/ HEIDI /
The scene before me is a bloodbath.
Bodies lay scattered across the floor, the once vibrant celebration now turned into a grotesque beano of death.
My legs feel like lead as I force myself to move. And I hear another piercing cry with two more almost immediately, thuds resonating in my ears, each sound paralyzing me with fear.
The terror grows so much that it becomes numbing, leaving me to stare blankly at the blood-pooled floor. But then a thought slices through my foggy mind—Hunter.
Is his corpse among these? How about Dad Griffin, Dad Tad, and Morton—where are they?
“Saturn, I need help!” I scream, except I don’t hear my voice, as the words barely escape my lips in a hoarse whisper.
I frantically begin to search the hall. There has to be someone alive, someone who isn’t lying in this gruesome display of devilish deeds. Fortunate if that person is Hunter or other members of my family. But unfortunate when I spot a familiar satin cloth shimmering under the dim light.
Now that certainly is not Saturn, is it? No, I hope not. However, rushing over, I find the girl’s pale body in the blood pool, her heart dug out of her chest.
“No…” I whisper in disbelief. Surely, this has to be another dream—a fucking nightmare. “No! That’s not you, Saturn. Please… no…” My voice trails off as my palms cover my mouth.
The girl I saw minutes ago can’t be dead.
This is a dream, right? Another damn illusion!
Panic-stricken, wide-eyed, and my heart pounding, I race back up the stairs. But when I burst into Hunter’s room, I find it is empty—no trace of Saturn nor her scent.
Fuck, no.
I lean against the wall and slide down to the floor, gripping my braids with frail fingers as tremors wrack my body.
Pain overwhelms me as the urge to cry rises in my lungs. But the tears won’t flow. Even staring blankly at the patterned floor only channels more misery to my broken mind. A misery that suddenly morphs into bravery when the thought of Hunter brings me to my feet.
There’s a subconscious urging me to escape the mansion. Yet, it doesn’t occur to me to listen as I speed down to the hall faster than a meteor flashing across the sky.
My fear seems drowned in a sea of emotions as I search the hall again, going through the bodies carefully so as not to miss a familiar face.
Like Saturn, their hearts are all ripped out, which convinces me somehow that this might be another dream.
“Hunter? Dad?” I call out with a growing dread and a panging headache feasting on my brain.
When I notice Dad Tad’s body amidst the carnage, my shoulders drop instantly before I fall to my knees in front of his sprawled corpse.
I had hopes… hopes that at least my family would be alive if I didn’t find their bodies. But now― now that hope just disperses into thin air.
“Gods. What’s all this?” I mumble while staring defeatedly at Dad Tad’s open eyes before reaching out to close them.
I sit on my feet; frozen in place for a while. Then someone’s whimper as life leaves their body echoes. But I can’t tell where the voice comes from.
I’m whipping my head around the blood-painted hall in confusion, scrambling to my feet, suddenly aware that the killer’s lurking nearby.
My eyes dart across the archway to the hallway where the light shines bright; a contrast to the near darkness surrounding me.
Something catches my attention—the moving shadow of a large wing cast on the wall, its feathers shaped as deadly spikes, exuding a menacing aura.
The intensity of the fear crawling beneath my flesh renders me unmoving. Or maybe it’s the shadow that has trapped me to a spot.
Cold sweat breaks out on my skin, my hair standing at attention as if commanded by the sight. And even as the ominous shadow disappears, I can’t find the spirit to run.
I’m merely staring at the empty, bloodied space on the wall where it once was while finding it difficult to breathe properly.
A towering figure emerges from the hallway and steps under the archway. The light from the hallway illuminates parts of him—his nose, hair, and shoulders. But the rest of his form remains in darkness, which is why I can’t figure out who he is until he groans.
“Heidi.”
A gasp escapes my lips, relief flooding in, as I only then recognize the silver-blonde hair glinting beneath the light. He’s alive!
“Hunter!” I cry out before sprinting across the room to where he stands.
I collide with his form and wrap my arms tightly around his waist, pressing my face into the warmth of his solid, broad chest.
He doesn’t hug me back, but I’m satisfied with him being alive.
“Are you alright, were you hurt?” I ask quickly as I disentangle before patting his shoulders and pressing his arms. He seems fine to me; except, he isn’t moving. “Say something, Hunter. Did you see who did this?” I ask while searching his distant eye.
As my hands slide down his limb from his forearms to his fingers, I feel something cold and gooey beneath my touch. Then I look down to see what coats them, its coppery tang only now filling my senses.
Blood.
Why does he have blood on his hands?
I notice the gore soaking his clothes too, and his hair’s matted with it. Then my eyes follow a trail to my own bloodstained hands before wandering back to Hunter’s, watching the man let go of the bloodied hearts he cupped in each fist.
Oh, gods! Don’t tell me―
I feel something squeezing my own heart at the sight of that, and a force causes me to stagger back.
In a short moment when the spotlight suddenly flickers across us, I catch Hunter’s emotionless, crimson-streaked face, his expression darkened with an aura from the other side of the moon.
“No. This can’t be happening,” I whisper while shaking my head frantically.
I’m feeling weak, even my legs threaten to let me down. I’m also almost resigned to the probability that whatever this is only plays in my mind. And I hope that’s the case, I really do.
“Hunter, don’t fuck with me again,” I mutter with a breaking tone. “Please tell me this is another damn dream. Please…”
Hunter remains silent, his gaze fixed on me. And as seconds pass without him talking or moving, I feel my world spinning; suffocating me.
This isn’t a dream.
It is my own hell invading—a reality that’s worse than any nightmare I could have ever imagined.
I don’t want to start imagining things, but I can’t help it. Hunter and I seem to be the only survivors after all. And he’s the one looking macabre amongst us both. Gods and Goddesses, please tell me what I’m thinking isn’t true. Tell me Hunter didn’t do this. Bring the murderer before my eyes, so I can be a bit consoled because I cannot deal with this. I just can’t.There’s enough I can take for a week. And this… this is way past my limit that I want to lay atop sun-beaten sand and let the concrete scrape off the memories. Reset the things I’ve just now seen.For the first time, I envy amnesia; and wish that it’d find its way to me, as I cannot dare say what sort of a person would do this—steal people’s lives, turn them into dolls with their blood as art, even leave a hole in their chests. Or I’m probably just naïve and people like these are real. Maybe they’re specks of dust waiting for the right wind to blow them together.But isn’t it unfair—that someone this heartless gets to l
A while ago, before the bloodshed, I would have found the blood on his lips hot. But now, I can’t imagine I fell in love with a beast. Or perhaps he played out his actions so well his barbaric side slipped under his coat. Before this day, I loved everything about him—how he often switched tones, imitating baby voices in our voice calls and notes. Even trying to mimic my voice at times. He’s the same man who made cute as well as sassy expressions. And got accustomed to texting me emojis and funny gifs. Not to forget how he woke me up by sending repeated texts just so my phone would keep dinging. Now that man seems like a distant memory; replaced by this cold, unfeeling stranger.I blink away from the rearview mirror and stare into the darkness ahead of me, bracing myself for the words my mind wills me to say before looking at Hunter’s breathtaking features.Gone are the days when I badly wanted to run my fingers through his hair—when I wished to see what his right eye looked like.
SOME HOURS AGO.Last I checked it was past nine in the morning, and I’ve spent the past eight hours preparing for the event that’ll soon create a rift throughout the country.I stand on the balcony and clutch the handrail before inclining against it, sniffing in crisp fresh air as the late morning dews kiss my skin.Staring at the distant, foggy mountains, my face cracks with a smile. And I’m pleased with how the snowflakes drop slowly. But then the moment is disrupted when my cell phone dings in my apron pocket.“Fuck!”My hands work fast as I put the phone to silence so as not to piss off the person in the bathroom. His ears are the sharpest, that one. So is his tongue.He’d stroll into the room wearing underpants while slinging a towel over his shoulder.‘The hell are you doing on my balcony, Heidi? And leave that phone of yours somewhere that’s not my room, will ya?’ he would say in a raspy voice just before yanking me out of the room.I unlock my phone and tap an unread message. (
In the valley guarded by snow-coated greens and high, misty mountains lies the Whites’ family house. We visit only during Christmas, though celebrating it isn’t a thing.We enjoy the holidays in our style nonetheless—like binge-watching rom-coms or stacking containers of Christmas cookies in the refrigerator or… I don’t know. But one wouldn’t find a trace of festive decorations, even hear a commentary about it in the mansion.For as long as I can remember, this is our first time coming together for a celebration. And there are two halls prepared for it too.I heave a sigh of exhaustion as I stand before the mirror in the servants’ quarters. My eyes are dull and nearly closing under tired lids. And I can still feel shock rolling in my belly at the fact that the mysterious heir to White group is my man. Gazing at the bonnet guarding my hair, I’m more about discarding this wretched apron of woe for something proper—one that looks even a tiny bit pleasing to the eyes.A while back when
I stare at him for a second, then at Saturn, torn between the two who to approach first.After some seconds, I push through the crowd to the girl in a satin dress who has her butt crashing against her lover’s crotch with a glass of drink in hand.“Saturn, my phone, I need it now,” I demand, my voice raised over the music.Saturn lazily rises to her full height and turns to me with a nonchalant expression. Her tousled hair falls over her face, and her breath reeks of alcohol when she slurs, “Yourrr what?”“My damn phone!” I repeat. But I don’t think the girl’s listening.She shouts back, “Don’t know! You should find it in one of these hearths.” The fucking hearths? There’s about eleven of them and she expects me to start digging around each one for what, ashes?“Gods, no, Saturn!” I sigh. How did my phone end up there in the first place? Ask me again why the girl disgusts me.And the best she can do is burp. “Oops, sorry,” she says with a sheepish smile, starting a drunken giggle.I sho
~X~I know their names and looks. Father does too. Stuff took me a year and more to study that I might even begin to list the names of their fetuses.It’s my first time coming to Braevalle, and I’ve heard things about it. Good things. Like how the fruits are heavenly. And how unearthly their young girls look. And… I think the White Mansion took up sixty percent of these compliments—it also happens to be the first stop for tourists.Let me tell ya though, I find the whole thing exaggerated. Braevalle is just as good as every other place but also as quiet as a graveyard, which is bad. Really. Or maybe I hate too much silenc― ouch!Did I just see Hunter’s female guard hitting Heidi’s forehead against a boulder? Yes! And the impact rendered her unconscious on the woman’s body. I want to laugh but then if I do, I’ll be heard and exposed. I’m currently camouflaged in the environment and making a loud sound is… I won’t say it’s dangerous because no one knows me and they can’t catch me if I r
Behind me, Saturn lets out a short triumphant cackle. “Now, you’ll unlock your shit and hand it over, or I promise you, these girls will drag you straight to Dad Griffin. And we both know how quickly he’ll get this sorted before throwing you to the wolves.”Facts! Pure facts. And extremely unfortunate.I hadn’t fully considered the implications of anyone else finding out about my relationship with Hunter. But Saturn has it all figured out. The girl’s smart, I’ll give her that.“Dad Griffin’s rules are ironclad, you know. Having any relationship with commoners is a blunt no. In this case, baby girl, you are the commoner. You’ve seen him dole out harsh punishments for far less.”Hmm, true. Still―“You can’t be certain I have a relationship with Hunter,” I say. After all, the girl only saw a picture. Anyone would suspect I’m fangirling and I won’t fault them for that. What does a wealthy public figure have to do with a servant anyway? I’m sorry, Hunter.“Dad wouldn’t ask for evidence now
After some time, Hunter turns to my direction, and my heart skips a beat as I instinctively lower my head. I shut my eyes and lips tight, screaming within.This nervousness’s crucifying me, only if I’m not already turned cold by the idea of Hunter staring at me—why does it even matterrrr?!“I’ll take her,” he declares, his sonorous voice cutting through Saturn’s words as it brings her chatter to a halt. I imagine her blinking, stunned, and trying to comprehend Hunter’s words. But I too am left bewildered. Hearing his voice in reality for the first time is like having an initial conversation with your celebrity crush. Maybe more than that.The sound is thrilling and exotic; lodges between my ovaries, creating butterflies and their dancing sensations. Anyone would fall for the man without setting eyes on his gorgeous physique.“Take her? For what, Brother?” Saturn’s annoying tone spoils the moment. Could someone beseech the girl to be quiet, even for a second? Her screeching voice is
I didn’t expect Hattie to be up so early after the previous wearing day. Wish she stayed in bed a bit longer, then I wouldn’t have to feel guilty for lying here while she’s in the kitchen working her ass off, although she’s getting her work’s worth.“Hell, the knives are loud,” I mumble as I stroll down the stairs. Hattie’s standing by the kitchen counter, dicing fast. It’s the sound that woke me; whack, whack, whack, it went like a cheetah sporting metal shoes in a race. “Morning, Hattie.”The woman doesn’t look up from her work. “Morning.” I zone out near the entryway, but it doesn’t mean I don’t notice Hattie glancing at me a few times as if silently asking me why I’m standing there. “It’s too early. You should be abed,” she utters before I take a few steps back to peek into the living room. The clock says past seven. Not too early if I were going to work.“I got tired of sleeping.”“Then if you’ll stand idle, I can’t have it. If you won’t, you better leave.” Damn, so hot-tong
Hattie caught me riffling through my wardrobe for comfortable clothes.Oh, I did not call Hunter. Instead, I texted Zavere to ask him for an update on his search.I’m growing worried for both of them, so at least knowing they’re safe could be some assurance. Though if one asks me, I don’t know why I’m bothered. I should be happier they’re gone. Unless I’m only eager to see Hunter return to face the repercussions of the mess he created.Speaking of mess…“Heidi, you made a big mess here.”I crane my neck, looking back to see Hattie standing far from the vomit like it’s an Abyss that’d swallow her once she stepped close.“Uh…” What do I say? I’m a grown-ass woman who ended up drunk and jelly-legged that I could have even pooped on the bed if the need arose. “I’m sorry, Hattie.” That’s all I can say, really.“This is an old habit, Heidi; apologize after doing the deed. Not very nice now, is it?” Right, someone
“By the way, how’ve you been?” I ask; don’t know where that came from—it just slipped through my lips.“Do you really have to ask me that?” Vaddy’s laugh gradually dies down as she makes a rotating gesture with her index finger. “Look around. My parents are gone… AGAIN. And I’m hosting a biiggg countdown party. Why else could that be? Boredom. Loneliness. But you’re back now.”No. Not for long.“How about your boyfriend?” Another. Unintended. Question.“Good.” Vaddy sips her drink, looking at me from beneath her lashes. “Mhm…” Then she gulps the liquid hard and smacks her tongue. “Good.”“I miss when we used to fight over his steaks.”Vaddy sniggers but frowns two seconds later. “What steaks though? You haven’t met him.”“I did. Raphel, I think?”“Raphel? Who the heck is Raphel?” The hell? I’m confused for a while then… fuck! I should have first asked if she was still with him. It slipped my mind that Vaddy changes partners like she does her wardrobe. I often even mentioned how stran
She struts toward me, spicing the walk with all her sassiness and whatnot. Typical of Vadarya when she’s vexed or in the mood to flirt. As she stops a few inches in front of me, she doesn’t bother to look down, only because her eyes are stuck on mine. But her lips certainly know what to say when they move. “Wrong attire, young lady.” She scoffs. “Big balls you’ve got to show your pathetic face here.” “I…” Jeez! The words have flown again. I’ll have to drink to ‘never have I needed to say rubbish in my life’. Like, at least say something, Heidi, come on! “Uhm…”“Uh. Uh. Your tongue dashed too?” Vadarya mocks.I sigh. “Vaddy…”“Get out.” When she speaks through gritted teeth, you know she’s not joking. And when she threatens with her half-filled, lowball glass right in front of your face… “This is not just a drink, Heidi. It’ll leave you blind a day or two, so save yourself the agony and leave.” …you know she’s code red. I’m not the type to wait around for the alarms to go off, so I
Sound duppies would have a field day tonight if they weren’t on Christmas holiday (someone mentioned something about this. I can’t recall who).The analogy might not be true though. Ghosts are just fallacies after all. But I wish they were real. Then, I’d have summoned a few to shut the next Villa up.I had forgotten what it felt like to be Vadarya’s neighbor. It’s a hassle, not gonna lie. If the girl knew I were here, she’d be banging drunken fists on the door without minding the alarm screaming at her.She’s insane. That’s all I can say.
/ HEIDI /This headache will mince my brain to nice little cubes sooner than I’m able to find a painkiller in one of these fucking drawers.There used to be many of them—the painkillers, I mean—usually on the table, under the pillows, in the wardrobe, in the drawers, even on the damn floor. How I cannot find one when everything else in the room remains the same is not a mystery, but unsettling.“Fuck. I can’t be arsed,” I mutter just as my phone dings on the bed.Sitting on the floor and resting my back against the bed, I go through the meager, little thing that won’t stop buzzing―
/ ZAVERE /When Heidi kissed me earlier, I did not know what went through her mind.What I do know is that it isn’t easy, or possible to simply switch off one’s feelings in three days.I have seen how good a couple she and Hunter are, and I know the connection they have.But despite that, I cannot deny my own feelings.The girl drives me crazy. And every action she takes, every word that comes out of her mouth, looks and sounds sexy no matter what it is.However, I do not think she feels the same about me, but I’ll let her have her cake and eat it. As long
Tumbre Estate is the biggest in the country. Belongs to the Whites but isn’t as sullied as the family is. It’s like a quiet little town even though it’s not far from the city.Has been about two years since I last came here, and nothing seems to have changed. No, nothing. It’s the same old Tumbre with curvy roads flanked by Villas and trimmed little bushes.That Villa there, at our right, is inhabited by the family of a close friend I had. But after I was kicked out of my Villa, I lost contact with her. Didn’t even get the chance to say a fucking goodbye.“Do you want me to come with you?” Zavere asks as I get down from the Uber. I had requested to stop at the side of the road instead of the garage, as I didn’t bring the key to my Villa, and haven’t a clue how the Housekeeper and the Butler would react to seeing me. And no, I don’t want Zavere’s company. If I did, I would have stayed in the Company building where my room now smells like him.“No. Go find your brother,” I reply. My n
“He lives, I feel it,” Zavere says after taking his time. “He’s alive, but there is silence. He doesn’t feel anything… massive.”I don’t get what he’s trying to say, but I guess he does have some connection with his twin? “You feel something when he does?”“Not just something. It has to be big. Like an intense pain or pleasure.” More like the intense pain of his victims, and the intense pleasure of the motherfucker.“Maybe you should have felt his ‘intense hatred’ when he committed that murder?” I ask calmly, looking down at my soup while stirring it with a spoon. However, when I look up, I feel like my food could hang in my throat as I find Zavere staring at me with a blank face, again. That rouses my rage. “Oh, you did, and you said, ‘Oh hey! He’s my brother! He’s having a little fun with some dummy humans, so why not?’” I realize I’ve just caused a commotion. All eyes are now on us. Jeez! What is wrong with me? Why do I keep blaming Zavere? Why do I blame every fucking thing in t