London, 1920 - The Present
After returning from the Council of Shadows, Edgar entered the dark room filled with a silence as heavy as dust. He had paid the neighbor to care for Klein in his absence. He sat near his father, who remained trapped in the mental fog, unaware of his face or voice, as if his mind had gotten lost in an endless corridor after meeting his own father only to be destroyed by him. Edgar spoke in a soft whisper, carrying a mix of tenderness and sorrow:
"Here I am, Father... I brought some vegetables. I'll make your favorite soup, with beef, just as you always liked."
Klein lifted his eyes towards him, a vacant, soulless gaze, then returned his sight to the opposite gray wall, where nothing but emptiness resided. His body lay stretched on the bed, his hair streaked with gray and falling over his forehead, his features resembling a statue that had lost its meaning.
Edgar headed to the small kitchen. The rusty pots and the single spoon bore witness to an era of poverty and brokenness, yet he prepared the soup with the care of someone performing a sacred ritual. When they sat at the old wooden table, the silence between them was deeper than any conversation. Edgar would eat a bite, then offer another to his father, who could no longer lift the spoon to his mouth. Yet, Edgar smiled, for his father's presence beside him, however faint, was enough to keep him alive.
Then he did what he used to do as a child: he lightly tapped his father's foot under the table, waiting for that old signal that once connected them—a light tap in return—but the echo never came. Klein slowly raised his head and spoke in a frail voice, as if emerging from the bottom of a well:
"Lewis... Lewis..."
He repeated the name twice, as if summoning a ghost from a bygone era. Edgar realized then that his father no longer remembered him, and the only name stuck in his memory was "Lewis," the grandfather who had cast them out—the name he had been repeating since he lost his grasp on the world.
A knock came at the door. It was David, his face bright as usual, wearing an optimistic smile despite the weariness of the days. Edgar opened the door and said with feigned lightness:
"Help me get Father back to bed. He's finished his food."
They worked together, gently lifting Klein, then returned to the table where David sat excitedly, his eyes sparkling with adventure:
"I've found a new case, Edgar! This time, it's more mysterious than anything we've ever faced. Imagine, the killer murdered fifty people in the exact same way, and the police haven't found a single hair as a clue!"
Edgar remained silent for a moment, then spoke in a quiet, weary voice:
"Sorry, David, I won't be doing that anymore. Something else occupies me now, more than crimes."
David frowned and protested in a childish tone:
"But wasn't it your idea? You said we should solve the cases the police fail at, to prove their incompetence!"
Edgar smiled a faint, sad smile:
"Perhaps I was searching for meaning back then... Now, meaning means nothing. I'm a twenty-seven-year-old man living in a cramped house with a father who doesn't remember me. No one checks on me except the pigeons that leave their droppings on the window. Perhaps this wristband is my only hope."
A heavy silence fell, broken once more by his father's voice from the room, whispering:
"Lewis... Lewis..."
Edgar struck the table with his fist, then rested his head on it in suppressed anger. Silence prevailed again before he spoke in a low, despair-laced voice:
"Alright, David... I'm in. We'll do it. But on one condition."
David raised an eyebrow in surprise:
"What is it?"
Edgar stared into the void as he said:
"That we look into the matter of Lewis... Lewis. I want to know what he did to my father and how he stole his mind."
David gave a small smile and said:
"Deal."
Edgar put on his simple clothes, leaving his torn red suit on the couch. They went out together, the sound of the wind filling the alleys. Edgar got into David's old car, which rattled along the narrow road between gray buildings.
When the car stopped in front of their destination, Edgar said as he got out:
"Strange... My bicycle is still here, in the same spot. How hasn't it been stolen?"
David laughed and said:
"It seems London is changing."
But Edgar didn't laugh. He was looking up, at a window on the second floor, where he thought he saw someone silently watching him. He fixed his gaze there, but the shadow suddenly vanished as if it had never existed.
Edgar shuddered for no reason and said in a faint,trembling voice:
"I don't know why, but... I feel this place is forbidden."
David looked at him in confusion, while Edgar kept staring at that empty window, certain that something was there...
Something that didn't belong to this world.