Vivian had her notebook open on the table, surrounded by loose papers, photographs, and newspaper clippings.
There were so many documents scattered around that there was barely any free space left on the surface.
Brittany was sitting beside her, helping her organize everything.
For several minutes, neither of them spoke.
Vivian picked up one of the clippings, read it again, and then placed it with the rest.
—Let's do this properly this time —she finally said. —Case by case. No mixing anything up.
Brittany nodded and picked up one of the papers.
—You start.
Vivian took a clean sheet of paper and slowly wrote.
1. Abandoned Warehouse – Tairon's Gang
Underneath, she added:
Complete massacre.
Clown mark made with blood.
First major public appearance.
She stared at the words for a few seconds.
—This was the first one we found —she said.
Brittany nodded.
—And it was pretty brutal.
Vivian didn't answer. She simply moved on to the next sheet.
She wrote:
2. Forest – Fire
Underneath:
Human skin remains.
Another mark.
Connection to supernatural entities.
Brittany looked at the entry.
—That's still one of the strangest cases.
—Yeah.
Vivian underlined the last line.
—Especially because of the entities.
She put the pen down on the table for a moment.
Then she picked it up again.
—Now the next one.
Brittany picked up one of the clippings.
—Ana's house.
Vivian nodded.
—Tell me everything.
Brittany began dictating while Vivian wrote.
3. Ana's House
Four men attempted to kidnap her.
All dead.
Balloons.
Witnesses reported seeing a clown.
Vivian finished writing and looked at Brittany.
—Now yours.
Brittany took a deep breath.
Although she had already told Vivian part of what had happened, putting it into words again was still uncomfortable.
—Trenton.
Vivian wrote the number four.
4. Trenton – Brittany and Gabriel
—Gabriel, Loren's brother, was extorting my father —Brittany began. —I found out and went to confront him.
Vivian continued writing.
Gabriel (Loren's brother) extorted Brittany's father.
—I found him in an alley with several of his men.
Brittany confronted him in an alley.
Brittany paused.
—Gabriel tried to assault me.
Vivian briefly looked up.
Then she wrote:
Gabriel attempted to assault her.
—His men were there. They were laughing. I couldn't escape.
Vivian tightened her grip on the pen slightly.
—And then the Clown appeared.
His men were present.
Clown intervention.
Brittany continued.
—He made fun of them. He even offered to take them out for ice cream as if everything were some kind of joke.
Vivian wrote down every detail.
—Gabriel got angry and shot him several times.
Vivian stopped.
—And nothing actually happened to him?
Brittany shook her head.
—Nothing.
Vivian wrote:
Gabriel shot him several times.
The Clown did not fall.
—Then he pulled knives out of nowhere.
Used knives.
Brittany lowered her gaze.
—He didn't kill them at that moment. But he left them incapacitated and screaming.
Vivian finished the note.
—And then he disappeared?
—Yes.
Vivian added:
Then disappeared.
The two of them fell silent.
Brittany slowly breathed in before continuing.
—I later heard on the news that Gabriel ended up dead.
Vivian looked up.
—Dead?
—Yes.
Brittany nodded.
—They found him… in a horrible state.
She paused.
—And once again, there were marks from the Clown.
Vivian carefully wrote it down.
Gabriel was later found dead.
Clown marks found at the scene.
She put the pen down.
—So it didn't end that night.
Brittany slowly shook her head.
—Apparently not.
Vivian looked at the remaining pages.
There was still one case left.
—Now us.
Brittany nodded.
Vivian wrote:
5. Vivian and Madeleine's Kidnapping
She began listing the details underneath.
Hunt through the forest.
Men transforming.
Clown appears.
Attackers eliminated.
Vivian and Madeleine left alive.
When she finished, she placed the pen on the table.
The two of them stared at the list in silence.
Five clear cases.
Five interventions.
Five times the same being had appeared, dealt with the threat, and disappeared.
Brittany was the first to break the silence.
—It's not a coincidence.
Vivian slowly shook her head.
—No.
She pointed at the sheet.
—It's a pattern.
Brittany leaned forward.
Vivian began going over the cases one by one.
—He always arrives when there is already real violence.
She pointed to the first case.
—Never before.
Then she moved to the next one.
—He never arrives "in time" to prevent it from starting.
Her finger moved across the entries.
—He only intervenes when someone is already in serious danger.
Brittany nodded.
—And he always leaves something behind.
Vivian looked at her.
—A mark.
—Or a laugh.
—Or a balloon.
The two of them remained thoughtful.
Vivian picked up the pen again and wrote underneath the list:
Provisional conclusion:
He does not act like a hero.
He acts like a hunter.
He eliminates specific threats and then withdraws.
Brittany stared at the sentence for several seconds.
—Now we actually have something solid.
Vivian partially closed the notebook.
—Yeah.
She looked at all the documents scattered around them.
—Enough to talk to Ana and Madeleine without sounding crazy.
Brittany gave a small smile.
—That helps.
Vivian smiled slightly as well.
—When?
Vivian thought for a moment.
—Soon.
She looked at the papers again.
—Let's let this settle for a little while first. I want to make sure we haven't missed any details.
Brittany nodded.
—Then we contact them.
Vivian carefully closed the notebook.
—Exactly.
Brittany leaned back in her chair.
—Little by little.
Vivian nodded.
—Little by little.
For the first time, the two of them felt like they had something more than a collection of strange stories.
They had a direction.
They still didn't know what the Clown was looking for.
Or why he chose certain places.
Or why some people survived while others ended up dead.
But now they had enough pieces to begin putting together a picture.
And they didn't like that picture.
---
Meanwhile, in his room…
Ryan was sitting in front of the Nexum screen.
The ranking was still working.
More projects were paying for visibility, and the comments were becoming more frequent.
Some users were even starting to recommend the platform to others.
Ryan went over the statistics for several minutes.
The growth was still small.
But it was consistent.
That was what mattered.
He picked up his notebook and wrote:
Ranking stable.
Underneath:
Revenue growing slowly but steadily.
Then he added:
Next objective: attract bigger clients.
And finally:
Improve trust system.
Ryan put the pen down.
He closed the notebook and leaned back in his chair.
He had seen them a couple of nights ago.
Vivian and Brittany.
Walking together.
Talking seriously.
Ryan looked toward the window.
He could have gone down.
He could have left another letter.
He could have listened to what they were talking about.
He could have even appeared in front of them and turned their conversation into another game.
But he didn't.
Not yet.
Nexum needed more work.
The empire was only beginning to take real shape.
And he wasn't going to distract himself with games now.
A small smile appeared on his face.
—First I build.
Ryan paused.
—Then I play again.
He rested a hand on the table.
For an instant, the purple mark on his chest burned faintly.
It lasted barely a second.
But Ryan felt it.
His expression changed slightly.
He looked down at his chest.
—You're still there…
The mark became still again.
Ryan continued staring at it for a few more seconds.
He said nothing.
Finally, he looked away.
He turned off the computer, stood up, and walked toward the window.
From there, he could see the darkness stretching across the county.
Somewhere nearby, two girls had just put together the pieces of a puzzle that he himself had created with blood, balloons, and laughter.
Ryan stared into the night in silence.
And for now…
that was fine.
He closed the curtains.
—Let them keep putting the pieces together.
A cold smile appeared on his face.
—When the time comes, the show will continue.
Ryan turned off the light.
The room was left in complete darkness.
And while Vivian and Brittany continued trying to uncover the truth about the Clown, Ryan was moving farther and farther away from them.
Not because he had ended the game.
But because the time to begin the next part had not yet arrived.