Chapter 4.

The Magic of Tomás.

Foster, like Patrick, had also remained in total isolation, recovering his body, but without forgetting every mistake of his past; Now Tomás had been by his side for 10 years, more than a friend, like a soul brother, someone who had made loneliness not feel so empty, resentment not consume him completely, hatred not devour his heart, but the rage still lingered in him. He couldn't forget anything that had happened years ago in Whistler...

And although crime rates had decreased by almost 70% these days, every now and then someone disappeared, someone simply left this plane, but he knew there was only one person who could do that, and that was the damned Tempus...

He hated him more than life itself, what he had created, how he was immune to pain and torture, a nearly indestructible being with good allies, a planned strategy, and instead of weapons, they were the weapons themselves...

It seemed that even the hasty injections he had administered from a distance had no effect on any of them; There had been three vaccines, and all three had fallen on three different characters, but they only felt like being bitten by a mosquito that's squashed before penetrating the skin...

For at least ten years, he had been lurking around the property, perhaps seeking to see, even from a distance, the face of the Defiler. However, the place was empty, but securely locked. 

It seemed as if he had left forever. Incredibly, during those ten years, not a single crime had been recorded, which only confirmed that he and his group were Whistler's cancer: silent, well-built, with a privileged position, and above all, a unique charisma to manipulate anyone. They had a beauty that hid just how rotten they were.

However, he could see above the mask that they were truly psychopathic, manipulative murderers who knew how to play their moves well. And with an ego big enough to devour the entire country, but after ten years, when he and Tomás had already assured themselves that they wouldn't return, he saw how everyone returned: the older children entered the place as if nothing had happened, as if they weren't freaks hungry for flesh and blood, but he was struck by the way Patrick returned; he looked haggard, worn out, and strange, as if he had been changed...

He didn't seem to be the same man with the wheelchair that said it all; some media outlets leaked the information that the former doctor might have suffered a serious back injury; many people wanted at least an interview with him for health, beauty, and education magazines, but he always gave the same answer: he was busy and tired and therefore couldn't make it...

But Foster could see that this was nothing more than a mask; it was impossible for Patrick Tempus himself to have fallen ill; Surely it was just a farce, a way to manipulate the system and the media, almost like a flag shouting from afar: I'm still here, but he wouldn't fall into that trap, because almost immediately after the doctor returned, the disappearances began, mainly of women during the last quarter moon...

And although it wasn't something that could be confirmed, Damian was no fool, and he watched over that property as if his very existence depended on it, to the point that Tomás told him that if what he had said about the doctor being the Desecrator was true, it was impossible for them to stop him.