By then, the crowd had dispersed, so we seized the chance to slip away. No one knew us anyway.
Wait—where was Stella? Damn it, we'd come here to find someone, so where was she?
"Stella, where the hell are you? Answer me if you're still here!" Since the place was empty, I shouted without restraint. If she didn't show up soon, we'd have to leave—it was getting too risky to stay.
"Let me go! Let go!" Harper, surprisingly defiant, kept struggling wildly.
"Keep screaming, and I'll tell your parents everything about tonight," I threatened.
Harper's family was wealthy but strict, and she was terrified of them. The moment I mentioned snitching, she froze, too scared to make another sound or move.
If I'd known this would work, I wouldn't have wasted so much effort earlier. Damn it, why hadn't I thought of this sooner?
Just then, a pair of screams cut through the air as two men in black went flying from behind the bar's stage—followed by Stella.
"Tricking a teenage girl into taking Fox Fairy? You've got a death wish." Stella strode forward and stomped on one of them. The other men in black were too terrified to move as she laid into them, beating them until even their mothers wouldn't recognize them.
But then Stella noticed the bar was empty—only the three of us remained.
"Hey, that's weird. Where'd everyone go? The place was packed a second ago." She scratched her head in confusion before her gaze landed on Harper.
"Harper! There you are! I finally found you—you're really here! I've been searching everywhere!" Stella's voice trembled, on the verge of tears. She lifted her foot, letting the men in black scramble away unnoticed. Compared to Harper, they didn't matter.
"Stay back! Don't come near me… please!" Harper suddenly shrieked, her voice hysterical.
Stella froze, then forced a smile. "What's wrong? Did I… do something?"
"It's not you—it's me! Just let me go! All of you, leave me alone!" Harper shoved me hard, but I held firm. In desperation, she grabbed an empty bottle and pressed it to her neck. My stomach dropped—I instantly released her. She was threatening suicide; I had no choice.
"Go away, Stella. I'm begging you. I'm not the Harper you used to know. Don't come after me." Slowly, she pushed the bottle deeper. A thin trail of blood trickled down her skin.
"Okay, take it easy. I'll go, I'll go." Stella didn't understand what was wrong with Harper or why she was so agitated to see her. All she could do now was agree, hoping to calm her down.
But just as Stella was about to turn around, she suddenly froze—as if she'd caught a scent. Her reaction was just as slow as mine had been earlier.
"Harper… why do you sound better?" Stella's face darkened, her brows tightening. "You have… a demonic aura on you. And a fox's stench."
"You didn't… take Fox Fairy, did you?" Stella gasped.
Fox Fairy? Was that connected to the strange things I'd just seen from Harper? And was her voice healing because of it?
The broken bottle in Harper's hand slipped and shattered on the floor as she collapsed to her knees, sobbing.
"Stella, I'm sorry! I know I shouldn't have kept something like this… but I wanted to heal my vocal cords so badly. The right way didn't work—I had to turn to something evil." Harper cried hysterically, tears streaming down her face, her expression twisted with regret and guilt.
"Who owns this bar? That scum… that animal! I'll kill him!" Stella's fists clenched, her whole body trembling with rage.
From their words and expressions, it seemed keeping this Fox Fairy had terrible consequences. Harper looked like someone who'd realized her mistake too late—someone who couldn't turn back.
"I own it. What's the problem?"
A heavyset man strode in, his shaved head gleaming under the dim lights. His face was thick with fat, marked by a scar on his forehead and another on his left cheek, giving him a vicious look. Behind him trailed a gang of black-clad men armed with bats and clubs.
One figure stood out—a man in a black cloak and hat, the brim pulled so low his face was hidden. He lingered behind the fat man, motionless, silent, like a shadow.
"So, these are the little shits who dared to mess with Abreu's business," the fat man sneered, eyeing us before his gaze settled on Antonio with a frown.
No wonder no one had reported anything all this time. The bar's owner was the one keeping things under wraps.
"Mr. Roger, I've heard of him. His name's Abreu—used to be deep in the underworld before he 'retired' and disappeared," Antonio whispered to me.
Another big shot who'd supposedly left the life. Just my luck—tonight, I'd pissed off the wrong guy.
"Fatty, you've got no conscience, tricking people into raising Fox Fairy for you?" Stella, fearless as ever, spat the words like an accusation the moment she saw him.
"Little girls, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want," Abreu sneered. "Who did I trick? They willingly signed contracts with Fox Fairy. What's that got to do with me? Take this girl for example..." He pointed at Harper. "She signed the contract to get a beautiful voice. Plain and simple - it was her own choice. Can you really blame me for that?"
"Bullshit! What you're raising isn't some divine fox but a straight-up evil spirit!" Stella shot back. "Since when does a three-tailed fox qualify as an immortal? What's next - a nine-tailed fox becoming the Jade Emperor? Your three-tailed demon needs human blood to survive. Once someone signs that contract, they're stuck for life. If they don't keep feeding it blood, it'll devour the contract holder. Don't try to deny it - I'll bet my life you never told any of them this part!"
Abreu just smirked at Stella's outburst, his grin turning even more shameless. "Not my problem. She wanted to sing better - and look, wish granted! She asked, we delivered. Transaction complete. Nothing more to discuss."
"You... you vile, ugly, fat fuck!" Stella's voice shook with rage. "I'll dig up your ancestors' graves and mix your ashes with your mother's, you thieving dog!"
I'd never heard Stella curse like this before, and strangely enough, it was kind of impressive. Maybe because it wasn't me on the receiving end this time.
From their argument, I pieced together two things: First, Harper had been tricked into raising this evil Fox Fairy. Once bound by contract, she'd be trapped for life, forced to provide it with living human blood - literal blood sacrifices.
Second, that explained why she'd been cozying up to that middle-aged man earlier. Clearly, she'd been planning to use him as a blood sacrifice for the Fox Fairy.
Whether this was Harper's first time attempting this, I didn't know. I could only hope it was - otherwise, there might be no coming back for her.
Killing someone brings inevitable karmic retribution, even if you were tricked into it.