JENNIE
"Almost," Jisoo insisted, as she tugged on a crooked hem one last time before finally stepping back. "Okay, you can look now."
I couldn't help the mournful sweep my eyes took over the thick, brown curls clumped on the floor as I prepared to face my reflection. "This is necessary," Jisoo had sworn before snipping a lock of my hair with a pair of scissors seemingly pulled from thin air. "It is too long. Now you have nothing to hide those eyes behind."
That was an understatement. When I finally confronted myself in the mirror, I was horrified to find that—after Jisoo's impromptu hair cut—I was left with a length that barely reached my chin.
Scandalous! Mother would shriek. In her opinion, only harlots and dreaded feminists kept their hair so short. Though, I had to admit that the cut did make my eyes seem larger—soul sucking. If Jisoo's goal was to make me resemble a freakish monster with enormous eyes, she certainly had succeeded.
It didn't help in any way that all I wore was the pale lining of her dress, hastily sewn into a simple, sleeveless shift. The garment had taken her mere minutes to complete, and yet could have hung in the stuffy boutiques my mother had frequented. The only obvious flaw was the fact that it was so short it barely covered my cotton underwear. Considering the white bottoms were all Jisoo let me wear underneath it …
Well, underdressed wouldn't have been a strong enough word.
"I don't … I don't think that …"
"You look perfect," Jisoo insisted while I blushed at the rosy bits of my body visible through the transparent fabric. "But don't take my word for it. As the broker of your contract, Lisa has the final say anyhow."
The thought of Lisa having any 'say' over me wasn't comforting in the least.
"Here."
Jisoo turned her attention to the table and seized a tube of lipstick from the scattered objects. She swiped the waxy substance along my bottom lip, and then traced a careful line along both of my upper lashes with a stick of kohl.
The results weren't terribly dramatic; the red added a slight bit of color to my complexion and my lashes looked a little thicker. I could barely meet my own gaze in the mirror, it seemed endless.
"One more thing," Jisoo murmured, still not satisfied.
She headed to the wardrobe, pulled a small box from the top shelf and withdrew a silver hair comb. I stood still as she tucked it into my hair, securing back one lone curl. When she appraised me the second time, she nodded to herself just once.
"This is the final touch. You look like an angel tricked into hell."
That I believed. Glancing at my reflection, I was perfectly willing to believe that the woman staring back at me was an angel: a stupid, naïve, foolish angel who had merrily skipped through the gates of Hades without a thought as to what might happen to her.
"My, my, my—" I jumped, and turned to find the red-headed woman from before leaning against the doorway. Somi. Her gaze drifted over me dismissively before settling on Jisoo. "Are you finished?"
"Why?" In an instant, Jisoo's friendly demeanor dissipated, and she seemed almost as icy as Lisa. "What do you want?"
"I have another for you—" Somi snapped her fingers and someone else staggered through the doorway. "One of mine."
The stranger's gaze met mine just once before nervously flicking away again. She looked no older than I was, but she was pretty with big blue eyes and sun-kissed skin. Blonde hair hung down her shoulders, the length mine had been a few minutes before.
"Make her look presentable," Somi ordered. "She starts tonight as well."
"Fine," Jisoo snapped, but Somi had already turned on her heel without a parting word.
Ice lingered in the air between them. Obviously there was no love lost there.
"Pick something from the closet," Jisoo told the blonde, flicking her fingers at the wardrobe. "I'll be with you in a moment. You—" Her piercing gaze returned to me. "Tell Lisa that I have finished with you. You can go."
She shooed me off, and I found myself unceremoniously ushered back into the hall on bare feet. Jisoo had confiscated my heels, along with my clothes, muttering something about should be burned as she did so.
I tried to tell myself that the sheer shift was no less degrading than a hospital gown, though I mourned the loss of my hair more than anything else. I felt naked without a cape of curls to hide behind as I wandered the corridor in search of Lisa.
There was no one else in sight, but the air seemed heavy—electric. A prickling sense of unease raced through my skin. Something's about to happen, my instincts warned. Something not good for Jennie …
"Is she ready?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen her—"
The voices seemed to come from the distant end of the hall. I headed towards them—but I had only gone a step before a cold grip encircled my arm.
"There you are." I found myself wrenched around so violently that I nearly staggered into the figure holding me captive. "Finally." Lisa's voice reached my ears before I glanced up to see her face, as well as the scowl forming there. "Jisoo better have given you the clothing of a damn queen for it to take—"
Abruptly, she broke off. Her eyes narrowed even more, raking over me once, twice. "She was supposed to make you somewhat decent," she growled. "But this … This will have to do for now. Come on."
She grabbed for me and I struggled to keep up as she manhandled me in the direction she'd come from. In a matter of seconds we were back in that mysterious lounge.
Only, there were other people there now.
A group of men were perched on the leather chaise, all wearing suits every bit as crisp as Lisa's. A woman, draped in shadow, stood along the back wall. More silent figures lurked at random intervals, watching as I was hauled across the room.
With every step I took, another hair at the nape of my neck stood on end.
Alone with Lisa, unease constantly lurked at the back of my mind. Whereas here, surrounded by strangers, I felt like a foolish doe who'd wandered into a den of wolves—though at least these predators had a sense of style.
The interior of the lounge was chic and utilitarian. The floors were polished to gleam, and reflected the dark colors of the walls like a pool of shadow. The few bits of furniture were placed strategically near the edges of the room, and angled toward the center to form a makeshift stage.
Gathered there for all to see, stood at least ten women, all wearing various versions of skimpy, black silk from Jisoo's closet. A brunette wore a tight corset, while a sultry red-head dazzled in a sheer, lace number that left little to the imagination as to what waited underneath.
No one else was wearing white—and, ironically enough, I seemed to be the most conservatively dressed one there.
Not that anyone was looking at me.
For the first time, I noticed that the 'club' didn't resemble the posh places brimming with excitement that I had glimpsed in television shows or heard of from Rosé's tales. There was no bar; no DJ; no dance floor.
In fact, despite the elegance, the setting was almost bare in appearance, minimalistic.
Whatever the purpose of this building was, the women were obviously the main draw. Something told me that they were tethered to contracts, but—unlike me, with my coveted family name—they all used so-called 'natural' assets to fulfill their debts instead.
Intelligence, cunning, beauty.
"What happens now?" I asked as loud as I dared. "D-Do ... Do I need to go out there?"
Lisa made no effort to respond to me. I half-expected her to shove me out onto the center of the floor anyway, but she never did.
Desperate to give her a reason not to, I struggled to make myself small and insignificant, invisible. So much for that; eyes found me anyway, curiously peering at the underdressed fool in ivory silk, cowering at the heels of her master. Before I could die of mortification, the sound of two hands being clapped drew all eyes to the doorway.
Somi strolled in a second later, trailed by the blonde woman who now wore only a sheer black blouse and lace shorts—apparently, Jisoo had classified her as the 'usual' type. Head down, the latter slowly made her way to the center of the floor, allowing Somi to take control of the room with all the gusto of an auctioneer.
"Welcome!" She smiled, seeming to drink in the collective attention—though with that blazing hair and ivory skin, even I couldn't deny that it was warranted. "Here at Anemia, we strive to offer the best selection no matter your tastes, be them exotic, or …" Her gaze cut directly to me. "Plain."
Something told me that she wasn't referring to food, or drink, or some other harmless commodity. No …
When she gestured to the women, they split off, as if on cue, to mingle with the silent visitors in the crowd.
"What's happening?" I whispered.
There seemed to be no 'cheating' going on. Nor any thievery, which only left ...
Lisa's reply was cold, spoken directly against my ear. "Watch."
I could only watch, entranced, as Somi's blonde was cornered by a man near the back of the lounge. Leisurely, he took her hand, eyes trailing the length of her arm, and I wasn't sure why the sight struck me as so odd.
Her arm, I insisted to myself—not her breasts, or eyes, or whatever else a normal man would be interested in, all of which was on full display. But even from this distance I could tell that he was focused solely on another part of her anatomy, one so strange that I found myself voicing it out loud in disbelief. "The veins …"
A prickling sensation snaked its way through me. This isn't right, it insisted. But my mind was desperate to cling to any plausible explanation.
Because she's pale, I told myself, despite the healthy glow to her skin. There's no other reason.
As if to prove me correct, the man bowed his head as though he only meant to deliver a gentlemanly kiss to the inside of her wrist.
But then his mouth opened.
His upper lip pulled back from abnormally long canines.
And, as I watched on in horror, his teeth sank into her flesh.
I don't know if I screamed or even gasped—but the next second Lisa's hand was over my mouth, trapping any sound I might've made.
"Quiet, Jennie Ruby Jane," she hissed while dragging me into an overlooked corner. "This is the game that you wanted to play ..." My own words haunted me, as I watched sharp teeth pierce flesh and a pale throat work to swallow. There was no escaping it: a real man was drinking from a real girl's wrist, and …
This was not a game.
This wasn't the reality I had pictured waiting beyond Kim Manor.
This …was something else entirely.
"No!" Lisa growled as I tried to turn away. She seized my chin, forcing me to watch as drops of scarlet struck the polished floor. "Drink it all in."
I thought I might vomit. Terror flooded my veins. My pulse hammered against my ear drums, drowning out everything else. Though, to be fair, the blonde in question certainly didn't seem to mind the violation. Her head tipped back, red lips forming a perfect o-shape, while the breath left her lungs in a single gasp. As the man withdrew, licking traces of red from his lips, she swayed on her feet, eyes wide and unfocused. Then, at his gentle prompting, she followed him down another shadowy hallway …
All around, I could see various other 'meetings' playing out in much the same way. Each woman was approached by a pale figure, and then led into the shadows. It was a chilling sight, nearly silent, save for a few scattered gasps of shock and pain.
Oh God. Suddenly, the massive room seemed miniscule, and I was drowning amid a sea of white faces. My heart quivered uselessly in my chest, too stunned to beat properly.
Red. Teeth. Red.
What the hell had I gotten myself into?
"Welcome to the darkness, Jennie Ruby Jane Kim," Lisa greeted against my ear. "A world where those of us without your precious family name dwell in shadow; this is the little game you wanted to play, was it not? So play."
It was.
Only now, I wanted to pack up all my toys and go home. Fear guided my actions as I struggled against her grip. "No! Let go of me—"
"Oh, Lisa!"
Somi's sensual purr made her freeze, nails nearly piercing my flesh as her grip on my arm tightened. Silence fell instantly, and I could tell from Somi's satisfied smirk that that was just the way she liked it; all the better to capture the attention for herself.
"Isn't your new girl going to join us?" She gestured to me from across the room with a wave of her red-tipped fingers. "We have a client waiting."
Sure enough, the number of girls seemed to correlate with the number of 'visitors' present—all of whom had already found their own scantily-clad girl …minus one. A man partially hidden in shadow was the only one without someone to chow on and lead to a private room. I recognized those glittering eyes. Mikhail.
"She's not ready." Lisa's tone was iron, daring anyone to challenge her—though before they could, she turned and dragged me from the room, down the same corridor she had taken me to see Jisoo.
Only now, she kept going, past the red dressing room and farther down, farther, farther. Without warning I found myself shoved into a windowless room with bare walls and a large bed dominating the center. Ominously silent, Lisa followed me inside.
The door closed, a lock clicked and I was trapped. Any relief I may have felt after being rescued from the nightmare of the lounge dissipated as soon as Lisa uttered her next four words.
"Take off your clothes."
It wasn't a cutesy joke or a mocking taunt this time. I could read it in her voice.
She meant every terrifying word.
"Now, Jennie."
I swayed, feeling in danger of doing something that my mother—with her aristocratic sensibilities—definitely wouldn't approve of: faint.
Only the desire to preserve what little dignity I had left forced me to stagger over to the bed. Once there, my knees buckled, depositing me onto the mattress with barely a thump to my name.
"This is how you wanted to repay your debt," Lisa reminded as she stalked forward with all the grace of a hunting wolf. "You seemed to have known exactly what this entailed when you so eagerly stripped for me before."
In a matter of seconds she had swallowed the distance between us. Before I had the chance to react—run—cool hands pushed on my shoulders, hard. I fell back onto the mattress like a stone, sprawled out with her hovering above.
Right then it sank in: intelligence …cunning …beauty. There was only one way that women with 'natural' talents fulfilled their bargains.
I panicked.
When Lisa reached for me, I sucked in air, strained my lungs, and screamed louder than I ever have before. I kicked, scratched, bit the hand she tried to wrestle over my mouth to silence me—only, it wasn't until I heard the words echo back that I realized just what I had been shouting.
Monster! Freak! Devil!
I sounded like a bimbo in a horror movie. Shock and shame made me fall silent, and Lisa stood back, prepared to grab me if I decided to run.
"I am a monster, Jennie," she declared.
Her expression was fearsome. Two points of white flashed from beneath her upper lip, almost daring me to believe that for a second I was merely hallucinating.
"I am a monster, bound for hell …but if you recall, you were the one who hopped right into my mouth and prodded my teeth."
I flinched, resisting the urge to clamp my hands over my ears and chant until I couldn't hear her anymore.
But she was right; I had all but asked for this.
"If I am not up to your usual 'speed' of self-destruction, Jennie, then I would be more than happy to go back into the showroom and find someone else willing to do the job for me," she suggested. "I hear that Mikhail has quite the reputation for being rough …"
I cringed at the thought of those hawkish eyes.
"You owe a debt," Lisa added, just to drill the point home. "A debt that must be repaid. You would have died without my blood."
It was the first time she had revealed that little snippet of information, but the sad part was that deep down I had already known it.
"I didn't ask for you to save me—"
Lisa whirled on me. With one hand, she seized my shoulder. The other went to my throat, fingers thrumming the pulse until my protests sputtered and died. All the while, her eyes bore mercilessly into my own.
"Oh, yes you did."
She seemed to wait for a shout or another scream, but when I remained silent she finally withdrew and posed a challenge that made me shiver.
"So what will it be? Me …or one of those men out there willing to take both your blood and your innocence?"
"You ...are …the Devil," I rasped once I found my voice again.
No other insult fit. She was the Devil, frighteningly detached, even while she offered what she claimed to be a reprieve.
"I am," she agreed, cold eyes staring me down. "Though even the Devil can show mercy; accept my first offer, Jennie, and this nightmare ends here. This is your last chance."
Within her tirade lingered a truth I didn't want to face; I could have given in and merrily fallen back on my checkbook. I should have, but …
Some childish impulse wouldn't let me, the same one that had driven me to accept her contract in the first place.
I am more than just Jennie Kim …
"Fine," Lisa snarled when I remained frozen beneath her.
Aggravation leaked from her every pore as she looked over my trembling form in disgust. Then, with one firm yank on the hem, she tore Jisoo's shift from my body and tossed it to the floor.
"Trust me," she insisted with a scowl as every muscle in my body tensed. "This disgusts no one more than it does me."