The morning sun filtered cruelly through the curtains of the living room. A dull buzzing echoed in the heads of everyone starting to wake up among damp cushions, scattered clothes, and bodies tangled from exhaustion and alcohol.
Kali was the first to open her eyes. She was wrapped in a towel, last night's corset half-slid off to the side, her makeup smudged, and her hair still wet. She sat up with a groan, stretching her neck.
"Shit..." she whispered.
To her right, Jake slept with a unicorn float as a pillow. Viki was snoring face down, a shiny sleep mask over her eyes. Dahlia sat at the edge of the pool, feet in the water, silent.
But it was Niccolo who was already awake, standing with arms crossed and a furrowed brow, staring into the house. His shirt was still open and clinging to his skin, and there was something tense in his expression. Something that wasn't just a hangover.
"Nicco?" Kali asked, approaching while adjusting her towel.
"Something's off," he replied, without looking away.
They both entered the house. The sofas were in disarray, the lights still dim. Then they saw it.
A boy. Slumped on one of the couches, his head tilted to the side. He looked asleep... until they noticed the thick, viscous string of saliva dripping from his mouth to the floor.
"Oh God..." Dahlia whispered, walking in behind them.
"Hey! Wake up!" Niccolo said, reaching out to shake his shoulder.
Nothing.
Kali stepped back, her stomach turning.
"This isn't normal. Do you know him?"
"I saw him at the party... I think he was a friend of the venue owner," Dahlia said, visibly shaken.
Niccolo leaned in and noticed something else: the boy's neck had strange markings, like tattoos that weren't tattoos. Circles, symbols, curved shapes that almost seemed to move if you stared too long.
"He's got... symbols. Weird drawings. Do you see them?"
Kali stepped closer. Her heart pounded with fear... Something about the symbol caught her attention, but she didn't know why. She hadn't seen anything like it in her criminology classes.
"This is messed up," she whispered.
Viki entered the room at that moment.
"What's going on? Why are you—"
She screamed.
"We need to call the police! Now!"
...
Minutes later, the house was surrounded by patrol cars. Officers asked for IDs, took photos, and questioned everyone. One of them, stern and weathered-looking, informed them:
"You'll all have to give statements. Next Tuesday. Different times. Until then, you're not to leave Aarush. Understood?"
They nodded. The officer gave them all a skeptical look and added:
"Go get dressed. You're in your underwear, for God's sake..."
Kali and Niccolo dressed in silence. He offered her his hand as they left.
"I'm not letting you go through this alone, principessa."
Without hesitation, she took it.
In Niccolo and Kali's car
The engine roared as the black car cruised through the half-empty streets. Kali sat with her legs curled up on the seat, still wearing Niccolo's jacket. She'd had it on since the night before, and for some reason, couldn't bring herself to take it off.
"You saw it too, didn't you?" she said, breaking the silence. "His skin."
"Yeah. And I'm not pretending it was nothing."
"What if we're... caught up in something bigger? Something we don't understand?"
"Then we won't face it alone," he said, eyes on the road. "I've got you. And you've got me. It's always been like that, right?"
Kali lowered her gaze. Her fingers played with the edge of her skirt. He continued:
"Sometimes I wish we could go back to the simple part. When I just watched you from afar in the library, and you'd tell me my gold chains were tacky."
She laughed.
"They still are, Nicco. But now they turn me on."
Niccolo let out a deep chuckle.
"You're dangerous, Kali. A damn danger in fishnets."
"And you're the worst Italian distraction on the planet."
They looked at each other. The tension was still there, but something held them back. It wasn't the time to talk about that kiss. They chose to ignore it.
He stopped in front of her building.
"Tonight, I just want to keep you close. Let you sleep without fear."
Kali nodded. For the first time in a long while, she wasn't going to argue.
On the road – Dahlia and Tobias
They walked along a quiet sidewalk, the sky still pale with dawn. Dahlia wore her pirate costume under a borrowed coat, and the pink plastic crown still sparkled on her head.
"You wear it better than I thought," Tobias said, smiling.
"The crown?"
"No. The role of queen. And the brave part. I saw it in your eyes this morning. When everyone was panicking, you were focused. Observing. Connecting the dots."
Dahlia shrugged.
"Thanks," she said suddenly.
"For what?"
"For staying. For not being scared of me. Of who I am. Of how quiet I can be."
"I like the silence with you," he replied. "It's different. It makes sense."
Dahlia glanced at him. A small, shy smile. But real.
"And I like that you didn't take the crown back."
"I'm way too handsome to say no to your commands, my captain."
They laughed together. Walked slower. In that moment, neither of them thought about the symbol, the death, or the police.
Just about each other. About that instant.
And how, for the first time... the world seemed to make a little sense.