Before the Crime
Lisbon, Portugal.
The night shone with deceptive beauty under the golden lights of the grand ballroom.
The CSB masked ball brought together the most influential students in an atmosphere of luxury, soft music, and secrets hidden behind unrecognizable faces.
No one said who they were.
Amidst the crowd, Loki Vargas watched silently.
Something didn’t add up.
Not the music, not the laughter, not the clinking of glasses… it was a deeper, darker feeling.
It was as if the night was destined to happen before it even began.
A few feet away, Louise Vargas argued with her family.
The words were full of tension: money, betrayal, secrets kept for so long… until it happened.
A mistake.
The atmosphere changed in a matter of seconds.
Alberto Baker leaned down and kissed Diana Melo.
Time seemed to stand still.
And then… the gunshot.
The gunshot shattered the music, the laughter, and the pretended calm of the place.
Screams.
Chaos.
The glass clinked from the sound.
Loki fell to the floor.
The world before him was blurry, but his gaze remained conscious, fixed on something that had not yet died.
He knew this was no accident.
It had never happened.
With his last breath, he understood that he had seen too much.
Something that should not be revealed.
Near him, Susana Fernández Medina also fell.
A gunshot to the head had knocked her down in the chaos.
Her body was motionless.
Everyone thought she was dead.
But she was not.
As silence began to engulf the room, as darkness slowly crept closer to Loki.
And then, in a broken and almost dead voice, he whispered:
«Fear… is not important.
It’s all too late.
»
His eyes darkened.
And it’s all over or maybe… it’s just beginning.