#37

- Origin of Project Nemesis -

"Get me a snack and some tea, Sebastian." Ciel plopped down on the chair behind his desk with a heavy sigh, running a hand through his hair. He could feel a bad headache coming his way. "Inspect the damages done as well."

"Right away." Sebastian retreated back into the hallway and bowed with a hand on his chest, pulling the door close.

Leaning fully into his seat, Ciel crossed his arms across his chest as a frown grew between his eyebrows. It was as though his day was not bad enough after his visit to the Trancy. Coming back to his manor only to realize that it was attacked and one of his servant captured, were not making his day any better.

His mouth tightened. SIGMA. Ciel seethed quietly to himself as he racked his brain for a plan.

However, trying to construct a plan was not easy when his mind kept sidetracking from the plan, and to the person who he was thinking hard for a rescue plan for. To make things worse, he could feel the annoying little flutters of anxiety in him whenever his mind decides to go down the other path.

He, Ciel Phantomhive, was starting to feel utterly annoyed.

Annoyed at the stupid forbidden flutters in him.

Annoyed at SIGMA for attacking his manor and kidnapping his servant – who was his source of headache and nagging uneasiness.

Annoyed that there was no tea to sip on.

Massaging his temples in hope to ease the pounding in his head, Ciel let out a heavy sigh.

You have to focus, Ciel. He took a deep breath and pushed down the brewing frustration in him. What do I do…?

He stood up from his chair and manoeuvred over to the window behind to survey the outside. Giving the window a light push, he turned his gaze down to the huge compound below where debris and whatever remains from the attack littered across. "Such a mess…" He muttered disdainfully under his breath.

Looks like I have to deal with this unkemptness first. Ciel decided, turning away to return to his desk. But it has to be dealt fast. He sat down on his chair with a sigh, crossing his left leg over his right.

Now, the plan was what he need to think about.

He hadn't seen much of SIGMA the last time they infiltrated them so charging straight into their base without a foolproof plan would be rather reckless. One wrong move could bring him a lot of unnecessary trouble. Just like a game of chess.

Ciel absentmindedly tapped his index finger against the wooden surface of his desk in a repetitive manner, staring at the pile of paperwork in front of him with a faraway look in his eye. A plan was beginning to form in his head.

However, a soft rap on the door cut in just as he was about to delved deeper into thoughts.

Ciel raised his head with a little frown on his face, swearing at Sebastian's bad timing. "Come in, Sebastian." The boy said, a touch of impatience creeping into his voice. He crossed his arms and rested them on the desk in front, leaning forward as he watched Sebastian walk into his study with a food cart. The content on the cart rattled as the butler made his way to him.

"Sebastian," Ciel spoke up as the butler set down a slice of fruit tart in front of him. "Report the damage." He leaned into his chair and eyed him expectantly.

Sebastian gave a nod and cleared his throat softly, picking up a teacup from the food cart.

"The windows in the entrance hall are all broken, and I'd ordered the servants to sweep up the glass fragments on the floor. The wallpapers in the halls are torn with bullet holes and stained with specks of blood–" The butler paused in the midst of his report to fill the cup he was still holding with steaming tea before setting the teapot back to its place on the cart. "There are eight broken garden pots and four statues shattered outside which I assume Finny used on the attackers." Sebastian placed the tea delicately before his master as he spoke. "The basement is untouched."

Ciel who had just popped the last mouth of the fruit tart, lifted the cup to his lips. "Peppermint…?" His eyebrows instantly rose in surprise at the strong scent of peppermint that flooded his nose.

"It's the best for stressful times like this." A smile which held a hint of smugness graced Sebastian's face. "I heard that peppermint soothes headaches really well. I suspected that you were about to have one." A ghost of a smile flickered across his lips. "Back to the report, this level is mostly untouched too except for Blancbaston's room. I believe that was the room she was abducted from."

The boy's gaze which was on the tea sharply swept upwards and rested on Sebastian through narrowed eye at that information.

"SIGMA…" Ciel set down the cup in his hand. "For them to target her room like this, the purpose of their attack is to take back their prized guinea pig afterall." His mouth thinned into a line. "But how did they know that was her room…? " He tapped his pointer finger against the desk in thoughts as his face twisted into a frown. "Unless someone had been snooping around the manor…or there is an insider among us."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you suggesting that one of the servants could be a traitor?"

Silence weighted down on the air in the room as Ciel's gaze stayed on Sebastian. An unreadable look was on his face.

With what felt like a long time, Ciel broke into the silence with a heavy sigh.

"There is no harm being cautious. Only idiots would be so trusting." He noticed how the corners of Sebastian's mouth turned up slightly at his words, but he paid no mind, knowing that everything in a demon's eyes or at least Sebastian's eyes, was an entertainment that he would play along in. Forcing down the urge to roll his eyes, Ciel closed them with a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll leave the interrogation to you. If they pass, let them know that they will be going away for a few days."

Sebastian straightened with a small jolt. "Where are you sending them to? And may I ask, why?" His widened eyes and slightly slacked jaw showed his genuine surprise about the matter.

"On a little break in Brixton while we get the manor fixed." Ciel lifted the cup to his lips. "I don't want them getting in the way. They will be leaving by tomorrow morning, and be back after two days."

Sebastian observed Ciel quietly as the boy lifted the cup to take another sip. Working under him as a butler for many years, he knew there were underlying concerns for the servants behind his cold words. They were one of the humans Ciel Phantomhive would concern himself with.

"And… what if they fail?" Sebastian watched him, curious about his answer.

Asking him prodding questions as such were one of this demon's favourite things to do.

Ciel could feel the scrutinizing gaze of those cold crimson eyes weighing down heavily on him. Lowering the cup to the desk, Ciel raised his gaze to meet the subtly powerful gaze. "Death, obviously, to those who dares to cross me." He dreaded the mentioned outcome but knew he fully meant it when he said it.

"Quit staring at me like that." Ciel hissed when he realized that Sebastian had not released him from his gaze. But when he looked again, he swore he saw a flicker of approval in them.

With an amused smile dancing across his lips, Sebastian drew away his gaze.

Choosing to ignore that smile, Ciel was silent for a moment, thinking. "Alright then, get on with the interrogation. After that, retrieve the floor plan of SIGMA's headquarter we found with Blancbaston." He sighed, leaning forward in his chair. "I'll take a look at Blancbaston's room."

Sebastian bowed in return. "Yes, my lord."

….

Estella opened her eyes, pushing up her eyelids which felt as heavy as lead, only to snap them shut when a sharp pain abruptly attacked her head. Once the pain had resided, she forced her eyes opened once again. At first, all she could perceive were shapes. Dark shapes that looked distorted and were seemingly in shrouds of fog.

However, it did not take long for her vision to clear up. The dark shapes solidified into walls and the 'fog' dissipated into thin air as soon as she regained her focus.

Estella then made a move to rub her eyes, only to find herself strained against a force that was stopping her from doing so. Surprised and curious, she snapped her head to the side to find out why, but was interrupted by waves of nausea from the reckless movement.

Her stomach clenched tightly at the acidy bitter taste of vomit that shot up to her throat. Flinging herself to the side of whatever she was chained to as much as she could, Estella released the disgusting-tasting fluid that was fighting to break out of her mouth. She could feel the contents she last put in her stomach from her previous meal exploding onto the floor, gushing out like a rapid.

The back of her throat was burning by the time she was done.

Wiping away the trickling saliva hanging over her bottom lip, Estella plopped back onto the object she was lying on, trying to fight back dizziness. She swallowed with difficulty and closed her eyes, inhaling a deep breath. Her body heaved and shuddered as she tried to calm the storm in her head, feeling her energy slipping just from throwing up the contents in her stomach.

Estella didn't open her eyes even though the disturbance in her head had finally been fought off. Questions were starting to swamp her mind and she felt suffocated by confusion in the darkness behind her lids.

The stifling feeling urged her eyes open.

The first thing she noticed was the rough jagged walls that subsequently led her eyes up to the ceiling which shared the same rough and jagged texture they bore. The walls were decorated by dancing shadows that were casted onto from the burning torches. She glanced around in hope to find a window, only find herself disappointed at that there was none that could tell her whether it was day or night outside. This also meant she could forget about escaping through any windows.

These features vaguely reminded her of a cave, but she quickly changed her mind when she discovered a wall of metal bars at the far end of the cave-like room.

She was in a cell. The lack of window meant this cell was either purposely picked because it has none or an underground one. She picked the latter, purely based on her intuition.

However, where exactly was she?

A burst of laughter brought her attention to the metal bars, just in time to see two men dressed in the same clothes – uniforms, she realized– strolling past her cell. Cries of surprise emitted from the two when they happened to glance in to find themselves held in their prisoner's gaze.

But she was too fixated on the cloths tied around each of their left biceps to notice their cries. Her face was pale with realization at the too familiar symbol they bore.

Why in the world was she back in SIGMA?

Hurling herself to the side, Estella threw up the second time.

….

Ciel would hate to admit to Sebastian that he felt utterly relieved to know he could let his servants go on their little break. They had passed, and safe to say, they were proven to be trustworthy.

This meant his servants would be leaving the next morning, which was only a few hours away, to catch the first train to Brixton, and he knew it was unnecessary to worry about those three klutz wreaking havoc – even though unintentional– on the way there since Tanaka was going with them too.

Now that he could take his mind off the servants, Ciel turned his thoughts away and settled his gaze back onto the floor plan he had just obtained from Sebastian. He fingered the thin white-turning-brown material in his hand as he perused the lined structure of SIGMA's headquarter, but only to find out that this floor plan in his possession gave him nothing but a pitifully vague idea of the building itself.

It was hand-drawn, his mouth crumbled into a frown. Inhaling deeply, he sat forward, praying that he could still get something out of a hand-drawn floor plan.

He traced the wobbly-but-still-somehow-straight lines that abruptly grew crooked, before hesitantly tearing his gaze away to glance over to the barely readable words at the sides, managing to catch 'Exit' among them after squinting and turning the paper several times. His heart sank when he realized that it was a very poor quality floor plan of the building, and that he could barely get anything out of it.

He could suddenly picture Estella breaking into sweat, desperately trying to copy whatever she could from the original floor plan onto the paper she managed to obtain with a pen she had probably stole from her captors.

Pushing the paper he deemed useless aside, Ciel sunk into his chair with hope sinking along, raking his hand through his hair with a frustrated growl.

How did you managed to escape with this, Blancbaston?

With no strong knowledge of the building, a quiet rescue was regrettably out of question. His eyebrows knitted themselves together as he finally, grudgingly, came to rest on an inevitably reckless, foolish decision. He had to take his chances; he was out of options. Charging into SIGMA blindly was probably the most absurd and rash decision he has ever made, but it would do. However, this rescue would need more than just Sebastian and him, Ciel decided.

The rescue was going to be more troublesome though.

Stifling a yawn, Ciel stood up from the chair and made toward the door, catching sight of the clock before exiting his study. Now that he had decided on what to do, he could finally let himself turn in for the night.

...

He could not sleep.

No matter how much he tossed and turned or force himself to sleep, he just could not. Not when his mind was running high on thoughts of his captured servant, and his uneasiness for her was prodding him non-stop.

The bed in the room across his was empty now. It disturbed him, knowing he would be waking up to a new day without a loud, hot-headed idiot complaining about her chores and pissing him off with her sarcastic remarks and stupid smirks. She was annoying like hell at times, but he would rather get a headache dealing with her idiocy and defiance than worrying over her.

His eyes softened.

He had to admit that he would not know how to get by in his manor, without her presence that was as loud as her brightly-colored hair to liven it up.

Somehow, it felt as though through the capture of Estella, someone, probably a sadist, was trying to point out that the disturbing truth was there, deep in him. He hated how close to the truth Elizabeth was.

Giving up on the idea of sleep, Ciel sat up with a groan of annoyance and gave in to his raging mind and emotions. He could forget about sleeping in this state.

It was frustrating. Beyond frustrating.

….

It felt like a decade had passed. The two guards were all she had seen before they rushed off. She had assumed that she would be seeing more of them from the panicked looks on their faces. But she was wrong. No one came, not even a single soul had passed her cell, which she found rather strange.

With all her four limbs chained to a wooden plank with manacles meant she could go nowhere, not even moving around within her own cell. No thanks to them, her limbs were rather dysfunctional right now for that purpose after being confined for who knew how long already. They felt numb from the lack of movement.

During her time alone in the cavern doing nothing but counting cracks in the ceiling which the plank below her was inclined toward, patches of memories of her encounter with Brandon Christensen back at the manor managed to catch up with her, quelling the confusion she felt and gave rise to rage and hatred.

She was seething with rage for the past few hours, and was driven by her hatred to think of all sorts of ways to lay her revenge on her family's murderer. It was only until she grew tired when the fire within diminished– temporarily.

Presently, Estella stared with concentration at the ceiling above, listening for any sound indicating a presence in the area. She doubted she could break out of here like she could the last time. But she knew she had to try. If not, she would have to wait for her master to break her out. But she had her doubts.

When was he going to come?

Did he even notice that she was missing?

What if he didn't?

Biting her bottom lips worriedly, she tried to keep her dampening hope up–

What makes you think that he would care when you are just a servant, silly? She nearly screamed at the intrusion but caught herself. Swallowing hard, her eyebrows knitted themselves together in concentration as the familiar sinister voice continued cruelly. Especially a servant as defiant as you.

Where did she hear this voice from?

It was the voice from back then! Her eyes sprang wide open in shock when she finally figured out.

I'm surprised that you remember. The voice did not sound surprised at all. Yes, it's me.

Estella gasped. "Who the hell exactly are you?!" She bit her bottom lips, wincing at her volume when she realized she asked too loud. "What…How is it possible for you to speak through my mind? Is this some sort of power?" When she was met with silence, she pressed her lips into a thin line with impatience. "Hey, answer when someone's asking you a question–"

You're annoying. The voice cut in sharply without warning. Estella winced at its bluntness. Surely, you know what SIGMA had done to you right–

"Yeah, they injected demon blood into me." She froze. "Wait, you're–"

Have your parents ever taught you that it's rude to interrupt when someone's talking?! The voice bellowed.

Blinking in shock at the sudden rise in volume, Estella shot back. "There is no need to shout, you know! Are you trying to split my head or something?! Remember whose mind you are staying in, you ungrateful freeloader!"She lowered her voice to a whisper when her voice rebounded back to her ears as echoes. "I'm guessing you're the demon." If anyone passing by her cell caught her yelling out her side of the conversation, they would have thought that she has finally lost it.

Tch. Not bad, you're a little less stupid than I thought.

Estella glowered at the insult, but chose to focus at the confirmed answer, only to realize that such things as demons were no longer a surprise to her anymore.

Working and living with one could do that much to her. Even so, she felt calm and nonchalant about the fact that one was currently living in her head. She only felt surprised that she could take it so well. She had a strong feeling that she could even readily believe that faeries, werewolves or vampires exist if someone told her so.

I'm still hungry. The voice she mentally labelled with 'Demon' brought her thoughts back to it. To her, the Demon sounded like it was muttering to itself. What a pity, the souls I took were insufficient.

Souls? Her eyes widened. She knew the relation between demons and souls, for she had read it in the databook, Angels and Demons, Brandon gave her on their first meet.

"The souls you took?" Estella cut into the Demon's monologue. "You mean you have… devoured before?" Her heartbeat raced at the words 'souls' and 'devoured'.

Silence trailed after her question, stretching the nerve-wreaking sensation that was stifling to her.

Yes, of course! The Demon sounded excited. I was finally out the night, and my power were free to burn those pathetic humans! But I must say, their souls were satisfyingly delicious." She could feel her hair standing on its end at the way the Demon could hardly contain its excitement. Its words were utterly disturbing.

"Burn?" Her curiosity overwhelmed her uneasiness. "You used fire?" She blinked.

Yes, fire! The Demon sounded smug. Well, I'm a fire demon afterall.

Estella was silent for a moment, frowning at the new information. Say, she perked up, turning her attention back to the resident. Do you want me to break you out of here?

She blinked. "Why would you do that for me?"

I want to get out of here as much as you do, you know. The Demon's voice rose, tinged with disgust. This place sickens me.

Her eyebrows arched up in surprise. "Why and how are you going to break me out?"

It's a long story. The Demon's voice dipped down a several shades. It sounded like bitterness for a moment before it was back to how it sounded before the dip. Let me take over your body and I'll do the job.

An icy hand closed around her heart at its proposal.

"Forget it." Her mouth tightened with disapproval. "No way in hell am I going to lend you my body so you can start devouring souls again! I'll just wait for Phantomhive to get me out, so stop talking to me."

How foolish. A hum of amusement could be heard in the Demon's voice. Why would that Phantomhive brat care? It chuckled cruelly. Oh well, you can wait all you want. Just don't regret turning me down…

Estella scowled at his words, growling. "I will not regret it, you bastard demon."

The presence of the Demon was already gone by the time she finished her sentence. She was alone again.

….

The soft glow of early morning light leaking in from the little gaps through the drapes beckoned from beyond his eyelids. Ciel opened his eyes, blinking hard as his blurry surroundings sharpened into focus. It was already morning.

"Good morning, Young Master."

He turned his head, slowly, to find Sebastian standing by his bed with tea ready to be served to him, just like every other morning.

"Sebastian," Ciel suddenly sat up and turned to the clock on his bedside table, noting that it was about time his servants left the manor. "Have they left?"

"Not yet, but soon." Sebastian offered him the cup of tea.

His gaze landed onto the tea in his hand and stared dully at his reflection on its light brown surface, watching as the white medical eye patch taken off his right eye and replaced with his usual black one. For a piercing moment, the recollection of what he had decided the night before came rushing to him.

Letting out a sigh, he took a few quick sips from his cup before nudging it back into Sebastian's hand. "Hurry and get me dressed."

Bowing, Sebastian set the cup aside and turned back to attend to the boy's request.

….

"This should be enough to last you four for the whole trip." Ciel nodded his head at the two bags of allowance in Sebastian's hand before turning his gaze onto Tanaka. "Tanaka, I'll be entrusting you to take care of the finance while you are there. "

Tanaka gave him a bow similar to Sebastian's. "Of course, Young Master." Ciel nodded back as he watched Sebastian hand over the two bags, knowing he did not need to worry with Tanaka around.

"Alright, you three," He shifted his gaze to the three servants who he realized were looking at him like they were about to drop onto their knees and worship him right there and then.

Eyebrows arched in surprise, Ciel almost squirmed in discomfort at the way their eyes seemed to be sparkling at him, but he caught himself. Frowning in concentration at what he was about to say, he cleared his throat, trying hard to ignore the gazes they gave him. "Anyway, make sure you three do not create trouble. You are free to do what you want as long as Tanaka allows it and you do not attract too much attention."

"Thank you, Young Master!" Their faces split into wide grins as they chorused.

He nodded. "Get going now. Don't miss the train." Ciel leveled a hard look at the four. "Be back in two days sharp, understand?"

"Understood!" The three leveled a serious look in return while Tanaka bowed in agreement. As soon as Ciel gave his permission to be dismissed, the stiff air between them disappeared.

"See you, Young Master!" They bade their goodbyes with wide grins before piling into the waiting carriage behind them, leaving Tanaka who watched with a closed-eyed smile. He was clearly amused at the trio's excitement to get to Brixton for their short getaway.

Tanaka turned back to Ciel and Sebastian. "We shall be leaving now, Young Master." With another bow, he turned away and climbed into the carriage where the trio were already settled in the seats.

Ciel raised a hand up in return to the eager waves his servants sent him, watching as they disappeared from sight when the door was pulled close. Even when the carriage was already turning out from the porch, he could still spot them with their wide grins and waving of their hands from the window when they pressed their faces to it.

But Ciel made no move to return them. Excessive waving was unnecessary and a waste of energy, he thought decisively as he watched the carriage drove through the gates and disappeared into a corner. He was dimly aware that Sebastian was watching his back as if he was anticipating an order.

Ciel exhaled carefully before turning around to meet Sebastian's burning gaze with his own, deciding that it was time to give out the order Sebastian was waiting for. "Sebastian, it's time you fixed the manor."

"Yes, my lord."

….

The sound of a dying whale made her cringe for the fifth time. She was hungry– no, ravenous. The loud grumbles from her stomach and the burning sensation at her abdomen were the proof. The only thing SIGMA did to make sure that their prized experiment stayed alive was to keep her dying from dehydration by sending two guards to dump a bucket of water onto her.

She could remember how they held the bucket over her head and emptied it on her. "Drink." That was the only warning she got before a huge chunk of water crashed down on her. Somehow, she managed to gulp down a few mouth of the liquid down her dry throat before she started coughing and spluttering.

She wasn't even sure whether they wanted her to drink or bathe her with it anymore. She wanted to wring their necks so badly. But due to her constrained limbs, she could only yell a colorful string of vulgarities at the top of her voice after them as they scampered away, like they feared her. She was left alone in her cell again after that, shivering away in the tightsuit she was still clad in. They clung to her skin like a second skin which was no help in shielding her from the chilly air of the cavern.

And now that another few hours had passed, her skin had adapted to the new temperature. It was fortunate and strange that she hasn't died from hypothermia yet, which she dimly suspected was the doing of the fire demon inside her. She did not know how, but it probably needed her to stay alive for its own sake.

The matter that was bugging her now was that the resident in her head could be right about her master's failure to turn up. Even though she was clueless about the time, her intuition was telling her that many hours or even days had already passed. Within the painfully long time she was chained, her faith in him started dwindling and the time alone had made her questioning herself about her significance to him or even in this world.

Where was her master? Did anybody even cared? Her eyes saddened. Was she perhaps…forgotten? Estella felt her lips tremble and pressed them together, to stop the shaking.

She knew it was impossible to escape being almost completely immobile due to the manacles and her lack of strength. Even if she did managed to free herself from the plank below her, getting past the security was another obstacle of much higher level. The security was probably tighter after her escape.

"Ahhhhh, there she is." Estella snapped her head over to the bars at the intrusion which had diverted her from her depressing thoughts, only to feel her rage and hatred that were doused hours and hours ago refueled.

"Victor Blair." She hissed spitefully, feeling a deep fury growing inside her.

"Isn't it good to be back, A174?" Her icy eyes pierced the pair of black eyes with a hateful glare upon hearing the so-called name she despised so much. She was dimly aware of the few guards who followed him in. "I'd purposefully rushed all the way back from Germany just so I could see you again, you know. You are that important to us." The man held a hand over his head and sighed dramatically. "I was so heartbroken when I found out you were gone–"

Estella kept her expression stony. "Cut the crap, Victor. What the hell are you planning to do with me? Why are you even doing this…this demon blood project?"

Victor scratched his scarred chin thoughtfully. He looked like he was mulling over something.

"Alright," Victor finally spoke. "I guess I'll give you a little sneak preview of my genius plan. Since you are technically part of it."

Her hands tightened into fists as she anticipated for his answer, feeling somewhat nervous but she did not know why.

"I saw myself as a citizen of this country and I have served Britain faithfully as a researcher for many years until this country decided to trample on my efforts." Victor's disdainful expression melted into a dark, furious look. "I despise this goddamn country and their bitch of a queen. They are my enemies."

Her eyebrows arched up, surprised at the complete change of his mood. "There is already a tension so thick that you could almost cut it with a knife between the Germans and them right now, because of France," Victor said with a big dramatic gesture."Both nations were aware that a potential war might break out between them so they desperately started building up their military strength before it could happen. This is known as an 'arms race'.

Estella's eyes went wide. A war?

"But of course, there was no way in hell I'm going to let this damn country win in this 'arms race'." Her eyes followed as Victor who was paced left and right repeatedly. "I'm helping the Germans to make sure that won't happen. And so, I offered them my plan, and I was paid handsomely to help them build an army of hybrids stronger and faster than normal humans. A thousand times deadlier too." Victor stopped his pacing and froze her with her knowing look. "Hybrids like you and Brandon."

Her stomach went cold. "Brandon too…?"

"Yes, you have met him, haven't you? But of course, you two are hybrids of different species. In fact, hybrids that are arch-enemies of each other, just like their pure-bred counterparts." Victor's face wore a look of amused satisfaction. "Angels and Demons."

Estella felt the breath puff out of her in a gasp. Angels and Demons? For a piercing moment, her thoughts flew to the book that bore the same words. Was Brandon giving me a hint when he picked that book for me?

She asked in a voice tinged with curiosity. "Does…Does that mean that asshole has angel blood?"

"Obviously."

She twisted her lips into a wry smile at the irony before bursting into dry laughter. "For someone with angel blood, the asshole seems like the complete opposite of what an angel is, to me."

"Your opinions hold no significance here." Victor made an impatient noise. "Anyway, once I have successfully created the supreme army, I can sit back and watch Germany destroy this very land. Beeeeautiful!" He continued his pacing but this time, quicker with excitement. "I'm brilliant for naming my project, Project Nemesis!" He was completely oblivious to the withering look she gave him.

But Estella quickly dropped her withering look when she realized Victor was not looking at her anymore, and seethed, grudgingly forced herself to continue listening to his rants. How the hell is this a 'sneak preview'?

"In case you don't know what 'Nemesis' is, it means 'arch-enemy'." He explained. "And since, I've created hybrids that are destined to be arch-enemies. Like how Britain and its Queen are arch-enemies to me, 'Nemesis' was the perfect word to name my ingenious project! And there, the birth of Project Nemesis!" Victor spun around excitedly with a smug smirk. "Isn't it just perfect?"

Estella threw an incredulous look at him and scoffed rudely. "That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard." She was definitely not going to give Victor the satisfaction of being agreed with. "Get that deluded head out of your ass, will you?"

A brief silence followed before Victor's open expression closed up.

"I guess your mouth is still as sharp as ever." A sadistic smile eerily crept its way across his lips. "Thank you so much for reminding me that I have yet to deliver your punishment."

Her throat tightened as she watched Victor slowly pranced towards her. The firelight from the burning torches around them added a malicious glint to his hooded eyes.

"I've met people who are what I called 'unbreakable'. Let me enlighten you... An unbreakable can be recognized by many things. They can be people of different gender, races or origins, but there is one thing they share – their spirits never break no matter what is done to them." She watched the man before her extend his right arm to the side with his palm facing upwards and curled his fingers curtly, beckoning at the guards which came in with him. And immediately, a guard appeared at his side with a coiled object offered toward him.

The object in his hand uncoiled to reveal a whip.

"Are you perhaps… one of them?" Victor added, smirking cruelly now.

Heart leaping wildly, Estella said nothing. Her voice seemed to have fled the moment the whip appeared. Dread clawed its way her spine as she raised her gaze back up to his black eyes, with a deep gulp.

"We shall see."

Helpless, she watched the whip which was raised over his head, came down on her in slow motion with painful anticipation.

In a few seconds later, her cell was found to be filled with her screams.