Chapter 19

'When will she going to stop this?' The girl asked herself while staring at the thin air. Hands-on the top of her knees while she's in crouching position. Blood didn't stop from streaming down to her back. Every move that she's going to make, those open wounds at the backaches.

She let out an agonizing whimper as she tried to stand up. The chains rattle when she made her way to the corner as she heard footsteps outside. Familiar footsteps.

"Are you going to crouch at the corner all day?! Stand up! I never told you to do that!" The girl flinched. She endures the penetrating pain on her back and stands up.

"So, how's my little piece of crap toy doing now?" The woman hummed as her eyes trailed into the kid's pale skin with dried blood and patches of bruises.

"Are you planning to escape here?" She asked gently and sweetly, enough to make the kid in front of her shake more.

"N-No." Her small body is suffering from pain because of the beating that she received this yesterday. It's a surprise to the woman since the kid can manage to stand up even though she received twenty whips on her back.

"Don't worry." The woman removed her cat-eye sunglasses and rolled her tongue on her red and plumpy lips as she staring at the girl whose head held down eyes are on the ground. Using her free hand with red gloves on, she touched her small yet swollen face.

"Do you want to get out of here, darling?" She asked, despite her use of her sweet and gentle tone her eyes tell how much she wants to kill the girl in front of her now if it's not because of someone who's doing everything she wants because of the small girl.

"Answer your mother, darling."

The girl abhorred the endearment. Now, she can't deny that she can't withstand her voice, face, everything on the woman. Every time she heard that voice, she saw her silhouette standing at the doorway, she feels nothing but fear. The fear that consumes her every second, minute, and day.

In her everyday life, she didn't forget to wish that she die. She's tired of enduring the pain that almost kills her. The girl never wished to someone save her from the hands of the abusive 'mother' of hers. The emotion that she only feels and living with her now is only her fear. Her smile finally vanished after day-by-day beatings. Her eyes whose used to have full of emotion went into the stone-cold ones and always meet the artificial yet flickering lighting of the room where she is. The girl didn't know what day or time is it since she got jailed inside the cold room. No windows, only the vent, and the door are the passageway inside.

"I-I'm n-not going outside. A criminal like me d-don't deserve to see the outside world again."

"Good."

"Trance wake up." Trance almost fall from her bed if it's not Haru who instantly yanked her arm and pull her back to the bed.

Trance groaned before she covers herself with her blanket and went back to sleep. But then, instead of shaking his sister to wake her up, Haru just sits beside her. He's seating at his knees before he yawned and lay beside her.

She shuffled to face her little brother who's nodding off now and asked him: "It's so early in the morning, Haru. What's up with you?" Trance remained her eyes close.

"Valdez." The younger murmurs before successfully went back on sleeping. Trance nodded while her eyes remain shut.

"Wait, Valdez?" She asked him again while squinting slowly. Haru didn't answer. Trance repeat that surname ten times before she popped her eyes open and leap down to her bed.

"It's 10:30!" Trance said in a panic tone before she rushed to the bathroom and shut the door recklessly.

'I told you.' Haru thought before he closes his eyes again then rolled into his sister's bed and cover himself with her blanket. The boy didn't waste the moments of silence and continue his interrupted nap before the walk-in closet's door open and reveal Trance who's already wearing a simple black oversized shirt paired with jeans and socks on while drying up her hair. She sits beside the boy with the blower in her hand before asking: "Haru, why you didn't wake me up?" Haru rises from his slumber and rubbed his eyes lazily.

"Yeah, yeah, you wake me up but I didn't move. Rather than doing my routine so I can get there early." Trance said before brushing her dried hair. She scanned her younger brother who's wearing a pantaloon paired with white buttons up and long sleeve polo that seems big for him.

"Are you going with me?" It took for Haru to respond to his sister but he nods his head.

"Did I make you wait?" Trance can now understand her silent little brother who's too lazy to open his mouth to talk. Thanks to Hiro who teach her how to understand his twin. Haru shook his head slowly, making Trance smile at him.

"Okay then, we'll be going now. I need to wear my shoes. You should wear yours now." Even he didn't want to leave the bed, Haru stands up and marches towards the door.

"Felix, teacher is finally here!" Samuel yelled from downstairs, Felix shuffled from laying down and take his phone to text something to his brother.

Meanwhile, Samuel's phone beeped so the boy immediately checked it out. He motioned Trance to wait for a while.

'Tell her that come on my room. If she said that she's not coming here, tell her the word 'library.'

After reading his brother's message, Samuel slides his phone inside of his pocket and eyes Trance who's patiently waiting.

"Felix said that go upstairs, on the last room of the left corridor. Just knock." Trance gripped on the straps of her backpack and go upstairs.

'On the last room of the left corridor.' She recalled what Samuel said. Despite being anxious, Trance knocked three times before she gripped the strap of her bag. She hears a dark chuckle on the other side of the door.

"My Trance is here." The door opened and reveal the male's informal clothes. Trance remained on stoic expression to hide the agitating sensation as if there's spider crawling under her skin. Trance rubbed her own thumb against her fingers rolled into a knuckle. She turned away, ignoring the fact that her blood started to boil again in wrong time of the day.

"Make yourself comfortable." He opens the door widely and motioned Trance to get inside. Felix closed the door as he looked at Trance's back.

"Why did you close the door?"

"Of course. I can't concentrate when that door is open." Trance eyed him before she scanned the whole room. Huge gray walls, white ceiling with beautiful and expensive lighting. Although she's wearing only her socks now, Trance can feel how fluffy and comfortable the carpet is. Trance knows that every piece of stuff in this room has expensive value.

"Place it." The girl almost jumps when Felix takes her bag from her and places it on the top of his study table. "There." He hauled the chair and sit on it.

"Oh! Your chair?" Trance didn't respond, instead, she walks towards the study table and open her bag.

"It's okay for me if I'm going to stand." She said and start rummaging it just to search for her pen.

"Where's your test papers? Your textbooks?" Felix tapped his fingers on his cheek while looking at her.

"I left it all on my locker but I have my test papers here." He pulled the drawer where his papers are and handed it all to Trace.

Trance scanned it by the second time to make sure if she's not mistaken. His exam scores are the worst but he got a good score on Mathematics.

Trance cleared her throat and looked at Felix before saying: "We should start on Chemistry."

"You got the wrong answer on number 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18. It should be Mercury, Boron, Iron, Titanium, Helium, Gold and Phosphorus." Trance said and leaned at the table.

"Alright, should I going to repeat it?" Trance nodded.

They study for eight hours long and Trance doesn't have problems with Felix since he learns fast. They're done studying History, Literature, and other subjects where Felix has problems. Since the male beside her can process and understand what she's saying.

"I can deal with this exam alone but I'm not going to get myself tired if you're here."

"Ha! Who makes you think I'm going to do this again?" Trance said sarcastically while putting her books back in her bag.

"It's getting dark now, why don't you stay here for a while and have dinner with us?" Felix invited her. The girl paused for a moment. He watches her with a cold as ice look.

"I'm not going to kill you or your brother, you can't say no too."

"Are you done with your threat?"

"Trance Miyazaki doesn't take big boss' words seriously, huh?"

"I've heard things like it before. Make it more thrilling, Valdez."

"Then what about this?" Trance puts down her pen after a clicking sound echoes inside the four walls. She stared at it's rim before clasping her hand on it's barrel, "Thank you for the good question, Sir. I was wondering about how people gets brave when they hold a gun just to put justice on their hands. Acting like a god, telling people that they can took away their lives in a mere pull of the trigger. I've dance with death many times. I've done that in any types and even sing with it. Do you think threatening me on that day will scare the shit out of me?"

"To be honest, I don't since you're a heroine yourself and you're not afraid. Why would I waste my energy over uninteresting thing?"

"Really? Eyes don't lie after all." Trance held his hand on her trigger then smiled in mischief, "Twinkle twinkle little star, let's see if you can do it that far. Up above the world so high like a diamond in the sky." She releases Felix's gun on her grasp after a knock.

"Felix, tell Trance that they should take their dinner here, I cooked!"

"Sure thing, Samuel! Haru and I will dine here! Give me second!"

Samuel is making himself busy cooking in the kitchen while Felix is just watching him. Trance and Haru left in the living room. Haru is asleep in a crouching position and Trance is watching a movie. Boredom strikes her so she stood up and went outside. But instead of distracting herself by admiring the stars, Trance froze on her feet after she witnesses something.

From not that far from where she is, Trance saw lights and a hole in the mid-air, and two silhouettes of persons jump inside of it. She is left flabbergasted as she watches how the two persons jump out of the hole.

"Stop playing you two!" She flinched when she heard a voice yell. A familiar voice of a girl. Trance now finally sees them, four girls wearing black clothing.

"We're not playing Hera!"

"Shut it, Demeter,"

"Artemis reporting, no any movements from the target."

"We got an unwanted visitor here." A man said as he eyed Trance. Four girls looked at her in shock.

"Great, we got a problem now. Nine reporting, we got a miscalculation here." A tall lady wearing a black cape speaks up in a deep, boy-like voice. Trance is about to run inside but a hunter-looking girl appears in front of her and dragged her inside the hole. Trance scream but her mouth got covered by the girl and pointed a knife at her neck.

"Scream and I'll slip you throat."