Maldo tiptoed into his room, each step echoing in the velvety silence that enveloped the place.
Luca followed him quietly, closing the door behind him with a soft click, as if the walls were breathing softly.
Maldo's heart continued to echo with everything he had just seen... Sally was sick, with Gigi the teddy bear in her arms and Luca's mysterious spark, which he still couldn't explain.
The room was small and cozy, with warm beige walls, lit by dim light seeping in from the window.
The bed was covered with a soft blanket, and on the floor was a small rug that seemed unfamiliar to him.
A small shelf next to the wall held some books and toys, including the teddy bear Gigi, which was now in his arms, giving him a sense of reassurance amid all the mystery that had unfolded that day.
The air is calm, only the whispers of the wind from outside enter quietly, as if the room itself is trying to calm him down and encourage him to relax... The unavailable
"Luca... that girl..." Maldo said, his voice trembling slightly, his eyes fixed on the teddy bear in his arms, as if it were the only refuge that gave him a sense of security. "Is she very sick?"
Luca, who was usually very talkative, stood silent this time and sighed softly, as if the question had brought him back to face what he sometimes preferred to keep to himself.
Maldo did not calm down, and his voice became more urgent, the child's wide eyes shining with concern and curiosity:
"Can you cure her? Will she always be in pain like this? What is her illness?"
Maldo kept asking questions one after another, as if his anxious curiosity was trying to fathom something much bigger than himself. At the same time, Luca watched him silently, trying to find the right words to calm this child's heart, filled with fear and confusion, without revealing all the secrets at once.
Luca stood in front of him, his voice low and calm, each word heavy with the confidence he was trying to convey:
"Maldo... just go to sleep now..."
He stepped back a little, leaving the room filled with a light silence, then added:
"The girl will be fine... just relax."
"But... but..." Maldo muttered hesitantly, his little heart fluttering between anxiety and fear.
Luca sighed and wiped his face with a faint groan, as if this confusing situation bothered him a little. Then he approached Maldo and helped him lie down:
"No buts... Come on, sleep."
He placed his hand on Maldo's forehead, and his eyes glowed a dark red, flashing with a mysterious and mesmerizing power. Little by little, sleepiness crept into Maldo's body, and his eyes slowly closed, leaving the room in a mysterious silence, where safety and awe mingled together in a single moment.
"I'm sorry... but your little body needs to rest and grow too," he whispered, as if talking to himself more than to Maldo.
Then he walked slowly toward the window, folded his arms across his chest, and looked up at the clear sky, where the stars twinkled with a strange calm.
He let out a short sigh, mixed with sarcasm and boredom, before muttering to himself in a tone that carried a hint of surprise:
"I can't believe I'm babysitting a child."
He stood there for a moment, watching the sky as if it would answer him with its silence, then turned his gaze to the sleeping Maldo, whose face was enveloped in a cloud of innocence.
A fleeting smile crossed Luca's face, then he turned his back and walked quietly out of the room, leaving the door to close slowly behind him.
It was a strange calm, not like sleep, but as if time itself had stopped around him.
He slowly opened his eyes and found not the ceiling of his room, but a sky of soft light that changed colors between blue and silver.
He was standing in the middle of an infinite space, dotted with points of light like dust suspended in a dream.
The air was warm, yet it carried the scent of the sea and snow at the same time.
"What is this place?" Maldo whispered with a trembling voice and raised his hand in front of him... but his fingers passed through the air as if the world around him had no weight.
Everything seemed real... but he couldn't touch it.
Suddenly—
The sound of gunfire rang out.
One shot... then another... then a third, echoing in the endless space, reverberating from all directions until it almost shook his little heart.
He quickly turned around, searching with his eyes for the source of the sound,
But the fog suddenly thickened, becoming denser, as if breathing his fear.
In the distance, he saw a red light flashing intermittently, shining and disappearing...
Then there was a sharp, piercing scream, as if coming from somewhere very close, then another further away, until the sounds mixed in his little mind and he could no longer distinguish their source.
Then he noticed the footsteps of a man approaching him, each step making a faint, heavy sound. The man was carrying a stick, which he tapped lightly on the ground, as if it were a slow rhythm that heightened the tension in the air.
The man's voice grew louder, calm but imposing and frightening:
"Come on... grab the stick... You won't escape me... come on, come on, let's have some fun."
Terror gripped little Maldo's heart, and he took a step back, his eyes wide with fear:
"No... impossible... it can't be him..." he whispered, his voice breaking between terror and surprise, as if everything was pressing down on him, forcing him to face something bigger than anything he had ever known before.
Then... the face appeared in front of him, very close, shining with sharp shadows in the dim light.
"An... Enzo... monster!" Maldo muttered in a small, broken voice, his eyes widening until he seemed about to collapse.
Anzo's features in the dream were distorted, exaggerated, his eyes shining terrifyingly, and his smile... a merciless smile that made Maldo's little heart tremble with fear and confusion.
Maldo shook his head frantically, clutching his small face with both hands, as if he wanted to stop this horror from entering his mind.
Anzo laughed, a hysterical laugh that echoed in the emptiness around him, creating a reverberation that pressed on the child's heart, mixing with every pulse of fear in his body.
Maldo turned to run away, each step weighing heavily on his feet as if the ground itself was preventing him from escaping...
Suddenly, he found Don Dante standing firmly in front of him, a cigarette between his fingers, his face calm but his eyes carrying a deadly threat.
Dante smiled coldly, and his words were like a sword to Maldo's heart:
"There is no place to run."
Everything began to close in quickly, the shadows converging, the red light dancing on the foggy walls around him.
"No... don't come..." Maldo whispered, his voice broken, his eyes glued to any imaginary exit he could escape through.
Behind him, Anzo was also getting closer, his hysterical laughter intersecting with Maldo's heartbeat, pressing in on him from all sides.
"No... go away... leave me alone!" the child screamed, his voice trembling and full of terror, as if the words themselves were about to break from the intensity of his fear.
Maldo slumped down, his small body trembling, his hands clutching his hair with all his might as if trying to pull the nightmare out of his mind.
Tears streamed down his cheeks, his eyes begging the moving shadows around him for a glimmer of safety.
"Enough... Help me... Daniel!"
The hallucinations intensified terribly, the voices grew louder, and his screams became higher, as if every part of his small body was screaming with his soul.
They came closer and closer to him, their faces smeared with hysterical laughter, leaving him no room to escape, until they were only centimeters away from him.
Maldo closed his eyes tightly, his heart beating wildly, his breathing ragged... Then suddenly, he opened them and gasped with all his heart.
He found himself in his bed, the room quiet, warm light streaming through the window onto his face, the ceiling familiar and calm as it had been when he entered.
Maldo remained lying down, his body trembling, his hand still tangled in his hair, sweat covering his forehead.
He tried to catch his breath, but he felt his heart still beating wildly, as if he had not yet completely emerged from the nightmare.
The sounds of birds began to creep into the room, signaling the start of a new morning. A light breeze passed through the open window, gently moving the curtains.
But what caught Maldo's attention more than that was the light, warm weight at his feet... Something was gently touching his feet, sending an unexpected feeling of security.
He looked down and found Sally sleeping at his feet, her small body wrapped in her blanket, her steady breathing reflecting a strange calm after all the terror he had experienced in his nightmare.
Sally! She's sleeping here... The sound echoed quietly in Maldo's head as he turned his hand to his face and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
The dim morning light shone on her hair, her peaceful features, and the blanket that embraced her.
A strange feeling swept through Maldo's heart, one he couldn't quite understand, but it was comforting in a mysterious way, as if something about Sally's presence at his feet whispered safety to him.
He gently reached out his hand, wanting to brush the hair away from her face, to discover her small features hidden behind soft strands.
As soon as Maldo moved those strands away from her face, Sally's eyelids fluttered slightly, like a butterfly's wings stirring the air around her.
He froze in place for a moment, then quickly recoiled, as if a single touch was enough to ignite all his confusion.
He quickly grabbed the teddy bear and covered his face with it, trying to hide his childish blush behind the silence of the room.
He didn't know exactly why he did it, but he felt his heart beating faster than it should, and that... for reasons he didn't fully understand... he didn't want her to see him when she woke up.
Then, slowly, Sally raised her hand and rubbed her eyes, before looking at him and smiling a small smile, half warmth and half surprise.
"Oh... you're awake!" she said in a lively tone, while he was still hiding behind Gigi, pretending to be brave when he wasn't.
Maldo froze in place, not knowing whether to respond or escape from the bed itself.
He lowered the teddy bear slightly, just enough for his confused eyes to peek out from above Gigi's head, and said in a low voice:
"Um... Good morning, Sally."
"You were watching me, weren't you?" she said, tilting her head slightly, her voice half surprised and amused, half childishly playful.
Maldo's face reddened even more, and he became even more flustered, hugging Gigi tightly to his chest, as if she were a shield from the slight shame he felt.
"B-because you were sleeping at my feet! I wasn't... I mean, I didn't mean to..."
The words stumbled in his throat, his features clouded with troubled embarrassment, and Sally stopped laughing to look at him with her calm eyes, filled with a reassurance that only innocent hearts possess.
She paused for a moment, then said in a light tone, as if apologizing with a smile:
"Actually... I felt that you were suffering, so I stayed to watch over you."
She bowed her head shyly and added in a quieter voice:
"But... I ended up falling asleep."
"So that means you were the one watching over me."
Maldo said it in a low tone that carried a hint of childish playfulness, while raising his eyebrows in an attempt to look serious.
Sally stared at him for a second, then covered her mouth with her hand as she laughed, that light laugh that sounded like the ringing of small bells. "You caught me."
Maldo smiled slightly, as if the smile had moved across his face for a brief moment before his features returned to their usual calm.
He carefully handed Sally the teddy bear, his small hand trembling slightly as he tried to appear normal:
"Are you okay now?"
Sally nodded slightly, her hair swaying gently with the movement, a gentle smile on her lips as she hugged the teddy bear to her chest.
"I'm fine... I feel much better now." She paused for a moment, then said in a tone closer to a whisper, light but confident:
"I'm used to this."
Used to it? To that pain?
The words exploded in Maldo's head like a distant echo in an endless void.
His eyebrows rose, and his gaze froze on her.
Her features revealed nothing unusual, just a little girl hugging her doll and smiling...
But that very simplicity was terrifying... as if it were a confession uttered from a heart so exhausted by pain that it could no longer distinguish between the ordinary and the painful.
He didn't realize when his gaze fell to the ground, or when his voice was lost, but he finally muttered:
"How can anyone get used to pain...?"
Sally raised her eyes to him.
It was just one glance, but it carried more weight than her age.
"When pain comes every day," she said with strange calmness, "it's no longer strange, Maldo... It becomes like sleeping, like waking up."
Maldo stood still, not knowing what to say at a moment like this.
Words seemed like heavy stones that were impossible to utter, so he chose silence. He just looked at the floor, as if the real answer was hiding in the shadows under the bed.
Then the sound of the doorknob rattled as it opened with a sudden lightness, and the two turned toward the source.
Luca entered with swaying steps, his movements a mixture of laziness and playfulness, like a clown who had lost his rhythm but still insisted on performing.
He smiled broadly as he opened his arms and said in a light theatrical tone:
"What a beautiful morning! Come on, kids, it's breakfast time!"
His manner of speaking alone was enough to dispel what remained of the heavy atmosphere.
Maldo blinked twice, as if rearranging his thoughts after an emergency landing from another world.
Luca continued with a sly smile, waving his hand toward the door:
"Come on, Maldo, Dr. Giulio is here too."
At that moment, Maldo felt a vague tightness in his chest, something not quite like fear... but close to it.
"Come on!"
Sally said, grabbing Maldo's hand without waiting for his permission.
She laughed with a clear voice as she dragged him toward the edge of the bed, then jumped lightly, her hair flying like a flash in the morning.
"W-wait!" Maldo muttered as he tried to keep up with her speed, his feet barely touching the ground, his face flushed with a redness he didn't know was from embarrassment or panic.