To Play with The Monster.

Amelia twirled in front of the mirror, and a satisfied smile reflected on her face. The last week, she did her best to make the escape plan a success without flaws. She diligently followed the rules established by Marcus, ate with appetite and even showed a good mood and desire to talk.

Marcus, after leaving for a meeting with an unknown woman, still has not returned. Amelia tried not to think what a man with that femme fatale was doing. For some reason, the girl was sure that the woman Marcus visited was just like that.

She also tried not to think about who bought her all these stunning dresses and necessary clothes, including underwear and hygiene products. And even more so, she tried not to think about who was that pervert monster who picked it all up so precisely according to her body shape that the girl turned red like a tomato when she stood in front of a mirror in new underwear that perfectly fit her curves.

Amelia winked at her reflection in the mirror and sat on the sofa, on her usual spot. Exactly according to the schedule, when the hand on the wall clock pointed to the seven o'clock, the door of the room opened and a young man came in with a tray in his hands.

"Good evening, Simon. I'm already in anticipation of what next delicious meal you will surprise me with today. You know, you can become a terrific chef! You have everything for this - both nice look and great skills! Think about it," the girl said in a soft voice and smiled gently.

Simon gave her an open smile in response and set the food tray on the table, "You embarrass me, Lia. But I am glad that you finally liked my cooking. If the Master came back and found out that you spent another week on a hunger strike, I can't imagine what he would do to me," the guy laid out the dishes, setting the table like in a restaurant, and sat down opposite.

Over the past week, he became friends with Amelia, he did not understand how this happened but was glad about it. The girl was the same age as him, had an excellent sense of humor and turned out to be an interesting person to talk to. Amelia was surprised that Simon, who at first seemed to her an ordinary footman of Marcus, was in fact a well-read and intelligent young man.

Amelia rarely showed interest in her peers, as they had in their minds not what she could talk to them about. Simon, on the contrary, did not allow himself to embarrass the girl even just by the way he looked at her, and all their topics concerned either science or history.

"Did Marcus tell when he was coming back?"

"Hmm, maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. This is the first time he has been out for so long," Simon shrugged and put a piece of chicken in caramel sauce in his mouth, "I honestly wonder why it takes him so long. He usually stayed with Miss Lansington only for one night, but to be absent for a week," the guy looked up from his plate and met Amelia with a look, "Oh, sorry. You probably hate to hear that."

"That's absolutely all right. Your boss's personal life has nothing to do with me," the girl said with a smile and stuck a fork in her piece of chicken, metal fork teeth struck the plate with an unpleasant creak, "Oops, I'm sorry. Not calculated the strength."

The young man did not attach any importance to this and continued the conversation, "I don't know what kind of business binds you and Master together, but he is a good person, although sometimes he is a little nutty and creepy. I will be glad if you come to a compromise because," Simon calmed down for a moment and with all seriousness looked into the girl's eyes, "Because I owe life to both of you."

Amelia froze in confusion. All week she skillfully tugged at the guy's emotions in order to tie him to herself and gain his trust, but she didn't assume that it would go that far.

However, she already understood what this conversation was leading to.

"You do not know, but in childhood, I had poor health. Mom left me when she found out that I would not live long, so my grandmother raised me. Thanks to her care, I was able to live up to ten years. I fell in love with the history because of her," a kind and melancholy smile reflected on Simon's face, "When I had another stroke and went to the hospital, none of the doctors wanted to treat me. The risk was high, but there was one specialist who was not afraid. That doctor's name was Martin Grochester. He saved my life."

Simon got up from his chair and bowed deeply in front of the girl, "When there was a fire in the clinic, Dr. Martin sacrificed his life for me. He could have saved himself but preferred to give me to the Master, and he pulled me out of the fire. I apologize for this. I'm sorry this happened to your parents."

Amelia closed her lips tightly, the events of that day, like an obsessive nightmare, sometimes tormented her in a dream, over time the pain subsided and became dull and meaningless, and only bright scraps of memory stirred up the old wound.

"Do not blame yourself. My parents took an oath when they decided to become doctors, so if my father did this, then he really wanted to. I'm glad you were able to live on. His work was not in vain," Amelia stood up and extended her hand to the guy, "Simon, let us let go of the past and gratefully look into the future. Dad would definitely want that."

"Brian," the young man tenderly squeezed the girl's hand in response, "My name is Brian."

"Not Simon?"

The guy embarrassedly scratched his nose and looked away, "Simon is a nickname. I was very afraid of the operation, and Dr. Martin brought me an ivy dog, said that it was his daughter's toy, and the dog would guard me. Something like this."

"So this is where my toys disappeared to from time to time," Amelia smirked. In fact, she knew about it and was not upset, since the toys were not on her list of interests. On the contrary, she was happy to get rid of another doll that her mother bought for her so that the child was not too serious. But the medical manuals in the father's office for the little girl were more interesting than books with fairy tales.

"It may seem silly, but I decided to give up my name and took the nickname of the dog. Because that toy serves as a reminder of who I owe my life to. But now, I want for the first and last time to introduce myself properly," the young man bowed and touched the girl's hand with his lips,

"My name is Brian Richards. I am ready to protect you, Miss Amelia, and Master Taubert at the cost of my life."

Amelia closed her eyes, the stream of emotions of this man as a mountain river gushed into her mind. Respect, gratitude, sympathy, love. She needed to choose any of them in order to cloud his mind.

"Brian," the girl's voice spread through the quiet room like a tuning fork, "May we take a little walk? I want some fresh air."

"But the Master said—"

"It will not take us long. Is there any other way to avoid the security? Then no one will notice," Amelia spoke quietly and measuredly, but one would want to obey her words.

"Y-yes, there is," Simon looked at her, bewitched, unable to look away, "I think we can get through. But put on a sweater, it's cool outside at night."

The girl obediently complied with the recommendation and followed the young man along a long corridor. They took a different path, not the way she was usually taken for a walk, and Amelia was looking forward to becoming free soon.

The cool air enveloped her with night freshness, she took a deep breath and looked at the guy. Simon's gaze was fixed on the girl's face, he did not even blink.

Amelia put her hand to his cheek and plunged into the depths of his eyes, "You can go and rest, Brian. I myself will return to the room."

He nodded, smiled and kissed the girl's cheek, "Good. Just don't stay here too long, I don't want you to get sick," he whispered, stroked Amelia through her hair and left.

A pale moon peeked out from behind the clouds and lit up the girl's face. "Don't look at me like that, I myself feel very disgusted by this," Amelia muttered to her silent companion as if the latter purposely shamed her with its light.

Manipulating other people's emotions was one of Amelia's most skillful abilities. To do this, she just needed to let other people's feelings into her consciousness and use the most suitable of them to subjugate the will of another person. This did not last long but was effective.

The girl looked around. She was convinced that there was nobody around, and ran forward, hiding in the darkness of the forest.

The sharp knock of the door and the loud roar of Marcus woke Simon immediately. The guy jumped on the bed, not understanding what was happening.

"Where's she?!" Marcus's eyes were blazing, veins from tension were swollen around his neck and temples.

"M-master? You're back?"

"I asked where the hell is she! Why is Amelia's room empty?! Where is the girl?!"

Simon was taken aback at first, and opened his mouth to say that this was impossible. She was definitely in the room when he brought dinner, and then... Awareness, like an avalanche, covered a young man, and he turned white.

Marcus grabbed a subordinate by the neck and squeezed it, as if in a vice, "If something happens to her, I will give you to the wolves that roam the forest in search of food, so they would tear you to pieces," the man hissed and pushed the guy away, Simon hit hard against the wall, but did not dare to utter a sound.

"Master, Oswald just reported on his walkie-talkie that he had discovered a mutilated body near the base," one of the guards who ran up saluted to him.

From these words, the blood instantly surged from the face of Marcus, his heart fell somewhere in the lower stomach, which brought him colic, "Where?" the man asked in a hoarse voice, his eyes were staring into the void.

"In the seventh square."

Marcus did not even understand how he teleported to that place. His body acted at the level of reflex.

The guard, standing next to the found body, saluted when he noticed the approach of the boss. "Sir, it seems to be one of the locals. Most likely, he wanted to infiltrate the base with the purpose of robbery, but the wolves came before us."

Marcus walked over to the corpse and looked at the clawed face of an unknown man.

A breath of relief flew from his lips.

It was not her. Not her.

In the next second, the man's stomach was сramped, bitterness came to his throat. Marcus grabbed the nearest tree and bent in half, saying goodbye to the remnants of the little food that was inside.

Drops of sweat appeared on his forehead, his hands and knees were trembling treacherously.

"Sir, are you all right?" the guard asked in an uncertain voice, he was surprised at such a reaction from his boss.

Marcus wiped his mouth on his sleeve, straightened up, and answered, "More than. Announce the interception plan to everyone. The object is a dark-haired girl, about eighteen years old. Proceed now."

"Yes, sir!" the servant saluted and ran toward the base.

Marcus looked at his still trembling hand and clenched it into a fist, "Wanted to play with the monster, Amelia? You will get it."