Gerard took a step back, staring at them.
"You two…" he growled.
"You have no idea what you've gotten yourselves into."
For a brief moment, they had managed to corner Gerard.
He retreated toward the far wall of the warehouse. His face was twisted with rage, black blood flowing from several wounds.
"You… pathetic…" he snarled.
And at that moment, the darkness behind him thickened. From it, she slowly and almost gently emerged.
"Maria…" he breathed.
Flash stopped sharply beside Ethan, not lowering his weapon.
"Ethan, no! That's not her!"
But Ethan had already stepped forward. His legs moved on their own. His heart pounded as if it wanted to burst from his chest. Memories flashed before his eyes, her laughter, her hands on his face.
Maria smiled softly, almost tenderly. She reached out her hand.
"Ethan…" she whispered his name the way only she could.
"You finally came. Look at me. Look at what we can become together."
She took another step closer. Her pregnant belly lightly touched his chest.
"This is our child," she continued quietly, almost lovingly.
"We can be a family. You, me, and him. Gerard will give us everything. Eternal life, power. We'll never be weak again. We'll raise him together… as ours."
She embraced him. Her arms were warm. The scent of her hair was the same. For a second, Ethan almost believed it and wanted to melt into that embrace.
"I love you," she whispered in his ear.
"Stay with me."
Ethan closed his eyes. A hot tear rolled down his cheek.
"Is that it? Are you so happy to see me?" she said with a smile.
With great difficulty, he raised the pistol. His hand trembled so violently that the barrel shook. Maria was still hugging him, pressing closer.
He pressed the barrel against her stomach and fired.
The first shot hit her in the abdomen. The wisteria hissed in the wound. Maria jerked, her eyes widening in shock and pain.
Ethan fired again. And again. And again. Four shots in a row, all to the head. Each bullet entered with a dull, wet sound. Black blood sprayed across his face and chest.
Maria staggered. Her arms were still around him, slowly sliding down. She looked into his eyes one last time.
"Why?" she whispered.
Then she collapsed to the floor.
Gerard screamed.
It was a real scream of agony, filled with pain, loss, and a fury that this cold, ancient being had not allowed himself to show for hundreds of years.
"NOOOOO!"
Gerard's voice tore through the air. He vanished from his corner and instantly appeared behind Ethan. No one had time to react.
The blow was monstrous.
Gerard slammed into Ethan from behind with such force that he didn't even feel the pain at first. The hand went straight through him. Ethan's body was lifted off the floor, flew across the entire hall, and crashed into the concrete wall with a heavy, crunching impact.
Ribs cracked. The air was knocked out of his lungs. He slid down the wall, leaving a bloody trail, and collapsed to his knees, coughing up blood.
The stake fell from his hand and rolled across the floor.
Gerard stood over him, shaking with rage.
"You killed him…" he hissed.
"No! No! No!"
He raised his hand, preparing to deliver the final blow.
Ethan lay against the cold concrete wall like a broken doll. Blood flowed from his mouth and numerous wounds, mixing with black veins that now pulsed across his entire neck and chest. His breathing was hoarse and ragged.
His eyes were half-open, his gaze blurry and clouded with pain. The black stake lay a few meters away, still faintly glowing blue, like a living creature that had just feasted.
"So this is it? This is how I die? I fulfilled my purpose… I guess it was worth it…"
"Ethan!" Susie cried desperately.
She was on her knees a few meters away, her face pale as chalk, a thin stream of blood trickling from her nose.
Her hands trembled so badly she could barely keep them raised. The last barrier she had created was about to collapse at any second. Susie was crying, not from pain, but from the horror of watching Ethan slowly die.
"Hold on… please, hold on…" she whispered through her tears, pouring the last drops of her strength into the spell. The barrier flared brighter, pushing back one of Gerard's remaining vampires who was trying to finish Ethan off.
Flash was in a fury.
He moved like a true demon, a blurred silhouette among the shadows. His revolver fired almost nonstop. Two silver bullets to the head of one vampire, then a sharp spin and an elbow strike that shattered another's jaw. Black blood splattered across the walls.
"You will all die here!" he roared.
"No one touches him!"
One of the vampires lunged at him from the side. Flash didn't even turn his head,he simply fired backward without looking.
The bullet struck straight through the heart. The vampire crumbled into black smoke. Flash continued his advance, finishing off Gerard's last fighters with cold, methodical brutality.
Bruno, despite the deep wound in his side, was the first to reach Ethan. Gideon, also wounded, limped after him, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
"Hold him!" Gideon shouted.
"Quickly!"
Bruno grabbed Ethan under the arms. Ethan groaned in pain, barely resisting, he had no strength left. Gideon took his legs. Together they dragged Ethan deeper into the warehouse, into a relatively protected corner behind old metal containers.
"Don't you dare die, you hear me?" Bruno growled through his teeth as he pulled him.
"Don't you fucking dare! We've come too far."
Susie walked beside them on buckling knees, never lowering her hands. The barrier around them grew weaker with every second.
"I… I'm holding…" she whispered, her voice breaking.
"Just a little longer… please…"