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Chapter 3

Author: zoey
The hum of the machine suddenly grew louder.

The probes inside the helmet drove deeper into my skull, and electric currents surged through my brain. The pain forced my back to arch, and a strangled rasp tore from my throat.

Blood slowly seeped from my nostrils and the corners of my eyes.

The screen flickered violently, skipping through fragments of my memories.

The three of us reading together in the library, lying in the garden under the sun, running to the docks to welcome Matteo home when he returned from overseas...

They were all moments from before the incident.

Except for that rainy night.

The people below the platform began to grow restless.

“What’s going on? Why are they showing nothing but these old memories?”

“What about the night Lia died? She was there, wasn’t she? Why isn’t it showing?”

Matteo frowned and looked toward the control panel.

“Why is there no memory from the night of the incident?”

The operator wiped the sweat from his forehead, his voice trembling.

“Don Valenti, her subconscious is resisting. Her mind has completely sealed that memory away. We can’t extract it.”

“Resisting?”

Matteo repeated the word, his voice as cold as ice.

“She thinks she has the right to resist?”

He walked toward me and stared down at me.

“Sera, you’ve kept that person hidden for this long. Aren’t you tired?”

“Do you really think you can protect them?”

“Today, even if I have to tear the answer out of your mind myself, I will find out who they are.”

I slowly opened my eyes and looked at him through the pain.

“Matteo... don’t force me. You won’t want to know the truth.”

“I don’t want to hear any more excuses.”

He turned to the operator and ordered:

“Maximum power. Continue.”

“Even if it destroys her brain, drag that memory out.”

“But Don Valenti, her body is already at its limit... If we increase the power any further, she may die on the platform.”

“Die?”

Matteo glanced at me.

There was not a trace of emotion in his eyes.

“If a traitor dies, so be it.”

“If anything goes wrong, I will take responsibility.”

The operator no longer dared to argue. He gritted his teeth and pushed the power output to its maximum.

Devastating pain erupted through my entire body.

I felt as though my skull were being ripped open by force and my soul crushed into fragments.

I could not stop myself from screaming, my voice so ragged that it barely sounded human.

Blood flowed from my ears, ran along my jaw, and dripped onto the restraint chair, spreading into a small patch of dark red.

The screen flickered violently, and the images began flashing faster and faster.

Suddenly, a clear image burst onto the screen.

It was a cold, rainy night at the edge of the ravine. I was kneeling in the mud, and Lia’s body lay before me.

Her body was waterlogged and swollen, her face pale and lifeless. She no longer looked like the bright, smiling girl I remembered.

My entire body trembled, and I could no longer tell whether what ran down my face was rain or tears.

The courtyard fell silent for a moment.

Someone whispered, “She... she looks like she’s grieving too.”

“She’s pretending. If she was truly devastated, why wouldn’t she reveal the killer?”

My mother stood at the front of the crowd, holding Lia’s childhood stuffed doll. She stared blankly at the screen, repeating the same words over and over.

“Lia... my girl...”

Flora stared at my devastated figure on the screen, then turned her gaze toward me, barely alive in the restraint chair. Her eyes had turned red.

“Stop pretending.”

She gritted her teeth.

“Lia is dead, and half the blame is yours.”

“You could have saved her.”

I opened my mouth, but no words came out.

Yes.

I could have.

But I couldn’t say it.

The machine continued to roar, digging deeper into the darkest corners of my mind.
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