The Harvest of Souls

CHAPTER 58

Eric was suffocating, trying desperately to draw air into himself, but the fall had affected something in his respiratory system, he couldn't move, but he felt all the pain of the fall. He felt his ribs crack and his left kneecap breaking with on impact; he also felt part of the left side of his face sinking in and a large gash opening on his left eyebrow. Eric didn't understand what was happening when he noticed that he was being dragged off the yacht. For a moment, he imagined he would be thrown overboard, but the being only pushed his upper body off the boat.

Eric saw his trunk go almost entirely under the icy, dark waters of the sea. All his pains seemed to intensify when he tried to move. Still, not being able to move even a finger, he used all the strength he had to hold his breath, but the effort was in vain: a few seconds passed until instinctively Erick's diaphragm caused a large amount of saltwater to enter the man's nostrils. He would have roared in pain if he could, hell seemed to be going through his head, his whole body ached, he felt cold, he felt all his airways burning.

The killer remained on the main deck, holding only Eric's legs, while the rest of his body remained submerged by the water. People were crying in despair inside the yacht, but no one dared to go out on deck. The fully black-clad person released one of Eric's legs and, using their free hand, locked the deck door with a wave. The killer then paid attention to the partially submerged man, waiting calmly for eight minutes until Eric had no life left.

ASTURIAN ISLAND

20.02.8462 - 06:04 AM

Mário woke up dazed in the middle of the forest. The day had already begun to dawn, and he wondered how long he had been unconscious. He tried to focus his vision, but everything was blurry and confusing. The boy looked around, trying to find the rest of the people while touching himself to ensure he had no injury. He remembered that the plane had lost altitude quickly, while a red light and an alarm sounded in the cabin, and then everything went dark.

The boy leaned on some trees and tried to move forward, even without knowing where he was going. He felt he just needed to move and continued to walk through the trees until he reached a small clearing. His vision remained blurred, and his thoughts confused. He didn't quite understand what he saw; he heard music in the distance, something rudimentary played by drums. Mário closed his eyes, annoyed by the morning sun rays invading the small steep clearing at the foot of the hill; he started walking on the green grass, watching a stone statue in the middle of the opening in the forest. He passed the statue, wondering if that was what he was seeing. It appeared to be a woman sitting on a rock with long lank hair and a snake around her feet.

Mário noticed that there was a small entrance to a kind of cave just beyond the statue. He was trying to understand what was happening. It seemed that the small opening to the cave was sealed by a door, an iron door that was ajar. A white light came out through the small open space, stronger than the sun's rays that invaded the clearing. Mário couldn't explain it, but he felt magnetized by that place and continued past the statue towards the cave door. He tried to push the door and realized that it was stuck, Mário then threw all the weight of his body against the door, and as it opened, the ray of white light coming from inside the cave increased. Finally, the open space allowed Mário to enter, and the boy did so without thinking twice, being engulfed by the intense light.

Scarlet woke up slightly confused in a bed in one of the rooms of the Asturian Manor. At first, she felt it was an ordinary morning until suddenly, all the memory of the plane crash came into her head. She got up quickly, looked around, her vision was clear and assertive, she quickly realized that she was in her room at the manor and then a series of questions started to come to her mind: who had put her there? Where would the others be? What day would it be? What time was it? Where was Mário?

Scarlet noticed that she was still wearing the same dress from the party, and her legs were smeared with grass and dirt so that it couldn't have been many hours. She calmly got out of bed to check if her balance was good, and to her surprise, she felt very energized. Scarlet then went to the room's door. She collided directly with a person right about to enter the room while she was trying to leave the room quickly. The thud was so great and unexpected for both parties that Scarlet screamed in fright. The person outside dropped something they were carrying with them, creating a loud metallic noise that echoed down the East Wing Side Corridor of the fourth floor of the Asturian Manor.

The girl watched a huge black pistol swirl across the floor and as she lifted her head and stared at the person outside. The person had blood on their hands, and Scarlet's heart raced: 'How? How could he be there? In the Asturian Manor? Was he then the one killing everyone else? Was it that moment when she was going to die?' And of all the questions, she could only ask one thing when she faced the person:

"Fernand?"