"When we reach Laurent, it will get even worse."
He handed Ethan a flask of water.
"Drink. And remember, you're still here.
Your mind. And only yours."
Ethan took the flask with a trembling hand and drank several greedy gulps.
The rain continued pouring down in sheets as the buzzing of the drones finally faded into the distance. Flash stood by the window for a few more seconds, listening, then slowly straightened up.
"Let's go, before they come back."
They climbed out of the depot through the same broken window frame. Wet gravel crunched under their feet like shattered glass.
Ahead lay an open stretch, a wide embankment between two rows of old tracks, with no cover at all. Two hundred meters of bare ground under the downpour.
"Quickly," Flash said.
"Try not to run…"
They moved forward.
Ethan walked a little behind. His left arm was almost useless now, his fingers were numb, and the black lines had reappeared, a clear sign that another vampire was somewhere nearby.
They had crossed half the open ground when it happened.
Ethan's left hand suddenly jerked on its own. His fingers sprang open as if forced apart by an invisible force.
The black stake slipped from his palm and began to fall.
Ethan felt something inside him yank violently, as if hundreds of hands had pulled on the same rope at once.
His legs buckled. He stumbled, took an awkward step sideways, and nearly collapsed onto the rails.
"The stake" he rasped.
Flash spun around instantly. With one hand he caught the stake in mid-air, with the other he grabbed Ethan by the collar and yanked him forward, keeping him from falling.
"Hold on!" he said sharply.
Ethan clutched Flash's shoulder. His left arm hung limp, fingers trembling and unresponsive. The pain was so sharp that his vision darkened. The voices inside the stake exploded with laughter.
Flash shoved the stake back into Ethan's right hand and squeezed his fingers tightly around the wood.
"Hold it with both hands. You cannot lose this thing…"
"I… I lost control… just for a second…" Ethan forced out.
"My hand… it wouldn't obey me."
Flash looked him straight in the eyes. There was no pity in his gaze,only hard concern.
"Can you keep going?"
"If not, say it now and we can turn back."
Ethan clenched his teeth and shook his head.
"I'll make it. I didn't go through all this just to quit halfway."
Flash studied him for a second, then gave a short nod.
"Then keep moving. That idiot's house is already close."
Flash walked a little ahead, glancing back every now and then.
"Listen," he began quietly, so his voice wouldn't carry far.
"You need to know about Laurent,who we're really dealing with."
Ethan stayed silent, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. Every step sent pain shooting through his left arm.
"He's always sold information to both sides," Flash continued.
"Vampires, hunters, Gérard's people, anyone who paid more. To him there are no allies or enemies.
Only those who can pay. He knew about Maria long before Gérard started his experiments.
Because it was profitable for him."
Flash spat to the side.
"He's the one who sold Maria out for good money.
I'm sure he told Gérard where to find our safehouse…"
"He's not just a middleman.
He's the one who started all of this. If we leave him alive, he'll sell us out tomorrow.
Or the moment Anna offers more."
"That's why," Flash finished,
"when we get there, no long conversations.
We squeeze him for information, and then you can do whatever you want with him."
He turned and looked at Ethan.
"Understood?"
Ethan nodded.
"Understood. He dies tonight."
The hill grew steeper.
Every step up the soaked slope was difficult, their feet slipping in the mud.
"Maybe we should have waited for the rain to stop?"
Ethan suddenly stopped dead.
Another vision flashed before his eyes, this one especially vivid.
Hundreds of souls stood right on the hillside, blocking the path in a dense, screaming wall. Their faces were twisted in agony and madness, mouths wide open in silent screams, eyes bulging, fingers clawing as if trying to tear something out of their own chests.
Some reached toward him, others tore at their own ghostly clothes.
"Release us!" a many-voiced shriek exploded in his head.
"Release us and we'll give you power!"
"Free us… or kill yourself! One strike and it will all be over!"
"You'll be free… like us… forever…"
Ethan doubled over, digging his fingers into the black wood of the stake. His breath caught. His knees trembled from the intensity of the illusion. The fear was impossible to suppress.
After everything he'd been through, he still wasn't used to these sudden changes in his life.
He felt something inside him tearing, a thin, final thread that was still holding his sanity together.
"No… no, please… go away…" he whispered in a trembling voice, almost begging.
Flash was instantly beside him. He laid a heavy, wet hand on Ethan's shoulder and squeezed hard.
"Ethan… Hey, Ethan, look at me."
"What do you see?"
Ethan slowly raised his head. Rain and tears mixed on his cheeks. His eyes held raw, animal terror.
"I see them… all of them…" His voice broke.
"They're standing right here. All the souls are reaching for me."
"They're asking… no, demanding that I release them."
"They say if I kill myself, it will all end. I'll be free… like them."
He swallowed convulsively, his eyes shining with desperation.
"Flash… I'm scared. I'm really scared."