Chapter 5.

Love is so short and oblivion is so long...

The tireless search for the missing had officially opened throughout Zaxonia and Jewels and had expanded to the Gregorian Islands, meanwhile, the Irsalian authorities defended their innocence, but the big question that most of the world was asking was: ¿where are they?, ¿how did they disappear and above all, ¿who was behind all this? The reality was that no one could answer that question that was going through their minds, it seemed that behind this disappearance there was a magnificent mastermind that had planned everything in great detail...

However, the authorities did not give up, tragedies with similar patterns had already happened in Whistler, when “The Crib Defiler” left hundreds of homes without children and women and his identity was still unknown.

At first he was believed to be Doctor Patrick Tempus, but his innocence was later proven when the crimes continued even after his arrest; Another similar case was in Tarzas, when dozens of women were tortured and dismembered by a perversely sinister murderer like the terrible case that seemed like a horror novel and that the media called the “Deadly Experiments and Games of a Murderous Mind”, which It triggered a movement among the Psychotic people of the Union of Northern States, when imitators began to appear in that country; or perhaps, as was the "SERPENTOR" movement, of which no one knew its origin or ways of operating, since its attacks were increasingly ferocious than the previous ones; and the best known case was that of the "Shadow Woman", that ruthless woman who moved among the shadows of the underworld, bringing misfortune and death in her wake.

Before her, many men and women died without any mercy, it is even said that hiring her services is sentencing your own death and having a fixed place in hell...

This could be a serial killer, careful and with clear and well-defined objectives, no one could confirm it yet, but if so, all men and women were in grave danger and had to be cautious about who they might offend, even accidentally, because they could be offending their executioner without knowing if he was a man or a woman.

That event kept the authorities alert twenty-four hours a day; and the people, in something that could perhaps be called a sadistic and sickly addictive panic... It was as if they were waiting for a second movement to know who would die and who would be guilty, this only indicated one thing: that society was becoming more decadent and with countless homes full of zombie bodies and empty minds, everyone always had a ridiculously personal and silly priority; and in many cases, it was not for the good, it was as if people wanted to excel in superficial things in some way, but the question they asked themselves was very simple: ¿who did not want to be remembered in this life even if they were rejected? for society...?

The answer is that practically everyone wants to be remembered for something, because it is horrible that time passes, history continues and no one other than you knows that you existed, which is why many people in the Union of Northern States had copied the footsteps of the twisted and cruel man of Tarzas, whom many remember for the case of the Experiments and Sadistic Mortal Games created by his murderous mind.

Either way, there was just one thing, Nathan had managed to convince Ariadna to accept a job in a nightclub in Irzania because they would pay her much more money dancing than cooking... she accepted without a moment's hesitation; perhaps, perhaps driven by the fantasy that dominated her, thinking that in this way he would see her in a romantic way, since she kept the hope that Nathan would notice her as a woman, although the reality was totally opposite, as she was only a plan prepared by him to be able to go unnoticed in Irsalia without having to give many explanations, so taking advantage of the advantage he had over her, he seduced her, gave her flowers and took her on dates where he knew there was more than one important person than I could see it, but that was the plan, he wanted them to know that he was dating a woman so he could completely mislead people who might have him in their sights in some way...

The rumor about Ariadna and Nathan was so powerful that it immediately reached Victor and Esther's ears...

Victor, upon learning this, angrily destroyed his desk; and when he saw the photos where he could see Nathan's supposed relationship with Ariadna, his anger went through the roof, he just wanted Nathan to be only for him and to never forget that his body and mind belonged only to him. him and no one but him... Then, reflecting with a whiskey in his hand, he asked himself, if Nathan loved the girl he was dating, ¿why was he still taking care of Ilan at the clinic? Perhaps he did it out of pity and to maintain the appearance that they were friends, but ¿why had he never shown inclinations towards the female sex before and why did he do it for now?... That complicated the situation much more, knowing that the authorities maintained Irsalia as one of the possible origins of all the drama with the kidnapped men that was being experienced.

On the other hand, Victor knew perfectly well that Nathan did not have enough capital to finance this whole scandal and he already knew that the people he routinely surrounded himself with did not have the money to finance it either, furthermore, that Ilan had at no time left any document in where it was mentioned that Nathan could touch his fortune, which made the situation even more disturbing for Victor, since somehow the one who was paying Ilan's bills at the clinic was Nathan, and although his finances were good, the expenses were higher than what a psychologist's salary could cover to keep Ilan's body alive.

***

Nathan had begun to have strange dreams at night, as if his soul was wandering the world, trying to find something he had lost...

Maybe he was crazy, but he could remember a golden castle in the middle of an island with crystal clear waters and a couple of men with a strong dark back, but also a white man with long white hair, from whom a very strong aura was given off. more powerful and he felt intimidated and kept hidden between a small crack that his spirit or soul had made of what seemed to be the ruins of an old coffin, so Nathan felt familiar as if he were seeing his first love from afar, maybe it was the dominant energy that white-haired man gave off that made him feel a strange tingling that he had never felt before, not even when he started dating Victor. 

It was different, because he could only see his back and half of his profile and only with his eyes. This could deduce that he was a beautiful man even though he looked mature, around 38 or 40 years old, but ¿what kind of dream or hallucination was he having? He was not a teenager to fantasize about strangers, but there was that man for whom he felt attracted and hypnotized and listening to the words that the dark-skinned man said to the white-haired man calling him Nari, here the name seemed familiar but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before...

And then Nathan, while the sun was setting, felt a stake sticking into his heart, upon hearing the phrase that the dark-skinned man dedicated to who was supposed to be called Nari, ( wait a little, a little more, surely he will come too to meet you);    Why did it hurt him so much to see how the white-haired man lowered his head and looked at the water as if he were longing to meet someone he had been looking for for a long time, maybe he shouldn't be there, maybe this hallucination was just a product of the stress he was having, but the only thing certain was that he couldn't forget the silhouette of that white-haired man, his body begged and practically begged him to run his arms and hug him, but he felt afraid and just stayed hidden, like perhaps he was not strong enough to face an energy more dominant than his own, that is why when night fell the men disappeared, entering the crystalline waters, as if they were a Triton, and it was then that he felt the need to Approaching the same place where the man in white had been standing and looking in all directions…he stood up and walked to the same position where the man was, his presence was still felt, it was like an energy that wrapped you around him and did not let go. Trying not to wake up he grabbed some sand, but when the water touched his hands reality returned and he was lying in his bed with his heart pounding and feeling that he had lost a great love, perhaps his other half, his complement and his desire to live, that was different, he had fallen in love with a stranger who had only appeared in his dreams briefly, but it felt so real that it hurt to remember it.

***