The Harvest of Souls

CHAPTER 59

Scarlet acted on impulse and threw herself to the ground to catch the pistol that Fernand had dropped, who in turn launched himself at the girl, trying to catch the gun as well.

"Scarlet! Wait," he said, trying to hold the girl's hands.

Scarlet gave a strong elbow to Fernand's nose, and he fell disoriented to the side. Blood began to flow quickly and drip onto the floor. Scarlet managed to grab the revolver and crawled away from Fernand. She got up and pointed the gun at the man who was staggering to his feet, leaning against the wall in the hallway. Fernand held up a hand, asking the girl to stop.

"Please, Scarlet," he spoke breathlessly.

"How did you get here? You were in prison!"

"No, my children rescued me."

"And what are you doing here?" Shouted the girl.

"I received the news that there were attacks here on the island. I decided to come straight away. I just arrived."

"How? Who sent you the news? How did you arrive here so fast?" Scarlet asked, shaking the gun in front of Fernand.

"You need to trust me. My kids have a Phoenyx model. I used it...," Fernand's expression drastically changed as he started screaming towards the girl. "Scarlet!"

Scarlet looked at Fernand's bloody open hands coming towards her and could only do one thing at that moment: seeing Fernand jump towards her with his arms outstretched, she pulled the trigger. Fernand collapsed on top of her, blood splashing over her shiny dress as he put a hand to his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding. The pistol's recoil caught Scarlet by surprise and threw her backward, causing the girl to jerk away from Fernand. Even more, frightened by the pop and recoil of the weapon, Scarlet looked open-mouthed Fernand falling to the ground. He raised his head to the girl and could only speak:

"Behind you."

Scarlet looked back to see someone fully dressed in black approaching her quickly. She screamed and pulled the trigger once more, this time holding the pistol tighter, ready for the kick, the shot went through the killer, but it seemed to have no effect. Scarlet again fired a second and third time at the killer, who remained standing, unfazed.

The girl jumped up and ran down the hall, entering the second door on her left that gave access to the local stairs of the East Wing of the Asturian Manor. Scarlet was running towards the staircase that led to the third floor, but the killer chasing her, noting Scarlet's decision, gave a long wave with their left hand, sending a flaming sphere towards the staircase, which was set on fire immediately.

Scarlet considered her options; it was impossible to return to the hallway: the killer was between the room's door and the corridor, and going down was not an option anymore. The entire wooden staircase was starting to catch fire, Scarlet then turned and began to climb the steps quickly towards the fifth floor, and as soon as she reached it, she ran towards the door. Still, the killer who came right behind her, with another wave caused the door to be covered in flames.

Scarlet screamed as flames burst through the door so close to her. She quickly turned away and faced the killer, their face being transfigured and taking on several different shapes. She also noted that the stairs that descended back to the fourth floor were also already covered in flames. There was only a narrow staircase that led to the terrace of the Manor. Scarlet then cast a spell against her stalker, which defended themselves, still staggering to the side.

Scarlet took one of the sculptures that decorated the room and threw it at the killer, which fell to the ground, she saw blood splattering, but she didn't know where it came from. She knew it was from the killer's head, but as the figures constantly changed, she didn't even bother to understand what had happened, just passing by the killer and running towards the stairs that led to the terrace.