Page 74 of His Hell Girl

"Seven," I say, cursing myself right away for not going to a higher number. Because if this is seven…

His smile never falters as he takes an even bigger needle, repeating the procedure until I yell a painful ten.

When he's done with me, my arm is a bloody mess. I can't even see the original wound as multiple holes are centered around the same area, blood gushing out in spurts.

Unlike previous consults, he doesn't even bother to give me a gauze for my arm, or even clean some of the blood.

No, his attention is switched to Vanya, and his smile widens as he regards her pale face. My stomach is in knots as I know he'll do the same to her, but I can only helplessly watch as Vanya turns her eyes to me, her cries muted as he makes a mess of her flesh.

"My God," Miles breathes out, amazed at Vanya's perseverance. "You're a wonder, aren't you?" he exclaims indisbelief after he disposes of the tenth needle. He seems to be impressed that Vanya hadn't cried out even once.

What he doesn't know, though, is that my sister's already developed her own mechanism of dealing with outside stimuli. She finds her refuge in me. The moment our eyes met I knew she'd shut down, only waiting for Miles to be done.

Even as blood pours out of her wounds, there's barely any reaction.

"I think I have a winner," Miles adds, an expression of pure happiness on his face.

I don't get to dwell on it, as we're quickly taken away and put back in our cells. Vanya is back to herself the minute she sees Lulu, taking him in her arms and staining his white coat with her blood.

"V," I try to pry her hand away, using the end of my shirt to scrub some of the blood away.

"I'm fine." She shrugs, giving me a smile.

But it's not too long after that another guard comes to our cell. This time specifically for Vanya.

"But we're always together," I add as they try to pry her from my side. "You can't take her."

"Orders are orders, kid. He only wantsher." He points toward Vanya. And when I try to physically put myself between him and my sister, he easily swats me aside, the back of his hand connecting to my cheek and sending me flying.

"It's okay, Vlad. I'll be fine," Vanya adds with a sympathetic smile, and I can only watch as she's taken away from me.

I spend the next day and night without closing my eyes for a second.

Where is she?

My body simply can't relax as I'm picturing thousands of scenarios, all of them ending with my sister dead.

But the dreaded wait comes to an end when the cell door opens, and Vanya struts inside wearing a pink dress, her long hair braided in two pigtails.

"V?" I take a step toward her, surprised at her change in appearance. Even her wound had been taken care of.

Yet for all the clean clothes, there's a haunted look to her.

"V," I rush to her side, my hands on her shoulders. "What happened? Are you okay?" I ask, patting her down. Her reaction is immediate as she pushes me away, recoiling at my touch.

She moves to a corner of the cell, lying down and drawing her knees to her chest.

"V," I ask tentatively, for the first time truly worried.

Whatever had happened to us, she'd never given me the silent treatment.

Never.

The exclusive visits continue and slowly, even Lulu fails to rouse Vanya's interest. She barely speaks to me, and when I try to comfort her she rejects away all of my touch.

"V, please talk to me," I beg her one day when she comes back wearing yet another new dress, but with tears falling down her cheeks. "What happened?"

"He said I was his special girl," she whimpers, her hands on her face as sobs slowly rack her body.