𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘚𝘐𝘕 / 𝘋𝘈𝘔𝘐𝘈𝘕𝘖 𝘋𝘈𝘝𝘐𝘋

XVII

palaye royale  — tonight is the night i die

18+

In shock, Dette ran upstairs, hugging herself and trying to calm down. Louis ' death took her by surprise, the girl couldn't think clearly and think clearly, the picture before her eyes were blurred, everything was happening in a fog. Suddenly the lights went on all over the house, and Damiano came out of the basement, breathing heavily, he came closer to his beloved, holding her to him, his palms were sweaty and cold with fear. Both of them didn't understand what had just happened, however, as a fact, they only had their friend's cold body. There were tears in Bernadette's eyes when curly raised her head and turned in the direction of the noise, Ethan was able to open the door, or rather break it. Victoria went into the kitchen, where Malvina was sitting on the floor in tears, the blonde was bent over her knees, swaying slightly from side to side. De Angelis tried to touch her lover, however, the girl recoiled, crawled a few meters back, her eyes were frightened, like a wild animal, she was afraid, but no one knew what.

"We don't have time, "Thomas said loudly, grabbing Victoria by the shoulders and lifting her to her feet," we need to go back to the fireplace."

Something changed in the guy, his mood worsened, he abruptly became more rude and sharp, his movements took on a different meaning.

"Come on," the blond man pushed the trembling Malvina to the exit from the kitchen. Ethan noticed the change in his friend's mood, but decided not to arrange a conflict in such a situation, he understood that everyone was scared, he was no less, nevertheless, he tried to make the situation calm and not create panic, at least he tried to convince himself of this. When the remaining group of friends entered the living room, Dette and Damiano were already there, the girl was standing near the wall, pressing her crossed fingers to her lips in a prayer pose and periodically sobbing, while the long-haired man was sitting on the sofa, leaning his elbows on his knees and interlacing his fingers.

"You don't look happy," Thomas chuckled, falling onto the sofa next to Damiano, who wasn't ready for a sarcastic dialogue in the style of a friend and only watched him go, returning to his thoughts.

"What happened?" Ethan paraphrased Thomas, hugging Victoria and Malvina and escorting the girls to the chair so that they sat down and calmed down because Mal looked as if she had long lost control of herself and her body, her eyes became glassy, the blonde didn't blink, whispered something unintelligible that no one could understand, looked at one point on the wall and completely ignored everything around her.

"Louis is dead," Bernadette replied in a cold voice, raising an annoyed look at Ethan, then exhaled heavily and turned away to the window, which was covered with thick curtains. Victoria and Thomas stared in shock at Damiano, who didn't raise his brown eyes to them and continued to study his fingers.

"Something happened there," David replied softly, his voice trembling. He was worried not so much about the murder itself and its mystical circumstances, like memories that were unlocked after a long time, "he started flying, then fell on the table."

"We need to get out," Ethan clapped his hands, his expression and tone didn't tolerate objections, so Dette grabbed Damiano by the forearm and dragged him to the exit, while Victoria dragged him behind with her girlfriend.

The front door was locked, but no one closed it, moreover, no one knew where the key was. The lights started flashing again.

"Guys," Victoria said anxiously, drawing attention to herself. Her short blonde hair began to rise to the floor, and her legs began to lift off the ground. David came forward, making eye contact with the girl and trying to protect her, "what's going on?"

"Don't panic," Damiano held out his palms, but this calmed him more than Vic.

"You're a bad psychologist," Thomas replied sarcastically, turning to the front door and kicking it out of anger. At the moment when the guy touched the tree with his foot, Victoria flew into the living room, crashing into the back of the sofa and turning it over.

"You're not going anywhere," a voice came out of nowhere.

Dette clutched her lover's forearm, pressing her chest against his back and closing her eyes. She was already beginning to think that this was all a nightmare from which she was about to wake up. But this is a real-life in which a person died under mysterious circumstances.

Abruptly, Malvina laughed hysterically, attracting attention and scaring her friends.

Ethan looked around at everyone present and followed Victoria, who clutched her head from a strong blow, she began to feel very sick instantly, and everything swam before her eyes. Thomas and Malvina followed the guy, followed by Damiano and Dette. Everyone helped Victoria to recover, because, within ten minutes, the girl lost consciousness several times, also quickly waking up.

"Something keeps us here," Malvina whispered, opening her eyes and looking at her friends with sick interest, after which she laughed sharply.

"She's gone crazy," Dette said, looking at the blonde with furrowed eyebrows.

"Like all of us," Thomas replied, without his usual sarcasm, he carefully held Victoria's head and looked at her with tenderness, which didn't go unnoticed by Esposito, who already didn't care about his relationship with Malvina.

"Be afraid of youngsters who put on the appearance of modest people," that unknown voice sounded again, only now a dark haze appeared before the eyes of friends, among which it was possible to distinguish the figure and facial features, "this is the Phantom of the Opera," the woman explained her quote, "do you recognize me, Damiano?"

Yes, he recognized the woman with whom he almost slept, mistaking her for his beloved. He saw Dette's frowning look, the guy didn't take his eyes off the old woman in front of them.

"Who are you?" Ethan asked, trying to breathe as quietly as possible as if it would save his life.

"My name is Carlotta," the woman replied playfully, taking a few elegant steps to the side and not stopping to look at the guys, "I've been waiting for you for too long," she whispered ominously, quickly stepping towards Ethan, but just as quickly she turned into black smoke, passing through the guy who held his breath in fear.

"There used to be a theater on the site of this house," the woman began, already standing on the stairs and pointing with a bony hand to the place where the wallpaper had peeled off, " the Bolshoi theater. Guests and spectators from different countries came here, many owners survived this theater, as well as actors, singers, workers, but no one stayed for long. Except for one group."

Carlotta took a deep breath, falling back on her back, but again turned into smoke, being next to Dette and looking into her glass eyes.

"I saw something I shouldn't have seen." The woman said sharply, taking a few steps back, "I was just a little singer who was sometimes put on as a substitute. I have always dreamed of a great career, I looked at famous singers in the theater, at their gifts, their attention, I wanted the same. Until I noticed that this same singer was sleeping with the director, and her sister, who also happened to be in this place, was selling drugs to other theater workers."Carlotta's gaze became stern, it seemed that at any moment she could snap and kill one of them.

"I only wanted justice, I wanted to tell the truth, but they didn't understand me. They thought I was crazy, the press refused to listen, and I couldn't go to the administration."

Everyone listened to the woman carefully. No one thought to put in a word, not even Thomas.

"But I didn't have time," she raised her gaze as if she was playing one of the roles on the stage, "they realized that I knew their sins, that I would not be silent. Therefore, they forced me to be silent forever."

The house was silent. The silence is pressing down from all sides, making the heartbeat at a breakneck speed.

"They killed you," Bernadette said softly, it wasn't a question, but Carlotta nodded, returning the smile to her face.

"What do you want from us?" Damiano asked.

"You are all dirty sinners, just like them," the woman said in an annoyed voice, "repent of your sins."