The chandelier’s light slipped through Chelsie’s half-closed eyes and slowly woke her up. She turned her head to the side and looked around. For so reason, the room felt unfamiliar to her.
"W-where am I?" Panic spread across her face. "L-Lira? Sh-Shaan? Where are you?"
Chelsie stood up from the old brown sofa where she had been lying. She walked around the room, looking for her two friends. However, there was no sign of anyone else here but her.
"Uhm... I have to get out of here and find Lira and Shaan."
Chelsie imdiately ran to the door and tried to open it. However, the door wouldn’t open at all. She kept turning the doorknob repeatedly, but no matter how hard she tried, it was useless. The door was still tightly closed and locked.
"A-anyone outside... p-please help !"
Chelsie knocked on the door repeatedly, but no voice answered from the other side. Anxiety tightened in her chest. No one waited outside. Her attempt brought no result.
"Uhm... w-what should I do?" Chelsie bit her lower lip as her face turned pale. "I need to find another way out."
She hurried to the long table in front of her. Her hands opened each drawer one by one. She hoped one of them might hold a key that could unlock the door.
"There’s nothing." Chelsie let out a breath, frustration creeping onto her face. "None of these drawers has a key to open the door."
Her hope slowly faded. She lowered her head and stood there helplessly. One by one, her hands closed the drawers. When she reached the last one, her eyes suddenly noticed an old book inside.
"N-no, I shouldn’t open it," she said to herself. "That doesn’t belong to . I shouldn’t touch it."
She slowly turned her face away and gently pushed the drawer closed. But once again, she froze. For so reason, curiosity kept pushing her to take the old book and open it.
Chelsie sighed and glanced at the book again. "Uhm... m-maybe I can just read a little and then put it back."
"Eclipse Project?" Chelsie frowned. "W-what is this? I’ve never heard of sothing like this before."
Chelsie slowly turned the first page, and her face stiffened imdiately. The book described a strange potion. It explained a special formula that could greatly increase the power of dark creatures and force them to mutate at an alarming speed.
"Uhm... it says here that mutated dark creatures can spread the mutation to other dark creatures," Chelsie murmured as she tried to process the words. "B-but that’s not all. It also says that if soone mixes their blood into the potion, the mutated creatures will recognize that person as their master. That ans the person can control any dark creature injected with this potion."
Chelsie’s hands trembled. Her face turned pale like a corpse. She had never imagined the Resistance would plan sothing this insane. They actually wanted to use deadly dark creatures to seize control of Twilight Sanctum.
"No... no. I need to tell soone about this before—"
’Click...’
"Oh... damn."
She panicked and quickly shoved the book back into the drawer. She rushed behind a nearby cabinet and hid, holding her breath. The door slowly opened. Footsteps echoed as soone entered the room.
"Oh... so you’re finally awake," a man’s hoarse voice said. "Co out. I know you’re still here."
Chelsie’s whole body trembled. Her heart pounded wildly when she heard the man’s voice. She knew one thing for sure—if that hoarse-voiced man found her hiding here, he would not hesitate to kill her.
"Uhm... I have to stay here and hope—"
"Calm down," the man said as he cleared his throat. "I don’t want to hurt you. I want to ask you, How did you get this moriam crystal fragnt?"
"F-fragnt...?" Chelsie quickly touched her neck and realized sothing was missing. Her cross necklace had disappeared. "Oh, no. Th-that man must have taken my necklace while I was unconscious."
"I just want to talk," the man repeated. "I won’t hurt you. That’s all."
His calm voice made Chelsie hesitate. Her fear slowly weakened, and she started to believe his words. Maybe he really didn’t intend to harm her. Slowly, she stepped out from behind the cabinet.
"F-father?" Tears imdiately stread down Chelsie’s cheeks when she saw the man standing there. "Thank goodness... It’s just you. I thought—"
"Father?" The brown-haired man frowned. "Who are you? What are you talking about?"
"F-father?" Chelsie froze. "It’s... It’s . Chelsie."
"Who?" The man’s frown deepened. "I don’t know you at all."
Chelsie only smiled when she heard those words. At first, she thought her father might joke with her. She knew he loved teasing her. But when she looked at his confused expression, her smile vanished instantly. She realized he truly didn’t recognize her, and his words stabbed straight into her heart.
’T-this can’t be...’ Her legs lost their strength, and she collapsed onto the floor. ’W-why doesn’t Father recognize ? What is happening?’
"Now tell . How did you get my crystal?"
"You gave that crystal yourself."
"Liar! I never gave my crystal to anyone." The man glared sharply at Chelsie. "Don’t fool ."
"I swear! I swear it’s true!" Chelsie said desperately, trying to convince him. "Before you left Mother and , you gave this crystal to . You told that you would always watch over us."
The man fell silent. "...Could it be—"
"Argh!" The man suddenly clutched his head and cried out in pain. "My head... it hurts. It hurts so much. Damn it!"
"Oh my God—Father!" Chelsie rushed toward him. "Father! What’s wrong with you?!"
"Argh!"
The man suddenly lost control of his body and shoved Chelsie away. Chelsie fell hard onto the floor, scraping her knee. Pain shot through her leg.
Her face tightened in shock. She had never imagined her father would push her like that.
"F-Father, what are you—"
’BAM!’
"Don’t call that." The man straightened his posture and showed a twisted grin. "I am the leader of the resistance," he said coldly. "And very soon, Twilight Sanctum will belong to ."
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