THE WILD CAT

Chapter 6

I woke up feeling weak, only to find myself lying on a soft bed. My eyes scanned the room, trying to piece together where I was.

Just a few hours ago, I was tied to a chair—and now, somehow, I was here. I stood up, unsteady, and walked toward the mirror to see how disheveled I looked, especially my hair.

I had tried everything to escape this place, but nothing worked.

“Good morning,” a voice said, startling me.

I turned quickly to see Lucas standing there, a smile on his face.

“What do you people want from me? Why won’t you just let me go?” I snapped, my voice rising.

He chuckled. “You really want to know what I want from you?”

He started walking toward me, and I instinctively backed away.

Before I realized it, he had me pinned against the standing mirror. His hand reached up to my hair, fingers brushing through it, then slowly tracing down to my cheek.

“I really want to take you right on that bed,” he whispered into my ear, making me swallow hard.

“What the heck?” I shouted, shoving him hard in the chest. He stumbled back, his smirk never fading.

“Woah, that was strong. Baby girl’s a little bit tough,” Lucas muttered, a smirk tugging at his lips.

His words jolted something in me—memories of all those long hours training with my uncle. Every punch, every drill, every lesson… it was for moments like this.

I was about to bolt when the door flew open again, and in came the coldest of them all—Theo.

“Why isn’t she ready yet?” he barked, his voice sharp and biting.

Lucas gave a careless shrug. “I mean, you literally killed her personal maid yesterday.”

My blood ran cold. He was talking about the woman who had brought me those clothes. The same woman I saw get shot right in front of me.

Theo scowled. “Where’s the new one? There are millions of people here!” he shouted, then stormed out, Lucas following him—but not before tossing me a wink.

I stood there, heart pounding, pacing around the room, trying to steady myself.

A few minutes later, there was a soft knock. A woman stepped in, her presence calm but quick.

“Hello, madam. My name is Sarah, and I’ll be your new personal maid,” she said gently, placing a fresh set of clothes on the bed with a warm smile.

“You’re late for training this morning,” she added, glancing at her watch. Her eyes widened slightly. “You have only ten minutes left—if you’re not ready, you will be punished.”

“By who?” I asked, already thinking of the triplets—but I was wrong.

——

I opened the door Sarah had directed me to for training. I hadn’t wanted to wear the revealing outfit she gave me, but… she’d been kind, and I couldn’t bear the thought of her ending up like the last maid.

I wore a tight black leather dress that barely reached the tops of my thighs, paired with black heeled boots. A small knife rested in the side pocket, and a gun was secured at my right hip. The weight of the weapons felt strange against my skin.

Why did I even need to carry all these dangerous things?

Suddenly, a noise pulled me from my thoughts.

“Please, Serial, don’t kill me!” a voice cried out.

I turned to see two girls kneeling on the ground, trembling, while another girl stood above them. She was calm… and smiling.

“Why not?” the girl—Serial, I assumed—replied with a smirk.

“I didn’t mean what I said about you. You’re truly an amazing fighter,” one of the kneeling girls stammered, her voice shaking.

Serial chuckled, clearly amused by the desperation.

The room was packed with girls, all watching as Serial confronted the trembling girl.

“Well, I know,” Serial said, turning her back dismissively. The girl let out a shaky sigh of relief.

But in the blink of an eye, Serial pulled a knife from her pocket and slashed the girl’s throat.

My eyes widened in horror as the girl collapsed, blood pouring from the deep gash in her neck.

“Someone get this worthless b***h out of here,” Serial snapped.

Immediately, a few people rushed in and dragged the girl’s lifeless body away like it meant nothing. No one flinched. No one screamed. It was as if this kind of thing happened all the time.

What kind of death trap had I walked into? Was this what I’d be seeing from now on?

I stood frozen, unable to move, the image of that girl’s throat being cut replaying in my mind like a nightmare.

“No!” I shouted, the word escaping my lips before I could stop it.

The room fell into sudden silence. All eyes turned to me.

“Isn’t that the newbie?”

“So she finally woke up.”

“She’s such a wimp.”

“Won’t last a week in here.”

Their voices swirled in my head like a storm, every word digging deeper into my fear.

“Enough,” Serial snapped, and the room fell silent again.

Her gaze locked onto me. “You there,” she said, pointing directly at me. “Come over here.”

I didn’t move. I couldn’t. My feet felt like they were nailed to the ground.

Serial scoffed and started walking toward me.