When Brian finally opened his eyes in confusion, the first thing he realized was not the dizziness in his head, but the pulling-like pain from his arms. The pulling force came from his own weight, because at this moment, his entire body was centered on his arms and his feet were suspended in mid-air.
In the dim light of the basement, Brian was presented with Sophia's magnificently furnished medieval Rococo living room, his arms tied together by chains and fixed to the ceiling at the top.
"It's really time for you to wake up. I just prepared the painting tools." Sophia's voice came from the light and shadow in front of Brian. Because she was standing in the backlight, Brian couldn't see the situation in the room on the side of the screen. . "Since there is still plenty of time before Abid comes back, let's just finish the final painting."
Sophia's voice sounded extraordinarily calm at this time, but to Brian, who had not yet used the medicine, it was as ethereal and distant as if it came from the sky. He was obviously hung in a very uncomfortable position, and the pain in his arms and the dizziness in his head were not to mention uncomfortable, but he felt very relaxed because of the medicine.
Brian's more than ten years of living in a Miami mental sanatorium gave him a sufficient understanding of the efficacy of various tranquilizers. However, he has always been aware of current affairs, but he has never really tried to be injected with a dose, and there is no drug resistance. So he can only desperately organize the thoughts in his brain at this time, trying to restore his usual logical thinking.
At the other end of the room in front of him, Sophia set up a projection lamp, and the light was facing Brian's face, making him look even more pale and delicate. The light and shadow reflected on the wall at the other end of the room, and on the picture interlaced with Brian's body were six pairs of wings that seemed to be both real and illusory.
With his arms tied up by chains and hanging in the air, with his wings projected on the wall, he looked like an angel who really wanted to fly. If Abid was here, he would surely recognize the wings projected on the wall, which was the tattoo pattern tattooed by Adam Sugarman on his body.
"Sofia?!..." Brian concentrated his energy to sort out what he wanted to say logically. He tried to open his eyes wide to look into the dazzling light and shadow. "Where is this?...What are you doing to me?"
"Don't worry, my Anil." Sophia replied nonchalantly. It seemed that she was convinced that the person who woke up with traditional Chinese medicine had no ability to think at all, as if she was taking drugs and taking high. "I will present you perfectly in my paintings, and then sacrifice a life again... In the end, you can be resurrected in my paintings..."
Brian listened to Sophia's answer and knew that he probably couldn't get a response from her, and there was a clear brushing sound in his ear, she was finishing the final touch up part of the painting. Intuition told Brian that if he waited until Sophia finished painting, he would be in real danger.
Because of this intuition, even though Brian still feels that his thinking and logic are confused, he still tries hard to figure out the situation he is in. He raised his head and looked around at the surrounding walls and low ceilings. He didn't see any windows and the whole room was incomparably quiet, except that he and Sophia made the noise and there was no other wind and noise.
Then he lowered his head and looked at his condition. He didn't know when the clothes that were taken off were neatly folded on the sofa beside him. The phone, which was originally silent but not turned off, has now been taken out of the battery. He looked at the long red hair hanging from his shoulders, and it seemed that Sophia didn't see the mystery behind his hair.
According to what Sophia said when he just woke up, Abid hasn't come back, so she still has time to finish the painting, which means that he didn't lose consciousness for a long time. She would turn on the lights if it was still dark, confirming the assumption that there are no windows and therefore no natural light. Either in a warehouse or underground.
If it seems that the surroundings are extremely quiet and there is no sound of the wind, it should be underground, right? Brian thought. The information that could have been filtered out of his mind in more than ten seconds, he spent a few minutes reasoning under the action of the drug. Then he decided to ask Sophia.
Since Sophia has determined that he has completely lost his ability to think under the action of the drug, he will use this to deceive the other party of the clues and testimony he wants. Otherwise, wouldn't he just drink that glass of red wine with medicine for nothing? Knowing that in order to fool sociopaths who are particularly sensitive to their own kind, Brian has to fool himself before he can perform perfectly.
In talking to Sophia, Brian seemed like a Hollywood experiential actor, imagining himself as a model who really didn't know her true face, rather than the simplest showman. He persuaded himself to be another unsuspecting young man, and he still goes on to act a sedated patient in a mental hospital.
"Are you going to kill me?..." Brian spoke again, this time speaking very slowly, as if he was still under the control of the drug. He acted like a person with a confused mind, saying things that he didn't even know what he meant.
Sophia no doubt let out a chuckle, "Don't use such rude words, this is a sacrificial ceremony. Your sacrifice will be worth it, Brian. Just like my other six angels. ."
"Six?" Thanks to the residual drug effect, this quantifier was processed in Brian's mind a second later, otherwise he would have exposed his flaws due to shock and aroused suspicion.
"Why six?" Brian maintained his slow and dazed tone. "I thought the only model for you before me was that model named Adam...Adam Sugarman..."
Sophia couldn't help laughing contemptuously when she heard Brian's name. "Oh, Adam is just a failure, how can it be compared to my first six perfect offerings? And he's taking your place in vain. When I finish this final painting, I will first He handled it."
"Deal with it?..." Brian repeated Sophia's words like a repeater, but he was thinking about the criminal suspect who he thought was just a freshman, but suddenly he became a seasoned veteran, and the victim has reached the age of seven. so many. A female serial killer, as rare as a rare animal.
"Why are you dealing with him?" Brian continued to look dazed and ignorant, "Is he here?...I don't need his place...I'm going back..."
"Of course he is here, and my six fallen angels are well preserved here." Sophia seemed to be in a very good mood. She was waving her paintbrush to carefully describe the light, shadow and edges on Brian's face at this time. Laughing and chatting with Brian, who seemed to her be confused.
"And you can return to your place soon. Don't worry, I have already figured out how to deal with him." Although she spoke, her hands were not slow. A well-known artist, Sophia isn't just known for her obsession with perfection.
On the original semi-finished oil painting, Brian was the model lying on his side in a bowl of wine and fruit. At this time, Sophia's men had been added with six pairs of fallen angels that were projected on the wall and the scene very well. wing. Compared with the illusory match between Brian himself and the projected picture in the real scene, the wings in the picture extend from the back, as if they were originally there.
The characters in the paintings that Brian had seen before were still blurred, although he was used as a model to depict them, but they still didn't have the feeling of imprinting real people into the paintings as it is now. At this time, the faces and expressions of the characters in the painting are refined. The facial features and the light and shadow on the faces are all shown hanging in the air. The expressions are a mixture of pain and relaxation, and more of a blank and innocent look of Brian.
Just as Sophia said, after the painting is completed, the model will be sacrificed, then the soul of the model will be attached to the characters in the painting. When the characters in the paintings are in her eyes, they will really come alive and live in her paintings. When you pass by these seven sets of pictures with different but interrelated themes, the eyes of the fallen angels will also look back at you when you look at them.
Brian took a deep breath, he knew it was time, and if Dillon, who had been monitoring his movements, found him, Sophia would be able to get everything in their hands.
"Where? Aren't we in your home?..." Brian tried to use a way of speaking that would not attract Sophia's attention, and revealed what he wanted to convey through the monitor. "Did you keep me in your basement, thinking that if you hide it, no one will find us..."
But he was still too anxious. As soon as he finished speaking, the voice driven by Sophia's actions stopped abruptly. Maybe it was because Brian didn't even know that his guess hit the red heart, which suddenly aroused the woman's vigilance. Or maybe it was because there were too many questions in his words, too obvious because he was anxious.
"You talk too much." Sophia's originally leisurely tone changed, becoming vigilant and indifferent. She stood up from behind the light of the projector and walked a few steps to Brian who was hanging in the air.
After getting closer, Brian finally saw what Sophia looked like at this time. Unlike the previous artists who only wore home clothes and created at home, Sophia didn't know when she changed her clothes and dressed up as if she could attend the party immediately.
The solemn dress is obviously related to the sacrificial ceremony she has been talking about. She is apparently going to perform her killing ritual shortly after the painting is finished. Brian's heartbeat started to speed up because of the threat. She raised her hand and pinched Brian's chin, pulling Brian, who was swaying in the air due to inertia, in front of her.
"Maybe you need another shot before I finish the painting." She pinched Brian's chin, looked around at Brian's facial expression, and then moved closer to the pupil of Brian's eye. look. "The medicine you drink is ineffective, and it will recover so quickly."
However, what she didn't know was that Brian's thinking ability had completely recovered at this time. Of course, even if he regained his ability to think, it only made Brian feel even more helpless. His hands were tied above his head, his body was suspended in mid-air, and his body was weak and weak due to the aftereffects of the medicine.
Brian watched Sophia in the corner of the small room decorated as a living room, opened a drawer of a cabinet, and took out a needle. Then he calmly took a certain amount from a bottle of transparent potion water, and walked back to him.
Since he can't resist now, he can only leave more information to Dillon before he loses consciousness. Brian thought helplessly, and continued to break the jar and said, "What did you take from that small drawer? Don't bring that syringe in front of me, I don't want... um..."
Sophia completely ignored his words, and as soon as she walked in front of him, she stabbed the needle directly into the skin of Brian's thigh. With the slender needle tube and Sophia's quick push regardless of the opponent's ability to bear, Brian couldn't help groaning. Then not long after, a double image appeared in front of his eyes again, and then his vision went black and he lost consciousness.