No sound, just the echo of silence.
Then his gaze shifted to Aiden.
Aiden was still, but his eyes were not.
Those eyes held something…
Something Arin knew. Something unspoken.
A secret still hanging in the air between them.
There was something…
Between the three of them… an unrevealed secret.
But it was alive. Breathing. Standing in the corner, watching silently.
Arin's gaze returned to the ground.
He wasn't ready to talk,
Nor was he ready to hear the truth.
But he knew…
The shattered fragment in his mind,
It wasn't just an illusion… but a reflection of something real, dangerous.
The place fell silent until everything was audible—Arin's nervous breaths, the ticking of the wall clock, and the trembling of his mother's hand, which dared not touch him.
Then, Aiden broke the silence with his deep, calm voice, like a dim light in a dark room.
But his words were like knives, cutting relentlessly through the air:
"Arin… she was looking for you. That's why I brought her here."
He paused briefly, then turned, his voice dropping as if he were laying the truth on the ground:
"It seems… she cannot lose her only son, just as she lost the one before him."
Everyone fell silent.
His mother's eyes widened in shock, but she didn't move.
And Arin… didn't even blink.
Aiden moved toward the door. His steps were steady, unhurried, yet each one carried the weight of years of hidden secrets.
Outside, in front of the pharmacy,
Sira sat on the edge of the pavement, where the tiles still held the warmth of the recently set sun, but the air wasn't suffocating…
Instead, beautiful, light summer breezes caressed her face gently, as if patting away her pain.
The leaves of nearby trees rustled softly,
And some of her hair fell across her cheek, so she brushed it away with her fingertips,
Then she looked up at the sky; its stars shone like scattered glass beads on blue velvet.
She opened her phone and checked the time.
Then she leaned her head back against the wall behind her.
She closed her eyes and inhaled the summer night breeze, mixed with the scent of warm earth and dormant plants.
Then the lights of a car appeared from the end of the road.
Every beat in her chest pounded strongly…
She stood up, her heart racing ahead of her feet.
As soon as the car stopped and Aiden stepped out, she rushed to him.
She hugged him as if seeking refuge from life itself.
Her tears flowed silently, but the breezes bore witness to them.
Aiden didn't speak first,
He ran his hand over her cheek, which had cooled slightly in the air,
Then wiped her tears with his fingertips,
And said calmly, fitting for a summer night like this:
"If you want to cry… do it when I'm with you."
Then he hugged her again,
While the breezes surrounded them, as if embracing their sorrow too.
And he said gently, but with an unbreakable resolve:
"I won't allow anyone… to make my only hope cry."
Inside,
His mother remained standing, unmoving, tearless,
But her gaze toward Arin was filled with an unspoken scream.
Her lips moved slowly, and her voice emerged as if the wind carried it from a deep well of regret:
"Aiden… he has grown up already."
But Arin, still with the image of Aiden leaving etched in his mind,
Slowly raised his head, his eyes like embers, oozing angry disappointment.
"Grown up? Like this?"
His voice was fragile at first… then it intensified, as if a wound had reopened.
"You don't know what he's been through…
Don't try to play the compassionate mother now.
You missed your chance."
He spoke his words slowly, with heavy syllables as if dropping them from his shoulders,
Then he turned his face away,
For between him and her… was more than silence. It was a postponed death.
In the dark corner of the prison, where no light or sound reached,
A man crept silently like a ghost.
He was dressed in a guard's uniform, but his footsteps were unlike theirs… light, precise, as if the ground dared not make a sound beneath him.
His face was covered by a low military cap, and a black mask completely hid his expressions, revealing only his eyes, which gleamed with a strange light.
He headed toward cell number (7)… the cell where madness itself was held captive: Luna.
He turned the key lightly; the creak of the lock was faint but enough to awaken a sleeping beast.
He slowly opened the door…
Inside, Luna sat on the floor, her hair disheveled, her features a mix of innocence and madness.
She raised her head, and as soon as her eyes met the man's, a smile formed on her face… It wasn't human.
It was a demonic, insane smile that made the air in the cell suddenly turn cold, as if something dark had breathed there.
The man handed her a small knife and a black pistol.
She held them as if reclaiming a part of her soul.
As if blood was calling her.
She stood up… her back slightly bent, her shoulders hunched forward, as if transforming into another creature.
Then she straightened up, and with a cold gaze, she opened the cell door.
In moments, the prison became a stage of death.
The bodies of the guards began to fall one after another, their bodies swaying like stringless puppets, and blood painted red lines on the gray walls.
She was laughing… her laughter echoed through the corridors like the sound of breaking bones,
An insane, terrifying laugh, rising above every other sound.
The laugh of a woman freed from every restraint, every sanity.
Her right eye twitched with ecstasy, and her lips trembled from excessive laughter.
She seemed to dance upon death.
And from the shadows, the mysterious man disappeared, leaving behind the gates of hell wide open.
…
Somewhere, not far from them, a man stood watching the scene silently…
His silence was not peace, but a silent burning.
His eyes fixed on Aiden,
And on the way he embraced Sira as if she were all he had in this world.
He saw his fingers gently caress her cheeks, wiping her tears, whispering something he couldn't hear, but her trembling smile betrayed the depth of the words.
And in that moment…
Soft, but sharp sparks flew from the observer's eyes.
They weren't ordinary glances, but the gazes of a man burning without a sound, boiling beneath his skin,
And he could do nothing but watch.
He didn't move. He didn't speak.
But jealousy pulsed in his veins, clear, revealing,
As if the air around him had grown heavier.