"Unbelievable! Marco's not here again!" Luis grumbled. "I want my sweets, even just two or three, whatever, but I want them. These are sweets from the central city—I can't just forget about them! People hyped them up so much!"
"Luis, aren't you overreacting a little?" I asked, trying to calm him down, though I understood his frustration. "He never breaks a deal. Shouldn't we be worried he didn't show up?"
"Worried? He probably just ate our sweets himself," he muttered, lowering his head and letting his arms hang. "There's probably not even a wrapper left."
"Let's go to his house. Maybe we can find something out," I suggested.
"Great idea. On the way, we can also try to figure out what all this mystery in the village is—and maybe grab some sweets!" His curiosity now seemed to match his sweet tooth, though it was probably still second place. On the way, all he talked about were the sweets.
We continued toward Marco's house. More and more people were along the path, and the closer we got, the more people there were. When we were just a few houses away, we couldn't get any closer. A crowd had gathered and wasn't letting anyone near, let alone inside.
"Did you hear?" said a man in the crowd.
"Yeah. Sounds like someone was killed in their own home," another man replied.
"I heard there was a creepy message left inside. That's why hardly anyone's going in," said a woman nearby.
"They're looking for someone."
"Do you think it's connected to the bandit attacks?"
"No. This must be those soldiers. They've been showing up more and taking more people. I bet someone refused to go with them!"
People were whispering, accusing, and some were even crying in fear. Any sugar craving we had vanished. Luis and I slipped into an alley between the houses and circled around until we reached the back of Marco's house. A few people were guarding the alley beside his house, so we couldn't go that way. Something serious was definitely happening, and our curiosity was growing stronger. We circled around again, through more alleys, and finally reached the back of the house. Luckily, one window wasn't being watched, but it seemed locked.
"Leave it to me!" Luis was practically bouncing with curiosity.
He lifted the window as far as it would go, pulled a hairpin from his pocket, bent it, and slid it into the gap he'd opened. I wondered where he even got that pin. He twisted it and nearly reached the side latch.
"So close!" I said, impressed.
Luis bent the pin even more, leaving just a small piece to hold. He did the same move and this time managed to push the latch outward, unlocking the window.
"How did you know the kind of latch and which way to push it?" I asked.
"It's simple," he said. "If it's a window that opens upward, it has a latch that prevents it from doing so—obvious, right? And I could see through the glass that the latch was on the side, so it had to be pushed outward rather than twisted. The real surprise was how easy it moved—wasn't stiff at all. It felt brand new!"
I was impressed by his skill and knowledge, though I didn't quite understand everything he said. Where had he learned this stuff? I started to wonder.
We slowly opened the window and climbed in. We were in one of the bedrooms. It was a total mess, with lots of broken things and bloodstains. We heard voices and saw the door was open, so we hid behind the wardrobe doors.
"We'll have to alert everyone. It seems they found out and are already searching," said a voice I was sure belonged to Ruphos.
"It's my dad!" Luis whispered. "He said he had some things to do after I asked to go to Marco's. He even told me to stay with you and your family today."
"Yes. What happened here is horrific, and we can't let it slide!" said another voice—this time, my mom's. I thought she was at the stall.
"Our children, we must protect them!" said another voice, trembling with emotion.
"Jenna's right. We must protect our children and be more careful about where they go alone. Whoever did this must pay—severely!" That voice was definitely my dad's, though it scared me to hear him speak like that.
We heard a noise, and when Luis looked at me and whispered to ask what it was, he accidentally bumped his elbow against the wardrobe. I froze and started sweating. Luis looked terrified too. Footsteps approached the room.
"Let's go, we must act now," my dad said, his voice now calm—which made it seem even more suspicious.
We heard them walk past the room without stopping. Then we heard a door closing.
"That was close!" Luis whispered, his face soaked in sweat. "Do you think they heard us?"
We stepped out from behind the wardrobe and listened carefully. It seemed like no one was nearby. We left the room and found ourselves in a hallway with three bedrooms—ours, one directly across, and another at the end. At the far end of the hall was another door that probably led to the living room or an exit, which was odd, since hallways don't usually have direct exits. I didn't understand it well—we never came inside here.
"Ready?" I whispered, gently tapping Luis's shoulder. "Everything leads to the room at the end. Let's go."
Luis led the way, seemingly even more curious than I was. He stopped suddenly, eyes wide, shaking.
"What is it?" I whispered.
When I finally looked into the room and saw the scene, I understood. The room was a disaster, more so than the one we entered. Blood was everywhere—even on the ceiling. Everything was soaked in red, with little left untouched.
Three bodies were in the room: Dimy, Marco's son, a year younger than us, lay on the floor with his throat slit and one arm amputated, thrown onto a small nearby table. Marco lay near him, but only half his body remained—as if something very sharp had sliced him in two. His top half was near Dimy; the bottom half lay closer to the third body. That was Marco's wife. I barely knew her—only ever spoke to Marco and Dimy at the shop.
The worst was her condition. Until then, my body was cold, but I started feeling sick. She was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, headless, with her head placed inside the crib. Her arms were detached and laid on the crib. Tears rolled down my face.
I was horrified and frozen. I forced myself to take a few steps. I shouldn't have. I looked inside the crib and saw her hands had been chopped up and arranged to form a writing I couldn't understand—and maybe it was better I couldn't.
Taking another step, I stepped on something. I realized too late: all their eyes had been removed, and I had just stepped on one. I only moved my eyes—not my head—and saw that her legs were cut in half. The same was true for all of them. Their limbs and organs were scattered all over the room. The more I looked, the more I noticed details I had missed in the initial shock.
I don't remember how long I stood there, just staring. Everything became a blur. The next thing I remember was the sound of our parents shouting and them hugging us. I couldn't tell if I was still crying. I remembered nothing else. When I came to, it was already mid-afternoon. I was in another house, but I had no idea how I got there. Everything from the rest of that morning until then was a blank.
I was lying in bed, drenched in sweat, eyes wide open. I turned to see Luis sitting in another bed, staring blankly. I didn't even know if he was truly awake. Our parents were in the middle of the room, talking to Karis and Jenna.
"Kyle's awake," Luis said weakly.
Everyone stopped talking and looked at me.
"My son, how are you feeling? Can you talk?" my mom asked.
"Yes... but why wouldn't I be able to?" I rubbed my eyes and sat up.
"He seems better than Luis," Karis said, glancing sideways at him.
"What were you two doing in that house?" Ruphos asked, stepping closer. His expression was desperate.
"Calm down, Ruphos. I know you're worried and want to know why they went there, but let's take it easy," my dad said, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
"I know, sorry. It's just that Luis doesn't even seem present while Kyle does," Ruphos said, lowering his head and looking at his son.
At that moment, all the memories returned. Tears ran down my face again, but it didn't even feel like I was crying.
"Sorry for going to that place. We just wanted to see if Marco had shown up since we had that candy deal with him," I said, lowering my head and trembling.
I stopped for a moment—just saying "Marco" made me remember what he looked like. Instinctively, I leaned forward. I felt like I was going to vomit, but only dry heaved.
I took a deep breath and looked my mom in the eyes.
"Near Marco's house, there were a lot of people. Since we couldn't get close, we tried going around the back. Luis opened a window, and we went in. After hearing you had left, we checked the room to see what happened. We were just very curious and worried about what had happened at Marco's. Then we saw\..."
I stopped—I couldn't go on. I ended up vomiting for real this time. Hours had passed since everything happened, and my stomach was empty, so only water came out, staining the floor.
My mom placed a cloth over it and began cleaning. There wasn't much to clean, so she quickly stopped.
"If that's everything, then at least we know the full story now," Karis said, crossing her arms. "We need to handle the rest. Afterward, we'll help however we can with the boys."
"Right. It's better to act quickly before things get worse," my dad said. He turned to Jenna. "With your knowledge, maybe you can help Luis rest, can't you, Jenna?"
Jenna walked toward Luis and spoke some strange words. A bright reddish light glowed from her fingers as she touched Luis's forehead. He slowly closed his eyes, let out a brief sigh, and went silent. His body relaxed as Jenna gently laid him down.
"Now he can rest without risking nightmares. I altered his energy flow, blocking the tension and recent memories. I don't know if he'll be fine when he wakes up, like Kyle seems now, but at least he'll be well-rested," Jenna said, taking a small, shallow jar from the bag slung over her shoulder. She handed it to Ruphos. "Take this. If he gets anxious or paralyzed again when he wakes up, crush these herbs and mix them with water for him to drink. Just two crushed leaves per cup of water—no more than that."
"Thank you, Jenna. From me and my son," Ruphos said, shaking her hand.
"It's nothing," Jenna replied. "Our children are all we have, so we must do everything for them."
She turned to me and looked into my eyes.
"If Kyle ends up like Luis, just give him some of the same mix to calm down. What matters is letting him rest some more first." Jenna looked at Karis, then at everyone in the room. "We must go now. There's a mess to handle, and you need to care for these two. See you soon."
After Jenna and Karis left, my mom took the jar from Ruphos.
"Let me prepare it. I think you two need to be with each other right now," she said. She turned to my dad and whispered, though I heard it clearly. "Dear, I think you should stay here with Kyle. I'll prepare the mixture for the boys."
My dad nodded and sat in a chair next to my bed. Everything felt more confusing than ever. All I wanted was to rest a little longer. I never want to eat candy again. I'll never forget what I saw at Marco's house. Every time someone says 'candy' or I see one, I'll remember this day—the day everything began.