Unsurprisingly, I found myself again on the threshold of their damn boardroom. Hannah was following me closely, so closely that she was almost glued to my back and nearly hit me when I stopped, hesitating to push the door. True to herself, she moved and opened it while pushing me hard in the back. The door closed behind me, leaving me alone. Having no choice but to move forward, I did so, although fear knotted my stomach. No matter how much I despised Charles, I was not stupid enough to underestimate him.

What I saw first were the six lateral beams spaced about one metre apart, which supported the building's exposed structure. Third time I came here and yet it was the first time I paid attention to it, and for good reason. My gaze had almost instantly focused on the hook located two thirds of the height of the first beam on the right. Obviously, the place where they had Jude tied up before Charles beat him to pulp. This little hook was nothing special and seemed to have been there for a long time, given its rusty appearance. But now that I knew... I couldn't look away from it anymore. Charles, who was casually waiting for me on the steps of the stage, noticed it and smirked at me without even trying to hide it. I had the increasingly unpleasant feeling that I was not going to like our meeting at all and that, as an added bonus, he was going to enjoy making things last.

- 'Christina! I thought for a few minutes that you wouldn't have the "balls" to come,' he whispered meanly.

I remained frozen for a few seconds due to his vulgarity, then, understanding that all this was skillfully thought out, entered his game as best I could. No way I'm letting him have the upper hand.

- 'Indeed, I don't have any!' I replied in the same way while opening my arms. 'But as you can see, that didn't stop me from being there. What do you want from me?'

- 'You interfered in the justice of a metamorphic community of which you are not even a member. You knew there would be a price to pay for that... Especially since you're not even one of us after all, Christina.'

- 'Coming from you, I didn't expect anything else,' I replied with all the sarcasm I was capable of. 'And I don't remember allowing you to be on a first-name basis,' I continued straightforwardly.

- 'As you can see, I have no need and especially no interest in your permission! I am only formal with the people I meet for the first time and those I consider my equals. You are no longer in the first group and will never be in the second,' he continued to explain, staring at me. 'So you no longer deserve this special treatment.'

- 'You pretentious bastard...' I couldn't help but say to him out of anger, before he shut me up very effectively by standing up all of a sudden, and approaching me in a flexible and threatening way.

Instinctively I backed away, even though I was angry at myself for showing my fear like that.

- 'I think you forget a little too easily that you are alone with me in this room for the moment,' he scolded me in a barely controlled voice. 'But you'd better pray for it to last, because if I involve the council, the punishment will be public and I will choose it,' he threatened me while circling me like a hungry shark.

- 'Let me guess. Another medieval torture of some kind?' I said, ironically, while straightening myself up.

- 'That's right, be smart. You won't laugh so much if it comes to that. Unless you liked the little sample earlier?'

His gaze was lecherous and his voice dripping with painful promises. Maybe I should have listened to Jude for once and not come and face him alone. His smile widened further and he inspired deeply, as if he could feel my fear and that he was enjoying it. I began to panic seriously and looked for a way to escape, when he continued in a mocking voice.

- 'But I don't think that will be necessary. I am convinced that you will accept the compromise I will offer you.'

I answered nothing and just tried to stop the deaf panic that kept growing at the sight of his smug look.

- 'I know who helped you today. There are three of them, not to mention Jude and your furry friend. So here's the deal I'm offering you: you let me use your "talents" when I need them and no matter what I ask you... Otherwise, I will make their lives a living hell. And... accidents do happen so quickly,' he whispered in my ear in a poisonous voice as he brushed against me.

- 'I don't believe you, your...'

- 'Yes, my wife and daughter are part of the lot, I know,' he said jadedly, his eyes glued to his nails. 'But they betrayed me. So I will have no qualms about doing the same, and they know it.'

He slowly lifted his head up and fixed his cold gaze on mine.

- 'The question is, do you believe me capable of it? Will you risk their well-being, or even their lives, for your own personal safety?'

Of course I believed he could do it. I knew he would even, and the worst thing is that there was nothing I could do to help them. Jude and Feline could still run away, but, Clara and Hannah, they were stuck with that madman. Not to mention Adam, who was not even over 21.

- 'What exactly do you expect from me?'

- 'That you are available when I need your special talents. If you don't, you know who will suffer the consequences.'

- 'And if I refuse?'

I was beginning to think that the whip might be a lesser evil after all. That was saying a lot about my state of mind.

- 'I figured you'd say that. I was even hoping for it a bit, I must say. If you refuse, well... let's say Adam will have to answer for his actions to the council...'

He didn't finish his sentence and just stared at me with his cold eyes, but it was not necessary because I had understood the message very well. He never intended to hurt me, no! He knew very well that threatening someone else would be much more effective, especially if that person was a child. And in my eyes, Adam was still a child. That bastard knew me well and now he had me... And from the look of his large, smug smile, he knew it!

- 'All right,' I replied, 'you won.'

These words sounded like poison in my mouth. This guy made me want to take a shower just by being in the same room with him, and now I found myself at his mercy. It just keeps getting better and better. What was becoming of my life?

- 'You obviously won't tell anyone about our little arrangement. I want you to stay... my secret weapon,' he said, gloating. 'If you do, I'll know and our agreement will no longer hold. You will be allowed to come here to visit the panther who is doing very well,' he said before I had time to open my mouth. 'So no one will be surprised by your presence, it's the perfect alibi. I have to thank you for that, because it was thanks to you that I had the idea.'

I clenched my fists and teeth in frustration. I had only one desire: to jump on him and punch his damn smile back down his throat, but I stood there staring at him stoically and tried to contain the rage that was boiling inside me.

- 'Oh by the way, one last thing.'

He walked the small distance between us and before I could anticipate his intention or even his gesture, he hit me hard in the face. I did not fall, but backed away under the force of the impact. I was so surprised and confused by the first blow that I didn't even try to block the second one. At the third punch, I managed to protect my face and my hands took most of the shock. I heard a crackling sound and felt a strong pain in the last two fingers of my left hand. This last blow managed to do what the first two had not succeeded, namely to get me down. I huddled on the ground, hoping to protect myself a little bit from the next blows, but to my great surprise, nothing happened. I carefully lowered my arms and risked a glance into the room to see where Charles was. He was not far away. Nonchalantly leaning against one of the beams, he watched me stand up painfully, looking royally bored. I didn't understand what had just happened, which seemed to amuse him greatly.

- 'You are really slow on the uptake, you poor girl!' he said meanly, staring at me as if I were a mud worm. 'This will protect our little secret. Because it would have seemed more than suspicious if you came out of here like a flower, don't you think? Not to mention that your bewildered look has greatly added to my pleasure.'

On these words, he turned his back on me and left, leaving me on the ground, alone. I got up shaking as a result of the stress, the fallout from my adrenaline rush and the beating I had just taken. My hand was hurting me terribly and the increasingly violent throbbing was making me nauseous. In addition, the blows had reopened my wounds, which had started bleeding again. I did not dare to look, lest reality increase my pain tenfold again. Nevertheless, after a few seconds, I couldn't help myself. My ring finger and little finger were at an unnatural angle and my hand had already started to swell. I repressed a gag and told myself that all I had to do was go to the emergency and they would put them back in place, because I couldn't do it myself. The only problem was: what was I going to come up with for them? I was about to leave the room when Hannah came in. She looked at me from head to toe without a word, then reached out her hand. I just stared at her stupidly, without understanding what she was getting at. Charles' blows must have done more damage than I thought.

- 'Give me your hand, I'll reduce the fractures. I am a trained nurse.'

I was speechless, unable to figure out what surprised me the most. The fact that she's offering to help me or the fact that someone like her is a nurse? It didn't fit her very well. She smiled gently at me, and if I didn't know her, I could almost have said nicely, then spoiled everything with a sneer.

- 'I said I had been trained, not that I had gone all the way. Apparently, I don't have enough empathy for the job,' she told me, raising her eyebrows with an interrogating look.

I don't know if it was her bad joke or just my nerves that broke, but I started laughing softly first, then louder and louder. Hannah looked at me silently, waiting for me to calm down. Once my laughing spell had subsided, I approached her and timidly reached out to her. We were not what you might call friends, far from it, and you can't say I trusted her; but right now, she was my best option to avoid the disturbing questions that I would inevitably be asked if I went to the hospital.

- 'It's gonna hurt.'

And without giving me time to anticipate, she took action. Indeed, "hurt" was a euphemism! A dazzling pain burst through my whole arm directly to my brain and a white flash wiped out my vision. My head started to spin and I thought I was going to faint again. The pain, although very severe, slowly began to ease and become more dull and pulsating.

- 'There you go. Secure your fingers and put ice on them. In a week or two, at most for you, you will be fine.'

- 'Thank you,' I simply said.

Anyway, I didn't know what else I could have added.

- 'No, thank you... for everything.'

She looked embarrassed and stared at her feet. Yet, when she regained her composure and looked me in the eye again, I understood that she knew about the deal I had just made with her father. She wouldn't tell me, but she knew, and her help must not be unrelated to this fact. I didn't say anything either and we left the building.

- 'If I were you, I wouldn't go to see Jude in this state,' she said quietly before we split up.

Her small statement made me wonder what I must have looked like when, further down the square, I saw my bag where I had dropped it during Jude's ordeal. I went to look for it and, after a lot of one-handed searches, I retrieved the hand-held mirror that was there. Don't ask me why I have a mirror in my bag, I never wear makeup. I didn't even know myself. Anyway, for once it would be useful to me. I put my bag back on my shoulder and moved closer to the entrance of a building to get some light. Slowly and with a slight apprehension, I opened my little mirror to see the damage. I had barely glanced at my reflection when I froze. My lower lip was cracked and blood had dripped on my chin to stain my clothes with scarlet specks. Charming bruises were beginning to bloom, mainly on the left side of my face, and my brow bone looked like a too ripe fruit. In short, I was covered in blood and looked really bad! I put the mirror in my bag and started to move slowly towards Jude's building.

I had a better understanding of Hannah's comment now. Indeed, he was going to react badly. He was going to be furious. The fact that Charles hurt me without being able to protect me would drive him crazy, but it would mostly make him unhappy; that's what bothered me the most. The closer I got to him, the more I realized that I would have to lie to him too. I couldn't afford to risk telling him the truth. Would I be convincing? Especially if we were to get closer, which I hoped with all my heart. He may have been impossible, but he attracted me too much for me not to take a chance. No, I was lying to myself: it was much more than attraction. We had only been apart for an hour and I already had only one desire: to join him! To make sure he's fine and just to be close to him.

The conclusion I reached during my short walk was clear and unquestionable: I could not be with him as things stand at the moment. Charles would never believe my silence when he saw us together and would gladly take revenge on him to make me obey. Which would most certainly lead to Jude's death. Given his temper, it was more than improbable that he would let it happen a second time without reacting. There was no way I was going to cause him more suffering than he had already endured because of me in such a short time... so his death? Tears came to my eyes as I realized that I had almost arrived on his doorstep and that I was not going to enter... because I couldn't! I was not going to be able to keep my promise and the fact that it was for the greater good was not enough to comfort me, far from it. It hurt me almost more than all my injuries combined. My grief was a big lump in my throat that wanted to choke me, but despite that, my tears couldn't flow.

I don't know how long I stood there, staring into space, contemplating his door, while trying to convince myself that it wasn't the right thing to do, when I finally became aware of all the things on his doorstep. There was food, flowers and even some candles lit. I stood there with a tight heart watching these anonymous expressions of sympathy and support for him, and told myself that in the end these people were well deserving of the sacrifice I was making for them. It was reassuring to see that I was not the only one who did not condone Charles' barbaric and archaic methods. In the end, the monster in this story was him, and I promised myself that somehow I would bring him down. I had no idea when and how, but I will do everything in my power to achieve it. Maybe Worth could help me with that?

It took all my will to turn my back on my possible future with Jude and leave, not without slipping him a laconic note under his door in which I explained I was fine and was going home. My feet seemed to weigh a ton and my heart was screaming to turn around, while my treacherous conscience was telling me that I was doing the right thing. I ended up leaving without even going to see Feline. This showed how emotionally distressed I was. However, her sweet friendly presence would probably have done me good. I wanted to see her and make sure she was fine, but I wanted to leave here as soon as possible before I fell apart and threw myself into Jude's arms to tell him everything.