They Tattooed Evil on Me. It Came Back for Them.

Chapter 3

The night I checked into the hotel, Silas Taylor called me.

He had dealt with the snake tattoo on my waist before. I didn't know what he wanted tonight, but I answered.

He got straight to the point, "Did you touch forbidden tattoos again?"

"No." I shook my head.

Silas was clearly relieved.

He was quiet for a moment, then asked, "What about the snake on your waist?"

I lifted my shirt and checked.

This snake tattoo had been with me for five years.

Before, the snake's head had always pointed inward.

But today, it had eerily changed direction.

The snake's head was facing outward.

I was startled and quickly told Silas about the change.

He immediately told me, "Before, because you truly believed you were doing those things willingly, the backlash could only land on you.

"Now that you know who's harming you, if they trick you again, the backlash might not come for you."

I didn't get all of it. But I caught the last part.

After hanging up, I reopened that secretly filmed video on my phone.

This time, I didn't watch it from start to finish.

I only wanted to find the two seconds where my mom appeared.

I scrubbed back and forth a few times and spotted a date in the bottom right corner of the screen.

That date was the seventh day after they disappeared. In other words, they were still alive then.

I stared at the date for a long time.

My phone suddenly vibrated.

An unfamiliar account sent me a photo, an old video camera placed on a table. It was my dad's.

My chest tightened.

Elara: What do you want?

The message came right back.

A: If you want it back, come to Atlas's villa tonight.

I shot to my feet and immediately called Atlas.

This time he picked up quickly. It was still that lazy drawl, with a magnetic, beguiling quality.

"What's wrong? Regretting it?"

"Is my dad's video camera at your place?"

The other end of the line went silent for two seconds. I already understood.

I grabbed my jacket.

"I'm coming over to get it now."

Atlas's voice suddenly dropped.

"Elara, don't come here and make a scene."

"I just want to get my dad's things back."

A little after six in the evening, I arrived at Atlas's villa.

I had just reached the top of the stairs when I heard someone laughing downstairs.

Briar was there too.

I went down the stairs. The interior was larger than I had imagined. There were many tattoo designs laid out on the table, along with several people I didn't recognize.

One of them saw me and casually teased Atlas.

"Yo, Atlas, you're quite the ladies' man~"

"Don't talk nonsense. She's just the one we practiced on."

The answer was already laid out right here.

Briar came over from the other side of the table. She was holding my dad's video camera.

Seeing me staring, she smiled and waved the camera at me.

"I knew this would be enough to bring you back."

I ignored the sarcasm in her words and held out my hand.

"Give it to me."

She paused, still not handing it over, and waved it.

"Sure~ But you'll need to get another tattoo~"

She leaned in close to me. "Anyway, you've already gotten so many tattoos. One more won't make a difference, right?"

I looked at Atlas. He looked at me indifferently, and my heart went cold.

Remembering Silas's words, I stared at the unfamiliar man for a few seconds.

"Fine."

Briar clearly hadn't expected me to agree, and she was shocked. Then she quickly had someone tie me to the bed.

The occult tattooing process was excruciating, like someone jabbing a knife into my flesh.

I bit my lip until it bled. When the pain was at its worst, I saw Atlas with his arm around Briar, coaxing her to eat popcorn.

In that instant, something inside me died, and suddenly, I couldn't feel the pain anymore.

After the tattoo was finished, Briar smiled and, instead of giving it back, connected the camera to the large screen.

I stood frozen in place, my face pale.

"What does that mean?"

"What's the rush? There's something good in there."

I didn't know what was on it, but Atlas, usually so indifferent, suddenly looked alarmed.

"Briar, don't play it."

I immediately looked at him.

But Briar pressed play regardless.

The screen went black for a moment.

A few seconds later, an unexpected person appeared in the frame!