Damien, meanwhile, jogged down the wide marble stairs which led from the lobby to the basement. In the far distance ahead of him, it was possible to hear muffled voices—the voice of Ann pleading, and that of Richard, resisting. Damien's face, however, was expressionless. And he kept right on walking.

Ann had lunged forward to shut the drawer, throwing herself between Richard and the menacing daggers. 'I won't let you!' she screamed.

Richard stared back at her. 'Give me the daggers, Ann.'

She shook her head, tears beginning to stream down her cheeks.

'Ann.' He spoke very slowly, emphasizing every word. 'Give—them—to—me.'

They stared at each other for what seemed an eternity. Finally she dropped her gaze from his and turned around haltingly, as though a great, shattering sadness had taken over her heart. Slowly, slowly, she pulled open the drawer.

Damien was now standing directly outside the door leading to Warren's office, listening intently, concentrating almost as though in a trance. He had shut his eyes and had begun to tremble.

Once again Ann seemed to hesitate. She moved with a dreadful sense of purpose, as though struggling to stop herself from what she was being directed to do. Was there a voice inside her far more powerful than her own feeble will? She reached into the drawer and pulled out the cluster of daggers. And then she turned back to face her husband.

Richard held out his hands for the knives.

Suddenly Ann moved forward, as though possessed with a strange new demonic power. Her face had become evil, twisted, horribly altered into that of a madwoman. She leaned close to Richard's ear and whispered, 'Here, Richard, here are your daggers,' as she plunged all seven of the blades deep into his body.

His eyes opened wide in shock and horror. 'Ann!' he cried out, as his body fell forward, smashing against the floor, the fall forcing the blades to cruelly pierce his body.

Ann tossed back her head with a gesture of triumph, her eyes closed, her mouth framed in a joyous smile, and then she screamed out one shattering word.

'DAMIEN!'

Damien had stopped trembling, and he opened his eyes. He reached out for the doorknob, then hesitated, as though something had forced him to change his mind. He stood there quietly for a while, as if in deep concentration. And then, very softly and quickly, he turned and moved back toward the stairs.

In the boiler room, which was directly adjacent to Warren's workshop, the largest furnace units began to rumble ominously...

In the workshop, Ann stood quite still, as though suspended in a trance of joy.

Damien began to walk away faster.