The Red Nights

" Where is he?! " Jamal shouted after hurrying in the hallway of the principal hospital of Stainfall while Lina was running behind him. They found Carla sitting on a bench next to the door of a room.

She, firstly, had her face turned to the ground before she noticed the noises coming from away, she then raised and turned her head to look at the couple as they were rushing in her direction.

She stood up and as Jamal came closer he pointed to the door and asked her " is he there? ", the woman nodded after taking a glance at it.

Lina took a step forward towards the young woman and at her turn, she questioned her, " Is he good? What the hell did happen? "

Carla crossed her arms, " the doctor said that his life is not in danger, in fact, he's not even hurt the doctor said that he just lost consciousness due to some kind of shock, trauma or just tiredness ".

The couple looked a little more relieved without stopping to feel worried anyway, " what happened exactly? Explain to us " Lina asked her pressing Jamal's arm.

" I'm not even sure myself " she replied before starting telling the story, " I was in my way to his apartment before I heard that he and Andre were living together and I have some few things I wanted to discuss with the latter so after one long hour looking for his apartment I finally found it, I stopped in front his door and knocked... many times without any response. I got worried after minutes and finally decide to force my way inside, hopefully, for me, the door was not locked so I just opened the door enter in, I shouted the names of the boys still without any reply, the apartment was strangely calm and silent so I wandered there to know what was going and finally arrived in front of a door slightly opened, I took a peek and found Matteo unconscious on the ground lying next to a puddle of vomit and stains of sweat... I didn't think twice and I just rush to carry him here ".

Jamal and Lina lowered their gazes and Carla understood that they were sure trying to guess what on earth happened to put him on that condition but what was weird is that few seconds, in perfect synchronization, the both of them raised their sights to glance at each other as if they found the answer at the same time.

" Do you have an idea of what could have happened? " Carla asked them shyly.

They once again glanced at each other as if to discuss which response to her, Carla got that and she even started to think that they wouldn't tell until Jamal said: " it seemed that we have pushed him a bit too far ". It was not really a clear answer but Carla was satisfied with that.

She sighed while looking around before she said " that's really good that really cool to have managed to reopen the medical center ".

Lina revealed a smile as it was one of her most difficult projects and thus one of her proudest accomplishments she did for the city. During those last days, she had been working day and night whatever it was in her office or in her home to coordinate the reparations of the construction, elaborating new medical types of equipment or fixing the old ones, assuring that there would be appropriate power supply, enough to take care of all the patient but not too much since the city cannot afford wasting energy and she also had to discuss with the newly recruited doctors about what they would require to accomplish a good job. She was also particularly happy since she managed to get all this work done in only very few days.

" Yes, this was one of the most essential infrastructures the city was lacking " Lina replied, she ran her sight around her taking a look at the people going back and forth in the hallway and she added, " and seeing how busy the place is it was a good idea to make it a top priority ".

" I also heard that you were recruiting scientists in the field of biology, botany, and so on... that's for what? " Carla questioned still as curious as ever.

" For research " Lina simply responded, " the domain of botany can contribute in the elaboration of new medicines using plants and the biology can... teaches us new things ". she stopped and gazed at the young woman with a smile and asked her: " are you interested? "

She startled as she didn't expect her to make such a proposition, she shook her head while agitating her hands in the air as she said " no no I wasn't asking for that purpose... it's just that it made me wonder, I'm not qualified at all for such a job, I'm not even graduate yet from high school... ".

Lina laughed uncontrollably, " relax relax, I wasn't forcing you to take the job, it was just a joke but your reaction was very cute and funny, at this rate I may take a liking into you and starting to tease you with Natasha and Matteo ".

Carla blushed.

" Talking about that boy named Matteo... " a nurse interrupted them, they all turned their heads in the direction of where was coming from the voice and saw a quite short woman standing in the middle of the entrance of the room where Matteo was supposed to stay, she had the half her body inside the room while the other half was the only part three people could see, " he's finally awake, you may enter to visit but be careful to not brusque him too much, he's still too weak ".

The nurse held on the door to let them in and once they were all inside she left after closing the door behind her.

The young boy was sitting on the bed his back leaning on the wall and was staring outside through the window of his room. He had a bedsheet covering his lower part while stopping just below his h.i.p.s, Carla noticed that he was wearing a white robe one usually wore at hospitals and she deduced that he had been changed his clothes since they covered of sweat and vomit.

When Jamal got near him he turned his head and the eyes he had shown to everyone were the eyes of a hurt adolescent, he seemed at the same time terrified and sad and his eyes were red and a little inflated which I indicated that he had been crying.

As his hands were shaking a little bit Jamal held them and with a calm voice, he asked him what had happened, " did you see or experience something? " the man added.

Matteo opened his dehydrated mouth slowly as he responded, " she was waiting for me " he paused while everyone was carefully listening to each of his words, " when I arrived there... she was already waiting for me ".

Carla didn't wait to see Jamal and Lina glancing at each other to understand that what Matteo was about that confidential subject the couple avoided sharing with her earlier.

She took a step back and pointed to the door as she said " maybe I should wait outside, call me whenever you finish " she just had the time to turn that Lina quickly grabbed her by her arm and pulled her closer to Matteo's bed, " what are you saying? Don't you see that that's really important and you want to stay outside? "

" But that's exactly why. I... I thought it's so important and confidential that you didn't want to share it with someone like me " Carla justified herself.

" You're right except one part " Jamal replied without taking his sight off Matteo, " you are not just one random person, don't forget you're a member of the group so from now on stop treating yourself like a stranger ".

Carla gasped for a short moment before quickly pulling herself together. She nodded and when she bowed her head, as she didn't want them to see her blushing, a delicate smile slowly appeared on her face.

" Sorry for interrupting you " Jamal then said at the intention of Matteo but the boy didn't mind it at all, in fact, he was feeling more relaxed than before maybe due to that familiar atmosphere not forgetting the sentiment of security Jamal always inspired to the people around him. Though he was still scared, Matteo could sense new strength gaining him making him feel more courageous.

" You can carry on, " Jamal told him.

He nodded and started telling the story and without him even notice his hands stopped trembling.

" I had followed your advice and tried to train my ability, so I came back home I went to my bed and tried to connect with that sort of state of mind where I thought I could circulate here and there to observe the people on the other side of the barrier and eventually spy the movements of the enemy but instead I got transported in that sort of dark dimension where I told I got menaced by the mysterious person ".

Jamal nodded as he remembered that Matteo told him he had made. Behind him, Lina would time to times whisper at Carla's ear the things she had to know so she would not be lost or confused about what Matteo was saying.

" There, as I told you earlier, she appeared beside me as if she was waiting for me. I got scared and tried to run away but impossible to widen the distance between her and me and before I could do anything to escape some kind of invisible cords came to enroll themselves around my wrists and ankles and I got tied up in the air in front her. Then... she summoned in her hands iron bars and started to... " Matteo clenched his fists in the shock of remembering that session of torture he just went through, the words couldn't come out from his throat anymore as if there was a sort of lock blocking them.

Lina walked towards the bed and sat just beside him, she then passed her arms around his head and hugged him tightly. That was so sweet and nice that Matteo couldn't even describe that sentiment, a kind of feeling he had been missing all his life, he thought that if he had some tears left he would have cried at that moment, " she stabbed me with those bars again and again " he finally found the strength to speak up even though his voice was a bit broken due to the emotion, " I tried to escape many times hoping that the pain would help me to wake up but... but... I couldn't, she forced me to stay there and suffering until her time there was over and was forced to leave ".

Lina patted gently his back to comfort him, " I know it must have been hard but it's okay now you are safe here with us " she whispered to him.

" You said that 'until her time there was over' what do you mean? " Jamal continued asking while trying to not brusque him too much.

" While she was torturing me I noticed that her attitude was quite strange " Matteo started to explain, " I have been growing up around many sadistic people since so I know that when someone is purposely making another person suffer it's to please themselves but she... I won't say that she wasn't taking p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e doing it but it was like she wasn't enjoying herself hurting me as if she wanted to finish it as soon as possible that was when I understood that she was in hurry and that theory verified when I confronted her directly. The mysterious person acknowledged that her time in that dimension was limited... but she also added that it won't stop her to come back again and again " he finished with a scared tone.

" We have to do something... I don't know as a sort of trap to stop that person hurting you again the next time that happened again " Carla shouted with her usual overflowing energy.

" There will be no next time " Jamal simply said, cutting off the enthusiasm she was trying to transmit to everyone. Everyone turned towards him confused look while trying to guess why would he be so severe, Lina even made a move to interrogate him directly but before she could say a word Jamal carried on by adding " or so I would want to say but the situation is not that evident. I can't tell you to run away and stop using your ability since that person can summon you whenever she wants through your dreams " he fixed his sight on Matteo as he told him " It doesn't please me to say this, but it seems that to free yourself you will have to confront that person head-on and beat her ".

" But... how? She seemed to have the higher ground " Matteo pointed the remark while trying to not be too pessimistic, " like a perfect control of that dimension, as I have said she could summon objects to restrain me and to hurt me, against that I- ".

" Before saying that you can't do anything against that try to think and analyze the information you have " Lina interrupted him and said while hugging tighter, " but I don't have to tell you that since you're a smart boy ".

" She is right " Jamal commented, " at this point, we can't help you in your battle since it's in your mind, that's a pity but it seemed like you will have to figure out yourself a way to beat her " he paused before he added " I'm sorry. But, though, we can't help you directly Lina can maybe give you some hints to find the solution you are seeking ".

Matteo turned her head towards Lina and the latter released him, stood up and walked to go join her lover, " well considering the pieces of information you gave us it indeed may look like that person has the whole control of that space but look closely if that was true why did she have to use invisible cords to restrain you since you couldn't escape anyway? "

" Because that was more practical to torture me " Matteo responded confused by why would Lina ask such an obvious question.

" Is it? " she replied instantaneously as if she just read in his mind.

" Well, I guess we have to go now, we have to let you rest a little bit. But, don't worry we will come back later, it's true that I said that we can't help you in your battle there, but there is no way we will let go through this ordeal alone" Jamal told him in last while standing up.

They said goodbye and the three of them left the room one by one leaving Matteo there thinking about a strategy to protect himself the next time he would run into that mysterious person while helping himself with the only hints Lina gave him.

" I got it " he finally said with a smile after he had been working his mind for almost a half hour then.