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The second floor was full of rooms. The rooms faced each other in a long, dark hallway like the mouth of a monster.
While everyone was choosing a room to sleep in,the atmosphere was tense as a violent quarrel broke out between Black With and Dante over the choice of rooms. The shouting echoed everywhere.
— Dante (angrily):
"I chose it first!"
— Black With (provoking):
"Shut up! I found the room before you!"
— Dante (loudly):
"This is my room!"
— Black With:
"No, it's mine!"
Herman stepped in quickly to calm things down:
— "Dani, there's an empty room next to mine. It's suitable for you."
— Dante replied, annoyed:
"Humph! Damn you, stupid! I'll go there."
— Black With shouted:
"Damn you, bald dwarf!"
— Dante sneered:
"Old woman with horns! And you think you're Miss World?!"
— Black With, grabbing a lock of her hair:
"You are nothing, not even on my level, you idiot!"
Herman stood between them, watching the fight without intervening, his hands on his cheeks, looking as if he was in a state of frustration.
After a few tense moments, everyone decided to stop arguing and went to the large, luxurious wooden dining table surrounded by a set of opposing chairs, which was filled with the food found in the mansion. They all sat together, and despite the delicious dishes, the atmosphere was thick with mystery and worry.
While they ate in silence, Jude looked at Linda, who was sitting across from him quietly eating. He asked her in a calm voice:
— "How did you find this place?"
Linda answered softly:
— "Well… Elias and I were wandering, looking for an exit or any other people. By chance we found this mansion."
Jude, still surprised, asked again:
— "How did you two get here?"
Elias replied calmly:
— "We're from the orphanage, and we were adopted by a man."
At that moment, Dante shouted in shock:
— "Impossible! Are you from the orphanage too?"
Elias answered firmly:
— "Yes."
Herman said with a smile:
— "We are also from the western orphanage… (Kinderheim)."
Linda replied with pride:
— "And we were from the (sk.J) orphanage."
Camellia asked curiously:
— "Were you the only two who were adopted and brought here?"
For a moment Linda and Elias stopped eating.
Linda's hand began to tremble as she held the spoon, and she said in a hoarse, stammering voice:
— "No… there were two others with us, but they died because of the ghouls."
Camellia, feeling sad:
— "I'm sorry about that."
Linda sighed and looked down:
— "It's fine. We must focus now on our survival."
Jude, driven by strong curiosity:
— "But who is the person who adopted all of you? You said a man adopted you, and Dante and Herman said the same! That's strange."
No one had an answer, and they stayed silent, until Elias said angrily, clenching his right hand:
— "From the start I felt something terrible and frightening, but I had no right to refuse."
Linda, feeling sorry for Elias, added:
— "The orphanage director gave us no chance to discuss it."
Then Black With interrupted with a mocking tone:
— "I get why you were brought here—you're orphanage kids. But why are we here with you?"
Her words shocked everyone, and silence filled the room for a moment as dark looks passed among them.
Linda couldn't stand her obvious sarcasm:
— "I'm a girl who grew up in a huge mansion, much bigger than this one, by the way."
But Black With ignored her words and commented:
— "Yeah, that's obvious from your look."
Linda felt the mockery in her words, and her expression changed suddenly as anger filled her heart. She stood up slowly.
But Elias could not hold himself back when he saw Linda like that:
— "What matters in a person are their qualities, not where they come from or where they were born. A moment ago you were about to become a meal for the ghouls if not for Linda rushing to help you. But you don't deserve that. A conceited girl like you is only fit to be bait."
Black With slammed the table violently with both hands:
— "Damn all of you!"
She went to sit on the couch again while everyone kept looking at her in puzzlement.
Dante sneered:
— "Forget this sick one, she lacks a brain."
Herman added with a smile:
— "I don't know what's with this girl, maybe she's from the orphanage too."
Dante laughed loudly:
— "Hahaha, maybe!"
After a while, everyone sat on the couches to discuss how to survive and escape this place, but this time the focus was on the situations they were facing. Linda stood in the center, looking at everyone, and said firmly:
— "Since we are here together in this mansion, we need to plan for survival. The food here is running out quickly, and we are a large group. We must divide the tasks. Elias and I will be a team, and I will need your cooperation."
Vivian, who was nervous, said:
— "I want to be with you, Linda."
Jude, who seemed interested in Vivian, said:
— "Vivian, it's okay, you don't have to go. I can go instead of you."
But Vivian replied decisively:
— "No, there's no need for you to do that."
Lily watched them with her hand over her mouth, mocking:
— "You care about Vivian a lot."
Jude became flustered and tried to explain:
— "Ah… I just feel she's frail and can't fight."
Jude was extremely embarrassed, stammering over his words.
Jason, who seemed like a determined person, said:
— "If we're going out in groups of three, I'll be with Ray and Lily."
Jude suggested:
— "I'll be with Camellia and Carm."
Everyone looked at each other and began to work out how to divide the tasks.
Linda continued her speech, settling the matter among them:
— "So, it's settled: Team one is Jason, Ray, and Lily. Team two: Jude, Camellia, and Carm. Team three: Elias, Vivian, and me. Team four: Dante, Herman, and Black With."
Suddenly Dante shouted as he stood up angrily:
— "W....W.. What? Me with this idiot? No way! I'd rather die than stay with her!"
Black With shouted as she jumped to her feet:
— "As if I want to work with filth like you!"
In a burst of rage, Dante lunged toward her and was about to hit her, but Linda quickly grabbed him while Elias stepped in, saying:
— "That's enough! We need to solve this calmly."
But Dante was in a furious state. He grabbed Black With by a lock of her hair and yanked her downward. She shoved him hard, making him fall to the floor, then climbed on top of him and punched him in the face.
Everyone rushed in, trying to stop the two of them from fighting, but:
At that moment, everyone felt something strange. Dante held her wrists tightly, but suddenly Black With burst into tears, her tears falling onto Dante's face.
Her eyes overflowed with tears, and her voice became almost that of a small child:
— "Why did you do that? Why did you betray me? Why did you deceive me? Why?"
The words poured from Black With as if she was releasing all her pain, while Dante stared at her, silent and stunned, tears sliding down his own face as he was completely shocked to see her in such a state.
_____'_'