14th February at 10 a.m.,
In a five-star hotel's room near the hospital,
The door of the room had been closed quietly since Mark and the nurse entered quite a few hours ago, leaving the world behind them.
For the next several hours, the world outside had seemed to disappear for them. Their voices had been faded into hushed whispers, occasionally followed by brief laughter and the muted creak of movement from within. Whatever happened behind that closed door had been remained theirs alone.
Several hours later at 10 a.m., the door finally opened.
Mark stepped out first.
There was a satisfied calm upon his face, his expression carrying the unmistakable confidence of someone who had gotten exactly what he wanted. He adjusted his clothes, ran a hand through his hair, and glanced back at the closed door for a fleeting moment.
Then, without another word, he walked down the corridor.
Behind him, the room fell silent once again.
...
While walking through the corridor, he was enraptured in the captivating beauty of the hotel. It was still daylight outside, still scarcely a ray of sunlight found its way into the hotel.
Heavy velvet curtains draped across the enormous windows, shutting out the brilliance of the sunlight outside and bathing the interiors in a warm, golden twilight. Crystal chandeliers hung from the vaulted ceiling, their countless facets scattering soft pools of light across the marble floors. Beneath that artificial glow, the hotel seemed almost detached from the world outside and an ancient palace preserved within the heart of the day.
In the vast ground hall below, a magnificent ball was already underway.
An orchestra played from an elevated balcony, its music drifting through the enormous chamber as elegantly dressed guests moved across the polished floor. Gowns swept like waves of silk, gentlemen in immaculate suits and tailcoats exchanged quiet conversations, and champagne glasses glistered beneath the chandeliers. Laughter and music mingled together, filling the hall with an air of extravagant celebration.
While walking through the staircase towards the ground floor, his eyes straight popped into a stunning beauty.
She was dressed in an exquisite powder-blue gown, its layers of silk cascading gracefully down the steps behind her. Tiny crystals embroidered into the fabric caught the chandelier light with every subtle movement, making her appear almost luminous against the darker surroundings.
Her hair had been arranged in soft, elegant curls, with a few delicate strands framing her face. A slender silver necklace rested against her collarbone, while matching earrings shimmered faintly beneath the golden illumination.
One hand rested upon the ornate banister.
She paused there, gazing down upon the ball.
For a fleeting moment, the noise of the celebration seemed to fade around her.
With the sunlight sealed away behind the velvet curtains and the chandeliers casting their enchanted glow upon her, she looked almost unreal like a princess who had wandered out of an old fairy tale and somehow found herself standing within a palace that existed beyond the reach of ordinary time.
She did not need a glass slipper.
The entire hall seemed to belong to her.
Seeing her such stunning beauty, Mark faintly smiled.
He slowly went down, took a glass of champagne, and slowly went in front of her. She was zoned out into some other thoughts, but her gaze was fixed on the ball.
With a sophisticated and graceful manner, he slowly bowed down in front of the beauty and proposed her for a ball with him, offering her with the glass of champagne.
"May I have the honor of accompanying you to the ball?"
Upon hearing that, the lady suddenly came in her senses. A graceful smile ran through her face. She respectfully accepted the glass of champagne and as well as his palm.
Both of them gracefully descended onto the stage of ball.
Mark's hand settled carefully at her waist as she rested one hand upon his shoulder, while their other hands remained intertwined. Slowly, almost effortlessly, they began to move with the music.
Her powder-blue gown flowed around her with every turn, its layers of silk sweeping across the polished marble like ripples upon moonlit water. The chandeliers above them scattered golden reflections across the fabric, making her seem almost ethereal.
Slowly, the countless guests surrounding them seemed to disappear. There was only the music, the quiet rhythm of their footsteps, and the soft rustling of her gown. As Mark spun her gently beneath the chandelier, her skirt blossomed outward before settling around her once again.
She looked up at him.
Their eyes met.
"You're like the radiant moon in the darkest night of my life..." With a captivating tone, he murmured.
"Shhh! Don't talk much... Just sync with me. I just want to enjoy these few moments with you..." The lady's voice was mesmerizing, as if a cuckoo suddenly sang in her tone.
Mark spun her gracefully beneath the chandelier.
Beneath the golden chandeliers, Mark and the beauty danced as though the night had been created for them alone. In that brief silence between two notes of the music, there seemed to be an entire conversation passing between them.
Around them, the ballroom continued to glitter and sway.
Thus, they couldn't even be aware of how many time had been passed away.
Thus, several minutes had passed away...
Suddenly, Mark sensed something unusual happening in the ball. Immediately, he paused. Seeing that, the lady also stopped.
The music continued.
At first, nothing seemed usual.
The orchestra played its soothing melody with almost unnatural perfection, each note flowing seamlessly into the next. The guests continued to dance beneath the chandeliers, their laughter mingling with the gentle rhythm.
Right at that moment, he suddenly spotted the nurse running towards them through the staircase. Her body was trembling violently. Her claws were terrifyingly scratching her own face. Her black dense pupils turned into horrific blood-red colored, bloods trickling down from the corner of her eyes. As she came amidst the hall, she collapsed on the ground, spreading a utmost terror across the vast hall.
And with that, a terrifying horror just awakened in the hotel.
Yet, instead of immediately pausing the celebration and dance, the orchestra continued playing. The music didn't stop. Even, the guests and couples didn't stop their dancing, rather it seemed as if everyone present in the hall was awfully stuck into some illusions.
Within a moment, the music became softer... More beautiful... More intoxicating...
Suddenly, a couple stopped dancing.
Their smile instantly stopped and they suddenly clutched their heads.
Then, another couple began screaming with obscure voice. Nobody understood what they were saying.
Then another guest began laughing.
Not the warm laughter of celebration, but a hollow, trembling sound that gradually grew louder and more frantic. Within a few moments, several others had begun behaving strangely. Some stared blankly into the distance. Others stumbled across the dance floor as though they had forgotten where they were.
And that the moment, the ballroom descended into madness.
People began screaming.
Couples tore away from one another. Some clawed desperately at their own faces, while others collapsed onto the marble floor, their bodies trembling violently. The elegant celebration dissolved into a nightmare of overturned tables, shattered glasses, and frantic footsteps.
Yet the orchestra continued playing.
The musicians themselves wore vacant expressions, their fingers moving mechanically across their instruments as though something unseen commanded them.
One by one, the guests succumbed.
Some collapsed where they stood.
Others wandered aimlessly through the hall before suddenly falling silent.
The magnificent ballroom, which moments ago had been filled with laughter and dancing, slowly became a chamber of death.
Yet, amidst all the horror, Mark remained standing. A clear terror could clearly be seen on his face. He couldn't understand what was happening but could clearly feel the horrible aura of the madness surrounding him.
The music continued to whisper through the hall.
He slowly turned his gaze towards her.
She stood next to him, untouched by the madness surrounding her. The enchanting smile she had worn during their dance, had already been wiped out by that time. Only a strange, unreadable calmness was on her face.
Around them, bodies lay motionless beneath the golden chandeliers.
The final notes of the orchestra echoed through the enormous hall.
With that, the ball was over and a complete silent spread across the hall.
Witnessing that horror with his own eyes, left a deep wound in his mind, which he thought he could never recover.
At that moment, he surprisingly noticed the lady slowly went toward an window and shifted a curtain from before the window.
He was shocked to see that, the outside world drastically changed.
Beyond the towering window of the hotel, the sky was no longer blue. It was pitch-black.
Under the dark sky, the world was swallowed by an unnatural darkness. The last traces of sunlight seemed to vanish behind the darkened world, as if an invisible force was drawing a veil across the space.
At that moment, both of them clearly noticed a dense crimson glow gradually soared on the sky. Within that glow, hanging above the distant horizon was a colossal crimson moon.
Its blood-red light poured across the city, staining the rooftops, streets, and clouds with an eerie scarlet radiance. The moon seemed impossibly large, its surface veiled beneath swirling shadows that made it appear almost alive.
In that moment, Mark suddenly sensed a strange unnatural attraction toward the crimson moon began to birth within his heart. He quickly looked at the lady.
The crimson moonlight touched her face.
Their eyes met.
She smiled with no enchanting innocence she had shown earlier.
Seeing her smile, he gradually gained his resistance against the moon.
Outside, the crimson moon rose higher.
By that time, the crimson light slipped through the gaps in the curtains and spread across the marble floor, crawling toward Mark and the lady like a living shadow.
For a few heartbeats, nobody moved.
After a few tensed moments, the lady suddenly moved.
Gradually, she came in front of him with silent footsteps.
"Hello young man, you look scared. It's better for you to hide into any room in the hotel. Don't go outside. It's for your safety." She spoke in a solemn tone.
"And you?" Mark asked with a terrified tone.
Hearing that, she faintly smiled.
She turned back and the space itself seemed to fracture around her.
The crimson moonlight fell upon her enchanting beauty.
The delicate powder-blue gown began to darken, its shimmering fabric dissolving into black threads that crawled across her body like living shadows. The silk twisted inward, reshaping themselves into layers of dark, battle-worn cloth.
Her elegant jewelry fell silently to the marble floor.
Her beautiful curls were swallowed beneath a deep black hood.
Mark became very surprised to see that the graceful and enchanting woman who had stood before him moments ago was gone. In her place stood a hooded assassin dressed entirely in black.
A long, black-hooded cloak hung from her shoulders, its edges moving despite the complete absence of wind. Beneath it was a fitted assassin's garb designed for silence and movement. Dark gloves covered her hands, dark full pants covered her graceful legs, while her face remained concealed beneath a black mask.
Only her glowing eyes remained visible from the hollow of her mask.
"Go, hide, young man..." With the same solemn yet enchanted voice, she spoke.
He no longer dared to stand there. He instantly ran and hid into the basement of the hotel.
Such horrific situation made him extremely scared. He sank to his knees, tucking his head between them and covering his ears with his elbows, sitting there in fear, bewilderment, and astonishment. Thus he spent a few minutes.
After that, he gained his rationality and became calm.
After that, he slowly came into balcony. Everyone was unconscious in the hotel.
The crimson moon's light had covered the entire city with a eerie scarlet radiance. It seemed as if it would gonna devour the city soon. The entire city was dead silent at that time, as if the moon had concealed the city from the outside world. Even in distant horizon, the mountains had been faded in the unnatural darkness.
Within the blood-red light, he could see a faint shadow like being standing over the pillar on the roof of the hotel. It was none other than the lady dressed entirely in black.
She consistently was looking at the crimson moon.
At that very moment, he remembered the words he had heard in that secret meeting yesterday.
"A bleeding moon is about to take the sky... The waters will turn black... The trees will turn red... The slaughter will reach deep into the dark, subsconscious corners of your very flesh... Can you keep yourself safe from what wakes in the dark?"
He was shocked to found that the bleeding moon has already taken the entire sky.
He could anticipate that something very strange had been happening beyond his understandings. He could also slowly relate the connection between his gory painting and the events happening at the secret meeting.
He could assume that what he had drawn in that day, was merely a glimpse of the near future.
He was slowly beginning to sense the horror and also understanding why his brother told him not to involve in such matters deeply.
At that moment, he became worried about his mother and as well as his family's situation. So, instead of going to the ground floor again, he immediately stepped outside the door and rushed toward the hospital...