Chapter Thirty: Mr Lou’s Strange Request

Chapter Thirty: Mr Lou’s Strange Request


The weight of Pete’s words lingered even long after he was gone, leaving Ember rooted to her spot. She only found the energy to move from her position when the hallway became flooded with people.

Even as she made her way to Mr Lou’s office, she could still hear Pete’s voice in her head. When Pete had showed up in the hallway earlier, Ember had felt really hopeful about smoothing things out with him.

Now, all that hope had turned to dust on her tongue.

She approached Mr Lou’s office with her throat in her mouth. She really hoped that her visit to Mr Lou’s office would not be as chaotic as the discussion she’d just had with Pete. After tapping on the doorbell, she pushed open the door and strutted into the office.

Mr Lou’s head was buried deep in a book, but his head shot up and a wide smile splayed on his face on seeing Ember. “Ember”, he called excitedly. “It’s such a nice surprise to see you here”

She stopped herself from rolling her eyes as she replied. “You asked me to come, remember?”

He nodded, a creepy smile tugging the edge of his mouth. “You sound angry, Ember. Are you angry?”

Ember shuddered lightly, there was just really something off putting about Mr Lou. Everybody else might find him charming and sweet, but Ember knew that there had to be something dark about him.

“I’m not angry, Mr Lou. Just really tired”, she replied. She chose her words carefully around him because she could not shake off the bad vibe she got from him.

Mr Lou’s gaze was piercing and all Ember wanted to do was slip away from the intensity of his stare. “You have been through a rough patch of time, Ember”, he said softly. “Of course, you should be tired”

Mr Lou’s unusual show of care and empathy made Ember all the more weary. She cleared her throat, looking uneasy. “Is there a reason you called me here, Mr Lou? I’m sure we are not here to talk about my well-being”

A smirk formed on Mr Lou’s lips and his eyes twinkled. He said, “You are such a smart girl, Ember. That’s one thing I like about you”. 

In one stride, Mr Lou was by the door, he locked the door and the clicking sound made Ember whip her head around, facing him.

“What are you doing?” she asked, scrambling to her feet. “Why are you locking the door?”. The panic she felt was pretty evident in her voice. Mentally, she searched around the office for a way to escape or at least, a weapon to protect herself.

“Relax” Mr Lou said and leisurely walked back to his seat. He plopped into it, crossing his legs on the table. “We really need to talk, Ember”

Ember’s breath caught in her throat as fear took hold of her. She spluttered, “We can talk without you locking the door. You are freaking me out”

Mr Lou’s face altered into a look of concern for her. “I absolutely did not mean to scare you, Ember. It’s just important that what we discuss never leaves this room, hence the locked door”

Ember racked through her brain, trying to figure out what Mr Lou might want to discuss with her, but her mind drew a blank. She was paralyzed with fear and yet, kept her cool.

“Come on, sit down. I don’t feel comfortable with you lurking over me like that”, Mr Lou said and gestured to the empty chair which Ember had been sitting in.

She walked back to the chair and slumped into it. “I’m all yours. What do you want to talk about?”

His grin gave way to a dark expression and his voice grew more serious. “Can you keep a secret, Ember?”

A secret?

That was the most sinister thing anybody had said to her in recent times. By now, her heart was racing and pounding in her ears. She gulped, swallowing the fear that she felt.

“What secret?” she asked, echoing Mr Lou’s seriousness.

Mr Lou made a tsk tsk sound with his tongue. “No, no, no, Ember. You have to promise me that you will never breathe a word of what I’m about to say to anyone before I can tell you anything”

This was dangerous. This was scary. How the hell had Ember gotten here? Just an hour ago, all she had to worry about was being friends again with Pete and now, Mr Lou was swearing her to secrecy.

“Do you swear never to mention a word to anyone?” He asked, getting impatient with Ember.

She was trapped. If she said yes, she didn’t know what kind of secret Mr Lou wanted her to keep. If she said no, there was no telling what he would do to her. He could kill her.

She nodded, her words clotted around her throat. “Yeah, sure. I’ll keep your secret”, she replied.

“Swear it”, said Mr Lou.

“I swear it”, she retorted.

A silence followed, and then Mr Lou said in a hushed tone. “I heard you met a girl in the dungeon, is that true?”

A girl in the dungeon? Cathy?

“Cathy?” Asked Ember, her curiosity spiked up and so did her anxiety level.

Mr Lou nodded his approval to her answer. “I can see that you did meet her”

“Is she all right? Is she dead? Please, tell me she’s good” Ember’s questions came rapidly. Even though she and Cathy had not parted on good terms, Ember still considered Cathy a friend.

Mr Lou’s jaws clenched and unclenched. “Ember!”. He called her name like it was a command and Ember snapped out of cross-examining him.

She stared at him, unable to move a muscle. 

“You never met her,” Mr Lou said in a sinister tone. “You can never tell anyone about the girl in the dungeon. In fact, as far as you are concerned, she doesn’t exist. You don’t know her. You never met her”

Ember narrowed her eyes at him, the severity of the situation she was in dawned on her. “What have you done to her?”, she screamed at Mr Lou. “You killed her! Oh My God, you killed her. I am going to tell everyone that you are a murderer”

She was unable to control the rage and contempt she felt for Mr Lou. How could he ask her to practically erase Cathy from existence? There had to be something wicked going on for him to make such a request.

“She is a vampire. We don’t care about those blood lusting creatures” Mr Lou sneered.

“If you don’t care about her, why do you want me to keep her existence a secret?” Ember asked. 

Mr Lou scoffed and replied, “That is left for me to know. You will do your own part and keep this secret”. It was an order from the Apex and Ember knew but even then, she didn’t care.

“No”, she said, channeling her brave spirit. “I cannot keep Cathy’s existence a secret”

At that precise moment, a sharp and acute pain shot through Ember’s skull. She groaned loudly, clutching her head tightly. Her head felt like someone had set it on fire and then drilled a nail through it.

“I can see that I have been too calm with you. You take me for granted” Mr Lou said. Ember’s brain was frying and she just needed it to stop.

Mr Lou glared at her and Ember saw that his eye color had changed from its black color to a literal furnace. There was fire burning in his eyes and that was the mark of the Apex.

He was frying Ember’s brain.

“Ple… Please” Ember groaned but Mr Lou took no pity on her.

“You don’t know the extent of my power or even half of the things I’m capable of,” Mr Lou leered at her. In that instant, Ember felt a thick liquid pool inside her nostrils. 

Her head fell forward and blood gushed out from her nose and splattered on the ground. She moaned loudly, clenching her teeth tightly.

“I can kill you just by looking at you, Ember. Do you want me to do that?” Mr Lou’s voice was a low growl.

Ember groaned again but managed to shake her head slowly. She just needed the pain to be over. “I am sorry. I… I’m sorry.. just make it stop”, she pleaded.

Mr Lou smiled wickedly and then, his eyes returned back to their normal color. “That’s a good girl”

Ember drew in a deep breath as the burning sensation in her head stopped and the blood gushing out of her nose seized. The rapid beating of her heart returned to normal and Ember’s eyes stung with tears.

For a while there, she thought she had died and gone to werewolf hell. 

“You know what I want to hear from you, Ember.” Mr Lou told her.

She lowered her head, feeling defeated. She declared,  “The girl in the dungeon does not exist”