Aurelia: Dad?... Dad!!
Aurelia called out, worried, trying to wake her father. His sleep was deep and slow, and despite it being already noon, William seemed unable to wake up no matter what. Slowly, his eyes opened, and he weakly looked at Aurelia.
Aurelia: Finally! But seriously... Do you know how many hours you've been sleeping?
William: My head...
William replied, trying to slowly lift his body to sit up properly in the bed. His voice was weak, as if he had been through an endless night.
Aurelia: Dad... What happened yesterday? We were so scared when we saw you like that... What happened?
William paused and looked at Aurelia, trying to find the words.
William: I don't remember much... I only remember that... I was walking on the streets, and suddenly I saw an old man playing the accordion... And then... I don't remember anything.
William said this in a faint voice and placed his hand on his forehead as if trying to remember something, but his thoughts were cloudy.
Aurelia, deeply confused, looked at him with concern. How could it be that he ended up in this state just from that? Surely something else had happened, something that William couldn't remember. Not wanting to pressure him, she helped him lie back down to rest.
Aurelia: Dad? Do you need anything? Can I help in any way?
William: I... I think I'll be okay... But I'm not going to the company today... Please... Go to my office... Take the black folder under my desk... I need it... I have something to finish...
Aurelia looked at him for a moment, worried about his condition, but agreed.
Aurelia: Alright! I'll be back quickly!
She said and left the house, taking all the tools she would need. The trip to the company didn't take her long, and upon her arrival, Aurelia felt the weight of the previous day overwhelm her. Despite her attempt to leave her worries behind, her mind returned to Adrian and the atmosphere he had created there.
However, to her relief, Adrian didn't seem to be there. At least, that's what Aurelia thought, as she didn't run into him anywhere. She went up to William's office, grabbed the folder he needed, and hurried out without wanting to meet anyone who made her feel uncomfortable.
As she walked on the road home, she passed through a quiet neighborhood, letting the silence embrace her. But then, as her steps continued, she heard something. A melody... A melody that made her stop for a moment.
The music sounded old, melancholic, and yet beautiful, as if it had passed through the ages and brought with it an air of mystery. And then, she saw her.
It was an elderly homeless man sitting at a street corner, his accordion playing soft melodies in the air. His tune, sweet yet filled with melancholy, carried a strange charm, as if the instrument itself held a story. Aurelia stopped for a moment, wondering if this was the same old man William had mentioned.
But how could it be? A simple elderly man, alone on the street, with his old accordion. What could he possibly do to her? He was just an aged person, cut off from society, someone who had likely seen everything and yet nothing at all. Still, as she got closer, something inside her made her feel strange, as though her body were crossing some secret line between here and there.
As the melody from the accordion grew stronger, resonating loudly in the atmosphere, Aurelia felt her mind blur. Her thoughts became heavier, the images tangled, and she saw blurred figures passing before her eyes. The music seemed to pull her, like the current of a river in a midnight dive, and through the haze of images, Aurelia managed to make out something.
A woman, with long hair and an expression filled with sorrow, was holding a small child in her arms. The baby, wrapped in a blanket, gazed out at the world with eyes full of innocence. The image was blurry and unclear...
Aurelia tried to focus, but the faces became more and more blurred, as if swept away by the wind of time. The old man's accordion kept playing, the melody intertwining with her thoughts. She couldn't distinguish the features of the faces, but deep inside, something told her she knew these people.
Suddenly, the image shifted, and Aurelia's mind opened to a different scene. She saw a woman, beautiful yet full of melancholy, standing alone on a balcony. The image was vivid, almost tangible, yet as blurry as the first. The woman had long hair that played in the air, wearing a simple white dress. Her eyes were fixed on the sky, but her expression was one of helplessness, as if she were waiting for something or someone to come and save her.
Aurelia felt an inexplicable connection to this woman, as if she had known her from long ago, from another world, from another life. The scene on the balcony was so peaceful, almost frozen in time, but there was something dark within it, a sense that the woman was waiting for something that would never come.
The wind began to blow harder, and the woman's image blurred again, as if she were fading into the shadows. The melody from the old man's accordion continued to consume her, but now the music felt like a fateful summons, a call from the past that Aurelia could not ignore.
The image that formed before her was so vivid and terrifying that it caused her to freeze for a moment. A house, engulfed in flames, the fire consuming everything around it. Thick, suffocating smoke covered the sky, and there, amidst the flames and ash, she heard the cry of a baby.
Aurelia's heart beat loudly, as though it wanted to shatter from the weight of the anguish. Her eyes opened and closed involuntarily, as if she were trying to wake up from a deep sleep that had overtaken her without her noticing. The sound of the crying shook her, and a wave of despair flooded her, as if that cry was her own, as if, somehow, she had to stop it.
The image seemed to pull her in, dragging her deeper into a world she couldn't understand, and the flames licking at the house seemed to call to her, warning her of something she had forgotten or was trying to hide. Faced with this vision, Aurelia felt an overwhelming need to escape, to distance herself from the old man and the terrifying image that accompanied him.
Without thinking, she turned and ran away, her footsteps echoing in the empty streets of the neighborhood, and all she wanted was to return home, to the place where she felt safe. She didn't know exactly what had happened or why she had experienced those images, but a sense of fear overtook her. The only thing she knew was that she needed to go back and to try to forget everything she had just seen.
The old man did not stop watching Aurelia as she ran away from him, her figure gradually disappearing into the distance of the neighborhood. Once she had vanished from his sight, he slowly turned and continued playing his accordion, allowing the silence to consume the atmosphere. The melody was still there, hanging in the air like an unresolved enigma.
After returning home, Aurelia felt a sudden weight on her head. A persistent pain, which started slowly and intensely, took over her mind. It was like a headache she knew would drain her. She tried not to show it, to hide it beneath her composure, as she approached William's room.
The door was ajar, and inside, William was sleeping deeply. Her heart tightened for a moment as she looked at him. She didn't want to disturb him, to wake him from his heavy slumber. She took the folder he had asked for and gently placed it beside him on the small table next to his bed. The way he lay there made her feel a strange sensation, as if there was something she needed to understand, something that was unclear to her.
With slow and careful steps, Aurelia left the room and closed the door behind her, trying not to make any noise. But as soon as she turned her back, the pain in her head intensified, a sharp throbbing that made her stop and clutch her head with her hands. She tried not to make a sound, not to disturb the peace of the house, not to worry William.
But why? Why now? What was the reason behind this sudden pain? Could it have something to do with that old man and his accordion? The images that had flooded her mind... the woman with the baby, the house burning, the baby's cry... What was happening? And who was that woman? Why had her mind been filled with these blurry and terrifying visions?