"It's alright… I'm here, I came… I'm sorry I took so long," Daniel said, his voice hoarse, carrying both relief and regret. Then he stepped back a little, his eyes scanning André's body from head to toe, as if afraid to discover something even worse than what he already saw. "That damned Enzo… he really hurt you."
As soon as he heard the name, everything changed. André's face froze for a moment, then his chest began to rise and fall violently, his breaths quickening as if he'd just been stabbed with a painful memory. "En… Enzo… Enzo's going to kill me… he's going to kill me!"
His voice was broken, as if each word was being forced from a mouth that lacked the courage to speak it. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the cold, and his eyes were lost, not seeing Daniel before him, but the specter of Enzo, drawing closer… smiling… then reaching out his hand again.
Daniel felt a deep wave of astonishment, his heart overflowing with a mixture of anger and relief. He lunged towards André, hugging him tightly, as if his embrace could shield him from all the pain in the world.
"No… he won't kill you…" Daniel said, his voice trembling but firm. "I taught him a lesson. He'll never dare lay a hand on you again… That bastard hid you in the cellar..."
André felt warmth spreading from the embrace, the dark whispers in his head fading for a moment, but he could still feel the weight of the lost memories.
Then Daniel added, in a quieter but intense tone: "I've been looking for you…"
He's been looking… for me… The words pierced André's head slowly, like rays of light seeping into a room that had been dark for ages. They began to plant a strange feeling within him, a warmth. No one had abandoned him… he hadn't been left alone as he was used to. That simple, yet powerful truth began to soothe his trembling heart, ease the weight of fear, and melt some of the ice that had coated his insides for so long.
André pulled back slightly from Daniel's embrace, wiping away his trembling tears, his eyes questioning. "What's going to happen to me now?"
Daniel smiled a gentle smile, a mixture of resolve and warmth, and began to move with reassuring steps. "I'm going to get you out of here… Come on, I'll take you to my room. I want the doctor to look after you."
But something caught André's eye. It wasn't the light, nor the darkness… but Luca, there in the corner of the room, sitting with his arms crossed, smiling a smile that was too wide, heavy, unnatural.
André pointed toward Luca, his voice hesitant. "And that person?"
Luca smacked his forehead, his voice carrying a mix of sarcasm and mockery. "Idiot… you really are an idiot."
Daniel turned quickly, looking around, his eyes searching for any threat… but he saw nothing, as if the air itself was hiding Luca from his sight. "What person?" he said, his voice a mix of confusion and caution.
The atmosphere suddenly became charged, caught between Daniel's safety and Luca's mystery, and André felt a shiver run through his body, not knowing whether to laugh or scream… The whole world had become a fragmented mirror between reality and a horror that wouldn't dissipate. "There's a person… I can see him… He's talking, too…" André said, his voice low but carrying a strange determination, and began to move in small steps toward Luca, each step as if defying logic.
Luca smiled a serene smile, heavy, filled with mystery. "No one can see me but you… because I allowed you to."
André lifted his head stubbornly, his eyes glowing with a strange desire for everything to be clear. "Then… allow him to see you too… I want him to see you."
Daniel blinked several times, his hand trembling as he watched the scene, bewilderment twisting his mind, trying to understand what was happening before him. He reached out to pull André away, his heart fluttering, thinking for a moment that madness had taken his boy… but there was nothing natural happening, everything was fleeting, strange, and beyond the bounds of reason.
Suddenly, smoke began to form in front of Daniel, thick, cold, swirling in the air like a living thing. Daniel stepped back, his heart fluttering violently, each beat like an internal alarm bell. He pulled André with him, trying to protect him, trying to understand what was happening before his eyes. And in the midst of that swirling smoke, Luca began to materialize before Daniel, gradually, slowly, until he appeared clearly.
He stood there, his crimson eyes radiating a soft light, his smile cunning, heavy. Luca ruffled his hair with a grumbling innocence, as if he was tired of all this panic, then said in a quiet voice that nevertheless weighed down the air itself: "Are you satisfied, little one…? He sees me now."
"I told you… there was someone there." André said, his voice trembling slightly, but filled with stubbornness, his eyes not leaving Luca, his heart pounding between fear and curiosity.
Daniel blinked several times, his mouth slightly open, every muscle in his body tense, then whispered in a broken voice, unable to believe what his eyes were seeing: "Mamma mia… what am I looking at… I can't believe it…"
Luca smiled a wide smile, heavy, mixing sarcasm and mystery, then laughed in a low voice that echoed in every corner of the room. "No… believe it… I'm really standing right in front of you."
The laughter was strange, carrying no warmth, nor a direct threat, but he was there, present, tangible, real. Daniel looked at André, his eyes carrying both resolve and concern, struggling to compose himself, as if the world around him was still teetering between reality and unreality.
"I'll investigate you later…" he said, his voice low but firm, then added, turning toward André gently, trying to soothe him. "Right now… I want to get this boy treated."
Luca gestured toward the door, a simple, almost conventional movement, but something in the inclination… in the manner… made it seem polite, but filled with mockery, as if he were doing a favor for someone who didn't know his life was on the line. "Please, be my guest, signore…" he said in a low, smooth, but weighty voice.
Daniel nudged Luca with his finger, a cautious movement, but there was something satirical in the glance that accompanied it, as if saying, "Really… what is this?" Then he took André's hand, his grip firm but reassuring, and walked him toward the exit, each step calculated, each movement feeling pressured and real at the same time.
"This… is really insane…" Daniel muttered, his voice trembling slightly from the strange mixture of fear and astonishment.
André, his eyes moving quickly, tried to cling to every detail, every corner, every shadow, every glimmer of light… trying to remember anything, to capture any image in his mind before it vanished, but the memories were hazy, distorting, receding with every step.
Until they reached Daniel's room… Its atmosphere was warm, comfortable, completely different from the darkness and cold he had lived in, as if it belonged to another world, far from pain and loss. The room was neatly arranged, its warm colors soothing to the eye, and on the couch, sat a person wearing a white coat, his tranquility radiating reassurance.
On the couch sat a man wearing a white coat, his receding silver hair revealing the features of a man who had spent his life studying pain more than life. He lifted his head as they entered, and said in a quiet voice that carried the weight of experience: "You're late… I thought you'd gotten lost on the way."
Daniel pointed toward him and said to André: "This is the doctor, Giulio Conti. He'll take care of you, and then we'll leave this place."
André didn't move. His eyes darted between Daniel and the doctor, as if questioning: Can I trust him? Daniel smiled reassuringly, and nodded. He hesitated for a moment, then approached with slow steps, and sat next to the doctor on the couch.
"What wounds..." whispered Dr. Giulio, his voice quiet but filled with astonishment, beginning to carefully examine André's body, touching every mark, then lifting his gaze to his face. "How could a child be hurt like this..." He took a cotton ball, poured a red solution on it, and began to dab it gently on André's cheek where the burn mark was. "Unfortunately… this will leave a scar."
André felt a twinge of pain, his heart tensing, a cold sweat seeping onto his forehead, but the room was quiet, the warmth surrounding him, and despite everything, his eyes kept meeting Luca's gaze in the corner. The doctor began to bandage André's wounds quietly, while Daniel stood behind him, watching every movement with nervous eyes. The smell of disinfectant mixed with the smell of metal and blood, and the sound of cotton rubbing against skin felt like it was scraping directly on his nerves.
"We're done, little one…" said Dr. Giulio as he placed the last bandage, then lifted his gaze to him with a slight smile. "And now, tell me… what's your name?"
André froze. The question was simple… but it fell on his chest like a stone. His eyes retreated slowly to the ground, and his body shrank as if he'd taken an unexpected blow. His fingers tightened on the edges of the robe wrapped around him, and his voice barely came out, weak, hoarse, closer to a broken whisper: "I… I can't remember."
Silence fell. No one moved for long seconds. Signs of deep surprise appeared on the doctor's face, his eyebrows lifting slightly, while Daniel's eyes widened suddenly, as if the air itself had disappeared around him. He took stumbling steps forward, his hand trembling as he leaned toward André. "What… what did you say?!"
"I… I can't remember… just… some little pieces…" His voice barely came out, weak, trembling, as if the words were escaping from a place very deep inside him, a place he no longer recognized. "But… nothing from them… nothing from them really belongs to me."
Daniel froze, his eyes widening, his voice coming out broken as he gasped: "What's happening, Giulio… did something happen to his head?!"
Dr. Giulio nodded slowly, his eyes moving between André's face and body, a silent analysis of every sign. "No… I don't think it's because of the injury… The blow is far from the temporal lobe… so I don't think his memory loss is a result of the blow itself."
"What's the reason, then… tell me!" Daniel's voice trembled, his eyes widened, as if every word that came from André's mouth was shaking the foundations of reality around them.
Giulio lowered his head, the tone of his voice not changing, but carrying the weight of scientific helplessness. "I'm sorry… I don't know yet. I'll look into it and tell you when I find an answer."
A heavy silence descended. André sat, staring into the void, as if something inside him was slowly being emptied of its meaning. He didn't understand, didn't feel, just an emptiness that was widening.
Then his voice came out hoarse, nervous. "Won't… I remember then?" He lifted his gaze toward Daniel. A confused look, clinging to something that didn't exist. "Don't you even know my name?"
The question wasn't a search for an answer, but a silent cry from a dark depth that had lost its features. He was addressing his own erased self, that void that was supposed to contain him, but didn't.
The words pierced Daniel like a blade, cold and precise, sinking into his depths without resistance. He felt a weight pressing on his chest, a price he was only now realizing. He closed his mouth, breathed slowly, then said in a quiet voice filled with regret: "I'm sorry… that I didn't ask about it sooner."
André's head lowered slightly, his body surrendering to something bigger than him. Dr. Giulio reached out and stroked his hair with a light, restrained paternal gesture. "You'll remember… of course, you'll remember."
Then he stood up, picking up his white coat. "I'll leave now, and if I discover anything new, I'll call you immediately."
"Thank you, Doctor," Daniel said in a tired tone, then turned suddenly as if a thought had crossed his mind. He looked at Luca, standing silently by the door, then gestured to the doctor before he left. "Can I ask you something… a little strange?"
Giulio stopped, his eyebrows rising slightly. "Please."
Daniel pointed to the corner of the room, toward the dark wall near the window, where Luca was standing, smiling that disturbing smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Do you feel anything… strange there? Maybe a person?"
The doctor followed his gaze for a moment, then shook his head slowly, blinking in incomprehension. "No… I don't see anything. What do you mean?"
Daniel chuckled softly, trying to break the tension, and said with a smile. "Sorry to bother you… I don't mean anything."
As soon as he left, Daniel turned toward Luca, his eyes lit with curiosity and caution at the same time. "Now… you're going to explain everything about yourself to me, alien."
Luca smiled slightly, that smile that tried to be playful and sarcastic, but didn't hide any of the darkness inherent in his tone. "No… no… no… Spirit… I am a cursed spirit, man!" He said it simply, as if he was joking, then approached, his body half-floating in the air, watching Daniel with gleaming eyes, observing every small detail in his reaction.
André pointed to Luca with his finger and said in a tone half serious, half mocking: "He can… ignite his finger."
Luca chuckled softly, his smile as unsettling as ever, his eyes gleaming with something between amusement and menace. "I can ignite a house, too… Do you want to see?"
Daniel recoiled immediately, his hands trembling slightly, approached cautiously, touched Luca's finger then recoiled as if he had touched a hot surface: "No… No need for that!"
Daniel turned his eyes toward Luca, his heart pounding, his mind torn between curiosity and fear. "Why… why did you only appear to him at first? Why couldn't I see you, too?"
Luca smiled slightly, that unsettling smile that didn't reach his eyes, as if he was enjoying every part of Daniel's bewilderment. "Because the little boy managed to cross the boundaries and summon me… to this world. So, you could describe him as my little master or something like that."
André trembled slightly, his eyes widening with astonishment. "I… I did this?!"