Andy tried to stop his sobbing as demanded of him.

That scary man had gone out and the evil lady had threatened with a knife that if they did not do her bidding, she would kill them.

Even though Sky was tethered to a small hook on the wall with a rope tied to her collar, Sky continued flashing her angry fangs at their captor with a bellowing growl.

"Oh, this wolf needs to shut up!" she went to the table and poured some sedative from a bottle on a cloth. Sky growled even louder when the lady came nearer to her. She snapped her teeth at her approaching hand. The woman pulled her hand away just in time and cursed at the dog. Realising she could not sedate Sky, the woman took her knife out and swung it at Sky, who got even more angry and snapped repeatedly at her.

"Please don't kill Sky! Leon loves her very much!" Andy begged.

The moment she heard Leon's name, she stopped swinging her knife, "Oh yes! I can't hurt anything that belongs to my beloved husband." She spun around and approached Andy with the knife in her hand.

"Please don't kill me," Andy pleaded with his palms raised. Sky barked even more and whined, stretching her body the furthest she could with her hind legs.

"Kill you?" She glanced at the knife in her hand and started to giggle. "Why would I kill such a sweet little thing? You remind me of my boy. How he would beg for mummy's mercy whenever he was naughty."

She caressed his wet cheek with her finger.

"Anyway, I've got to get his daddy back."

"L-Leon is his daddy?"

"Of course!"

Hiromi and Andy were astounded. Was she lying or telling the truth? After all, her pictures with Leon were evident on the walls. Whatever the case, they knew they had to play along and not attempt to offend her.

"Then, can I go back home to my mummy?"

"Oh sweetie, your mummy doesn't want you. So, you know what? I'll be your mummy! Poor little thing. No wonder my hubby takes such pity on you," she hugged him and kissed his cheek but he stiffened in her arms.

"I'm back!" announced a familiar voice.

Andy and Hiromi were stunned to see that it was Paolo, the ice cream man who entered the room with a pizza takeaway.

"Oh, new guests!" he was stunned to see Andy and Sky barking ferociously at him while pacing about at her spot.

"Yes, they happened to drop by. Right timing," the lady said with glee.

Paolo broke into his signature, jovial laugh. Except for this time, it was not that same happy ice cream man warmth, but one of terrible menace. Andy could not believe that friendly, nice Paolo was a really evil man. No wonder his mother always told him to never speak to strangers!

"I'm looking forward to the fun," Paolo sat on a chair by the table and opened the large pizza box. "All the free ice creams I've sacrificed better pay off!"

"You will be paid....after I get my husband back," the lady sounded agitated by the reminder.

Hearing the notification sound on her phone, the woman checked the message and smiled, "He's got the cards. I can now go meet him."

She went to the mirror and observed herself.

Hiromi, Andy and Sky watched Paolo as the savoury smell of the pepperoni and cheese pizza filled the air. The sounds of Paolo eating and taking sips of his beer was causing Hiromi's stomach to growl in hunger, for she had not eaten since the day she was captured. Even Sky went quiet, looking intently with hungry eyes and drooling at her mouth.

"Want some?" he asked the lady.

"No," she responded without looking at him, fixing her eyes on the mirror.

"Then I'm letting Hugo take your share."

"Go ahead," she pouted her lips in front of the mirror and applied some bright red lipstick. Then she turned around and asked, "How do I look?"

"You look like that Hello Kitty," Paolo chuckled, glancing at Hiromi.

"I wasn't talking to you, idiot, so shut your mouth!" she snapped at him. Paolo stopped chuckling.

She turned to Hiromi, "You think Leon will find me attractive?"

Hiromi nodded.

"Liar!" she raised her hand, ready to give her another tight smack. Hiromi squeezed her eyes shut and jerked her head away. Sky barked crazily at her.

"Oh, that stupid dog!" the lady fumed that her moment was distracted by Sky. "If this wasn't my husband's dog, I would've carve it up and feed it to you hungry people," she let out a quizzical but somewhat maniacal laugh, making Hiromi and Andy cringe.

"Can you make me look pretty for my husband?" the lady asked Hiromi.

"Husband..." Paolo shook his head with a titter while he ate.

The woman shot him a stern look and he kept his peace. She turned her face back to Hiromi and grabbed her shoulders, "Can you?"

"Y-yes," Hiromi stammered with a nod. 

"But why should I need your help, filth!" the crazy lady contradicted herself and spat at Hiromi's face. "I might as well just cut up your pretty little face and feed it to the wolf!"

"I-I know what kind of look your husband likes!" Hiromi spoke on the fly. "I'm a Fujita. We've a makeup line. I'm good with make-up."

The lady thought for a moment and broke into an eerie smile, "You're right."

She cut the newly tied ropes from Hiromi's hands and tossed her makeup bag to her lap. Hiromi unzipped the contents and saw the logo on the items, realising they all belonged to Fujita's cosmetic brand. It was obvious that this lady was obsessed with her and wanted to look like her.

"I-I'll start with your eyebrows," Hiromi took an eyebrow pencil and began tracing. She hated those scary brown eyes staring at her while she did her make-up. Despite the trembling in her hands, Hiromi managed to complete the look using her favourite colours.

"Done."

The lady turned to the mirror and smiled at her new appearance, "Nice! No wonder your daddy sells cosmetics!"

While she relished in her new look in the mirror and Paolo helped himself with another slice of pizza, Hiromi glanced at Andy. He lifted up part of his sweater to show her pink mobile phone jutting out from his jeans pocket. Hiromi's eyes widened with a glistening glimmer of hope. Andy quickly pulled down his sweater when the woman turned around to face Hiromi.

"You look very pretty...p-prettier than me! Your husband will adore you," Hiromi flattered.

"Yes, Leon likes this look very much, erm...very pretty!" Andy affirmed with a thumbs up.

"Really?" The woman curled her lips upwards, "I can't wait to meet him!" 

She put on her coat.

"Paolo, see that they don't run." 

And off, she went.

"Good that lunatic's gone!" Paolo dusted off the pizza crumbs from his hands onto the floor.

Hunger overwhelmed Sky to the point the small hook on the wall broke off when she kept pulling her body towards the direction of the food. She dashed forward and licked the crumbs off the floor, but Sky's sudden coming scared Paolo who thought she came to charge at him.

"Stupid dog!" he kicked Sky on her side. Instead, Sky retaliated by snapping at him and trying to bite him.

"Get away, get away!" he flustered about that the beer in his hand spilled all over his uniform. Paolo climbed up the chair and onto the table. "Get this dog away or I'll kill her!" He pulled a gun from his pocket and aimed at Sky.

Andy hurried to Sky and pulled her away by her collar even as Sky kept coming after him.

Paolo cursed in Italian and fumed at his dirty clothes, "Now I'll need to wash up!" He got down from the table and left the room. He locked the door by putting an upright spade behind the handle on the outside of the door, so that no one can fully push the handle down from the opposite side.

"Andy, my phone," Hiromi whispered to him.

Andy quickly passed it to her.

Hiromi unlocked her phone. There were many unread messages and calls from Hiroshi. The battery was really low and the signal was so-so. She knew that if she attempted to make a call, it would consume too much power and the call would not last.

"Are you going to call the police?" asked Andy. They kept their conversation in whispers.

"Battery is too low for a call. Besides, I don't know exactly where we are," Hiromi sighed until an idea lit up. "Oh yes! I've an app that can alert my brother of my location."

She opened the beacon app and activated it.