Reborn in the Enemy's Embrace

"Sophia... Dexter is the mastermind. Don’t trust him.

"Juliet works for Peter. I’m sorry..." Damien held me close, murmuring apologies.

He actually knew Juliet was with Peter.

It seemed all his foolishness lately was just an act, to gain Juliet’s and Peter’s trust.

When did Damien start realizing something was wrong?

Since I died?

So, his suicides, self-harm, and even his sudden change in personality and behavior, were all just a front to deceive others, making Peter and Juliet believe he had been brainwashed and hypnotized? But, what was Damien’s purpose?

"After you passed away, I started looking into things... I know it’s connected to Juliet.

"But, as I dug deeper, I realized it’s not just a serial murder case. There’s a whole mess of other stuff involved, even involving our Coleman family." Damien gripped my hand tighter. "Sophia... can you trust me this time?"

My head felt heavy. Despite being colorless and odorless, carbon monoxide weakened my legs and left my body feeble.

"Don’t trust Dexter and anyone else except me, Sophia... I’ll get us out of here. I won’t repeat the same mistake." Damien’s voice faded into the distance.

I finally succumbed and passed out. Clearly, I wasn’t strong enough.

I had no clue how much time had passed. But suddenly, the hallway lit up.

I frown, slowly opening my eyes to the dim, cramped space.

We were hiding here, it was safe for now.

But what came next might be tough.

"It’s the sound of the ventilation system starting up. The gas has been replaced, everything should be fine now." Joel’s voice came from outside..

Propping myself up with my arms, I glanced around. Damien was gone.

In a haze, I remembered Damien

telling me to trust him before I passed out. It mustn’t have been a hallucination.

But in my current situation, who was trustworthy?

Anyone could be the mastermind and executor.

It might even involve more than one person.

"We’re good now." Joel led everyone back to the hallway. Several bodies lay scattered on the floor, obviously dying here before they could make their escape.

I muttered a curse at the lunatic and leaned against the wall as I exited the ventilation room.

"Dexter..." I called out, my head throbbing.

Joel had a lighter in hand, probably picked up from the pile of weapons earlier.

The flame flickered normally, a sign that the air was circulating as it should.

"Let’s go down this way," Joel directed, guiding everyone to follow the stairs down from the safe exit in order.

"Dexter... Where’s Dexter?" I didn’t see Dexter anywhere.

Joel looked at me with surprise. "You weren’t with Dexter? You’re by yourself?"

He glanced toward the vent where I was hiding.

I instinctively shook my head. "No... I was... alone."

Joel started to panic too, turning to look at the several lifeless bodies scattered in the hallway. "I thought Dexter was with you. I mean, be wouldn’t leave you."

My fingers felt numb as I hurriedly ran over with Joel to check the bodies on the ground.

"Dexter..."

He’ll be fine.

"Simmy... I saw Simmy. Hehe..." Carol’s voice echoed through the hallway.

At the exit, Quinn, holding onto Carol, looked nervously at us.

Three bodies lay scattered on the ground-one from the orphanage, the other two unfamiliar faces. It seemed the killer had brought them in for reasons unknown.

Not finding Dexter among the bodies, Joel and I both breathed a sigh of relief.

"They’re human traffickers," Joel stated, glancing at the two unidentified bodies.

I was surprised as I asked, "How did you figure that out?"

"Take a look at this tattoo." Joel pointed to a cross behind one of the human traffickers’ ears.

"In the dismemberment case, we found fragments of the same tattoo missing behind the victims’ ears too." Joel frowned, surveying the surroundings. "Dexter will be okay. Let’s hurry up and leave this place." I glanced around frantically.

Dexter, please stay safe.

"Is this the only way to the 17th floor?" I nervously asked Joel.

"For now, it’s the only route I’ve found. But, I’m not sure if it’s the only one," Joel replied, shaking his head.

Dexter might have taken a different path to the 17th floor.

All I could do was hope and pray that Dexter was safe.

17th floor.

Damien and Juliet had been waiting in the center of the open floor.

Damien had returned to his previous cold demeanor, standing beside Juliet, as if he hadn’t been the one to save me last night.

To be honest, I started to wonder if it was all just a hallucination from carbon monoxide poisoning.

"Hey, have any of you seen Dexter?" I didn’t see Dexter on the 17th floor. I started to panic, asking around for his whereabouts. Everyone shook their heads, saying they hadn’t seen him.

"I think he’s the mastermind, probably lurking behind us, enjoying the show!" Howard started to rile everyone up. "Remember what that voice said? The killer is one of us! I bet it’s him. He’s just a lunatic. He even confessed to being the serial killer!"

"Yeah... I know him. He’s a lunatic, a genius from the orphanage..." someone chimed in.

Quinn’s husband, Callum, joined in

loudly, "I murderer, no doubt about it! It’s all because back then we accidentally started a fire, failed to save them,

and let that guy named Simmy burn alive. He’s been holding a grudge and plotting against us!"

My palms got sweaty. Where was Dexter? If this kept up, they might really think he’s the killer and turn against him.

"No way? He saved us," some argued in Dexter’s defense.

"What do you know? Everyone’s dead, his little game won’t be fun anymore. This lunatic just wants to play us to death," Howard clenched his teeth as he spoke.

Mark chimed in loudly, "He’s a

lunatic, this supposed genius. Killing us would be just a piece of cake. We can’t just sit around and wait for the worst. We need to find and kill him to defend ourselves!"

The scene erupted into chaos.

Juliet and Damien stayed on the sidelines, observing everyone coldly.

Quinn cried out, defending Dexter. But, her voice was feeble, barely heard.

"Simmy... Hehe, Dexter, we’re gonna be together again," Carol babbled innocently, her mind clouded by her low intelligence and the recent excitement.

"Have you seen Dexter? He came to find you?" I rushed to Carol, squatting down and anxiously grabbing her shoulders.

Dexter couldn’t be the mastermind. With his intelligence, if he was behind this, he would definitely lurk among the crowd, not be discovered in the first round.

Clearly, either Dexter was in trouble, or someone was afraid of him and intentionally separated him from us.

Leaving us, who weren’t particularly bright, to deal with this mess.

"Dexter... went downstairs." Carol grinned at me.