Chapter 31: Visiting The Millers

***~PARIS~***

***Her eyes locked onto mine, scouring my face for a glimmer of recognition. But I remained a mystery, a puzzle she couldn't quite solve. Just as she parted her lips to ask the question burning on her tongue, I swiftly silenced her with a strip of duct tape. "Save your strength, love," I whispered, my voice low and husky.***

***"You'll need it." With a flick of my wrist, the restraints binding her wrists sprang free, sending her tumbling to the ground in a heap of tangled limbs.***

***With a swift, deliberate motion, I claimed the bottle of vervain from the table, its contents glowing with an otherworldly essence. Then, my fingers closed around Lisa's hair like a vice, holding her in place as I whispered the ancient words: "Suscipe me ad destinationem." The air around us began to ripple and distort, like the surface of a pond struck by a stone.*** 

***In an instant, the world dissolved into a swirling vortex of color and light, and we vanished, leaving behind only the faintest whisper of our presence. When the chaos subsided, we reappeared, standing eerily still in the heart of Lisa's home – directly in front of her stunned, unsuspecting parents.***

***With a whispered incantation, I unleashed a deadly curse, feeling the satisfying crunch of Mr. Miller's neck twisting beyond its mortal limits. His lifeless body crumpled to the floor, a mere puppet with its strings severed.***

***I turned my attention to Lisa, the vervain's glowing liquid burning with an inner fire as I poured it onto her terrified face. Her screams were music to my ears as her skin blistered and charred, the acidic potion devouring her beauty like a ravenous beast.***

***Sam's eyes were frozen in a silent shriek, her body paralyzed with fear as she watched her daughter's agonized contortions, powerless to intervene.***

***With a flick of my wrist, I threw the empty vervain bottles at Sam, causing it to shattered against the wall beside Sam, the fragments glinting like tiny, evil stars. I grasped Lisa's hair once more, her terrified gaze locked on her mother as I turned my attention back to Sam. "I've been dying to see you in person, finally we meet," I said, my voice dripping with malice. "Regrettably, my visit must be brief. I merely dropped by to deliver a message for now: you have a mere five hours to find your precious daughter. Fail, and the next time you lay eyes on her, she'll be nothing more than a lifeless, lovely corpse."***

***With a whispered incantation, the familiar tug of the spell enveloped us, transporting Lisa and me back to the forsaken building. My fingers closed around her ravaged face, the scars still smoldering like embers, even as her skin began its slow, agonized healing.***

***A wicked grin twisted my lips as I leaned in, my breath dancing across her mangled skin. "You were right, Lisa... someone will indeed come for you. But it won't be the happy reunion you dreamed of – not with both your parents rushing to your side. No... it's a shame you won't live to see who's actually coming for you... and what I have in store for them."***

***With a callous shove, I sent Lisa stumbling to the side, her battered form crumpling against the wall. My attention shifted to Stage, my voice taking on a tone of anticipation. "Now, we merely await the inevitable. The moment Sam shatters the illusion spell, I'll be free to kill her. The wait is almost over... and soon, her fate will be sealed, just like my sister's."***

***Vengeance burned within me like a wildfire, fueled by the atrocities the Millers had inflicted upon my sister. Every fiber of my being screamed for revenge, and I had no plans of letting a single member of that family escape the wrath that was coming for them.***

***—————————————————————***

***BACK AT THE MILLER'S RESIDENCE***

***With a swift, deliberate motion, Sam scooped up the empty broken bottle Paris had hurled at her, the shattered remnants of their confrontation still echoing in the air. She strode into the dining room, the broken bottle cradled in her hand like a evil trophy, and set it down on the table with a soft clink.***

***The gesture was a silent defiance, a refusal to be intimidated. Then, with a quiet determination, she turned and disappeared into the kitchen, leaving the bottle to lay as a haunting reminder of the danger that lurked in every shadow.***

***With a subtle smile, Sam slid open the left drawer, its polished surface glinting in the soft light. But this was no ordinary drawer – it was a cleverly crafted deception, hiding a secret that only a select few knew.***

***With a deft motion, Sam upended the drawer, its silver contents spilling out in a glittering downpour. As the last of the utensils fell away, a hidden compartment was revealed, its existence a testament to the ingenuity of the drawer's design. Within its depths, secrets and surprises lay waiting, hidden from prying eyes.***

***With a deliberate slowness, Sam withdrew the curiously crafted candles from the hidden compartment, their twisted forms seeming to writhe in the dim light. Alongside them, she retrieved a delicate vial filled with a grey, powdery ash, its contents whispering secrets of the past.***

***Cradling these mysterious objects, Sam glided back into the dining room, her eyes locked on the framed map of Golden Lake that adorned the wall. With a swift, calculated motion, she dismantled the frame, the glass shattering with a delicate tinkle.***

***As the shards fell away, Sam carefully extracted the map, its yellowed parchment crackling with age. The map's secrets, once hidden behind a mask of innocence, now lay exposed, waiting to reveal their mysteries to Sam's discerning eyes.***

***With reverent hands, Sam arranged the candles in a sacred circle, their twisted forms seeming to writhe in anticipation. As she lit the wicks, a warm, golden glow enveloped the space, casting eerie shadows on the walls. Next, she carefully poured the ash into a intricate pentagram, its five points seeming to pulse with a evil energy.***

***With the bottle cradled in her hands, Sam's voice began to weave a hypnotic spell, the words dripping with an otherworldly power. "Haec manus ut tetigerit videam vitam carmine coniunctam," she chanted, her tone low and mesmerizing, as if summoning forth secrets from the very depths of the underworld. The air seemed to vibrate with anticipation, as if the very fabric of reality was about to be torn apart.***

***As the final syllable of the spell faded away, Sam's eyes snapped open, releasing a torrent of tears that flood down her cheeks like a dark, glistening waterfall. Her body shuddered, wracked by uncontrollable sobs, as if the very fabric of her soul was being torn apart.***

***And then, like a specter rising from the depths of the underworld, Raymond stirred, his lifeless form slowly reviving as he rose from the floor where Paris's brutal hands had left him broken. His eyes, once vacant and still, now burned with a haunted intensity as he lurched forward, his footsteps echoing through the room like a death knell, until he stood before Sam, his presence a grim reminder of the horrors that had transpired.***

***Raymond's voice was a frantic whisper, his words tumbling out in a desperate downpour as he grasped Sam's trembling shoulders. "What happened? What's wrong?" His eyes, wild with worry, scoured Sam's tear-stained face, searching for answers. "Lisa... is she...?" The question hung in the air, unfinished, as if the mere thought of something befalling his daughter was too terrible to utter aloud.***

***With a newfound sense of determination, Sam wrenched herself out of the chair, her movements infused with a fresh sense of purpose. Raymond's eyes narrowed, his gaze piercing as he studied her expression.***

***He knew that look – the spark of resolve, the glint of calculation – it was the same fiery intensity that had always driven Sam to conjure innovative solutions to even the most intractable problems. In that instant, Raymond sensed that the wheels were turning in Sam's mind, that she had grasped the threads of a plan, and was already beginning to weave them into a strategy.***

***With a deliberate slowness, Sam unfurled the map across the table, its yellowed parchment seeming to glow with an otherworldly light. Her hand closed around the hilt of a slender blade, its edge glinting with a deadly sheen as she drew it from the drawer.***

***With a swift, economical motion, she sliced open her palm, her blood welling up in a blood tide. As the droplets fell, staining the map with a macabre constellation, Sam's voice began to weave a dark incantation. "Super mortuum meum locat puerum meum," she whispered, her words dripping with a fierce, maternal power. The air seemed to thicken, heavy with the scent of blood and magic, as the map began to glow with an eerie, pulsing light.***

***Sam's voice was barely audible, a whispered confidence that seemed to tremble with the weight of her words. As she turned to face Raymond, her eyes locked onto his, shining with a soft, otherworldly light. "I know the life that was used to bind the illusion magic," she breathed, the air seeming to vibrate with anticipation.***

***Raymond's face, etched with worry and fear, now transformed, his eyes igniting with a radiant hope, his features softening into a warm, beatific smile. "Whose life is it?" he asked, his voice trembling with emotion, as if he dared not hope, yet couldn't help but be drawn in by the promise of Sam's words.***

***Sam's words dropped like a hammer blow, shattering the fragile hope that had begun to bloom on Raymond's face. "It's mine," she whispered, her voice a barely audible confession. "She used mine." The phrase hung in the air like a dark, malignant cloud, suffocating the joy that had momentarily flickered to life.***

***Raymond's eyes widened in horror, his face crumbling beneath the weight of regret, as if the very foundations of his world had been irrevocably shattered. The air seemed to vibrate with the anguish that radiated from him, a palpable, almost unbearable sense of sorrow and remorse.***