The Beginning of That Night

The rain poured down on every corner of the community, drumming on rooftops and trickling down the walls until it reached the ground. A few people hurried by with umbrellas, but the streets were nearly deserted, with little movement. However, something was happening nearby on that cold night.

A tall man ran through the alleys, carrying a woman in his arms who appeared to be bleeding heavily. "Agh, Samantha? Wake up, please, stay awake!" He kept running until he reached a dead-end alley. Before he could turn back, a silhouette appeared at the entrance. The man, holding the woman, took a few steps back. "Why all this chasing? WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" The figure drew closer, illuminated by the moonlight...

Three hours earlier...

"Dammit! We don't have much time!" said a man with brown eyes and hair, his tone filled with worry. A woman with long black hair entered the room, quickly rummaging through a suitcase, and replied, "I know, Victor, but don't worry. We've already prepared everything for our trip. We just need to get out of here as fast as possible. Hurry up and get ready."

Victor: "It's not just this situation that worries me."

He quickly began to dress, putting on a brown overcoat over a suit and a dull green tie. The wardrobe was filled with jewelry and items that seemed to be very valuable, almost like relics. He took some of the jewelry and stuffed it into his pocket.

Victor: "Samantha, did you already give the necklaces and the book to Roger?"

Samantha: "Yes, don't worry, he's already received everything."

Victor's hands were trembling, not from the cold of the night, but from fear and dread of something unknown. The situation wasn't much different for Samantha, who noticed her husband's trembling hands.

Samantha sighed calmly and went to him, taking his hand and intertwining their fingers as she said, "I know, this whole situation is terrifying." Victor responded, bringing his face closer to hers: "It's not that, what scares me is the possibility of never seeing our children again. It's almost funny, isn't it? I've been through many dangers that almost cost me my life, but nothing has ever scared me like this."

Samantha: "I understand, life changes completely when you have children, doesn't it?"

She brought her lips closer to his, capturing his mouth in a subtle kiss. Victor reciprocated, pulling her closer. Both of them calmed down, and after a short while, she gently pulled away, saying, "What comforts me the most in all of this is the fact that I still have you by my side." She looked at his face tenderly and said, "And you still haven't shaved that beard I asked you to, you stubborn man." Victor noticed her attempt to lighten the mood, even if just a little, and smiled, saying, "It's part of my charm. It's because of this beard that I managed to win you over." Samantha let out a soft laugh.

Samantha: "Come on, I've already packed the suitcase and grabbed everything we were missing."

They walked to the door with an umbrella and took one last look at the house before closing it.

Three hours later...

The figure approaching Victor in the alley seemed to shrink the space with each step. The silhouette revealed itself to Victor, and before he could react, his throat was slit. He fell to the ground alongside his wife, his vision blurred with blood, managing only to see the figure approaching before his vision faded as his heart was pierced by a dagger.

That same night, in a distant house, two children shared the same room, enveloped in the silence of the night and the faint glow of a lamp that illuminated the room.

Zoe: (breaking the silence) "I'm scared, Léo."

Léo: "Don't worry, Zoe. They'll be back soon. It shouldn't take long."

Zoe quickly got out of bed and started hitting Léo's face with a pillow repeatedly.

Zoe: "Don't try to act all calm! Our parents wouldn't just leave like this out of nowhere!"

Léo grabbed the pillow and pulled it from her hands, retaliating by throwing it back at her face as he said, "You're not the only one who's worried here. I am too." Zoe threw the pillow back, hitting Léo squarely in the face.

Zoe: "Then why aren't you doing anything?!"

Léo grabbed the pillow and started hitting her. She did the same, grabbing another nearby pillow, and thus began a pillow fight.

Léo: "You know the family rules: 'Don't interfere with Mom and Dad's work.' That's the rule they told us to follow."

Zoe: "And you're really going to follow that stupid rule?!"

The pillows began to release feathers all over the room, and footsteps were heard approaching their room. They immediately stopped arguing and returned to their previous positions in bed.

The door opened, and a tall, strong man stood at the entrance, looking at the children, who pretended to be asleep. He held a woodcutter's axe in his hand and said, "I know very well that you're not asleep. Only a deaf person wouldn't have heard you arguing." The children stopped pretending, and Léo replied, "Sorry, Uncle Roger. It's just that Zoe can't stay quiet." Zoe quickly buried Léo's face in the sheets and retorted, "That's not true! I'm just worried about Mom and Dad, unlike this insensitive guy who doesn't show any concern for them."

Léo: "Are you deaf or something? I already said I'm worried too! It's just that, unlike you, I'm obeying and trusting that they'll come back home."

Zoe: "You insensitive jerk!"

Léo: "You're the jerk!"

Roger slammed the butt of the axe on the floor, making a heavy, loud sound. He sighed and said, "Stop fighting, both of you." Quickly, the siblings fell silent and both said, "Sorry, Uncle Roger."

Roger: "If you can't sleep, follow me to the living room and see if you can calm down a bit."

They followed Roger to the first floor of the house and into the living room, which had a sofa and an armchair facing an unlit fireplace. Roger sat in the armchair and said, "Léo, light the fireplace, please." Léo went to the firewood, placed some in the fireplace, and spent a few seconds there until he got the fire going. Zoe broke the brief silence.

Zoe: "Did our parents say anything to you before they left, Uncle Roger?"

Roger settled more comfortably in the armchair and said, "That's not something you need to worry about right now. Just be kids and do something to have fun."

Léo managed to light the fireplace and sat in front of it, saying, "But there's nothing we can do here, and it's too late to go outside." Roger looked out the window at the trees in the background, which slightly hid the moon behind them, and replied, "True. Then I'll read you a book. Zoe, go to that shelf and grab the first book." Zoe obeyed her uncle's order and picked up the book, but before handing it over, she looked at the cover and the title. The cover showed a deer resting beside a human skeleton, and the title was "The Meaning Given to the Journey." Zoe handed over the book, and Roger opened it to the first page.

Roger: "Sit down. I'll tell you a story, a little reflection on life."

The two siblings sat with their backs to the fireplace, waiting for him to begin the story.

Roger: "In a forest illuminated by the moonlight, a deer with a bleeding front leg rested beside a skeleton leaning against a tree. The skeleton turned its skull to the deer and asked, curious, 'How did you end up in this situation?' And the deer replied, 'I was scratched by a lion's claws. I don't have much time left.' The skeleton asked, 'Does it hurt?' The deer replied, 'No, it doesn't, but I feel my strength fading little by little.'

Skeleton: 'How lucky. My death was quite painful. I was ambushed by rival knights while I slept and ended up like this.'

Deer: 'Lucky? There's nothing lucky about this.'

Skeleton: 'So you'd prefer a painful death?'

Deer: 'Your choices led you to such a death.'

Skeleton: 'I died protecting many families, so I don't think it's fair for you to have a painless death and not me.'

Deer: 'You protected many families, but you destroyed many others for territory. I'm in this situation because I tried to protect my son, but he was devoured by the lion, and now I'm dying in vain. Still, I don't regret it.'

Skeleton: 'Hmm... when you put it that way, we're not so different. I died protecting my kingdom, and in the end, we lost, and the kingdom was taken by our enemies.'

Deer: 'So you died failing in your one task of protecting your own. That's why you had a painful death.'

Skeleton: 'Huh? But you also failed to save your son.'

'The deer then began to close its eyes slowly and, taking its last breaths, replied, 'Yes, you're right, but I didn't kill other deer for this.' It took its last breath, and then the skeleton disintegrated into dust, flying into the wind and merging with the ground. The deer then opened its eyes, licked its front leg, removing the blood and revealing that there was no wound there. It stood up and walked away from the tree, saying, 'Rest well, knight.'

The end."

Roger: "What did you think?"

Léo replied, "A bit confusing," while Zoe yawned and said, "It's very different from the stories Mom tells me." Roger chuckled lightly and said, "Yeah, maybe the books I have aren't for kids, haha. But this one is special. It was the first book I read to your father when he was your age."

Léo: "Dad told us you were a really mean brother to him."

Zoe: (smiling) "True. He said you used to tell him scary stories, and he couldn't sleep because of them, haha."

Roger: "Hahaha, that's true. Before Victor became the man he is now, he was quite fearful as a child. That brings back good memories."

The room fell silent for a few seconds, but soon the silence was broken by Roger saying, "Are you calmer now?" The siblings nodded, and then Roger got up from the armchair, saying, "Good, then go to your room and rest. Your parents should be back soon. Don't worry." The siblings got up and headed toward the stairs, with Zoe saying, "Thanks for reading the story, Uncle Roger. Good night." Léo also thanked him, saying, "Thanks for everything, Uncle Roger. You're the best uncle in the world." Roger laughed and replied to Léo, "You're only saying that so I don't scold you, right?" Léo ran toward the room, laughing along with his sister, and the door closed.

Roger spent some time staring at the fireplace, and a vague memory crossed his mind. He went to a drawer and took out two necklaces, circular in shape, black with a yellow circle in the center, resembling the pupil of a human eye. Roger remembered the promise he made to Victor: "If this happens, give these necklaces to them." Roger took the necklaces and went to his own room, leaving the door slightly ajar to keep an eye on the outside. He settled into bed, tucking the necklaces under his pillow, and tried to rest. The house fell into complete silence, and the children fell asleep within minutes.

[In the same alley where Victor's life was taken]

Two figures stood in front of the two corpses, a tall man wearing a black cloak slightly open, revealing a reinforced black leather outfit with matching pants and boots, and beside him was a slightly shorter woman wearing a dark green cloak, her arms and legs wrapped in black bandages. But beyond their clothing, something else stood out about them: the woman was covering her face with a goat skull, leaving only her emerald green eyes visible, and the man beside her had deer antlers on his head.

The tall man crouched to pick up a fallen jewel and said, "Something happened here." The woman approached from behind him and replied with an ironic tone, "No kidding, Payner. You really think something happened here? I thought they were just taking a nap." Payner stood up, dropping the jewel back on the ground, and headed out of the alley. "Always the sarcastic one, aren't you, Évora? Let's just finish what we came here to do. You know what to do, right?"

Évora gave a subtle smile and said, "Of course I do. It's not like it's the first time, and you know that." Both figures walked calmly toward the exit of the alley, as if the situation didn't bother them at all. They entered the darkness of the nearest street and disappeared completely, leaving behind only a faint, cold mist that spread throughout the area.