Precious dashed around the fountain with tears streaming down her eyes. Her mind was consumed by confusion. There was not a soul in sight to tend to the mansion's grounds, and the eerie silence only deepened her bewilderment about her current location.
Suddenly, Precious glanced over her shoulder and spotted Rainey sprinting towards her, letting out a peculiar cat cry. As Rainey drew closer, its cries subsided. Precious's heart melted at the sight of Rainey's concern.
Only three days had passed since they had met, yet their bond had grown remarkably strong. How had they become so close in such a short time that Rainey would chase after her like this?
Bending her knee to lift Rainey gently from the ground, Precious cast a worried gaze toward the mansion's entrance, anticipating the arrival of the beasts who might try to hinder her escape. To her surprise, five minutes passed, and no one emerged, allowing Precious to focus on soothing Rainey's black fur with gentle strokes.
"I feel miserable," Precious murmured, her attention returning to the mansion's entrance. "Papa must be sick by now," she added, her voice trailing off as she collected her thoughts and emotions, which threatened to overwhelm her, pushing her to the brink of tears once more.
"He's not strong enough for that kind of work," Precious stated again, managing to compose herself, though her voice still quivered slightly, betraying the deep sadness within her.
But Precious didn't stop there; she began to berate herself for her father's current condition. The weight of guilt and self-blame burdened her heart heavily.
"I feel so useless," Precious sighed, her voice tinged with self-blame and frustration.
"What kind of daughter am I?" she wondered aloud, her body trembling slightly.
Gazing down at Rainey, cradled in her arms, its yellow eyes locked onto her, Precious couldn't help but contemplate. There were moments during their shared days that felt as if she were in the presence of another intelligent being on par with humans.
Considering her cat in such a way seemed absurd, and whenever this thought crossed her mind, she dismissed it as a result of her recent longing for human connection.
Shaking off the notion, she attributed these feelings of closeness to her current emotional state.
Precious's face had turned crimson, her eyes rimmed with a rosy hue, and beads of sweat adorned her forehead. It felt as if her head might explode from the torrent of tears she had shed.
Although Precious knew Rainey couldn't understand her, she found solace in sharing her thoughts and feelings with the cat. It brought a slight measure of relief to her aching heart.
"I've been trying to find the exit, the large black gate I entered through, but..." Precious glanced around, realizing that she had been wandering in circles for over an hour, desperately searching for a way out.
"There's no exit," Precious muttered, the stark realization hitting her with a cold intensity. Her body trembled as the truth sank in. "That's why they didn't stop me. There's no way out for me."
It was beyond peculiar to Precious. It felt as if an unseen force had cloaked the entrance and exit she had initially seen upon entering the mansion. It was as though she was trapped in a temporal prison, forever condemned to search for something that couldn't be found.
But, upon reflection, she couldn't find it so strange that the mansion's exit had inexplicably vanished into thin air. Everything since she arrived here had been abnormal from the very beginning.
There were shape-shifting humanoid beings, a teleportation incident that whisked her away to her room with a mere snap of fingers, and the unearthly powers possessed by the beasts.
Everything was unbearably strange, and Precious felt a strong aversion to it all. All she yearned for was her old, ordinary life. At this moment, she despised her current existence more than anything.
Precious couldn't hold back her tears any longer; she let them flow freely as she raised her voice in anguish. "I'm doomed! My life is over! Trapped in this mansion with no way out."
"Where is the gate?" Precious continued to wander, clinging to the hope that she would stumble upon the elusive gate, only to find herself returning to her starting point time and time again.
"No! I can't give up. I have to find the gate! My father needs me. He's in a terrible state. I need to... I need to..." Precious's words trailed off as Rainey leaped out of her arms. She placed her trembling palms on her knees, gasping for breath, trying to regain her composure.
"I need to see my father," Precious managed to say, her voice strained, her entire being quivering with a mix of emotions that left her mentally and physically distraught.
"Why can't I reach my father?" Precious cried out, her hands still gripping her knees.
"Your father is a debtor, little one. You wouldn't be here if he hadn't tried to outsmart Edgar," a voice suddenly interjected, breaking through Precious's thoughts.
The voice came from someone standing nearby. Precious could see the person's feet, clad in slippers, and she instantly recognized the owner. It was Lucas.
"It's just money," she muttered. "Why does it seem like you have to take his life?" Precious mustered the strength to lift herself up, facing Lucas directly as she posed her question.
However, when she looked up, she realized that it wasn't only Lucas standing next to her. Chris and Veronica were beside him, their gazes fixed upon her with a mixture of disdain and mock sympathy.
Precious was acutely aware of her own pathetic state, and their smirks were all too apparent. Despite their supposed sympathy, she detected the mockery in their eyes.
For a brief moment, Precious locked eyes with Lucas, his green gaze holding her attention a beat longer than she expected. "How sad," she uttered, emitting an unusual aura as she spoke those words, her emotions intertwining in a complex web.
"Money is powerful enough to take lives, little one. You haven't witnessed enough of life yet. What you're facing now is just the beginning. You'll surely grow accustomed to it," Chris advanced towards her, his intention clear as he sought to enlighten her.
But he wasn't finished. As Chris drew closer to Precious, he opened his mouth to speak once more. "Humans eventually become accustomed to pain, so much so that they even revel in it," he sneered, his smirk etched on his face.
Precious glanced at Rainey, who was diligently grooming himself. She took a few deep breaths, gathering her thoughts before she responded.
"Edgar is incredibly wealthy. The money wouldn't make a difference. Why is he acting this way? We can repay him little by little. I'll find a job and..." Precious began, hoping to reason with Chris, but her words were abruptly interrupted.
"Evil is our true nature. We were created to serve evil, to perpetrate it. And it's the most gratifying sensation one can experience. Wickedness is the key. Join us and be liberated!" Chris extended his hand towards Precious, as if presenting her with the greatest opportunity she could ever fathom.
To accept his proposal meant becoming a beast, like them, the very beings that had robbed her of her life.
"Embrace your inner beast, and you shall be free from pain. You shall have everything you desire! Freedom, a life with your father, success as a potter... all your dreams will be fulfilled. Precious, join us and become one of us," Chris enticed, his voice softening.
"You could even live for a very long time, little one," Chris added, turning to gaze deeply into Precious's eyes, a smile creeping onto his face. "Isn't that what all humans desire? The ability to live a long life?"