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“Then, you know what happened to him,” she continued, with composure.
“Not really,” Hyde shook his head sorrowfully.
“I don’t mean the way he died,” Magdalena quickly added. “We all know how he ended up in that river. It’s Culore, that evil soul. How long will he keep taking innocent lives? I wonder.”
“I’m happy to inform you that his reign of tyranny is finished.”
“What do you mean?” she was surprised to hear that, not expecting this kind of an answer.
“Culore is dead.”
The sound reverberated in the room, like funeral bells, and all three were immediately transported back a year ago, to that night that almost ruined their lives. Rene still had nightmares. She still dreamed of that man coming back from the dead to take them back with him, his fingers made of nothing but bone reaching out to her neck to strangle her. She would wake up drenched in sweat, breathing heavily as if she had been running a half-marathon. Worst of all was that she wasn’t able to share this knowledge with her best friend, so she had to lie that it was just some random nightmare that kept haunting her occasionally, and sweet Alice believed her. Why wouldn’t she? But, Rene herself knew that these kind of traumas took a long time to heal. She just needed to be patient.
“Are you sure?” Magdalena asked, eyeing Hyde suspiciously. “You know they don’t die so easily.”
“I’m sure.”
“Well, then…” Magdalena sighed. “I can’t say I’m sad about that. He was responsible for my father’s death. He is the reason I had to go away from my family, to a new country, and try to make it my home. But, my heart always stayed there, always…” her voice trailed off as she spoke, and Rene knew that she was remembering her days as a little girl in the old country.
“I didn’t know that you were forced to escape,” Rene whimpered.
“Don’t be silly, you were there, too, Milena.”
Rene smiled, nodding at Hyde and Jesse, who remembered that her mother always thought she was her sister.
“But, you,” Magdalena went back to Hyde, “you must know why my father was killed.”
“I only knew of his name, but I never spoke to him directly,” Hyde said apologetically. “I think we were even in the same company a few times, but no.”
“It’s the coins,” Magdalena suddenly got up.
She started walking to the middle of the room, slowly, as if every step she took was extremely difficult, and she was finding it increasingly hard to keep her balance. Suddenly, Magdalena grabbed her chest. Her face turned pale, her eyes bulged out.
“Mom!” Rene shrieked, as her mother fell to the ground. “Get someone in here, quickly!”
Jesse immediately rushed out to get help, while Hyde and Rene knelt down beside Rene’s mother. She took her mother’s hand. It felt cold and clammy.
“Mom?” she whispered, looking at eyes that were barely there. “Can you hear me?”
Her mother reached out to her, so Rene got closer. Her pendant dangled around her neck, and her mother grasped it with trembling fingers.
“Rene,” her mother whispered, her other hand caressing her daughter’s face, as if she hadn’t seen her in a lifetime, “fiica mea dulce.”
She finally recognized her, and Rene could feel her eyes tearing up. She had been waiting for this moment for so long, and now, she had it, but at what cost?
“Mom, I’m here,” she squeezed her mother’s hand.
“Go home… find the Sanziene well… and open the box…” her mother managed to whisper, feeling a little less alive with every spoken word.
“Mom?” Rene sniveled, frantically, realizing that her mother was no longer with them. “Mom!! Mom!!!”
She kept shaking her, trying to wake her up, but it was too late. The orderlies arrived, and they tried their best to revive her, but they could only pronounce her dead.
“No, no…” Rene trembled with shock, burying her face in her hands.
Hyde and Jesse hugged her, unable to say anything. There wasn’t anything left to say. The three just stood there, hugging, over the dead body of her mother, who seemed finally at peace. When Rene opened her eyes, it seemed as if her mother was smiling, her eyes closed, almost as if she had just fallen asleep and would be waking up shortly.
But, Rene knew better. This was her final slumber.
