Sam was climbing the stairs slowly, while chaos ravaged the building around him.
Intermittent screams, doors slamming violently, footsteps running without direction, and gasping breaths mixed with a suffocating smell of fear.
Even so… he was drinking tea calmly, as if what was happening was no more than a passing nuisance.
He reached his floor and stopped.
He saw Victor standing in front of his apartment door, trying to break it with his shoulder, hitting it violently while panting.
Sam said in a cold tone, calm to the point of provocation: — My brother, this is my home. Step aside a bit, I want to enter.
— And do not try to break the door, for I do not have the money to fix it with Mr. Nero.
Victor froze for a moment.
Then he turned slowly.
He looked at Sam with a gaze full of anger and tension and said: — Shut up… how can you speak with such coldness in the middle of this chaos?
Sam answered without hesitation: — My brother, I do not consider what is happening chaos.
— I only think that you are a foolish person… who surrenders to his desires at the first test.
That sentence was enough.
Victor exploded in anger.
He took one step forward, then aimed a powerful punch at Sam's face.
Sam's head hit the wall, and he felt something sharp coming out of his mouth.
A tooth fell to the ground, and blood mixed with his saliva.
Sam froze in shock.
Victor shouted, his features distorted with rage: — I swear I will not have mercy on you, you bastard!
— How dare you address me in this manner?
— This day… will be the last day of your life!
And before he could attack him again, one of the residents suddenly appeared from the end of the corridor.
His face was… wrong.
Something strange was covering his head, his eyes were glassy, his mouth was wide open, and his chest rose and fell with an unhuman sound.
Victor became extremely tense.
He looked at Sam and smiled a wicked smile: — I will let this thing… deal with you.
Then he grabbed Sam by his clothes, threw him forcefully toward the transformed man, and fled without hesitation.
At that moment…
Sam screamed.
A real scream.
A scream he had never uttered before.
Horror appeared on his face for the first time.
The cold mask disappeared.
The controlling intelligence disappeared.
And nothing remained but fear.
He stepped back, stumbling, his heart almost jumping out of his chest.
Regret.
He regretted every word he said, every coldness he showed, and every moment he thought he was above everyone.
Suddenly…
A weapon appeared.
A pistol… was beside him on the ground.
He didn't ask how.
He didn't think.
He didn't comprehend.
He grabbed it unconsciously, raised his trembling hand, and fired.
A bullet in the man's hand.
Then another bullet… in his face.
Everything stopped.
The body fell to the ground motionless.
Sam stood in his place, panting heavily, cold sweat covering his forehead, his eyes darting in every direction.
He found no one.
He looked at the pistol… then at the corpse.
And silenced.
Then…
He laughed.
He laughed with extreme madness.
He approached the corpse and shouted in a hysterical voice: — Who are you to kill me?!
— I am the strongest person throughout history!
— I am the smartest person throughout history!
— I am the most wonderful throughout history!
He kicked the corpse with his foot: — Look where you are now!
— You are burning in hell, while I am alive!
— I am not dead like you!
Then he shouted: — Go to hell! Go to hell!
He looked at the weapon in his hand… then at his other hand.
He wiped his face and noticed spots of blood on it.
He took a spot of blood and licked it slowly in front of the corpse.
And said with a psychopathic smile: — The taste of your blood… is wonderful, you bastard.
He breathed deeply.
Then he decided to go down to the ground floor.
On his way, he met Layla.
She was tense, and her eyes were tearful.
She said: — Sam… I blamed myself. I feel ashamed of what I did earlier.
— Almost everyone returned to the ground floor, and the situation… is better now.
Sam looked at her with cold calmness, as if nothing had happened.
He said: — Good.
— Perhaps you finally felt regret and shame for what you did.
Layla nodded her head silently.
Sam left toward the ground floor, his heart filled with only one desire…
Total revenge.
The pistol was hidden in his pocket.
And the ring was there too…
Completely forgotten.