Outside, the smoke trailed him to the clock tower.
He hovered over it.
At the top, one of his shadows slithered down,
creeping all the way to the sheriff's cell
to Robert's.
"Well, Malvier... two more kills, and I'll be victorious,"
Nemorak whispered.
Robert sat, his head resting against the wall.
"You think you're gonna win, Nemorak?"
he asked, his voice low only they could hear it.
"Yes.
By the next moon, this town will be mine."
Robert clenched his fists.
(Lillian... remember your promise.)
As the sun dipped closer to the horizon,
the roads darkened.
Lillian and Mikael shared a single horse, galloping toward home.
Lillian held a book tightly against her chest,
her mind clouded by Nemorak's words...
and the memory of her promise with Robert.
All the voices overlapped in her head.
"Since when... was Robert the Beast?
Since when did I start falling in love with him?
Why is my life so complicated?
I need to tell the sheriff everything."
Then the door burst open.
"Doctor!" Wesley called out, walking in with a smug grin.
"I brought blood. From Robert.
See if it matches."
Dr. Edwin took the vial, examining it closely.
"Interesting... the color of his blood...
Quite healthy, for a man who's been locked in a cell for days."
He turned to his desk, beginning the analysis.
Wesley leaned forward.
"What have you found so far... about Lillian's blood?"
Edwin hesitated.
"It's... complicated.
Her blood... it can cure sickness."
He gestured to a plant on the table.
The plant was drinking Lillian's blood.
And it was growing.
Alive. Thriving.
Wesley leaned closer.
"I knew it... this family..."
He straightened.
"Doctor, I need to find something in the basement.
In the meantime, check Robert's blood again.
I want to know what that poet knows."
Wesley hurried toward the basement.
But on the first level, he saw Grandfather Ambrose sitting beside the fireplace.
He walked closer.
"Mr. Mayor," he called.
Grandfather Ambrose turned his wheelchair toward him.
"Ah... Sheriff. Have you learned the truth yet?"
"No...
What do you know about the Wilson family?"
Grandfather Ambrose chuckled.
"Well... I am the Wilson family.
But if you want to know how we rose..."
He leaned back with a nostalgic smile.
"My daughter...
She fell in love with a man who not only brought her life...
but built her entire world."
"Actually, two men came to propose to her.
Right in front of me.
One brought flowers.
The other brought gold."
"But she chose the one who brought her happiness
not the one who brought money."
Wesley narrowed his eyes.
"So... two men?
Played a game to win her?"
Ambrose smiled softly.
His eyes drifted toward the frame on the wall
a photo of his daughter and her husband.
"And they had a beautiful baby girl.
Lillian.
She was an extraordinary child.
She followed her mother's heart...
very well."
"And now..."
Ambrose's voice grew low, almost trembling.
"My granddaughter...
she's caught up in the same game her mother once was."
Wesley frowned.
"What do you mean?"
Ambrose's eyes darkened.
"Once you see the Beast... you can't unsee it.
Please... save my granddaughter.
The Beast still lingers in this house.
Find the clue before it's too late.
Kill Nemorak."
He pointed to the fireplace.
"His weakness... is light and fire. Use it wisely."
Then he pointed to the frame on the wall.
"There. Look in there."
Wesley grabbed the frame and opened the back.
Inside was a photograph
Lillian's mother, Linda...
standing beside her husband, Severin Corvin Wilson.
But on the other side... stood another man.
Wesley narrowed his eyes.
"Who is this?"
Ambrose whispered, voice shaky.
"Nemorak... it's him. That's Nemorak."
Suddenly
THUD!
Ambrose's chest arched forward, something sharp piercing through his back.
A fireplace spear.
He screamed.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
Wesley jolted, drawing his gun.
He fired behind the wheelchair.
The sound echoed through the house.
"Show yourself, Beast!" he shouted.
"I know you're still here! Come out!"
From the corner
where light never reached
a shadow began to form.
A figure... tall and twisted.
"WELL, WELL... WE MEET AGAIN, SHERIFF."
Wesley's eyes widened.
"No... no way.
You filthy Beast.
What do you want from this family?!"
"I SHOWED YOU WHAT I WANT."
The shadow glided forward, closer to Ambrose.
Without warning, he sank his jaws into Ambrose's arm.
RIP.
Gruesome.
Blood poured onto the floor.
Ambrose's body slumped.
His eyes dimmed.
"YOU'RE NEXT!" the Beast roared.
Wesley grabbed the torch beside the fireplace
and hurled it at the shadow.
Flames caught his smoke-like body.
The creature screamed as the fire spread like paper catching flame.
But he lunged anyway
clawing at Wesley, biting into his arm.
Wesley's gun clattered to the ground.
With his good hand,
he grabbed a burning log from the hearth
and slammed it into the Beast's face.
The flames roared.
The front door burst open.
"Grandpapa?!" The shadows vanished.
Lillian stood in the doorway, breathless.
She stepped inside, her voice breaking.
"Grandpapa?!"
She rushed forward.
The wheelchair lay overturned.
On the floor... Ambrose.
Unmoving. Covered in blood.
Dr. Edwin ran over, kneeling beside him.
He checked for a pulse.
Everyone stood frozen, pale.
Wesley turned slowly toward her.
"Where were you?"
"I..."
Lillian clutched the book to her chest, speechless.
She dropped to her knees beside him.
"Grandpapa!" she sobbed.
"Open your eyes, please...!"
She hugged his bloody body tightly.
Tears ran down her face.
Then she turned to Wesley.
"Wesley! Doctor! What happened to him?!"
Edwin lowered his eyes.
"There's nothing I can do...
He's gone."
"No... no no no..."
She shook her head, her voice a whisper—then a scream.
"I need to see Robert.
I need to see him now."
"No!" Wesley shouted.
"Robert is no better than him!"
He grabbed Lillian's wrist with his left hand
his right still bleeding from the attack.
Lillian turned to him, eyes wide.
"But... he'll stop the killing," she whispered.
Her voice cracked.
Her eyes clouded with tears.
"He'll kill you, Lillian!"
Wesley's grip tightened.
"I made a promise to your grandfather.
I can't let you go!"