The Sisters: The Curse of Gabriel's Gardens

Rebirth

"Close. But close to what?" Diane said.

Anna turned to Gwendolyn. "I know you probably don't know much about Infernal Trimorts, but do you think there's some way he can regain his youth permanently, not only temportarily by stealing it from a girl? Something like a permanent facelift."

The woman shook her head. "As you said, I don't know much about Infernals. Their ways are often nasty, creepy and unnatural. Even Blanca, the Celestiale who became my guide, hesitated to talk about them."

"What kind of powers did Chance Arlington have?" Diane asked.

It took a while before Gwendolyn remembered. "First, he could turn invisible."

"I guess he visited so many female dressing rooms," Diane smirked. "Or male, if he was gay."

Gwendolyn reacted with a brief smile. "Second, he was immune to falling damage. During our first encounter, I sent him out of the Arlington Tower's window. He survived. Third, he didn't need to breathe, which made him perfect underwater or in some contaminated areas. But, however, for some reason, Chance had a fourth gift. Some kind of demonic sight which allowed him to see through solid objects."

"And you have only three? Unfair," Anna noted.

"I think that the powers of each Trimort are somehow personalized, to match their style and personality as much as possible. Chance was a silent killer who preferred to take out his targets unnoticed, yet personally. And that also mirrored in his powers. However, Whateley is different. He seems to be a master of manipulation whose ways aren't as clean as Chance's."

Diane frowned. "Wait. Chance's ways were 'clean'?"

"Let me explain. When Chance wanted to kill you, he sneaked into your residence, waited for you and usually slit your throat from behind. You didn't even see it coming. Whateley, however, is different. He can enter your head and either weaken you enough to kill you directly, or use his mind games to force you into suicide. And that's a dirty, awful way to kill."

Diane remembered the thug on the airport who just suddenly died, killed by the burst of Whateley's mind power. "You're right. He's way more creepy."

<<>>

Wilbur Whateley's mansion stood on the very edge of the Centre, on a cliff which offered a view on the peaceful sea surrounding the city.

If you took Whateley as a kind man of good manners, his mansion looked beautiful to you. But if you were familiar with his true nature, the mansion looked like something out of a horror movie.

The building was composed to look like an old victorian mansion made of heavy, dark-gray bricks. It was three floors high, decorated by numerous pillars, sgrafitto decorations and even several gargoyles on the roof. There was also a small tower in the front left corner of the building. As the Mayor showed in his TV interviews several times, it contained his excessive library.

Whateley also had a garden with neatly trimmed grass and two small fountains gushing streams of water into the afternoon sun. Near the mansion's wall, there were also beautiful red rose beds. The whole estate was enclosed by a massive iron fence with a monumental gate in the middle. On each of its wings, a decorative lion's head roared silently at the visitors and one W on each side, together forming the initials WW, proudly announced who lives in this magnificent residence.

"You have to admit, that man's got some style," Diane noted.

"And he's really into old stuff," Alexis said.

The girls and their mother were standing in front of the mansion, evaluating their chances to infiltrate it. It was no use. The fence couldn't be broken by anything weaker than a tank and, even though the whole residence was built to resemble a neogothical palace, there were also several clearly visible security cameras guarding the estate. They were also sure the mansion is also secured by numerous alarms.