Lost Ones

by Rute Canhoto

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The film began with a narration about the day a boy was turned into a vampire, then moved on to the usual love triangle story. The romance of the main characters saddened Marina, given that it made her remember her of own story: in the movie, the girl wanted to stay with a mythical being (a vampire), but there was another (a werewolf) who loved her and wanted her to stay with him. In Marina’s real life, she was that girl: she wanted to stay with Lucas (a Lost One), and Joshua completed the triangle, being the other boy who wanted her for himself. What supernatural figure would Joshua be? Maybe a frustrated Cupid capable of making all women fall in love with him, except the one he loved. It would make a fine plot for a book, wouldn’t it? Nonetheless, Joshua was just a boy, she was someone who lived one day at a time, and Lucas was gone. There was no triangle, except in her heart.

  Marina remained still, with her arms folded and hands hidden, which didn’t go unnoticed by Joshua. “Are you cold?” he whispered in her ear.

  The girl didn’t understand the question. Only when he pointed with his chin her arms crossed, she understood what he meant by that. She gestured with her head that she was cold; it was a good excuse to be in that position, and it allowed her to keep her hands protected from his intentions. However, Marina didn’t expect what happened next: Joshua took off his jacket, pulled her closer to him, and wrapped her in his arms. Then, he put his jacket over both of them as if it was a small blanket. The gesture left her terrified and helpless. She clenched her fists to keep their fingers from touching, which was ridiculous, as he was much closer to her now than if he had just held her hand. It would have been better to give him her hand right away; at least they would be distanced.

  A moan escaped her. She really wished that Joshua’s happiness didn’t depend so much on her. In a certain way, it was flattering that he cared about her, nonetheless she always had to measure her words and actions to prevent hurting him. What right did she have to cause him pain when he was so good to her? And he had put up with so many tantrums from her. She owed him a lot, thus she would stay quiet.

  She stared at the screen. She had lost a good bit of the story while she was lost in her thoughts, therefore she had to make an effort to understand what was happening. Apparently, the vampire would go into the mountains to feed, and the girl would fall under the protection of the rival werewolf. Would that be a pretext for him to try to gain an advantage over the vampire? Possibly. If he liked her that much, it was normal that he kept trying to conquer her. It was what Joshua was doing now that Lucas wasn’t around.

  She tried to shoo away the voice of her conscience to a place far away so it would stop tormenting her, and tried to focus only on the movie. For ten minutes, she was successful. However, she felt Joshua pulling her closer and closer to him. Responding to her instinct, Marina freed herself from his arms and pulled his coat off her, claiming that she was getting hot. When she thought that she was safe, Joshua returned the charge and put his hand on her right knee. She said nothing, but she was beginning to be sick of that. She had to do something, nonetheless she couldn’t think of anything except getting out of there. It was still ages to the break, but she couldn’t hold on for that long.

  Marina approached her lips to Joshua’s ear and muttered, “I’ll be right back. I’m going to the bathroom.”

  “Again?!” he exclaimed, given that she had just been there.

  To distract him, Marina shrugged and lied, “What do you expect? It’s that time of month…”

  As he had no arguments, Joshua shut up and nodded.

  Marina zigzagged through the chairs to the door. When she crossed it, she was received by a strong current of cold air, which made her cross her arms to keep in the body heat that eluded her. She wished that Ana hadn’t told her anything: they would have entwined their fingers as he wanted and things would have stayed at that. Instead, he had embraced her and now she was acting paranoid, seeing ulterior motives in everything he did or said.

  What would she do now, where would she go? She thought of going to the wash-room and staying there a while, but she didn’t feel like going back in that place. The only option left was to linger in the lobby. Marina stayed there, while she consulted the fixed posters regarding the upcoming films that would be displayed. The next one was an action story that didn’t tell her much; she wouldn’t watch it for sure.

  The sound of voices in the distance caught her attention. Maybe there was someone talking outside. However, the heated tone suggested a fight instead of a mere conversation. Curious, she passed by the glass door and went out into the street. She sought with her sight who the voices belonged to, but didn’t find anyone. She waited in silence. The voices made themselves heard again and higher than before. Without glimpsing anyone around, she decided to climb the stairs on the left side of the auditorium that gave access to a street in a residential area. On the side-walk was a couple arguing in quite an angry way. She was a pretty woman, who would be around 19 or 20 years old. She was tall, blonde and dressed sophisticatedly. The man seemed a little older. He wore his hair short and spiky, and he wore a long dark jacket and black jeans.

  Not wanting to intrude, Marina stood by the steps. She turned her back in the opposite direction to the couple to give them some privacy and tried not to dwell on them. The louder their voices sounded, she couldn't understand a single word. Whatever the reason they were discussing, it fled her knowledge. Not that she wanted to know, after all she didn’t know them. However, her presence there could indicate the opposite, so she thought it was best to return to the Auditorium.

  As she prepared to descend the stairs, a third and painful familiar voice came to her ears, making her stop. For instants, she was stuck to the ground, unable to move. Her breathing became irregular and a sting of sorrow ran through her body. The stupefaction and the stinging numbness, like barbed wire around her heart, lasted less than a minute. Once her muscles returned to obey her, Marina climbed the top step and stared at the couple: they continued arguing and throwing verbal darts at one another, but sometimes there was a voice in the background. Marina glanced around; something stood up behind a small tree, next to parked cars. With halting steps, she headed to the tree to uncover who was there.

  As she slowly approached, the shadow, hidden behind the tree trunk, started to take the form of a person. He was bent forward, and spoke as if secreting to each one of the couple the atrocities they should say to hurt each other. It was as if they were his puppets.

  On tiptoes, Marina rounded the tree. She stood behind the shadow and listened, “Tell her that she’s nothing but a shameless bitch. Accuse her of sleeping with your best friend.”

  Soon after, the man accused his girlfriend of sleeping with his best friend and called her a shameless bitch.

  “Defend yourself!” ordered the voice to the woman. “Say that you only did it after finding out about his betrayal, and you did it for revenge. You don’t regret it, because his friend is much better than him in bed.”

  The woman repeated with exactitude what she had been told. It was like watching a marionette show in which real people were led by invisible dark wires, moving their tongues according to the script dictated by the director.

  A dark laugh made her get rid of her lethargy state. Upon hearing the next sentence that he wanted the boyfriend to utter, Marina could only mutter, “Stop it!”

  The shadow turned around right away, with a postured that showed surprise. He straightened gradually, revealing his proud bearing, and approached. As he approached her, the features of his face became more distinct until everything was revealed. Assailed by the discovery of his identity, Marina took two steps back, while she covered her mouth to keep herself from screaming. It was as if her world was a giant crystal ball that had just shattered into many small pieces, disappearing in an infinity of shards.

  He brought his face so close to hers that their noses almost touched. With a harsh and severe expression, he questioned, “You can see me?”


  If she could see him? Heck, she had looked so hard for him and there he was, in front of her! Without being able to think straight, Marina took a shimmering hand to his chest. When he felt her warm touch, he growled and turned away so fast that it took him less than half a second to get distanced by a few feet. With her view more suited to the darkness, Marina analyzed him. In physical terms, he seemed to be equal to the last time she had seen him: he was still barefoot and bare-chested, wearing only a pair of jeans. His hair looked more disheveled than usual and his eyes... His eyes were weird: instead of the irises in honey tone, these were quite opaque and blurred, as if they had been swallowed by the murk. He also seemed to have some fresh scars unhealed. Barbatos hadn’t fulfilled his promise and had tortured him.

  Marina wanted to tell him so many things, but the words seemed to melt into powder before passing her throat. It was a miracle to find him again. The only thing that came out of her mouth was, “Are you okay, Lucas?”

  The demon reacted with strangeness, moving in an animalistic way. He laid his head to the side by way of questioning what she had said and repeated, “Lucas?”

  Oh, no! He doesn’t know who he is, Marina deduced, taken by fear. Would he remember her? Would he recall their love, what they had been through together? She took three steps toward him and, taking a hand to her own chest, she queried, “Do you remember me?”

  The demon’s response consisted in swinging his head to the contrary side, as he crouched in a feline attack position.

  Her fears were confirmed: Lucas didn’t know who he was, he didn’t remember her, and had forgotten the feeling that united them. His eyes completely darkened and his bizarre behavior asserted that Barbatos had turned him into a true fiend. That wasn’t her Lucas; he was simply a Lost One.

  The silence of the couple that was arguing before led Lucas to examine what was happening and to forget about her for a while. The couple had just apologized to each other and they were preparing to go home; all the work he had done was useless. Angry, he turned toward her with a menacing air. Marina faltered and stepped back slowly, while she put her hands in front of her as if to ask him to be calm. The demon, however, gave vent to the growing fury and almost seemed to froth from his mouth. Although the girl didn’t want to believe in that possibility, he ended by jumping on her, making her fall flat on her back. Holding her with his legs along with her trunk, he held her arms by the wrists close to her head. He approached his face to hers fearfully and hissed.

  Marina was panting. Her body was dominated by two icy hands and she couldn’t set herself free. She wanted to yell for someone to rescue her, but it wasn’t worth it, as there was nobody on the street. There was no possible escape: if he wanted to hurt her, he could do it then - better him than Barbatos. She had been the one to put him in that position, therefore it was fair that he avenged.

  Resigned, she shut her eyelids and said through a sigh, “Go ahead, Lucas. Everything’s fine.”

  She awaited the cruel blow to be struck, but... nothing. She felt Lucas’ body very still upon her, so, in fear, she opened her eyes and fixed them on Lucas: he trembled slightly and remained in the same place, as if caught in an inner struggle, trying to decide what to do. As his hands weren’t pressing her wrists with so much strength as before, Marina freed them with ease. She dug her elbows on the tarmac for support, and managed to sit up as Lucas retreated over her movements.

  Still holding her legs, Lucas shook his head to try to liberate himself from the deadlock he was in. He resumed an expression of anger and raised his arm to strike her. However, upon hearing the girl’s words, his arm remained motionless in the air without moving an inch.

  “I know that you’d never hurt me on purpose, Lucas. But if it's for your own sake… I can take it.”

  Lucas stared intently at her, as if searching for something that she didn’t know what it was. His arm came down gradually until it rested on her leg. Marina wanted to risk more and to contour his face with her fingers, in an attempt to rekindle something inside him, nonetheless a familiar voice amputated that moment like a sharp blade.

  “Marina, where are you?”

  It was Joshua who came looking for her. Indeed, she was out of the movie for too long; it was normal that he got worried and had come looking for her, to check if everything was alright.

  Upon hearing the boy’s voice, Lucas retreated instantly with a jump and turned to assume the attack position typical of an animal, while showing a grimace of hatred.

  To avoid Joshua from seeing Lucas in that state and to prevent the situation from derailing completely, Marina got up from the ground in a hurry, shook her clothes frantically and shouted, “Coming. Just a second.”

  She ran her hands through her hair and found it tangled. She removed the rubber band from her wrist, slid her fingers over her hair in a hurry, trying to comb it, and tied it in a pony-tail to fix the situation. Before meeting Joshua, she turned to Lucas and murmured, “Try to remember about us. Meet me later. I’ll wait for you by the river’s wall.” Still shaking her clothes, she went to Joshua.

  The two of them entered the Auditorium lobby and found it crowded; Marina supposed that it would be the break in the film. She searched for Dennis and Ana with her sight, but she didn’t see them anywhere. Would they have stayed in place?

  “Is everything okay? You disappeared all of a sudden,” inquired Joshua.

  Marina tried to smile and shrugged as she put a hand on her stomach by way of apology. “I was cramping a lot, so I decided to go for a walk, and stretch my legs. I was just here, on the street of the Auditorium. And your brother and Ana, where are they?” she asked, trying to change the course of the conversation.

  “They went to the bathroom.”

  “Yeah? I’ll meet Ana there. I'll be right back.”

  Joshua was preparing to protest and underline that she had gone there just minutes ago, nonetheless he gave up. Without understanding what was happening, he took both hands to his face and made them slip from his hair line to his chin. He needed to find within himself a good amount of patience to bare such volatility.

  Ana was in the WC drying her hands. Unwilling to say whatever it was, Marina rushed to lock herself in a cubicle, where she remained for a minute. When she came out of there, Ana was waiting.

  “Joshua is about to get very angry at you, haven’t you noticed?” she pointed out in a harsh warning tone.

  “Who cares?”, exploded Marina. “If we get angry, we do. Stop giving me tips, seriously; you just make me more paranoid. I appreciate your concern, but let me sort things out my way.”

  If Ana hadn’t told her of the alleged importance to Joshua to hold her hand during the movie, she would have let him hold it, wouldn’t have acted like a lunatic, and… she wouldn’t have gone out into the street before the break and wouldn’t have met the evil version of Lucas. Fine, she had to thank Ana for the last part, but her ‘instructions’ were conditioning even more the way she related to Joshua. She believed that he was getting mad due to that –he had every right.

  The tone announcing that the movie would restart was heard. Marina looked at herself in the mirror, redid the pony-tail and washed her face, eliminating any traces of dirt from falling down on the street. The two girls left the wash-room and each took their places. Joshua was already seated and remained quiet while Marina sat down. The room was in darkness for two seconds and the film restarted.

  Marina was cold from the little time she had been outside, so she rubbed her hands together with force to warm them up; Joshua noticed it. Sweet and tender as always, he approached her and whispered, “Are you cold?”

  “Yes. It was cold outside.”

  “But are you feeling better now?”

  Marina raised a brow, uncomfortable since she had lied about her belly pains, and muttered, “I guess so. The cramps stopped for now.”

  “Do you want to move closer to me so that I can warm you?” proposed Joshua.

  Marina acquiesced. She
raised the arm of the chair that separated them and cuddled up next to his body, as he put his coat over them. Joshua was extremely hot; that heat felt good. She ignored Ana’s comments, and when he placed his hand on hers, she said nothing nor dismissed him. Her cold hands thanked the gesture and even rejoiced with it. If something so simple and harmless was important to him, then she’d allow him to be happy with the little she could give him.

  The movie seemed to last for an eternity, perhaps because she hadn’t paid the slightest attention to it. The fearful re-encounter with Lucas wouldn't get out of her brain. That wasn’t her Lucas; it was a demonic shadow of him. He had been punished so hard that he had lost his humanity and had been transformed into a cruel being. To make matters worse, he didn’t remember her or what they had lived. Even so, she thought that things weren’t so linear: he had tried to attack her, yet he hadn’t been able to hurt her, because something inside prevented him from doing so. That was good; it meant that the memories were just dormant within him and she just had to revive them for them to come back. The question was how to rekindle those reminiscences. She still had several hours until they met again, maybe she could come up with something.

  The room’s lights lit up and Marina became aware that the movie was over. She got up from her place and stretched, as her body was numb from being in the same position for a long time. Joshua put his hand on her back, and, with the other, he showed her which way to take to get out of there.

  The chilly air of the lobby received them provocatively and made them shiver of cold. To protect herself from the icy atmosphere, Marina got closer to Joshua. When Ana found them like that, she exhibited a frown of disapproval, although she was clutching Dennis: if she clung to a boy for passion, Marina could do it for being cold - there was no crime in that.

  “Are we going to ‘Kupido's’?” asked Dennis.

  Joshua half raised his shoulders, while Ana jumped in the same place and squealed, "Let’s go!"

  Marina had no desire to go to the bar, but she had promised herself that she would do whatever they wanted. Since she was so boring recently, she wanted to compensate them. However, going to the bar also meant getting home later and she was eager to get there: she wanted to see Lucas, talk to him, help him to regain his memory, and to know what he had done recently. Something snapped inside her and warned her that she should forget about the last part, after all, the sample she had moments ago was more than enough. For the more anxious she was to see Lucas, going home later could be a good thing, since there would be fewer people on the street and nobody would see them. If her friends were going to the bar, she was going too.

  On their way to the bar, Ana narrated and retold her favorite scenes of the movie. By her critiques, Marina thought that it should have been quite romantic, although she couldn’t confirm or deny it, as she had only watched the beginning. She would have to find a way to watch the movie at home, otherwise she wouldn’t know how to comment on what her friend said about it.

  The bar was packed. Most people were on the part of the esplanade, which was protected by fake plastic walls. Marina cringed at seeing so many people there. Weren’t they freezing? It was impossible not to feel the draft of polar air that came in from the street. She ignored such thoughts and followed her friends as they penetrated the interior of the bar. Luckily, there were four people standing up from a table; they headed straight there before it was occupied by others. They sat down and, shortly after, a smiling girl came up, asking what they would have. Their requests split between coffee and cappuccino. Marina asked for a hot chocolate - it was a way to keep herself warm.

  While they were waiting, the unfortunate question came from Ana, which led Marina to send her some unsympathetic thoughts, “What did you think of the movie, Marina?”

  She thought nothing, because she hadn’t watched it. She didn’t feel like lying or inventing excuses. Maybe she could say something evasive and not entirely false. But why bother so much about it? It was just a movie, for God's sake! In the end, she shot, “Honestly, I have no opinion. I think I need to watch it again.”

  “When you do it, let me know. I don’t mind watching it again. I loved it!” said Ana amid smiles.

  Marina replied with a nod.

  The barmaid brought their requests. Their conversation languished for some time, but not by much, since Ana was a real loud mouth. “And plans for Christmas holidays? We’re about to enter the final week of classes and then, hello holidays!”

  Marina had no plans. Her only concerns were studying and her research. With the resurgence of Lucas, most likely things would calm down. Or they would precipitate unavoidably, like a snowball caught in the middle of an avalanche.

  “We’re going to America to spend Christmas with our family,” advanced Dennis.

  Ana’s sorrow regarding this announcement was evident. There was a week for the holidays and he still hadn’t told her anything.

  “When did he intend to tell her? When you were at the airport?”, she said sarcastically.

  Dennis didn’t reply. Marina thought that maybe it would be good for them to be separated for some time. Ana had some doubts to solve and it might be easier to do so if there was some distance between them. Who knew if she could think clearer that way?

  Forgetting his girlfriend’s sardonic comment, Dennis spent the next hour describing with enthusiasm the plans for the holidays and just contented himself when he had told all the details of what he wanted to do in America. Joshua, however, didn’t open his mouth.

  Putting his coffee cup on the table, Dennis affirmed, “I'm going to call my dad to come get us. Or do you want to stay a bit longer?”

  As they all agreed it was time to go, Dennis stood up to go outside to call his father, given that there was too much noise to hear him. Ana followed him; there were certain things that they had to discuss and it was quite evident.

  Taking advantage of the fact that they were alone, Marina felt compelled to find out what was going on with Joshua and why he wasn’t as excited about the trip as his brother. She moved her chair closer to his and questioned, “Why are you so quiet, Joshua? Your brother seems super excited about returning to America, but you don’t seem very happy about it.”

  Joshua stirred in his chair uncomfortably and began playing with an empty bag of sugar. It seemed that he didn’t feel like talking about that subject. Nevertheless, Marina insisted, “Come on, tell me what’s going on, Josh. We're friends, you can count on me.”

  The boy shook his head, refusing to cooperate. Marina took his hand then and, staring at his eyes, asked again, “What is it?”

  Joshua took a deep breath and looked away. He wasn’t able to face her as he explained his fears. In a low voice, he confessed, “Two weeks is a long time. A lot can happen in two weeks. What if… you forget about me?”

  Marina let out a crystalline laugh. That was what made him so restless? He was afraid that shat she would forget about him? It was obvious that she wouldn’t set him aside, he was one of her best friends. She gave him a big hug to settle him. She laced her fingers in his and proposed, “Tell you what: the day you return, you can call me and I'll meet you right away. I can even help you unpacking. Don’t think silly things. Just go and have fun with your family.”

  “And you, will you be alright?” he mumbled.

  “Sure! Hey, I had a life before you showed up, you know? I can take care of myself,” Marina defended herself with irony.

  Joshua breathed out loudly and remarked, “That’s what worries me. You were so emancipated when I met you, that I fear that you’ll drift away from me.”

  “Never! You know that you're very important to me.”

  Soon she regretted uttering that phrase, that should have stayed in her imaginary drawer of ‘Important-Things-To-Hide’. What if he interpreted it the wrong way? It was obvious that he was relevant to her. He had done much for her and was always at her side - she wanted him to be part of her life.

  Before Joshua had tim
e to think about anything, Marina cut in, “Besides, you can send me all the text messages you want or even call me. There's also the Internet. You just have to choose! These are the advantages of living in the technological era.”

  Joshua nodded in agreement. After sighing, he admitted, “I’ll miss you.”

  “I know. I'll also miss you too.”

  To Marina’s relief, Dennis entered the bar indicating that his father had arrived.

  Both headed to the street, got into the car and went to Ana’s home. After leaving Dennis’ girlfriend at home, it was Marina’s turn. She said goodbye to them and watched the vehicle moving away. She knew that the car still had to turn around, go through the traffic lights and pass directly in front of her house. If she went to the river’s rail right away, they would see her. To avoid this from happening, Marina remained still for a few more moments at the door of her place.

  An effulgent lightning scratched the sky, brightening the dark night, and it was followed by an almost deafening thunder.

  “Great,” she muttered.

  Now that she would meet Lucas again, St. Peter gave her an unequivocal clue that rain was coming soon, and she should expect a historic deluge. Even if it rains picks… crossed her mind. She wanted to see Lucas and would do it. Unless he didn’t come. She didn’t know why, but that possibility was so remote for her, that it hadn’t crossed her mind. It was no time to be insecure - he would show up. However, she couldn’t forget that he wasn’t the wonderful boy of her first kiss: he was a demon and, the most dangerous of all, a malevolent one. The more she tried to associate that he was a fiend, the adjective ‘evil’ didn’t seem to fit the description. Demon yes, but he hadn’t hurt her, thus he wasn’t malicious. He was just… lost. She would help him to rediscover himself.

  When she thought that enough time had passed, she descended the arcade stairs, went across the road and sat on the river’s wall, waiting for him to show up. She was hoping that he would eventually turn up, nonetheless waiting over an hour made her disheartened. What if he didn’t recall the specific site of the wall where they used to meet? It would be impossible for him to come to her. She had to do something, but what? Ah, that’s it! She hadn’t done that for some time, but had to try it. She took her phone and tried to call him. She hoped that the answer was different this time, still she heard the same recorded voice that told her that the phone was off. She sighed and turned to put the device in her pocket.

  Marina decided to wait a bit longer; for him, it was worth waiting. She closed her eyes and concentrated on his image. The words echoed in her mind and she expected something spectacular to happen, like them reverberating through the night: I am here, Lucas. I'm here. She stayed that way for a while, focused on him and repeating the same words. When she opened her eyelids, she got so frightened that, if he didn’t throw his arm to steady her, she would have fallen down there. After rescuing her, he hastened to remove his hand from her arm - it was like he couldn't bear to be touched. If she had been tortured, she might react like that as well. He took a step back, allowing Marina to observe him: he didn’t display the same violent behavior, looking much calmer. As for the animalism ‘tics’, like throwing his head sharply to the side, they were still very present.

  “Why can you see me?” Lucas questioned.

  Marina had no idea what to answer. Was she not supposed to see him? She recalled that, at her accidents, she had seen, heard and felt him, without anyone else being able to. Maybe she shouldn’t see him, but she didn’t know how things were supposed to work. A single response occurred to her, “I think I see you because of our relationship. We have created a bond that cannot be destroyed, not even by your dehumanization.”

  Lucas didn’t seem to understand what she was talking about. Maybe she should give him specific examples. It could facilitate the recovery of his memory.

  “Try to remember,” she pleaded. “It was on a rainy night like this that I came to get you here, I took you to my bedroom and… we had our first kiss. I know that it sounds absurd, but believe me when I say that we were happy then.”

  Lucas made a grimace of disgust on hearing the word ‘happy’ and Marina almost could have sworn that she had seen all the hairs on his arms standing on end. She wanted to get up from the rail, go to him, hug and kiss him, but he insisted on maintaining the separation. What if she told him what had happened? Lucas seemed to be ready to leave, so she had to hurry.

  Marina jumped from the wall and took a step in his direction, till there was only one more left for their bodies to touch. “Please, make an effort. Barbatos sent you to kill me, but when we met, we fell in love. He began to persecute my family and you sacrificed yourself for us. You went back to the legion and he tortured you until you forgot everything and went back to being a demon.”

  “Liar!” he shouted in accusation.

  She was no liar; she would never lie to him. Why would she do it? She just wanted him back and she knew that it wasn’t with falsehoods that she could have him.

  “You are a witch who wants me away from my Master,” yelled Lucas. “Nobody will separate me from the Grand Master, not even a simple insignificant human who thinks it knows more than him.” And he retreated, ready to disappear.

  Marina couldn’t allow it, she couldn’t afford to lose him again. If he went away, when would she find him again? She could not risk it. Driven by instinct, she moved up lightly to him and grabbed his face, so that he couldn’t bolt out. In response to her touch, Lucas suddenly froze on the spot, as if he had been converted into an ice statue. Before he could react, Marina put her lips to his and kissed him. In the first instant, he remained quiet and didn’t respond; eventually, he let himself go and, for moments, the girl felt that she was with the old Lucas. When her lips parted, Marina saw the shock stamped on the face of her beloved. He seemed confused and bewildered.

  “See? I didn’t lie to you, I never did,” she stated. “And despite you’re a darkness being again, I still believe you’re worth being saved.”

  The oppression in Lucas’ eyes weakened and, for a few seconds, he seemed to be the same guy as always. The effect didn’t last long. Barbatos had been effective in the treatment he had given him: his influence was greater than hers.

  Lucas walked slowly toward the river’s rail. For the first time since she had met him that night, his voice wavered, “I have no recollections of what you’re talking about, human. And ‘Lucas’? Why do you call me that? I'm just a Lost One, a son of the faithful legions of my master. I have no name.”

  “You do have name!” asserted Marina in a secure intonation. “Your name is Lucas, you're a wonderful person and you have a lot to give to the world. And to me. I need you.”

  Lucas turned his back with a glimmer of doubt in his eyes. He was torn; he trembled, oscillating between Marina’s truth and the imposition of Barbatos.

  Feeling that she could win that battle, the girl turned to insist, “I know that you didn’t forget this. You just buried the memories within you. If you take a good look deep down inside you, you shall find me there. And do you know how I'm sure you’ll find me? Because we love each other.”

  The fiend continued with his back turned on her and didn’t answer. Marina noticed that he had his fists clenched and his nails dug in his skin, yet he didn’t complain of the pain resulting from the gesture. That made her remember what he once said regarding a wound he had: "it has been a while since the last time I felt any pain". So that was it: the torments that had been inflicted on him made him forget himself and his feelings completely - the pain was among them.

  Marina had no idea of how complicated the war that waged within him was. She could only speculate, although she hoped from the bottom of her heart that the remnants of his humanity would prevail. She walked up to him and leaned against the bulwarks, while liberating a nervous sigh. She still hoped that she could bring him back.

  She stared at him out of the corner of her eye and realized that he was looking toward the
skate park. Intrigued, she asked, “What is it?”

  Lucas straightened up announced, “It's him. My Master is calling me. I must go to him.” Without giving Marina any opportunity to argue, he disappeared into a black mist that dissipated into the night.