WINTERFor the second time today, my life flashed before my eyes. I couldn't see anything, but I could sense danger.My back was against something hard and rocky. The arm around my chest was strong, and so was the one over my mouth. I tried to shout, but it was muffled. I struggled hard. My writhing was fruitless. I couldn't break free from the hold, let alone get out a good scream no matter how many times I tried."Don't shout. It's me!" a man whispered in my ear with assurance.The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't tell whose it was. It could be Seven or one of his men for all I know. Scared half to death, I lifted my foot and kicked backward. The man didn't budge.Unwilling to give up, I elbowed him in the belly. The pain in my elbow worsened, but the arm around my chest loosened away.I opened my mouth against the wet palm and sank my teeth into it. Like magic, the hand peeled away from my mouth. I heard a groan moments later.Sparing no moment to look back, I took to my hee
WINTER"Oh! I just felt something! The baby just moved!" I squealed, bursting into tears again.Eric's eyes lit up. "Really? It moved?"With tears rolling down my cheeks, I held my belly and nodded my head repeatedly. I had felt for sure. The baby really moved!Joy swelled inside my heart as I looked at Eric. He had already withdrawn his hands from my belly. I held my bump and rubbed it gently. "Oh, my munchkin. You are still with me. Mommy is sorry for hurting you today. She won't do that again.""Yes, little one." Eric joined in. "You and your mommy will be safe from now on. Just keep growing, okay?"I chuckled joyously, watching Eric as he cupped his hand over the side of his mouth and spoke to my belly. Following all the bad things that had been happening to me recently, having a friend like Eric was a breath of fresh air.Eric whistled, "Phew! I am so glad the baby is okay. Now, you don't have to worry about a thing. Just have some food."When he brought the bowl of porridge to m
WINTER"Seven?"I felt weak in the knees at this moment. How did he find this place? How did he even know that I hadn't run into town? Did he follow me out yesterday? Oh, Moon Goddess! What did I do to deserve this? Couldn't I just break away from him?Seven walked into the shack while I was lost in thought. I noticed that there was a gun strapped to his belt. What was he doing with that? Was he going to use it on me?"Morning, beautiful," he said.The smile on his face was creepy. I almost peed in my pants as he strode toward me."How... How did you find me?" I stuttered, shifting back fearfully.Seven laughed and looked around the shack. "You seem to forget that Luster Falls is my town, Winter. I can fish out anyone and anything.""That was quite a stunt you pulled yesterday," he added, flashing his sharp teeth.Trepidation took over my body. I quaked, my hand finding its way to my neck. Seven's strangulation had left a bruise on my neck yesterday. I feared that he was going to leav
WINTERA cloak of ice dropped on my body seconds before a chippy voice woke me from my hundredth slumber. "Wake up, sleepyhead!"I stirred awake, only to find my body soaked. My teeth clattered as I looked at the pool of water I was lying in. I raised my head, only to find Seven staring at me with a bucket in his hand."Seven..." I called out weakly.With a creepy smile, he waved at me. "Long time no see!"I frowned, wondering how long I had been locked inside this cage. The light was on, so it was hard to tell if it was dark out or not."Oh, you have been here for four days. How do you like it in here? Not so much, right?" He cracked a smile again.Four days? Seven locked me up for that long? That meant it had been five days since I had something good to eat. You bet, I was starving. I could eat a horse!My stomach rumbled as if on cue. I held it and swallowed hard. My throat was parched and my tongue was bitter dry. I ran it over my lips. Unsurprisingly, my lips had many cuts on the
KAI-VIIThe jig was up. Frankly, I was quite surprised that it took Winter this long to notice that I was an impostor. When Ratio told me to go after her, I thought my cover would be blown the second she set eyes on me.I wanted to keep up acting as her Seven, but she was wasting my damn time. I need to get my hands on the orb or the gemstone it was contained in now. Replacing the gemstone on the ring with a fake one hadn't worked. Winter repeatedly told me that she couldn't spot any difference. And that pissed me off.I didn't believe that someone who was the closest to Seven wouldn't know about his most-priced possession. The fact that she was pregnant threatened to spoil my plans. However, I soon saw it as a way to threaten her instead. Females were very sentimental and emotional. There was no way Winter would keep up with the offense if she knew that her baby's life was on the line. I intentionally starved her for days, vowed to rip out the baby, and even lashed her with my bel
WINTERDarkness descended on me the second that impostor walked out of the room. Once again, I was left alone. The past few days had been a blur for me. But today, I was completely in my senses. My mind processed everything that just happened once again.Seven was dead.The love of my life was dead, and I didn't know for four months. I had been living with that impostor for weeks, yet I didn't notice he wasn't my Seven.What kind of girlfriend did that make me? Did this mean my love was really fickle? The subtle differences in his behavior should have told me everything. Why in the world didn't I notice? Why did I live under the same roof with the identity thief for so long?My hand was splayed over my chest at this moment. Guilt tore at my heart, causing me inexplicable pain. I shed tears more than I had ever done before. Mucus dripped from my nose and found its way to my mouth.I could barely breathe. Every inch of my body hurt. It was as if there were pins inserted all over my bod
WINTERUnsurprisingly, the women still didn't say a word. I was beginning to wonder if they were deaf or had sworn an oath of silence or something.I alternated my gaze between them, hoping to get a clue from studying their faces. But I got nothing. They all had the same expression; serious and taut."There you are!" Suddenly, a male voice pierced the air.I looked forward. The face I saw instantly filled me with fear. It was Seven. No, no! It was the impostor. He was standing at the head of the staircase wearing a well-ironed white shirt with oxblood pants.With a deadpan, he looked at me from head to toe and quipped, "You look... blaah!"He then turned to the women and said, "I thought I told you to give her a full makeover. What is this?"The women finally let go of me. I watched as they bowed their heads in fear. The one who had picked out my dress stammered, "Alpha, we...we..."Alpha? He's nothing but an impostor! He literally stole Seven's whole face! I hissed in my mind while s
WINTERA tinge of fear crept through me. I froze on the spot, staring blankly at Mr. Impostor. I tried to come up with something, but my mind drew a blank for a long time."Have you gone deaf? Move aside!" he repeated irritably.I finally snapped out of it. Pointing at the sign on the door, I uttered defiantly, "And why would you want to go into a women's bathroom?""We'll see. Just get out of my way." He took a step further, our noses almost brushing.The extreme closeness freaked me out. I almost broke character. However, I didn't move an inch. "Can we just go home? I think I am constipated. I need to take some medication and have a good rest."The impostor balled his fists. "Get out of my way or I'll punch you in the belly."At this threat, I beat a hasty retreat from the threshold. He glared at me as he walked into the bathroom and shut the door. My back was against the wall. I watched as he looked under the washstand. When he found nothing, he turned to look at me again. "Who wa