The day progressed so fast you would never be able to reach up. As the day dragged by, Linda grew more isolated and more afraid. She felt ensnared. Trapped in the villa with Inmortals. She felt lost and grieved about her parents. If she could see them one more time, she'd be grateful. She wished she was never deceived or fooled into being embroiled in such a case.

Two days had passed by and Andrew was rarely seen in the villa. It's like he magically just appears and disappears during the nighttime. Exactly 4:00 PM, Linda stayed in her room combing through her wardrobe to declutter it. She barely had enough clothes for the maximum of five. As she decluttered her wardrobe, she suddenly felt a warm liquid drop to her skin. It was warm but hot, tickling her skin badly.

She gasped, looking at the spot where the pain prickled. It looked red in colour like that of pure blood. It burned through her skin, the spot appearing swollen. Although, she didn't have any skin injury. It just stayed on her skin burning her. She hissed in pain racing into the bathroom to soothe the burning sting.

"What's this?" She asked herself soothing the pain with cool water. Surprisingly, just as it came, it went back, the burning pain dissolving.

"Huh?" She narrowed her eyes. A voice came chipping in.

"Sweetie?" Abriana's voiced out. She had just returned from the garden to get fresh flowers for their room.

"What happened?" Abriana asked looking at the intricate girl who stood still in the bathroom. Her face was heated up with the air that came in contact with the spot that just recovered.

"N-nothing.", She lied smoothening the skin with her fingertip. She had known Abriana to be inquisitive and won't let matters fly out of the window like that. She didn't want to make Abriana worried more than she was.

"You can't lie to me, hunny." Abriana's voice sounded hurt. "You can tell me what's bugging you." She assured.

Linda sauntered back into her room and sat on her bed, caressing her arm in the process. "Something happened." She started remembering the red gory liquid that burnt her skin.

"I was g-going through my clothes when I felt a bloody liquid fall on my s-skin." She whispered audibly. "I went into the bathroom to soothe the pain. As soon as the water came in contact, I saw it vanish before my eyes." She described.

Abriana stood still, listening to everything speechlessly. At the back of her head, she knew the answer. She knew what the bloody liquid embodies.

"Are you hurt?" Asked Abriana. Linda could sense the skepticism in her voice but forced it away.

"No," Linda said. "Do you know any reason behind the-"

"Linda, I don't." Abriana intervened. She didn't want the girl to know yet. She had to make sure Linda would first want to accept the fact. The fact that she belonged to the devil.

"S-sure?" Linda swallowed thickly. "Sure," Abriana answered back, looking at the short girl who sat on the bed.

After a few minutes of beguiling Linda that she knew nothing about the blood drip on her skin, she helped Linda declutter her wardrobe and help clean the room while Linda went to take her bath

Eventide soon came and Linda hadn't been called for any work. Some of the maidens sat outside the villa talking to one another while eluding some of their work. She sat in her room looking outside through her window.

It was dark, the night breeze was slackening. Her room was her comfort zone and she liked it. Away from whatever was outside the door. She didn't want to face Andrew. Not after the visit to Cavda. A weird place she knew nothing about.

She dreaded for her family. She wanted to return home to see them and embrace them in warm hugs. She missed her life back in those days.

What has happened to them? Are they ok? Are they happy?

She meditated.

She ran her hands through her black hair followed by an exhalation. Only if they knew what she was facing here. The countless stories she had heard about Death markers and how they lived. She knew nothing about the outside world yet and this was just the introduction.

She needed to be free. She needed back her old life.

Her body resounded with thought as she sat near her window looking down at the gossiping maidens.

Since she had arrived here, she had never thought of interacting with one of the maidens. She didn't know if she was shy, scared or didn't just want to mingle with them. A few of them had tried talking to her but just as any conversion she had with outsiders, she ended up pursuing them away. She wasn't comfortable. It wasn't her fault either. That was just how socially awkward she was.

Although she had Uria and Abriana, she was more social with them. The trio was attached to themselves like chains. However, she never revealed any of her feeling to them. She kept them all in. Holding them and embracing them. Pain and happiness. Everything.

Still lost in thoughts, she didn't bother to miss the small whistle she heard across the room. She felt her mind was lost or she was just hearing things but then, she heard the whistle again, this time, louder than before. It shook her to the core.

Something was creepy about it. The way it sounded and where it came from. It sounded like the voice was in her room and not just enunciating crossed the room. The voice was in her room. Everywhere.

At first, she thought it was Uria but then, Uria had gone back to hell. Notwithstanding, Uria never whistled. How strange she thought.

She stood up from where she sat and walked to the end of her bed where she tried to listen to where the voice came from. Her lips were thinned into a straight line as she tried to search for the voice.

Her small fist was tied into small balls. Then just like that, silence overcame the whole room.

She didn't hear the whistle but then;

A small gasp escaped her lips when she found herself being thrown on the bed and then she was being hauled by her hair.

She struggled to escape the terrible danger she was in. She felt herself being trapped between two tight spaces.

Her hands tried to fight whatever was laying her back and strangling her. It was like a force. She tried to breathe. Her lungs gasping for air. She was wheezing, fighting for air. Air that didn't reach her lungs. Almost at that spot, she tried to get up. She felt she was dying. Suffocating almost.

She cried, fighting and trying to scream.

Still, in danger, something caught her eyes.

Someone did.

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