The Colors of Alemeth - Vol. 1

  ***

  In the middle of the night, four men in masks of a smiling demon—Defectio’s mask—and dressed in black hacked the security system and entered our house. They climbed the stairs to our room.

  Irá’s spasms and grunts woke me, and I turned on the lamp on the bedside table. One of the men was holding my husband by the shoulders, still lying next to me, and another was stabbing him repeatedly in the chest. The other two were turning every single drawer and cabinet in the room inside out. Struggling to breathe and with open eyes, Irá was trying to talk or maybe just trying to catch any bit of air he could get.

  I got up only to be grabbed by the man who had been holding my husband. He stained me with blood. He locked my arms behind my back, forced me to lie down on my chest, and climbed on top of me.

  Lying down with my face against the mattress, I could not see what was happening, but I heard one of the men say, “It’s here”. I heard a sharp beep followed by the sound of a small explosion. I heard them laugh and cheer.

  Two of the men grabbed Irá’s dead body and carried it out, following their leader, who had left the room without his mask.

  The fourth man, still holding me, whispered only, “The Institution is not the solution”, and left.

  I stayed there, lying in the same position without moving, I don’t know whether for several minutes or just a few seconds. When I lifted myself from the bed, still in shock, I looked back at the wall. The safe behind the painting was open. Its door was battered, and the wall around it was partially broken and scorched with a few pieces scattered on the floor. Inside the safe was only a red mask of a smiling demon.