The gates creaked open, swallowing me whole into a world I never imagined could exist. Every step I took inside Sire Killian’s fortress felt heavier than the last, my soul anchored to the cracked floor beneath my feet.

It all felt too real, too terrifying to be a dream.

I clung tightly to the waist cloth holding my underskirt as the air guarding the entrance filled my nostrils.

“From now on, don’t look at anything above your shoulders. It’s not safe,” Harry mumbled close to my ear, making me almost jump out of my skin.

Maybe I was cast in a movie I didn’t sign up for, it felt real, but it couldn’t be.

One moment I was out there cleaning a coffee table and forcing smiles to make an earning, the next I was in a world where looking too high might mean death.

“It’s all a playbook,” I muttered bitterly as my view widened.

Different from any house I had ever seen, this one was massive.

Behind the large, intimidating gate rose a fortress-like mansion, ancient yet untouched by time, like something pulled straight out of a museum. Its walls were built of black stone, and thick moss crept over every brick, gripping them like a second skin. Vines snaked upward, burrowing into cracks, as though the forest had truly claimed the structure as its own.

The mansion stretched upward in a way that felt both regal and menacing, with arched windows glowing faintly from within. The roof was steep and jagged, covered in slate tiles that reflected the moonlight like shards of glass.

A grand marble staircase, cracked with age yet lined with iron torches, led to enormous double doors carved with wolves, each one baring its fangs as though guarding a secret. The air around the building felt heavier, as though the house itself breathed, drawing me closer, pulling me into its presence.

The enormity of the building loomed in the air, but for some reason, it seemed sad, as though everyone around it were hostages.

The serenity was uncalled for. I knew it was late, but the environment felt too quiet.

“What are you staring at? Keep walking!” Callum pushed me from behind like an adulterous woman on the verge of being stoned to death. But even his light push was too heavy, sending me crashing onto my backside.

The new beast; whose name I still hadn’t caught, trailed behind us like a sort of security, scoffing like a high school bully as I struggled to my feet.

“Where’s she from? She doesn’t feel like one of us,” Our new companion asked, his eyes narrowing in disgust as he looked at me over.

“She’s for Sire Killian. No questions,” Harry replied with a hint of disappointment. At least he pitied me, unlike the others.

“Then drag her in. You wouldn’t want Sire Thorne to find her here, she wouldn’t last a second.” The newcomer snickered, his voice heavy with disdain, before disappearing into the mansion.

“Move! You heard him!” Callum barked, shoving me again. This time the blow nearly sent me crashing hard enough to break my pelvis.

“Easy, Callum. I’m sure Sire won’t like the sight,” Harry teased, helping me back onto my feet.

“Whatever,” Callum spat before walking inside, murmuring something inaudible.

“Don’t think too much of him, he’s in a really bad mood,” Harry added after watching him leave.

“Yeah, sure,” I muttered, taking Harry’s outstretched arm as he led me inside the building.

Unlike the outside, the inside was different. It looked fresher, almost as if it had been recently renovated. The candle stands all looked new, and the air was lighter, far lighter than the pressure I had been inhaling outside. But more than that, it was beautiful and strangely welcoming.

I was taken through a passage, though I knew it was only the tiniest part of the house. The sides were graced with flower vases that carried a new scent into the air, carving a different personality for Killian.

We walked in silence until we reached a large sitting room. Everything inside was carved, structures of wood shaped into furniture and intricate designs. Nature was at its peak: branches of trees, adorned with flowers, stretched from the windows, spilling their fragrance inside.

But nothing was prettier than the special candlesticks, sculpted into the forms of elegant women with bright smiles.

“This is the Shes’ Quarter,” Harry whispered, tapping my shoulder. “You can do anything here, but don’t go near the right wing without permission. I won’t be able to look after you there.”

He was sounding friendlier than before, and it scared me. People say predators sometimes play with their prey, giving them false hope.

“Who lives in the Shes’ Quarter?” I blurted out hastily, like my life depended on it.

I wasn’t going to entertain any more surprises. At the very least, I deserved to know who my flatmates would be.

“It’s mostly occupied by mistresses, househelps, and the lead She. She’s nice, you’ll have nothing to worry about,” he said with a smile, pointing at a door at the far end.

“Knock on that door. You’ll find plenty of answers. Goodnight, Elysian.”

Before I could say anything, Harry nodded and slipped away into the dimly lit passage.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered, tiptoeing toward the door.

I knocked twice and waited for a reply. None came. Just as I was about to knock again, the door flung open and someone crawled out slowly from the dark room.

“You’re very young,” a middle-aged woman yawned, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She looked so tired I felt guilty for waking her.

“Go… good evening, ma’am, I…” I stuttered, bowing slightly.

“No, no, no, I’m not a ma’am. You must be Elysian.”

I nodded frantically.

“Then come with me.” She added the words with no expression, turned, and led the way.

At this point, I wasn’t even surprised by how she knew my name. Everything was already too mysterious for me to question. Judging by her calmness, it was clear she had seen this scene play out many times before.

We stopped in front of a thick, muffled door at the far end of the hall.

“You’ll be resting here tonight. Don’t wait for the Sire, he only shows his face to his mistresses once in a while. You won’t be different.”

Her words were delivered gently, as though she was trying to comfort me, before she opened the door and returned to her room.

I didn’t have the strength or the mental space to ask questions, I was still too lost.

“Mistress? That beast didn’t take me in as a mistress, did he…?”

“I’d rather spend the night outside than walk in graciously as his mistress.”

I sank down and sat on the floor, my knees pulled to my chest, my arms wrapped tightly around them.

“Are you cold?”

That voice, I would recognize it even from a mile away.

“Arlie…?” I jolted back to self-consciousness.

“It’s been a rough night, but you’re getting close,” her soft, angelic voice soothed me, calming my fear and nearly drawing tears.

“Where have you been?” I mumbled, tears clouding my vision.

But I didn’t hear Arlie’s reply, or perhaps the turmoil outside stripped me of the privilege.

Feminine voices wailed in the night, followed by the booming sound of footsteps pounding through the right-wing hallway. The guttural voices of beasts guards, I suspected, echoed outside, sharp and commanding.

Then, like an assembly called to order, one after another, the Shes, as Harry called them, peeped out of their rooms. Scared and shaken, they mumbled to each other, gathering in a trembling crowd in the sitting room ahead.

I picked myself up and followed them, straining to hear what they were saying.

“It’s Sire Thorne again… it’s going to be another bloody night,” one of the Shes whispered.

“I pray Sire Killian kills him this time,” another mumbled, but the weight in her voice showed she had poured her soul into that prayer.

“Kill…? Wait. If Thorne dies now, then it’s over. This fragile dream of one night will shatter, and the thread of my purpose will unravel into nothing. Without him, there’ll be no beast left to stop from destroying the world, and I’ll have no role here at all. Does that mean I’ll vanish into the afterlife?” My lips trembled with a mix of fear and confusion.

I know I hate home, but I hate the thought of dying without a single win.

I want to go back home. I want to live that boring life again. I want to become the woman I’ve always pictured in my heart.

“Not now… he can’t die now,” I whispered, the words slipping out as I lost all sense of my surroundings.

“I have to stop this massacre tonight.” I swallowed hard and pushed myself past the little crowd.

I hadn’t realized until now that I was signing up for death.