A boy with large but half-closed blue eyes entered Father Reno’s office. The eyes did not look like the sea, but rather like a frozen ocean. The blond hair on his head curled in chaos. His appearance was both frightening and captivating.

“Hello.”

“Hi, Zen.”

Zen looked down at Father Reno from under his brows.

“You’re a murky one, aren’t you?” the man said. “I like it,” he added after a pause, and smiled.

Zen went on staring at Father Reno with his cold gaze.

“I want to know my purpose.”

“Don’t you know it already?”

Zen thought for a second.

“I do.”

“Then why are you asking me?”

“Because only you decide who goes to which academy.”

“Me? I don’t decide anything. I just open and close my mouth, making various sounds. I have nothing to do with your purpose.”

“Huh,” Zen grinned. “Then my purpose is the Detective Academy.”

“Fine.”

“And that’s all?”

“Yes. Good luck,” Father Reno said with a smile.

Zen said nothing and left the office.

“That was fast,” Zen thought. “But the main thing is that I’m now closer to solving the case of my father’s death. The rest doesn’t matter.”

A thin boy entered the office. He had long, straight hair that covered tired gray eyes. Once you looked into them, you would never want to look there again - the word “death” was stamped in ice across his pupils.

“Good afternoon, Father Reno,” Aram said.

“Hello, Aram. Sit down.”

Hearing his name, Aram looked at Father Reno in disbelief.

“Is that your ability?” Aram asked.

“What exactly?”

“How do you know my name?”

“I know a lot of things.”

Aram stared at Father Reno coldly. His distrust grew stronger by the second.

“Distrust is a very necessary quality in our world, Aram,” said Father Reno. “But sometimes it’s better to smile and pretend you understand everything.”

Aram went on staring at Father Reno with the same disbelief.

“I understand you.”

“Well done. Any questions?”

“What do I have to do to find out my purpose?”

“Let’s have a look.”

Father Reno turned his head to the right and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. Suddenly the light coming from the cube went out.

“Is it supposed to be like this?” Aram asked.

“Maybe, maybe.”

Aram thought the old man was simply mocking him and decided to stand still in silence. Suddenly his eyes caught a light. He kept quiet, expecting Father Reno to say something. But the old man said nothing.

“Father Reno?” Aram asked.

But no one answered him. Aram decided to move closer to the light source. In the dark, he made out a doorway. The room had changed, yet it seemed eerily familiar. Suddenly a child’s cry rang out. Aram went to the doorway and looked through it. After a few seconds, he stumbled backward and fell to the floor. His breathing turned ragged, and his bulging eyes fixed on a single point. He could not believe what he had seen.

“This is a hallucination. This is just a test and a hallucination. I need to calm down.”

Despite his trembling knees, Aram got up and walked to the door again. He wanted to open it, but suddenly the child stopped crying.

“Is someone there?” came a child’s voice.

Aram froze and held his breath.

“Is this not a vision?”

Deciding to be more careful, he crouched by the door and chose to watch the little boy through the keyhole.

The room he saw was a living room. There were human remains on the floor - dismembered bodies. A boy of about seven sat beside them. After a few seconds of silence, he lowered his head again and began to sob.

“Mom, Dad,” the boy cried between sobs.

Suddenly he threw himself to the floor and, grabbing a woman’s head in both hands, hugged it. At that same moment, he began to scream.

“Aaaah, it hurts! Don’t! Don’t! Please. Why does it hurt so much? What is this?”

The boy was convulsing. His body shook as if from an earthquake. He rolled from side to side, tossing his head, and all the while would not let go of his mother’s head.

Aram’s heart filled with blood. He brought a hand to his chest and clenched his shirt. This scene was impossible to watch. His eyes began to fill with tears.

“Stop. Please stop. Enough. Let go of that head,” Aram shouted in his mind.

The boy collapsed to the floor from exhaustion.

“It hurts, it hurts so much,” he said through tears. “Mom. Why did you leave? Dad. Please, say something.”

The boy began to reach for his father’s bloody body.

“Don’t!” Aram shouted, and with all his might he threw the door open. He ran to the boy, stretched out his arms, and hugged him. The father’s hand fell back to the floor.

“Don’t, please. You don’t need to touch them anymore. Don’t torture yourself. I’m with you. You’re not alone. You’re not alone,” Aram said breathlessly.

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