"What are you doing, really?" Kim giggled, watching Jess recoil in horror just by seeing her holding a knife.

"D-Don't play with me, y-you evil of a w-woman," Jess yelled. She could have escaped when Kim went to get a knife to peel the apple, but her legs could no longer carry her own body; she's trembling.

"Now that's too much," Kim mocked. "Foul words should never come out of a pregnant woman's mouth. They baby could hear it."

"Yeah? Then I a-appreciate it if you will just leave," Jess's voice sounded like she's about to cry which only amused Kim even more.

"Aren't you appreciating this?" She pointed the apple with the knife. "I'm trying my best to be good here, Jess. Just go along with that before I change my mind."

Jess sucked her lips to stop them from quivering. Maybe, that's the best thing she could do. It would be a problem if she gets on Kim's evil side; she might die before Scott or Junel arrives. Seeing that Jess is finally agreeing with her term, she chortled.

"That's what I love about you, little Jess. You are too easy to control," Kim sliced the apple into four and placed them on the saucer before facing her. "Now, would you like to know a secret?"

Jess didn't even think twice to shake her head. "I-I'm good. I just want s-some of those apples, p-please."

"That's a bummer," Kim's lips thinned, rolling her eyes. "I just want to tell you what will happen to you and your child if we can't leech anything out of those bunch of imbeciles."

Jess gulped. She doesn't have any idea what Kim is talking about, but a gut feeling is freezing her in her spot even more.

"You want these more, huh?" Kim reached to the saucer and handed it to her. "Come to think of it, you knew very well what kind of people you're staying with; Haven't the the idea of being tortured and die helplessly, like those people, ever crossed your mind?"

Jess's breaths went even deeper; she could feel as if her heart is already touching her lungs. "W-What are you trying to say?"

Kim sat on the table beside her, still lifting the saucer which is now the answer to what she's going to propose. "I want you to do something for me and if you did it well, with no flaws, I'll get you away from here; you and your child will live a normal life free from curses... demons."

"Are you suggesting a t-trade?"

Kim laughed. "Honey, trade is when you're given an option to choose from."

***

"Yep, nothing," Kaiser rubbed his nose, placing a random notebook back to its original place. Carefully, he darted beside the window and peeked outside.

"They've only gotten manier," he whispered and gasped when he heard the main door opened and closed soon after. As if in a cue, he grabbed both ends of the dusty curtain beside him and covered himself with it.

Slowly, he peered to see no one. He havent't heard foot steps either; although he could have sworn someone entered. There's a shallow wall standing against his view to the door as he's standing on the same side, but he's certain he'd see the person right away even if it only stood there, doing nothing. Once he made sure there isn't, he went out with caution.

"The haunting is starting," he whispered to himself, tittering, and was about to turn towards the stairs when a putrid smell almost make him hurl in disgust. It came out of nowhere, he wasn't able to react right away. It wasn't there before they came in; where did it come from?

Kaiser covered his nose with a handkerchief he pulled out of his pocket. The smell is pungent; thus, the source should be just in the hall. Even though he sees nothing, he's convinced that it is something to do with the discoloration appearing on the wall he's now looking at. It wasn't there before, too.

With the vibe he got from years of experience, he could tell right away, someone's been pinned on there. Though hidden in naked eye, the stain projecting before him scrubbed visible evidences.

"Hey, Scott! You should see this," he started off in a cheerful tone; Scott didn't answer. "He must be already inside the library," Kaiser thought and was about to check the stain on the wall when he heard a faint noise coming from the hallway which he remembered leading towards the basement.

The part is about to crumble in old age, thus, none of them dared to check; nonetheless, the noise which Kaiser could tell to be a metal clinking, drew his attention. Now, he found himself trailing the basement.

He could tell that it's the darkest part of the groundfloor the moment he casted his flashlight in the direction and it only ranged for approximately six feet away. Kaiser knew he shouldn't proceed unarmed, so he stepped back, but stopped athwart the entrance way when he spotted something in his peripheral vision.

He looked back once again to see something bouncing on the ground. He could have sworn the thing is familiar, so he moved closer to check until it settled down the floor; the only choice he had to make is whether to take a good look to make peace with his confusion or left completely.

"Nah," Kaiser scoffed and choose the latter. He wanted to keep his cool and stay away from the things that could potentially put him into trouble. They have to play safe now that they are already given their last chance to straighten up their plans.

He walked back towards the hall to continue with his business with the stain, but it's no longer there. "I should have taken photos of it," he whimpered, rubbing his nape.

Realizing that he haven't really found anything relevant in the groundfloor, he decided to follow Scott in the library when a chilling wind seem to have passed through him; it was so sudden that he froze, most especially when he saw foot prints on the floor which shows to be blood; in a trice, they disappeared.

It took him a moment and beyond to examine what it were and wasn't even given the chance to think about them when something came tumbling down the stairs. Kaiser didn't know what to expect and the least thing that he could think of is Scott who is actually the one who fell down cold on the floor.

"Holy shit!" Kaiser cursed, rushing beside Scott to check his pulse.

"He's alive," he panted. "What the hell happened?!" Kaiser doesn't have any idea what to do to wake him up and ended slapping him which eventually worked and he abruptly sat down, calling Samantha's name.

"Sam! S-Sam!" Scott gasped, looking around as though he's searching for his missing former lover. For a moment, Kaiser knelt beside him like a mor-on. He's not sure how to react, now that for the first time in history, he actually saw emotions in the man.

Scott turned towards him. "Where's Sam? W-Where is she?"
Kaiser's lips separated. He wanted to answer, but couldn't formulate the right words to say. After all, everything's not making sense to him. It wasn't even that long when Scott went upstairs; however, he's already covered with too much sweat—no, he's dripping wet.

"Samantha's gone missing, bro," Kaiser finally spoke. "Did you hit your head that bad and got amnesia?"

"N-No! She was here! She's even the one who woke me up," Scott argued.

"I did it! What the hell are you talking about? Have you gone mad?"

Kaiser raised a hand to stop Scott from answering when he heard something approaching from the outside. He carefully dashed towards the window to check to see two cops heading the house.

"Fuck! We have to go," Kaiser crouched and swiftly ran at the backdoor; Scott followed as well as though nothing happened. His fall was a bad one; however, he seem to be fine which Kaiser is damned confused about.

"So, what in the actual fuck happened in there?" It was a normal question coming from Kaiser, but he actually sounded mad. He leaned his back on his motorcycle beside Scott's which were parked a couple of blocks away from Samantha's house. Kaiser waited for him to answer, but he said nothing which he understood. The man is still in daze.

"She saved me," Scott muttered, swallowing a sigh.

"Who? Samantha?"

"Yes."

***

"One interesting thing about time loops though... is it breaks when the order kept changing."
At least that's what Scott thought a while ago when he ripped the book page by page.

He wasn't mistaken though; the loop was indeed broken, but what came next made him almost regret his entire existence.

Thought is quicker than words, and words are quicker than action—supposedly, yet Scott have none of those. He's too bewildered to even blink as he eyed himself now soaking in clear water up to his waist.

"Focus, goddamnit!" He groaned, slapping himself back to his senses. "If the loop has already been broken, I could safely use the stairs," he nodded in his unnecessary monologue and moved towards the direction.

Just when he thought he could already leave in peace, rotting hands emerged from the waters which turned out to be actually a pool of blood.

"OH, C'MONNN!" Scott screamed storming out in attempt to escape, but like in a nightmare chased by monsters, even though how much he struggled to run away, he still landed on the same spot he's at from the very beginning. He even saw the stairs moved farther in a vertigo effect. Slowly, he felt the rough and decaying hands holding him.

"No, no, nooo!" Scott could hear his own voice ringing in his eardrums as the hands forcefully dragged him down to which he assume to be the bottom of hell.

He felt more hands dragging him; his struggles are all meaningless. Soon enough, he'll already run out of air. What an awful way to meet its own demise.

Scott had already lost all hope the moment he breathed his last breath and let the dead take him wherever they want—but there's this light he sees from the surface and it's getting brighter and brighter.

"Breathe, Scott. Breathe!" A familiar voice suddenly resounded.

He's uncertain if he really heard it from someone or only from his mind, it didn't really matter as the light had seemingly vanquished the hands which had been dragging him.

Scott already felt dizzy, but he needs to fight and live. With all the remaining strength he had gathered, he swam up to the surface, and towards the stairs. Coughing, he crawled his way up to where he saw a woman—no—the woman, he has been yearning to see again.

"S-Sam."