THE EPISODE.
The crystalline sound of the piano was the first thing I heard.
Short, fast notes.
Then the clinking of glass.
The same red light.
The same silent people.
The same smell.
However, Hugo wasn't there.
There was a dense silence for a few seconds.
The piano stopped on a sour note.
Then… the commotion from before grew.
As if it were emerging from the corners.
Invisible.
I started to sweat, and my purse trembled in my hand.
Did no one see me?
Where were those laments coming from? Anguished, inhuman, absurd.
I tried to take a step, but something stopped me.
"Hu… gooo," I whispered, my voice strangled.
And that's when I saw it.
Not Hugo.
At least not right away.
The walls…
All of them…
Covered in mirrors.
Like that room in the mansion.
They hadn't been there before.
And a visceral fear began to grow in my stomach.
Inside the mirrors…
I swallowed hard, sweating profusely.
Inside the damn mirrors…
When I looked…
A carnage was happening.
Disgusting.
Ignored by everyone.
I wanted to scream, but invisible claws tightened around my throat.
The diners, replicated behind the reflections, growled as they devoured something.
Or someone.
More laments.
And they… fighting over a body.
Still alive.
I felt like I was going to lose my mind when I saw Hugo in one of the mirrors.
He was looking at me like a predator.
Upright, on the prowl.
That wasn't the horrifying part.
His mouth… his white shirt…
Were stained with blood.
My body shook.
The dining room remained still.
But in the mirrors, hell was happening.
I wanted to run.
An indifferent waiter passed by me without looking.
The pianist started playing again.
And when I looked back, there was silence.
But the mutilated body was still there, on the other side, in a pool of black blood.
I brought my hands to my mouth.
Right on the edge of a panic attack.
The corpse…
The rest of the mirrors disappeared, swallowed by the dark walls.
And only one remained.
That one.
I stepped back.
Barely.
The corpse…
Everything started spinning, and I felt like I was falling into a whirlpool that was sucking me in mercilessly.
The corpse…
I felt lost.
The air turned to metal in my lungs and I couldn't breathe anymore.
The fucking corpse…
It was me… fuck!
Then, only then… my throat opened and I screamed.
A scream that grew.
Broken.
Endless.
With all the strength of my lungs.
And I lost consciousness.
WHAT HAPPENED TO ME?
I screamed again, struggling.
"Easy."
I opened my eyes.
Hugo was holding me.
We were still in the private room.
"I want to leave…" I screamed.
He held me tighter.
"Everything is fine," he murmured.
This time I looked at him.
There was no blood.
It was just him.
His skin, his scent, his bewildered eyes.
I buried my face in his chest and started to cry.
Ugly, uncontrolled sobs.
Hiccups, snot.
My hands clutching the edge of his jacket.
"I think… I'm… going crazy," I said, between broken stammers.
"You have to calm down and tell me why you screamed."
"You were taking too long…"
Silence.
A little later I sat up and he handed me a handkerchief.
"You ruined your makeup," he murmured with a half-smile.
After cleaning my face, I breathed.
For real.
Feeling my sanity return.
Little by little.
"Better?"
I nodded.
"I… went to look for you," I began, trying to understand what had happened. "Those sounds… you left and…"
I stopped abruptly.
He had said before that I was having hallucinations.
But that wasn't possible.
I pressed my lips together and clenched my fists.
Only then did I notice I was wearing gloves.
I said nothing.
I didn't want to seem even crazier.
Hugo's voice brought me back to the present.
Calm. Measured.
"A client had an attack," he explained. "I went out to investigate. I took longer because I stayed to help."
"It felt like a long time," I murmured.
My mind kept insisting on the horror against my will.
"Only ten minutes, but you're impatient, Isabella. You never stay still."
I looked at him.
It was impossible for it to be an act.
If it was, it was too brilliant.
"What happened to me?" I asked at last, fearful.
"You screamed like a madwoman and lost consciousness. I was on my way back and found you in a waiter's arms," he paused, and smiled. "Someone commented that this was a strange night. Two incidents, I think that's already too much."
I clasped my hands in my lap.
Shit. I really was having hallucinations.
There was no possibility that episode had been real.
"Can we leave now?"
Even so, I was terrified of having to go back to that dining room.
"Sure," Hugo stood up. "If you feel better, we can."
He extended his hand.
I hesitated before taking it, but finally did, and he lifted me without any effort.
He pulled me against his body, wrapping his arm around my waist.
"I have… I think I'm very stressed," I said.
His hand lifted my chin and raised my face.
"Yes."
"Don't you want to know… why…"
"Not anymore," he whispered, his lips brushing my ear. "You're fine now."
"I'm… I'm not."
"You will be. You just need fresh air and to stop being so sensitive," he put his mouth in my hair. "You think too much. You should dedicate yourself to writing."
I finally managed to smile.
Small, but enough.
"Maybe I should go back to work."
"Now you work for me."
I thought about the failed interrogation and the doubts that persisted and hadn't been resolved.
"I need a few days," I sighed, "my brain is… too fertile. I need to lower the intensity a bit."
"I agree."
He kissed me.
It was a slow, almost tender kiss, atypical for him, and at the same time delicious.
There was something strange in the taste of his mouth…
But I ignored it.
When he let me go, his pupils were jumping.
"Come on, I'm going to take you to a place you're going to like."
He dragged me with him.
My perplexity increased when we left the dining room.
And it was the confirmation that something was very wrong with me.
That my damn brain was playing very bad tricks on me.
But I didn't open my mouth while we walked down the hallway and Hugo was greeted by many.
"How are you, Mr. Caleius?"
"Hugo? What a surprise, if I had known you were here tonight I would have invited you for a drink."
It was nothing like the dark and oppressive dining room.
It was a bright one.
Full of life, laughter, conversations.
Before leaving, I heard the piano.
Forcing me to doubt.
They were the same notes.
I wanted to turn around, but the glass door had already closed behind me with a click.
Hugo was about to say something.
When a woman appeared in front of us.
"What a surprise," she said.
I looked at her, and she was too beautiful.
I looked at Hugo, and he immediately let go of my hand.
Then she looked at me.
Direct. Frontal.
And when our eyes collided, I knew a new problem was coming.