—Don't scream, Carmilla… it'll all be over very soon.
Bruce told me this while brandishing his weapon, but then he heard the sound of footsteps and yanked the elevator doors shut again. We headed back up, but this time he shoved me into my own apartment. He gagged me with a handkerchief, threw me onto the bed, and said:
—I need you to stop screaming once and for all. You have to listen to me.
I nodded, trying to look calm. I can't escape, girl—I'm not bulletproof. He loosened the gag, and I lied through my teeth:
—My boyfriend is coming for me soon… he should be here any minute.
With a dead-serious expression, he asked:
—Which one? Killian or Lucius Longfield? One is halfway across the world, and the other is in Rome. But I was told Lucius has been poking around, trying to find out who I was. When he figured it out, he cut his meeting short to get back to you, so he should be here soon. I'm going to wait for him right here.
That's when I realized he was there to murder Lucius. I wanted to scream again, but he saw it coming. He lunged just in time, pinning me down and covering my mouth. After a few agonizing seconds, he asked me again not to scream and let me go.
My black dress had torn during the struggle, and Bruce noticed that one of my breasts was exposed. He grabbed a shirt from my clothes pile and tossed it to me. As I covered myself, I demanded:
—Who are you?
He replied:
—Bruce Bance, Evangelina's cousin. You already know that… Just be quiet for fifteen seconds, would you? Do me that favor.
—What do you want? Are you going to kill me? —I asked, terrified.
He looked puzzled and replied:
—Why would I want to kill you? You aren't the target. Don't think you're the center of the universe. I told you—keep quiet. We're waiting for Lucius Longfield.
In my head, that only confirmed he was there to assassinate him. I started looking for something to hit the bastard with, but when he caught me trying to grab the lamp next to the bed, he snapped. He clenched his jaw, trying not to yell:
—What the hell are you trying to do? Look, I've had enough of you. Listen to me for once. I'm a private investigator, okay? And I need you to understand that I'm the good guy here.
I snapped back, fuming:
—If you were the good guy, you wouldn't have treated your cousin like that. Poor Evangelina… you're a liar and a murderer! I hope you rot!
He seemed to lose his patience with me and said:
—If you don't trust me—if you don't believe I'm one of the good guys—then fine. Here. Take my gun and shoot me.
He dropped it onto the bed, adding:
—Would someone planning to murder you give you their own weapon? Come on. Trust me, or shoot me. Your choice.
Well, obviously, girl, I grabbed it. I didn't hesitate. I pulled the trigger, closing my eyes so I wouldn't have to see the blood and all that. But nothing happened. Not even the "bang" you'd expect when you pull a trigger.
He snatched it back out of my hands and said:
—What are you doing? If this had bullets in it, you would've killed me! Good God, are you insane?
I froze in terror. I thought: What kind of psychopath plays with his victim like this? As I watched him pull a magazine full of bullets from his other pocket and slide it into the pistol in one fluid motion, I knew he was a professional. He was going to shoot me. It would all be over soon, just like he said.
But then, standing by my side, he pleaded:
—Listen to me, because I'm telling you the truth. My name is Bruce Bance. It's true I'm Evangelina's cousin, it's true I'm a P.I., and it's true I'm one of the good guys. Trust me—if I'm here, it's to save you both from one of the worst people on the planet.
I replied, sobbing:
—You're lying. Lucius might be cold as ice, but I know he has a big heart. Don't try to justify yourself. You just want to kill him for the money and—
But he didn't let me finish. A revelation I never saw coming slipped from his lips as he whispered:
—I'm not talking about Lucius. Listen to me, Carmilla, I can't keep you here much longer. Just swear one thing to me: no matter what you do… never, ever be alone with Annia Vandereck again.
I was about to tell him to go to hell when the bedroom door burst open. Evangelina stormed in, a whirlwind of fury. She started pounding on her cousin's chest with both fists like hammers, breaking down into sobs and screaming at him:
—You jerk! You jerk! You jerk! How could you do this to me? How could you squeeze information out of me for months without telling me the truth?
He only replied that he hadn't been sure until a few days ago and asked:
—Where is she? Come on, tell me. Where is Annia?
Evangelina told him she had fallen asleep and that she never wanted to see her again, but he told her he needed Annia in there—that there was no other way.
I raised my hand like a schoolgirl asking permission to speak and said:
—Could someone please tell me what the fuck is going on?
Only then did Evangelina come over to me, throwing herself onto the bed and pulling me into a hug. I was completely lost. I didn't know if Bruce was crazy and she was his accomplice, or if I was the crazy one imagining the whole thing.
Evangelina read me like she always does. She saw that my terror was real, so she said:
—Look, Carmilla, Bruce might be a total bastard—a jerk, a jerk, a jerk—and he broke my heart by using me as a spy without me knowing until we met up a few hours ago. That's why I came back crying. But he's dead serious.
She looked at her cousin and said:
—Explain everything to her. Like I told you, I'll vouch for Carmilla. She won't ruin the investigation—not when she knows what's at stake.
I was so scared I started shaking uncontrollably. Nothing made sense until Evangelina took my face in her hands and said:
—Hey, stop. This is serious. You saw how Bruce attacked me, and she didn't even move a muscle. That was the proof I needed to realize that no matter how much she says she loves me, to Annia, I'm just an obsession. Do you remember prom night at the Vandereck mansion? When Annia showed you that room for the first time? Do you remember what she told us?
I nodded and replied:
—Yeah. She said seven years ago she was head over heels for some girl named Marian Pierce, a classmate.
Evangelina impatiently finished the story:
—Exactly. Marian Pierce. She had invited her to prom, and Marian said yes. She was supposed to go back to the mansion with her after the dance. But three days before, Marian canceled because she started dating an athlete named Alexandro.
I took a deep breath and said:
—I don't get it. What's your point?
Bruce pulled two small photographs from his pocket. In one, a pretty redhead in a pink dress was ready for her prom; in the other, she was hugging a tall blond guy.
—Her parents hired me —he said—. Look at her. The girl in the photo is Marian Pierce, and the boy is Alexandro Griffin. They never made it to the dance.
Evangelina added, pointing to her cousin:
—He's one of the smartest men on the planet. And I did know why he'd left me. He went away without saying goodbye to follow his dream of being a P.I. and traveling the world solving "impossible" cases. Marian Pierce's parents are rich; they can afford his services.
The two kids in the photos looked so happy. I couldn't believe it. I asked:
—Why didn't the parents go to the police if they suspected she murdered them?
Bruce looked annoyed.
—The police? Against the Vanderecks? You clearly have no idea how the world works. They stopped investigating the second that powerful last name came out of the mouths of witnesses talking about Annia's obsession with that girl. Besides, I don't think she murdered her. I'm convinced Marian Pierce is still alive, locked away in some dark corner of that mansion, waiting all these years for someone to set her free. She's a collector. The worst kind of psychopath.
I stared at him, incredulous. The Paris sun hit his perfect face; he seemed so sure of what he was saying, but I couldn't accept it. Evangelina hugged me.
—I didn't believe him at first either. We have to tell Lucius, and then Killian. We all have to help solve this.
I asked:
—Why do you think Marian Pierce is alive?
—Listen closely —he said—. The night of the prom, a black limo picked them up. Ten minutes later, Alexandro Griffin, the athlete, was thrown dead from that vehicle onto the street with a gunshot wound to the chest. They kidnapped her. To avoid investigating the Vanderecks, they blamed and convicted some poor, innocent lunatic. Do you get it?
I shook my head no. Evangelina explained:
—Bruce means that if she were dead, her body would have turned up. They already had someone to take the fall, anyway. But no. He thinks Annia is keeping her alive, and that her father covers up all her atrocities because he's a damn psycho too. Remember how she said they gave her everything she ever wanted?
I looked at the photo again and whispered:
—If all this is true… that poor girl. All those years in there alone…
—No, she isn't alone —Bruce said.
He pulled three more photos from his pocket: two teenagers and a woman, all redheads.
Pointing them out, he explained:
—This is the first one, from nine years ago. This one is from six years ago, and this one is from four. Every one of them had contact with Annia. She met one at an amusement park, another on a trip to Rome, and this one at the movies. She showered them all with expensive gifts, and when they rejected her, they vanished. Their bodies were never found. And in my conversations with my cousin, she mentioned that she has a room dedicated to each of these places in the mansion. I have no doubt. She's a collector.
I looked at Evangelina's red hair and asked:
—Did you pretend to be her girlfriend to solve this?
—No, nothing like that —she said—. Marian Pierce's parents never stopped investigating Annia on their own. When I started dating her—when they found out I was a redhead and she was giving me expensive gifts—they thought I was in danger. They wanted to know everything about me. That's how they found out I was the cousin of the famous detective Bruce Bance. So they hired him. They wanted to take advantage of the fact that he already had someone inside the mansion. Yes, Carmilla, he had me—his cousin, the one he hadn't called in forever, the one he'd abandoned and broken her heart. The one who, without knowing it, was feeding him info in every conversation. Just like you, I couldn't believe any of this when he revealed it to me at that café a few blocks from here. Now I know I got lucky. I thought about leaving her a few times because I sensed something wasn't right with Annia, but I didn't. You know I'm not in love. But if I had—if I'd left her—I'd be tied up somewhere in that mansion right now next to Marian Pierce and the others.
I simply couldn't process it. I told them to shut up for a second.
—Why the hell did I ever leave Mary Garden?! This is all insane!
Evangelina jumped up, checked her purse, and said:
—Now you're really going to believe me. Look, this letter came for me at the café where Bruce and I met. Read what it says. It's from Clara the Seer.
When I opened the envelope and pulled out the note, my jaw dropped. It read:
"Evangelina, the Queen: by the time you read this, you will have learned the truth. I saw the true nature of the Vanderecks when I touched Annia's hand, but I couldn't say anything then or I'd be dead. You will only save those women with the help of Lucius, Killian, and Carmilla. Do not go to the police, or no one will make it out alive. And speaking of Carmilla, well, she won't believe it when you tell her, so give her this note the exact moment she mentions the name of her home, Mary Garden."
And in parentheses, it said: (Knock, knock, Carmilla. Evil is at the door.)
In that very instant, the three of us heard it: knock, knock. Then came Annia's unmistakable voice from the other side.
—Carmilla, pretty girl… open up. I want to talk to you.
Bruce signaled Evangelina to hide under the bed, and she grabbed her purse and obeyed. He pulled off his shirt, revealing an incredible physique with a few scars across his chest that made him look even more heroic, and whispered to me:
—Strip and get under the covers, now!
Terrified, I understood. I pulled my dress over my head, tossed it aside, and as I covered myself, I saw Bruce hide the photos. He kicked off his pants and climbed in next to me—so close that my breasts were pressed against him. I felt his heat, clinging to the safety he provided. He looked at me with his dark eyes and said:
—Sorry, but this has to look real.
Then he started kissing me.
Right at that moment, Annia walked in. When she saw us, she let out a "Whoa!" pretending to cover her eyes.
—Oh, God! Carmilla, it seems like nobody can escape you… Hey, have you seen Evangelina? We had a big fight earlier. I hope she isn't trying to leave me because, you know… we're a lot alike, you and I. Nobody escapes me either, Carmilla… nobody escapes me.