He stood about 100 meters away, watching from a distance and talking to himself. He had never truly understood her, but today he was certain ; she did not love him, She had thrown him out just because he had gone to town? He saw her standing by the door for a while, as if she were waiting for someone, Not far away, he saw a man approaching the house, He couldn't make out who he was because of the darkness, but it was clear that he was now entering what used to be his home, He laughed hysterically, Did this mean that she was truly a whore? She had thrown out her only son just to bring a man into the house to indulge in her depravity.
He couldn't control himself and immediately headed back to confront her about her filthy disgrace, He entered the house through the door but was surprised by the faint smell of gasoline, barely noticeable, as if it had been mixed with perfume to hide it, He easily recognized the scent of the perfume; it belonged to his mother, She never used it; she always said it was only for special occasions, And what an occasion this was.
He climbed up to his room, ready to catch them in the act, only to be shocked by the sight of that man plunging a knife into his mother's stomach, shouting, "Tell me where the boy is, and I'll make your suffering quick, believe me."
He stared at his mother in disbelief and screamed at the top of his lungs, "Mom!"
She looked at him in horror, "I told you to leave! Why did you come back? Run away, now!"
He rushed to her side, but before he could do anything, the man grabbed him by the neck, smiling, "Oh, Mommy's little boy has arrived."
"If you only knew how long we've been searching for you, pretty boy, I wouldn't have found you if it weren't for your dear friend, Carlos."
His eyes widened in shock, He couldn't find the words, He swallowed hard in the suffocating atmosphere, "Let me go, you bastard, Let me go," But it was useless - he was stronger than him.
His mother was struggling to breathe, and he was crying, desperate to make sure she was okay, "Mom... Mom!"
That scoundrel was dragging him out of the house, He didn't realize it at first, but... is he even human? I didn't think so. These weren't nails digging into my neck, but claws, He kept dragging him violently until his mother suddenly hit him on the head.
He rushed to embrace her, "Mom... I'm really sorry, I'm so sorry," he sobbed uncontrollably.
Moments later, she pushed him away, and a serious look appeared on her face, "Leo, look at me, This man will wake up in a few seconds, and in my condition, I'm doomed to die. You need to run now, immediately."
- "What do you mean, die? Let's escape together."
- "The knife is poisoned," she said without a flicker of emotion, She seemed accustomed to fighting this way.
- "What?" He looked at his mother's veins, which were starting to fill with a strange black liquid.
- "Mom, your hand... it's..." She placed her perfume bottle in my hand and said:
- "Leo, my love, please run now, and don't look back. Promise me that."
- "I can't promise something like that, I can't leave you."
- "No, you will promise me, In your bag, there's a message and a book and everything you need."
- "Find the man mentioned in the information I gave you and tell him you're from Rita Lomire."
- "Now go, please," She kissed his forehead and pushed him out of the house with a smile, more beautiful than any other, after slipping her favorite perfume into his pocket.
- "Ughhh..." The man grabbed his head in pain while he was tied to a chair, and Mary stared at him, sitting on the ground.
- "Release me, you wretched woman," Mary looked at him with disgust, then turned to see that the blackness was spreading through her body.
- "Release you? Hmm... No one is leaving this room alive."
Fear spread across his face like wildfire as he watched her produce a single matchstick.
"What madness possesses you? We shall both perish in these flames!"
Rita erupted in hysterical laughter, "Perish? I am already a walking cadaver, Can you not perceive the state I am in?"
"I possess the antidote! Spare me, and it is yours."
A look of feigned surprise crossed her face, quickly replaced by a sinister grin, "Truly? Then I believe my answer is... 'No,'" With that, she flicked the match into the air, igniting the house in an instant, Seizing a nearby knife, she screamed, "Live on, my precious child, while you... burn in the eternal fires of hell!" Then, with a swift and practiced motion, she plunged the blade into her own neck, escaping the torturous embrace of the flames.
He fled as his mother had instructed, but could not resist a backward glance, The sight that met his eyes was one of unimaginable horror; his home, engulfed in an inferno, reaching toward the heavens like a beacon of despair, A primal scream welled up within him, but he choked it back, continuing his desperate flight, tears streaming down his face.
He sought refuge in the nearby forest, beneath the shade of his mother's favorite tree, Dawn broke, but he had not closed his eyes for a moment. Upon his return home, he found the villagers gathered around the charred remains of his abode, Their words were like daggers, each one piercing his heart: "She deserved such an end, that vile wretch," they sneered, Pushing his way through the hostile crowd, he beheld the remnants of his mother, her body burned beyond recognition save for the silver ring that had adorned her finger, Glaring at them with eyes filled with unfathomable rage, he gathered her remains, tears flowing freely down his cheeks.
"Begone, you wretched scum!" he roared.
"Let us depart before we are tainted by her wickedness," one of the onlookers sneered. "Her bloodline ends here."
He lacked the strength to respond, instead producing a white cloth and wrapping it around her charred remains, Her once-radiant skin had turned to ash, her silver hair reduced to dust, He dug a shallow grave in the forest, determined to prevent those vile creatures from desecrating her memory, Beneath the tree where she had often sat, he laid his beloved mother to rest, No headstone was needed; the tree itself would serve as her eternal marker, With trembling hands, he carved her name into its trunk: "Here lies my beloved mother, a woman unmatched in this world, Rita Lomire the Pure." He embraced the tree tightly, weeping as if his heart would break.
Leo finally opened his eyes to the sound of Tyler's voice waking him up.
"Hey, sleepyhead, You were tossing and turning a lot, Are you okay?"
Leo looked at him tiredly and pushed his hand off his shoulder, "Yeah, I'm fine, Just a bad dream."
"Well, get dressed then, It's the day of the ceremony."