131. Deal with a Devil
LATE NIGHT — PRESIDENT DAVID'S VILLA...
CIRCE'S CHAMBER — "THE HOLLOW ROOM" --
The massive villa lay silent beneath the pale moonlight. Guards slept in their posts, hallway lights flickered in drowsy patterns, and the whole mansion seemed to breathe slowly.
But Circe's room was different.
Her chamber felt like a forgotten tomb.
No warmth, no softness—only the chilling stillness of a place that had welcomed something unholy.
The walls were covered with dark drapes, swallowing every trace of light. A thick, metallic scent—like old blood—hung in the air, faint but unmistakable if one stood long enough. The only illumination came from a cracked antique mirror and a single candle sputtering on the floor.
Circe knelt before that mirror, her silhouette trembling with obsession.
Her lips moved in rapid murmurs, then suddenly slowed, then sped again—like multiple voices trying to speak through a single mouth.
At first glance, she looked like she was muttering to herself.
But anyone who truly listened would have heard two voices overlapping:
Her own — desperate, greedy, shaking with longing.
And the entity — smooth, demonic, echoing from deep within her chest.
Her reflection didn't match her movements exactly.
When she blinked, her reflection smiled.
When she frowned, the reflection tilted its head with amusement.
---
Circe (with simmering anger):
"How much longer…?
I've given you everything. My trust, my body, my life itself.
You promised me the spotlight, the fame… a world that kneels when I walk.
And Maximilian… when will he finally be mine?
When will I have the title… Mrs. Brooks?"
Tears of frustration welled in her eyes—not grief, but the outrage of someone who had tasted power and wanted more.
---
Her reflection darkened, eyes turning hollow.
Entity (deep, slithering tone):
"Patience… vessel."
"Your desires are known to me. I feel them. I feed on them."
"Everything you yearn for will be yours—fame, glory, the world whispering your name."
Circe's breath hitched; her throat tightened with excitement.
But the demon was not done.
"And Maximilian… yes, you will stand beside him. You will have his nights, his home, his title."
The reflection's lips curved upward in a predatory smile.
---
Circe (whispering in hunger):
"I want to be the woman everyone envies… the one society bows to…
I want Maximilian to only look at me.
I want him to forget every other woman alive…"
Her voice cracked with raw obsession.
She wasn't in love—she was addicted to the idea of owning him, wearing him like a trophy.
---
Entity:
"And you shall. Soon."
The chamber dimmed further, candle flickering violently.
What Circe did not know—the part the demon never whispered—was the truth:
**Once she got close enough to Maximilian…
Once he let his guard down…
Once she entered his home, his life…**
The entity planned to rip him apart from the inside out.
Not quickly.
Not mercifully.
But brutally, slowly, savoring every ounce of agony.
For the entity did not desire Circe's fame or Maximilian's heart—
It desired Maximilian's soul, the one it's has been assign to rip apart.
Circe was merely a bridge.
A beautiful pawn.
A desperate puppet.
A body to wear until Maximilian came within reach.
---
FLASHBACK — THE NIGHT EVERYTHING BEGAN
It happened the night Maximilian dropped Circe home.
He had been polite, distant as always, simply offering her a ride because President David was a close friend of his late father. Circe had clung to that small gesture, twisting it into meaning.
When she entered her room that night, she slammed the door and screamed at her own reflection—furious that he still didn't see her.
That scream cracked something.
The shadows in her room began to ripple.
The temperature plunged.
The mirror's surface rippled like liquid.
And then the entity emerged from her own reflection—tall, formless, with eyes carved out of darkness.
Entity (whispering that night):
"Do you want him?"
"Do you want fame? A crown of the world?"
"Give me your body… and I will make the world kneel for you."
She didn't hesitate.
She didn't question.
Blinded by greed, lust, jealousy, and delusion…
Circe offered her body like a sacrifice.
She thought she was making a deal.
In reality… she signed her own end.
---
BACK TO PRESENT — THE CHAMBER
Circe clutched her chest as the entity's voice vibrated through her bones.
Entity:
"Tomorrow… you will smile sweetly."
"You will speak gently."
"You will look humble, pure, innocent."
"They will trust you."
"He will lower his guard."
The mirror flickered with a monstrous grin.
"And then… you will deliver Maximilian to me."
Circe trembled with excitement, unaware she was celebrating her own damnation.
The room went completely dark.
And the entity began to hum, a low, ancient sound that made even the shadows crawl.
---