Headmaster Reeves and Miss Durant stood outside the immaculate front entrance of Saint Adeline’s Boarding School. Miss Durant was obviously agitated, but the headmaster was more adept at keeping his calm. Over the past week, Eloise’s obsession over her boyfriend showed no signs of lessening. If anything, it seemed to only grow more intense with time. Whatever that young man named Levi had done to make her this way, he had thoroughly sunk his claws in deep.

She was causing such a major disruption to the other students, that Reeves had begun to receive complaints from her peers’ parents. In his school, there weren’t any students whose parents came from an average background. The headmaster had a major headache trying to placate them all. Something needed to be done.

Luckily, today was the day that the psychiatrist would arrive to help them settle things. Reeves had been told earlier that the doctor would be busy for at least two months, however yesterday Dr. Marion called him and let him know that an unexpected opening appeared in his schedule. Finally, he could breathe a sigh of relief. 

A white SUV entered the gate that led into the school grounds. It came to a stop just beside the two of them. When the door opened, out stepped an older man with wispy gray hair that receded into a pronounced widow’s peak. The spectacles on the end of his nose did not give him a refined or scholarly appearance. Instead, it only drew attention to his deeply sunken eyes surrounded by dark circles.

Headmaster Reeves stepped forward to greet the man. Dr. Marion reached his spindly fingers out from an unkept lab coat and shook the headmaster’s hand. 

“Dr. Marion, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule.”

“It’s no trouble at all to visit a fine place of learning for our city's young ones. Please, show me to my patient.”

Headmaster Reeves gave an amicable chuckle before he reminded the doctor, “Hopefully, she won’t need to become your patient and we can get her to listen to reason. We just wanted a professional opinion on her mental state.”

“Of course, I misspoke.” Dr. Marion pulled his lips tight into a toothy grin.

“Eloise is in class right now, but we can still take the chance to observe her behavior before we pull her into the headmaster’s office for a talk.” Miss Durant spoke a little hesitantly. 

Something seemed off about this psychiatrist. The professional review spoke very highly of him, but she still got an eerie feeling when his eyes trained on her. Miss Durant pushed the dissonant feeling to the back of her mind. 

She couldn’t suggest they find a different doctor now. Psychiatrists were busy people and she couldn’t just waste their time. Besides, she had been the one that recommended Dr. Marion to the headmaster. Wouldn’t she make herself look incompetent if she suddenly changed her mind? They still needed to get a professional’s opinion on Eloise one way or another.

“Please lead the way.” Dr. Marion gave her a nod. He adjusted his glasses until the glare hid his eyes.

As the trio walked through the halls, Dr. Marion peered into each classroom through the windows on the doors. He appraised each and every student his gaze passed over with a serious expression. Miss Durant led the doctor to Eloise’s classroom. When his eyes found the girl, he regained his strange smile.

Eloise was sitting beside the window as she always did. Her gloomy countenance and slumped shoulders spoke of longing. She paid no attention at all to the lesson and instead gazed outside, only stopping to glance up at the clock from time to time. The seat beside her was vacant, which made her appear even more lonely.

“It’s always a shame to see a young girl so troubled. Especially one so pretty.” Dr. Marion flicked his tongue across his bottom lip as he watched Eloise intently.

“What’s your initial impression, Dr. Marion?”

“Oh, it’s a good thing that you called me when you did. A very good thing.”

“Really? You can tell just from a single glance?” Miss Durant asked skeptically.

“I’ve seen my fair share of troubled little girls, hehe. But don’t worry. I can fix her.”

The doctor clasped his hands behind his back and answered without looking at them. He never tore his eyes away from the unsuspecting girl in the classroom.

***

They say that bad things usually come in threes. Already this week, Levi burned the bridges of his professional life and attracted the ire of his girlfriend’s rich and powerful foster father. Perhaps these first two problems were calamitous enough that the universe deemed it unnecessary to gift him with another. Levi hoped for the best, but the sinking feeling of dread in his stomach gave him an ill omen. 

A few hours after Levi left Faron’s restaurant, his premonition came true. His phone buzzed with another message from the anonymous stranger. It had been over a week since the first time and he had heard nothing until now. Levi had almost forgotten about that strange interaction. Now that he was suddenly being contacted again, he doubted that it could be for something good.

[“???: You don’t know how to listen. What part of ‘keep your head down and avoid attention’ did you not understand?”]

He only just left his meeting with Eloise’s foster father and there was already another stranger scolding him. Was his luck really that terrible?

[“Levi: There were some people that were asking to be hit, so I obliged them.”]

[“???: Congratulations. Your reward is a nice big pile of shit and all of my effort going to waste. You might as well have painted a target on your back.”]

[“Levi: You’re talking about the same people you mentioned last time? I find it hard to believe that some shadowy organization or whatever you’re talking about cares that I had a fight with a colleague.”]

[“???: They don’t, dumbass. But they’ll care about your feud with Armel Faron.”]

[“Levi: What? Faron is connected to them? How do you even know I fell out with Faron? I talked to him just a couple hours ago. Who are you?”]

[“???: To be precise, he’s an important client of theirs. A high priority customer. As for who I am, don’t worry about it. I’m someone on your side and you’ll just have to trust that.”]

Levi’s patience had run out. He had too many things to deal with and he did not want to add on more problems. This person asked to be trusted, but never gave him any useful information. He needed to start getting some real answers.

[“Levi: Like hell I’ll trust you without knowing anything. Tell me plainly. Who are these people and why should I care? I’m not in the mood for any more games or riddles.”]

There was a long pause. Levi got the impression that the person on the other side was deciding whether or not to tell him what he wanted. Ultimately, they chose to reveal more in an attempt to gain his trust.

[“???: They call themselves the Ebon Chain. They’re a group that kidnaps people and sells them to the rich and powerful.”]

[“Levi: Kidnapping and selling people. As in human trafficking? How could I have possibly gotten mixed up with a group like that?”]

[“???: Where do you think Armel Faron 'adopted’ your little girlfriend from?”]

Levi was dumbstruck by the revelation. Was that really true? Faron wasn’t Eloise’s foster father, he was her owner. She had been bought and sold like a slave.

[“???: That’s right. She was purchased from the Ebon Chain. Her and her sister both.”]

His shoulders shook with a mixture of hatred and despair. He didn’t want to believe that Eloise’s life had been so tragic, but the more Levi thought about it, the more it made sense. It explained why her supposed family didn’t seem to care about her. It also fit with his guess that she had experienced some kind of trauma that made her repress her memories. But still… It was too much.

[“Levi: If what you’ve said is true, I’ll fucking kill that pervert.”]

[“???: I wish you luck. Armel Faron is not an easy target... And for now you have more immediate problems.”]

It took Levi a great amount of effort to forcibly suppress his emotions. First, he would confirm the truth. Then he would make these people who had hurt Eloise pay. When he was able to control himself once more, Levi continued messaging. There were still more questions that needed answers.

[“Levi: You still haven’t explained why these Ebon Chain people would suddenly get involved now.”]

[“???: It’s because you and your girlfriend are causing problems for Faron. What do you do when the product you bought is defective? You call customer support.”]

Levi thought about what they were saying, but he couldn’t quite understand what they were getting at with that analogy. 

[“Levi: Explain.”]

[“???: Faron contacted the Ebon Chain and complained that the ‘foster daughter’ he bought is acting up. So they have sent one of their ‘fixers’ to visit her. These people aren’t just any run-of-the-mill human trafficking ring. Their specialty comes from a drug they created that turns their merchandise docile and suggestable.”] 

Levi clenched his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. The night he first met Eloise, she was in a state where she was only half-lucid and mostly unaware of her surroundings. Could that have been because she was still partially under the influence of some drug? He feared what was coming next, but he still needed to confirm it.

[“Levi: So you’re saying… There is someone coming to take Eloise away. And they will drug her  and mess with her mind?”]

[“???: Now you understand why I said you have more immediate problems. I don’t know when they will come exactly, but it will be soon. You need to be ready.”]

He couldn’t believe all of this. There was just no way that all this shit could be true. A secretive group kidnapping people and selling them. A drug that mind controls people into docile slaves. It was impossible. This was the real-fucking-world, not some novel or movie. Things like this didn’t happen in real life. At least not to regular people like him. Any minute now, he would wake up in bed next to Eloise and all of this would be a fucked up dream he imagined.

No matter how hard Levi wished for it, he didn’t wake up. Even when he pinched his arm and slapped himself, he remained exactly where he was and nothing changed. Levi started to hyperventilate as he paced back and forth. He was on the verge of having a panic attack. Other people nearby looked at him strangely and crossed the street to avoid passing near the crazy man. Eventually, he had no other option but to accept the reality of the situation. He wasn’t dreaming.

But wait! This was all just the words of some anonymous stranger whom he’d never met. It could still all be bullshit. It had to be, right? Somehow this person knew he met with Faron, but that still didn’t explain how they knew all this other stuff. It didn’t explain why a random stranger would get involved in such a mess. It was way more likely that for some reason, a stranger decided to screw with him.

[“Levi: What if I don’t believe you?”]

[“???: Then you will suffer. I’m just giving you a warning… Look out for someone named Dr. Sylvain Marion and do not trust them. If you still don’t believe me when they show up, there’s nothing more that I can do.”]

[“Levi: There’s no way this is real. What reason would you have to get involved if Eloise and I were really being targeted by a cabal of human traffickers?”]

The phone went silent. Levi thought that the person gave up trying to convince him after he pointed out how ridiculous their words sounded. However, one last message eventually came through. 

[“???: You’re the only one who can look out for my little sister.”]

That sentence made him pause and think again. Could this person really be Eloise’s sister? Did the Ebon Chain really exist? Or was it just something made up to fuck with him? He still didn’t want to believe he got mixed up with something so insane. But still, what if… 

Levi decided that he would check up on Eloise just to be safe. He would rather someone made a fool of him than risk something bad happening to her. Even if it was all bullshit made up to screw with his mind, he could at least walk her home. That would make him feel better if nothing else. He could also ask her if she remembers anything about these people or her sister.