"Can you imagine? A woman who has seen everything, and suddenly my modest collection caught her interest…"
The women laughed. One of them whispered something in his ear, and Laurent answered with a low, satisfied chuckle.
Ethan gripped the black stake tighter. The wood responded with a hungry vibration.
They stood right by the door.
All that remained was to push it open and step inside.
And then it hit Ethan. The attack came suddenly, without warning.
The staircase vanished. The walls dissolved. In their place appeared a cold, brightly lit laboratory.
A woman lay on a metal table.
"Maria!" Ethan recognized her and even rushed toward her.
She was naked from the waist up, her belly noticeably rounded. Her skin glistened with sweat. Her long dark hair was splayed across the table, and a strange, almost blissful smile was frozen on her face.
Her eyes were half-closed, filled with a mad, triumphant fire.
Gérard stood beside her in a white lab coat, holding a syringe filled with a thick silvery-black liquid. Maria turned her head, looked straight at Ethan, and smiled wider.
"There you are…" she whispered directly into his mind. Her voice was soft, velvety, and very ancient.
"You've finally come to me… my boy…"
Ethan felt his legs give way. The staircase returned, but now it was swaying before his eyes. His knees buckled. He began to fall forward, grabbing the railing with his free hand.
"Maria…" escaped from his lips.
Flash reacted instantly. He spun around and caught Ethan under the arms, stopping him from tumbling down the stairs. The stake in Ethan's hands trembled so violently it nearly slipped out.
"Ethan," Flash hissed quietly.
Ethan took a heavy breath, clutching the railing with one hand. The image still burned in front of his eyes.
Maria on the table, her rounded belly, that smile. He could smell the laboratory, feel the cold metal against his back, see Gérard sliding the needle into her vein.
"She… she was there, fuck, what's happening to me?" Ethan whispered in a trembling voice.
"I saw her, like I was transported to Gérard. She was smiling… smiling at me."
Flash held him tighter, pressing Ethan's back against the stairwell wall. His face was very close.
"It's the curse playing with you. It creates illusions to drive you insane."
Ethan closed his eyes, trying to push the image of Maria away. But her smile still lingered in his mind's eye.
"She… she's waiting for me," he whispered almost soundlessly.
"I know," Flash didn't let go, continuing to speak quietly and insistently.
"I know what you're seeing. We're almost there. Just try not to think about it."
Ethan took several deep, ragged breaths. The trembling gradually began to subside. The vision of the laboratory slowly melted away, returning to the darkness of the stairwell. But the feeling remained.
He opened his eyes and looked at Flash.
"I'm… holding on," he rasped.
Flash held him for a few more seconds, carefully studying his face. Then he slowly nodded.
"Good."
The black stake in Ethan's hands pulsed harder, and somewhere deep in his consciousness the soft, caressing voice of Maria still echoed:
"Come to me… my boy… we're so close now…"
The guys looked through the gap between the doors.
In the center, sprawled in a deep leather armchair, sat Laurent. He looked completely relaxed. His silk burgundy robe hung carelessly open at the chest. In his right hand he held a glass of dark red wine, if it was wine.
A lazy, satisfied smile was frozen on his face the smile of a man who believed the world belonged to him.
Around him were five women. Half-naked, beautiful, with heavy makeup and loose hair. Two sat on the armrests of his chair, one on his lap.
The other two lounged on a wide sofa nearby, lazily sipping wine and whispering to each other.
Laurent was quietly saying something into one of the girls' ears. She giggled, running her fingers through his beard.
He suspected nothing.
Flash glanced at Ethan. In his eyes flashed one final instruction.
They pushed the double doors open at the same time and stepped inside.
The doors opened almost silently. The air in the room changed instantly. The music continued playing, but the laughter cut off as if someone had pressed a mute button.
Laurent raised his head.
At first, mild irritation appeared on his face, who would dare enter without knocking? Then his gaze fell on Flash with the pistol, and then on Ethan.
Laurent's eyes slowly widened. The glass of wine trembled in his fingers and nearly slipped out. The face that had been relaxed and content just a second ago froze in a mask of pure, genuine pleasure.
"Ooooh," he whispered almost soundlessly.
"You've come for revenge?"
He sat comfortably on the sofa, one hand gripping one of the girls' ass.
One of the women on his lap turned her head and also saw the intruders. She gasped softly and tried to stand, but Laurent instinctively grabbed her arm, holding her in place.
Ethan took a step forward. The black stake in his hands hummed quietly. Thin streams of black smoke once again seeped from the cracks in the wood.
Laurent couldn't tear his eyes away from the stake.
"Roy…" Laurent whispered, his voice trembling.
"Morwen, Michael's servant… you killed both of them?" He rolled his eyes.
"And why am I not surprised? It's all so obvious…"
He slowly set the glass down on the small table beside the armchair.
"You're going to answer our questions, or I'll shove this thing up your ass," Ethan snarled, taking another step forward.