Three days had passed since that incident. Alessandro and Luciana continued to trace the leader of Demon Head who had escaped that night, but until now they still hadn't found him. The man seemed to have vanished into darkness, leaving not a single shadow behind.
They had combed through various places suspected to be the hideouts of the Demon Head leader, but the results were futile.
"That bastard seems to have been swallowed by the earth," muttered Alessandro with a grim face.
At that moment, Alessandro stood on the balcony of his room. The night wind blew cold, carrying a faint scent that made the hair on his neck stand on end. A glass of champagne in his hand trembled slightly, as his grip tightened.
His gaze pierced through the darkness of the night, as if trying to uncover the secrets hidden within it.
"Bastard. For the first time in my life, I've failed," he said in a low tone.
He drained the liquid, feeling the heat that instead turned cold in his throat. His breathing was heavy, his eyes gleaming with anger. How could he have been careless enough for the Demon Head leader to escape just like that?
"I'm really stupid," he grumbled.
Alessandro turned and stepped inside. The slow ticking of the wall clock sounded so loud in his ears, as if counting every second of his failure. He sat lost in thought on the sofa, trying to recall all the information he had gathered and Luciana's explanation about Adrian's death. Everything felt like puzzle pieces that never formed a complete picture.
"For some reason, I feel there's another connection besides the death of Demon Head," he muttered.
His heart suddenly raced. A word flashed through his mind. "Nature reserve," he hissed.
Then he remembered his subordinate's report about a mysterious collector. At that moment, the flash of dreams that had haunted his nights resurfaced; the shadow became clearer, as if trying to pull him in.
"Could all of this be connected?" he whispered softly.
The moment his eyelids grew heavy. His body was enveloped in a strange drowsiness. Alessandro didn't realize when he fell asleep, but what he felt was as if his soul was being pulled into darkness.
And there he stood, in the middle of a wild forest that felt unfamiliar. Roars echoed, followed by the laughter of men standing in a circle, trapping a pair of weakened tigers.
Moonlight pierced through the gaps in the foliage, falling on the tigers' tearful eyes, as if crying, gazing at him with a pleading look.
Alessandro wanted to step forward, to stop them, but his feet felt rooted to the ground. He could only stare, while the men's laughter grew louder, sounding like echoes from another world.
Suddenly, the sound of a baby's cries echoed in his ears, shrill and breaking the darkness of the forest. The sound drew Alessandro's steps, dragging his powerless body forward. He walked along a faint path illuminated by moonlight until he finally arrived at a house resembling a palace.
In one of the rooms, he saw a newborn baby boy. His cries pierced Alessandro's ears, making his chest tremble violently.
But before he could approach, another cry sounded, this time louder, as if calling him. Alessandro turned. He walked again, as if something was guiding him, toward another room in the house.
He froze, staring at the tiny baby girl who had just been bathed. Every drop of water from the baby produced a strange echo in Alessandro's ears.
He slowly reached out his hand, but refrained from doing so when he heard the mumbling of a middle-aged man standing near the window of the room.
Alessandro stepped closer to the man. He sharpened his hearing, trying to eavesdrop on the man's mumbling.
"What is he saying?"
His eyes studied the middle-aged man's face. "His face seems familiar to me. Who is he?"
The sound of the baby girl's cries startled Alessandro, causing him to turn and look back at the tiny figure.
His brow furrowed as he noticed the birthmark on the baby's back. "Like a tiger's claw," he whispered.
Then Alessandro shifted his gaze when he heard the middle-aged man still standing by the window say, "What happened in the forest that caused all of this? Did someone kill them?"
Alessandro's heart raced as he listened to the words leaving the man's lips. Suddenly, he heard the sound of gamelan music flowing melodiously, stirring sorrow and pain within him.
At that very moment, his chest felt tight; his breath caught in his throat, as if the air in the room was choking him and making it hard to inhale.
Alessandro was panting. Cold sweat streamed down his temples. With all his strength, he tried to open his eyes, fighting against the darkness that pressed upon him. His body trembled, his soul seemingly trapped between dream and reality.
He was startled and awoke. His eyes widened, his breath rapid, as if he had just run through the darkness. Cold sweat drenched his face and entire body.
"What kind of dream is this?" he muttered, still panting.
His gaze swept across the room, as if to make sure he was in the real world.
He roughly wiped his face, then exhaled heavily. Without realizing it, his eyes caught a thin red scratch on his wrist.
"What is this?" For a moment, Alessandro was lost in thought. "Like a tiger's claw."
He recalled the dream he had just experienced. "The baby had the same mark. Could it be possible?"
Alessandro shook his head, as if dismissing the notion in his mind. "Impossible," he whispered.
He stood up, walking toward the balcony. The night wind brushed against his face, carrying a faint sound that made his body freeze. In the distance, he could hear the chiming of gamelan.
"Again, that gamelan sound."
Alessandro closed his eyes, trying to convince himself that everything he had experienced was merely an illusion. Yet the more he ignored it, the louder the sound echoed, mixed with the cries of a baby whose origin he could not discern.
Quickly, he turned to the quiet room. Alessandro froze when he saw the glass of champagne on the table, which had been empty but was now filled again with red liquid, bubbling slightly.
"What strange thing is this?" He stepped back while letting out a long sigh.
"I wonder when this curse will end."
Elsewhere, Luciana, who had been sleeping soundly, awoke with wide eyes. Cold sweat drenched her body, her breathing panting, as the dream she experienced felt so real.
"That dream again, but why does it feel so real this time?" she muttered.
Her brow furrowed as she remembered Alessandro's figure. "Impossible," she murmured.