BANG!
The bullet fired.
Launched from the gun's chamber,
leaving smoke curling from the barrel.
The shot pierced Mikael's left shoulder.
Tearing through skin.
Cracking bone.
The tray in his hands dropped.
Cups shattered across the wooden floor.
Glass scattered everywhere.
Mikael gasped.
His hand clutched his shoulder,
blood pouring out.
He leaned on the doorframe,
breathing hard.
"Mikael!"
Lillian stood, trying to run to him,
but the chain snapped tight.
It yanked her back down
to her knees on the cold wooden floor.
She turned to Edwin, desperate.
"Please! Doctor! Let me go to him!"
But the doctor...
His gun slowly shifted
toward her.
His head tilted,
eyes darkened—
no longer his own.
"Doctor... you're supposed to help us..."
Her voice cracked.
"You're not supposed to hurt us..."
Tears filled her eyes.
She begged him.
But Edwin was completely manipulated.
His thoughts drowned.
Possessed.
Empty.
He pulled the trigger a second time
But before the bullet could leave
A strong arm grabbed his wrist, twisted it.
then a punch,
fast and brutal,
sent Edwin flying across the room.
He hit the floor,
blood spilling from his lip.
The air in the room went still.
Everyone froze.
Standing over him...
Robert.
He had arrived in silence,
but struck with rage.
"That's enough, Nemorak," Robert growled.
"You're breaking the rules."
A shadow coiled from Edwin's skin,
hissing.
then retreated into the darkness.
"Robert!"
Lillian screamed his name,
crawling across the floor with trembling arms.
She clung to him.
"Kiss me! Please, please end all this!"
She sobbed, crawling into his chest.
"Please, Robert..."
But he didn't.
He held her face gently in his hands.
"Lillian," he whispered.
"Relax. Breathe."
He pulled her into his arms,
held her close as she cried in horror.
Then his eyes turned to Edwin,
burning with fury.
"What have you humans done to her?"
His voice trembled with restrained rage.
Without another word,
he grabbed the chain around her wrists.
And with his bare hands.
snapped it.
The links shattered.
He hurled the broken chain through the window
glass exploded.
Then he lifted Lillian into his arms.
She buried her face into his chest.
And in the next moment
they vanished.
Like smoke.
Meanwhile outside...
The road curved.
The night was dark.
When the moon glowed red,
the town was quiet.
The townsfolk were in deep sleep.
But for the first time
the road lit up.
The torches.
Wesley and Elrick arrived,
lanterns swinging.
"Attention! Everyone! Gather in the town square!"
he shouted, voice loud through the fog.
At first, no one came.
Since the town was built,
no one ever went out at night.
But slowly...
one villager stepped out.
Then another.
And another.
The town slowly came alive.
Wesley climbed the carriage and fired one shot into the air.
BANG.
"Listen up! The murderer we are facing...
is not a human. It's a beast!"
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Murmurs. Doubt.
But Wesley continued.
"We'll light this town like never before.
Elrick's in charge of firewood.
We're doing this together.
"Light the town.
Tonight, we burn away the dark."
He jumped off the carriage.
Elrick stepped up beside him.
"Sheriff? What's the plan?"
"I'm going to see Robert.
By the time I return
this town should be glowing."
Wesley mounted the horse and galloped toward the jail.
Back in town
Elrick and the villagers built a bonfire
right beside the clock tower.
At the sheriff's cell...
Wesley pushed open the door.
The desk was quiet.
One guard slumped in a chair
knocked out.
Wesley drew his gun,
eyes scanning.
Step by step,
he grabbed a torch from the wall
and made his way down.
The cell bars were bent.
Robert's cell empty.
And across from it,
Reana.
Her bars were also twisted
yet she hadn't left.
She just sat. Quiet.
Wesley moved closer.
"What happened here?"
he asked.
Reana smiled faintly.
"The Beast... has a heart.
He went to save his girl."
Wesley's eyes widened.
"Lillian...!"
He rushed out.
"You're free now, Reana.
You can go."
He galloped back to the mansion.
Inside, he found Edwin bandaging Mikael,
blood everywhere.
Servants trembling nearby.
"Where's Lillian?!" Wesley shouted.
Edwin stood slowly.
He told him everything
The gun. The voice.
Robert's return.
Their escape.
Wesley slammed the table.
"I thought I could trust you, Doctor!
Now Lillian could be anywhere!"
"Forgive me," Edwin said softly.
"I want to make things right. Let's find her."
Then
a woman's voice.
"No... she's safe. Safer than any of us."
They all turned.
Standing in the doorway
Reana.
Barefoot. In a white gown.
Hair messy. Skin pale.
"Reana? What are you doing here?!"
She looked up at the window.
"They're in the sky.
He's going to devour the whole town."
"Who?!" Wesley asked.
"The bad Beast.
Nemorak."
Wesley rushed to the window.
He couldn't see anything.
Only thick clouds.
"I don't see anything. How do you?"
Reana didn't blink.
Didn't turn.
She only whispered
"Once you see them...
you can't unsee it."
Wesley froze.
That line
It's what Ambrose said.
He turned to her.
"Reana... you can see them?
Take me there."