All her hopes fell, and her body trembled tremendously at the sight of the horrifying entity at her back.

" Be–beast…" She uttered heavily gasping for breath. Her both hands were shaking as her forehead continued dripping with sweat. ​​

Slowly, the dark black silhouette at her back continued to come closer till the light of the candles was able to catch a glimpse of the beast's face.

It was a handsome beast. Deadly and devilishly handsome beast! It showed the face of the boy she longed for, yet her heart refused to take in the pleasure of seeing him.

"This can't be. This can't be" She said in thorough disbelief. There was an extreme urge within her that wanted to turn and face him—or more like run to his arms and feel his warmth—but she snubbed it. That would be too foolish and too diche.

Don't beasts imitate the face of people one knew?

Surely this can't be Darryl.

Not him.

That's just too impossible!

Xhemin stared helplessly at Darryl's reflection in the mirror, frightened—not because she was alone in the middle of dark empty stone walls and an evil entity just showed up at her back, but because the beast was showing Darryl's face, and she knew how weak and defenseless she can be against his charisma. Darryl was just too enthralling and addictive, she was afraid she might just succumb to the feeling and would end up being a beast's victim.

"Go away" She whispered, hoping she could shoo the view away—the view of the gorgeous beast in his tailcoat and loosened black tie who was almost ready to devour his prey in front of him that was glowing in her white long gown.

"Was I not the person you want to see right here?" He countered to her terror. His voice seemed real and unenthusiastic while his hazel eyes reflected some madness that drove Xhemin's sanity away.

The beast sighed and spoke again. "Come here..."

His charge rang to Xhemin's ears that twisted everything inside her stomach. Whether it was because of excitement or dread, she could not really distinguish. She didn't move, but she was sure that all her veins were bursting different emotions she could barely describe.

"Xhemin" the beast called, but the girl in front of him didn't acknowledge his call. She just stared at his reflection, helpless and unsure what to do.

Suddenly, Xhemin felt a warm grip in her shoulder. The beast touched her and all panicky rose into her uncontrollably!

"No! Please go away!" She shoved off his hands from her shoulder in an instant and she withdrew to one corner of the room away from him. She instinctively let go of the candlesticks and covered her face with her two hands, not wanting to see the view she dreaded.

The sound of the rolling candlesticks engulfed the room and a moment after— there was a blaze! Aware that something went wrong, Xhemin looked around and saw the candles rolled of to the corner where the long curtains where swaying. In a snapped of second, the previous dark hall was now blazing on fire because of the burning curtains!

"O my God!" Xhemin ran to the place where the fire began and tried pulling off the curtains from where it was hanged.

"Xhemin stop!" Darryl ran after her, but she was on ample distance away from him now. The incident was too sudden, both of them relied on their own reflex to charge them what to do.

In an impulse, Xhemin remembered there was a swimming pool outside the glass doors, so she pulled the unburned part of the curtains heavily. She dragged with all her force till the curtains dropped to the floor, its metal panels made a banging loud sound in the darkness of midnight.

After that, Xhemin scampered toward the swimming pool with the burning curtains in her hand. As soon as she reached the edge of the pool, she tossed the long curtain into it. The drape flew into the air but since it was made of heavy material, it towed Xhemin's body with it. With the strong force she used to throw the curtain away, she lost her balance and swayed at the edge of the pool.

"No-no-no!" She yelped when her body stumbled, her feet were shaking that made her unable to control her balance.

The beast who was just few meters behind grabbed the girl, but the force she had with her was too strong and his grip in her was too late to save the night, so both of them fell off the pool.

Splash!

Just after their body fell into the cold water, the curtains that was on the air also landed on the pool covering both of them.

Unexpectedly, the pool was deep and so Xhemin struggled her way up above the water. When she reached the top, she realized the curtain was casing her so she tried to find the way out, swimming blindly to every direction. However, the curtain was just too long and not to mention the place was all dark and the stinging cold water sipped through her night gown that add up to her misery.

"Cough.cough.cough" She spew the water that was filling her mouth. She wobbled her hands in the water to keep herself floating.

This was far the most terrible night she had in the mansion. Not to mention there was a beast lurking around.

Where's the beast by the way? She thought.

"I was just imagining! That wasn't true! Not true!" She convinced herself when she realized that the things earlier were all too unreal. She was ready to shove off every memory of the earlier incident when her body bumped on something hard and warm.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he take hold of her shoulders. Xhemin shivered.

Shit!

The girl cursed when she realized that she just bumped on the beast. Everything sunk into her like a metal ball, it struck heavily to her head and heart!

"let go of me! Let go of me!" She screamed on the water, trying to escape from the beast's grip. But he was just too strong!

"Please just go away!" The girl cried out and started punching the man's chest in front of her. She was scared, tired and completely oblivious about what was happening. She can't just think too well at the moment!

The girl just screamed and cried like a child—snatched up of her candy—she was uncontrollable. In the middle of her unending tantrums, the beast that had her in his arms thrust her to his chest hard, his body sent some warmth into her that started to calm down her tensed-up nerves.

He held her deep into his chest, wrapping his hands around her, breathing hard. Xhemin pacified as his warmth soothed within her making her realized that he was real. The beast was real. Not the beast in the Midnight Mary legend, but her beast. She can't be wrong, for only him can give her the feelings that was rising within her right now.

She raised her head to see his face, and no matter how dark the place was, she could clearly see his hazel eyes shining with desire and yearning. The next thing she knew, his warm lips was already on hers savoring her sweetness.