He approached her and managed to perceive again the perfum of lilacs impregnated on her skin. Although it was hard to admit it, he liked to hold her in his arms, even if it was by force.

“Now, I want you to listen to me carefully!” he said, bringing his face very close to hers.

“I don't want to hurt you, I just want you to give me back what you took from me! Nothing else!”

“I don't know what you mean” The young woman replied, shaking her head.

“Come on, I know the amulet is here, don't deny it. I'm just trying to be nice and respect your privacy, otherwise I would have looked for it myself while you were sleeping.”

“Oh, I'm sorry if I wasn't considerate enough to realize that you cared about my privacy,” she replied with a sarcastic laugh, “I think you have a wrong concept of what respecting a woman's privacy is... what can I say, intruding into my room like this, forcibly subduing me, is unacceptable!” she added with evident anger.

“Well, you didn't seem so shy when we first met. I thought you were willing to meet without so many formalities,” replied the young man mockingly.

“You don't know anything about me!”

They remained silent for a moment. He enjoyed the warm breath of the young woman, who watched him from her profile while still holding one hand on the door handle.

“How long have you been following me?”

“No...” answered the young woman, unable to complete the sentence.

“Why do you want the necklace?”

“I don't know what you're talking about! You're hurting me!”

“Impossible! Do you want me to believe that I was a victim you chose at random?” he answered, clinging to her more tightly, “You insult my intelligence! He grabbed her more firmly, but this time by the neck, and felt her body tense with fear. Believe me! You won't get out alive if you don't tell me everything!” said the young man, threatening her again.

“I don't know anything about the necklace, or about you or the strange group you are part of! I only do my job... that's all I have to tell you!”

“Your job? Who hired you?”

“I'm not going to tell you anything else. You fucking idiot! Who do you think you are to do this to me?”

The stranger took off his glasses and grabbed the young woman by the shoulders. After turning her around so she could look him in the face, he leaned her hard against the door and looked her straight in the eyes, getting so close to her that he could feel her breath on his face.

“Answer the question, I'm not playing, don't make me hurt you!” he whispered, and the expression on his face became menacing.

The young woman could not bear his gaze. Then, she ducked her head without daring to say anything else. At her silence, he seemed to lose his patience. And moved by an outburst of anger, he directed a sharp blow with his fist towards the door:

“Who hired you? I'm not going to ask you again!”

“All right!” cried the young woman with her eyes full of tears. “It was those fanatics of the Golden Flame. That horrid hierophant called Lucius Dormant came to see me and offered me a large sum of money for your silver pendant. “

“How could you find me? What information did he give you about me?”

“He gave me a photograph of you and a piece of paper with the location of those places you frequent. As well as the address of your store in the suburbs.”

“Did you go into my store?” he asked, frowning.

“No, I didn't!” said the young woman, shaking her head, “I swear! I was thinking of doing it as a last resort... in case I hadn't been able to get hold of your necklace first. But, as you know, things turned out differently.”

The young man looked at her expressionlessly as if he was analyzing her every word.

“How long have you been following me?”

“A couple of days ago! Although I was only able to follow you for short moments. You sneak away very easily, I must admit! It's very difficult to keep track of you! You only go out at night to visit strange places and most of those places would disturb even the bravest man. Just the thought of some of those macabre places gives me the creeps! I even thought about resigning the contract! I thought you were some kind of crazy psychopath, like the ones in the newspapers!”

“Maybe you weren't wrong! Maybe it's something much worse than those simple killers.” He replied angrily, “It would have been better if you had resigned. But now it's too late for that, there's no turning back. How did you manage to approach me in that alley? How the hell could you anticipate my location?”

The young woman raised her head and looked at him defiantly.

“What are you going to do if I don't answer any more of your damn questions? Are you really going to kill me? I don't think so!”

“I wouldn't pull the thread any further if I were you. There's a limit to my patience, I'm warning you for the last time,” he threatened her, clutching her tighter. “Now tell me! How could you find me tonight?”

“It was pure chance! I saw you walking down one of the streets near the cemetery and decided to follow you. But I lost your trail when you entered the cemetery and I wasn't willing to search for you through tombs and mausoleums. So, I circled the grounds and waited behind some trees until you appeared again. But after several minutes, tired of waiting in the rain and not noticing your presence anywhere, I decided that the best thing to do was to return here. I walked through the streets with that intention, until the shouting of some homeless people alerted me and I took a look towards the place where they were to see what was going on. Despite the distance and the rain, I could recognize you near them, it was you that those bums were shouting at. So, I checked which direction you were heading and ran down one of the streets parallel to yours. After that, I just had to wait there, hidden in the crossroads of the alleys until you arrived” said the young woman and ducked her head again, “That's all! You already know what happened next, or do you want me to explain it to you too!”

“What else did Lucius Dormant tell you? I want you to tell me everything!” asked the stranger, completely ignoring the last words said by the young woman.

“That was all, he didn't give me any more information about the object or about you! The only thing I can add is that he seemed very interested in having that locket as soon as possible. That's all I know!”

He continued to stare at her, as if he could read her thoughts:

“All right, I believe you” he said, adopting a friendlier attitude than before. “Now, where is the necklace? Tell me that and I'll leave you alone. You'll never see me again and you'll remember this night only as a bad dream.”

“All right!” said the young woman in a cold tone. Then she wiped away her tears, “It's on that table by the bed.”

“Can I trust you, Candy? I bet that's not your real name, or am I wrong?” he asked, smiling at her.

The young woman stared at him for a moment, without saying anything. Until finally, she answered:

“No, you're not mistaken, my real name is Alice.”

“Alice? That's not the name that was written on that photograph in which you appear next to your father.”

The young woman immediately looked away from her bag and noticed that it was open on a chair, with some of her belongings scattered outside:

“Did you go through my things? You dared to go through my personal things!” She repeated to herself several times and her eyes turned red with fury.

“Nice to meet you, Ava...My name is Kalev, by the way,” he replied holding out his open hand for her to shake.

Ava viewed his outstretched hand with some disdain and did not shake it. She just turned around and walked in the direction of the bedside table. There, she stopped at the side of her bed and put on a red robe with which she covered her half-naked body. Then, she opened the nightstand drawer with a certain hesitant air, and from inside she again took the small-caliber gun she had put away earlier...

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