While the manor was filled with pretenses of happiness—guests drinking and exchanging polite greetings—Regina stood among them with sorrowful eyes, and Sauntra, in her white dress, welcomed the elite. My mother and Tej stood to the side, lost in their own world.
In the shadows of the wing, the Beast walked with slow, deliberate steps. He watched how life continued without his darkness, how they lived in peace without him. But his heart was never white enough to love peace; his entire existence revolved around power, evil, and war. Here, he would impose himself once more.
He stood watching them with a chilling relish, eyeing a crowd of victims whose heads he would soon sever. He saw this mass of humanity as his prey—a grand gift to celebrate his return to life. He felt he owed Diana much; she had given him two gifts at once: his life, and this feast.
As he stood there, he turned to find the maid—Jana's mother, the one who used to visit him in the library. She stared at him in paralyzed shock, the tray slipping from her hands and shattering on the floor. She couldn't believe her eyes; he was there, in the flesh, among them. Joseph no longer visited the manor as a nightly ghost in his library; he was now alive and breathing.
"Shhh... are you happy about my return too?" he whispered with a wicked smile.
She recoiled, running in terror, her legs nearly giving out. He watched her flee through the corridors until she reached her daughter, Jana, grabbing her and dragging her out of the manor. He simply smiled; he could afford to let a victim or two escape—he had plenty more.
Though he stood in the corners of the wing, away from the main floor, people walked past him without recognizing him. They didn't even suspect the demonic smile on his face as he stood with his hands behind his back.
His eyes scanned the room until he saw his brother, Tej, standing with his wife, sharing a glass in the corner. His dark excitement surged. He approached silently until he stood directly behind Tej and whispered in his ear:
"Little brother..."
Tej didn't turn around. He looked at his wife with defeated eyes, as if telling her this was the end. Tej knew this day would come; he knew the monster he grew up with would return, but he never expected it to be like this. He gripped his wife's hand. She was smiling, oblivious to her husband's agony, until she turned and saw Joseph.
Her eyes widened in shock. Tej pulled her closer. She didn't understand and asked with a confused smile, "Is this an old friend?"
Joseph shot her a piercing look. "Your choice this time seems good," he remarked to Tej.
Tej remained silent, frozen by the shock. "What? I thought you'd be happy to see me... do you hate me that much too?" Joseph mocked with a triumphant smile.
"Joseph..." Tej whispered, his eyes welling with tears.
"Please... don't do this," Tej pleaded.
Joseph nodded, savoring the moment. "Oh, I will. But you won't be among them. I'll let you escape... I owe you for the days we spent together."
My mother's expression began to shift as she sensed the danger. She gripped Tej's arm. "What is he saying?"
But they both ignored her. Their faces told the whole story: one pair of eyes filled with shock and the sight of the end, and the other filled with victory and malicious pleasure.
Tej quickly dragged his wife away. Once again, Joseph stood with his hands in his pockets, watching them flee. Even in his evil, he had a brother; the only happy memories Joseph possessed were with his little brother, Tej. So, he gave him a chance to run.
He watched as Tej gathered Caster and Stacker, hurrying them toward the exit.
Before they left, Stacker turned back, looking at Joseph with pure hatred... then they were gone.
The rest of the guests remained ignorant of what was happening. Some noticed the family's frantic exit, while others remained drowned in the pleasures of the party, unaware that they were now standing in the presence of death
It seems the time has come.
The Beast descended to the floor, amidst the oblivious crowd. He made his way coldly toward a small table and picked up a glass of fine wine with his hand, still soiled with grave dirt. As he walked with measured steps, he deliberately brushed shoulders with a massive man—heavy-set, with a thick, long beard, wearing an elegant suit that seemed ready to burst at the shoulders from his bulging muscles.
The burly man turned in a rage, shouting abuse in Joseph's face: "You filthy, dust-covered wretch! Can't you see? You've desecrated my clothes with your filth!"
Joseph sighed with deadly boredom and muttered under his breath, unheard by anyone: "Damn... I didn't want to start the massacre this way."
Joseph turned coldly, taking a sip from his glass, intending to leave. But the massive brute wasn't satisfied; he grabbed Joseph's shoulder forcefully and screamed again: "You filth! I am talking to you!"
He made a fatal mistake.
For screaming at Joseph and insulting him, the only punishment is decollation.
In one single motion, swift and too fast for the eye to follow, the massive man's head was on the floor, and blood gushed from his severed neck like a waterfall, staining the marble floor crimson.
Screams echoed throughout the hall, cries of terror mingling with the music that abruptly stopped. Panic-stricken eyes traced the gruesome scene, unable to believe what they were witnessing.
Joseph finished the rest of his glass with absolute coldness, then threw it to the ground. He sighed with boredom as he looked at the fleeing crowd: "Why are they screaming? I haven't even started yet."
Everyone rushed toward the doors in a desperate attempt to escape, but they were trapped with the "Beast." His psychological torture of them wouldn't be complete if he let them escape so easily. With a single motion of his hand, all the doors slammed shut violently, leaving them to face their inevitable fate.
Some still didn't know the killer's identity; Joseph held no bloodied weapon, and no trace of blood was on his dirt-stained clothes, yet terror possessed them all.
Joseph bowed his head and smiled with diabolical malice as he contemplated the sheer volume of blood pooling on the floor: "Damn... all this blood from one person? If I cut them all, I'll be swimming in a lake."
He let out a wicked, ringing laugh that filled the trapped hall, until he felt a hand strike his shoulder forcefully. It was a young woman, weeping in anger and rage, and she screamed in his face: "You're laughing?! Don't you see there's a poor soul beside you whose head has been cut off? You're laughing, you heartless—!!!"
Then... he applied the same rule.
She made the exact same mistake.
To scream at him.
And to insult him.
Screams of terror erupted again as the girl's head fell as well, joining his bloody feast. Everyone began looking at Joseph in disbelief, terror paralyzing their minds. They trampled over one another, crushing each other in a frantic surge toward the sealed exits.
All rooms are locked.
The main door is locked.
The wing door is locked.
There is no escape from the Beast's hell.
"You have returned to me once again..."
Joseph turned to find his mother, Sauntra, standing before him, bowing her head in respect with a tense smile. She pretended to be happy about his return, but he knew for a fact that she wasn't. It didn't matter to him anyway; pretending to be happy was a necessity for her if she wanted to stay alive.
"You've become uglier than you were, Mother," he said with a malicious smile. To him, this seemed more like a compliment than an insult.
"Joseph...!!" Regina's voice called from afar as she ran toward him in her gown, looking at him with pure joy. She stumbled over the tables as she ran, her eyes sparkling, seeing no one in the room but Joseph.
"Who is this..?" he asked, examining her coldly.
"Regina..." Sauntra replied, the words leaving her throat with bitterness and spite. She wished she could find whoever brought him back to life and cut their head off; her plan had utterly failed, and she was headed for a living hell.
"Joseph... you're back!" Regina stood before him with a seductive smile and wide, wondering eyes.
"Regina...?" he whispered, remembering what Diana had told him about the conspiracy right after he emerged from his grave.
Joseph ignored Regina completely and fixed his gaze on Sauntra: "You intended to kill me..?"
Both were shocked. The blood froze in Sauntra's veins; she was certain she had told no one of her plan except Regina.
"Kill my son..? Impossible!" she said, her voice trembling with fear. Meanwhile, the sounds of people trying to escape grew louder, their screams filling the air. Sauntra looked at Regina with rage and hatred, suspecting no one but her of stealing the book, summoning Joseph, and revealing the plan.
But Regina didn't care about her, nor was she afraid. She had finally gotten what she wanted: Joseph's return.
Joseph pushed Regina aside and stepped closer to his mother, Sauntra: "I've bypassed everything you did to me in my childhood... all your attempts to kill me when I took power... and I endured your control over me during my death..."
"What are you saying... I never tried to harm any of my children... You know me well, Joseph..."
"Do I?"
He smiled at her, and without warning, he lunged with incredible speed toward the people trying to escape. He began tearing through their bodies one by one without mercy. Everyone watched the blood splatter, waiting for their turn. He moved among them with such swiftness that he was almost a blur as he severed their heads. The only things filling the room were his laughter and the screams of the innocent.
When he finished, he stood in that pool of blood, licking a bit of it from his finger, savoring the evil he spread. Then he turned toward Regina and Sauntra, who were shaking with terror:
"Now, it's your turn..."