The Anguish of Percival and Trent

Eulalia had never seen a post about herself deleted so quickly before.

She sat cradling Misty in one arm, absently fingering the tag on the cat's collar. After a few minutes, her phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number:

"Eulalia, I don't want you as a replacement anymore. Stay by my side and I can protect you. Percival is ruthless - if you want a better life, stay far away from that madman."

Eulalia frowned as she read the message. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard to reply "Go to hell," but she thought better of it and deleted the draft. There was nothing worth saying to someone like Trent. She blocked the number and set up a custom auto-reply instead.

Meanwhile, Trent was anxiously awaiting Eulalia's response. He thought he had made himself clear - surely the small-town girl would get the hint. But after half an hour of silence, doubt crept in. Had she not seen the message? Or was she too afraid to reply?

He sent another text:

"If you come back to me obediently, I'm will