"I never needed you, you bastard!"

With tears dripping down her face, Ava chokes the life out of her husband. Through her blurry tears, she watches Remi's life slip away. His eyes dull and his lips numb. Ava stands over his body in victory and laughs hysterically.

"Did you see what I did?! Did you see what- what I am capable of?!", Ava screams into the void.

She waits in the dark room with her breath abated, looking for someone to come out.

After a painful bout of silence, a fog engulfs her and Remi's corpse.

"Hey! Mr. Card! I did what you wanted me to! Get me out-"

The fog dissipates and the first thing she sees are the tall pillars. So tall, she couldn't make out any roof. Just plain darkness surrounded her from above and below her. The seemingly endless passage walls are painted red.

Upon those walls were the intricate and bold carvings of time. The dim red light did not make it difficult for Ava to make out that the carvings weaved beautifully to showcase a grand expression of human torture. Their bodies weaved around each other to depict the various rings. Utpala, Padma, Pundarika.

These walls depicted Hell.

"This makes no sense.", Ava mutters.

"Oh?"

"What exactly is it that you find senseless?"

A deep voice echoed from far down the hallway.

"All of it! Where is Paradise? Is this a joke? Mr. Card, what the fuck is going on?"

"Silence."

Within a blink of an eye, Ava found herself kneeling. Breathless, she keeps her neck down and can only look at the steps that lead somewhere above her. Fear grips her heart and her body starts shaking.

Someone was present above those stairs. Someone sinister.

What is going on? What the hell is going on?

'What am I afraid of?', Ava thinks.

'I didn't do anything wrong!'

I didn't do anything wrong...….?

Slowly her consciousness slips away. In that state she hears a familiar voice around her.

Is that...…Remi?

Ava opens her eyes to find herself back to her college days. It is the same old apartment that Remi had rented out for them both, right outside the campus. She sees herself frantically typing out her notes while Remi cooks, it smells of Rinderrouladen. It is Ava's favourite.

How long has he been in there? Three hours? Didn't we have an exam the next day?

The scene then shifts to the day Ava decides to drop out of college. Ava had stopped attending any lectures or meeting the deadlines. The professors told her she will not be graduating if she continues doing this. Meanwhile, Ava had found a new career for herself. A small business of her making "chakra" bracelets online. She believed that was her "true spirit calling".

Her parents were furious with this decision as they were the ones paying for her tuition, rent and any academic books. Changing her goal from being an engineer to a small time "businesswoman" was simply out of line.

"I cannot do this anymore Remi. I hate my major. I have no passion for it."

Remi puts his bag down and sits beside her. "Hey, don't cry babe. You know I will always support you no matter what, right?"

And that's exactly what Remi did. A year later when they turned twenty-six, Remi married Ava with a grand celebration. Remi's parents were heavily against this and refused to put down a single cent towards it. Remi had no choice but to liquify his lifetime savings to give Ava the wedding of her dreams in Spain.

The scene again moved forward by five years.

Remi had a full-time job as a software engineer in a cybersecurity company, while Ava was now selling beads on Etsy. Except for a few loans here and there, life was easy for Remi. He had a good job, a lovely wife. He could ask for nothing more.

But one day, he gets a call from his mother. The poor woman was sobbing on the phone begging him to come back.

"We need to go."

"What?!" Ava was furious.

"Your sister is sick, why should that matter to me?"

Remi had a sister, five years younger than him. Her entire life, she has had a weak constitution, a genetic disease. While his relationship with his parents became strained, his sister Eli was the only one who tried to close that gap. Right now, Eli was in a critical condition. Her parents' insurance was not enough to cover for her medical bills. No matter what happens in the future, she wanted to be with her entire family in this delicate moment.

Remi's job was flexible and so he immediately booked two flights back home. What he didn't expect was Ava's tacit refusal.

He was suddenly tired of it all.

"Fine. I will be back every other week." With that he packed his bags and left.

He left.

He really left me. Over his sister?

'That can't be. He will be back soon. I am sure."

Days turned to weeks and Remi still wasn't back. While he called her everyday it simply wasn't enough. She wanted him to come back but she just couldn't say it. She also refused to go visit him.

I don't need him. Who does he think he is? There are several idiots like him who would kill to be with me. I don't need him. I don't want him. 

The cheap bed frame creaked with every thrust; loud moans filtered out of the flimsy walls of the motel. While Ava held the random man on top of her, she kept thinking,

I don't need him. I need something better.

While she took a shower in the stained bathtub, something caught her eye.

Among the various sketchy advertisement pamphlets, a gold card was stuck in the middle of it. The card looked expensive and was mostly empty, but two lines were etched on it.

You deserve the world. 

Her eyes widened with excitement.

Let's make that happen.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

It was the evening of Remi's return when Ava stopped at a children's park and decided to call up the number behind the card.

"Hello Dear Customer! You have reached the guidance of Mr. Card. Press one to continue press two to decline. Please note that the choice cannot be undone. To repeat the message press thre- "

She pressed one without any hesitation.

"You have now agreed to an appointment for tomorrow. Details will be sent via message. Thank you for cooperating with us."

The next day she walked inside a beautiful hospital. It almost felt like a 5-star hotel. The receptionist escorted her. She explained that Ava will be meeting with a licensed professional in hypnosis and there have been several successful cases. She had nothing to worry about.

Ava was starting to get a little skeptical when she entered the room and finally met this Mr. Card. The man was dressed in a white lab coat which couldn't hide his impressive physique. He was an Asian man who looked like he stepped out of a GQ magazine. His cold phoenix eyes pierced the heart of this married woman.

This is what I deserve.

"Mrs. Montgomery, please take a seat on that recliner. I want you to relax and trust me in this process. By the end of it you will have your destiny within your grasp." Mr. Card smiled.

That smile knocked out any sensibility left in the woman.

"Close your eyes."

The moment she closed her eyes she was knocked out of reality. She was now in an abstract place where she could not distinguish up from down and yet this place was painfully familiar.

"Where am I?"

"This place belongs to your heart." a charming voice fell on her ears.

"My…. heart?" this dark, dark place is her heart?

"Revel in it, Ava. I want you to find your true desires hidden deep within it."

"Walk slowly down the path. Deep down you know what you need to do to achieve your dreams"

With his guidance she finally found the light.

I know what I need to do now. 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So, you thought killing him was the right way?"

Ava remains silent. Her mouth gaping up and down like a dying fish.

Another man steps out of the shadows and walks up the stairs.

"You need to take down that pressure just a bit." said 'Mr. Card' or better known as Yutao.

The pressure slowly rescinded, just enough for Ava to breath and barely lift her head.

A majestic throne looms above her with a tall figure sitting on it.

The man has his long jet-black hair tied in a messy ponytail and wears a red and black Hanfu. He adjusted the sleeves of his long red robes and flips through the pages of Ava's file.

He then throws it behind him like its trash and leans forward in his seat to look down at the subject. On a normal day Ava would have no trouble throwing herself at a man like him. He was, by far, the most exquisite looking man she has ever had the privilege to land her eyes on.

If she could, she would write a thousand-word poem about how perfectly his eyelashes fell over his high cheekbones or how his every feature was made by God. But right now, she did not feel any heat in her body that normally drives her.

All she feels is the intense cold seeping through her like needles. She could no longer bear it anymore and screams in pain.

"It's the right one. I can see it in her eyes. Go take the fragment out." Zhang Xiyu orders Yutao.

Yutao leaps down the stairs. With his left hand he holds her shoulder and with his right he pierces her chest. While she is gasping for air, Ava watches Yutao pull her beating heart out, feeling every tug getting caught on her broken ribcage. Soon, her body drops down under his feet where she takes her final breath, bleeding to death.

Silence ensues the vast hall.

Suddenly the shadows surrounding the room get agitated. There's a major unrest among them.

Hungry.

I am hungry. Hungry. I want to eat it. Let me eat. Eat eat eat eat...

Zhang Xiyu slightly nods.

Swiftly the shadows pounce upon her dead body. While it looked like they wanted to devour her flesh, their real aim was the puny soul hiding inside the corpse, pretending to not exist.

"Why do they always think it's going to work?" Yutao remarks dryly.

"Humans have always repeated themselves throughout history. They all think they are different and that's what makes them all same." Zhang Xiyu walks past all the wailing and tearing done between the souls.

Yutao follows him and passes him a deep blue colored fragment. It is a sharp icicle like structure which was half the size of his palm.

"We are only eighty percent done." Zhang Xiyu studies the fragment.

"For the rest of it I have no choice but to go after Enma's bastard sons. I am sure they have their own part. What do you think?"

"I'll follow you." Yutao gives his agreement.

"But while we focus on that we need someone to raise this hell for us."

Zhang Xiyu stops in his tracks and looks back at a smug looking Yutao. This guy....

 "You really want a coworker huh?"

"It's been hundred and six years please let me go on a vacation- "

But who is listening to him? His boss has already walked away.

"Zhang Xiyuuu!"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________­­­­

Bonus:

The Hypnosis Scene

Yutao: Zhang Xiyu! What is up with this cheesy character! (╥﹏╥)

Meanwhile Zhang Xiyu: 'Mr. Card'? Could you be any lazier? 凸(·•᷄‎ࡇ•᷅ )凸