IT MUST BE HAUNTED.
I bent down to pick up Hugo's pendant.
I rubbed it between my fingers, examining it closely.
Instinctively, I touched my own neck.
Empty.
I breathed in relief.
For a second I had the feeling I was wearing a similar piece of jewelry.
I poured myself another glass of wine while he returned from his call.
But he didn't come back.
And I fell asleep slumped over the table.
When I woke up in the middle of the darkness, I realized he hadn't returned.
I thought maybe he had to leave in a hurry.
And the matter of the mysterious woman who had my voice disturbed me again.
I stood up carefully, rubbing my hands together to get the blood flowing.
The table had been cleared.
Only the empty wine bottle and an overturned glass remained, under which a stain like blood spread, ruining the expensive tablecloth.
I could say I was surprised.
But I wasn't.
In those two or three days —I couldn't be sure how many, maybe more— the absurd had become routine.
And the absurd suited me just fine.
After my pupils adjusted to the darkness thanks to the embarrassed nocturnal glow slipping through a half-closed window, I tried to find the light switch.
It was useless.
The only thing I managed was to notice that the room seemed to be shrinking.
Or had it always been like this?
I also discovered cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling.
The strangest thing wasn't that.
It was that I couldn't get out.
I walked in circles looking for the door.
It didn't exist.
Perplexed, I dropped into an armchair next to the window.
I looked through it at the silent night.
Closed like a fist.
Motionless.
"Is this reality… or some kind of trance?" I wondered.
And the sound of my own voice made me shiver.
"Where are you, Hugo, and why are you playing with me like this?" I murmured, sinking deeper into the spongy brown leather backrest that smelled strong. "This wasn't what I had in mind. I just wanted you to make me your lover… that's all."
A muffled whisper inside the room alerted me.
My body shrank.
"Is someone… there?" I asked with a borrowed voice.
Silence.
Outside.
And inside.
I concluded I was in a dream and I just had to wake up.
When I did, I would go for my phone to write down everything.
Every detail.
So I wouldn't forget.
So I could piece together the puzzle.
Or find the logic of the board.
Of every piece.
The notes.
The sex in the shower.
The incident with Sue.
The room of mirrors.
Hugo.
And how it all started.
Me, obsessed.
Him, catching me.
And then… the absurd.
The inexplicable.
My mind, trapped in an insidious fog.
Something moved in my hand.
Something cold.
Sharp.
I lifted it.
Hugo's pendant.
I had forgotten it.
I swung it in front of my eyes.
This… the duplicate ring.
They were proof too.
My eyes began to close, heavy.
Crazy images flashed through my head.
"This mansion must be haunted," I thought.
Before falling back into myself.
GO SEE YOUR FIANCÉE.
I sat up with a choked scream.
One hand on my chest.
Tense.
"Apparently the wine from last night didn't sit well with you at all."
I looked at Hugo.
Too close.
A steaming cup of coffee right under my nose.
The aroma mixed with his.
Before taking it, I looked around.
Yes. I hadn't moved.
I was still in that armchair.
Through the window, a gray dawn.
Broken fog.
Cold.
"Why… didn't you come back?"
I looked him in the eyes.
His pupils turned into thousands of restless golden dots.
"I did," he answered, "but you wanted to stay."
"That's not true…"
He took my hand and forced me to hold the cup.
"Yes, it is. But you were drunk."
"I wasn't," this time my voice was uncertain. "Don't try to confuse me."
He straightened up and put his hands in his trouser pockets.
From there he kept looking at me.
Implacable.
"Drink the coffee. Maybe that will bring your memories back."
He turned around.
"Wait…"
He stopped.
I emptied the cup and stood up.
My body was stiff.
"I have something…"
I went to look for his pendant.
But he turned.
And I saw it.
Around his neck.
I couldn't take my eyes off the golden flash.
While I tried to think of an explanation.
"You found it," I murmured.
He stepped closer and placed a hand on my cheek.
It was ice cold.
Both were.
"You should go upstairs and take a bath. Then rest."
"Are you going to the office?"
"Later. And tonight I'll bring you some work. I trust you'll find the way out."
The way out?
What did he mean?
Of course… he wanted me to…
"What are you thinking?"
His mint-and-tobacco breath mixed with mine.
I brushed his collarbone with my lips.
He stayed still.
"About the shower… yesterday."
"Isabella," his condescending tone irritated me. "What do you want?"
I pressed my lips together and looked at him.
"Don't make fun of me. And don't ask me the same question again because you already know the answer."
He laughed.
Dry.
Without joy.
But definitely with sarcasm.
"It's true," he admitted. "It's just that your expression is always priceless."
He caressed my chin with rough fingers.
"Don't give up," he whispered close to my ear.
Then his eyes dipped into my exaggerated cleavage.
My chest burned.
A flutter rose in my stomach.
"I need… you to fuck me," I exhaled.
And my tone was urgent.
Almost desperate.
Especially when I closed my fingers around the collar of his jacket.
Time passed.
Seconds.
Or centuries.
I don't know.
"That's quite a bold move," he said at last, licking his lips, one eyebrow raised.
Fuck. I wanted to throw myself at him.
The way he looked at me…
But his next words extinguished the damn fire.
"Now I have to go to the hospital. I'll be back tonight… and we'll talk about it."
Talk about it?
He gave me a couple of pats on the shoulder.
And I bit my lower lip.
This unresolved desire was going to end badly.
"Sure," I growled. "Go see your fiancée."
He pulled away as if I burned him and walked toward the door I swore hadn't existed last night.
He stopped in the frame for barely a second.
The playful Hugo had disappeared.
In his place, a more measured one.
Somber.
Unreadable.
"She's dead," he said.
As if talking about the weather.
And he left.
"Wait…"
My hand hung suspended in the air.
Then I covered my mouth with both hands.
A guttural sound rose from my guts.
Dead?
And he says it like that?
I understood I couldn't just stay there with my arms crossed.
And I ran after him.