The silence of the early morning in the house was heavy, broken only by the low hum of the refrigerator. Cael was sitting on the living room sofa, but his mind was miles away, caught in a whirlwind. The revelation on television had hit him like a punch to the gut, and now the fragments of an impossible puzzle swirled in his head. Carolina Seraphyne. Carolina Reacher. His mother. Were they one and the same? The public heroine and the reclusive woman who taught him to fear the world?
Each question was a hungry wolf howling in the emptiness of his chest. And, added to that, the enigma of Maya. The vibrant girl who had disappeared, giving way to a shadow that haunted him with a plea for forgiveness he never fully understood. Cael's mind, already overwhelmed by the anxiety attack hours before, was at its limit. Problems he had ignored for years now hammered his temples with the force of an anvil.
Needing something to anchor him to reality, he stood up and walked to the kitchen. The room was dark, with the moonlight casting a pale rectangle on the cold tile floor. The smell of brewed coffee hung in the air. He grabbed a glass, filled it with tap water, and drank it in one gulp, the cold sensation going down his throat. His guard was down, his senses, normally so sharp, dulled by mental fatigue.
That's why he didn't hear her approaching.
Suddenly, she felt a warmth enveloping her back, thin arms circling her waist in an embrace that memory had almost forgotten.
"I was very worried about you," Maya said, her voice serene, an echo of the girl he knew.
"I didn't notice her." — Surprise paralyzed him for a second. — "What's happening to me?"
"When I saw you unconscious in Hana's lap, my heart almost stopped..." Her voice was a muffled whisper against his back.
The fact that Maya was embracing Cael was an event that hadn't happened in years, an unexpected bridge being built over an abyss of resentment. Cael's inattention, still reeling from the recent crisis, may have made this moment of vulnerability possible. Even surprised, Cael decided to seize the rare opportunity.
"Maya... What happened to you?" Cael asks, his voice low and serious, which takes Maya by surprise.
"With me? I thought the subject was you. You, who had a recent crisis. One that scared me, a lot!" She changed the subject, her voice becoming a little higher-pitched, a clear sign of anxiety.
"I knew a Maya..." he said, his voice retaining its usual coldness, but with a weight of nostalgia and hurt. "A girl who liked to go out, go to parties, and who, for a while, was very close to me. And now, there's another Maya. A girl who abandoned me, continued going to parties, but, from one day to the next, stopped. And now she's chasing after me, begging for forgiveness and, at the same time, pretending nothing happened. And there's another fact: this 'new Maya' became so desperate for this 'forgiveness' that..."
— PLEASE! — Maya raises her voice abruptly, almost a growl, but quickly calms down, remembering it's nighttime, and lowers her tone to a desperate whisper. — No... I-I don't want to talk about it. This is my business.
"No, Maya! This is our business!" Hana's voice, firm and sharp as glass, came from the kitchen entrance. Her silhouette stood there, and her amber eyes , normally so calm, gleamed with a rare severity.
Maya pulled away from Cael as if she'd been electrocuted, recoiling against the opposite wall. Her shoulders slumped, her green eyes wide with panic.
"Cael, please don't tell Hana!" she pleaded, looking from one to the other like a cornered animal.
"Tell him what? That you offered your body to him in a desperate attempt to get forgiveness? He already told you that," Hana said, her voice harsh but with veiled pain.
The revelation hit Maya like a thunderbolt. Her body stiffened, her mouth dropped open in shock, and she began to tremble uncontrollably. Hana approached and gently placed her hands under Maya's cheeks.
Maya... I don't know what made you go to this extreme. But it's not good to keep this to yourself.
Maya pulled Hana's hands away from her face with a sharp tug and took a few steps back. Clutching her own arm, she looked at the floor, her eyes blurry, reliving a trauma. She gripped her head tightly, ruffling her red hair, a low moan escaping her lips.
"No, no, no..." she repeated, her expression one of absolute panic, her breathing rapid and gasping, as if she were suffocating.
Hana looked at Cael, terrified. The scene transcended her medical understanding. Cael approached Maya, who turned her back, her body tense, as if holding something about to explode.
"Maya..." he said, his voice cautious but firm, and touched her shoulder.
"NO!" she screamed.
Immediately, her body convulsed in a violent spasm. She turned, her emerald-green eyes now "dead," empty, and delivered a punch to Cael's chest. It wasn't Maya's punch. It was a brutal impact, of inhuman force.
WHUMP!
Cael is thrown far away, crashing through the kitchen wall as if it were paper, his lean, athletic body becoming a projectile in mid-air. The impact resounds with a dry "CRACK!" as he shatters the first tree in the yard. The backyard is revealed in a blur: dense grass, a few bushes, a low fence, and beyond it, the dark density of the forest. Cael doesn't stop at the first tree; his body continues, tearing through the air and leaves, deep into the forest, only stopping when he collides with the second tree, which bends and creaks with the force of the blow, revealing part of its roots. A cloud of dust and debris from the wall fills the kitchen, now open to the outside.
Horrified, Hana stares at the hole in the wall, an irregular tear in the masonry that leads to the backyard, and at Maya, a tense silhouette against the opening.
— Cael! — She calls, her voice choked with fear, her eyes wide. — Maya, why did you do this? This isn't you!
But Maya doesn't listen. Her icy gaze, consumed by blind fury, turns to Hana. She raises her left hand, but her arm freezes in mid-air, trembling. It was Cael. He emerges from the dense darkness of the forest, covered in dirt and leaves, but without a scratch, his posture serious and impassive amidst the chaos. With a simple gesture of his hand, he pulls her with his telekinesis onto the lawn of the backyard.
"No movement..." — He uses his X-ray vision to check Nina's room. The invisible beams pierce the walls, confirming that the little girl remains in a deep sleep, oblivious to the battle outside. — "She's still... sleeping? Such a heavy sleep." — Cael comments to himself, a thread of relief running through him.
Relieved, he turned his attention to Maya, who now stared at him with blind ferocity.
"Cael! Are you alright?" Hana asks, her voice trembling with genuine concern. He nods, without taking his eyes off Maya, eliciting a sigh of relief from Hana. "She's out of her mind! Be careful!" Hana warns, her eyes fixed on the figure of her adopted daughter, almost unrecognizable.
Maya charges at Cael with such speed that KRRRAK! The ground shatters beneath her feet, cracking the paving stones of the yard as she advances, a blurred fury. Cael prepares his stance, his deep, almond-shaped, dark brown eyes focused on her. When Maya reaches him, she prepares to deliver a punch with terrifying force, and Cael, with a precise movement of his lean, athletic physique, blocks the blow with his hand.
BOOOM!
The force of the impact is enough to generate a shockwave that makes the walls of the house tremble violently, the sound of something cracking in the structure, but the windows remain intact. From Hana's perspective, Maya moved so fast that she only realized she had attacked Cael when the shockwave from the blow hit her, feeling the air vibrate.
"I'm not going to use telekinesis on you," Cael said, his voice cold and controlled, as he threw Maya aside with a precise movement, sending her rolling several meters across the backyard grass, kicking up clumps of dirt.
Maya stops, her figure a blur of fury. She is in a state of uncontrollable rage, her body pulsing with empowering power, her dead eyes fixed on Cael. The environment around them now is the cluttered backyard, with the hole in the house wall as witness.
"She's in a berserker state. She's not thinking straight," Cael thinks, observing the ferocity of her attacks and the lack of technique in her blows.
But Maya stops, and a tense silence follows in the yard. Until she begins to laugh uncontrollably, a harsh, joyless, almost manic sound that echoes through the air.
"That's it! That's it! Show me what you've got!" Maya says, laughing, her voice hoarser and more guttural, almost unrecognizable.
Hana, watching from the destroyed kitchen, is completely bewildered. She looks at Cael and realizes he also doesn't understand Maya's disturbing reaction.
"Is she having fun?" — Both Cael and Hana think at the same time, a shiver of unease running through them both.
With a scream, she attacks, a storm of punches and kicks aimed at breaking, crushing, fueled by her newfound strength. Cael moves like a shadow, dodging each blow with supernatural ease. SWOOSH! A spinning kick sliced through the air where his head had been a second before. He responded with a short, powerful punch to her stomach.
THWUMP!
The sound was dull and heavy. Maya arched, spitting saliva. But when she straightened up, the smile on her face was even wider, her eyes gleaming with a disturbing pleasure. She steadied herself on the ground and resumed her attacks, with renewed ferocity. Cael decided to move more, using the environment to his advantage, retreating into the dense trees. He moved into the forest surrounding the yard, with Maya relentlessly pursuing him. The sound of the fight was now mixed with the crackling of dry branches and the rustling of leaves as they plunged deeper into the vegetation. Maya attempted several blows, her body a reddish blur amidst the green, but Cael easily dodged, his superhuman agility unmatched. He began to use his optic blasts on Maya, hitting her repeatedly and causing damage. But she seemed unconcerned by the damage.
"She's enjoying it. Pain fuels fury." — Cael thinks, as he dodges a punch aimed at his face, the impact sounding like a "WHACK!" against a nearby tree.
She attacked again, faster, more savage. Cael continued to use his optic blasts. BZZZZT! A beam of neon blue light hissed and struck her in the shoulder. Part of the fabric of her pajamas instantly disintegrated, and the skin beneath turned black, but she only grunted, ignoring the pain. BZZZZT! BZZZZT! Two more blasts hit her in the leg and flank, leaving severe burn marks, causing her to stagger, but she didn't stop. He guided her, strategically retreating, making her cross back through the bushes to the heart of the yard, exactly where the fight began.
"Why aren't you aiming at my face, brother? Do you like it that much?" Maya taunted, but the tone of her voice was different, hoarser, fury and macabre pleasure mixed together.
Cael, back in the center of the yard, landed a punch on her chin. The impact was dry and clean. Her head snapped back. Her glazed eyes lost focus for an instant. She fell to the yard floor like a sack of potatoes, inert. Maya is knocked unconscious for a few seconds, her body motionless on the ground. But she wakes up and sits abruptly, the berserker energy still pulsing. She looks at Cael with a look that says, "You really did it." Maya has a dark purple bruise on her chin, visible proof of the blow. Cael stares intently at her, and Maya feels a shiver, a trace of her normal consciousness struggling to emerge.
"You're quite resilient, but not that much," Cael commented, his voice calm and analytical, observing the change. "You're calming down now, I hope."
The mask of fury on Maya's face began to crack. Anger gave way to confusion, and then to overwhelming pain. Her knees buckled. She fell to the grass, and tears came, washing away the emptiness in her eyes. She was back.
"I'm sorry," Maya says, sobbing, her voice now normal, but broken by crying.
Hana, who had been watching everything, ran to hug her, but was stopped, paralyzed by Cael's telekinesis. He then approaches Maya, who is sobbing uncontrollably.
— I... I can't forget... It won't leave my head... — Maya begins to speak, her words broken by tears and pain.
Hana understood what Cael had done by paralyzing her. He wanted Maya to open up, without interruptions. Cael releases Hana, allowing her to move. Hana, in turn, remains standing in the same place, a few steps away, just to listen to Maya, who had managed to partially hold back her tears, but the agony was palpable.
— At that party... my last one... I was having so much fun... but, people I thought were my friends, took me to a room... — Maya freezes, the memory hitting her like a blow. Cael's face stiffens, and he clenches his hands, as if to punch. Hana turns her face away and puts her hand to her mouth, a sound of horror escaping her lips. They both already anticipate what Maya is about to say. — They tore my clothes... they put their hands on my... — Maya freezes again, her body trembling, her voice refusing to continue. Hana feels like vomiting, the pain of her daughter hitting her full force. Cael feels a growing anger, a cold but intense fury, rising in his chest. — I... I don't remember what happened after... I only remember waking up and walking down the street.
Cael's heart tightens at the revelation, and so does Hana's. The air feels heavier.
"You were always right. You protected me, and I pushed you away. I'm sorry," Maya said, as she resumed crying, a deep sob shaking her.
Cael approaches Maya a little closer, somewhat shyly, unsure what to do. She lowers her head, crying uncontrollably. Hana quickly hugs Maya, tears in her eyes. She felt responsible for what happened to Maya, for the absence that left her so vulnerable. And Cael was no different; he felt terrible for not protecting her and for pushing her away for so long, unaware of the depth of her problem. He understands her despair, understands why Maya did what she did to get close to him again. She was broken.
Cael kneels in front of Maya, silently. The truth is, Cael doesn't know how to comfort her. Her trauma is deep, and perhaps he has lost the "old Maya" forever, but he is willing to protect the "new Maya," now that he knows about her trauma. He will remain there, with Maya and Hana, the family bond being restored in pain, until Maya stops crying, a silent guardian amidst the storm of emotions.
Some time passes after the brutal confrontation and Maya's agonizing outburst. The darkness of dawn still envelops the house, a heavy silence filling the empty spaces and the destroyed wall in the kitchen. Cael has just left Maya in her bedroom, as the young woman had cried so much that she had fallen into a deep sleep.
Maya's room, in contrast to the sobriety of the rest of the house, was a vivid reflection of her vibrant and complex personality. The walls were painted in a soft shade of lilac, with posters of hip-hop and R&B bands, and some abstract art sketches pasted on without apparent order. On the light wood desk, there was a stack of college books mixed with comics and manga. A small guitar lay leaning against the wall, and a lava lamp glowed in a corner, casting shifting shadows. The bed, with colorful sheets and a tie-dye blanket, was an oasis of comfort. Pieces of clothing, some in vibrant shades of yellow and lime green, others more neutral and muted, were scattered on a chair, a silent testament to her duality. Despite the cheerful disarray, there was something protective about the room, almost a refuge.
Maya still had some dark purple bruises on her chin and arms, visible even in the dim light of the room, bandaged and cared for by Hana. The 40-year-old woman was leaning against the doorframe of Maya's room, her face marked by a weariness that transcended the physical. Cael's eyes met hers. In a silent understanding, they decided to leave Maya there, resting from her own torment.
Just as Hana and Maya had done earlier, she and Cael silently walk into the living room. Hana throws herself onto the sofa, her slender, elegant body sinking into the cushions, exhausted.
Silence reigns between them, a silence heavy with everything that had just been revealed and everything that still weighed on their hearts. Hana puts her hand to her head, rubbing her temples, and takes a deep breath, a sigh that seems to carry the weight of the world.
"It's worse than I imagined..." Hana says, her voice low, almost a lament. Her amber eyes are fixed on nothing, brimming with pain. "What do I do? I... feel so guilty. Guilty for my absence... Guilty for not seeing, for not knowing."
Cael watches Hana. Her expression is one of utter shock, a level of despair Cael rarely saw in her. It's not a normal expression for Hana, the centered and unwavering woman he knew. He feels a pang in his heart.
"I... was a terrible mother..." Hana's trembling voice makes Cael feel a pang in his heart. Still sitting on the sofa, she pulls her legs up, hugging them as if seeking comfort, burying her face between her knees, allowing herself to break down.
Cael remains silent, not because he doesn't care, but because he doesn't know what to say. Words seem inadequate in the face of so much pain. He simply observes her, feeling the weight of her suffering.
"When I was younger, I always wanted to have children…" Hana begins, her voice muffled by her knees, but with a thread of distant memory. "My friends and I always dreamed of having children, and as time went by, I got married, and my friends did too. But…" Hana pauses, holding her breath, and takes a deep breath, releasing some of the pain. "They got pregnant and I… didn't. My ex-husband also started showing himself to be 'dissatisfied' with the fact that I couldn't get pregnant, even displaying behaviors he had never shown before the marriage. So, I decided to have some tests done at the same hospital where I work. That's when I found out: I can't have children. I don't have a uterus. This devastated me. I couldn't even work; the pain was physical and emotional. And to make matters worse, when my ex-husband found out, he started cheating on me, sleeping with several women, without even hiding it." "He tortured me with their moans, and I couldn't do anything; I was trapped in my own pain and helplessness. He took advantage of my depression and even had sex with them in front of me." Hana's raw revelation, delivered in a broken voice, filled Cael with profound disgust at the situation. He felt so sorry for Hana; he hadn't known she had suffered so much. "But one day, I couldn't take it anymore. I finally mustered the courage and divorced him. With the divorce money, I bought this house, since I didn't want to stay in that one, I got treatment, and after a while, I adopted Maya and, later, you. I imagined I could be a better mother than I had been as a wife..."
"Wait. She blames herself for her ex-husband's lack of character?" Cael thinks, his mind processing the depth of Hana's trauma.
"But I failed," Hana continued, her voice choked with tears. "I thought that if I worked hard to give you good conditions, you would be able to manage well. But I neglected the most important thing: time. I should have spent more time with you, listened more, been more... a mother." She sobbed openly, her body shaking with sobs.
Cael sits down beside her on the sofa, the weight of his own pain mingling with the pain he had just heard. Slowly, he reaches out and places his hand on Hana's shoulder, an awkward gesture, but full of quiet tenderness.
"For someone with no experience, you didn't do so badly," Cael said, his voice deep but with a sweetness he rarely allowed to show.
Hana manages a slight smile through her tears, lifting her face slightly to look at him.
"You don't need to try to cheer me up. Maya was... raped, and I wasn't there to support her... I should have been her mother, taking care of her! But I was there, stuck on shifts, while my children suffered psychologically." Hana lowers her head again and cries, her sobs intensifying. "I... don't deserve you. You deserved a better mother than me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not being a mother. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Hana, in tears, repeats "I'm sorry" endlessly, her voice low, almost a lament.
Cael's heart aches in his chest, Hana's words piercing his own defenses. Cael takes a deep breath, his eyes welling up with tears, but he forces himself not to cry.
"We still need you. Even when you're gone, you're the reason we're still living. I'm going to confess something to you..." Cael says, his voice low but firm. When he says he's going to confess something, Hana lifts her face, her body paralyzed with anticipation, and looks at him, her eyes red and swollen. "A few years ago, I... was very unwell, very unwell. I didn't feel good enough, after being abandoned by Rose and... by Maya, too. I... was in the forest, alone. So I decided to kill myself..." When Cael says this, Hana looks at him in shock. A silent scream dies in her throat, her eyes wide with horror. "I... used my telekinesis and... broke my neck. Everything went dark, and then I saw an image of a blue sun. I tried to get closer to it, and when I was close, another image came to my mind, of a person crying. It was you. I still had you, and I selfishly ignored it. I didn't think about how you would react." In that void, I felt regret... But when I closed my eyes again, I felt warmth on my face. It was the sun. For some reason, I revived at dawn. My neck was in place and I... was different. In the end, I thought I should take advantage of this second chance and help you in some way. So I got online work and a good income to ease your expenses and for you to rest. In the end, what stopped me from trying to take my own life again was the thought that I would make you cry. And perhaps that was the best decision of my life.
Hana is speechless. The shock and the revelation leave her mute, but she feels the warmth of Cael's words. She feels a little better after Cael's words, a glimmer of hope and relieved guilt emerging.
"Besides... When Isobel is gone, Nina will need a mother figure, and someone warmer. I'm not very good at these things," Cael comments, looking away, a hint of vulnerability.
"You're better than me, you just haven't realized it yet," Hana says, now with a reassuring smile on her face, her eyes shining with newfound determination.
Cael gets up.
"You need to rest," Cael says, his back to Hana, his voice returning to its usual serious tone.
He is soon surprised by a hug from behind, coming from Hana. She squeezes him tightly, a hug full of gratitude and affection.
"Thank you, my son. For comforting me. I promise I'll get better," she says, her voice choked with emotion, already letting go of him, but her eyes fixed on his.
Cael turns around, offering a small, subtle, almost imperceptible smile that makes Hana's heart clench with affection. Hana rests her head on Cael's chest, hugging him again, now that he's facing her. Cael, somewhat awkwardly, returns the hug, his arms enveloping her with the same clumsy tenderness as always. Hana stretches slightly and kisses Cael's cheek, leaving him flustered and his face flushed, a blush that contrasts with his paleness. Hana lets out a soft laugh at Cael's reaction; it's quite unusual.
"Fine. I'm going to try to sleep," Hana says, letting go of Cael and heading for the stairs.
"Good evening." Cael says.
The comment surprises Hana, who replies:
"Goodnight."