Lucas stood silently at the entrance of the narrow alley, unable to bring himself to take another step. Time seemed to stand still as his eyes wandered across the weathered brick walls, now faded by countless seasons. Moss crept through the cracks between the stones, the drainage channel that once overflowed whenever it rained now flowed quietly, and the fading afternoon sunlight reached only a small portion of the alleyway. There was nothing remarkable about the place anymore. No bloodstains. No traces of violence. Nothing that could possibly tell a passerby that years ago, in this ordinary corner of Bouten, the life of a young boy had been shattered forever. The world had long since moved on. Only Lucas continued to carry that night wherever he went.
He slowly stepped into the alley. Every movement felt strangely familiar, as though his body still remembered the path even after all these years. Yet the memory that surfaced was not one of screams or horror. Instead, it was something far gentler. He saw Gabriel crouching on the stone pavement, drawing pictures with a piece of white chalk she had somehow found. She was completely absorbed in her masterpiece, carefully sketching a tiny house with an oversized roof and a smiling sun hanging in the corner of the sky. Lucas, returning home from work, approached her with an exhausted sigh and scolded her for staying outside after sunset. Rather than feeling guilty, Gabriel simply stuck out her tongue and laughed. "You're so grumpy, big brother," she teased before sprinting down the alley with all the speed her tiny legs could manage. Lucas chased after her, pretending to be annoyed even though he could barely hide his own laughter. The memory faded there. There was no tragedy. No tears. Only one ordinary afternoon that had once seemed too insignificant to remember, yet had somehow become one of the most precious moments he still possessed.
Lucas slowly opened his eyes.
The alley was empty.
The chalk drawings had disappeared long ago, washed away by years of rain and forgotten beneath countless footsteps, yet he could still picture exactly where they had once been. Only then did he realize something he had never truly understood before.
What he missed was not the day Gabriel died.
What he missed were all the days before she did.
It was never the tragedy he longed for.
It was the life that had been taken away.
Leaving the alley behind, Lucas continued toward the house where he had grown up. The old wooden home still stood, though time had changed much of its appearance. The walls had been repainted, the front fence had been rebuilt, and the small tree his father had planted had grown into a towering oak whose branches now stretched beyond the roof. Lucas remained across the street, quietly observing the house that had once meant everything to him.
A moment later, the front door opened.
A little boy, no older than seven, rushed into the yard while carrying a wooden ball beneath his arm. His laughter filled the afternoon air before a man, presumably his father, stepped outside to call after him.
Lucas crossed the road.
"Excuse me," he said politely. "Did your family move here recently?"
The man smiled.
"About three years ago."
Lucas nodded slowly.
"I hope this house brings your family happiness."
The man looked slightly confused by the unexpected remark but smiled warmly nonetheless.
"Thank you."
Lucas simply nodded before turning away.
He never told the man that this had once been his home.
He never mentioned that every room inside had once echoed with his family's laughter.
The house no longer belonged to him.
And for the first time, Lucas realized that memories were never truly attached to places.
A place was only a place.
It was the people within it who gave it meaning.
As evening approached, Lucas found himself walking toward the small cemetery on the outskirts of Bouten. It felt quieter than he remembered. Wild grass had begun to grow between the weathered gravestones, while dry leaves drifted gently across the narrow paths beneath the autumn wind. After walking for several minutes, he finally stopped before three graves standing side by side.
His father.
His mother.
Gabriel.
No one else was there.
Lucas slowly knelt before them and began brushing away the fallen leaves that covered the engraved names. He worked carefully, almost reverently, as though every movement carried an apology for the years he had stayed away. He could not even remember the last time he had returned to this place. After leaving Bouten, he had always convinced himself that he was simply too busy. Too many criminals still needed to be stopped. Too many innocent people still needed saving. But deep down, he had always known the truth.
He had been afraid.
Afraid to face the past he had buried beneath endless battles.
When the gravestones were finally clean, Lucas opened his bag and removed a freshly baked loaf of bread he had purchased near the city gate. Its warmth still lingered beneath the paper wrapping. He stared at it for a long moment before breaking it carefully into four equal pieces.
One piece remained in his hand.
The other three were gently placed before each gravestone.
It was an old family habit.
His father had always divided their bread into four equal portions before every evening meal.
Lucas took a small bite.
The taste had not changed.
For a brief moment, he could almost see them sitting around the old wooden table again. Gabriel reaching over to steal a piece from their father's plate. His mother pretending to scold them both. His father laughing quietly before saying that as long as they could still laugh together, their home would always remain warm.
Without realizing it, Lucas smiled.
Then the smile slowly faded.
"I used to believe..." he murmured softly, "...that if I caught every criminal... everything would finally feel right."
The evening breeze whispered through the trees.
"I was wrong."
His eyes rested upon Gabriel's name.
"The pain never truly disappeared."
Lucas drew a slow breath.
"Recently... I met someone."
He hesitated, carefully choosing his words.
"His name is Samir."
"He wants to create a world without pain."
"A world without hatred."
"A world without loss."
Lucas continued staring at the gravestone.
"Years ago..."
"I would have stopped him without hesitation."
A bitter smile crossed his face.
"But now..."
"...I'm no longer certain that I'm right."
Silence answered him.
Only the wind moved through the cemetery, carrying the rustling of leaves across the quiet graves. Yet somehow, Lucas felt calmer than he had in years.
For the first time...
He admitted something he had hidden even from himself.
He no longer possessed all the answers.
As the last rays of sunlight slipped beneath the horizon, Lucas slowly rose to his feet.
He was about to leave when something caught his eye.
A single white lily rested neatly in front of Gabriel's grave.
Lucas frowned.
He was certain it had not been there before.
Carefully, he picked up the flower.
Its stem was still damp, as though it had been placed there only hours earlier.
Beneath it lay a small folded piece of paper.
Lucas unfolded it carefully.
There was only a single sentence written across the page.
"Some wounds should never heal."
No signature.
No name.
No symbol.
Nothing that revealed who had left it behind.
Lucas remained motionless for several long moments, the note clenched gently in his hand. Strangely, the words did not feel like a warning.
They felt like a reminder.
Someone had visited this place before him.
Someone who knew his family's story.
Someone who seemed to understand that not every wound deserved to disappear.
Lucas slowly looked around the silent cemetery.
There was no one.
Only rows of weathered gravestones standing beneath the fading evening sky.
He folded the note once more and slipped it carefully into his pocket.
Sanctuary still waited somewhere in the North.
But now he carried something far more valuable than a simple direction.
He carried another question.
Who had visited Gabriel's grave before him?
And why had that person left behind words that seemed to understand a burden Lucas had believed he carried alone?
Without looking back again, Lucas quietly left the cemetery behind.
The sun disappeared beyond the horizon as his shadow stretched across the old stone road leading north.
His journey toward Sanctuary had begun once more.
But this time...
He carried more than hope for answers.
He carried the courage to face his past.