Master, I Have Completed The Task

Anna's eyes wandered around the room in confusion, but it grew wide when she saw the world dissolve around her. The room collapsed, giving away to the familiar office of the Dean.

Ladislas turned her so that her back was flush with his chest. The warmth of his skin through his clothes seared her back. The fingers cupping her throat were in place, threatening violence yet protecting her from it.

She stared with mild astonishment as she saw the Dean clutch at his hair from his place behind his desk. He cursed about how Ladislas Forester had ruined his life and Anna had a vague thought that she was dreaming.

But when had dreams been so vivid? From the positioning of the books and the way the lint was on the carpet, it was exactly the same. The stark clarity of the scene bewitched and scared her.

Her eyes were riveted on the old man until she heard a noise from the main door. A figure emerged through it, blending through the walls and just entering. It was as if nobody saw this outside.

The woman, maybe in her late twenties strutted to the center of the room. Her hot pink blazer and shorts were blinding amongst the muted decoration of the office. Moreover, her black lace bra was prominent under the open blazer. It was a fashion statement, to say the least, but it looked uncomfortable. Especially the twelve-inch heels on the woman's foot.

The Dean looked up in shock and then horror ran over his features.

"Penelope," he said, his voice hoarse. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

Anna could see the other woman's expression from where she stood. She looked utterly annoyed with the situation.

"Master asked me to take care of you," she said lightly. Slowly, she bent over to slowly slide off her shoes. The Dean looked shocked but then his eyes traveled to her prominent cleavage on show.

Anna found herself scoffing despite the situation she was in. She was paralyzed and unable to break out from this illusion, but she could still appreciate how well her brain had reproduced the character of the Dean. She couldn't figure out how she had conjured up the image of such a bold woman though. Her imagination was not this rich.

The woman shimmied out of her shorts and then her blazer. She looked phenomenal in just her underwear. When she glanced up at the Dean, he finally found his words.

"He was speaking gibberish about taking my blood. What does that mean?" he squeaked.

"That you have overstayed your use and what you are doing is irritating now. There is no use wasting magic on you," Penelope said boldly.

"Useless?" he prompted with a note of disbelief.

"I won't hash over things that have been explained to you already. Instead, I am going to give you the pleasure of seeing me naked for the last few seconds of your life." She smirked.

The underwear was gotten rid of and she waited a second before she crouched and her body contorted.

Anna almost applauded herself for this scene.

Indeed, the breed of the tiger she had traced the fur to be from was the one in front of her. She gulped as she saw the tiger pace around the room. The Dean was about to scream when it lunged, cutting off the sound in his throat.

With a slit to the throat and a gash to the chest, the movement ceased. The tiger reverted back to its human form and then craned her neck. Her fingers were laced with blood. She looked down at it with distaste.

"God, I turned human so long ago. This is too savage for me," she said softly. She walked over to her clothes and jumped into them. It looked more like a social media transition video than anything else. Anna blinked but the woman called Penelope already had a vintage glass bottle in her hand. Where it appeared from? Unknown.

She opened the bottle and placed her bloodied finger over the neck. By magic, the blood unattached itself from her skin.

Droplets floated in the air and then slowly formed a stream that flowed into the bottle at its own volition.

Once done, the bottle was capped. With a little wave of her hand, it disappeared. The woman turned towards their direction and walked straight to them until she was a foot away.

She knelt down, looking in their direction but remaining unseeing. "Master, I have completed the task."

"Good job," his voice boomed from behind her, making Anna shudder.

Penelope raised herself off her knee and stared at the other presence in the room that she couldn't identify. She didn't think much about it and chalked it up to her decreased magical powers. With a final bow and a goodbye, she vanished into thin air, leaving Ladislas and Anna behind.

Anna stared, trying to shake herself out of the dream, but wasn't able to. As the minutes ticked by, she heard the sliding window open. Her eyes widened as she saw herself crawl in through the door and move about the room.

"So this is how you walk stealthily," Ladislas taunted. "I got to learn a lot about you from this trip too, Miss Dunn. How fascinating," he whispered.

The events of that day played out right in front of her, showing exactly the expressions on each person's face. Her heaving and Ladislas' eyes on her.

"What a delightful day it was," he said.

His hold on her throat tightened once again and she gurgled.

"But every day since I met you has been interesting in some way or form." He looked critically at her. "I suppose I need to keep you alive to have some fun for a few years." He bared his teeth at her, but she couldn't see.

Once again, she was in her own room, her eyes taking a few moments to adjust to the darkness.

The next thing she knew she woke up at her work desk. It was arranged the exact way she had remembered when she worked. She opened the drawer to find the scissor in it.

The room was pristine, the curtains in place and the toy gun she had imagined using against Ladislas still buried underneath her pillow. Not a single thing had shifted.

Yet the dream remained vivid and fresh in her mind like it had actually happened.

She wondered if the constant nights up and the stress of the job were slowly breaking apart her sanity, but she knew it was something else. It clawed at her.

Ladislas remained in her room through the night, watching her distress over what she thought was a dream. He found her entertaining enough to confuse her and make her feel a little safer than she was. He found her interesting enough to rearrange the room as she had originally had before noticing him.

He suddenly felt that he was too nice.

He seemed to forget that for a few minutes, he had really intended to see what would happen if he didn't allow her to breathe. He had entertained the idea of killing her a little too much.