Seth had just poured his morning coffee when someone knocked on his door. He wasn't expecting anyone. No one was left in this town who cared about him. Thinking it was a door to door sale's person, he put on his angry face. He opened the door and his anger faded instantly when he saw Petrina standing there.

"What do I have do to?" He asked.
"What?" She laughed. "Seth! I told you yesterday you don't owe me anything. I'm here to talk."
"Talk?" He asked.
"Yes, talk. A conversation between two people. I'm sure you've heard of it before," she said.

He cracked a smile at her and stepped aside. She followed him out in the kitchen and accepted a cup of coffee. They sat down at the kitchen table and he remained quiet while looking at her. She had come to him. There had to be a reason for it.

"Tell me about your grandmother," she said.
"My mother took her own life to get away from my dad," he sighed. "My father didn't care about me. Once my mom was gone, he abandoned me too. My grandmother took me in and raised me. We were dead poor and then she got sick."

He sighed again and took a sip of his coffee.

"I spent all my money on her treatment but it wasn't enough. I still owe a lot but I don't care about that. I just wanna give her a good place to rest which was why I came to you. I'll figure out the debt from her medical bills somehow," he said.

She smiled warmly at him and it made him smile back. There was something about her that was less scary today than yesterday. Like she was a normal woman in his kitchen and not some high ranking criminal that could torture and kill him in 300 different ways and make his body disappear forever.

"I want you to come work for me," she said.
"What?" He asked.
"I need people I can trust. You proved that yesterday by not opening the canister. There was nothing in it but a camera. I watched the black screen on my phone all the way. You left it in front of a house I own. I watched you on the cameras at the house too. You didn't look in through any windows. You did exactly what I asked of you," she said.
"Of course I did. I needed your help," he said.
"That's not the only reason. You did it because you're trustworthy. You gave me your word and I gave you mine. The money was there for you, and you don't owe me anything else. I'm not demanding you to come work for me. I'm asking you to. It's a paid job and I pay well," she said.

She emptied her cup of coffee and stood up.

"Only if you want to, Seth. You don't owe me anything," she said. "If you want to, you know where to find me. If not, have a great life. I won't come here again to annoy you."
"I don't think you're annoying," he said.

He looked at her and blushed again.

"You're cute," she chuckled. "I'm gonna head out. Have a nice day."
"You too," he said.

She left his house and he kept sitting at the kitchen table for a full hour thinking about her offer. He finally decided to check on his debt one more time to see if that could help him make a decision. He grabbed his phone and nearly dropped it when he saw that his debt had been paid off in full. He didn't owe anyone anything. He could continue with his life as normal without having to worry about losing his house in a near future. He jumped up from the seat and ran through town to Petrina's place. Damian was outside again with his arms crossed.

"She told me you would come. I didn't believe her," Damian said.
"Can I go inside?" Seth asked.
"Whatever, kid. You're not gonna last long here anyway. It's your funeral," Damian said.

Seth walked into the building and up to the door he had been led to the day before. He knocked on it and waited.

"Enter!" Petrina yelled.

He stepped inside the room and found her sitting on the same chair. He walked up to the chair to her right and sat down.

"Did you pay off my debt?" He asked.
"Does it matter?" She asked.
"Yes, it matters, because now I feel forced to work for you," he said.
"No, I didn't pay it off. I can find out who did. I told your story to a lot of people so it was probably one of them," she said. "I don't want you working for me when you don't want to. Go home, Seth."

He gritted his teeth and stood up without another word. He didn't know what to believe. She had no reason to lie to him. She was kicking him out instead of trying to persuade him to take her offer for a job. In that moment she was a good person looking out for his best interest and he didn't know how to respond to that. He had always been told she was pure evil and to stay far away from this place. Now that he was there, she was more or less chasing him out.

"You fucking confuse me," he mumbled.

He turned around and walked out of there. Damian was still standing outside and started chuckling when he saw Seth come walking out.

"Not even five minutes," Damian laughed. "I knew you wouldn't make it here. You're too soft, kid."

For some reason that comment lit a fire under Seth. He was going to show Damian that he could hang with the toughest crowd. He turned around and marched right back into the room Petrina was sitting in.

"I will not kill or torture anyone," he said.
"I won't ask you to," she said.
"Good," he said. "When do I start and what do I have to do?"
"Go home and think it through. Don't let Damian get one over you," she said.
"Of course you watched on the cameras," he said.
"Of course I did," she said. "Go home, Seth. If you're here tomorrow at 8, I know you mean business. If you're not, no hard feelings."
"I'll be here," he said.

He marched back out of the room, out of the building, and past Damian who started laughing again. His mind was made up. He was going to show up tomorrow morning and get to know this world from the inside. He was going to be the best damn worker Petrina had ever seen.