"Hey Taya, please open up, it's Lucy."
But there was no answer.
She had several thoughts running down her head, trying to guess what Taya was trying to do alone.
After several moments of silence, a chilling scream tore through the air from the other side.
"Aahhh…!"
The sound twisted into muffled cries of agony, echoing through the corridor, capturing the attention of a few nearby.
The doors and room were constructed in a way to minimize sound from what's happening inside, but even through the soundproofing her muffled screams tore through the air. It meant only one thing — she was in extreme pain.
Lucy immediately looked around to see if someone was around, and tried to shoo them away.
"Hey!, what are you looking at? She spoke with a piercing gaze at one of the girls passing by, "Get out of here! My friend's going through her periods, does that ring any bells?, now go away!"
As the others left— some ignoring, while some were suspicious of what was happening—they soon left while others went back into their rooms.
she muttered, "Huh… I'm glad they bought that lie."
After hearing those cries of agony, she couldn't stop thinking. Her own body was reacting to that intense cries of agony, as she started to shiver and feel a jolt run through her body.
"Hey Taya, what happened to you? Please say something! Why are you screaming like that?"
Lucy froze, torn between panic and fear. She wanted to run and call for help, but something about Taya's voice earlier — the way she'd shouted to be left alone — told her this wasn't something she wanted to share with others. So she stood there, trembling, listening to the sounds of anguish as tears welled in her eyes and hoping she would open the door.
"Hey Taya, would you let me enter now?"
But no response came.
When the cries finally stopped, Lucy called again, softly this time.
"Taya... would you let me in now?"
There was only a deadly silence. Her worry deepened.
"Are you okay?" Lucy asked again, her voice quivering.
But there was no response whatsoever—and not even a sound of movement.
She knocked on the door harder and harder until her hands started to hurt, and even put her fingers in the scanner, but like before, it didn't open because the safety lock was turned on.
There was nothing else she could do, so she did what needed to be done, she ran through the hallway to call someone for help.
A few tense minutes passed. Soon, a medic came running after Lucy. As Lucy showed them the room, they tried to open the door — but it wouldn't budge.
The doors were made from reinforced alloys, designed to withstand even Level 3 monster attacks in case of emergencies.
Then after a technical staff arrived, he began working on the lock.
Soon a commotion followed around with mostly the new recruits all looking in anticipation.
After a few minutes of tinkering, he finally managed to bypass the locking mechanism and the door soon creaked open — but the sight inside made several of them feel sick to their stomachs.
The scene before them was horrifying beyond words. Lucy's body went cold after seeing it, and before she could stop herself, she turned aside and vomited.
*****
Half an hour earlier, inside the locked room, Taya had been pacing back and forth, searching for a way out of her predicament. Then, a wild idea struck her.
She immediately grabbed a small bag that she had brought along with her through the journey, and rummaged through it until she found the cheap daggers she had bought a few days ago from the guild.
Holding one of them in her trembling hand, she hesitated — then slowly stepped toward the mirror.
What if I die by doing this? she thought, her mind racing.
But there was no other choice to be made. She had to go through with it.
From outside Lucy's voice was coming in but eventually the knocks stopped too.
Taya's face herself was swelled up and tears welled up her eyes,
Numerous thoughts went through her mind and as her emotions deepened, but then something started to form in her vision that only she could see.
Through the mirror she stated to see the images of her father and mother standing there like 2 lifeless animated figures, without a movement, just staring at her.
The tears streaked across her cheeks.
Dad…. Mom…. I am sorry…..
" But whatever she spoke, they just stood still without any emotion.
Then three more people formed towards the left side of her vision, again standing as still and lifeless as ever.
Shifting her head towards them, her serpentine hairs moved their gaze along with her, their eyes glowing radiant green.
But seeing them only anger and hate stirred.
Then she realized what they were, they were the people who were eternally petrified by her gaze.
Anger started to boil, making her even stubborn for what she was about to do next.
Focusing herself on the mirror again, She brought the blade close to her serpentine hair, the snakes hissed violently, recoiling from the dagger as if terrified of it. They writhed in defiance, refusing to submit.
Taya stared into the mirror — at her own reflection, and at the serpents glaring back at her with unblinking terrifying eyes, their gaze cold and full of warning, as if saying, Don't you dare.
Her heart raced. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and grabbed one of the serpents by the head. The snake shook violently in her grip, but Taya's resolve was stronger.
Opening her eyes, she steadied herself and brought the dagger down to the edge of her head. The blade met resistance — the scales were tough, almost metallic. She pressed harder, pulling on every ounce of her strength.
But what happened next was beyond her senses to bear.
A searing pain ripped through her entire body— sharp shooting pain from the snakes through her hair to her head and through her entire body.
She suppressed the urge to scream, but her voice cracked.
Her cries echoed off the walls as the serpents hissed and thrashed in agony.