Dear Citlali (ONC2024)

Chapter 33. Kai

Dovi kept on reading. The following pages explained how Lee had found back her ability to talk and confided more and more in Ameyal.

I felt Lee's struggles in my bones. It was not too long ago that I had experienced this drastic change in my life, this necessity to rethink who I was and what was my place in the world. Citlali took my hand and rubbed her thumb on my wrist as if she could sense what I was thinking about. Her touch calmed me.

Dovi's voice, full of contained emotions, read about Lee's death, how she had overseen an exchange between what Ameyal supposed to be a sorcerer and a magician. Once the sorcerer gone, the magician had accidentally discovered Lee's presence and had killed her for being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

I couldn't imagine coming to this life like that, in the middle of events you had no way of understanding. Your certainties shattering. The fear for your life. And then, what you thought would be the end, but wasn't. Waking up, with no wounds any longer but the traces of blood reminding you that it was not a dream. The confusion. The terror.

Fortunately, wandering in the streets, she had felt Ameyal's presence in her house. Otherwise, I didn't know what would have happened. I shivered and Citlali squeezed my hand.

"Aren't magicians supposed to be the good guys, magic-wise?" I asked.

Dovi shrugged. "Their approach to magic is very different from the sorcerer's one, but that doesn't mean all magicians are good persons."

"Who was this magician then?" Citlali asked. "A deal with a sorcerer, shady enough to murder the person who witnessed it? It must have been really bad."

In the following entries, there were no more information. Ameyal had tried to identify the magician, but in vain. And apart from that, she wrote about her everyday life with Lee.

Finally, we reached the last page.

Lee still has nightmares, but she is doing better every day. I feel so protective of her. She told me about her life from before and I surprised myself by telling her some parts of mine. Even some details that I had never shared with anyone.

She seems to trust me. Another strange thing.

There is a connection with her of a nature different from everything I have known before. I wonder if it is what you can feel for your child. I know I would do anything for her.

And then, Dovi fell silent.

"That's the last entry?" I asked, sitting up on the couch and leaning towards Dovi as if it would give me a chance to hear more.

Dovi nodded. "Yes. I imagine that something happened and that she had no time to write in her diary during her last days."

"Her death has to have something to do with Lee and probably this rogue magician. It cannot be a coincidence," Citlali said.

There was a silence for a minute and then I asked: "You think she sacrificed herself to protect Lee?"

Citlali sighed. "Maybe. We cannot rule out this possibility."

A wave of sadness rushed through my entire body. Dovi put the notebook down and sat next to me. I hugged them and kept my head on their shoulder.

"Why didn't she call me for help? Why did she stay alone with that?" Dovi whispered in my hair.

I lifted my head and saw their wet eyes. I stroked the back of their neck to try to soothe them and they leaned their forehead against mine. Citlali came closer and took our hands. We both knew that there was no answer to this question.