Chapter 224 - A Cheap Substitute

"Hello? Anybody there? I'm telling you it's not me.. I'm telling the truth"

"Let me go.. It wasn't me! I don't know anything.. I swear! Please let me go!!"

"Please, please.. Let me go!! Lucifer!! Lucifer, you monster! You, heartless, unkind bastard.. Let me go"

Hoarse, hair-raising cries of a girl reverberated in the sinister, inky night. Trembling, parched lips and dry throat with a shaky voice. frail and tatterly clothed body shuddering under fright of the unknown.

Inside the pitch black underground basement of Lucifer's headquarters a frenzied Celine was screaming her lungs out. The large gate of metal bars resembling that of prison's was locked from outside. Even the hallways were all mysteriously dark and queer.

Her hands and legs were bound on a metal chair. It was terrifyingly quiet and dark that she couldn't see nor hear anything. The deafening silence was spine-chilling. Her heart that was already cotton soft with fear, trembled with an uncanny feeling that she was being watched.

Unhurried footsteps of polished leather shoes echoed, she snapped her head in the direction of the noise. Her pupils shaking uncontrollably just like her fragile body.

"Who.. Who is it? Lucifer? Is that you?? Answer me damn it!!"

Being a pampered princess, this kind of monstrous treatment was unquestionably not bearable to Celine, she started crying silently. Large tears rolled down her messed up face in leaden streaks.

*click*

A dimly lit yellow hued bulb hanging above her head illuminated the disheveled and dirty state she was in. Her sleek long black dress was torn from below, her perfectly groomed hair now resembled a bird's nest with poop and other unsightly things. Her lips were bruised, hands and legs were slightly red from being bound to the chair.

Lucifer's silvery gray irises sparkled, she slowly raised her head petrified, her teary eyes glistening with immense hatred and helplessness.

"I don't like playing games! Just answer my questions and I'll spare your head..", his lazy and indifferent voice resounded as he sauntered towards a black metal chair with minimal upholstery and perched upon it, appearing like a king seated on his throne.

Cross legged with a hand on his knee, fingers tapping with disinterest while other hand propped under his chin. A lazy smirk resting on his thin lips, downright tantalizing.

Her eyes widened, she gulped her spit heavily before nodding her head like a dog waiting for bone.

"Who asked you to play a cheap substitute to Callista in the seminar?", his sharp gaze invoking an alarming premonition. She gradually parted her bleeding, dry lips to speak, her heart throbbing violently.

"I.. I really don't know!", she hissed, his gaze turned frighteningly chilly shrouding the gray in his eyes with a shadow.

She shuddered involuntarily before closing her eyes with a whimper, terror clearly etched on her face.

"That man, he.. He just told me to dress up as Callista and kill you so that my father can be released! He, he gave me the human mask and both her phones. It was actually his men acting on his orders.. He never showed up himself, not even once.. I haven't seen him, I don't even know him!"

"I'm telling you again.. Just a 'friendly' reminder, If you don't divulge everything and I seem to find anything suspicious about your statements. I don't know how I'll deal with you then!", his low, grave voice laced with pure blood thirst gave him the appearance of the devil. She looked down in dread. Her twitchiness was visible in the ill-lit basement.

"I'm telling you the truth! Trust me, just this once! Please..", she started to beg him with a hoarse voice, it was pitiful and heartbreaking however Lucifer didn't even bat an eyelid. His deep gaze staring coldly at her.

"You better remember what you told me just now! I don't like to repeat myself..", he spat apathetically before walking out, his frosty gaze threatening her.

*click*

The room was again back to unnervingly quiet and unlighted darkness. She felt her head throb with pain, her face turning into an ugly grimace as she sobbed wordlessly. Clutching her fists and digging the supple flesh of her palms she was forlorn.

"Check if she's telling the truth.. Track all the traces leading to the perpetrator and his men. Don't let anyone get away, if they're killed exactly like in Old Wu's case then it's simple. We just have to be wary and wait for their next move..."

Standing beside Adrian and peering at the city lights from his office's floor to ceiling windows, Lucifer gave out his commands.

"She thinks we are restricting her and holding her hostage. Why didn't you tell her that her life is in danger? She'll be killed without any mercy once they find her!", a frustrated Adrian beseeched with a puzzled expression.

Lucifer didn't answer him, his eyes were glowing with an impenetrable light as he stared out, mystifying just like him.