The air in Custodio’s manor felt wrong.

  Heavy. Dense. Like every breath took longer to reach my lungs.

  I could also smell onions.

  Why onions? I didn’t know. I hadn’t seen any in the house. Maybe my mind was making it up. Maybe my nerves were pying tricks on me. Either way, I was uneasy.

  Custodio, Mortimer, Sebastian, and Caruncle sat in the study, slouched into oversized, plush chairs. No one spoke.

  The only sound was the slow, rhythmic tick… tock… tick… tock of the grandfather clock.

  Elena was dressed meticulously today. Too pretty, almost. It was easy to forget that Caruncle was the one inside, not her.

  The dress had been meticulously designed by the maids, who had written an entire description for me so I wouldn’t “forget” its details. Like I could.

  She wore a gown of deep red velvet, the fabric heavy and rich. The fitted bodice, adorned with ce at the high neckline, hugged her form. The slightly fred sleeves and pleated skirt gave the illusion of fluid movement, even when she was perfectly still. The hem stopped just above her polished boots.

  Caruncle wore the body well. So well, in fact, that I had decided I’d refer to her as a girl while she had it on.

  She earned it.

  Custodio finally broke the silence.

  “So. What’s the pn?” He exhaled a cloud of smoke. “Let him in and kill him straight away?”

  Caruncle nodded.

  “With… an axe?”

  Another nod.

  Custodio stared at her, taking another slow drag from his cigar. “Right. And why not a gun?”

  She shook her head.

  Custodio gnced at Mortimer, who simply shrugged.

  “So your pn is to butcher him in the entry hall. Have you considered the mess that’ll make? How long it’ll take to clean?”

  Caruncle raised a hand.

  First, she tapped her chest with two fingers. “I.”

  Then, she extended her hand forward, palm ft, cutting through the air with quiet resolve. “Will.”

  She mimicked scrubbing, fingers curling and twisting as though gripping an invisible cloth. “Clean.”

  Finally, she paused, lifting an eyebrow before raising an index finger. “If.” A slight outward motion, palms up, as though weighing a decision. “Necessary.”

  Sebastian sighed, transting. “She says she’ll clean it up herself if needed.”

  Custodio and Mortimer exchanged a look.

  “I firmly believe we should send him to the basement first,” Mortimer offered. “Less mess to deal with.”

  Caruncle wrote in her notebook:

  "Do you have a pn to convince him to go to the basement?"

  Custodio ignored the question. “Lopez won’t come alone.”

  "You said he trusts you."

  “He does. But he’s not stupid.” Custodio tapped his cigar against the ashtray. “He’ll suspect something immediately. Hell, he probably already does.”

  Sebastian leaned forward. “Mr. Esparza, might I see a copy of the letter you sent him?”

  Custodio reached into his coat and handed him an envelope.

  Sebastian unfolded it, reading aloud:

  "Mr. Lopez,They are coming for you.Meet me at my residence for more details."

  Sebastian gave him a ft look. “Not exactly subtle, is it?”

  Custodio smirked. “Lopez is a man of brevity.”

  Sebastian handed the letter back. “Right.”

  Silence settled over the room again.

  I sat there, feeling restless.

  I wanted to fart, just to break the tension, but I didn’t feel one coming.

  Yes, ghosts can fart.

  No, I don’t eat anything—it’s just a habit.

  Sebastian finally broke the silence.

  “I don’t think you should do this, Elena.”

  Caruncle looked up.

  “I’ve been thinking about it a lot,” he continued, rubbing his temples. “And I just—I can’t keep up with this. This is more than I thought I could chew. I’m done. With all due respect, this is insane.”

  Custodio flicked his cigar. “Not the best time to grow a conscience, kid.”

  Sebastian ignored him. He turned to Custodio, his voice wavering. “Mr. Esparza… how can you allow this? I know you have your reasons, but you’ve known Lopez for years. And you’re just going to—what? Let your own daughter murder him?”

  Custodio smiled around his cigar. “You don’t know Lopez at all, do you?”

  “No, I don’t.” Sebastian folded his arms. “And I still don’t see how that corretes.”

  “Lopez is vermin.”

  Sebastian’s face paled. “But—murder?”

  “Yeah, well,” Custodio shrugged. “He’s had it coming for a long time.”

  Sebastian stared at him in disbelief. “I just don’t understand how—”

  “Sebastian,” Custodio interrupted, exhaling another slow cloud of smoke. “You’re smarter than you look. Think it over a little, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.”

  “…Excuse me?”

  Caruncle stood abruptly.

  “What?” Sebastian frowned. “Where are you going?”

  Caruncle made a tight fist, thumb tucked between her index and middle fingers. She held it to her torso and shook it slightly.

  Sebastian sighed. “She says she’s going to the bathroom.”

  Caruncle left the room.

  Sebastian pinched the bridge of his nose. “Whatever. Just don’t take too long. We need to talk about this seriously.”

  Yeah.

  Caruncle wasn’t going to the bathroom.

  ***

  The caleche was already arriving.

  I heard the wheels crunch over gravel, the distant creak of leather as it slowed to a halt.

  Lopez was here.

  It had been so easy.

  Too easy.

  I peeked through the window as he stepped down. He wore all bck—a standard suit like the one Mortimer always wore, but shinier. Something about the silk sheen made my stomach churn. He looked repugnant.

  Another second looking at him and I would have puked. Really.

  Caruncle lifted the axe from where it rested in the hallway, her fingers tightening around the rough wooden handle. She walked down the corridor, past the dimly lit sitting room near the manor’s entrance. The door was open.

  Her pulse hammered against her ribs.

  The axe was heavier than expected.

  Each shallow breath felt too loud.

  Lopez stepped inside.

  Caruncle swung.

  The axe connected before she even registered moving.

  A sickening crack. Then a dull, wet thud.

  The body hit the floor.

  The pale daylight seeped through the manor’s windows, turning the blood into something almost glistening. A surreal, shimmering pool of red.

  Caruncle stared.

  Detached. Distant. She tried to shake the axe loose from Lopez’s skull, but the weight of it resisted. A sharp tug. Then another. The sickening squelch of flesh peeling from metal. Finally, it came free.

  She swung again.

  This time, his back.

  Then again.

  And again.

  And again.

  She lost count.

  Blood spttered across her dress, her hands, her face—soaking into the red velvet until she couldn't tell where the fabric ended and the gore began.

  I didn’t know what I felt.

  I barely saw anymore.

  The day was a dim, flickering haze, like the dying glow of a fluorescent bulb. From where I stood, I could see the very edge of time itself.

  For him, time ended here.

  His consciousness folded in on itself, like stepping into a darkened room after walking an endless hallway. But the room was not a room.

  It was a vacuum.

  A silent, airtight container that sealed the corridor inside.

  I looked at Caruncle.

  Her eyes were still locked on the body.

  In her mind, a phrase looped over and over.

  "It’s over. It’s over. It’s over. It’s over. It’s over."

  She had rewritten the ws of the universe.

  For a brief, blinding moment, the sensation was ecstatic.

  "Freedom comes from reaching the end."

  She tried to mouth the words, but her lips trembled uselessly.

  “What in the actual fuck, Caruncle?” I whispered.

  The axe slipped from her hands.

  The weight of it hit the bloodied floor with a dull ctter. She stared at her fingers—coated in red.

  Footsteps. Rushing toward her.

  Caruncle barely turned before she saw Sebastian’s face.

  His horrified face.

  “Move away!”

  Her head jerked up.

  A second man.

  A gun.

  The buff bodyguard raised his revolver.

  Sebastian lunged.

  The two men collided.

  Sebastian smmed his full weight into the guard’s midsection, knocking them both backward. The gun cttered to the floor, skidding across the blood-slick tiles.

  They hit the ground hard.

  Sebastian had momentum on his side, but the other man was bigger. Stronger. Their bodies crashed into furniture, knocking over a side table. The revolver y only a few feet away.

  Caruncle was frozen.

  Her hands twitched at her sides, but she couldn’t move.

  Sebastian couldn’t hold him for long. The man twisted, grappling him by the colr and throwing him off bance. Their struggle turned messy—wild, animalistic.

  Sebastian’s voice cut through the chaos.

  “Elena! Do something!”

  She didn’t move.

  She couldn’t.

  “For fuck’s sake! Help me!”

  The axe came down hard.

  The bde sank into flesh.

  A shriek—sharp, wet, agonized.

  Caruncle had buried the axe directly in the guard’s groin.

  “AAGGHH!” The man’s body convulsed violently, his voice cracking in raw, high-pitched agony. He squirmed on the floor, clutching himself, his face twisting in pain.

  I have to admit. It was kind of funny.

  But before I could really appreciate the moment, Sebastian lunged.

  His hands closed around the guard’s throat.

  Tightened.

  The guard thrashed, cwing at Sebastian’s arms, at his own neck, at anything he could reach. His movements turned frantic, then sloppy. His fingers dug at Sebastian’s sleeves, then slipped off. His grip weakened.

  Sebastian’s didn’t.

  Tears leaked from the guard’s bulging eyes. His face darkened. His kicks slowed. His twitching hands stilled.

  And then—nothing.

  Sebastian colpsed onto his side, panting. The room fell into silence.

  Minutes passed.

  And then—

  A slow, measured set of footsteps.

  Custodio and Mortimer entered the room.

  Their steps were unhurried.

  Almost bored.

  Mortimer gnced around, taking in the scene with mild curiosity.

  “Are you sure it was okay to let them handle this alone, sir?”

  “Think about it,” Custodio murmured. “If you and I died, who would have performed the spell to bring them back? The best outcome would be with—”

  His gaze finally nded on what was left of Lopez.

  And he froze.

  “...What on earth?”

  Custodio took a long drag from his cigar.

  Then sighed.

  Then facepalmed.

  “What in the actual hell is wrong with you, woman?” he groaned, rubbing his temples. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

  Caruncle didn’t move.

  Custodio gestured vaguely at the pile of carnage. “We could’ve used his body to study the spell, but now? Now he’s just a pile of fucking meat. Do you understand what a waste this is?”

  He shook his head, muttering. “You were right, Mortimer. I’m getting too slow. This could’ve gone a lot worse.”

  Finally, he looked back at Caruncle.

  She was still frozen.

  Expressionless.

  Eyes vacant.

  “You’ve got serious issues, young dy. We’re going to need to talk about this.”

  Silence.

  Custodio gestured vaguely toward the mess. “I hope you’re pnning to start cleaning soon. We can’t leave this out in the open.”

  Caruncle didn’t react.

  She didn’t even blink.

  Custodio sighed.

  “Great. Look at her. She’s probably going to stay like this all day.” He turned to Mortimer. “I told you this little ‘test’ of hers was a bad idea.”

  “I understand, sir,” Mortimer nodded solemnly. “I had hoped you two would connect, but I was clearly misguided.”

  “Yes, you were.”

  Sebastian, meanwhile, had been sitting in complete shock.

  He suddenly snapped.

  “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!”

  Custodio and Mortimer turned to him like they had forgotten he was even there.

  “Oh,” Custodio muttered. “Right. This guy’s still here.”

  “Indeed.”

  Sebastian staggered to his feet. His eyes were wide, bloodshot, and twitching. He looked like a man who had just been dragged through hell itself.

  “Two people have just been brutally murdered!” he shrieked. “And you’re talking about DOGSHIT?!”

  He spun in a circle, gesturing wildly at the carnage around him.

  “WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT IS GOING ON?! DO YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO CONSCIENCE?! LOOK AT THIS! LOOK AT ALL OF THIS!!”

  He gagged.

  Stared at his hands—still covered in blood.

  Shuddered.

  Turned slowly toward Caruncle.

  She was still standing there.

  Frozen.

  Statue-still.

  “…Look at this.” His voice dropped to a whisper.

  He took a slow, shaky step toward her.

  "You made me kill a man.” His breath was shallow, ragged. His voice cracked.

  “You made me kill a man.”

  He lifted his trembling hands—red with blood.

  Extended them toward her.

  Caruncle didn’t even blink.

  Sebastian’s breath hitched.

  “Aren’t you going to say anything?!”

  …

  Nothing.

  Still nothing.

  Caruncle remained as still as a corpse.

  Sebastian ughed.

  A broken, miserable ugh.

  “I told you,” he whispered. “Don’t do this. There were better ways. There were better ways.”

  He turned toward Lopez’s mangled body.

  That was a mistake.

  The moment his eyes nded on it—

  He vomited.

  Dropped to his knees, retching into his own p.

  “I never wanted this,” he gasped between heaves. “I never wanted any of this…”

  Mortimer tilted his head. “Should we mention that the guard might still be revivable?”

  Custodio checked his pocket watch.

  “Unlikely. Brain’s probably already spoiled.”

  “How long does that take again?”

  “Without putting it in a freezer? Fifteen minutes." He gnced at the body. “Time’s up. His memories are gone.”

  Mortimer frowned. “Wouldn’t it still be worth trying to revive him? Even without memories?”

  Custodio arched a brow.

  “Do you want to take care of a 1.8-meter man and change his diapers?”

  Mortimer bnched. “Uh. No, sir.”

  “That’s what I thought.”

  “Well…” Mortimer hesitated. “I… No. Okay. It’s a shame then.”

  “Besides,” Custodio added, flicking ash from his cigar, “that man would’ve been more trouble than he was worth.”

  “You think so, sir?”

  “I know so. Now—enough chit-chat. Start cleaning. I’ll take Elena to her room.”

  Mortimer sighed. “And what should we do about Mr. Lysias?”

  Custodio gnced at Sebastian.

  He had been staring at Caruncle.

  For a long time.

  Neither of them had moved.

  It was creepy.

  Custodio exhaled.

  “Right. First thing’s first—Sebastian.”

  Sebastian slowly turned his head.

  His bloodshot, veiny eyes locked onto Custodio.

  “…What.”

  “You’re not leaving this house until you bathe. And put on clean clothes.”

  Sebastian stared for a moment.

  Then tilted his head.

  Then let his head drop.

  Like he had started to nod, but gave up halfway through.

  His arms hung limply at his sides, as if he had lost control of them completely.

  “Now, come here, young dy,” Custodio murmured to Caruncle, gently prying the axe from her fingers. “Let’s not hurt anyone else, alright?”

  He lifted her into his arms.

  She didn’t resist.

  As he carried her upstairs, her mouth remained slightly open.

  Custodio sighed.

  “My poor girl… You should’ve known.

  The first time is never easy.”