The legacy of the dark blood

Chapter 36

The main hall

With the Duchess's sentence issued to Max, the picture of the courtroom faded into a whirlwind until Liz was able to return to her tangible reality. The room she was in showed a similar artistic style to other locations in the palace, however, the disturbing frescoes were gone. She did not know how she had gotten there, except that she was perched on a wooden table in a room dimly lit by elegant chandeliers hanging on the walls. After regaining control over her senses, she woke up in a sort of library, surrounded by antique bookcases made of oak.

Liz came to think that the images projected in front of her eyes did not correspond to her present, until Bernard's voice struck her from the other side of the room.

"Liz..." She heard his voice initially with a soothing echo, until she could make it out in its entirety, "Liz, for God's sake, you had me worried, could you tell me what's going on with you?"

She turned to look at her companion making a puzzled gesture and looking around as if struggling to come to terms with the situation.

"Bernard?" Liz said doubting that what she saw in front of her was her partner "What..., what happened, where am I?"

"You fainted when you looked at the frescoes in the palace, so I brought you here," said Bernard, "You've been acting very odd lately, and what just happened has left me thinking a lot. Even more so because you were about to tell me something before your relapse".

The agent subtly raised her hand to the top of her eyebrows to wipe away the sweat that was dripping from her as she emitted a deep, heavy sigh. There was nothing more to do, what had happened made it clear that her situation would only get worse; she was doomed, and there was no more point in hiding something of such magnitude, least of all when considering the miniscule possibility of fleeing. With a disguised look of sadness, without actually sobbing, she lifted her shirt to quickly reveal the pentagram mark on her abdominal area, to hide it almost immediately.

Bernard recoiled in exultation, as if backing away from some kind of danger. Liz was bewildered by the thought that her partner's reaction to the image would be negative and that he would thereafter be repulsed by her.

"Why didn't you tell me about this," he asked a bit concerned, "I've been your partner since you entered the institution. It doesn't seem to me that things like this should remain a secret between us".

"I didn't want to make things more complicated" She replied sadly while blinking her eyes for prolonged lapses of time.

Liz narrated in detail her first encounter with the villagers and what happened in the chapel, in the background unburdening all her existential problems to her companion. Bernard looked puzzled, but in spite of that, he did not show anger at what had happened, not even when he learned that Steffi Lenz, the group's doctor, had found out about her unholy mark earlier.

"This is gonna make things worse for us" Bernard mumbled, helping Liz to regain her composure "But remember, the Florian guy said something about a cleansing ritual or something, I think we could find out something about it".

"He wasn't sure about it" Liz lamented "We haven't found any clues about that process. But I want you to know that nothing will stop me from putting an end to this nightmare" Sentenced the girl with determination.

"But..."

"But nothing" She insisted "We will fulfill our mission; it was foreseen that things like this might happen" With her words she tried to play down the importance of such a gloomy event as the one that was tormenting her -There are more things you should know.