It was a warm summer afternoon.
Mark, a young man of twenty-five, was on the roof of his apartment.
He liked spending long periods of time alone, and on this particular day, he needed it even
more: an argument with his girlfriend Beatrice prevented him from concentrating on anything
else.
As he looked around, he noticed a stack of old newspapers.
He opened one of them and began to turn its pages.
An event caught his attention: it reported the death of a young man, whose body had been
found with great signs of violence.
Her throat had been torn out with some kind of claws, and they also found a mark on her
forehead.
After reading that strange event, he felt a knot in his stomach.
Mark looked down the street, his eyes fixed on the people coming and going, until suddenly
a man caught his eye.
Although it was summer and the temperature was pleasant, he was dressed in white gloves
and a long black jacket with a hood, along with a striking black and white striped scarf.
At one point, the man stopped and looked up, as if aware of his presence.
When the young man saw his face, his blood ran cold: he wore a mask, half white and half
black, with a strange and macabre smile.
Suddenly, the expression on the mask changed, and he smiled more wickedly now.
The figure cocked his head, and in just a few seconds the mysterious figure climbed
up the building and began to climb the wall with his bare hands, which were now strong
claws with long nails.
Mark freaked out and backed away from the edge, running for the exit.
He ran without looking back, and slammed the door behind him.
He could hear his chilling voice in the distance: “Do you want to play?
Kekeke!
I want you to play!”, but Mark was already running to take refuge in his apartment, panicked.
Upon reaching his room, he fell into bed, doubting if what he had seen was real or not.
When he managed to calm down, exhaustion took over him, and soon he closed his eyes and
fell asleep.
The next day, he woke up confused, vaguely remembering the events of the previous evening.
"It was probably a dream, I'm sure it was my imagination," he thought.
When he regained his composure, he remembered the discussion with Beatrice, and decided
to visit her to ask for her forgiveness and make peace.
But before he faces the situation, he should steel himself.
He went to the kitchen and rummaged in one of the cupboards until he found a bottle of
wine.
He opened it and poured some into a glass, but when he raised the glass to his lips he
realized it was water.
He glared at the bottle, and suddenly a familiar laugh broke the silence.
“Would you like a glass of wine?
Kekekeke!”.
Mark jumped, spilling the contents of the glass.
Without waiting for more, he fled the apartment in a hurry, and went to his girlfriend's house.
He was very nervous, and he had a bad feeling.
Arriving at the entrance, he knocked on the door, but no one answered.
He called again, but with the same result.
Desperate, he tried to turn the knob, and the door gave way.
Inside everything seemed in order.
He strode into the kitchen, calling Beatrice's name, but there was no answer.
He went to the dining room, where he found an open bottle of wine on the table, the same
one he had in his apartment.
On the body of the bottle was a note that read: "I'm so sorry about our discussion,
I'd like to make peace.
I love you with all my heart, Mark."
The young man swallowed, feeling his heart race.
He didn't remember sending her anything, even though the note was signed with his name.
He called her again, but again there was only silence, so he decided to go upstairs and
investigate the room.
But as he went up, an image left him stunned.
Beatrice was lying on the floor, cold and completely still, and Mark knew that she was
dead.
He knelt next to her body, and felt the tears welling up in his eyes.
Suddenly he felt a presence next to him.
He was the strange man, with that disgusting mask, showing a wicked grin.
"How sweet of you!" he exclaimed.
"He drank it, and then she died!
It was poison, kekeke!"
the strange man yelled, laughing.
Mark entered the room, where he knew Beatrice kept a gun.
He opened the drawer of the nightstand and found the gun.
He turned around, and the strange man's evil smile greeted him.
"The wine's out, kekeke!" he said mockingly.
Mark, blinded by rage, pulled the safety and fired.
But the strange man had not only dodged the shot, but climbed onto the wall of the room,
climbing up to the ceiling, as he had done the day before.
From up there he pronounced in a dark voice, in an annoyed tone: "You're boring."
And with a snarl he lunged at Mark.
The police didn’t take long to go to Beatrice's apartment after the neighbors called when
they heard the shot.
They found both bodies, and in a first search, they determined that Mark had poisoned his
girlfriend, but they couldn’t explain what had happened to him.
The body was found in a huge pool of blood.
His throat had been slit by strong claws that seemed to belong to some animal.
Stains were found on the walls and ceiling of the room, but no evidence confirmed the
identity of the culprit.
And on Mark's forehead, a mysterious inscription.