CODEX

Chapter 34

As Lobos tapes the girl's mouth shut with scotch tape, her eyes become big and round. The expression on her face would have been comical if I didn't know what she was going through. I slide my eyes down to the creased pink dress she's got on, and then to her hands. They're tied tightly behind her back to the chair she's currently seated on. The same goes for her legs which are also tied. Her feet are bare, her flip flops discarded somewhere in the warehouse. I can already see the red welts forming from the too-tight ropes on her skin.

I slide my eyes back up to her face.

The kid's scared shitless.

Good.

We need to make her think she's really in danger, even though hurting children is definitely not my forte. That, and the fact that she's already suffered enough in the hands of Guilang - her step father.

If she believes this is real, she'll definitely act it out naturally.

I glance at the camera which is perched on a tripod stand in front of her and set on a two minute