Chapter 49 - Chapter 48

# Chapter 48
VUSI

I drag Ayanda into the warehouse after pulling her sleep shorts back up. The first sound that greets us is the insistent dripping of melting snow near the hole in the roof, and a beam of moonlight shines through to illuminate the hunched, shivering form tied to a chair in the centre of the room.

I proceed to light a few strategically placed candles. The orange glow flickers wildly, casting elongating shadows on the walls covered in white streaks and water leaks.

"What is this place—" she begins to ask but falls silent when she turns around and locks eyes on the final monster from her nightmare. Michael Xundu.

The man in question tries so fucking hard to keep his head upright, but after hours of fun with my fist, he's weak. The grimy floor is littered with his teeth and blood.

On my way past the small table where my tools are laid out, I pick up a gleaming knife and inspect it in the dancing candlelight. "All killers have a lair, if you will." My eyes meet Ayanda's, and I quirk an eyebrow as a smile spreads across my lips. "This is mine."

Ayanda whips her head around, taking in the vast, mostly empty space. The single bed with a thin mouldy mattress pushed up against the wall, the small table, and the lonely chair.

It didn't always use to be such a shithole, but sixteen years behind bars has seen this place deteriorate rapidly.

"This is where you killed your victims?"

I come to a slow stop behind Michael and hold her gaze, enjoying the way her brow creases as she tries to figure me out. "Is it?"