Chapter 155: Birth of a traitor.

Ava had monitored her situation and surroundings carefully since she was captured. Every day, new people were dragged into the cold white room. Some of them were familiar faces_ fellow Soul Maidens from the Academy. Others were human soldiers, hunters and ordinary people.

But the kidnapping wasn’t even the most terrifying part.

The truly horrific thing was what happened every morning. At exactly 7: 00 a.m, a Soul Maiden would be taken away by the guards. When they were brought back, they were practically half-dead. Poor Jada hadn’t even made it; her breath had stopped right there on the cold cage yesterday. That was the exact moment Ava almost accepted her grim fate: she was not getting out of this place alive.

Initially, Ava had foolishly hoped to sneak out while the guards slept today. But these guards? They never slept! They didn’t even take shift breaks! It was as if they were running on some kind of infinity batteries!

Today, it was her turn.

Unlike the other crying girls, Ava didn’t resist. She didn’t scream, and she didn’t kick. She just quietly followed the scary knights out of the white room.

The moment they stepped outside, everything turned pitch black. Ava stopped dead in her tracks because she literally couldn’t see two inches in front of her face. The impatient knights grunted and forcefully dragged her along the floor like a sack of potatoes. Ava stayed completely silent. She just closed her eyes and waited for her time to die.

Honestly, she thought to herself with a dark, weird sense of comfort, this is actually pretty good. At least I can go meet my mother in the afterlife and leave this miserable world behind.

Suddenly, bright light flooded her vision again. She blinked rapidly and looked around. She was somewhere else, in a place looked like some twisted, evil hospital. Rows of metallic beds lined the hall, and people were strapped down tight. Horrible, hair-raising screams echoed through the air.

Ava peeked through a small glass window on one of the doors. Inside, a woman was tied to a table. On top of her head sat a weird, slimy monster_ it looked like a big slug dressed like a crown! Its gross, wriggling tentacles had dug deep into the person’s skull!

Ava’s whole body began to tremble. Is_ is this what they’ve been doing to everyone else?! Putting slug monsters on their heads! But why?

Before she could process the horror, she was shoved into a room just like that one and slammed onto a bed. The knights bound her wrists and ankles with heavy leather straps. In the corner of the room stood a large glass dish filled with thick, nasty mucus.

Floating inside it was one of those awful crown slugs, wriggling lazily.

"Wait! Wait!" Ava blurted out, her heart pounding like a drum. "Look at me! I’m just a low-level Soul Maiden! Seriously, I’m practically trash! I was only sent here as a punishment! I can help you even if you don’t do this to me."

One knight paused and looked at the other with a raised brow. "Hey, this one actually reasons instead of acting rebellious. Go get the boss."

A few minutes later, the door swung open. In walked a human woman with bright red lipstick and a dull, sleepy-looking peacock perched on her shoulder.

"Greetings, little girl," the woman purred, resting a hand on her hip. "I am Petra, a Somnivore representative."

"A what?" Ava blinked, totally baffled. "A representative! But, but----?" She didn’t say it, but in her mind, she finished exclaiming, but you are human!

Petra ignored the girl’s shock and leaned in close, studying Ava’s terrified face. "What is your full name?"

"Ava," she squeaked, swallowing hard. "Just Ava Spegger! And I swear I don’t know much! I’m completely useless, there is only so much you can find out from me."

Petra let out a soft, amused laugh. "You are a Soul Maiden, my dear. That is the only thing that matters." She leaned back, tapping her chin. "You see, we use these crown slugs on Soul Maidens to re-write their mentality and compel them to work for the great Somnivore nation. But alas, your foolish friends are so stubborn! None of them have accepted our offer. Those who fight the process end up more damaged than we would like to see."

"Well, of course they fight the process!" Ava yelled, her brows furrowing. "Because the Somnivores are the enemy. Switching sides is betrayal."

"Oh, sweet child," Petra laughed loudly, waving her hand dismissively. "Those are all pathetic lies fed to you by your leaders! All the Somnivores ever wanted was to live peacefully alongside us. But no, the greedy human rulers waged war on them instead! So, what if they were prisoners? They didn’t hurt any human and brought incredible futuristic tech to Earth! In return, they were forced to participate in research, donate parts of their bodies to our science.

They were tormented and treated like cattle until they were forced to turn against humans. You are not a child, so I am sure you are aware that governments lie all the time. The Somnivores are not the enemy, the Mystic Sanctum and their Divine Soul maidens are. Just take a walk around our city here and you will see how everyone is benefiting from the Somnivores over here."

Ava frowned. That was not what she had seen. "Really?" She pretended to show interest.

Petra’s eyes flashed with crazy enthusiasm. "Oh yes. The human leaders wanted free control over Somnivore technology, medicine that could allow them to live longer lives and other benefits the aliens brought. To achieve this goal, they created a special prison where they planned to isolate the Somnivores from the world forever. The Somnivores found out and rebelled. They were only defending themselves. They are our true saviors and the rightful rulers of this world. And those of us wise humans who understand this truth are going to help them take over the entire Earth!"

She leaned down, her red lips curling into a sinister smile. "So, little Ava_ will you join us? We need Soul Maidens to open portals in the Veil leading outside. To speak on behalf of the Somnivores To open the eyes of the blind. So far, all your stubborn friends have refused and suffered for it. What about you?"

Ava pinched her lips tight. Her brain was spinning, but then a dark, burning image flashed in her mind_ the image of her mother’s death, she had nothing to lose. She had no family, only great hatred for the Divine Soul maiden. If this could help her take revenge, then she was happy to cross over.

"I’ll do it," Ava said, her voice dropping into a cold, eerie whisper.

Petra paused, surprised. "Oh?"

"I will open all the portals you want," Ava hissed, her eyes filled with pure hatred. "All I want in return is for the Divine Soul Maiden Trinity Johnson to die! I want terror to rain down on everyone in the Mystic Sanctum! I want them to die terrible deaths. If you can guarantee me this, I will serve you."

Petra froze for a second, then broke into delighted applause.

"Bravo! Oh, marvelous!" Petra giggled, her peacock rustling its dull feathers. "The master’s will be so thrilled to hear this! A Soul Maiden with real ambition!"

Petra waved her hand toward the guards. "Loosen her ties immediately!"

The knights quickly unbuckled the straps. Ava sat up, rubbing her sore wrists.

"Since you are a sensible girl," Petra beamed, putting a arm around Ava’s shoulders like they were old best friends, "you shall be rewarded handsomely! Money, power, and hey, how about a nice, luxury house in Wisteria? Sound good?"

Ava didn’t ask a single question. She didn’t complain, and she didn’t show an ounce of fear anymore. She just nodded silently, stepped off the bed, and followed Petra right out the door. She was not going to be stupid like the others, she would rise and decide her own fate going forward.