Chapter 8

I’d drifted in and out of sleep all night, so by the time I got to work the next morning I could barely stop yawning.

I’d already decided to move to my other apartment for a while. Problem was, no one had lived there in ages, so it needed a deep cleaning.

I was in the middle of booking a cleaner online when my Henry suddenly walked through my office door.

I jumped so hard the phone receiver slipped out of my hand and clattered onto the desk.

“What are you doing here?”

“Babe, why didn’t you come home last night? Your phone was off. I even called Aves, and she said she had no idea where you were.”

So he had called Aves.

Strange… she hadn’t mentioned that at all.

“I had a company mixer yesterday,” I said quickly. “I got drunk and forgot to tell you.”

He nodded, smiling. “Babe, what do you want for dinner? I’ll cook for you tonight.”

My fingers tapped nervously against the desk.

It was time. I had to end this.

“Henry… I’ve been thinking. Let’s break up.”

Just the thought of that massive black centipede crawling out of the jade cicada he used for—God, for that—made my stomach twist.

We slept together. What if that thing had crawled onto me? Or into me?

“Is this because Aves told you to?” he asked immediately.

I shouldn’t have been surprised he guessed. Aves had never bothered to hide her hostility toward him.

“No. I just… think we’re not right for each other. You don’t even have a job.”

It wasn’t the unemployment I minded.

It was the possibility that my boyfriend wasn’t actually human.

“Henry,” I said carefully, “I know you don’t have money. Here’s a card with a hundred thousand in it. Password’s your birthday. Let’s at least end things peacefully.”

I pulled the bank card from my wallet and held it out to him.

He sighed.

“Gia, I know you. You’re not a shallow person. Just tell me the real reason.”

“I told you. I’m embarrassed telling my coworkers you don’t work.”

He froze for a second.

“Alright, Gia. Then I hope you find happiness.”

He stood up to leave.

“Wait.”

I grabbed the bank card off the desk and shoved it into his hand.

“Take it. You’ll need it for rent and food while you look for work.”

This time, he didn’t argue. He just looked at me—long and hard—before turning and walking out the door with the card in his hand.

I let out a long breath.

Human or corpse… whatever he was, at least the breakup was clean.

Work was insane that day. I didn’t finish until after eleven at night.

Dragging my exhausted body into the elevator and down to the parking garage, I got into my car.

“What bad luck!” To make matters worse, the car broke down too!

Frustrated, I got out to call a cab, but after walking for what felt like forever, I still couldn’t find the exit.

It was like I’d stepped into a maze.

I pulled out my phone to call security.

That’s when I heard it—footsteps behind me.

Soft. Close.

I whipped around.

Nothing.

Just my own stretched-out shadow on the concrete.

A chill crawled up my spine, raising goosebumps across my arms.

I hurriedly dialed the security office. Busy signal. Again and again.

My breath tightened. I picked up my pace.

No matter how much I walked, the twisting concrete pillars and empty parking spaces looped endlessly around me.

Like I was trapped in some kind of… echoing dead end.

“Don’t tell me I actually ran into that thing…”

Things couldn’t possibly get worse. I swear, after tonight, I’m never working overtime again.

After circling the garage for what felt like half an hour, I finally spotted the exit glowing faintly ahead.

Relief rushed through me. I sped up.

The footsteps behind me sped up too.

Thirty meters.

Twenty.

Ten—

I sprinted out of the exit at full speed—just in time to hear a sudden sharp blast of a horn.

Instinctively, I looked to the front.

A truck was barreling toward me.