After about 10 minutes of traveling, Shiori made her way into the abandoned warehouse to rest on the catwalk above.

“Hey, when are you letting us out?!” Sarah screamed from inside her belly. “It’s starting to burn in here. Were you lying to us after all?!” Her stomach, after holding back her acids for quite a while, was preparing to digest her targets. Before it could start up any further, Sarah got her wish as Shiori pushed down on her belly to force the two girls out of her stomach. Just as she did with the maid earlier, she tied and gagged and blindfolded both of them as they exited her mouth. Their swimsuits were a bit tattered from the small exposure to her acids, but they were more or less physically unharmed.

She noticed the tarp-covered car from earlier was still there along with sensing movement from the inside, likely meaning the client never left and luckily wasn’t caught. She cleared her throat and with a thunderous voice, "I have returned." A crashing sound came from the car as the client jumped in surprise. Cautiously, he exited the vehicle and stepped out from the tarp. He looked around much more wary than before.

“I-I expected nothing less!” He replied, gripping the briefcase with the last half of the payment as if his life depended on it. “Now I just need to see her, and you can collect the rest of your payment.”

Suddenly, a darkened shadow appeared before the client as both Sarah and Kellie seemed to magically phase out of the ground somehow directly beneath the moonlight. "Sarah Halbrooke, as you requested." Shiori said. She stood by the wall behind them, but the darkness only allowed the client to barely make out her silhouette.

The client briefly focused on Sarah, seeming relieved she was okay, but then they saw her friend the suitcase nearly slipped from their hand. A startled gasp of “W-why are there-?!” shakily emerged - and then open shock upon finally recognizing who Kellie was. “W-what’s she doing here?!”

Sarah squirmed around and managed to get the gag off her mouth. “You tell us!!” she screamed, struggling to get up on her knees and face the disguised voice. Even partially hidden by the blindfold, her expression was clearly one of indignant disbelief. “That nutcase of yours ‘protected’ us by braking in and stuffing us in her gut, and then my sister… m-my sister…” her voice hitches at this, the shudder through her body having nothing to do with the cold night air. “She made it sound like she wanted us… both of us, to be…” her hurt and confusion blended together, boiling over into frustration. “If there’s anyone who should be explaining things, it’s you!!”

Kellie held her breath in fear for how Sarah spoke to the one that apparently had them abducted… but no response came. Indeed, the client seemed almost aghast if the tremble in their hands was any evidence. After a few moments, the gold-painted mask turned up towards the shadow behind the girls, a somber note somehow making it through the disguised voice. “Is she right? Were both of them in danger?”

“It's as she says." Shiori replies. "These girls were also targeted by another. I'm not interested in the details. Now...I did my end of the deal, now it's time for yours."

There is a long, painful moment in which the masked client just stands there looking between the two girls, shoulders trembling slightly as if panicked to figure something out… but eventually, he unsteadily places the case on the ground - even going so far as to open it afterwards to prove the full $50,000 is there. “I-I can’t offer anything more than what I promised - I didn’t… I didn’t know she was in danger, too. If it’s a problem, j-just… just give me a few days - I can come up with… I can come up with something, I promise.”

“W-what are you talking about?!” Sarah shouts. “What’s gonna happen to Kellie?! - Hey! Let me go!”

“I’m not going to hurt you!” the masked client said, picking Sarah up under his arm - which was only possible because she couldn’t retaliate with her arms tied. “That’s the last thing I want. I’ll explain later, I promise.” He then moves over to Kellie, however…

"I'm going to stop you right there." Shiori said as she used her shadow powers to immobilize him before he could touch Kellie. "I believe you only paid me for one girl. I don't run a charity."

“Mmph!!” Kellie cries out in terror at the sudden demand, trying desperately to move away from Shiori’s voice.

“W-what are you talking about?!” Sarah screams from beneath the client’s arm, her whole body paling from shock and horror. “Why did you take both of us, then?! Was she just some kind of bonus to you?!”

“Okay, look - I-I… I might be able to do something.” The client said. “I can promise another $40,000, maybe $45,000, but… but I need time to get it together - an hour, maybe two.”

“I don’t have that kind of time.” Shiori said with her irritation now showing in her voice. She steps out of the shadows to reveal her true form and puts her blade to his throat. If she was just going to let Kellie go for free, she might as well have let Mantis eat her. She had no patience to wait around, so instead she would have to take her compensation another way.

Art by MrMetroid107
Story and characters belong to me.

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