Stephan couldn't believe what he was seeing. A maggot slowly crawled out of his nose, wobbling down his face. The sensation of it moving on his skin disgusted him so much that he quickly slapped it away.
Cautiously, he squatted to study the strange creature. It was incredibly repulsive, with bizarre holes dotting its body. Stephan also noticed strange markings along its skin, but he couldn't read them.
"Mom!" he called out in fear, his heart racing.
He moved to the bathroom door with his eyes fixated on the red maggot. The creature was moving toward him very quickly, and for some reason, Stephan just knew he mustn't let it reach him.
"Mom!" He gripped the doorknob fiercely and tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge, even though it wasn't locked. "What the f*ck!"
Meanwhile, Stephan's mother, Betty, lay on the couch in the living room with her headphones on. With her eyes closed, she shook her head rhythmically to the song playing loudly in her ears. All of a sudden, the security guard dashed into the room with a terrified look on his face.
Betty, who was in her nightgown, jumped off the couch in fear. Only after realizing it was Lockhart did she calm down. She put away her headphones and walked toward him.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Well... Umm..." Lockhart quickly turned away from Betty. The nightgown she wore exposed parts of her body.
"You can't wait any longer? Did you miss me that much?" Betty said seductively.
"Ma'am—"
"Ma'am? How many times have I told you not to call me 'ma'am'? You can call me baby, or sweetheart, or darling," Betty replied as she moved her hands all over Lockhart.
"Betty, this is important—"
"What could be more important than the two of us?" she chuckled.
"Stephan!" Lockhart answered.
At the mention of Stephan, Betty's face turned serious. "What is wrong with Stephan?"
"I don't know! But he seems scared! I was checking one of the security cameras, and it looked like he was trapped in the bathroom, calling for help!" Lockhart replied.
"What?" Betty asked in fear.
Without wasting more time, the duo headed for the bathroom, and it was just as Lockhart had said: the bathroom door wouldn't open.
"What's wrong with this?" Lockhart asked angrily, trying to yank the doorknob off, but it was no use. The door just wouldn't budge.
"Break it!" Betty suggested.
Lockhart, with his muscular build, rammed into the door several times before it finally gave way. When they finally got inside, they found Stephan lying on the floor with blood flowing from his eyes.
. . .
Francis's father, Ronald, frowned when he suddenly received a phone call from Betty. Although they were school buddies once, that didn't give her the right to call him whenever she wanted.
"What?" he answered angrily. "I already sent you a lot of money; don't tell me you want more?"
"That's not why I called..." she sobbed.
Hearing her saddened voice, Ronald realized something was wrong. "Did something happen?"
"I don't know; it's Stephan. He just sort of collapsed! The doctor says he doesn't know what caused it!" Betty cried from the other end.
"Have you told Steve?" Ronald asked.
"I'm trying to call him, but I can't seem to reach him!" Betty retorted.
"I'm on my way!" Ronald replied. "Everything will be alright; just hold on."
Ronald grabbed his suit and rushed out of the office. His employees were quite shocked when they saw him speeding through the corridors like lightning. He started his car engine and drove straight to the hospital.
He decided to call Stephan's father himself, and fortunately, Steve picked up immediately.
"Where are you?" Ronald asked, but got no response from the other end. "Hello? Steve? Are you there?"
Steve hesitated before replying, "What's the problem?"
"Your son—Stephan is in the hospital!"
Steve didn't sound too surprised even after hearing the news. He grimaced evilly, "You mean your son?"
Ronald was shocked. "W-what do you mean?"
"Stephan is not my son. He's your son," Steve replied. "I've known for some time now that you and my wife have been seeing each other."
Ronald parked his car by the side of the road with a sigh. Steve and he had been good friends for a long time. They'd known each other since they were eight, and even graduated from the same university. Steve had always been the rich one, while Ronald, born with a wooden spoon, was the smart one.
Steve, who struggled with math, had approached Ronald for assistance. Ronald was more than willing to teach Steve everything he knew and even did it for free. But Steve wouldn't have it that way, so he stole some money from his father's savings and gave it to Ronald. Since then, they'd been good friends.
"Steve, I can explain..." said Ronald weakly.
"There's nothing to explain. I never really liked Betty anyway. You can have her anytime you want," Steve replied with a sarcastic smile.
"What about Stephan? What if he's dying?"
Steve let out a chortle. "I don't really care. He's not my son!"
Steve hung up in anger before smashing his phone into pieces. He sat on a very luxurious couch, and behind him, were several musclemen holding iron bats.
There was also a man who had been beaten up so badly that one of his eyelids could no longer be lifted. The man spat out fresh blood occasionally as he glared at Steve.
"You will die if you don't tell me where the talisman is," Steve said to the man, but the man remained silent. "It seems my boys haven't beaten you enough."
Steve waved his hand, and a huge man stepped out from the shadows. The huge man gave the man another round of beatings, but still, the man refused to talk.
"Use the iron bats again!" Steve roared.
"Wait!" The man stopped them, exhausted by the torment. "I can tell you where it is, but promise me, you'll let me walk out of this building alive."
"I promise," Steve replied. "What is the purpose of this talisman? I see everybody wants it."
"Ever heard of the Doombringer?" the man asked. "This talisman can protect you from its curse..."