Inside, the mother stood still, unmoving, not a single tear shed. But her gaze toward Arin was filled with a silent, unheard scream. Her lips moved slowly, her voice carried on a wind from a deep well of regret: "Aiden... he's really grown up."
But Arin, still haunted by the image of Aiden leaving, slowly raised his head, his eyes like glowing embers, filled with angry disappointment. "Grown up? Like this?" His voice was fragile at first, then it hardened, as if a wound had reopened. "You have no idea what he's been through... Don't try to play the loving mother now. You missed your chance." He spoke slowly, each word a heavy weight he was shedding, then he turned his face away. The distance between them was more than silence; it was a postponed death.
In the dark corner of the prison, where no light or sound reached, a man moved with the silence of a ghost. He wore a guard's uniform, but his steps were unlike theirs—light, precise, as if the ground dared not make a sound beneath him. His face was hidden by a low military cap and a black mask, leaving only his eyes, which gleamed with a strange light. He headed toward cell number 7... the cell holding madness itself: Luna.
He turned the key lightly; the faint creak of the lock was enough to awaken a sleeping beast. He opened the door slowly... Inside, Luna sat on the floor, her hair disheveled, her features a mix of innocence and madness. She raised her head, and as her eyes met the man's, a smile spread across her face... it wasn't human. It was a demonic, insane grin 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 took them as if reclaiming a part of her soul, as if the blood was calling to her. She stood, her back slightly hunched, her shoulders curving forward, as if she were transforming into another creature. Then she straightened, and with a cold look, she opened the cell door.
In moments, the prison became a stage for death. The guards' bodies began to fall one after another, their limbs swaying like puppets with cut strings, and blood painting red lines on the gray walls. She was laughing, her cackle echoing through the corridors like the sound of breaking bones—an insane, terrifying laugh that rose above all other sounds. It was the laugh of a woman freed from every chain, every sense of reason. Her right eye twitched with ecstasy, her lips trembling from the force of her laughter. She seemed to be dancing over death. 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 in silence. His silence wasn't calm, but a silent blaze. His eyes were fixed on Aiden, and the way he held Sera as if she were all he had in the world. He saw his fingers gently touch her cheeks, wiping her tears, whispering something he couldn't hear, but her trembling smile betrayed the depth of his words. In that moment, soft, sharp sparks flew from the observer's eyes. It wasn't a normal gaze, but the look of a man burning without a sound, simmering under his own skin, unable to do anything but watch. He didn't move. He didn't speak. But jealousy throbbed in his veins, clear and undeniable, as if the air around him had grown heavier.
Sera looked at him, her tears now just a glistening in her eyes. In that moment, her gaze was that of someone who saw their entire world in a single person. Her eyes shone with the light of love, a light a loving soul could never mistake. Slowly, she placed her small hand on his, still warm from wiping away her tears moments ago, and pressed it gently, as if holding onto safety itself.
She brought her head closer to his face until her small nose touched Aiden's, her cherry lips trembling slightly, holding a deep longing. Aiden's gaze was fixed on her features... on her shining eyes, on the strands of hair that fell across her forehead, and on the way she looked at him, as if intending to say everything in silence. Then, without a word, Sera placed a light kiss on his lips, a hesitant but honest kiss. Aiden felt his heart pound, as if time had stopped with that touch. He closed his eyes and returned her kiss, not with violence, but with a silent passion, as if they shared a language known only to them.
Suddenly... The man's phone rang. He looked at the screen quickly, then immediately closed the phone, but his eyes never left them, remaining fixed on Sera.
In another corner of this world... Luna walked out of the prison. The summer air touched her face. She put a dark hat over her hair to conceal her features.
At Arin's house, the mother spoke in a trembling voice, as if trying to hold onto the remnants of her motherhood: "I went... to that orphanage." The mother slowly reached her hand toward his chest, wanting to push his shirt aside to see the wound. Her fingers trembled, as if she feared touching his past more than his body. But he held her hand before she could touch him, gripping it gently but with enough resolve to freeze the air between them.
He said in a low voice, a voice that was not just a tone but a bleeding wound from within: "Did it change anything... when you went to that orphanage?" She looked at him, her eyes widening in heavy silence. His words were a slap cushioned with sorrow, not just heard, but felt. He pulled her hand away from his, but she hesitantly returned it, placing it over her own chest this time, not with force but with a plea, as if begging for the warmth she had never known. She didn't speak... but her tears fell without permission, streaming down her cheeks like a late confession that needed no words.
He looked into her eyes for a long time, with eyes that held more than a heart could bear, then he mumbled in a composed tone, full of a hidden brokenness: "Will these tears change anything... now?" And before she could answer, he extended his arms and hugged her. He hugged her as if trying to embrace what was left of his childhood, of a shattered past, of a "brother" still waiting for him in a place unknown. "Mother..." His voice came out as a warm, broken whisper: "Let's bring our brother back..."
That night was not just time passing. It was a night filled with incomplete whispers, fragmented melodies, a shattered chessboard... and a madness not yet declared.
The next morning, the sun's rays filtered through the curtains, warm and lazy, cutting a path into the house. Sera was about to leave, closing her bag in a hurry. She stood by the door, turned to her mother, her eyes still sparkling from the effects of the previous night. She said calmly, in a voice that carried the tone of an irreversible decision: "Mom... you know about that debt. It's because of my studies. Let's try to pay it off this year." Rina raised her head from the sink, her eyes narrow as usual when she tried to uncover what was behind the words. "Why? Do you plan to quit your job after a year?" Sera furrowed her brows slightly, then replied with quiet confidence: "Yes. I will. There are limits to everything... even to work, Rina."
She left and closed the door softly, but the sound of her step was different this time; it was like the flutter of a wing freeing itself from a cage. Outside the house, Aiden was standing next to his black motorcycle, two helmets dangling from his hand, his police uniform gleaming under the sunlight. When he saw her, he raised a helmet toward her and smiled lightly: "Want to try the bike today?" But Sera didn't take the helmet. She approached him quietly, step by step, until she reached him, then she raised her head to him, her eyes filled with something deeper than longing. "I want something else..." she whispered, her voice seeming to come from her heart, not her mouth. "What is it?" he said, raising his eyebrow slightly, his smile warm.
Suddenly, without preamble, she hugged him. She rested her head on his neck, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply, as if inhaling life itself. "I want to drown in your scent... to be filled with you... I want to draw my strength from you... from you alone." He remained silent for a moment, then smiled as he returned the hug, embracing her as if she were a precious, irreplaceable thing. When she finally pulled away, she looked at him and laughed softly: "The police uniform suits you... Now, shall we go?" He laughed too, and handed her the helmet. She climbed on behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He started the motorcycle's engine, which roared to life like a beast waking from slumber, then they took off, cutting through the morning summer breeze, passing through the alleys like heroes from a novel, or a beautiful dream.
When the motorcycle stopped in front of the pharmacy, Sera took off her helmet and gave it to him. He looked at her with a gaze that hid much worry behind his smile, and said in a serious but tender voice: "I'll come later... just, I don't want to see you cry. I am your impenetrable wall, Sera." His words were like a fortress he was building around her without her seeing it. She smiled and went toward her work... while he watched her until she disappeared from his sight.
The adoptive father (leaning slowly against the edge of the sofa, breathing heavily as he adjusted his shirt collar): "Aiden... you know he suffers from PTSD, don't you?" The adoptive mother (tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, her gaze empty): "Yes... that's what the report said the first day we adopted him. He was silent... his eyes were screaming." (She gets lost in the memory for a moment, then continues in a low voice) "He wasn't a child, but a wound walking."
The father (laughing bitterly as he gets up to pour a glass of whiskey): "But isn't it strange that he became a policeman? A man of law... and he suffers from borderline personality disorder, schizoaffective disorder, in addition to PTSD? This is a recipe for an impending explosion." The mother (sharply, looking at him with eyes gleaming with reproach): "On the contrary, he became like this because of you... because of your damned basement and your chains." The father (taking a sip from the glass, then placing it firmly on the table): "That's why he'll give me his chain of cafes... otherwise he'll be discharged from the police forever."
The office light was dim, reports stacked on a wooden desk with worn edges. The computer screen flickered with a cold glow. Aiden sat alone, staring at the files without blinking, as if his eyes were diving into the lines of ink in search of more than just information... in search of a memory, or a confession.
Knock, knock.
Aiden (in a low but sharp voice, without raising his head): "Come in." A young policeman enters, holding a file.
Policeman: "Sir... when do we raid the (A.M) Canned Foods Company?"
Aiden (taking off his glasses and placing them on the table, then pressing his fingers against his temples): "Prepare one patrol, and stay on standby. I'll give you the launch time later." The policeman nods and leaves, and the place sinks into silence again.
Aiden slowly takes his phone, opening it as if holding a knife. He taps on a name saved in his contacts: "Father." The phone rings...
- At the Father's Villa, a phone call -
Father (with a short, warmth-less laugh): "Look, it's Aiden... Hello, my dear son!"
Aiden (laughing hysterically, then running his fingers through his hair quickly, as if trying to suppress a fit inside him): "Have I started playing with the threads of my madness?"
Father (scoffing): "Oh, what is this? Have you started weaving a coat of madness?"
In an instant, Aiden stops laughing. His gaze freezes. Everything in him stills, even his breath.
Aiden (in a cold voice): "The threads of my madness? Nonsense... My question is: Are you at the (A.M) Canned Foods Company now?"
Father (confused): "No... I haven't gone yet. Why do you ask?"
Aiden (begins to twirl a pen between his fingers lightly, while his eyes stare at an invisible point): "Because I'm coming... and I will expose your conspiracies, like money laundering."
Father (erupts in anger, his eyes widening, the whites turning to an alarming red): "You fool... If you do, it will be the end of you!"
Aiden (in a very low, deep voice, as if his depths were speaking, not his mouth): "Did you think I forgot?... Those chains... that basement... those nights that made me stumble between reality and delirium?"
His voice changes, becoming calmer but saturated with an indescribable danger. An invisible aura began to hover around him, as if shadows were shrinking toward him.
Aiden (continues): "I am a police officer now. I stand on the edge of the line between law and chaos... I'm trying to keep that part of me repressed. Don't push me to unleash it... Because if you do... there will be nothing left for you to regret."