And in that darkness, a desperate idea lit up. She had to approach Yusra, the very figure she was terrified of, but her friends were in danger.
Without hesitating, Zinnia stripped off her clothes. Only her bra and underwear remained. Her steps were small yet unbearably heavy as she slipped into the open, her body laid bare before threat and illusion.
Not far away, Yusra turned to Frans and Radit, who were still restraining Thivi. Her voice cracked through the air, loud and sharp, "Let the girl go, or you die right here!"
Thivi screamed, her face twisted in invisible horror. "Kaivan! Help me!" Her voice broke, as though calling from inside a nightmare.
Suddenly, another voice sliced through the chaos. "Kaivan! Where are you?!"
Zinnia stood trembling in the shadows, tears streaming down her face. She called out desperately to someone who wasn't there. Yusra glanced at her, an ugly smile curling on her lips. "I'm right here, Kaivan. Come to me."
Zinnia ran toward her. "Kaivan! I've missed you!" she cried, her expression blank, her mind lost in illusion.
Radit shouted, "Zinnia! What's wrong with you?! Don't fall for it!"
Frans held tightly onto Thivi as she struggled. He shot a glance at Radit. "She… she was fully dressed just a moment ago. Why… why is she in just her underwear now?"
They froze, confusion thickening the air. Zinnia had fallen into the illusion just as completely as Thivi.
Yusra's wild eyes glinted as she aimed her gun at Raphael. No one moved. Time felt viscous, stretching thin. The world itself seemed to stop.
Dust rose. Ruins smoldered. The night wind carried the metallic scent of blood and fading fire. Everything felt like the moment before an explosion.
Zinnia stood almost naked, her face empty, her body shaking, her eyes locked on Yusra. She wasn't aware of anything. And the man… stepped closer. A sly smile carved his lips. His fingertips were inches from Zinnia's cheek.
"Do you want Kaivan to warm you up?" Yusra whispered, her voice seeping like poison into the air.
Zinnia murmured weakly, "Kaivan… I'm cold…" Her voice cracked, her eyes cloudy.
Raphael clenched his fists. His jaw hardened. Rage surged through him, but his body was too battered to move. Frans and Radit still held onto Thivi, their faces tight with fear.
Chaos swallowed the night as Thivi screamed. "Kaivan, why did you choose Zinnia too?!" Her voice cracked, her wounds laid bare. Her cry sliced through the darkness, striking the hearts of anyone who still possessed a shred of conscience.
Yusra chuckled softly. Her breath, sharp with nicotine, brushed against Zinnia's skin. Her voice dipped low, serpentine.
"Relax… Kaivan is right here. You want comfort, don't you?"
Her fingers crept up Zinnia's shoulder. A vile touch, forcing its way in. Zinnia held her breath. Her fear of men clawed at her chest, yet she forced herself to endure. For everyone's sake.
"Just… do it like usual, when it's the two of us," she whispered. Her words dissolved into the wind.
Yusra paused. Then burst into laughter. "Hah! So Kaivan often gets cozy with this curvy little thing?"
She stepped closer, undoing her shirt buttons one by one with a smug tilt of her chin, as though the world already belonged to her.
Moonlight filtered through the forest canopy. Grass swayed gently. The earth became a silent stage for clashing souls.
Radit held Thivi from behind. His body trembled, not from the cold, but from the tension coiled in the air. His left hand dug into the soil. Thivi's breaths came in shallow bursts, panic tightening around her like a nightmare.
Radit turned. "Did you hear her say 'like usual'? Do you think Zinnia and Kaivan… you know?"
Frans narrowed his eyes. "Zinnia never gets close to guys. Even Kaivan, she keeps a strict one-hundred-and-twenty-centimeter distance. But this isn't the time for digging up old stories."
Silence stretched thin. The illusion deepened. One wrong move could mean death."You bastard, Yusra! Stop!"
Raphael emerged from the trees, breathing hard, his glare burning like a blade. Every step he took carried a single intention: destruction.
Yusra turned, a crooked smile tugging her lips. With a swift, oily motion, she pulled a pistol from her jacket and pressed it to Zinnia's head.
"Move, and she dies."
Zinnia trembled. Sweat gathered at her temples. Her chest rose and fell in rapid bursts. But her eyes, those eyes defied death.
Thivi screamed, her body arching in Radit's arms. Tears flooded her cheeks. "No, Kaivan! If you want… I can do it too!"
Her voice shattered like glass. Raphael looked her way. His heart twisted. His fury was no longer for Yusra alone, but for the abyss carved open inside Thivi.
Radit held her tighter, yet her spirit had already slipped too far.
Yusra turned toward Thivi, disgust flickering in her eyes. She spun the pistol around her finger, then returned it to Zinnia's side.
"Wait your turn, big girl."
Zinnia looked fragile, clad only in thin underwear, body shivering under the cold. But something in her gaze shifted. Burning. No longer the timid glimmer of shame, but a flame of wrath that could no longer be contained.
Yusra stared down at her, amusement dancing at the corners of her mouth. Her movements were slow, heavy with intent. She unfastened her pants, mocking, stripping away what little dignity Zinnia had left.
"Hurry. Hold my gun," she said, her tone dripping like the whisper of a demon, lewd, filthy, suffocating the night air.
Zinnia's hands trembled as she realized Yusra's gun lay near her. But she didn't do what Yusra expected.
The barrel tilted, not downward, but straight toward the man's most vulnerable point.
Zinnia's eyes didn't blink. Behind them swirled vengeance, pain, and the will to end every last drop of humiliation.
"With pleasure," she whispered. Her voice was calm, but its depths churned like a storm years in the making. "Yusra… I'm holding your gun now."