Chapter 1 - Sabbina

June 4, 2020, Thursday

Sorrento, Southern Italy

It is a regular Thursday morning with pancakes and a cup of hot chocolate. The television is on, broadcasting news about the latest news in the Gulf of Naples.

"Ms. Sabbina Strana, please see Ms. Calista Canioli in the office." the female voice in the speaker announced.

"Oh come on, I'm not yet done eating!" she shouted.

Sabbina Strana is an eighteen year old girl from Salerno. She moved to Sorrento for her research about the electric components of lemons found in the region.

The lemons in Sorrento are different compared to others, and no one knows why. Sabbina spent her last five months studying weird stuff like the monster in the Gulf of Naples or the underground creatures that enriches the soil where lemon trees are grown. In simpler words, Sabbina is a weird person.

"A cargo ship crashed on a pier in the Gulf of Naples, leading to an oil spill that is slowly spreading on the waters. Witnesses claim that the ship was..." Sabbina turned the television off before leaving her small lodge to report to Calista Canioli- her research adviser.

"Buongiorno, Ms. Canioli." she greeted.

"Have a seat, we have a lot of things to tackle today." Calista said.

"My research about the lemons are already approved?" Sabbina excitedly asked.

"Nope." Calista replied.

Sabbina's smile disappeared for a while before asking another question.

"How about my request to travel to Naples, is it approved?" she asked, and she received the same answer from her adviser

"How about..." Sabbina was stopped by her adviser.

"I already told you that we have a lot of things to discuss, so let's not waste our time talking about things that won't benefit us. Clear?" Calista asked.

Sabbina nodded.

"First of all, I want to congratulate you. Your research about the lemons here in Sorrento is approved." Calista said, but Sabbina have no idea on how to react.

"But, that's what I-"

"Shhhhh! I'm not yet done." Calista stopped Sabbina.

"I still have one more thing to tell you." she added.

"Please bring me to Naples. Please bring me to Naples." Sabbina whispered to herself, but what her adviser said surprised her.

"Since your task here in Sorrento is done, this will be my last day here. I'll go back to my family in Greece tomorrow and here, take this gift from me." Calista said.

"Open it later." she added.

"But-..." Sabbina cannot construct the proper sentence to say, and the next thing she remember is that she's walking back into her lodge.

"I don't know what just happened, but it felt weird." Sabbina told herself, while looking at the sealed envelope given to her by her adviser.

She searched for the keys but was surprised to see that the door to her lodge is unlocked.

"I'm pretty sure I locked this earlier." she told herself.

"... that's our report live in here from the Gulf of Naples." the reporter on the television said.

"I turned this off too." Sabbina said.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" she shouted while checking all three rooms of her lodge.

Sabbina heard footsteps from outside, and it's coming towards her lodge. She hid behind the door, peaking through a small opening to see who it is, but she can't get a clear view of whoever that is. Sabbina slowly walked out of the door to see her unwanted visitor, and upon peeking through the doorway, she saw a female, holding a set of keys.

"Sabbina, you dropped these back in the office." she said.

Julia Juego is a Spanish researcher that Calista contacted to help her in mentoring Sabbina.

"I also want to take this opportunity to thank and congratulate you for your success." Julia said.

"What? I thought you're leaving tomorrow? We still have the whole day to watch news about Naples, we always dreamed of going there and find out the strange things happening there." Sabbina said as she notice that Julia already packed her things in a luggage and is already ready to leave.

"Sab, Spain is like about two thousand kilometers from here. I must leave early to be home early." Julia replied.

The two of them became really close friends since the first day Calista introduced her to Sabbina. They spent five months together, studying lemons and other stuff from out of nowhere.

"I must go now. Remember that I'll still see you in Naples. Soon." Julia said before finally deciding to leave.

Sabbina went back inside and sat in front of the television. The early morning news program is already done. She have no idea on what to do now, so she decided to pack up too for her move tomorrow.

"I'm going to miss this lodge." she told herself.

The lodge is a gift for her by a group of lemon farmers. Since her move to Sorrento, the number of visitors in the place increased, interested with the special lemon that the region offers.

"Thousands of tourists are trapped inside Naples as it close all of its boundaries due to a still unknown reason." Sabbina diverted her attention into the breaking news program in the television.

Sabbina sat down on the couch to see the news more clearly.

"I think I must go to Naples and start my next research there." she told herself.

She looked at the sealed envelope, still on her hand, and decided to take a peek on what's inside. Inside the envelope are two train tickets from Sorrento to Naples tomorrow morning.

Sabbina was surprised and decided to run back into Calista's office to thank her, but the door is closed.

"Ms. Calista, if you're there, I would like to thank you for this wonderful gift!" she shouted at the door.

Sabbina never felt so happy like that before. Her dream to solve the mysteries of that place is finally coming true. She packed her things in her green luggage and reminisced the memories she had in her two month stay in that place.

"I still have time to visit the farmers." Sabbina said as she locked the lodge and took a ride to the eastern part of Sorrento.

The distance between her lodge and the farm is just a fifteen minute walk. While walking, she noticed that something in the air is different, but she can't identify what it is. Upon reaching the farm, everyone greeted her with a warm welcome.

"It's Sabbina!" one of them noticed first, and then everyone rushed towards her location.

"What brought you here?" one of them asked.

"Today is my last day here in Sorrento, and I'm here to thank all of you for your contribution in my research." Sabbina answered.

"No. Thank you because your published research boosted the economy of this place, even the products we offer!" a farmer said.

"In that case, it looks like both of us got benefits from that." Sabbina said.

And then there's a full two seconds of silence.

"I think this is it. Goodbye, everyone." Sabbina said.

"Sabbina, please take care of yourself, always. Wherever you are going next, please be careful." a farmer said.

"Actually, I'm going to Naples." she said.

The farmers could not believe what they have heard.

"Are you sure on going there?" one of them asked.

"You must be extra careful." he added.

"And trust no one else except for yourself." another farmer added.

"Goodbye, Sabbina. Be mindful of what's around you. You have no idea which one of them will help and harm you." a farmer added before Sabbina left.

What the farmers said haunted her mind all the way back into her lodge.

"Should I continue?" Sabbina asked herself while in the couch, looking at the tickets inside the envelope.

Sabbina looked at it and started to think about something.

"Why are there two tickets?" she asked, and then she pulled a small piece of paper inside the envelope.

In the paper, there is a photograph of a man, and beside are details about him.

"Kairon Kronos?" Sabbina read the name.

"What an unusual name. Is he Greek?" she added.

She flipped the paper and saw more details about the man.

"I must meet him in the train station tomorrow to hand him his ticket? Come on, I don't even know this guy!" Sabbina shouted as she lay down the couch and dropped everything she is holding on the floor.

Sabbina remembered what the farmers told her earlier.

"This man must not be trusted. Okay, Sabbina, calm down. Just give him the ticket and then stay out of her sight. Okay?" Sabbina started talking to herself which is weird.

Fortunately for her, no else around is seeing how weird she is when alone.

She spent the rest of the day packing her luggage and at the same time, watching the most recent news about Naples.

June 5, 2020, Friday

Sorrento, Southern Italy

Sabbina woke up as early as four in the morning to arrive at the train station early. To her surprise, the farmers are already there the time she arrived.

"We have a gift for you." one of the farmers said.

"Open it once you're in Naples." another farmer said.

Sabbina smiled before taking a step in the train entrance.

"Thank you very much. I'll return to the lodge very, very soon." Sabbina said.

"We'll wait for you, Sabbina. Good luck!" the farmers said in unison.

"All aboard, the train is leaving." the announcer on the speakers said.

Sabbina sat at the most comfortable seat beside the window, waving her last goodbye to the farmers. Sabbina decided to take a sleep since it is too early, until she remembered something.

"Oh no, I forgot to give the ticket!" Sabbina said in shock as she stood, checking all of the passengers if the man named Kairon made it.

"Oh no, stop the train!" Sabbina shouted while running towards the first cabin of the train.

Unfortunately for her this time, everyone is looking at her weirdness.

"Sabbina, sit down." someone called her name.

Sabbina looked around and saw someone that is reading a newspaper, which is upside down.

"If you're looking for me, there's no need to panic." the man added.

"Who are you then? How do I know that you are Kai- Sabbina stopped.

"How do I know that you are the one I'm supposed to meet?" Sabbina quickly changed her question, with what the farmers told her still embedded in her mind.

"Yes it's me Kairon." he said.

"But I have your ticket! How did you..." Kairon stopped Sabbina.

"If you're a great observer, you should have noticed that the other train ticket in the envelope is for last week's train." Kairon added.

Sabbina grabbed the envelope to see the ticket and saw that it really is from last week's train schedule.

"What do you want from me?" Sabbina asked.

"Ms. Calista asked me to teach you how to be more observant. She said that it is your dream to travel to Naples, but she is not suited well to accompany you there. So you will stay in Naples under my provision, okay?" Kairon said.

Sabbina was silenced.

"Now get back to sleep. We have a lot of things to talk about later at Naples." Kairon said.

Sabbina grew furious.

"Nobody tells me what to do." she said.

"Then let's see if you can survive in Naples alone for even just one day." Kairon said.

"I don't even need someone or somebody's help. I learned that in that place, I must trust nobody else except myself." Sabbina said.

Kairon laughed.

"Don't you know that I'm the one who told the farmers about that saying?" he said.

"What?" Sabbina asked.

"Do you even know why I'm in Sorrento in the first place?" Kairon asked.

"Because you have some businesses to deal with the lemon farmers?" Sabbina guessed.

"You're right. But-" Kairon was about to speak when the train came into a full stop.

"Monster!" a passenger screamed just before a huge claw created a huge hole in the train's roof..