There's nothing left.
The darkness of the narrow tunnel envelops Marco and John as their steps are interrupted by the sudden revelation of betrayal. Marco halts his steps, bewildered by John's words.
The tightness of the place and the earth around them create a suffocating atmosphere. A groan escapes John, and blood spurts from his side, painting a grim picture of resignation in his gaze. John's accusations seem unfounded, baseless words accusing Maria, the only person who showed support to Marco alongside him.
A bullet has pierced his belly.
"She knew everything, and planned your parents' death," John asserts, as blood stains his words.
Nonsense.
'Maria, who loves Marco, wouldn't be capable of such betrayal.'
John pulls out his cellphone, looking at Marco while he can't understand what's happening. He can't even react to John's wound. In my heart, there is nothing but confusion.
"He must be mine alone." Through the phone, Maria's distorted voice is clearly heard.
Maria's laughter sounds like betrayal, but something inside me tells me it can't be true.
'They must have deceived both of you. She can't not love you after all you've done for her,' I think, trying to make sense of the betrayal.
Suddenly, a deafening roar cuts through the air. Marco's cheek shatters under the impact of a bullet. The pain is unbearable, and then soldiers appear from tunnel entrances.
"Stop, national army!" the soldiers shout as they aim from one side of the tunnel, getting closer and closer.
Both take cover from one side, shooting and holding off the soldiers. The wound in his belly is clear, and his face is growing paler and paler. John keeps firing; however, his bullets fail to hit any targets.
"Run, don't look back," John urges, sacrificing himself for his friend's safety.
Marco's thoughts mingle with fear and disbelief. By the time he realizes it, he's several meters away from John.
'I fled.'
He runs desperately, the cold of the tunnel and confusion tormenting his mind.
'I'm sorry.'
Marco's inner apology echoes, but determination seizes him.
'I can't abandon him; I must act now and help my friend.'
Marco's words reveal his will to face the unknown, even as terror and confusion reflect in his eyes.
'Stop moving!'
Marco's legs don't stop, almost as if they have a mind of their own, his desire to save his life still persisting.
'I fled.'
Revelations about Maria plunge him into a spiral of turbulent emotions.
'I'm sorry.'
The tunnel walls seem to close in, and reality blurs into a sea of uncertainty.
'I fled.'
Marco's mental apology repeats, but his mind no longer has room for reasoning. I can feel it, in Marco's heart there is only one feeling.
Hatred.
Boom! A final roar resounds, marking the beginning of a race against the uncertain fate.
The tunnel rumbles and debris fall, indicating the end of the shots. Marco, with a heart full of hatred, emerges from the tunnels and plunges into the jungle. He retrieves grenades from a hidden crevice and proceeds to collapse the tunnel.
'John...' resonates in his mind, an echo of regret mingling with the burning flame of hatred.
After hours of running, Marco arrives at an imposing house in the midst of the jungle, hidden by its dark green hue. Guards briefly point their guns at him, noticing the wound on his ear, a remnant of the confrontation. Marco, with a determined look, is led to Oscar.
The guards take his belongings while one offers him support to walk. In the room, Marco finds Oscar with a bandage on his arm, a sign that he too has suffered injuries.
Oscar's annoyed look as he takes notes in his notebook brings a hint of satisfaction to Marco.
"How did they know our location?" Marco asks, believing he knows that the betrayal comes from someone close.
Despite the suspicion, Oscar smiles and gives him a meaningful glance. Marco patiently waits for him to speak.
"I had a contact in the government. He assured us that there would be no search teams where we operate," He explains, letting the words hang in the air.
"His words don't directly accuse, but the suspicion is evident." Marco knows that, although he told Maria about his location, it was an innocent oversight.
Oscar, with a smile, continues speaking. And, Marco, undisturbed, waits for the full revelation.
"For your reward and mine? I doubt anyone would do it for that. In the end, you gain more with the drug business," Marco comments, evaluating the possibilities.
Oscar's negative gesture confirms that typical economic interests did not motivate the traitor.
"You don't understand because you're not one of us. For a criminal, betraying means being able to stay in power, or gaining new power," Oscar explains, trying to make Marco understand the complexity of the motivations behind betrayal.
Despite the explanations, Marco doesn't seem convinced. Instead of insisting, he moves on to inform Oscar about the whereabouts of the machine, omitting mentioning John, aware that Oscar isn't interested.
In response, Oscar points upwards, hinting that there is more at stake than Marco could comprehend.
"I was able to rescue the girl, but her parents..."
Blood begins to run through his veins, thick and deep, a feeling that consumes all ability to think.
Anger, an emotion that blinds any capacity to reason.
And I, I must contain it for his own good. I must endure it if I want to move forward. 'You must endure! His anger, his murderous intent.'
This is not the Marco I know.
'I don't like this Marco.'
Marco leaves Oscar and storms out of the room. He grabs the gun and rushes upstairs. He opens the door, panting from exhaustion. He doesn't care about his state, he doesn't care if he hasn't rested, if he's injured.
Marco's bloodshot eyes are all I can see. The sight in the room is not hopeful either. My hands shake, but my heart no longer has room for fear or sadness.
I hate this Marco. Do I hate him? For succumbing to weakness?
"I..."
"I didn't! I did it! No!" Maria is on the floor, clutching her head tightly. "I wanted him! That's why I!"
Maria looks around desperately, with nails bitten and bleeding, her hair partially torn out. Somehow, the vision of the woman who was a pillar in Marco's life, the one who could save him, has completely disappeared.
That strong woman no longer exists.
"Welcome! My love!" Maria runs towards Marco to hug him, wrapping her arms around him, but Marco feels nothing but disgust.
It's not her fault; she's just a victim. But Marco doesn't seem to see it.
Maria, once strong, is now broken into a thousand pieces.
"I missed you! My parents!" Her tears flow, but Marco senses something in the air. A small purplish mist.
The atmosphere tenses, a dark sensation envelops the room. Echidna, with a piercing gaze, knows what is unfolding. She looks at the screen with a smile, while I clench my hands tightly.
Betty and Marco explained to me, they didn't give me details, but they told me what it's about. Something that Marco possesses in significant quantities, something that consumes his strength and he has to contain.
Something that relates to me, something that comes from the envy witch:
Miasma.
My breath quickens, my heart pounds hard, and my hands dig into themselves, nails piercing the skin. It was in my world where someone unleashed damnation, the witch I'm compared to.
Marco enters, closes the door, trying to decipher the origin of this ominous sensation. It's the first time I see her, and this Marco seems to be experiencing it for the first time too.
Marco had told me he couldn't see it, but this Marco is different; it's so clear that even I am surprised.
'Why can Marco see it and I can't?'
A machine emits a thick liquid that evaporates into the air. Marco tries to turn it off, but he can't find a power source, only a dark purplish crystal.
His hand moves towards the crystal.
"Don't stop it! Don't turn it off!" Maria, driven by an unknown force, pushes Marco with all her might. However, he composes himself, subdues her, and leaves her on the floor with a blow that resonates in the room.
Marco's heart, my heart.
All I can feel is hatred.
Marco destroys the device instantly, pocketing the crystal. Then, my vision blurs.
"Agh!" Marco grabs his head, falling to the ground.
'Kill her.'
The thought Marco had tried to hide emerges forcefully.
'Kill her.' 'Kill her.' 'Kill her.' 'Kill her.'
His desires, his intentions. The dark abyss is revealed.
"How interesting, really, very interesting," I look at Echidna's smile, but suddenly I find myself on top of her.
I can't stop myself.
"I hate you! You made me see this!" I slam my fist into her face.
'Kill her.'
My head starts to ache, but I can't help it. I hate her, I detest her with every fiber of my being.
Echidna smiles, but my blows slowly wipe that smile away.
"I hate you! I hate you!"
'YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!'
Marco's thought brings me back to reality.
I look at Echidna as my hand and clothes soak in her blood. She struggles to breathe, but despite it all, her smile persists. I fall to the ground, contemplating what I've done.
I grab my head, just trying to stop this torrent of hatred.
"I... I didn't want to." I look towards the screen, where Marco is over Maria, just like me, it seems he has been carried away. 'This isn't me.'
I grab my head and slam it against the floor.
I don't feel pain, but this feeling inside me doesn't stop flowing. It's all Marco's fault, if he hadn't done that.
"Why did you do it?" Marco asks, and Maria, amidst smiles, seems not to be truly aware of Marco's intentions.
But despite everything, he can't bring himself to hit her.
'How can he bear it? I couldn't, I...'
I look at my hands and then turn my head towards Echidna.
Echidna stands up and sits back down, as if she doesn't care about what happened. Her face full of blood and bruises slowly starts to clean itself, revealing her joyful smile again.
"I can't, I can't keep watching." I grab my head, feeling the desperation in my heart, the hatred, the urge to kill. I squeeze tightly, trying to reach my brain and end this.
I look at the screen, trying to find a way out. I don't want to see, I don't want to keep suffering, containing their emotions.
"Me? I did it because I love you."
But... I have to do it.
'No, I don't have to; it's because of his stupid bet.'
Marco's trembling shakes the room, while my own heart beats with an intensity that threatens to drag me back into the abyss. Marco aims his gun at Maria, who keeps smiling as if she couldn't see the gun pointed directly at her.
'Is she hallucinating?' Betty never told me about the effects of the miasma, but if all the affected end up turning into monsters, then...
"Why did you kill my parents?!" Marco's shout echoes in the room. Maria opens her eyes and reaches out to him.
Marco looks at her as if he's seeing a monster. He doesn't see a human being; this feeling, this whirlpool, makes me dizzy. My vision blurs, and my mind wanders as I stare at the screen.
"I love you! Marco Luz! I love you!" Maria can only repeat those words as Marco tries to find a reason.
Marco starts pacing in circles, he looks at the gun and then at Maria, who keeps repeating "I love you" with a smile.
Marco breathes heavily, and I hold my breath. He grabs his head, looking at what was once the love of his life. His teeth clench to the point of seeming to break. His nails dig into his head, just like mine.
'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?' 'Why?'
"WHY?!"
I cover my ears, trying to stop hearing, but his thoughts pierce my soul like swords of cold metal, destroying my being in the process.
"I! I love you!"
"TELL ME OR I'LL SHOOT!" Marco points at Maria, his gun and body trembling as he looks at what was once his beloved.
"Don't do it..." I reach out my hand, trying to prevent falling into the abyss.
In the end, I cannot deny that I understand Marco's feeling. To Pandora, whom I must put an end to her life.
This hatred...
'Is this really Marco's? Or am I also a monster?'
"I love you!" Maria smiles, with her arms outstretched, unable to say more.
Marco, with his finger on the trigger, faces the cruel reality he has unleashed. His voice, full of pain and desperation, cuts through the air.
"Why did you kill them?!"
Maria, kneeling and torn, crawls towards Marco with the fleeting hope of stopping the tragedy. My words, a feeble attempt to calm the storm raging in Marco's soul.
"Don't do it, Marco Luz."
But Marco, engulfed in a spiral of anger and hatred, seems incapable of recognizing her as a human being. His trembling lips utter words of love, but they are trapped in a whirlwind of destruction.
"I love you, with all my heart, forever and..."
Marco's gaze filled with hatred meets mine, as his fingers move slowly towards the trigger. I quickly tilt my hand towards him, trying to do something, to grab him, but I cannot change what has already happened.
"No!"
Bang!
I rush towards the screen in desperation, but fate has already sealed its verdict.
Bang!
Two shots, two echoes of doom, resonate with merciless force. Marco closes his eyes to the reality he has forged.
My tremors shake my body as I feel myself disintegrating. I am paralyzed, unable to do anything as I witness the horror unfolding before me. Marco, with trembling hands, reflects the internal storm consuming him.
Maria's blood spreads across the floor, creating a macabre image of her demise, at the hands of the person he loves the most. Marco opens his eyes and reality unfolds before him.
"I..." Marco looks at what he has done, looks at it as the grinding of his teeth is the only audible sound in that room.
My heart beats heavily, seeking answers that seem to elude me. Suddenly, an uncontrollable vomit emerges from my mouth, struggling to breathe amidst the chaos.
'I... can't... give up.' My eyes remain fixed on the screen, capturing every detail of what is happening.
My vision blurs and my throat inflame, making it difficult to breathe. Marco, lost in his personal abyss, contemplates Maria's body with a macabre smile on his face, while the blood continues to flow.
"I killed her, I killed her, I killed her," Marco repeats in a macabre whisper that echoes in the room. His legs waver, threatening to give way under the emotional pressure, but an inner strength forces him to remain upright.
Clutching my head in desperation, I try to contain the emotional maelstrom engulfing me.
"Stop this!" I shout desperately, trying to halt the avalanche of emotions that engulfs us.
Marco advances towards Maria, the pungent smell of blood saturating the air, the spreading puddle of life. His gaze, devoid of emotions, settles on her.
"In the end..." Marco kneels down. "I was always a monster."
From Maria's body, Marco retrieves his cell phone with a coldness that chills my insides. With his hand stained with guilt, he unlocks the device and begins to search for clues. I strain to look, but the emotional burden overwhelms me.
'Is this what it feels like to fulfill revenge?'
Echidna, perpetuating her arrogant smile, seems to find pleasure in the suffering. But I, lost in this whirlwind, fail to comprehend it.
'Will it be like this when I confront Pandora?'
Then, a chilling wave envelops me, as if I had lost every last drop of my blood.
"No..."
Marco uncovers a video on the phone, his trembling finger slides to press the button. The screen reveals Maria, a smile etched on her face.
"I know we've tried so hard."
She smiles at the camera, recording herself.
"I know you're doing it for me, I know you want to see me happy too." Maria, embarrassed, looks away. "I was recommended something to be able to do it, and look, it worked."
A purplish liquid, similar to the crystal containing the miasma, adorns the image. Marco, with the phone in hand, watches as his beloved seems to regain her essence.
"I was recommended it, since, due to stress, we couldn't have it." Maria blows a kiss to the screen. "And, although it gives me some headaches, I can handle it."
Maria's eyes light up with a small violet gleam.
'My world destroyed his and ended everything he loved.'
Marco continues to watch, with a corpse-like expression.
The blood, the iron aroma. Maria's smile on the screen reflects the same one on her present body.
"Ta-da!" Maria displays a thermometer, seemingly in good condition.
The heart I thought nonexistent shatters once more. All my being is stripped of its strength, as if my soul had surrendered to despair.
"A pregnancy test..." Marco stares at the screen, his trembling lips saying it all.
My hands cover my mouth, understanding his words instantly.
He falls to the ground, Maria's blood-soaked shroud covering him. His gaze lost, as if trying to decipher something incomprehensible.
"We'll give you a surprise." Maria's warm gaze fails to dispel the cold looming around.
My vision blurs, my body becoming numb, unable to move.
Even so, he...
He can't even shed tears.
"We love you! That's why I'll listen to you and leave, because I know that even though you feel like you've lost everything." Maria shows a photo of Marco's parents. "Even though they're no longer here."
Maria's tears flow, aware that Marco is the one who has sacrificed everything.
Her hands tremble, her lips tremble. Marco watches his own hand, contemplating the irreparable. He has been betrayed again; someone has played with him.
And now, he has transformed into a monster.
Maria takes out a printed photo, both kissing on top of a mountain at sunset.
"You can always start over, meet new people. Your parents are the people I respect the most along with mine." She places the photo over her heart. "Even though it hurts not to see them, even though it weighs heavy on my soul, I know they'll always be watching us."
Maria kisses the pregnancy test.
"You should watch this video when I'm already in Russia, but, from here..." Maria blows another kiss. "We'll wait for you for all eternity, we'll wait for dad to return to our arms, smiling."
Marco drops the cellphone. The video freezes, and Marco trembles. He places his firsthand the ground, but only finds blood.
Marco clutches his head, feeling overwhelming pain.
"Ah!"
Marco gazes at the ground, Maria's face before him. Slowly and carefully, he takes Maria into his arms, drawing her close. He hugs her tightly, witnessing the consequences of his actions.
Marco pulls her away slightly, observing her countenance. It won't shine anymore, won't illuminate further.
Maria's face gleams like a withered flower.
"Ah!"
Marco looks, horrified by what he's done, his eyes wide open as he lets Maria fall to the ground. He tries to stem the blood, futilely attempting to undo what he's caused.
"No!"
'I must endure, I must endure if I want to end this. If I want to avoid witnessing this tragedy any longer.'
I must bear it.
"No!" Marco leans over her chest, but I don't see tears, he can't even articulate a word.
'I must die, I must die, I deserve to die.'
Marco watches as the purplish mist begins to dissipate.
"Marco..." I look towards the screen, trying to reach him.
"All I wanted was to see her live."
Marco tries to do something, and a light begins to emanate from his hands.
My surprise grows, but that light fades quickly.
"I didn't mean to, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
Marco keeps holding her, while all that remains is utter despair. I can barely see, barely feel.
Marco places his hand on Maria's belly.
'I am dead, numb.'
I feel cold, a cold that is nothing but absolute.
But then, when I thought pain would come, a burning flame seizes my body, a burning flame that does not belong to me. Marco looks up at the ceiling with hatred, his eyes filled with the same hatred with which he came.
"I will kill everyone who made this happen, I will kill each one without any fear."
Hatred begins to corrode my soul, and all that's left is a sphere of hatred.
"I will kill them, and then I will kill myself to end this."
"AGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" We scream with all our might, trying to release that sphere of despair. I feel trapped, as if I can't breathe.
I reach out my hand, trying to gather strength to grasp it.
Marco brings his face close to Maria's, while I fall slowly. Their lips meet, and I feel the ground hit my face. My vision clouds, my body stops responding. All the cold ground, feeling like I can no longer process anything.
I try to say something, and as if someone controlled my mouth, I utter some final words:
"Now, there's nothing left."