Chapter 035

Shattered Illusions

Isabelle recoiled inwardly as she remained frozen between the battered form of Morris and the cold smile coming from Carlos. The warehouse spun on its axis around her, like reality had tilted into some macabre sceneboard that she could hardly make sense of.

"Carlos?" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "What. .. what is this?"

Carlos moved out into the open. His polished shoes reechoed ominously on the concrete floor. She could no longer feel the warmth she does felt around the man she fell in love with. This time was different; it was replaced by a calculating gleam that chilled her to the bone.

"This, my dear," he said, expansively gesturing, "is the moment where all of the pieces fall finally into place."

Her eyes flickered from Carlos, to Jacob, onto Morris himself, slumped in the chair, but with eyes wide open, in a mixture of fear and anger.

"I don't understand," Isabelle said, fighting to keep her voice steady. "Why are you doing this? What do you want?