Screams reverberated inside my head, uninvited, as my neck was gripped with such a force, all air was squeezed out of me. I thrashed and struggled against the punishing grip, my muscles twitching in protest when pain accompanied every movement.

Breathe.

Breathe.

The screams are louder now, but muffled. Familiar. I tried to make sense of them, even as I fought my own battle to get air into my lungs, to no avail. My senses were too hazy--a thick, dense fog that I could not penetrate.

I need to.

I kicked and flailed my arms, fighting against the pressure on my neck, the incessant, indecipherable screaming, and the pain that threatened to freeze my body on the spot. And yet, and yet, something in me cried to make sense of it all. The depths of my soul screamed at me to understand.

A screech pierced the air as I felt something heavy land on my chest, further knocking air out of my lungs. My eyes opened at impact, meeting nothing but darkness.

Then the object on top of my chest purred, and something rough and tiny brushed against my cheeks, followed by more purring. Amidst the darkness, a greyish fluffy tail swayed before my eyes, dead center, as Korn made a catwalk down my battered torso.

I winced in pain as Korn's little padded paws traipsed down my bruised ribs. I clutched his velvety soft body, moving him to the side where I swear he rolled his big, round, glowing eyes at me, before jumping off the bed and pawing his empty food bowl.

I gave him the middle finger. He meowed aggressively.

Diverting my attention from the cat, I took several deep breaths to calm my still wildly beating heart, my mind still wrapped in a fading haze. My dreams were always a jumbled mess of muffled voices and blurred images. But I would always wake up crying after one of them, and spend the rest of the day feeling spent and depressed.

The next ten minutes or so were spent with my eyes glued to the ceiling of my small apartment, the paint of which was mottling badly. The ceiling--no, the entire apartment needed some serious paint job. The landlord was a cheapfuck, so if I wanted my apartment to look a wee bit nicer, I'd have to shell out the money from my pockets--money which I could not get my hands on at the moment. Only Blue-chan and my high-performing laptop remained accessible from the proceeds of all my burglary. Inspector Eugene allowed me to keep them only because I needed to get things done for him. He confiscated the rest of my things when he caught me last year since they were all proceeds from illegal activities. Then he offered me this sweet-fucking sugarcoated blackmail of a deal--he wouldn't toss me in prison, but I would do informal investigations and searches for him. I had broken into criminal hide-outs and located smuggled goodies, illegal drugs, kidnapped people, missing felines--I kid you not--so the police can apply for their pretty search warrants and warrants of arrest.

My phone buzzed and my hand grabbed it without another thought. The flashing screen displayed the Inspector's name.

Speaking of the devil...

I clicked my tongue. I forgot to call and report to the Inspector last night. I was so tired, I was basically on autopilot. I didn't even remember how I ended up on my bed. Taking a deep breath, I pressed the green button, making sure to leave a good two inches between the phone speaker and my ears to accommodate all the yelling that the Inspector was so fond of doing whenever I was involved.

"Hello, Inspector. Lovely day, isn't it?"

"What the hell happened to you?! I was waiting all night for your report!"

"Yes, very lovely indeed." Yeah, note to self. Make it three inches next time.

"I'm not in the mood, Reianne. Report. Now."

Sheesh. Someone had a stick up his ass so early in the morning.

"The guns are there. There is a secret room on the second floor near the stairs. I'll send you a sketch."

"Next time, report immediately!"

"Yes, Sir. Reporting immediately, Sir." I saluted even though he would not be able to see it. I knew it annoyed him when I did it, so I kept doing it even if he couldn't see it. The line went dead. If the Inspector was using a telephone instead of his mobile phone, he would have slammed the phone down to emphasize that he was extra-pissed at me. Ms. Yin rolled her eyes again.

I emailed the Inspector the sketch of Hugo's Mansion and the exact location of the smuggled guns. Inspector Eugene was a workaholic prick. He wasn't on duty today, but I was sure he would be drafting the application for a search warrant the moment he received my email.

I tried sitting upright on my bed with a grunt. My body felt like a fairy turned my limbs into wood overnight. I could practically hear my joints creak and my muscles spasm as they protested against any type of movement.

Do fractured ribs need hospitalization? Is it fatal? Ms. Yin protested at the thought of doctor fees. Mr. Yang protested against the thought of doctors themselves. These inner voices would be the death of me one day.

My eyes spotted the bundle of cash and a black wallet sitting atop my study desk. Last night wasn't a total bummer, at least.

Oh no, it isn't, Ms. Yin crooned and wiggle her brows. Dark, piercing eyes dominated my thoughts, and brought back all the confusing feelings I had last night, but I pushed it at the back of my mind.

"Gio." The name left my lips unknowingly. There was something familiar about him that I could not pinpoint. I had seen him before, I was sure of it, but I could not dig him up from the depths of my photographic memory. I shrugged. I probably saw him in passing somewhere.

I sat for another ten minutes on my bed, not really knowing how to start the day, and willing the pain to go away. I shifted to get up the bed and winced when pain flared. I clutched my sides where it hurt the most.

Okay, so maybe I really have to go to the hospital. I reached for my phone, debating whether or not to call Michael for help. He owed me. The motherfucker was still probably in bed with his date. I dialed his number. It rang three times before he answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Michael," I greeted him in a sing-songy way in between pained gasps. I heard a girl's voice in the background. As I guessed, he was with his date.

"Who is on the phone, love?" the girl's faint bedroom voice reached my ears.

Yeah, screw getting help. He ruined my Friday night. I'll be damned if I don't ruin his Saturday morning in return.

"Michael, honey, where were you last night? Your baby daughter missed you so much!" I yelled loud enough for the girl to hear.

"Michael? Who is that? Why is she mentioning a daughter? You're not married are you?"

Michael muttered curses that I didn't even know were in his vocabulary. "Reianne, stop messing around."

"Reianne? So, it's really a woman?!" the girl screamed. I could hear more curses before I hung up. I then went to Youtube and typed "how to bandage fractured ribs."       

I had good news and bad news. The good news was, there was a Youtube tutorial on how to properly bandage your chest. The bad news was that doing it hurt like a motherfucker. After about an hour of self-torture and interference from Korn who kept swatting at the bandages, I was able to put together a respectable wrap around my chest. I checked myself in the mirror and was horrified at the sight.

Holy Moly, no wonder I am single!

My long brown hair was in disarray. My arms and legs were bruised, and there was even a long gash on my right leg. The part of my torso not hidden by bandages was a cacophony of black and blue.

All in all, I looked as bad as I felt.

I got an ointment from my medical kit, a gift from Master Shao when he was still talking to me, and applied that to my bruises and wounds. It worked wonders at easing inflammation.

After my self-medication, I put on a turtle neck top which I usually wore to hide my birthmark. If I couldn't wear one, I made sure to apply an industrial-strength concealer on it, lest my adoptive family die of the intrigue that yours truly was the infamous Reaper.

I sat on my desk, flipping through my notebook for a quick rundown of the last lessons. My fingers traced the scribbles on the top page of one particular page, underlined and highlighted with a yellow marker for emphasis.

When you believe there's hope, there is.

It was the only thing that I could make out of my jumbled dreams. And I held on to it when things seemed bleak. Wrote it over and over as a reminder to myself.

I shook my head. This was not the time to lose myself over sentiments. There are cases to be read and subjects to pass. Flipping the pages, I started reading the assigned cases for my Taxation II class on Monday. I felt like shit but these cases would not read themselves.

Sensing productivity, Korn jumped on top of the desk and sat atop the readings. He then thumped the table with his tail while maintaining eye contact with me.

"What the fuck, Korn?"

He meowed then rolled on his back.

"I swear you're like a dog sometimes. What kind of cat asks for belly rubs?" I said as I scratched his tummy. Ten seconds after, he caught my hand in his paws and nibbled it, his hind feet kicking at my arm playfully. "If I fail my classes, it will be your fault. Then we'll both starve to death."

Korn did not heed my warning though, and continued playing with my hand. I scooped him up and placed him on my lap, letting him play as I flip the pages of my readings with my other hand.

As was obvious by now, I was a law student in the morning and a reformed thief ("You still are!" Ms. Yin happily crooned), and a snoop dog to Inspector Eugene at night. Only my photographic memory kept me from going insane due to my workload. And no, despite my good memory, I was only a mediocre law student. I was half awake during my classes because of all the snooping I did at night, and photographic memory did not work with eyes closed.

Anyway, I get by.

I was deep in the world of taxation when my phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Reianne! I need your help!" Matilda's grating voice assaulted my hearing.

"What is it this time?" Matilda was the only daughter and second child of Mr. Andy and Mrs. Claudia Shen who were my adoptive parents--not legally, mind you. They just sort of kept me like a stray kitten.

I inwardly sighed. The Shens adopted me when I was about twelve years old and living with Master Shao and Granny Cerce. Why they did so, I had no idea, but it sure was not familial love. I was more like a free help and tutor. They didn't even support me financially. I put myself through school since I was twelve and took care of my needs, but since they were my adoptive family, it was very hard to shake them off. Recently, though, as if sensing that they were losing their grip on me, Uncle Shen agreed to shoulder my law school tuition fees. I agreed, of course. In return, I had to visit them whenever they ask and look after Matilda.

"I need to submit a book report by tomorrow!" Matilda shouted at the other end.

"Tomorrow's Sunday, Matilda. Surely, you don't have classes tomorrow."

"Well, the deadline is today, but I totally forgot. So I asked my professor for an extension." I was pretty sure that Matilda was on her knees when she requested her professor about it. That was just her way.

"What is the book report about?" If I started early, I might just be able to finish it before noon and get back to my reading.

"Moby Dick." Of course, it will involve a dick of some kind.

"That's one long-ass book, Matilda."

"Of course, I have to impress my professor."

Ugh.

I tried reading that book. I only managed to go through halfway before surrendering. I preferred my Starbucks hot and loaded with caffeine, thank you.

"Anyway," Matilda continued, "I am pretty sure this is a piece of cake for you. Just email me the paper and I'll print it here. By the way, I have something to give you. I asked Baron to drop it off at your place later. You'll totally love it. Ciao." Matilda hung up before I could say another word.

I bet Matilda would give me another one of her already unusable designer bags. A new Hermes line was just released, and Matilda had to make space in her closet. It was garbage disposal disguised as charity.

I cringed at the thought of Baron near my doorsteps. He was the Shens' firstborn and a creep. I grew up with Matilda, while Baron grew up abroad. He only went home to his parents three years ago. He made it painfully obvious that he did not see me as a sibling. More than once, I felt his hands on inappropriate parts of me despite my warnings. He only stopped when I nearly dislocated his shoulder after another groping. He was one of the reasons why I insisted on living away from the Shens. There was just no way I would let him inside my apartment.

About thirty minutes after Matilda's call, I heard knocks on my door. I groaned. The devil had arrived.

Yay, another chapter!

I realized that the previous chapters have some grammatical errors, especially on the tenses. Rest assured that I will look into those pesky errors...in the considerable future. Right now, just pretend that they are not there and resist the temptation to gouge your eyes out whenever you spot them. I WILL not be liable for bad grammar-induced eye-gouging. Did I make myself clear? No? Oh well.

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter. It's a bit bland, considering the adventures our heroine had previously, but there are some action-packed scenes to look forward to in the next ones. =P

That's all for now,

RF

Edit:

I revised the document to correct some errors. However, some might have escaped my notice still. Do advise me if you see one. I would appreciate it.

Rewrite Note:

Presenting Korn, people! I gave Reianne a pet. She could be a Disney princess now. 

Xoxo,

RF

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