Chapter 3: The labyrinth of the unknown

Hannibal

Total darkness enveloped me, and I felt my heart beating a little faster. The room seemed to close in around me, each shadow becoming more oppressive, each movement more uncertain. I was no longer alone in this space. I knew it. She was still there, somewhere, staring at me, waiting. But where? How do you react when everything becomes blurred?

I strained my ears, looking for a noise, a clue, something that could guide me in this absolute void. But I heard nothing, apart from my own breathing, now faster and louder than I would have liked. Then, in this total darkness, a voice. Soft, but firm. It seemed to come from every corner of the room, like an invisible echo.

“You are lost, Anibal.”

The name, pronounced by a calm but piercing female voice, had the effect of an electroshock. I had never heard anyone say my name. Those I eliminated, the victims, were all anonymous. I had never connected with them, never felt any empathy. But that single word, uttered in the darkness, made me doubt, shook me like a wave hitting a solid rock.

I reached for my flashlight in my jacket, but as I took it out, I realized my hand was shaking. I shook my head, trying to regain control. I had to stay calm. It was just a distraction, a minor setback. I had to find a way out. But deep down, a little voice was whispering that it wasn't that simple. This encounter, this woman... it all seemed too strange, too out of control.

The light finally came on, but not where I expected it. A soft light suddenly came on at the back of the room, behind me, casting a pale silhouette on the wall. It was her. She was there, in front of me, in the soft light, but her presence seemed more imposing than ever.

She still had that enigmatic smile, that gleam in her eyes that didn't match what the situation should be. I scrutinized her, trying to understand what was going on, but nothing in her behavior suggested an immediate threat. She didn't seem to want to run away or attack me. She stood there, steady, in a relaxed posture.

“You lost your way long before you came in here, Anibal.” She paused, staring at me intently. ”You don't see it, do you? You're in a labyrinth. But you can't even get out.”

The tone of her voice, soft but full of meaning, created a strange, almost supernatural atmosphere. I moved forward slowly, analyzing every movement. I couldn't afford to be afraid. She was just a woman. I had observed her, I knew everything about her. Or at least, I thought I knew everything.

But the room seemed different. Everything seemed blurry. I had the impression that the walls were moving, that the space around me was closing in. I shook my head, trying to clarify my thoughts. Maybe it was a trap. A test. But I mustn't let myself be distracted.

“Who are you really?” I asked, my voice firm. ”This isn't right. You... you shouldn't be here.”

She burst out laughing, a light, almost melodious laugh, but one that sent a chill down my spine. She slowly approached me, her eyes shining with a mysterious brilliance.

“You find me strange, don't you?” she said with a hint of mischief. ”But you're not in a place where you're in control. You think you know everything, don't you? You've always thought of yourself as invincible, the perfect shadow, the one who manipulates everything around him. But I think you've forgotten one thing.”

I felt trapped. I didn't understand. Every word she uttered seemed to get under my skin, penetrate my thoughts, shake what I believed to be my truth. I tried to push away the confusion that was slowly taking hold of my mind. She was just a target. She had to be the target.

I straightened up, my hand still clenched on my weapon, but she was ahead of me, slipping past me with almost supernatural agility.

“You always thought you were above it all, but all of that... all of that was just an illusion.” She stopped right in front of me, placing a hand on my chest. ”You are not who you think you are.”

I pushed her away abruptly, gasping for breath. I knew I shouldn't let her get so close. It was a violation of my comfort zone, something I couldn't tolerate. Yet, deep down, a little voice was screaming in my head that this moment wasn't just about a mission. It was much more than that. I felt it deep down, in the very core of my being.

She stepped back slightly, her smile never leaving her lips. She seemed to be toying with me, drawing me into a game I didn't understand. But what was she saying to me? What was she trying to show me? Those words... they hit me like breaking waves, and I didn't know how to defend myself.

I took a few steps away, my mind in turmoil. I took a deep breath, trying to regain my composure. Every second spent here seemed to take me further away from the reality I had known. The mission was becoming blurred, unreal. How could it have gone so wrong?

She looked at me in silence, but her eyes expressed something more than amusement. They were charged with a kind of silent understanding. She knew what I was thinking, what I was feeling. And the more I tried to escape this truth, the deeper I sank into my own inner labyrinth.

“You came here to kill, didn't you, Anibal?” she asked gently, as if asking a simple question. ”But you know, killing has never been your problem. You've always been afraid of losing yourself, of facing yourself.”

I clenched my fists, my breathing becoming shorter. These words frustrated and annoyed me. I wasn't there to listen to mind games. I was there to accomplish a mission. But the more I struggled against this growing feeling of doubt, the more I felt that this mission was nothing more than an excuse. An illusion that I had created to avoid facing the reality of what I had become.

I had to leave. I had to regain control.

But as I was about to leave the apartment, I realized that the door through which I had entered had disappeared.