Dawn Of The Dark Dynasty & The New Inhabitant

Chapter Thirty-eight

Elimination of Plights

Shawn was sitting down on the grimy floor with his back rested against the rugged damp walls. He was staring at a cockroach scuttling near him. The strange bug was white in color with some red linings across its abdomen. It also had eight legs instead of six. Given the boy's awful and smelly condition, it was no surprise the disgustingly fat pest would be drawn to him. It crept near with its antennas wavering about, assessing the seemingly motionless body.

Actually, Shawn wasn't observing the bug. His mind had long drifted into his swirling thoughts. Without warning, he let out a loud exhale and scared the cockroach off. After Dianne's sudden visit that happened not so long ago, the boy's depression took another deep plunge.

***Flashback***

Shawn was thunderstruck to see Dianne standing before him. When did she arrive? How long has she been there?

After finding his voice, the boy asked the question swirling in his mind, "How are you here...? How long have you been standing there...?"

Dianne lifted an eyebrow and answered coolly, "A while."

Shawn almost chocked on his saliva. A while? Did that mean she heard the whole thing.

"I didn't hear you come in..." He tried to act cool, but Dianne cut him off.

"Who were you talking to?" she directly demanded.

Shawn's heart dropped and mind went blank. He could only stutter out, "Uh... wh-what...?"

Dianne huffed in annoyance and took a menacing step closer. The boy immediately tensed up.

"I saw you talking to someone. Who is it?" she pressed.

"I... don't know what you're talking about. I w-was not talking t-to anyone," he lied horribly.

"Oh, is that so?" Dianne narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms across her chest.

Shawn was just dragging out the inevitable. Dianne had in fact appeared a while ago and found the boy busy talking to himself. She was about to interrupt him, but then noticed he was in reality conversing with someone. Someone who wasn't in the cell. Deciding to stay hidden in the shadows, she listened intently and realized he was talking to someone mentally. This alarmed the Lady General to directly intervene and demand for answers.

On the other hand, Shawn was cursing at his bad luck. Now he had to rack up his brain and quickly find a way out of this muddy predicament. Nobody here could be trusted. So, he decided to remain silent and hope for the best outcome.

"Keeping silent now, eh?" Dianne's hissed with eyes narrowing further into slits. With one swift motion, she was before him and harshly grabbed his chin. "For your sake, I would advise you start talking."

Shawn shuddered in fear. This ruthless woman could easily end him with a simple twist of the hand, if not a finger. He had to tread carefully, or else he would be a fish on a chopping board.

"Dianne, please, you got it all wrong..." the boy tried to explain, but was cut off again when Dianne growled and jerked his head forth.

Their faces were inches apart that he could inhale her sweet perfume. However, the current pickle wasn't the time for him to get entranced with her scent.

"Shawn," she spoke with a deadly low voice. "These are very trying times. Your life is clinging on a very thin thread. So, it would be in your best interest to cooperate and prove your worth. Maybe then, you can live to see another day."

The threat was clear. Searching her face, she meant every word. Shawn should've expected as much, yet for some reason it brought an imaginable heartache. He was all alone...

"So are you going to answer me or not?" Dianne coldly asked.