Hermano fell to the ground. His limbs trembled, and his care towards his surroundings began to crumble. He immediately grasped his face to hold it together, taking in a deep breath through his cracked face as he processed his failure. He let his guard down. It was a spell that returns the damage that he had dealt to a person or an object. It was the most basic of all curses, its foundation, even, but he came unprepared.

Rosemarie wasn’t around to be seen or felt. Who knows, maybe she was fighting off the wraiths and had to leave him to save herself. Hermano knew that if there are other wraiths around, he would die anyway. He wanted to laugh. The pain that reminded him that he was alive slowly left his body, forcing him to scream ave maria internally as he imagined his soul leaving the mortal husk of his body. He only felt the glass scratching the back of his neck as the winds whispered in his ear. He wanted to beg for help, but he couldn’t move and didn’t want himself to break.

Rosemarie was alone there. Maybe she’s panicking over what happened. He didn’t know what to do, maybe she’s crying too. His thoughts were slowed down, making him wonder if he’s breathing correctly or if he’s breathing at all.

He groaned, imagining what tone would his voice be like with a shattered face. He wanted help from someone beyond the barricade or maybe Verdell to rush in and at least save Rosemarie. She might be there risking her life to protect him, so submitting to the fact that he’s about to die, he threw his caution away and screamed until he was kicked in his stomach.

“You’re not dead, you little shit.”

Hermano heard Rosemarie’s voice loud and clear. He imagined the pain that he was taking and how painful it was for Rosemarie to fake her confidence, so he wanted to give it a try. Hermano gave himself a moment of silence before braving to take a sharp breath and flung his eyes open.

Nothing happened. Hermano faced the far blanket of leaves that gave his sight a little bit of shade, the clouds that embraced what was beyond them, and the sun that gave them warmth. It made him smile until he was overrun by the desire of wanting to dig a hole where he could bury himself and die.

His eyes moved towards Rosemarie, who seemed to be a step away from letting out a laugh. The house that he had wrecked seemed to be destroyed as well. Everyone felt safe and pleased, faced with the fact that there were no wraiths left to antagonize them. It was just replaced by a giant naked zombie man humping the air and sexy dancing to celebrate their victory.

Rosemarie narrowed her gaze. “Say something.”

Hermano bit his lower lip and kept his face straight, unsure of what to say. He wanted to play dead or at least be tired enough to not say something, but he couldn’t and just considered to run a mile and disappear.

Rosemarie’s left eyebrow twitched. “Say something.” She nudged Hermano with the tip of her shoe. His body seemed so still as a corpse, and it actually fought back and refused to turn over.

Rosemarie, having the last bit of her patience leak through her lips, cracked her knuckles, and poked his leg. “You should probably wake up now, or I’ll make sure that you won’t be getting up again.”

Hermano blinked a couple of times like he was awakened from a distant dream, and like a machine, pulled himself from the ground while wearing his stern demeanor like a shell. He looked into Rosemarie’s eyes and stopped himself from showing a smile. He was relieved to see that she’s fine and calm as always, but his job isn’t done. He had to keep up with this clownery, so he cupped his chin and gave Rosemarie a mocking grin.

“Heh, I got you,” Hermano said, following it with a laugh that made him want to stab his own neck.

Rosemarie smiled back. “Pussy.”

“What?”

“This is why I asked for your hair, remember?” Rosemarie pointed him at the doll on the ground; it was shattered like glass.

“Thanks.” Hermano smiled.

“No worries,” Rosemarie turned her back on him before she showed herself a smile. “Help yourself up; we do have a trapped rat that we need to take care of, starting—”

The house that they sieged erupted into a red cloud, turning into a bloody mist that choked their surroundings. Flesh and bits of bones began to rain in all that silence, and what came last was their target’s head crashing and rolling through the grass.