There is a girl crying on the sidewalk. It is little Cinthia.She hides behind her knees. The crying is faint, almost silent, forced inward. But it is useless.
"Hey, kid…"
Cinthia looks up. It is another girl.The sunset makes her almost luminous. Hair so pale it hurts the eyes.
"Could you keep it down? You've been crying for two days straight…"
Cinthia keeps letting the tears fall, even as she tries to stop them.The shame weighs heavier than the crying.Little Lía sighs.
"Looks like you're like me…"She sits down beside her.
Cinthia tries to steady her breathing.
Lía continues:
"This isn't what I expected…"
"M-my dad… no…" Cinthia says, bitter.
"…My father too…" Lía cuts in, flat.
"N-no… I don't want to… I don't want to! I'm really scared! He's not my dad!"
Lía listens for a long while. She doesn't stop her.Maybe she lets her empty herself.
Now.
Cinthia stands in front of that same sidewalk.Maybe the place pulled her back into the memory.A dulled face. A still grief.
Rudy approaches her at an unhurried pace. He carries two ice creams.
"Here…"
Cinthia takes it without interest.
"She's not here… she's not here either…" she says, distant, her eyes searching for something that doesn't appear.
"Did she live around here?"He takes the chance to mark the spot on his map.
"We were neighbors…"
"Oh. That explains some things…"
"William did something to her, right?"
"I don't think so."
"But—"
"You said Oliver disappeared even from other people's memories… I think the blonde just went somewhere."
"Then why did William smile like that when he told me? It was… strange."
"He enjoys watching emotions overflow.It satisfies him to observe weaknesses. Shames."
"Sounds like you know him well…"
Rudy crosses his arms, as if wondering the same.
"Meh… something like that…As long as I can remember, he just calls me a coward… and smiles the same as always."
"Is he from the other side? Like you…"
Rudy takes a moment to answer.
"I don't think so…He comes from somewhere else… and no… no one I know knows where from…"He narrows his eyes."Maybe Miguel knows… but I can't keep guessing."
"So I rule William out?"
"Never rule anyone out, Cinthia…"He glances at her, with a slight smile.
Without warning, a distant boom crosses the sky.Too far away to place its origin.
It arrives with a gust of wind. Weaker this time.
Rudy continues:
"All I can tell you is that William has already made his goals clear…He really wants to help you… he wants to change this place."
"I don't understand for what purpose…"
"I wish I knew."
"You say so much and nothing at the same time!"
"Because that's all I know… and things I promised not to say."
The ambiguity unsettles her.And at the same time, it feels strangely honest.
"I know a secret…Out of everyone I know… William is the one with the best heart."
Cinthia looks at him, incredulous.
"Maybe you'll see it with time."
But in Nigella.
"How beautiful freedom is: impulses, wrong decisions.And still, what a tragedy."
There is struggling in a dark room, like a storage space.Joan's mouth is being crushed by a palm; cannot scream. Cannot move.The gaze is pure terror.Meanwhile, wingbeats echo from somewhere, again and again.
"It makes me so sad… truly… this didn't have to happen."
It is William speaking, in a calm tone. Almost compassionate.His long hair covers part of Joan's face.
"It hurts me to see you like this… I really want everyone to be well… even you…but inconsistencies are unpredictable…"
Joan tries to escape with all their strength. Kicks, twists, but no voice comes out.The wingbeats intensify. They overwhelm.The eyes dart back and forth, unable to understand.
"I should have been more attentive… so I could save you…"
A tear escapes William. A real one.
"But thanks to this I understand that everything is still in motion…I must hurry… right…?"
The tears fall onto Joan.
"I feel your pain… and it seems to be the consequence of your bad intentions…you wouldn't be suffering if that hatred didn't exist in you…"
After long seconds of useless struggle, William brings his face closer.Joan's eyes remain open, overflowing with terror.But there is something else that paralyzes them: a strange sensation, a void that hurts.
And then:
"I promise this won't stay like this… I will save everyone…"
Joan disappears.The silhouette ceases to exist.
William collapses under his own weight.
For the first time, his face shows contained hatred.No exaggeration: his eyes burn into the nothingness of that dark room.
Gary is leaning against the hallway wall, beside the door.His expression is serious as well.
William steps out.He keeps the cold expression, but his mouth widens automatically.He smiles again.
"Is it over?" Gary asks.
"Yes…"
"And their friends?"
"At this point, they probably don't remember them anymore…"
"I see…"
"Hey, Gary…"
In his orange eyes, a threatening glint passes.
"Don't let it happen again."
Gary looks away.
"I'm sorry…"
After a few tense seconds, William steps forward and wraps an arm around Gary.They walk away together.
"Want ice cream?" William asks.
"They all taste the same…"