She headed downstairs and found Mery sitting alone at one of the tables with a bottle of alcohol in front of her. The bottle was already half empty.
"Mery, what are you doing with that? Those bottles are expensive!" Sharon rushed forward and snatched the bottle away from her daughter. "Since when did you start drinking like this?"
Mery looked up at her mother with unfocused eyes.
"Mother, I want to ask you something very important. I don't care if you want to lie to me or not, but I want the truth from you for once."
Sharon felt a cold knot form in her stomach. "What is it? What are you talking about?"
Mery leaned forward and stared directly into her mother's eyes.
"Did you purposely close the door that night to get rid of father?"
Sharon staggered back as if she had been struck.
"What? I did it to protect both of us! He was being chased by an orc! What else was I supposed to do?"
Mery stood up from the chair and swayed slightly. She was clearly drunk, but her words cut through the air with sharp clarity.
"Mother, don't lie to me. You didn't close that door to protect me. You closed it to get rid of him. So I want to ask you again. Why did you hate father so much? When I was younger, you told me that father hated me. Was that the truth, or was it another lie?"
Sharon's face twisted with confusion and anger.
"What are you saying? I did everything for you! That man, he was going to get us both killed if I let him inside!"
"I remember everything now. For some reason, the images keep flooding back into my mind." Mery looked up at the ceiling while tears gathered in her eyes. "Never mind, mother. You will not tell me the truth anyway. That is what you always do. You pretend to be some kind of hero who sacrificed everything for me, but you are a terrible person underneath all of that pretending."
Sharon stared at her daughter with growing horror. She did not understand what was happening. Why was Mery acting like a demon possessed her?
"Don't tell me," Sharon whispered while stepping backwards. "Did a demon possess you? Is that what is happening right now?"
Mery glanced by her side and saw Edsel standing in the shadows, watching her.
He pointed at the knife lying on the table and then pointed at her mother. His meaning was clear.
Mery swallowed hard. Was Edsel showing her the path to true salvation? If she got rid of her own mother, would she finally be free from this guilt that had been eating at her for years? She felt no need to hesitate. Edsel was her master, the one who would save her from this cruel world.
"Yes, he is right. This is true salvation," she whispered to herself.
Sharon tried to walk towards her daughter with her hands outstretched.
"You are drunk right now, and you are not acting like yourself. Let us go inside your room and talk about this in the morning when you are feeling better."
Mery did not move.
"You know, mother, I think adults are filthy creatures. All of them. But you are filthier than anyone else for betraying my father with other men, even when he was still alive."
Sharon froze in place. Her face turned serious, and she glared at her daughter with eyes that held no warmth.
"Did you see everything back then? You knew all this time?"
Mery pushed her mother aside and walked towards the table where the knife was resting. Sharon saw her daughter's intention and tried to grab her arm.
"Stop this right now! Stop! Stop!" Sharon screamed while trying to hold Mery back. "Please don't hurt yourself!"
Mery smiled coldly. She did not turn the blade towards herself. Instead, she used the back of the knife to strike her mother across the face. Sharon staggered backwards while clutching her bloody mouth.
"Mery! What has gotten into you?"
Mery stood up and walked towards her mother, who was backing away towards the door.
"Please, let us talk about this. Please do not hurt me. I am your mother!"
The pub was dark, with no light coming through the windows. Sharon could not see any path to escape. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her back. She looked down and saw a blade protruding from her stomach.
"How is this possible?" she coughed while blood filled her mouth. She turned her head and saw Les standing behind her, his hand still wrapped around the knife. "I see. You were the second voice that I heard earlier."
"Tsk, tsk," Les clicked his tongue while pulling the blade out.
Sharon fell to the floor bleeding. Les walked past her while cleaning the knife on his sleeve. Then he suddenly grabbed Mery by the neck and squeezed.
"Don't hurt my daughter! Please, do not hurt her!"
Sharon tried to crawl towards Les, but he kicked her away with his boot.
"Tsk, what a pain. To think that you could not even handle getting rid of your own mother," Les said while tightening his grip on Mery's throat.
Mery clawed at his hand while struggling to breathe. "I am sorry. I am sorry. I will do better."
Les released her, and she fell to her knees gasping. "My lord does not need weak minded people like you who cannot follow simple orders. At this rate, you are completely useless to him."
"Useless," Mery repeated while staring at the floor.
Les glared down at her. "We need to resolve this situation now. I told you to gather all the people in the village and bring them to the facility. Do you not understand that the lord is waiting for results? We do not have more time to waste."
Mery looked up with a determined expression. "Yes, sir. I will not fail this time. I promise you."
Sharon watched the exchange with fading vision. She did not understand what was happening, but her eyes were growing heavy. She did not have the strength to speak anymore. She was dying while her daughter was being taken away from her, claimed by something she could not fight against.
Slowly, she closed her eyes and let go.
Mery stared at her mother's corpse while tears streamed down her face. Les watched her from the side, waiting for her to break.
The scene was cruel to witness from a human perspective. He knew deep down that Mery should be screaming, crying, collapsing under the weight of what she had just done. But she just stood there, frozen.
Mery wiped her tears away with the back of her hand and turned to face Les. Her eyes were empty, but her voice was steady.
"Tonight, I will gather everyone in the village. All of them. Tonight."
Les's eyes widened, and then he smiled. "Sure. Let us see if you can actually do it then."