murder couldn't have happened during the night."

"Oh good, another idiot. Please enlighten us with your supreme knowledge." Amy said in a sarcastic, yet still monotone voice.

"The poison bottles had text written on them. It clearly mentioned that leaving the poison in a place that's not cold will cause it to lose all effects. Even if someone went through all that trouble to poison Rose with that, it wouldn't do anything."

"Then where was the poison that killed Rose? I saw the body, there was nothing else."

"You looked at the body out of your own free will?"

"Of course. I knew none of you had the balls to do it. Even Petra, who I assumed was a bit tougher, didn't dare come close."

I looked at Petra. She was quiet which was out of character for her, yet she didn't look nervous. Instead, she seemed like she knew something most of us didn't and was waiting for the perfect opportunity to say it.

"Another place that could have poison? I think I might know. Blake, I have a question for you."

"Huh? Sure, ask away."

"You told me about the storage room that I didn't get to check. Was there any poison in there?"

"Now that you mention it, I think there were a couple of bottles. Well, I don't know if it was poison, I didn't bother reading the label, however the room had knives, guns, even swords so I think it's safe to assume there were poisons there."

"Then… That puts us all the way back to the start of this discussion."

"It doesn't." Petra stopped our conversation. "The poison from the first floor was used, I can prove it.

"How so?" Amy looked at her confused, yet interested at the same time.

"I assumed Lucia was going to trick us about the amount of time we had to investigate so instead of doing a detailed search, I let everyone focus on searching one or two rooms with full detail so that I could run between every place I wanted to check and look at whatever I could find quickly. One of those places was the storage room. You were right about the poison, there was an entire mini fridge filled with them."

"Then how does that debunk what Adam said? He actually brought up a good point unlike his brain dead friend."

"Adam, do you remember what color the poison bottles in the kitchen were?"

"Dark green, like a beer bottle if I remember correctly. Why does that matter?"

"Because the bottles on the second floor were blue."

"By the Gods, I do not wish to insult a lady, but that argument is dumb. Why would the color of the bottle matter at all if the syringe was used to poison the food?"

"Oh, I'm sorry for not letting you know about that, I do have evidence! The shed in the backyard. While I was looking around the mansion, I remembered that Adam was the only one to go inside the shed so I thought maybe there was something interesting in there. Adam had just gone to the second floor, so I assumed it was best to go inside and see what there is instead of looking around for Adam who would give me less accurate information. For a second I thought there was nothing unusual, but then I noticed one of the corners. Broken glass. Green glass, to be precise."

"That is certainly confusing, I do not know why a bottle could end up on that side of the mansion."

"Why the culprit brought it there confuses me as well, but there was no time for anyone to do that before Alex and Adam threw away the poison, so I think that is enough evidence to prove that the poison is from the first floor."

"I get it, I just realized what happened." I spoke up and put all my energy into creating a coherent sentence. "The killer must've entered the kitchen early in the morning. It could be anyone from the second floor since we don't know when they woke up. I’m not sure when Alex and Petra wake up, but since we don’t have our phones on us, I assumed that they’d follow Lucia’s alarm.”

Petra stared at me.

“That wasn’t possible. The food was hot enough to stop the poison from working. Plus, none of that explains the glass shards in the shed. Everything that you just said is completely meaningless.”

I started sweating.

Amy looked at me, I realized she was aware that I knew something she didn’t, though she still looked away immediately.

“Adam, just admit it already,” she said.

“W-What are you talking about?”

“I didn’t want to mention this as it would make me the most suspicious, but you’ve done me a favor by digging yourself into a hole. At first I wasn’t sure if it was you, but now it’s confirmed, you were outside your room last night at around two in the morning.”

“Why would you assume that?”

“I am not assuming, I saw you.”

“N-no you didn’t, you’re making up stuff! It’s bullshit!”

“I was in the main hall, second floor, right wing. I was investigating alone, I didn’t trust anyone for obvious reasons. By chance I caught a glimpse of two people talking, Lucia and a girl I didn’t recognize back then, but sooner or later learned was Rose. What surprised me afterwards was that a man appeared right after Lucia left, which I instantly recognized the next day when he went to try and convince Blake and I to investigate Rose’s murder, Adam. I couldn’t hear what they were talking about, I assume it was because they didn’t want to wake up anyone else. After only a couple of minutes Rose went back to her room, but Adam went inside the dining room, which was the closest way to the kitchen from where he was. I do not know what he did afterwards, although I will say that this is more than enough evidence pointing towards Adam.”

Everyone including me stayed quiet for a couple of seconds. I was trembling, nervous, afraid. I’ve been hiding the truth even from myself for as long as I could. I wanted to say everything at the beginning of the investigation, but I knew Lucia was planning something, so I thought I could put the blame on someone else.

Petra broke the silence.

“Wait, if you nobody saw where you were last night and you admit to not being in your room, how can we believe your accusations?”

“It’s quite straightforward. You just need to look at Adam. He’s sweating, shaking and isn’t even attempting to debunk what I said. Unless he says something that can prove me wrong, then this is over.”

I gained back some energy.

“You have no proof. You cannot prove I was there!”

“You’re an idiot.”

“I am not an idiot, I am innocent and you’re trying to pass the blame onto me for no reason!”

“I literally saw you! If you weren’t the killer, you wouldn’t be nervous.”

“Of course I’m nervous. You’re accusing me of murder without solid proof and you expect me to stay calm?”

“I do not expect that from you, purely because you know damn well that you did it.”

“I did not!”

“You did.”

“I-”

“Shut up and admit it.”

“I didn’t-”

“I said admit it.”

“Stop interrupting him.” Lucia joined in the conversation, but Amy ignored her and kept trying to make me say that I killed Rose.

“Just fucking admit that you are the culprit, is it that hard?”

“I said I-”

“I don’t care what you said, I am a witness!”

“Amy, stop interrupting, second warning.”

“Alright, I did talk to Rose that night, but nothing more than that. I’m-”

“Spit it out. ‘I’m the killer.’ That is what you’re supposed to say. You. Killed. Rose.”

Lucia walked towards the table and stood right behind Amy. She held Amy by the hand and whispered in her ear, although the whisper was loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Break a rule one more time and I’ll shut you up myself.”

Without a warning, the black nails on Lucia’s hands grew akin to a cat extending its claws, digging into Amy’s arm, making her scream from the sudden pain.

“I hope I made myself clear.” She walked away from the table.

“See what your useless defense leads us to. Come on Adam!” Amy cleaned the blood coming from her hand even though she couldn’t stop the bleeding.

Everybody was now even more afraid of Lucia than they were before, including me.

“I-I killed Rose!”

Everyone looked at me in shock. I admitted it so easily. I wasn’t the one speaking, my own fears took my thoughts and showed them to everyone.

“Adam. I perceived you as a good man, someone who I could give my blessings to. Why would you do something so unspeakable?”

“‘But we need to find the murderer’, you said.” Alex added. “Did you not even think that there was a chance of killing someone innocent?”

Everyone must’ve been thinking the same, they all looked extremely uncomfortable.

I’ll explain why I did it, I’ll connect all the dots. It’s already over, so this won’t change anything. I already fucked up.

“It all started when Alex and I found the poison bottles,” I pushed myself to speak, “prior to us throwing it away. Alex went to find a place where we could drop the bottles which left me alone with more than enough time to take one of the bottles and put it deep inside the fridge where the other, larger bottles with normal drinks would cover it. I didn’t plan to use it until I found out who the traitor was, but I acted before I could fully confirm anything. After everyone was in bed I wanted to explore the mansion on my own, but I was surprised right before I opened the door to the main hall.”

“That was Rose and Lucia talking?” Petra asked.

“Yes, I heard voices and I recognized them pretty quickly. After a bit I heard Lucia leave so I went into the main hall in hopes of getting some information out of Rose. I acted friendly, but I noticed that Rose was definitely nervous, maybe she assumed that I heard the entire conversation. I barely heard anything. As discreetly and quickly as she could, she ended the small talk and went back to her room. I was convinced she was the traitor, or more precisely, wanted to think I already found the traitor.”

“Yet another idiotic move from one of you guys?” Amy sighed.

“While we talked, she mentioned how she was going to prepare some sausages for next day’s lunch and that she found some soda in the fridge that she was going to give to us. That gave me a plan. I went inside the kitchen and poured the poison into the soda without even thinking that she would give it to everyone else too. Then I pulled out the syringe that was deep inside one of the drawers. I first found it when I searched the kitchen with Alex, but it wasn’t a useful clue so I didn’t show him it. I put the syringe in a more obvious place so that someone would connect it to the murder and then I went to throw away the poison bottle in the dumpster.”

“Wait, then why did I find glass shards inside the shed?”

“Well, the other poison bottles were all inside a bag when thrown. I was paranoid that someone would notice that in case we were forced to investigate the murder which I thought we might have had to, so I did the second best thing. I smashed the bottle inside the shed, far enough from the bedroom, so that nobody would hear me and so that nobody would find it. Then I ran to bed and as luck had it, only Rose drank the soda. It was already too late before I left my panicked state and remembered that literally anyone could drink it. Maybe the taste was off so she didn’t give it to anyone, but I didn’t get to lunch until the poison had already kicked in, so I don’t know about that.”

After my long explanation, everyone was speechless. I completely lost my cool and told everything, every little detail. I had already dug my grave, but now I also placed myself inside the casket.

“May I end the talk here?” Lucia said after being silent for the entire discussion. “I believe everyone here has already decided who they think is the culprit.”

“Yes, you may.” Dante spoke in an angry, yet sad voice.

“Well, this doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but Adam is indeed the culprit.”

“W-What will happen to me?”

“Don’t you worry, I’ll make sure to put on a show!”

“W-What?”

Lucia grabbed me and threw me into the main hall hard enough that I almost reached the door to the right wing. The lights started flickering. With each flicker one of the people in the dining room disappeared until there was only Lucia.

“How are you doing this? Why are the lights out?” I shouted, hoping someone other than Lucia would hear me. The lights flickered one last time and Lucia was already in my face, she somehow teleported during that flicker. She held both of my hands hard enough that I couldn’t move them at all.

This demon! How? How is anything in front of me actually happening? I was pushed to murder someone and now this! I have to fight for my life!

Without warning, her sharp nails grew again, digging into my skin, causing my arms to bleed. I screamed.

“The nails should be the least of your worries,” she whispered before bursting into loud laughter.

Her face looked excited, it looked like it was about to come apart and, as that thought crossed my mind, exactly that happened.

Her face split in four, all of the sides going to the side away from the other parts, leaving nothing but flesh in the center. The edges of her face where she split was even more horrifying.

Teeth.

A bunch of sharp, large and dirty teeth. A chill immediately went through my body and I even accidentally pissed myself, though I was so full of fear that it took me a moment to even notice it.

She lunged towards my face and dug those terrifying teeth in, as well as her sophisticated, yet equally dangerous nails.

I screamed, before and during the excruciating pain, because of shock and because of physical pain. Without any precision or care, I was being ripped apart. Ripped apart. Ripped apart. Ripped…apart. And I kept getting ripped apart like a helpless and weak wild animal.

The darkness turned from black to an ugly shade of red as terror continued. It felt like the change of color was somehow stabbing me along my entire body, only adding to the pain that I could’ve never imagined before.

Then everything froze. A cold breeze chased away the red and as the darkness became pitch black again, Lucia disappeared, along with my pain and along with my fragile consciousness.