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Panther

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Chapter III

Traitor and Partner

Alix watches me as I sit up in the bed, watching him.

He looks at me with the intent to kill at any moment's notice.

"You've got guts." He says, his voice low.

"No, I don't. I just stand up for myself a damn good bit."

Alix chuckles.

"My partner told me your name. He says he knows you." Alix raises a brow. "Does he?"

"That depends. Who's your partner?" I ask.

"I'm the one asking the questions here." Alix says. "You'll see my partner soon, so then you can decide whether you know him or not."

I frown.

"Now, who told you my name?" Alix asks again.

"Your mother." I mutter.

Alix chuckles. "That woman."

"She's a nice woman." I say.

"Yeah, to people who don't know her, she's the best."

"So who is she, really?"

"You're smart."

"I know, thanks."

Alix pauses.

"She's a hooker."

"An old hooker? Who plays therapist with people to lure them into this...what?" My anger hitches in my tone.

"Your old lady lures people into this room?"

"You're almost correct." Alix says. "She isn't my mother, but she does hypnotize people."

"Does that mean she hypnotized me?"

Alix chuckles. "Call it what you want, but either way, you're here. You will be for the rest of your life."

I run at Alix, and raise my fist.

"No, I won't!" I yell, but Alix catches my wrist and throws it to side as he embraces me.

His hands send shock waves through me as they slip around my hips.

He whispers into my ear.

"What do you think this is?"

He hugs me tighter, and I feel something I shouldn't down below. I try to shake free, but he's squeezing me too tightly.

"You think you can do whatever the hell you want?" He asks angrily. "You think you're the boss?" He spat the words into my ear and they felt like acid. They pierced my very heart and burned it.

I was frightened.

For the first time in a long time, I was absolutely terrified.

I began to shake in Alix's arms as his gritty words fell into my ear.

"What the hell do you think this is?" He yells, and I almost jump out of his arms.

A tiny yelp falls from my lips.

Alix chuckles as he tosses me back onto the bed.

"Where do you work?" He asks.

"I- I'm not telling you." I stutter.

Alix shrugs. "That's fine. I'll know soon. For now, you can just relax. Take it easy."

He plops a sinister kiss on my head and walks out the door.

I run after him, but make it just after the door closes.

I slip down to the floor and begin a sad sobbing.

Why was I here?

When can I leave?

Why do I cry now?

So many questions left unanswered.

I slosh back over to my bed and cradle myself. I draw my knees up to my chin and let my tears fall.

The door opens, and I see.

I see my old high school friend, Hiroki.

He's Japanese.

We were close friends in high school since four years ago.

He recognized me?

Anger took charge of me, and I threw him against the wall as soon as the door closed.

Tears burned my cheeks as I yell at him.

"You bastard!" I yell.

Hiroki puts his hands in the air, backing down.

"What did you do?" I ask, letting go of him.

"Nothing!" His says, frightened. His shrill voice brightens the room.

I hate it.

Liar!" I say.

"Fine! Alright!" He says. He gives a great sigh, letting himself sink down onto the bed before him.

"The boss wanted to know about you." Hiroki explains. "Since you two locked eyes."

"So, he kidnapped me. That gets him nowhere."

I begin to pace back and forth across the tiny room.

"I told him that," Hiroki continues. "But that didn't stop him. He said he saw something in you."

"Yeah, like what? My nonexistant care for this situation?"

Hiroki chuckles. "I thought you'd say that."

"Get me out of here!" I yell.

"I can't do that."

"Well, you better find someone who can!"

Hiroki begins to laugh, his shrill voice bringing light to the tension in the room.

"What's so funny?" I ask.

"What you just said." He laughs. "It makes me laugh."

His little delightful laugh makes me angrier.

"I. Want. Out" I spit at him, and he stops laughing.

"I can't get you out." He says.

"Why am I here in the first place? I have no qualities!"

"Yes you do." Hiroki says. "You can sing, you can cook good food, you're beautiful."

There was a long silence after that.

"Thank you." I finally say.

"Right." Hiroki mumbles. "Besides, You were chosen specifically by him to be his wife."

Hiroki looks at me as he says this, and watches a grim and angry expression flare up across my face.

I growl in frustration.

"I won't be his wife! Not to someone who thinks he "owns me"!"

I glare at Hiroki so hard it hurts, and he sees the frustration in my eyes.

"Calm down." He says. "It's okay."

"No!" I yell at him, leaning in his direction. "It's not okay!"

Hiroki was silent.

"First, my friend Jessica is shoving horny old perverts to my doorstep, and she knows I have anger issues. Now, when I try to schedule for therapy, I get abducted by some illiterate, incoherent-"

"I don't think you should be calling him names." Hiroki said, but I didn't listen.

"Underachieving, black- haired, sexy, idiotic, remedial, psycho, maniacal-" The door opens behind me and I take a step forward to see who opened it.

Alix looks at me with rage.

"Underachieving?" He asks. "Remedial? Sexy?"

"Told you." Hiroki mumbles while he silently leaves.

Alix slams the door.

"So finish your sentence." Alix says.

"You bastard!" I yell. "You've got some nerve! You're almost as good of a man as none of them! You suck! You-"

My sentence broke with an "oof" as my back smacks the wall.

something cold presses against my throat.

How'd he know to put them there?

The intensity and rage grew in his eyes as his fangs pressed against my throat.