After Ilaya returned to the base. She headed towards her room. She thought about what she had learned earlier and she became excited
'I have finally learned something to protect myself. I will not experience that time when I had been kidnapped'
Then, she suddenly thought about what had happened earlier at the restaurant and that dampened her mood. She took out her phone as she looked at the messages. Mars bombarded her with messages as she read them one by one
As she read them. She became sad and she was reminded of the pain in her heart. She always feels the pain now. But, it's still tolerable. But, if she became happy and comforted by their love and care. She felt like her heart will burst from pain
'I wonder why my curse appears only now. There's many instances where they showed their love and care for me. But my heart didn't hurt a bit'
She thought about what had happened in the lair of the serial killer
'Is it because of that time. When I'm so close to death, I finally accepted them as my family? At that time, I didn't care so much about them like I do now. Is that the trigger?'
Ilaya had a hunch that her suspicion was correct. Then, she felt that she owed them an explanation as she got up from her seat as she walked outside in the backyard. She looked at the dark garden and she sat on the carpet. The whole place is so pretty and she looked at the moon in the sky. She felt that she was bathing in the moonlight
Ilaya finally dialed the number of Mars. After a few rings, the phone was answered and a concerned voice of Mars sounded from the phone
[... Ilaya. Are you okay?]
Ilaya almost cried as she felt her heart starting hurting intensely. The pain in her heart was not the cause of her sadness, but the fact that she will suffer by receiving their love and affection
Their love for her will hurt her. And her being in pain will worry them. Then, they will be more caring to her, and in turn increase her suffering. It's a vicious cycle. She is cursed to be alone
Ilaya held back her tears, then said to the waiting Mars
"I'm okay now nee-chan. My friend helped me earlier. My chest doesn't hurt now"
Mars didn't speak for a bit before sadly saying
[Ilaya, are you sick? Is your heart hurting? The boss and I are here. We'll help you if you needed help]
Ilaya gritted her teeth as she endured the pain. She then said to Mars
"I'm very healthy nee-chan. Don't worry so much. Maybe it's just a sudden pain that happened to me earlier. Also, I'm very sorry about leaving earlier without saying anything"
Mars said to her teasingly
[Yeah. It's very rude of you to suddenly rush out of the restaurant without listening to us. You owe us an apology]
Ilaya laughed as she said
"Alright, what do I need to do?"
Mars then said to her happily
"We need to push forward our previous plan. We'll celebrate next week! That's what the boss wanted! So we need to make it happen"
Ilaya nodded as she agreed with her. Then she said
"Alright. I agree with that. But, what's your request? It's the request of the owner but not you. What is it?"
Mars suddenly chuckle as she said
[That's a secret for now! I'll tell you when we finished the celebration]
Ilaya felt something warm rise from her throat as she stiffly said
"Alright. Nee-chan, I need to rest now, I'm so tired from my training so I'll need to sleep early. Is that alright?"
As she said that, she hurriedly covered the phone as she vomited. She felt dread creeping out to her as she brought her phone to her ears again as she heard Mars replied on time
[Alright. But don't overdo your training alright? You need to rest! I'll hang up now. Good night my little sister]
Ilaya said to Mars before the call ended
"You too. Good night nee-chan"
Then, she looked at her phone as she opened its flashlight. She saw a bloodstained grass in front of her. She paused for a moment before Ilaya gripped her phone so tightly as she wept. She finally hesitates whether to risk dying by staying close to them. Or leave them and survive in loneliness
The moonlight shone brightly as if to comfort the weeping soul sitting in the garden. And the darkness of the cold night receded to cooperate. To no result
…
On the second floor of the base where Ilaya stayed. A young woman was laying on the roof of the two storey building as she looked at the moon. Beside her, a sniper rifle lay
She took out her phone as she answered the one calling to her
[Nicole. Is there anything suspicious around there?]
Nicole was annoyed with her being interrupted in her viewing as she answered
"There's some boss. Do you need me to eliminate them?"
Ivana then asked her
[Did they know that it's our base?]
Nicole was unsure, so she said
"I don't know. They lingered for a bit before leaving"
Ivana thought for a moment before she saying
[I think the base was compromised. Eliminate those spies. Can you track them?]
Nicole turned annoyed as she said to her
"Of course! Who do you think I am?"
Ivana on the other line didn't answer for a bit. Nicole heard a sigh and Ivana's words soon followed
[Then kill them before the night ends. Get some information before you dispose of them]
Nicole then sat up as she said
"Alright. I'll go find them now. My children have been very hungry for so long!"
Ivana didn't want to continue this conversation anymore as she hurriedly said
[I'll hang up now]
But before Ivana ended the call, Nicole said to her
"Wait boss. Is Ilaya sick or something?"
Ivana turned annoyed as she said
[Why do you ask?]
Nicole looked down in the garden. Then, she hesitated before picking up her sniper rifle. She pointed it at Ilaya in the garden as she looked through the scope. Then, she saw Ilaya light up the carpet in front of her. She saw blood in the grass and in her mouth
Nicole then said to Ivana
"I think Ilaya just vomited blood. What do we do?"
She heard her boss clicked her tongue and she soon heard
[Nothing. I'll call her later to have a conversation. For now, do your mission first]
Nicole stared at Ilaya and soon said to Ivana
"Boss. For how long are we keeping Ilaya here? There's so many people here that wanted to hold her accountable for the death of our brothers and sisters. I managed to shut them up for now, but Ilaya is going to be hurt sooner or later. Physically and emotionally"
Nicole then said to Ivana seriously
"Boss. Your authority will be damaged if this continues. I am a killer, but I don't want to kill a member of our family"
Ivana on the other line hesitated before saying irritatedly
[This is really troublesome. Problem after problem keeps popping up]
Then, Ivana thought for a bit before saying
[Two weeks. In two weeks, she will leave that base. So hold back the dissenters for now. But don't tell them about her leaving. Death will occur]
Nicole nodded as she said sadly
"Yes. I will hold them back. It's a shame if Ilaya died. She's a good friend too"
Ivana then asked her immediately
"Who said I'm talking about Ilaya? It's for our men"
Nicole became dumbfounded as she immediately asked
"What? Why? Ilaya was weak as a child. She will be killed immediately if one of our brothers decides to attack her. What do you mean?"
Ivana sighed as she said to Nicole
"Nicole. She's like me. You know what I mean right? You think I'll waste so much time taking care of some woman that I didn't know? So be careful around her when she acts strangely"
Then, after saying that, Ivana abruptly ended the call. Nicole looked at her phone incredulously before she looked at Ilaya
'Is she that dangerous? If she's like the boss, then we had one hell of a monster in our forces. But…'
Nicole then saw Ilaya crying in the distance. She can even hear her weeping and she became sad
"I don't want to be in her situation one bit"
Then, Nicole turned around as she put her rifle in her back. She suddenly dashed as she jumped and vanished in the darkness of the night