Chapter 2 - Kairon

June 4, 2020, Thursday

Sorrento, Southern Italy

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

Calista looked at Sabbina as she leave the office. A few seconds later, she grabbed her backpack and then went outside.

"Wait." she said as she saw a set of key in the floor.

"Julia, you're leaving right? Drop by her lodge and give her this key. She might have dropped it." Calista said before leaving.

"Where are you going?" Julia asked from upstairs, but she never received an answer.

"Might be on her way to visit the farmers again." Julia added as she ran downstairs and went straight to Sabbina's lodge to hand her the key.

Meanwhile, Calista went to meet the farmers and the owner of the farm which is none other than Kairon himself.

"You've handed her my gift?" Kairon asked Calista.

"Yes, and I'm sure she'll be here soon to bid farewell to all of the farmers here." Calista replied.

"She's always excited to go there, and I don't know why!" she added.

"That's why I'm happy to accept your offer to serve as her adviser for her journey in Naples. It is very dangerous to stay there alone." Kairon said.

"What made it dangerous?" Calista asked.

"Monsters, mysteries, and everything that is beyond expectations. Everything that is worth fearing can be seen there." Kairon replied.

"So what is the old bus ticket for?" Calista asked.

"To survive in Naples is to be observant. I haven't met this Sabbina yet, but I'm sure she won't even notice that one of the tickets is old." Kairon answered.

"That will be a much simpler way to introduce myself to her." he added.

"Well actually, it's more complicated." Calista commented.

"Anyways, we have to go before Sabbina sees us here." Calista said before leaving.

"Everyone, please tell Sabbina that in Naples, there's no one she can trust, except on herself." Kairon said before leaving.

Kairon went back inside his house in the middle of the farm and looked through the windows as Sabbina arrives and bid farewell to her friends.

June 5, 2020, Friday

Sorrento, Southern Italy

Kairon woke up early and decided to gather all of the farmers for a meeting inside his house.

"Everyone, this is the final day for now that I'll be waking up in this place. Please come with me in the train station to see if this Sabbina is being observant." Kairon said.

"How?" a farmer asked.

"She already bid farewell yesterday, I don't think she would even wonder why you're still there in the train station." Kairon said followed by a laugh.

"You're being hard on this girl." a farmer commented.

"Living in Naples is much harder, I just want to help her." Kairon replied.

Kairon looked around his house. It is full of paintings and inventions. His favorite painting is his own version of Mona Lisa, while his favorite invention is a machine where all human memory can be stored.

"I already stored all of my memories here in Sorrento inside this box. So when I'm away, I'll just access this machine through my phone to clearly remember everything." Kairon said.

"So please be mindful of this machine. I don't want to forget all of you, okay?" Kairon added.

Everyone nodded.

They went to the train station as early as they could and Kairon boarded the train as soon as the conductor allowed people to do so. Kairon sat at a seat in the first cabin of the train. The train left the station and Kairon took a deep breath.

"And now, let's wait for something worth remembering every time." Kairon told himself as he sat comfortably while reading the latest news about Naples.

"Hmmm... Something's weird in this photograph." Kairon looked at the photo that is in the newspaper, turning it upside-down to see things clearly.

"Oh no! Stop the train!" someone shouted.

Kairon looked behind and saw that it is Sabbina, panicking just like how he thought was about to happen.

"Sabbina, sit down." he said.

Sabbina looked around and saw Kairon with his face covered by an upside-down newspaper.

Sabbina and Kairon are having a conversation when a passenger screamed.

"Monster!" the passenger screamed.

"How?" Kairon said.

"What?" Sabbina said.

"It's a monster called Artiglio!" Kairon said.

"It is supposed to be contained inside Naples, what is it doing here?" he added.

Sabbina was confused on what was happening.

"Is that real?" Sabbina asked.

Everyone except the two of them started to panic and ran into the other cabins out of fear.

"I know it's weakness." Kairon said as he pulled out a rope from his luggage.

Sabbina saw everything that is inside Kairon's luggage. Ropes, knives, blades, and what looked like smoke bombs.

"Why do you have those in your luggage?" Sabbina asked.

The Artiglio bore another hole in the roof, this time, its claw went straight into the floor.

"That's it! The monster is trapped. Grab the rope!" Kairon said as he threw the other side of the rope to Sabbina.

The monster tried to pull its claw up, but it is stuck. Sabbina had no idea on what to do.

"Just tie it in its claw!" Kairon said as he tie the other side of the rope around his waist.

"I don't understand what's happening!" Sabbina said.

"Just listen to me and observe." Kairon shouted.

"And stay safe." he added before jumping out of the first hole the monster created.

Kairon stood at the roof of the train and saw how gigantic the flying monster is. An Artiglio stands for about 10 feet, but this one is much larger.

"It looks like 15 feet for me.' Kairon said as he ran towards the driver's cabin to stop the train.

The monster noticed him and tried to stab him with its claw.

"Aha! Boo!" Kairon shouted as both of the monster's claws are stuck.

Kairon jumped back inside the train and went straight into the driver's cabin.

"What are you going to do now?" Sabbina asked.

"I think I don't want to go to Naples anymore." Sabbina said.

Kairon opened the door to the driver's cabin and saw that the driver is unconscious. He pulled the brake and the train slows down before coming into a stop.

"Everyone, go somewhere safe!" Kairon ordered as all of the passengers leave the train.

Kairon saw Sabbina on the floor, terrified.

"Hey are you alright?" Kairon asked.

"I don't want to go to Naples! I want to go back to Sorrento! Please, I'm scared!" Sabbina said.

"But we're already in Naples." Kairon said.

"What?" Sabbina asked out of confusion.

June 5, 2020, Friday

Naples, Southern Italy

Sabbina looked around her. The passengers are looking at her. Kairon is standing from a distance and she found herself lying in the middle of the train aisle.

"What happened?" Sabbina asked and then tried to sit up.

"No, relax, Sabbina." Kairon said.

"You're running like a weirdo and then you tripped." Kairon explained.

"I don't understand. Where is the monster? The Artiglio?" Sabbina looked around her bit everything seems normal.

"You must be dreaming. You're unconscious for the whole train ride." Kairon said.

"Come on, let's go to a nearby clinic to have your head checked." he added.

"No, I'm fine." Sabbina said.

"Yes, you are fine. A passenger turned out to be a registered nurse and applied first aid on you. Too bad she is in a hurry but she said that you must be very careful next time. But it doesn't mean that you must not worry about yourself." Kairon said.

"Come on. We have something to talk about." he added.

"I swear that there is an Artiglio. I saw it! It created a hole in the roof!" Sabbina said.

"Artigli are long gone. They don't exist anymore." Kairon answered.

There is a clinic near the train station and tests are made to check Sabbina's condition. Fortunately, there are no major injuries in her head. All she have to do is to take a rest and she will be able to do whatever she wants to tomorrow.

"So what are you doing in Sorrento?" Sabbina asked.

"You're friends with the farmers, right?" Kairon asked.

"Yes. How did you know?" Sabbina asked.

"I own the lemon farm where you conducted your study." Kairon said.

Sabbina was surprised.

"And you saved my company. Thank you." Kairon said.

"Saved your company? All I did was conduct a survey about the lemons." Sabbina said.

"But I'm still grateful." he replied.

"Anyways, you should rest. I have something to tell you when you are fully-recovered." he added.

"What is it?" Sabbina asked.

"Please tell me." she added.

"I said later." Kairon replied.

"Then you should've not said it and left it out for later instead." Sabbina answered.

"Fine." Kairon said before his phone rang.

Kairon looked at his phone. His old friend, Vien, is calling him.

"Hello. How are you?" Kairon answered and then there was a pause.

Sabbina is trying to listen what the caller is saying but all she can hear are murmurs and distorted words.

"Good to hear that! I'll visit you soon." Kairon said.

"Bye!" he said before ending the call.

"That's Vien, one of my friends here in Naples." Kairon told Sabbina.

"So you have a lot of friends here?" Sabbina asked.

"Yes, but most of them left Naples already before the lockdown yesterday." Kairon answered.

"Lockdown?" Sabbina asked.

"I forgot about that! What type of lockdown is implemented here?" she added.

"Once you're in, there's no way out." Kairon answered.

"How long have you been here in Naples?" Sabbina asked.

"Enough to know everything that I need to know about this place. Even the woman that changed my life." Kairon said.

"I knew it! There's something between you and Vien." Sabbina teases.

"I told you she is my friend." Kairon said.

Sabbina resumes on making faces to tease Kairon.

"Okay. As your adviser, I'll let you investigate me. See for yourself and find that woman I'm referring too. Let's see if this activity can improve your observation skills." Kairon said.

"Hey, I'm just kidding." Sabbina said.

"Well, I'm not." Kairon said.

"Once you're fully-recovered, we'll start your research here." he added.

"And I am your adviser, not even a friend. Okay?" Kairon said.

Sabbina was silenced.

"Okay then, I'll just investigate who this woman is. Would you mind giving me clues?" Sabbina asked.

"Clues aren't given, they are uncovered." Kairon replied.

"How about we talk about something else?" Sabbina said.

"About what?" Kairon asked.

"My dream. I felt like it is real. The Artiglio, the hole in the roof, everything felt real!" Sabbina explained.

"You might have watched a lot of news about Naples and it started to haunt your dreams." Kairon replied.

"But I haven't even seen an Artiglio before, but the way I saw it seemed real." Sabbina described.

"You even have ropes and knives and smoke grenades in your luggage." she added.

Kairon quickly covered Sabbina's mouth and told her to remain silent.

"How did you know that?" Kairon whispered.

"I saw it in my dream. I told you it is real!" Sabbina said.

"There's something happening on you, but I'm not sure what is it." Kairon said.

"What? Am I acting weird? Hallucinating? What?" Sabbina asked.

"Every year, a tourist in Naples will be marked." Kairon started.

"Marked?" Sabbina asked.

"Since the 7th Century BC, someone that is not born in Naples who sets foot in here will be marked. One of the Greek people that discovered Naples was marked too." Kairon continues.

"What does it mean to be marked?" Sabbina asked.

"I can't answer that. My researches aren't enough to say that what I'm telling you is already true." Kairon answered.

"But what happened to the previous people that are marked?" Sabbina asked.

Kairon took a deep breath.

"The previous marked people, they all died." Kairon said.