"Answer, vermin, before I decide that your life is too insignificant to be worth my time."
With superhuman effort, she managed to articulate:
"Someone... sent me... said that you... could help me..."
The pressure diminished slightly. Just enough for her to breathe again, but not enough to get up.
"Hmm, I see," she said, tapping the armrest of her throne with fingers much too long to be human. "But you must first make amends for your insolence if you want me to listen."
She crossed her legs and a cruel smile stretched across her perfect lips, revealing teeth of supernatural whiteness, slightly pointed at the ends.
"You will crawl to me and lick my feet. Then, perhaps, I will forget this incident."
The request shocked her deeply. Lick her feet? Was this what the voice meant when it said "it wouldn't be easy"?
Yet, this creature was her only chance against the old man. She had no choice.
Her face burning with humiliation, she began to crawl on the marble floor, inch by inch, the pressure still weighing on her back like a concrete slab.
When she finally reached the throne, the creature extended her left foot. It was as pale as the rest of her body, perfectly formed, as if sculpted from marble.
Suppressing her disgust, she stuck out her tongue and licked.
A taste of cold ashes and metal filled her mouth. She had to fight against the urge to vomit.
"Continue," the creature ordered, visibly delighting in her humiliation. "Every inch."
She complied, feeling her self-respect dissolve more with each passing second. But survival was her absolute priority.
After what seemed like an eternity, the creature withdrew her foot.
"Stay on the ground," she commanded. "I will listen to your request in this position that suits you so well."
She told the creature everything—the children with black pupils, the hospital nurse, the waking nightmares, and finally the old man and his lollipop.
The creature's expression remained impassive throughout her story. But when she mentioned the male voice that had sent her here, the creature's attitude changed radically.
Her pupils dilated. Her hand clenched on the armrest of her throne, slightly cracking the stone.
"Get up," she commanded abruptly, her voice betraying an emotion that one would never expect to see in her: fear. "But keep your head down."
She rose slowly, legs trembling, keeping her gaze fixed on the floor.
"The day of the contract has not yet arrived," the creature murmured, seeming to speak more to herself than to her. Then, regaining composure: "Listen carefully, mortal. To defeat the old man, two conditions must be met."
She raised one long pale finger.
"First, you must offer me something precious in sacrifice so that I can send him back to his world permanently."
She raised a second finger.
"Second, you must destroy the object containing the essence of his soul. These creatures are bound to your world by specific objects. Without these objects, they cannot maintain their presence."
She thought quickly. The lollipop. It had to be the lollipop.
"Since you are already in my presence," the creature continued, "why not fulfill the first condition immediately?"
Her heart tightened. Something precious? She had nothing on her. No jewelry, no money, nothing that could have any value to such a powerful entity.
"Why do you trouble yourself searching for so long?" The creature's smile returned, even more cruel. "I would have taken your life, but I doubt you would accept that, as you would lose everything without gaining anything."
She rose from her throne and approached her with supernatural grace. Her cold hand seized her chin, forcing her to raise her head without meeting her gaze.
"Then offer me your left eye," she whispered. "If I took both, you couldn't accomplish the second condition."
A shiver of horror ran through her body.
My eye?
"I would have preferred to take the life of one of your loved ones," the creature continued, caressing her cheek with a falsely affectionate gesture, "but for that, I would need their consent. So I am left with only this one proposition." She paused, savoring her distress. "What do you think?"
It wasn't really a question. It was a barely veiled ultimatum.
Losing an eye for a chance to survive wasn't an appealing offer, but faced with the alternative...
"I accept," she whispered in a trembling voice.
"Wise decision."
The creature stepped back and declared:
"Close your eyes and lift your head."
She obeyed, her heart pounding. She heard the silky rustle of the creature's dress as she approached again. Her icy hand fell on her shoulder, her nails digging slightly into her flesh.
"Under no circumstances should you open your eyes," she warned. Her breath had the smell of an ancient tomb. "The sight might drive you mad."
She nodded weakly, squeezing her eyelids shut with all her strength.
She first felt the icy caress of the creature's fingers on her left cheek, as light as a feather.
Then the pain exploded.
The creature's fingers sank into her eye socket, slowly, methodically, as if taking time to savor every second of the extraction.
A scream burst from her throat, echoing in this strange world. The pain was unbearable—even worse than the bones broken by the old man. She writhed like a worm on a hook, but the creature's grip on her shoulder was unshakeable.
"Don't move," the creature hissed. "You wouldn't want me to miss."
Her fingers sank deeper, cutting through flesh and nerves. Her legs gave way beneath her, but the creature held her upright.
"Almost done," she whispered with perverse gentleness.
Then she felt something give way. A horrible sensation, as if a part of herself was being torn away—which was literally the case.
The pain was so intense that she was on the verge of fainting.
But before she lost consciousness, the creature applied something to the gaping wound—a sensation of intense cold that instantly numbed the pain.
"There, it's done," she declared with a satisfied tone. "You may open your right eye now."
She obeyed hesitantly.
The creature stood before her, contemplating a scarlet eyeball that she held between her long fingers like a precious jewel. Her eye.