Richard's final words—"Make sure he suffers while you kill him!"—were less an order and more a stone-cold threat. Evan looked into Richard's face with a mixture of shock and a hidden flicker of excitement.
Richard's sheer cold-bloodedness was something he hadn't expected.
Evan let out a mocking breath:
— "I thought you would be just like your grandfather, but even he never said anything so reckless to my face. Little master... do you know what people do in their final moments?"
A look of disgust crossed Richard's face, as if he were looking at an insect. He tilted his head slightly and scanned Evan with a derisive smile:
— "I assume I have an idea, Evan. Otherwise, you wouldn't be sitting across from me in this car so comfortably, would you?"
Richard's voice was as sharp as a blade:
— "However, the difference between us is this; my final moments are a long way off. As for yours... you have less time left than a stray dog on the street."
Richard emphasized every word at the end of the sentence. The spark in Evan's eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a poisonous and dangerous calm. He gripped the file in his hand until his knuckles turned white.
— "You underestimate the danger, Richard. That is your family's genetic flaw. Your grandfather was the same. He thought I was weak because I bowed to him. In truth, I was merely patient. And now, you are standing on that thin line where my patience ends."
Without paying the slightest mind to Evan's threatening gaze, Richard reached for the door handle. With an elegant movement, he stepped out of the car and slammed the door with a shrug. The dull thud echoed through the harbor like a period ending a conversation.
Evan was left utterly alone inside the car. Richard's indifference had moved him beyond anger, sparking a strange sense of excitement. As he watched Richard's receding silhouette in the rearview mirror, he muttered to himself:
— "They are terrifyingly alike..."
Evan's eyes, glowing in the darkness, possessed a kind of beauty that a killer should never have; as inviting as a blue sky on a spring morning, and just as deceptive.
I made a move to follow Richard, but my eyes remained glued to the file Evan held tightly. I wanted to scream with every fiber of my soul:
"It's not real! It's all a stupid dream!"
"I want to run away! I don't care where, I just want to vanish into this darkness!"
How could Richard go this far? Why did he want someone killed? Where had I gone wrong? These questions were clawing at my throat, cutting off my breath. I felt my mind beginning to collapse, these thoughts tearing me apart from the within. Still, with all my strength, I started running after Richard.
The harbor around me turned into a massive void, accompanied by the deafening roar of the waves. The warehouse, the containers, and the ships were slowly being pulled into a pitch-black darkness. When I saw Richard vanish into that gloom like a shadow, the strength left my legs and I collapsed to my knees.
The voice of the woman from the stairs began to echo in my mind again:
"Don't distance yourself from people! Don't stay alone... or your end will be just like mine! Escape the darkness!"
"Don't distance yourself..." I stammered. "Even if I want to vanish in the dark, there are still questions I need answers to!"
Suddenly, I heard the sound of an engine. When I turned my head, I saw Evan's car was about to move. I had to reach him. Whatever secret lay within that file, it was inside that car. As the darkness enveloped everything, I managed to throw myself into the car with one final effort.
Evan's blue eyes focused on the rearview mirror for a moment, as if he felt my presence—that invisible weight. Finally, the darkness swallowed the car completely. I shut my eyes tight and screamed with all my might:
"NO!"
As my scream drowned out the roar, that dense and suffocating darkness slowly imprisoned me, pulling me in like a womb.