“You’re kidding me, right?” Shannon knelt on a mat made of woven grass and tried unsuccessfully to meditate. The feature he loved most about his room wasn’t the tranquility pond or the world class sound system, but the sound deadening in the walls Management had specifically installed per his request. He closed his eyes and focused, pressing the bag of frozen peas to his face. Desperately trying to tune out the fireworks and the hooting lunatics in the hall and the shadow of the figure looming over him. But it was no use.

Giving up on erasing the pain in his face, he embraced it instead.

“Look, I don’t need to explain myself to you,” he said, opening his eyes. They were swollen to slits but he could still make out the figure in the body stocking oiling a ceremonial...

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